The Fort Worth Press - Putin oversees nuclear response drills

USD -
AED 3.672953
AFN 69.243509
ALL 93.496283
AMD 392.423738
ANG 1.801759
AOA 914.500902
ARS 1016.8984
AUD 1.560379
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.700507
BAM 1.861532
BBD 2.018579
BDT 119.470037
BGN 1.861467
BHD 0.377125
BIF 2954.865606
BMD 1
BND 1.343467
BOB 6.90817
BRL 5.9547
BSD 0.999762
BTN 84.769428
BWP 13.565323
BYN 3.27172
BYR 19600
BZD 2.015133
CAD 1.41498
CDF 2870.000149
CHF 0.884135
CLF 0.035342
CLP 975.200161
CNY 7.266989
CNH 7.27079
COP 4338
CRC 501.694205
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 104.949817
CZK 23.8843
DJF 178.024823
DKK 7.100305
DOP 60.467905
DZD 133.921653
EGP 50.6403
ERN 15
ETB 127.215412
EUR 0.952155
FJD 2.3165
FKP 0.789317
GBP 0.783485
GEL 2.809847
GGP 0.789317
GHS 14.695735
GIP 0.789317
GMD 72.000004
GNF 8624.267113
GTQ 7.702851
GYD 209.091601
HKD 7.775035
HNL 25.348359
HRK 7.133259
HTG 130.947509
HUF 390.190029
IDR 15959.35
ILS 3.58133
IMP 0.789317
INR 84.84595
IQD 1309.690376
IRR 42087.500947
ISK 138.9201
JEP 0.789317
JMD 156.666413
JOD 0.7091
JPY 152.298008
KES 129.229608
KGS 86.798224
KHR 4019.416552
KMF 466.124958
KPW 899.999621
KRW 1433.575017
KWD 0.30757
KYD 0.833119
KZT 522.134338
LAK 21895.434168
LBP 89525.241757
LKR 290.121165
LRD 179.450816
LSL 17.823592
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.877979
MAD 9.966877
MDL 18.28046
MGA 4688.570776
MKD 58.587186
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.999946
MOP 8.003769
MRU 39.638696
MUR 46.650317
MVR 15.403315
MWK 1733.51481
MXN 20.131099
MYR 4.432499
MZN 63.903933
NAD 17.823592
NGN 1548.179751
NIO 36.786926
NOK 11.138499
NPR 135.632567
NZD 1.722785
OMR 0.384921
PAB 0.999676
PEN 3.709453
PGK 4.044202
PHP 58.313979
PKR 278.075916
PLN 4.064455
PYG 7820.947232
QAR 3.644886
RON 4.729801
RSD 111.351997
RUB 105.4985
RWF 1393.150841
SAR 3.758043
SBD 8.383555
SCR 14.090152
SDG 601.49681
SEK 10.959503
SGD 1.343155
SHP 0.789317
SLE 22.79564
SLL 20969.504736
SOS 571.366025
SRD 35.204967
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.748084
SYP 2512.529858
SZL 17.814073
THB 33.842499
TJS 10.926959
TMT 3.51
TND 3.16309
TOP 2.342099
TRY 34.873799
TTD 6.785453
TWD 32.506497
TZS 2375.000204
UAH 41.746745
UGX 3657.770502
UYU 43.735247
UZS 12861.806725
VES 49.413523
VND 25385
VUV 118.722009
WST 2.791591
XAF 624.340402
XAG 0.031248
XAU 0.00037
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.758695
XOF 624.340402
XPF 113.511764
YER 250.374989
ZAR 17.69125
ZMK 9001.193041
ZMW 27.517251
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    60.9600

    60.96

    +100%

  • NGG

    -0.8700

    60.07

    -1.45%

  • CMSC

    0.0600

    24.63

    +0.24%

  • RYCEF

    0.0500

    7.33

    +0.68%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    13.2

    +0.3%

  • CMSD

    -0.1000

    24.29

    -0.41%

  • RIO

    0.1600

    64.98

    +0.25%

  • RELX

    0.2700

    47.34

    +0.57%

  • GSK

    -0.7600

    34.45

    -2.21%

  • BCC

    0.0500

    142.48

    +0.04%

  • JRI

    -0.0100

    13.3

    -0.08%

  • AZN

    0.2200

    67.4

    +0.33%

  • BTI

    0.0100

    37.74

    +0.03%

  • BP

    0.2300

    30.33

    +0.76%

  • BCE

    -0.4900

    25.97

    -1.89%

  • VOD

    -0.0700

    8.77

    -0.8%

Putin oversees nuclear response drills
Putin oversees nuclear response drills / Photo: © SPUTNIK/AFP

Putin oversees nuclear response drills

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday surveyed drills carried out by his nuclear-capable forces as Moscow pressed unfounded claims to India and China that Ukraine was developing a "dirty bomb."

Text size:

The drills are the latest in a series of escalatory comments from Moscow and Putin -- who observed the drills from a control room -- that the eight-month conflict in Ukraine could turn nuclear.

"Under the leadership of... Vladimir Putin, a training session was held with ground, sea and air strategic deterrence forces, during which practical launches of ballistic and cruise missiles took place," the Kremlin said in a statement.

Russian state-run media ran footage of a submarine crew preparing the launch of a Sineva ballistic missile from the Barents Sea in the Arctic.

The drills also included launching test missiles from the Kamchatka peninsula in the Russian Far East.

Footage of the drills across state media came after Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu pressed ahead with telephone calls to his counterparts globally, claiming that Ukraine was developing a "dirty bomb".

Shoigu, who has made these claims in recent days to counterparts from NATO countries, reiterated them to Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe on Wednesday.

- Moscow alleges 'irresponsible behaviour' -

Shoigu also voiced the same "concerns" in a phone with India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh earlier on Wednesday, Moscow said.

Ukraine has dismissed the allegations as "absurd" and "dangerous," suggesting the claims could be cover for Russia's own plans on the battlefield, as have its western allies, including Britain, France and the United States.

A dirty bomb is a conventional bomb laced with radioactive, biological or chemical materials which are disseminated in an explosion.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters earlier Wednesday that Russia had information pertaining to the "existing threat" of Ukraine using a "dirty bomb" and that Kyiv was "preparing for such a terrorist act of sabotage".

He added: "We will continue vigorously bringing our point of view to the world community to encourage them to take active steps to prevent such irresponsible behaviour."

Nuclear rhetoric from Russia began building in September, when Moscow said it was annexing four regions of Ukraine over which its forces have partial control. Putin warned Russia could use nuclear weapons to defend them.

- Advance on Kherson -

One of those regions is Kherson, in southern Ukraine near Moscow-annexed Crimea, where Kyiv has been clawing back territory since a counter-offensive it announced at the end of the summer.

Russian-backed authorities in recent days urged residents to flee what they say is an oncoming onslaught. They claimed to have turned the city of Kherson into a "fortress", vowing to defend it at all costs.

A Moscow-installed official in the region, Vladimir Saldo, said Wednesday that at least 70,000 people have left their homes within the last week.

Ukraine's capture of the Kherson region would give Kyiv back important access to the Sea of Azov. It would also cut off Moscow's land bridge to Russian-annexed Crimea.

Saldo banned entry to the right bank area of the region for a period of seven days "due to the tense situation on the contact line", according to a statement on his social media on Wednesday.

Kyiv said Wednesday that Russia had returned the remains of US citizen Joshua Alan Jones, who was killed fighting Moscow's forces in August, along with 10 Ukrainian servicemen in a prisoner swap.

M.McCoy--TFWP