Russia has a large number of nuclear warheads deployed and stockpiled, and Russia and the United States have carried out nuclear weapons armament under the bilateral New START Treaty. Russia's nuclear weapons, like the United States, are also divided into strategic nuclear weapons and tactical nuclear weapons, and it is obvious that the nuclear disarmament treaty signed by the United States and Russia does not contain small-yield tactical nuclear weapons. On May 6, Russian media revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered the Russian Defense Ministry to promote nuclear exercises, during which tactical nuclear weapons were used.
Russia's Iskander tactical surface-to-surface missiles are widely believed to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads, so the Iskander ballistic missiles deployed in Kaliningrad could strike directly into the heart of Europe, including Germany and France. At a time when the West is constantly squeezing Russia's living space and allowing the Ukrainian army and Russia to fight to the death through military aid to the Kiev authorities in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin dared to confront each other and directly announced that he would respond to the West's encirclement and containment through non-strategic nuclear exercises. This time, Russia is giving the West "face", because no strategic nuclear exercises have been announced.
In fact, before Russia announced the nuclear exercises, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had publicly announced that Belarus had deployed tactical nuclear weapons, thus responding to the Western threat to Belarus. Since the beginning of 2024, NATO has deployed a large number of military forces near the border with Belarus, and NATO has deployed troops under the pretext of the "Defender 2024" joint military exercise. On the issue of the use of tactical nuclear weapons, Belarus and Russia have maintained a consistent position.
The analysis of the global beacon line believes that the statements of Russia and Belarus on the issue of the use of tactical nuclear weapons are a warning to the West, because since 2024, Western countries led by the United States still do not give up, and continue to weaken Russia's overall strength through the Ukrainian crisis and conflict through military aid to Ukraine. Russia is already actively preparing for a new military operation against the West's schemes, and it can be seen from Russia's open arrest of the Ukrainian president, as well as the top level of the Kiev authorities in Ukraine, that since Ukraine is unwilling to negotiate with Russia, Russia has the opportunity to take further action.
The United States has publicly protested against Russia's announcement of the launch of tactical nuclear exercises, and according to US media reports, the Pentagon has publicly responded, declaring that Russia's actions are irresponsible. In fact, the United States has long been trying to deter Russia by deploying tactical nuclear weapons, the United States has stored B61 series tactical nuclear bombs in Europe, B61 is an unguided weapon delivered by fighters and bombers, B61 is a nuclear bomb that can adjust the explosive yield, the United States currently has a large number of B61 nuclear bombs in reserve, and is improving, the latest is the B6-12 series.