Russia to conduct sweeping drills of its nuclear forces

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s military will this week undertake a sweeping drill of its strategic nuclear forces.

The Defense Ministry said the three-day exercise will begin Tuesday and involve 12,000 troops, 213 missile launchers, 105 aircraft, 15 surface warships and five submarines.

It said in a statement Monday that the war games will feature practice launches of missiles.

Maj. Gen. Yevgeny Ilyin, the head of the ministry’s international cooperation department, said at a briefing for foreign military attaches that two intercontinental ballistic missiles will be launched at practice targets on the Kura testing range on the Kamchatka Peninsula. He added that strategic bombers will also fire cruise missiles at test targets at several firing ranges.

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Russia has expanded the scope of its military drills in recent years amid rising tensions with the West.