Like an air of deja vu. This Tuesday, the Russian army begins three days of nuclear weapons exercises in conjunction with Belarusian forces, at a time when Vladimir Putin is visiting China to strengthen strategic cooperation with his neighbor Xi Jinping, a key ally whose exports help support the war effort in Ukraine.
Planned for the beginning of May, the maneuvers made official this morning by the Russian Defense Ministry aim to train the Russian armed forces in the potential use of nuclear weapons, including those stationed in Belarus. For three years, Moscow has been deploying weapons stocks tactical nuclear weapons in its neighbor – an initiative unprecedented since 1991, enabled by an agreement sealed with Minsk in March 2023.
65 000 soldiers and 200 missile launchers
These new exercises are part of the intimidation strategy carried out by Russia since the launch of its offensive in February 2022, which leads it to regularly brandish the specter of atomic weapons and to suspend, in the spring of 2023, its participation in the New Start treaty governing nuclear arsenals. rival Russian and American powers.
According to the Ministry of Defense, more than 65,000 military personnel will be involved in the maneuvers scheduled until Thursday, also mobilizing 7,800 types of equipment and weapons, including nearly 200 missile launchers. On Monday, Minsk had specified that this training is “not directed against third countries and does not constitute a threat to regional security”. Three days earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had denounced “Russia’s efforts to further involve the Belarus” in the conflict, ensuring that Moscow is studying the hypothesis “of operations to the south or north of Belarusian territory, either [en Ukraine]or against one of the NATO countries.
A conflict bogged down for four years
However, the exercises carried out this week would aim to demonstrate the projection capacity of the military apparatus, and not to initiate an invasion operation. “There is nothing new under the sun,” observes a defense specialist. “Russia seeks to remind its neighbors that it is a great nuclear power, as the United States or even France regularly do. These training sessions are regular and transparent,” continues the same source. In October 2025, Vladimir Putin supervised nuclear force exercises, including a test firing of the Iars, an intercontinental ballistic missile.
The launches planned for this week “have been postponed several times”, explains, in a post published on X, the researcher associated with the Foundation for Strategic Research Etienne Marcuz. This expert hypothesizes that this exercise “aims to reaffirm Russia’s military power after the cancellation of most of the Victory Day parade on May 9, due to fears of Ukrainian strikes.” Underwater training mobilizing the Northern and Pacific fleets, as well as ballistic and cruise missile launches, are on the agenda set by the Kremlin.
These three days of nuclear exercises come as Russia suffered one of the most massive drone attacks from Ukraine on Sunday May 17, killing four people. The same week, Russian bombings killed 24 people in kyiv, prolonging the stalemate of a conflict which no power seems able to put an end to.
