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Worldwide
pti-PTI
Moscow,
Feb
27:
In
a
dramatic
escalation
of
East-West
tensions
over
Russia’s
invasion
of
Ukraine,
President
Vladimir
Putin
ordered
Russian
nuclear
forces
put
on
excessive
alert
on
Sunday
in
response
to
what
he
referred to as
“aggressive
statements”
by
main
NATO
powers.
The
order
means
Putin
desires
Russia’s
nuclear
weapons
ready
for
elevated
readiness
to
launch
and
raises
the
menace
that
Moscow’s
invasion
of
Ukraine
and
the
West’s
response
to
it
might
boil
over
into
nuclear
warfare.
Amid
the
worrying
growth,
the
workplace
of
Ukraine’s
president
mentioned
a
delegation
would
meet
with
Russian
officers
as
Moscow’s
troops
drew
nearer
to
Kyiv.
Putin,
in
giving
the
nuclear
alert
directive,
cited
not
solely
the
alleged
statements
by
NATO
members
however
the
hard-hitting
monetary
sanctions
imposed
by
the
West
in opposition to
Russia,
together with
the
Russian
chief
himself.
Talking
at
a
assembly
with
his
high
officers,
Putin
informed
his
protection
minister
and
the
chief
of
the
navy’s
Normal
Workers
to
put
the
nuclear
deterrent
forces
in
a
“particular
regime
of
fight
obligation.”
“Western
international locations
aren’t
solely
taking
unfriendly
actions
in opposition to
our
nation
in
the
financial
sphere,
however
high
officers
from
main
NATO
members
made
aggressive
statements
concerning
our
nation,”
Putin
mentioned
in
televised
feedback.
Putin
threatened
in
the
days
earlier than
Russia’s
invasion
to
retaliate
harshly
in opposition to
any
nations
that
intervened
straight
in
the
battle
in
Ukraine,
and
he
particularly
raised
the
specter
of
his
nation’s
standing
as
a
nuclear
energy.
The
US
ambassador
to
the
United
Nations
responded
to
the
information
from
Moscow
whereas
showing
on
a
Sunday
information
program.
“President
Putin
is
persevering with
to
escalate
this
conflict
in
a
method
that
is
completely
unacceptable,”
Ambassador
Linda
Thomas-Greenfield
mentioned.
“And
we
have
to
proceed
to
condemn
his
actions
in
the
most
sturdy,
strongest
attainable
manner.”
The
sensible
which means
of
Putin’s
order
was
not
instantly
clear.
Russia
and
the
United
States
sometimes
have
the
land-
and
submarine-based
segments
of
their
strategic
nuclear
forces
on
alert
and
ready
for
fight
at
all
instances,
however
nuclear-capable
bombers
and
different
plane
are
not.
If
Putin
is
arming
or
in any other case
elevating
the
nuclear
fight
readiness
of
his
bombers,
or
if
he
is
ordering
extra
ballistic
missile
submarines
to
sea,
then
the
United
States
may
really feel
compelled
to
reply
in
form,
in accordance
to
Hans
Kristensen,
a
nuclear
analyst
at
the
Federation
of
American
Scientists.
That
would
mark
a
worrisome
escalation
and
a
potential
disaster,
he
mentioned.
The
alarming
step
got here
as
avenue
combating
broke
out
in
Ukraine’s
second-largest
metropolis
and
Russian
troops
squeezed
strategic
ports
in
the
nation’s
south,
advances
that
appeared
to
mark
a
new
part
of
Russia’s
invasion
following
a
wave
of
assaults
on
airfields
and
gasoline
amenities
elsewhere
in
the
nation.
Round
the
similar
time
as
Putin’s
nuclear
transfer,
Ukrainian
President
Volodymyr
Zelenskyy’s
workplace
mentioned
on
the
Telegram
messaging
app
that
the
two
sides
would
meet
at
an
unspecified
location
on
the
Belarusian
border.
The
message
did
not
give
a
exact
time
for
the
assembly.
The
announcement
got here
hours
after
Russia
introduced
that
its
delegation
had
flown
to
Belarus
to
await
talks.
Ukrainian
officers
initially
rejected
the
transfer,
saying
any
talks
ought to
take
place
elsewhere
than
Belarus,
the place
Russia
positioned
a
giant
contingent
of
troops.
Belarus
was
one
of
the
locations
from
the place
Russian
troops
entered
Ukraine.
Earlier
Sunday,
the
Ukrainian
capital,
Kyiv,
was
eerily
quiet
after
big
explosions
lit
up
the
morning
sky
and
authorities
reported
blasts
at
one
of
the
airports.
Solely
an
occasional
automobile
appeared
on
a
abandoned
principal
boulevard
as
a
strict
39-hour
curfew
saved
folks
off
the
streets.
