On 19 May 2026, the Russian Ministry of Defence announced the start of a three-day nuclear forces exercise, running from 19 to 21 May, officially described as training for the preparation and employment of nuclear forces under conditions of threatened aggression. The exercise involved more than 64,000 military personnel and over 7,800 units of equipment, including more than 200 missile launchers, over 140 aircraft, 73 surface vessels and 13 submarines, of which 8 were strategic missile submarines. Participants included the Strategic Missile Forces, the Northern and Pacific Fleets, Long-Range Aviation, as well as units from the Leningrad and Central Military Districts. The exercise featured live launches of ballistic and cruise missiles, including the launch of an intercontinental Sineva missile from a submerged nuclear submarine and an intercontinental Yars missile from the Plesetsk cosmodrome. Of particular significance was the joint component with Belarus: for the first time, Presidents Putin and Lukashenko jointly oversaw, via video link, a joint training exercise on the management of strategic and tactical nuclear forces, including the preparation and employment of nuclear weapons deployed on Belarusian territory. As part of the exercise, nuclear warheads were transferred to field storage sites in Belarus for the Iskander-M tactical missile system, with Belarusian crews engaged in reception and loading procedures. The announcement came just hours before Putin's departure for a visit to China and at a time of intensifying Ukrainian drone attacks, while the New START treaty had expired in February, formally removing the last limits on the nuclear arsenals of the two major atomic powers.