Russian President Vladimir Putin will oversee nuclear missile drills on Saturday involving Russian "strategic forces," the Russian navy introduced on Friday, in accordance with the Interfax information company.
The navy drills will embody the launch of ballistic and cruise missiles, the Russian protection ministry stated.
"The air forces, the Southern navy district forces, strategic cruise missile forces and Northern and Black Sea naval fleets," can be amongst these concerned within the workouts on Saturday, the protection ministry was quoted as saying.
In line with Interfax, the ministry stated the drills had been deliberate upfront to test the "readiness" of launch fight crews, warship crews and strategic missile carriers, in addition to the "reliability" of its nuclear and traditional weapons.
It comes as fears proceed to develop of an imminent Moscow-led invasion of Ukraine. President Joe Biden's administration on Thursday stated that Russia may invade Ukraine within the coming days.
As Russia stated this week that it had begun pulling troops from Ukraine's borders, a senior Biden administration official advised reporters on Wednesday night that the U.S. believes that Russia is, in truth, including extra troops close to Ukraine.
"Yesterday, the Russian authorities stated it was withdrawing troops from Ukraine," the official stated. "They acquired lots of consideration for that declare, each right here and around the globe. However we now comprehend it was false."
"We've got now confirmed that within the final a number of days, Russia has elevated its troop presence alongside the Ukrainian border by as many as 7,000 troops, with some arriving as just lately as as we speak," they stated, with out elaborating.
The Biden administration official stated that Russia may fabricate allegations to make use of as a "false pretext" to justify an invasion.
"We've got already seen a rise in false claims by the Russians previously few days, together with experiences of an unmarked grave of civilians allegedly killed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, statements that the U.S. and Ukraine are growing organic or chemical weapons, and that the West is funneling in guerrillas to kill locals," the official stated.
"Every of those allegations is categorically false, and we anticipate extra false experiences from Russian state media over the approaching days," they stated.
"We do not know what type of false pretext will take, however we hope the world is prepared. Simply as Russia's claims about withdrawing troops have been false, so can be no matter pretext they create to justify this warfare of selection."
Western officers have estimated some 150,000 Russian troops are massed on the border with Ukraine. Moscow has persistently denied that it's planning to invade.
In Ukraine, native authorities are getting ready for civilian evacuations, together with within the metropolis of Donetsk, as fears develop of a attainable invasion, the nation's high normal, Lt. Gen. Valery Zaluzhny stated in a press release.
"I formally declare: the armed forces of Ukraine proceed to watch the Minsk settlement and the foundations of worldwide humanitarian legislation, and don't plan any offensive operations or the shelling of civilians," he stated.
Replace 02/18/22, 6:21 a.m. ET: This text was up to date with extra background.
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