Camilla Jessen
The proposal comes as Kremlin orders to prepare options for possible resumption of nuclear testing.
A Russian lawmaker on the State Duma’s security committee has called for military exercises that would simulate nuclear strikes on mock‑ups of Western landmarks including the Pentagon, Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower, the Moscow Times reported Nov. 6.
A retaliatory demonstration “long overdue”
Mikhail Sheremet, a member of the ruling United Russia party, told News.ru that building replicas of the landmarks and staging a retaliatory nuclear demonstration is “long overdue” and would, in his view, “cool and halt their disconcerting nuclear zeal for many years,” the Moscow Times summary said.
The comments come as the Kremlin has ordered agencies to present options related to a possible resumption of nuclear testing after a decades‑long pause.
On Nov. 5, President Vladimir Putin instructed defense and other ministries to prepare proposals; Defence Minister Andrei Belousov was reported to have said preparations for “full‑scale nuclear tests” should begin immediately.
The moves follow recent Russian statements about strategic weapons programs, including the Burevestnik cruise missile.
Mock strikes suggested as signal to the West
Sheremet framed the exercise as a deterrent and a message to Western capitals.
His remarks were publicized amid heightened rhetoric: U.S. President Donald Trump has accused Russia and China of covert nuclear testing and said the U.S. would not “be the only country that isn’t testing,” according to recent media accounts.
Russian officials, including Sergey Naryshkin, head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, have said Moscow received no substantive response from U.S. authorities to recent requests for clarification about testing reports.
This article is made and published by Camilla Jessen, who may have used AI in the preparation
