Putin orders strategic nuclear drills of Russian forces amid Budapest Summit delay with US President Trump

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday directed large-scale exercises of the country's strategic nuclear forces, including practice missile launches. The drills coincided with the postponement of his planned summit on Ukraine with US President Donald Trump. According to the Kremlin, the exercises involved all components of Russia's nuclear triad. A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile was test-fired from the Plesetsk launch facility in northwestern Russia, while a Sineva ICBM was launched from a submarine in the Barents Sea. Tu-95 strategic bombers also fired long-range cruise missiles as part of the manoeuvres. The Kremlin stated that the exercise tested the skills of military command structures. Gen Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff, reported to Putin via video link that the drills were intended to simulate "procedures for authorising the use of nuclear weapons."

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