Putin-led Russia announced new military exercises, saying it had conducted a large-scale launch of ballistic and cruise missiles from land, air and sea. Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said the goal of the exercises was to simulate “a massive nuclear strike” in response to a potential enemy nuclear attack, while Putin supervised the operations.

The announcement comes amid heightened international tension. Indeed, Kiev, Seoul and Washington have denounced the dispatch of thousands of North Korean soldiers to support Russian forces. At the same time, Ukraine is pressuring Western countries to supply it with long-range weapons to strike targets on Russian soil. Oleksandr Lytvynenko, secretary of the Ukrainian Security Council, said that Kiev plans to recruit an additional “160,000 people” in the next three months.

Putin described the use of nuclear weapons as an “extreme measure” and stressed that Russia does not intend to engage in an arms race. However, he also said it was crucial to maintain advanced strategic forces ready for action due to rising geopolitical tensions.

Moscow has reportedly launched a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile, traveling thousands of kilometers from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome to a test site on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Ballistic missiles are also said to have been launched from two submarines and Tupolev bombers have carried out cruise missile attacks. Russia has released a video of the drills and continues to invoke the nuclear threat in an attempt to dissuade Western countries from stepping up their military support for Ukraine.

Russian forces say they have made progress in eastern Ukraine, declaring control over three villages—Bogoyavlenka, Girnyk, and Katerynivka—and the town of Selydove, a major logistics hub a few kilometers from Pokrovsk. Although information from the front is difficult to verify and Moscow’s claims are unconfirmed, some analyses suggest that the Russian military has occupied 478 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory since last October alone.

The war continues to cause heavy civilian casualties, with Ukrainian authorities reporting at least four deaths in an attack on Kharkiv and damage to historic buildings. Other casualties were reported in the Kherson region and Kryvyi Rih. In the capital Kiev, six people were injured by falling drone debris. Ramzan Kadyrov said a drone struck a Chechen training center, causing fires but no casualties.