Terrified
residents
as a substitute
hunkered
down
in
houses,
underground
garages
and
subway
stations
in
anticipation
of
a
full-scale
Russian
assault.
“The
previous
evening
was
powerful
–
extra
shelling,
extra
bombing
of
residential
areas
and
civilian
infrastructure,” Zelenskyy
mentioned.
Till
Sunday,
Russia’s
troops
had
remained
on
the
outskirts
of
Kharkiv,
a
metropolis
of
1.4
million
about
20
kilometers
(12.4
miles)
south
of
the
border
with
Russia,
whereas
different
forces
rolled
previous
to
press
the
offensive
deeper
into
Ukraine.
Movies
posted
on
Ukrainian
media
and
social
networks
confirmed
Russian
autos
transferring
throughout
Kharkiv
and
Russian
troops
roaming
the
metropolis
in
small
teams.
One
confirmed
Ukrainian
troops
firing
at
the
Russians
and
broken
Russian
mild
utility
autos
deserted
close by.
The
photographs
underscored
the
decided
resistance
Russian
troops
face
whereas
trying
to
enter
Ukraine’s
greater
cities.
Ukrainians
have
volunteered
en
masse
to
assist
defend
the
capital,
Kyiv,
and
different
cities,
taking
weapons
distributed
by
authorities
and
making ready
firebombs
to
struggle
Russian
forces.
Ukraine’s
authorities
additionally
is
releasing
prisoners
with
navy
expertise
who
need
to
struggle
for
the
nation,
a
prosecutor’s
workplace
official,
Andriy
Sinyuk,
informed
the
Hromadske
TV
channel
Sunday.
He
did
not
specify
whether or not
the
transfer
utilized
to
prisoners
convicted
of
all
ranges
of
crimes.
Putin
hasn’t
disclosed
his
final
plans,
however
Western
officers
consider
he
is
decided
to
overthrow
Ukraine’s
authorities
and
substitute
it
with
a
regime
of
his
personal,
redrawing
the
map
of
Europe
and
reviving
Moscow’s
Chilly
Warfare-era
affect.
The
stress
on
strategic
ports
in
the
south
of
Ukraine
appeared
aimed
at
seizing
management
of
the
nation’s
shoreline
stretching
from
the
border
with
Romania
in
the
west
to
the
border
with
Russia
in
the
east.
A
Russian
Protection
Ministry
spokesman,
Maj.
Gen.
Igor
Konashenkov,
mentioned
Russian
forces
had
blocked
the
cities
of
Kherson
on
the
Black
Sea
and
the
port
of
Berdyansk
on
the
Azov
Sea.
He
mentioned
the
Russian
forces
additionally
took
management
of
an
airbase
close to
Kherson
and
the
Azov
Sea
metropolis
of
Henichesk.
Ukrainian
authorities
additionally
have
reported
combating
close to
Odesa,
Mykolaiv
and
different
areas.
Chopping
Ukraine’s
entry
to
its
sea
ports
would
deal
a
main
blow
to
the
nation’s
economic system.
It
additionally
might
enable
Moscow
to
construct
a
land
hall
to
Crimea,
which
Moscow
annexed
in
2014
and
till
now
was
linked
to
Russia
by
a
19-kilometer
(12-mile)
bridge,
the
longest
bridge
in
Europe
which
opened
in
2018.
Flames
billowed
from
an
oil
depot
close to
an
airbase
in
Vasylkiv,
a
metropolis
37
kilometers
(23
miles)
south
of
Kyiv
the place
there
has
been
intense
combating,
in accordance
to
the
mayor.
Russian
forces
blew
up
a
fuel
pipeline
in
Kharkiv,
prompting
the
authorities
to
warn
folks
to
cowl
their
home windows
with
damp
fabric
or
gauze
as
safety
from
smoke,
the
president’s
workplace
mentioned.
Ukrainian
navy
deputy
commander
Lt.-Gen.
Yevhen
Moisiuk
sounded
a
defiant
be aware
in
a
message
aimed
at
Russian
troops.
“Unload
your
weapons,
increase
your
palms
so
that
our
servicemen
and
civilians
can
perceive
that
you
have
heard
us.
This
is
your
ticket
dwelling,” Moisiuk
mentioned
in
a
Fb
video.
The
quantity
of
casualties
so
far
from
Europe’s
largest
land
battle
since
World
Warfare
II
stays
unclear
amid
the
fog
of
fight.
Ukraine’s
well being
minister
reported
Saturday
that
198
folks,
together with
three
youngsters,
had
been
killed
and
extra
than
1,000
others
wounded.
It
was
unclear
whether or not
these
figures
included
each
navy
and
civilian
casualties.
Russia
has
not
launched
any
casualty
info.
