Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threat of nuclear retaliation has reared its head again recently, last month warning that allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied longer-range weapons for strikes deep inside Russia would put NATO at war with his country.
Putin announced an update to the country’s nuclear doctrine that would deem a conventional attack by a non-nuclear nation supported by a nuclear power an attack on Russia. The announcement was seen as a warning to the United States and other allies of Ukraine.
A social media post that went viral this week suggested that Putin had moved a step forward in his threats, the post claiming that Russia had begun testing its nuclear weapons.
A Russian RS-24 Yars missile complex rolls during the Victory Day parade at Red Square in Moscow on May 9. A viral social media post claimed that Russia had fired a nuclear weapon this week.
Contributor/Getty Images
The Claim
A post on X (formerly) by Mario Nawfal posted on October 29, 2024, with 1.4 million views, said: “RUSSIA TESTS NUKES… Russia successfully launch-tested its nuclear missile that could allegedly reach Los Angeles in 30 minutes… Paris in 10 minutes. 2024 just keeps getting better…”
The post included a video of a missile firing from a launcher.
The Facts
Vladimir Putin confirmed this week that it had launched strategic nuclear drills during which its weapons capabilities will be reviewed.
In a video conference call with his military leaders, the Russian president said the drills would include practice launches of nuclear-capable ballistic and cruise missiles to simulate how officials would act in case such arms were required.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that, following Putin’s decision, “the third stage of the exercise of nonstrategic nuclear forces has begun.”
However, despite the saber rattling, the video posted on social media is not of Russia firing its nuclear warheads.
The video, released this week, was of its Yars intercontinental ballistic missile. The missile was fired from the Plesetsk launchpad in northwestern Russia, as reported by the Associated Press.
Putin said on Tuesday that his country’s nuclear arsenal was a “reliable guarantor of the country’s sovereignty and security” and that Moscow was conducting “another exercise of strategic deterrence forces” in which controlling the use of nuclear weapons with launches of ballistic and cruise missiles would be worked out.
The video Nawfal posted came from another account, posted on October 29, 2024, viewed 326,600 times, with the description: “JUST IN: Russia successfully tests the launch of a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile.”
That original video was posted on the Russian Ministry of Defense Telegram page on October 29, 2024. One post on its Telegram page said, “A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from the Plesetsk State Test Cosmodrome at the Kura training ground in Kamchatka.
“The nuclear-powered strategic submarine missile cruiser Novomoskovsk and the nuclear-powered submarine cruiser Knyaz Oleg launched Sineva and Bulava ballistic missiles from the Barents Sea waters. Tu-95MS long-range aircraft launched air-based cruise missiles during the training.”
It added that “all the missiles hit the designated targets, thus confirming the specified characteristics.”
There is no evidence that the missiles were carrying nuclear payloads. It may be that the synonymousness between ICBMs—which are capable of carrying nuclear and conventional payloads—and nuclear weapons made them understood to be the same.
The Ruling
False.
The video does not show Russia test firing a nuclear weapon. The video was released this week by the Russian Ministry of Defense, showing the capability of its Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. There is no evidence that the missiles were carrying a nuclear payload.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek’s Fact Check team
