Putin ordered military exercises with tactical nuclear weapons. “A response to the provocative statements and threats of some Western officials”

Russia announced on Monday that it will hold a military exercise that will include training in the use of tactical nuclear weapons, following what Moscow’s Defense Ministry said were provocative threats from Western officials.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the exercise was ordered by President Vladimir Putin and would test the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to carry out combat missions.

The military exercises will include training for the preparation and deployment of non-strategic nuclear weapons, the Russian defense ministry said.

Missile units from the Southern Military District and naval forces will participate in the exercises, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

“During the exercise, a number of measures will be carried out to practice the issues related to the preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons,” the Russian defense ministry said.

Russia has the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world.

The exercise aims to ensure Russia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty “in response to the provocative statements and threats of some Western officials against the Russian Federation,” the ministry said.

Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine triggered the worst breakdown in relations between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, according to Russian and American diplomats.

Russia is portraying the war as a battle with the West, which Putin says ignored Moscow’s attempt at friendship after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 and sought to seize control of Ukraine while expanding the NATO military alliance eastward.

The West and Ukraine say they will not stop until Russian forces are defeated and portray the war as an imperial-style land grab designed to force the country back into Moscow’s orbit.