Russia held planned strategic nuclear drills on Wednesday, a week after NATO began similar annual exercises, as tensions in Europe over the Ukraine war run high.
"Today we are conducting planned, I would like to emphasise, planned, nuclear forces training," Russian President Vladimir Putin told generals in a televised meeting.
NATO began similar annual nuclear exercises focused on the North Sea region last Monday.
The Russian manoeuvres come with efforts faltering to solve the Ukraine war, and after US President Donald Trump on Tuesday shelved planned peace talks with Putin.
Russia's drill involved a mock intercontinental ballistic missile launch from a submarine in the Barents Sea, next to the Western bloc's borders.
Another mock rocket was launched from a cosmodrome in northern Russia, while strategic bombers carried out air missile strikes, the Russian military said.
Videos released by the Russian Ministry of Defense showed the launches from ground, sea and aerial carriers.
Russia's recent air incursions in Poland and Estonia, and a string of unexplained drone flights, have rattled NATO members and renewed calls to beef up the alliance's defense.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky failed to secure US long-range Tomahawk missiles on his last visit to Washington, despite weeks of calling for them.
Moscow has repeatedly criticised potential supplies of the nuclear-capable missiles, promising a serious escalation if they were to become reality.
AFP
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