Putin renews ‘dirty bomb’ claims, reviews nuclear exercises

By ANDREW MELDRUM
Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — NATO and Russia’s military are staging separate nuclear exercises. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday remotely monitored the drills of his strategic nuclear forces, which involved multiple practice launches of ballistic and cruise missiles. The exercise simulated a “massive nuclear strike” retaliating for a nuclear attack on Russia. NATO is carrying out its own long-planned nuclear exercises in northwestern Europe. Putin doubled down on the internationally rejected claim that Ukraine plans to set off a radioactive “dirty bomb.” He said Ukraine plans to use that “as a provocation” and contended the United States was using Ukraine as a “battering ram” against Russia and its regional allies. On the battlefront, his forces targeted more than 40 villages around Ukraine.