Russia practices ‘massive nuclear strike’
Russia’s Strategic Deterrence Forces conducted a successful training exercise Wednesday aimed at delivering a “massive nuclear strike” in the event of a nuclear attack, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.
The exercise, overseen by President Vladimir Putin, involved mobile ground-based missile systems and the strategic missile submarine Tula of Russia’s Northern Fleet. The Kremlin said in a statement that all the test-fired missiles reached their targets.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday pressed his country’s narrative – vehemently denied by Ukraine and the West – that Kyiv is preparing to strike with a “dirty bomb” and then blame Russia.
U.S. experts have theorized that Russia is either considering its own “false flag” dirty bomb explosion or is using the narrative to drum up more support for the war at home.
BIDEN WARNS MOSCOW:Using nukes would be ‘serious mistake’
Other developments:
►Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, says it has lost roughly $40 million since Oct. 10, when Russia started its “catastrophic” targeting of the country’s energy infrastructure sites.
►The Russian and Belarusian ambassadors have been excluded from this year’s Nobel Prize ceremony set in Stockholm on Dec. 10, the Nobel Foundation announced.
Remains of American Joshua Jones, killed in Ukraine, returned
The body of U.S. Army veteran Joshua Alan Jones, killed while fighting in Ukraine, was returned to Ukrainian authorities Wednesday in a swap with the Russian military.
Andrii Yermak, head of the Ukraine president’s office, said on Telegram that 10 Ukrainian prisoners of war, including one officer and nine enlisted soldiers, were released from Russian captivity at the same time. Yermak did not reveal how many Russians were released.
“We will continue to work until we bring all our people home,” Yermak said.
The U.S. State Department notified the family about the body’s return, Jones’ father, Jeff Jones, told CNN. Neither the Pentagon nor the U.S. State Department immediately responded to a USA TODAY request for comment. Joshua Jones’ family had posted a brief statement on Facebook in August acknowledging his death and saying “our main goal is to get his body home.”
“I cannot tell you what a burden is lifted off this family,” Jeff Jones told CNN.
Putin challenger flees country amid criminal investigation
Popular Russian TV host Ksenia Sobchak, a former challenger to Putin in the presidential election, has become a suspect in an extortion case involving state-owned defense contractor Rostec, state-run TASS reported. The media outlet said Sobchak, who could face a prison sentence of up to 15 years if convicted, has fled the country. Almost everyone who is charged with a crime in Russia is convicted. Sobchak’s commercial director, Kirill Sukhanov, and former editor-in-chief Arian Romanovsky were detained pending charges.
Sobchak has often been critical of Putin, and the case alleges payments were demanded in return for guarantees that government officials would not receive critical coverage from Sobchak’s news channels. Sobchack, 40, was a liberal challenger in Russia’s 2018 presidential election, finishing a distant fourth with about 1.7% of the vote.
FROM AUGUST:A Memphis man died at war in Ukraine. His family is now trying to retrieve his remains.
Contributing: The Associated Press