MOSCOW --
The Russian army on Friday introduced large drills of its strategic nuclear forces, a stark reminder of the nation's nuclear would possibly amid Western fears that Moscow may be making ready to invade Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will personally oversee Saturday's train, which can contain a number of follow launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, the Defence Ministry stated.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated Putin would observe the drills from the Defence Ministry's scenario room and supervise the follow missile launches himself.
The ministry stated it deliberate the manoeuvres a while in the past to verify the readiness of Russia's army command and personnel, in addition to the reliability of its nuclear and standard weapons.
The warfare video games observe U.S. President Joe Biden's warning on Thursday that Russia might invade Ukraine inside days.
Western fears concentrate on an estimated 150,000 Russian troops -- together with about 60% of Russia's general floor forces -- concentrated close to Ukraine's borders. The Kremlin insists it has no plans to invade.
However Moscow has demanded that the U.S. and its allies hold Ukraine and different ex-Soviet nations out of NATO, not deploy weapons in Ukraine and pull again NATO forces from Japanese Europe.
Washington and its allies bluntly rejected the Russian calls for, and Moscow threatened to take unspecified "military-technical measures" if the West continued to stonewall.
Russia holds large drills of its strategic nuclear forces on an annual foundation, however the maneuvers deliberate for Saturday pointedly contain the Black Sea Fleet. The fleet is predicated on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
The Black Sea Fleet has floor warships and submarines outfitted with Kalibr cruise missiles, however its does not have intercontinental ballistic missiles and did not participate in related earlier drills of the nation's strategic forces.
Prior to now, Russia has held the annual strategic forces drills within the fall. U.S. officers have voiced concern that Moscow shifted the train to February to coincide with a potential invasion of Ukraine.
The Kremlin's Peskov stated Russia notified international companions concerning the manoeuvres prematurely, including that the train should not trigger worries within the West.
"Observe launches of ballistic missiles are a part of common coaching," he stated. "They're preceded by a collection of notices to different nations through completely different channels."
Putin met with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and invited him to observe Saturday's manoeuvres.
The authoritarian Lukashenko, who has edged nearer to Moscow amid Western sanctions for his crackdown on home protests, has provided to host Russian nuclear weapons. in Belarus, which neighbours Ukraine to the north.
The strategic forces of each Russia and america embody a nuclear triad of land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-based ICBMs and nuclear-capable bombers.
The train of Russia's nuclear forces follows a collection of sweeping drills that the Russian army held close to Ukraine and in Belarus.
The Russian army stated it began pulling a few of troops massed close to Ukraine again to their everlasting bases after the drills. The U.S. and its allies questioned the declare and stated that Moscow has really moved 1000's of latest troops nearer to Ukraine.
Moscow argued that the pullback takes time and rejected Western criticism, saying that it could deploy troops wherever it is necessary to make sure nationwide safety.
A protracted-range Tu-160 bomber of the Russian Aerospace Forces flies patrolling within the airspace of Belarus on Nov. 11, 2021. (Russian Defencse Ministry Press Service through AP)
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