The russian Ministry of Defense announced that on June 11, at the behest of putin, the second stage of exercises involving "non-strategic nuclear forces" began, which also involves the armed forces of Belarus; the first stage took place on May 21 of this year.
The russian Ministry of Defense accompanied its statement with video footage that all too closely resembles the footage shown during the first stage of exercises more than two weeks ago, depicting the deployment of Iskander missile systems with ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as demonstrative flights of MiG-31K aircraft with Kinzhal missiles and Tu-22M3 aircraft with Kh-22 missiles.
Read more: Kremlin Is in Turmoil After Ukrainian Strike on russian Su-57 Fighter Jet
A separate interesting detail lies in the fact that the main venue for the first stage of the russian nuclear forces exercises on May 21 was the airbase in Akhtubinsk, the same one where at least one or two Su-57s were recently damaged.
Against this backdrop, it's worth noting a tweet from Mark Krutov, an observer of RFE/RL, which states the following: Geolocation analysis showed that the russian Ministry of Defense used the same footage in its announcement of the second stage of nuclear forces exercises on June 11 as it did on May 21, clearly confirming that the maneuvers took place at the Akhtubinsk airfield.
Therefore, it logically raises the hypothesis that the strike on the Akhtubinsk airbase by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on June 8, 2024, which directly resulted in the damage to the Su-57 aircraft, also had an additional purpose.
Specifically - to suggest to the russians that conducting a new stage of nuclear force maneuvers at this airbase could be very painful for the occupiers.
Earlier, Defense Express reported that the Strange Location of the russian Su-34 Plane Crash Makes it Hard to Believe it Was Simply Redeploying
Read more: Ukraine Hit russia's Latest Su-57 Aircraft for the First Time at Akhtubinsk Air Base
