During a video teleconference with Chinese Defense Minister Colonel-General Wei Fenghe, today, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu charged that the US is escalating the flights of nuclear-capable bombers near Russia’s borders and is practicing the use of nuclear weapons against Russia. “We note a significant intensification of the actions of the American strategic bomber aviation near the borders of Russia. Over the past month, about 30 sorties have been made to the borders of the Russian Federation, which is 2.5 times more than in the corresponding period last year,” Shoigu said, reported the Russian Defense Ministry. “In 2020 alone, the strategic aviation of the United States Air Force performed 22 flights over the waters of the Sea of Okhotsk, while in 2019 there were only three of them.”
Shoigu pointed to the US Strategic Command exercise Global Thunder, which began on Nov. 1. During that exercise, Shoigu said, 10 American strategic bombers practiced the use of nuclear weapons against Russia from both western and eastern directions. At the same time, he said, “The minimum distance from our state border was 20 kilometers.” Stratcom has said very little about the Global Thunder exercise beyond press releases alerting local communities around US bomber bases of increased flight activities. The exercise, however, involves all three legs of the nuclear triad as well as the nuclear command-and-control system.
