Russia Holds 3rd Phase Of Tactical Nuclear Drills Same Day Ukraine Receives First F-16s
Russia's Ministry of Defense on Wednesday announced it has initiated its third and 'final' phase of drills to practice the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons. The exercises are being done in conjunction with Belarus, which has since last year played host to Russian tactical nukes, to the alarm and dismay of NATO countries.
The first stage of nuclear drills occurred in May, and the second with ally Belarus in June, but the timing of this third iteration corresponds with Ukraine on Wednesday finally receiving its first batch of US-made F-16 fighter jets from European allies.
Bloomberg is the first outlet to report the arrival of the F-16s, though Kiev officials didn't immediately confirm the report. The past days saw several major outlets confirm an initial round of jets were 'weeks' away from arriving.
"The first delivery of F-16 fighter jets from NATO allies has arrived in Ukraine, in a long-awaited move that may boost the war-torn nation’s ability to repel Russian attacks," Bloomberg writes.
"The deadline for the transfer of the US-made warplanes was the end of this month and it has been respected, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke under condition of anonymity." However, officials have said only a "small" number of jets arrived in this first transfer.
In total Ukraine is expecting at least 79 F-16s to be sent after a more than year long Ukrainian pilot training program. The jets are being transferred from the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and Norway. Ukraine still plans to house many of the jets at allied bases outside the war-ravaged country, to prevent them from being immediately attacked by Russian forces.
This week has seen another important development and confirmation - the US plans to provide and equip the F-16s with advanced weaponry and modern missiles.
Per reporting in the The Wall Street Journal, this will include air-to-ground AGM-88 HARM missiles, bomb sights, diameter bombs, AMRAAM advanced air-to-air missiles, and AIM-9X short-range air-to-air missiles.
Footage of Moscow's third phase of tactical nuclear drills held on Wednesday in cooperation with Belarusian armed forces...
🚨 Russia's military has announced the start of the "third stage" in wider non-strategic nuclear weapon exercises that began in the spring.
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) July 31, 2024
Read more: https://t.co/38J4pBUEt5 pic.twitter.com/86Y5RVfW8u
A US official told WSJ: "We are confident that we will be able to supply all of those, at least the critical volumes that they need."
Russia, including President Putin himself, has long noted that NATO F-16s are capable of carry tactical nuclear weapons. Russia previously said it will have no choice but to assume each F-16 could be armed with nukes. Putin has warned of "serious consequences" after the Kremlin previously said that NATO bases from which these jets are deployed could come under attack.