How to detect an imminent Russian nuclear attack

began a fortnight of nuclear exercises in Belgium called Steadfast Noon. Later this month, expects Russia to hold its own nuclear drills, called Grom, for the second time this year. Steadfast Noon, involving 60 aircraft from 14 allies—including B-52 bombers flown from America—is “a routine, recurring training activity” unconnected to the war in Ukraine, maintains. Yet the context is very far from routine; this week, will be practising nuclear attacks during a that some analysts fear could lead to . The timing might seem alarming, but the risks still look small. The more Russia’s forces are pushed back, however, the greater the fear that its president, Vladimir Putin, will , as he has from time to time threatened to do. As President Joe Biden put it, the world faces the greatest threat of “Armageddon” since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962.