Russia claims its naval nuclear forces are ready for combat anywhere in the world as Kyiv intensifies attacks on Moscow’s shipping.
Russia has issued a fresh nuclear warning after a senior Kremlin official declared the country’s naval strategic nuclear forces are ready for combat “under any scenario”, as Ukraine continues its relentless drone offensive against Russian shipping in the Black Sea.
Nikolai Patrushev, one of Vladimir Putin’s closest security allies and a former head of Russia’s FSB intelligence service, claimed Moscow’s nuclear-armed fleet stands on full combat alert and is prepared to defend Russian interests across the globe.
“The Russian Navy is capable of ensuring the country’s security across all maritime and oceanic theatres under any scenario,” Patrushev told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
“Our naval strategic nuclear forces maintain a state of full combat readiness.”
The blunt warning comes as Ukraine dramatically expands its maritime drone campaign, targeting Russian shipping across the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
Kyiv says its naval drones have now struck more than 100 Russian maritime targets, including commercial vessels, oil tankers and logistics ships that help sustain Moscow’s war effort.
The campaign has increasingly threatened Russia’s ability to move military equipment and supplies through occupied Crimea and southern Ukraine.
Patrushev, who now heads Russia’s Maritime Collegium—a body created by Putin to oversee the future of the Russian Navy—said Moscow was planning its naval expansion through to 2050 with all potential threats in mind.
He insisted Russia remained ready to defend its interests not only around its own coastline but across “various regions of the global ocean.”
The remarks come just weeks after Russia staged major strategic nuclear exercises involving its navy, air force and missile troops.
According to Moscow, the drills involved 73 warships, 13 submarines and eight strategic missile submarines, demonstrating what the Kremlin described as the readiness of its nuclear deterrent.
The exercises were widely viewed as another attempt by Moscow to signal strength amid continuing setbacks on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Despite the Kremlin’s increasingly aggressive rhetoric, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed China has privately warned Moscow against any use of nuclear weapons.
Speaking after the recent NATO summit, Zelensky said Beijing had delivered an unusually direct message after Russian commentators openly discussed the possibility of a nuclear strike.
According to Zelensky, China made clear there could be “no thought whatsoever” of using nuclear weapons.
Although Russia still possesses one of the world’s largest navies, the war has exposed serious weaknesses in the Black Sea Fleet.
Ukraine has sunk or damaged numerous Russian warships since the full-scale invasion began, forcing much of the fleet to withdraw from its long-held base in occupied Crimea.
Now, with Ukrainian sea drones striking shipping almost daily, the battle for control of the Black Sea is entering a dangerous new phase.
As Kyiv expands its campaign against Russia’s maritime lifelines, the Kremlin’s latest nuclear warning underlines just how high the stakes have become.
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