Russia Says Joint Nuclear Deterrence Drill With Belarus Is Complete

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it has successfully completed joint nuclear deterrence exercises with Belarus, a large-scale drill that involved strategic and hypersonic missile launches from land, sea and air. The exercise, held from May 19 to 21, is presented as a demonstration of the two countries’ readiness and coordination in a sensitive military domain. The ministry said a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from the Plesetsk space base, while a Sineva ballistic missile was fired from the Barents Sea. It also said a Tsirkon hypersonic missile was launched from a Russian frigate, cruise missiles were fired from Tu-95MS bombers and Kinzhal missiles were launched from MiG-31 fighter jets. Belarusian troops also carried out a test launch with the Iskander-M system, the ministry said. More than 64,000 personnel and numerous air, naval and missile assets took part in the drills. The ministry said all missiles hit their targets and that the exercise tasks were completed in full.