MOSCOW (Dispatches) - Russian Defense Ministry has said that Russian military has begun the first stage of military exercises involving tactical nuclear weapons. 
The drills, which will include “practical training in the preparation and deployment of non-strategic nuclear weapons”, began in the country’s Southern Military District, according to the ministry.
Russian forces were practicing obtaining “special ammunition” - meaning nuclear warheads - for Iskander missiles, equipping launch vehicles with them and “covertly advancing to the designated position in preparation for missile launches”.
Russian Aerospace forces were also practicing the fitting of special warheads to Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, and flying into designated patrol areas.
The defense ministry said earlier this month that the exercise is aimed at maintaining the readiness of personnel and equipment for the combat use of non-strategic nuclear weapons to respond and ensure Russia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, adding that the drills are a “response to provocative statements and threats of individual Western officials against the Russian Federation”.
On Tuesday, the Council of the European Union announced that ministers from EU member states have agreed to use proceeds from frozen assets of the Central Bank of Russia to support Ukraine’s military efforts.
Under the agreement, 90 percent of the profits from these assets will be allocated to the European Peace Facility, an EU-run fund providing military aid for Ukraine. The remaining 10 percent will bolster Ukraine’s defense industry capacities and reconstruction needs.
“Up to 3 billion euros ($3.26 billion) this year alone, 90 percent goes for Ukraine’s military,” Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky stated on social media platform X.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said that the EU’s decision to use proceeds from frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine violates the foundations of the global financial and economic system.
After months of deliberation, the bloc approved the use of windfall revenues generated by immobilized Russian assets to provide military aid to Kiev on Tuesday. Several EU member states, including Germany and France, had previously resisted pressure from the U.S. and UK to outright confiscate the Russian assets, citing concerns that such a drastic move would have no legal basis.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed trengthening Ukraine’s air defense with visiting German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Tuesday, the presidential press service reported.
At their meeting in Kyiv, Zelensky and Baerbock discussed Germany’s initiative to find additional air defense systems, including Patriot missile systems, and send them to Ukraine.
They also talked about the possibility of delivering anti-aircraft missile systems from Germany to Ukraine soon.
Ukraine claims its armed forces have hit a Russian cruise missile carrier in the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.
Ukraine’s navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said the navy hit the small missile carrier “Tsiklon” in an attack over the weekend.
But, he said, it’s not currently known if the cruise missile carrier is destroyed
Pletenchuk said that there was a possibility the ship had been “lost,” but could not confirm the news at the time.
He said if the Tsiklon was indeed sunk, it would mean the loss of Russia’s last missile ship in the Black Sea.