Russia to Launch Drills for Possible Deployment of Tactical Nuclear Weapons

In Moscow, Vladimir Putin was sworn in today for his fifth term as Russian president. Officials from the U.S. and many European Union nations were absent from the lavish Kremlin ceremony.

This comes a day after Russia said it will conduct missile drills near Ukraine for the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons in response to “threats” by Western leaders. Moscow said the escalation is motivated by recent comments by French President Emmanuel Macron, who again refused to rule out sending French troops to Ukraine, as well as U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron, who said last week Ukraine could use British weapons inside Russia. NATO blasted Russia’s move as “irresponsible.”