MOSCOW – Russia has announced to hold massive drills of its strategic nuclear forces on Saturday amid US President Joe Biden’s warning that Moscow might be preparing to invade Ukraine.
A statement issued by the Russian defence ministry said that President Vladimir Putin will observe the military exercise during which practice launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles and cruise missiles will be conducted.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin would oversee the drills from the Defense Ministry’s situation room where he would also be joined by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
He said that Russia had already informed foreign partners about the military drills in advance, adding that the West should not worry over the regular exercise.
“Practice launches of ballistic missiles are part of regular training,” a media report quoted him as saying.
The development comes as Biden has warned there is every indication Russia is planning to invade Ukraine.
President Joe Biden, at the White House, accused Moscow of preparing a “false flag operation” as a pretext for an attack and said this could happen “in the next several days.”
“They have not moved any of their troops out. They’ve moved more troops in,” Biden said. “Every indication we have is that they’re prepared to go into Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, Russia denies planning to invade its neighbour and said this week it was pulling back some of the more than 100,000 soldiers it has massed near the frontier.
Washington says Russia is not withdrawing, but in fact sending more forces.
