Sputnik International reports: “The ongoing Russian tactical nuclear weapon drills, whose second phase began this week, is not some kind of act of showmanship, warns military analyst Igor Korotchenko, editor in chief of National Defense magazine.

The purpose of this exercise is to rehearse the ‘practical mechanisms’ of tactical nuclear weapon use if a decision to resort to such drastic measures were to be made.

This is not signaling someone, not some underscoring of some ‘red lines’ – this is about practice,’ Korotchenko tells Sputnik.

The various aspects of tactical nuclear weapon use being tested during this exercise include the delivery of presidential authorization to the troops, unlocking the warheads, flight data input and targeting – basically everything involved in an actual nuclear strike, he says…”