Russian Nuclear Submarine Fires Missiles

A Russian nuclear submarine fired a missile this week as part of a training exercise amid the country’s ongoing war with Ukraine.

Tass, a Russian state-run news agency, reported on April 4 that Russia’s Northern Fleet had carried out a scheduled training exercise that included a missile launch by the nation’s Kazan nuclear submarine.

Since February 2022, Russia has engaged in an intense war with Ukraine, resulting in ongoing concerns regarding the possible use of nuclear weapons. Many Western nations and NATO allies have warned against the use of nuclear weapons by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“The Kazan multipurpose nuclear-powered submarine fired a Kalibr cruise missile at a coastal target as part of scheduled combat training. The submarine crew carried out the exercise from a submerged position at the Northern Fleet’s combat training range in the Barents Sea,” the Northern Fleet reported, according to Tass. “The missile was launched at the Chizha testing ground in the Arkhangelsk Region.”

Following the training exercise, Vice Admiral Konstantin Kabantsov, Northern Fleet’s commander, said that crew members aboard the nuclear submarine “displayed high professionalism and skills,” Tass reported.

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry and Russian Foreign Ministry for comment via email.

In March, Putin was asked about the possibility of a nuclear war if the U.S. were to send troops to Ukraine.

“From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready,” Putin said while speaking to Rossiya-1, a state-controlled television channel, Reuters reported.

“(In the U.S.) there are enough specialists in the field of Russian-American relations and in the field of strategic restraint,” Putin said, according to Reuters. “Therefore, I don’t think that here everything is rushing to it (nuclear confrontation), but we are ready for this.”

According to the Associated Press, Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, responded to Putin’s remarks, saying, “All rhetoric that could lead to miscalculation or escalation with obvious catastrophic consequences for the world must be avoided.”

In 2021, Tass reported that Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, the commander in chief of the Russian navy, announced that the Kazan nuclear submarine was accepted into service.

“Today, we hoist the Navy flag on the Kazan latest nuclear submarine, which is the lead sub in the series of new-generation warships. Malakhit Design Bureau developed the project with effective arms and electronic equipment for the missions in all areas of the World Ocean,” Yevmenov said, according to Tass.

Michael Kofman, a specialist in Russian military affairs at the Center for Naval Analyses in Arlington, Virginia, told The National Interest in 2021 that the Kazan was “probably the most capable nuclear-powered submarine out there fielded by a potential adversary.”