Putin Oversees Major Russian Nuclear Drill, Launches ICBMs

The Kremlin has announced Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw strategic nuclear forces drills on Wednesday, and subsequently released video footage showing him alone in the presidential situation room monitoring test launches.

Russia further released video showing the firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from land. There were additional test launches by sea and air. The exercise was previously scheduled and so is being widely reported as ‘routine’ – but comes at a sensitive moment in which expected talks between Presidents Trump and Putin planned for Budapest have been called off.

WATCH: Russia launched a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile toward a test range in Kamchatka during today’s nuclear forces exercise. pic.twitter.com/LQWKQjdhvS

— Clash Report (@clashreport) October 22, 2025

The exercises featured the launch of a Yars ICBM from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome to the Kura test site in Kamchatka, with the missile capable of reaching nearly 7,000 miles (11,000km).

Additionally, state media indicates a Sineva missile was fired from the Bryansk nuclear-powered submarine in the Barents Sea, and Tu-95MS bombers launched air-launched cruise missiles.

“The exercise tested the level of preparedness of the military command and the practical skills of the operational personnel in organizing the control of subordinate forces,” the Kremlin statement said. “All objectives of the training exercise were successfully completed,” the statement added of the drills which are for for rehearsing the process for authorizing and deploying nuclear weapons.

These aren’t the first such nuclear exercises since the Ukraine war began. Putin also oversaw similar exercises in October 2024 and October 2023.

The current ICBM drills are a continued demonstration of Russia’s strategic capabilities, and muscle-flexing aimed at the Western allies, also at a moment Trump could at any time authorize long-range Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine – though so far he has indicated he won’t do this.

Putin has long decried that it was a big mistake for the US to pull out of the the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019. 

The Kremlin reports that Putin has just overseen a strategic nuclear forces drill involving land, sea, and air components.

The “planned training exercise” included a Yars missile system at Plesetsk, the Bryansksubmarine in the Barents Sea, and Tu-95 bombers. pic.twitter.com/7AjqhmZgv2

— Brian McDonald (@27khv) October 22, 2025

Putin has also long highlighted that Kiev is now in possession of US F-16s, and that of course NATO F-16s are capable of carry tactical nuclear weapons. Thus Russia has previously said it will have no choice but to assume each F-16 could be armed with nukes, highlighting how dangerous the situation is becoming.