Russia has threatened to strike British military facilities and ordered its military to hold battlefield nuclear weapons drills, in what the Kremlin described as a response to comments from French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron over the war in Ukraine.
The Russian defence ministry said troops from the southern military district would 'practise the issues of preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons' in response to 'provocative statements and threats by certain western officials'. The announcement came after Macron said he would not rule out sending troops to Ukraine, and Cameron said it was up to Kyiv how it used British weapons, including against targets inside Russia.
The UK ambassador, Nigel Casey, was summoned by the Kremlin on Monday and warned that 'any British military facilities and equipment on the territory of Ukraine and abroad' could be targeted in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory with British weapons. The Russian foreign ministry said Casey was called upon to 'reflect on the inevitable catastrophic consequences of such hostile steps'.
Russia's southern military district borders Ukraine, from where the full-scale invasion was launched two years ago. The defence ministry said the drills were meant to 'unconditionally ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Russian state'. It is less common for Russia to hold tactical nuclear drills, which use lower-yield weapons designed for battlefield use.
A Ukrainian government official dismissed the statements as 'nuclear blackmail', with intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov telling national TV: 'We do not see here anything new, except for the information effect and statements.' The nuclear drills will take place amid an escalation in diplomatic tensions between Russia and European countries.
