- The United States believes that Russia will conduct missile test launches during its annual “Grom” exercises.
- The New START Treaty requires Russia to provide early notice of such missile launches.
- No formal notification has been received, a U.S. military official informed reporters.
A senior U.S. military official stated on Monday that Russia has not yet informed the United States about upcoming nuclear missile drills that Washington expects Moscow to conduct.
The United States believes that Russia will conduct missile test launches during its annual “Grom” exercises of its strategic nuclear arsenal, possibly within days.
The New START Treaty requires Russia to provide early notice of such missile launches, according to U.S. officials. Under the condition of anonymity, the U.S. military officials stated that this has yet to occur.
“No, no formal notification has been received,” the military official informed reporters.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly threatens to use nuclear weapons to protect Russia’s unraveling invasion of Ukraine, the exercises pose yet another risk to the United States and its allies.
Nonetheless, Western officials have voiced confidence in their capacity to distinguish between a Russian exercise and a move by Putin to carry out his threats.
Russia targeted Ukrainian towns with drones during Monday’s morning rush hour, killing at least four people in a Kyiv apartment complex in the latest wave of what Ukraine and the West claim are premeditated assaults against civilian targets.
The U.S. military officer criticized the Russian attacks, stating that they were intended to terrify the civilian population of Ukraine.
“We assess that Russia has deliberately struck civilian infrastructure and non-military targets for the purpose of needlessly harming civilians and attempting to instill terror among Ukraine’s population,” a military official said on condition of anonymity.
The White House stated that the United States will hold Russia accountable for “war crimes,” a phrase used by America’s top general last week in Brussels.
Russia denies targeting people in what it refers to as its “special military operation” in Ukraine, which began on February 24 and included the largest acquisition of European land since World War II.
The U.S. military official stated that history demonstrates that air campaigns that attempt to mentally cripple a populace will fail.
The official stated, “It doesn’t work,” adding that if anything, it has strengthened the Ukrainians’ resolve.
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