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Russia threatens no one, but will defend itself — MP about nuclear deterrence drills

According to Leonid Slutsky, it is not Russia who is provoking tension, "including in the nuclear sphere"

MOSCOW, October 29. /TASS/. Russia is threatening no one but must be prepared to deter any acts of aggression against itself, a senior Russian lawmaker told TASS.

"Russia is a threat to no one. But with the geopolitical situation as it is, we have to think about adjusting our nuclear doctrine and maintaining our strategic deterrence forces at a sufficient level," Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the international committee of the Russian State Duma, or lower house of parliament, and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), said, commenting on Russia’s strategic nuclear deterrence drills.

According to Slutsky, it is not Russia who is provoking tension, "including in the nuclear sphere." "But we must be ready to deter aggression against our country," he stressed.

Earlier on Tuesday, Russian President and Supreme Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin oversaw drills of the country’s strategic deterrence forces, which involved the launch of a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk spaceport at the Kura firing range in the Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula. Apart from that, Sineva and Bulava ballistic missiles were fired from the Novomoskovsk nuclear-powered submarine in the Barents Sea and from the Knyaz Oleg nuclear-powered submarine in the Sea of Okhotsk.

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