Fact Check: Does Video Show Russia Preparing Nukes Amid Putin Threats?

President Vladimir Putin gave fresh warnings about the threat of nuclear war in his State of the Nation address in Moscow on Thursday, telling delegates that Russia's strategic nuclear forces were in "a state of full readiness."

Putin said Russia wouldn't let "anyone interfere in its internal affairs", adding there was a genuine risk of conflict if Western nations sent troops to Ukraine, as suggested by French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this week.

Ahead of the talk, a video of a nuclear weapon convoy driving through the streets of Moscow was shared as proof that Russia was preparing its deadliest weapons of war.

The Claim

Multiple posts on X, formerly Twitter, show a video of what appear to be nuclear weapons being transported in Russia.

A post by former Trump adviser George Papadopoulos, viewed 124,400 times, stated "Russia is moving nuclear weapons towards border with Ukraine.

"Guess the $200 billion in taxpayer money, and arms, didn't prevent this."

Another post by the account @BRICSinfo, viewed 272,000 times, included the same video, and wrote "Russia's transporting nuclear weapons across the country."

A post by user @Sprinter99800, viewed 137,000 times, added: "Russia moves nuclear weapons across the country."

The Facts

False or misleading claims about Russia transporting its nuclear arsenal are not uncommon, as Newsweek has previously investigated.

While the video shared on X was from footage published this week by the Russian Ministry of Defense, it does not depict weapon preparation for conflict.

The footage was shared by the Ministry of Defense on its Telegram page on February 27, 2024, stating that they were being transported for a "military parade in Red Square."

While the post did not say which military parade, Russian state-owned news agencies Tass and Sputnik stated it was for the Victory Parade, held in Moscow's Red Square in May.

The missiles were said to have been sent from the Ivanavo region, more than six hours from Moscow. Although more than two months ahead of Victory Day, it corresponds with the date of their delivery in the past four years. The video shared on X also shows them arriving on the same road seen in footage filmed in Moscow in 2022 and 2020.

Crucially, there is no evidence they were being transported as part of a military response as the posts on X state or imply.

Earlier this month, a top Russian official issued an "accidental" nuclear escalation warning, claiming that the risk had been heightened by concerns over the health and mental acuity of U.S. leaders.

Mikhail Popov, deputy secretary of Russia's Security Council, told Russian newspaper Izvestia that factors that contributed to this growing risk of an accidental nuclear war included the health of U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and "the deterioration of Joe Biden's cognitive abilities."

The Ruling

Needs context.

The video is not of nuclear weapons being transported as part of a military response as some have claimed.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense and Russian state media, the missiles were being moved to Moscow in preparation for Victory Day celebrations in May. Although Victory Day is more than two months away, their delivery in February fits preparation schedules from the past four years.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team