Russian president supervises as nuclear forces hold drill

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) — Russian President Vladimir Putin supervised a drill by the country's nuclear forces against the possibility of a nuclear attack, Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said on Wednesday.

During a meeting in Moscow with Putin, Shoygu reported that a military drill was being held involving the country's Strategic Deterrence Force training for the execution of a large-scale nuclear strike in response to an "opponent's" nuclear attack.

"Under your supervision, a training on the management of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is being conducted, during which the tasks of delivering a massive nuclear strike by strategic deterrence forces in response to an opponent's nuclear strike will be worked out," Shoygu said.

Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, who was also attending the meeting, said for his part that during the drill, the forces carried out test launches of ballistic and cruise missiles from ground, sea, and air positions.

According to Gerasimov, "all tasks set for the training are implemented in full."