Sirens blare across Russia as it holds nationwide emergency drills

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MOSCOW (AP) — Sirens wailed across Russia and TV stations interrupted
regular programming to broadcast warnings Wednesday as part of sweeping
drills intended to test the readiness of the country's emergency
responders amid the fighting in Ukraine.

The exercise that started on Tuesday follows Ukrainian drone attacks on
Moscow and other cities. As the readiness drill went on, the Russian
Defense Ministry said air defenses shot down 31 Ukrainian drones over
border regions early Wednesday.

https://thepublicsradio.org/article/sirens-blare-across-russia-as-it-holds-nationwide-emergency-drills

As part of the drills, TV stations broadcast a notice saying: “Attention
everyone! The readiness of the public warning system is being tested!
Please remain calm!”

Russian media said the exercise's storyline mentions the increasing danger
of a conflict between nuclear powers and simulates a response to a
situation in which 70% of housing and all vital infrastructure have been
destroyed, wide areas contaminated by radioactive fallout and a general
mobilization announced.

The stark scenario echoes Kremlin warnings that Western support for
Ukraine has increased the threat of a direct confrontation between Russia
and NATO.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s Security Council chaired by
President Vladimir Putin, has regularly talked about the growing threat of
a nuclear conflict.

Lambasting Western officials who talk about increasing military assistance
to Kyiv, Medvedev charged over the weekend that “those imbeciles are
actively pushing us to World War III.”

Such ominous statements and sweeping emergency drills contrast with the
government's efforts to assuage a public increasingly tired of the nearly
20 months of fighting that the Kremlin continues to call its “special
military operation.”

### - hmmm...