Russia Involves in Nuclear Saber Rattling to “Signal” the West

Russia’s Belgorod submarine which can be armed with nuclear-armed drone is reportedly in Arctic waters for tests, while its secretive nuclear unit has been spotted transporting weapons.

President Vladimir Putin has made thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons in a series of speeches announcing "partial" mobilization and annexing four Ukrainian regions in recent weeks.

While analysts claim Russia’s movements of nuclear-capable assets could be to send a “signal” to the West amid Russian losses in Ukraine, the U.S. has denied. Last week, the Pentagon said it has not seen any changes in Russia’s movements of its nuclear forces that would cause the U.S. to adjust its own nuclear posture.

Italy’s La Repubblica reported Sunday that NATO relayed intelligence to allied commands on the recent movements of Belgorod, the world’s longest submarine, in waters near the Arctic. This submarine is believed to undergo “a series of secret tests.”

The 14,700-ton nuclear-powered vessel, launched in July, has been modified to carry the new nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed drone called the Poseidon.

“The alarm stems from a NATO intelligence report, sent to the most important allied commands in recent days. The report concerns the movements of the Belgorod nuclear submarine, which became operational in July. Now she’s back to dive in the Arctic seas, and it is feared that her mission is to test for the first time the super-torpedo Poseidon, often referred to as ‘the weapon of the Apocalypse,” the newspaper said.

Belgorod has been constructed from the hull of an Oscar-II cruise missile submarine that was never completed.

The submarine’s hull is around 184m long, and the ship’s displacement is up to 30,000 tons (when submerged). It is said to have a speed of about 60kmph and can reportedly remain underwater for an estimated 120 days without returning to the surface. Its propellers are said to have been designed to escape sonar.

The Belgorod is designed for two roles: the first is to act as a host submarine or a ‘mothership’ to small, nuclear-powered submarines that can dive deeply; and the second is as a nuclear strike and deterrence vessel, as per a report by HI Sutton. It can carry six nuclear-tipped Poseidon UUVs.

Sources revealed to Britain’s The Times that the Poseidon test could take place in the Black Sea closer to NATO member states.

Pro-Russian Rybar Telegram channel published a video on Sunday showing trainload of military equipment including Kamaz-43269 "Shot" standing on the platforms with combat modules "Spoke.” They are equipped with a 30 mm 2A42 cannon, a PKT machine gun and an AG-30 automatic grenade launcher. Analysts claimed these belonged to a secretive nuclear unit.

Poland-based defense analyst Konrad Muzyka posted on Twitter that the convoy belongs to a Russian defense ministry directorate responsible for “nuclear munitions, their storage, maintenance, transport and issuance to units.”

Muzyka stressed that the Rybar video showing mine-resistant, ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles fitted with turrets, do not appear to show preparations for a “nuclear release.”

“It could be a form of signaling to the West that Moscow is escalating” or preparing for strategic deterrence exercises, he speculated.