The Russian government has announced that on May 4 that its forces in the western enclave of Kaliningrad carried out simulated nuclear strikes near the region's border with the European Union (EU).
The announcement was made by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The simulated nuclear strike was conducted as part of war games held in the Kaliningrad region. (Related: Russian TV airs discussion about possibility of launching nuclear missiles against Berlin, Paris and London.)
During the war games, Russia practiced "electronic launches" of its 9K720 Iskander mobile short-range ballistic missile systems. Missiles launched from the Iskander system can reach up to 500 kilometers (310.69 miles). It can also fire nuclear warheads.
Kaliningrad received its first Iskander missile system platforms in 2016. The capability of the missile systems was upgraded in 2018 as part of Russia's strategy to counter the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) deployment of an anti-ballistic missile defense shield in Europe.
Kaliningrad, which is the only region of the Russian Federation that does not share a land border with the rest of the country, is considered by the Kremlin to be its most important military base.
Dubbed an "unsinkable aircraft carrier," the region adds significantly to Russia's strategic depth and is a critical asset in Russian military plans for its potential to deny NATO and the EU capabilities to launch attacks from the Baltic Sea in case of an all-out war.
Russia has kept nuclear weapons in Kaliningrad even before the invasion of Ukraine. According to Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas, Russia has used the presence of nuclear warheads in the region to threaten its neighbors.
"Nuclear weapons have always been kept in Kaliningrad," said Anusauskas. "The international community, the countries in the region, are perfectly aware of this."
Russia has a nuclear stockpile of approximately 4,477 nuclear warheads. Of these, around 1,588 are strategic warheads that can be deployed on ballistic missiles and at heavy bomber bases. In its reserve, Russia has another 977 strategic warheads and nearly 2,000 non-strategic warheads.
War games simulated strikes against EU states and fighting in radioactive environment
According to the Defense Ministry's announcements, the simulated launches were conducted near Russia's borders with EU member states Lithuania and Poland.
During the war games, Russian soldiers stealthily moved rocket launchers to a designated spot and conducted the electronic launches aimed at the locations of their mock enemies.
"In the course of the exercise, the rocket launchers moved stealthily to the designated position area, where, having equipped launching positions, they carried out electronic single and group launches at targets simulating missile launchers, airfields, protected facilities, the concentration of military equipment and the command posts of the mock enemy," wrote the Defense Ministry in a statement.
Following the simulated response to enemy attacks, the Russian soldiers in Kaliningrad also carried out maneuvers to redeploy their forces, including the Iskander missile batteries, to "evade a possible retaliatory strike."
Officials from the Defense Ministry added that the combat crews of the Iskander missile units in Kaliningrad also practiced drills "in conditions of radiation and chemical contamination, as well as to repel an attack by sabotage and reconnaissance groups of a mock enemy."
This strongly suggests that Russia is preparing its forces to maintain combat readiness even if the battlefields they are deployed in are contaminated by the radioactive and chemical fallout following a nuclear detonation.
The war games involved more than 100 soldiers of the Russian armed forces and about 20 units of special military equipment, including Iskander missile batteries.
Russia's nuclear forces have been on high alert shortly after the start of the invasion of Ukraine.
Learn more about the threat of nuclear war at NuclearWar.news.
Watch this episode of "Faith and Reason" from LSNTV as host John-Henry Westen discusses Russia's latest threat to turn the United Kingdom into a "radioactive desert."
This video is from the LSNTV channel on Brighteon.com.
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