Russia conducts full nuclear triad drills

Russia carried out large-scale drills of its strategic forces, including practice launches from land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and long-range bombers, Moscow said, releasing footage of General Valery Gerasimov briefing President Vladimir Putin. The Defence Ministry described the exercise as a test of command procedures for authorising nuclear weapons use and said the full nuclear triad—land, sea and air—was exercised, citing launches such as a Yars ICBM from Plesetsk and a Sineva SLBM from the Barents Sea.

The maneuvers came as plans for a second summit between Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump were put on hold after the White House said Trump had no immediate plans to meet his Russian counterpart, with Trump saying he did not want a “wasted meeting.” Kremlin officials said preparations continued and that dates had not been set. Russian sources said Moscow reiterated preconditions for a peace deal in Ukraine, including Ukraine ceding control of the southeastern Donbas, a stance Moscow says contradicts Trump’s recent suggestion that front lines could stand.

The Kremlin released a video showing General Valery Gerasimov, head of the General Staff, reporting to Putin on the drills. They included practice launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles, which are capable of striking the United States. “Today, we are conducting a planned – I want to emphasize, planned – nuclear forces command and control exercise,” Putin said in a video conference with the top military brass.

The exercises were widely interpreted by Western analysts as a signal to the United States and its allies amid stalled diplomacy and rising tensions. The U.S. Treasury announced fresh sanctions targeting major Russian oil firms, a move Washington said aimed to pressure Moscow over its conduct in Ukraine. European defence stocks climbed on news of the summit delay, and several NATO members have been conducting nuclear deterrence drills this month.

Fighting on the ground continued: Russian strikes and Ukrainian counterstrikes produced heavy overnight missile and drone attacks, with Kyiv reporting multiple civilian deaths—including children—damage to infrastructure and widespread emergency power outages as winter approaches. Ukraine’s military said it used Franco‑British Storm Shadow missiles to strike a chemical plant in Russia’s Bryansk region, which Moscow has condemned. Ukrainian officials appealed for additional international energy support to avert a humanitarian crisis.