Online Desk: Russia has practised delivering a “massive” nuclear strike, Kremlin has said.

The military practice featured delivering a “response to an enemy nuclear strike,” said Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, reports BBC.

Russian state television showed him telling President Vladimir Putin about the rehearsal, it said.

It comes as Russia’s parliament endorsed Moscow’s departure from a worldwide treaty that prohibits all physical testing of nuclear weapons.

Russia and the US perform monthly nuclear readiness simulations, with Moscow often holding its own towards the end of October, said the report.

This year’s drills included “delivering a massive nuclear strike by strategic offensive forces in response to an enemy nuclear strike,” according to Shoigu’s report to Putin.

According to a Kremlin statement, “practical launches of ballistic and cruise missiles” had happened, the report added.

According to the statement, a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from a test location in Russia’s far-east, while another missile was launched from a nuclear-powered submarine in the Barents Sea.

The defence ministry made available video of the testing, the report continued.

Putin announced earlier this month that Russia has conducted a “final successful test” of a nuclear-powered cruise missile.

The experimental weapon, initially unveiled in 2018, was lauded as potentially having an infinite range, but President Putin’s story has yet to be officially confirmed.

The new tests will be viewed as a demonstration of force.

There is no indication that the Kremlin intends to strike Ukraine with nuclear weapons, according to the US government.