Russia has launched a new nuclear weapons exercise upon the orders of President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said Tuesday.

Putin followed the "strategic deterrence" drills by video link, the Kremlin said.

Military officials said the exercises featured submarines and missile-carrying bombers. An intercontinental ballistic missile was also test-launched.

Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said the forces "will practice delivering a massive nuclear strike in retaliation to an enemy nuclear strike," according to the state-run TASS news agency.

Russia would not engage in a nuclear arms race, Putin said, but it would continue to perfect its strategic forces. Russia's intercontinental missiles would be equipped to overcome countermeasures, he said.

Since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Putin has repeatedly warned that Russia could resort to the use of nuclear weapons if it saw its existence as threatened, in an attempt to dissuade other countries from assisting Ukraine.