On the fourth day of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Sunday that he would put
the Russian army's "
deterrent force " on alert, which may include a nuclear component.
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“
I order the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff to put the deterrent forces of the Russian army on special combat alert,
” the Russian president announced during a meeting with his colleagues. military leaders broadcast on television.
"
It's understood
," agreed Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
The “
bellicose declarations of NATO
”
Vladimir Putin justified this decision by the “
bellicose declarations of NATO
” towards Russia.
He also criticized the economic sanctions taken against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, according to him "
illegitimate
".
The Russian deterrent forces are a set of units whose purpose is to deter an attack on Russia, "
including in the event of war involving the use of nuclear weapons
", according to the Ministry of Defense.
These forces are equipped with missiles, strategic bombers, submarines and surface ships.
On the defensive side, they include an anti-missile shield, space control systems, anti-aircraft and anti-satellite defense.
'Irresponsible conduct'
This announcement did not take long to react to most Western officials.
"
This is a repeated pattern that we have seen from President Putin during this conflict, which is to fabricate threats that do not exist in order to justify continued aggression
," the door said. - White House spokesperson Jen Psaki.
But "
at no time was Russia threatened by NATO or Ukraine
," she noted in an ABC interview.
“
This is dangerous rhetoric.
It is behavior that is irresponsible
, ”outbid Jens Stoltenberg on the CNN channel, the Secretary General of NATO.