Nuclear force exercises in Russia and Belarus

What changed?

## What happened OSW Centre for Eastern Studies published a source-backed update under the original headline: "Nuclear force exercises in Russia and Belarus". ## Source extract Nuclear force exercises in Russia and Belarus. On 19–21 May, the Russian Armed Forces conducted comprehensive exercises involving both components of the country’s nuclear forces – strategic and tactical. The drills included the joint preparation and simulated use of tactical nuclear weapons with the Belarusian Armed Forces (see Appendix). The Russian Ministry of Defence gave significant publicity to the exercise, reporting that it involved more than 65,000 troops and 7,800 items of weapons and military equipment, including 200 launchers, 140 aircraft, 73 surface vessels and 13 submarines. ## Editorial status This English public draft was backfilled from an earlier original-language candidate. Review the stored original-language version before approval or publishing.