They did that because they needed a reason for their forces to be near the border (Of course it wouldn't fool a concussed chipmunk, but that's not relevant). This is why historically Russian military exercises often get up NATO's nose, because Russia does this a lot, it claims " training exercises" as an excuse for its forces to be in NATO waters.
But simulating a nuclear strike doesn't require forces to be in NATO territory or anywhere near the UK.
It's not the exercises itself that's the problem, it's the fact that Russia often uses them as justification for moving forces around.
If Russia simulates a nuclear strike against London for example, how will anyone in London even notice. They're just going to say they did it. It won't actually involve doing anything.
He's talking about tactical nukes though, not strategic ones. The exercises he's talking about would be to practice using small scale nukes to secure battlefield "victories" (batshit insanity).
Ukraine is faring fat better than one would have expected, but they're not getting their asses kicked. The tide of the battle seems to be shifting in Russia's favor due to Ukraine being depleted of troops.
There's something weird in Putin's hand... it's super blurry... I think he's shaking it really, really fast... hang on, I have a high-speed camera. Let's see what it is.
Russia on Monday threatened to strike British military facilities
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that if the Kremlin isn't happy with the current state of the war with Ukraine, that probably wouldn't produce a situation more to their liking.
I have complained to the chancellor about that and will continue to do so. But they do provide Taurus to allies who in turn send their stock of older but similarly capable systems to Ukraine such as storm shadow.
Still, it's silly and our weapons are only for defense against Russia anyway. We will only need Taurus ourselves if Ukraine loses. Might as well put them to use.
This is a good development, especially considering how direct a role the UK played in the region (and thus, the laying of the foundations of the conflict that’s been going on since then) in the decades leading up to the establishment of Israel as a country.
Hah, if this happened nowadays you'd have to sign up for a $1000/month subscription for 100 words a month on a 5-year contract, pay a $35/word overage fee, and if you didn't use all 100 words in a particular month, you could pay $5/word to roll over up to 10 of them to the next month. And if you try to cancel your subscription after those 5 years, they put you on hold for 3 hours and then accidentally hang up on you.
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