NewsWorld newsVladimir PutinRussian Armed Forces have begun three days of nuclear drills in Belarus as fears grow that Vladimir Putin may be planning an attack on Baltic NATO states08:06, 19 May 2026Updated 08:31, 19 May 2026Russian Armed Forces have begun a three-day series of nuclear weapons drills in Belarus amid claims Putin is planning an "invasion of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania".‌The exercises, which will run until Thursday, involve more than 64,000 military personnel and 7,800-plus units of equipment. Belarus has begun nuclear weapons drills together with Russia "to improve the readiness of the armed forces to use modern means of destruction, including special ammunition", the Belarusian Defence Ministry announced on Monday.‌Belarusian people have been banned from entering forests near the borders with Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine during these drills.‌War monitoring channel Volya warned that misinformation suggests Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning a summer offensive in Ukraine’s Donbas region when he is actually considering a limited invasion of territory in the Baltic states, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, in what would be a major test for NATO."In reality, alarming signals specifically in this direction are becoming more and more frequent," said Volya. "Since mid-March, we have begun receiving confirmations from sources in the Russian Ministry of Defence and other structures that Vladimir Putin’s plans to invade the Baltic states have moved to the next stage."‌The aim "is not to start a war with NATO, but to trigger a major crisis within the alliance by invading Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania and, ideally, bring about its effective fragmentation".Putin is also secretly stockpiling hundreds of thousands of "unkillable" fibre-optic drones for a possible future assault on NATO, according to the channel’s sources.Ukraine's Foreign Ministry condemned the three-day exercises, calling Russia and Belarus' nuclear cooperation "an unprecedented challenge to the global security architecture". It added that the drills violate the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) by involving a non-nuclear state in preparations linked to nuclear weapons use.Article continues below"Turning Belarus into its nuclear bridgehead near NATO borders, the Kremlin is effectively legitimizing the spread of nuclear weapons globally and creating a dangerous precedent for other authoritarian regimes," a statement read.Choose Daily Mirror as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.‌Breaking NewsRussiaVladimir Putin