On state television, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claims that Russia is currently conducting tests to verify its capability to carry out a widespread nuclear retaliatory strike.
These tests come in the wake of Russia’s withdrawal from the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. A Kremlin statement says that as part of these exercises, practical launches of ballistic missiles and cruise missiles were carried out, as reported by the German news website n-tv.de.
On October 18, the Russian State Duma withdrew its approval for the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in Moscow. The official reason given was that Russia intends to achieve legal parity with the United States, as the USA has signed the CTBT but never ratified it, as reported by the German news platform ZDF.
In 1996, the treaty to halt nuclear testing was adopted to limit the advancements in nuclear weapons development. Although the global test ban has not fully entered into force, since the 1990s all states except North Korea have adhered to its provisions.
Image: Kremlin.ru, Putin and Shoigu (2022-08-15), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (no changes made)
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