Russia and Belarus hold second stage of nuclear drills

Russian and Belarusian military personnel have started a second stage of drills on the combat use of non-strategic nuclear weapons, Russia’s ministry of defence said yesterday. The first stage, in late May, involved troops practising secretly moving Iskander tactical missile systems to launch positions. Russia’s military authorities have linked the drills to “provocative statements and threats from certain Western officials” – presumably including Biden’s recent statement that Ukraine can use US weapons to hit targets in Russia. According to the New York Times, Belarus’ Iskander missiles – capable of firing nuclear or conventional warheads – are located in the town of Asipovichy, 180 km north of the Ukrainian border. “Tactical” and “non-strategic” are widely considered misnomers. Putin has boasted that these weapons can be five times as powerful as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.