Ukraine’s
UN
ambassador,
Sergiy
Kyslytsya,
tweeted
Saturday
that
Ukraine
appealed
to
the
Worldwide
Committee
of
the
Pink
Cross
“to
facilitate
repatriation
of
hundreds
of
our bodies
of
Russian
troopers.” An
accompanying
chart
claimed
3,500
Russian
troops
have
been
killed.
Laetitia
Courtois,
ICRC’s
everlasting
observer
to
the
UN,
informed
The
Related
Press
that
the
scenario
in
Ukraine
was
“a
limitation
for
our
groups
on
the
floor”
and
“we
due to this fact
can’t
verify
numbers
or
different
particulars.”
The
United
Nations’
refugee
company
mentioned
Sunday
that
about
368,000
Ukrainians
have
arrived
in
neighbouring
international locations
since
the
invasion
began
Thursday.
The
UN
has
estimated
the
battle
might
produce
as
many
as
4
million
refugees,
relying
how
lengthy
it
continues.
Zelenskyy
denounced
Russia’s
offensive
as
“state
terrorism.” He
mentioned
the
assaults
on
Ukrainian
cities
ought to
be
investigated
by
an
worldwide
conflict
crimes
tribunal
and
price
Russia
its
place
as
one
of
the
5
everlasting
members
of
the
United
Nations
Safety
Council.
As
Russia
pushes
forward
with
its
offensive,
the
West
is
working
to
equip
the
outnumbered
Ukrainian
forces
with
weapons
and
ammunition
whereas
punishing
Russia
with
far-reaching
sanctions
meant
to
additional
isolate
Moscow.
The
US
pledged
an
extra
USD
350
million
in
navy
help
to
Ukraine,
together with
anti-tank
weapons,
physique
armour
and
small
arms.
Germany
mentioned
it
would
ship
missiles
and
anti-tank
weapons
to
the
besieged
nation
and
that
it
would
shut
its
airspace
to
Russian
planes.
The
US,
European
Union
and
United
Kingdom
agreed
to
block
“chosen”
Russian
banks
from
the
SWIFT
world
monetary
messaging
system,
which
strikes
cash
round
extra
than
11,000
banks
and
different
monetary
establishments
worldwide,
half
of
a
new
spherical
of
sanctions
aiming
to
impose
a
extreme
price
on
Moscow
for
the
invasion.
They
additionally
agreed
to
impose
“restrictive
measures”
on
Russia’s
central
financial institution.
Responding
to
a
request
from
Ukraine’s
minister
of
digital
transformation,
tech
billionaire
Elon
Musk
mentioned
on
Twitter
that
his
satellite-based
web
system
Starlink
was
now
lively
in
Ukraine
and
that
there
have been
“extra
terminals
en
route.”
German
Chancellor
Olaf
Scholz,
in the meantime,
mentioned
Sunday
that
his
nation
is
committing
100
billion
euros
(USD
112.7
billion)
to
a
particular
fund
for
its
armed
forces,
elevating
its
protection
spending
above
2
per
cent
of
gross
home
product.
Scholz
informed
a
particular
session
of
the
Bundestag
the
funding
was
wanted
”to
defend
our
freedom
and
our
democracy.”
Putin
despatched
troops
into
Ukraine
after
denying
for
weeks
that
he
meant
to
do
so,
all
the
whereas
constructing
up
a
pressure
of
virtually
200,000
troops
alongside
the
international locations’
borders.
He
claims
the
West
has
failed
to
take
significantly
Russia’s
safety
issues
about
NATO,
the
Western
navy
alliance
that
Ukraine
aspires
to
be a part of.
However
he
has
additionally
expressed
scorn
about
Ukraine’s
proper
to
exist
as
an
unbiased
state.
Russia
claims
its
assault
on
Ukraine
is
aimed
solely
at
navy
targets,
however
bridges,
colleges
and
residential
neighbourhoods
have
been
hit.
Ukraine’s
ambassador
to
the
US,
Oksana
Markarova,
mentioned
Ukraine
was
gathering
proof
of
shelling
of
residential
areas,
kindergartens
and
hospitals
to
submit
to
an
worldwide
conflict
crimes
court docket
in
The
Hague
as
attainable
crimes
in opposition to
humanity.
The
Worldwide
Prison
Courtroom’s
prosecutor
has
mentioned
he
is
monitoring
the
battle
carefully.
British
International
Secretary
Liz
Truss
warned
Sunday
that
Putin
might
use
“the
most
unsavory
means,” together with
banned
chemical
or
organic
weapons,
to
defeat
Ukraine.
“I
urge
the
Russians
not
to
escalate
this
battle,
however
we
do
want
to
be
ready
for
Russia
to
search
to
use
even
worse
weapons,” Truss
informed
Sky
Information.
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