MOSCOW. July 31 (Interfax) - The Russian Defense Ministry has announced the beginning of the third stage of non-strategic nuclear forces' exercise to practice military units' preparation for use of tactical nuclear weapons.
"The third stage of non-strategic nuclear forces' exercise has begun on the orders of the president of the Russian Federation," the ministry said on Wednesday.
"The exercise will practice preparations of units of the Russian Armed Forces to use non-strategic nuclear weapons," it said.
At this stage, missile formations of the Southern and Central Military Districts will practice receiving special training munitions for Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile systems, loading the munitions into missiles and stealthily deploying to designated positions to prepare for electronic launches.
"Aviation units of the Aerospace Forces participating in the exercise will practice loading special munitions into airborne delivery vehicles and flying to the designated patrol zones," the ministry said.
"This stage of the exercise aims to maintain the readiness of troops and hardware of the units operating Russian non-strategic nuclear weapons to fulfill combat missions," the ministry said.
The first and second stages of non-strategic nuclear forces' exercise practiced preparations by units of the Southern and Leningrad Military Districts, the Aerospace Forces and the Navy to use non-strategic nuclear weapons, it said.
The ministry released a video of the third stage of the exercise of non-strategic nuclear forces on Wednesday. The video depicted deployment of military convoys.