Russia Conducts Nuclear Readiness Drill Amid Rising Global Tensions

• Date of Drill: October 22, 2025

• Supervised by: President Vladimir Putin

​​​​​​ Key Highlights:

• Russia carried out a comprehensive nuclear readiness exercise involving strategic missile launches from land, sea, and air .

• Land-based: Yars intercontinental ballistic missile launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome.

• Sea-based: Sineva submarine-launched ballistic missile fired from the Bryansk nuclear vessel in the Barents Sea.

• Air-based: Tu-95MS bombers deployed air-launched cruise missiles.

• Exercise aimed to assess preparedness and command-control systems ; described as “planned” and not in response to an immediate threat.

Diplomatic Context:

• Drill coincided with postponement of a planned Putin–Trump meeting in Budapest.

• Kremlin emphasized discussions require preparation and substantive groundwork .

Exam-Oriented Facts:

• Yars ICBM range: over 10,000 km .

• Sineva missile range: up to 11,000 km , capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads .

• New START Treaty (2010): limits 1,550 deployed warheads and 800 launchers per side.

• NATO recently conducted “Steadfast Noon” exercises with 70+ aircraft from 14 countries.

Russia’s Statement:

• Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stressed support for extending New START Treaty to prevent a gap in global arms control.

Related Topics:

• International nuclear deterrence and strategic missile tests

• Russia–US diplomatic relations

• NATO military exercises

• Global arms control agreements