Putin puts Russian nuclear deterrence forces on high alert
Fighting has reached the streets of Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv as Russia presses ahead with its operation days after the Russian President ordered the start of a special military operation.
In a pre-dawn TV address on 24 February, Russian President Vladimir Putin said announced the start of a special military operation in Ukraine after the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics requested protection from intensified attacks by the Ukrainian army. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories.
The West imposed fresh sanctions on Russia, aimed at cutting off its largest banks and preventing the country from importing critical technology.
According to the Kremlin, the Russian President ordered troops to suspend the military offensive, awaiting peace talks with the Ukrainian side, but after Kyiv rejected the offer to negotiate, Moscow resumed the operation.
Here are all the latest updates:
US, NATO do not threaten Russia: White House
US & NATO ‘do not threaten’ Russia, Washington said, adding that Moscow is putting its deterrent forces on high alert based on threats that don’t exist.
Canada, Spain ban Russian Plans
Canada and Spain latest countries to ban Russian planes from their airspace, according to news reports.
Canada’s airspace is closed to all Russian aircraft operators effective immediately, according to the Canadian Minister of Transport, Omar Alghabra.
Russian MoD says Ukrainian forces use banned Phosphorus Munitions outside Kyiv
Ukrainian forces have started using munitions filled with phosphorus near Gostomel Airport outside Kyiv, the Russian Defence Ministry said.
“Desperate to deter the Russian offensive, Ukraine’s army has been massively using phosphorus munitions in areas close to Kyiv and near Gostomel Airport. They are using 122 mm D30 howitzers and rockets for BM-21 “Grad” systems made in the Soviet Union,” an official spokesman for the MoD, Igor Konashenkov, said, according to Sputnik/
Putin puts Russian nuclear deterrence forces on high alert
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the military to put the nation’s nuclear deterrence forces on high alert Sunday following “aggressive statements” from NATO.
“Top officials of leading NATO nations indulge in making aggressive statements about our country. Therefore, I am ordering the minister of defence and the chief of the general staff to put the deterrence forces of the Russian army into special combat duty mode,” Putin said in a briefing with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov, Sputnik reported.
NATO, Putin said, has not limited its reaction to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine only to “unfriendly actions against our country in the economic sphere” in the form of sanctions.
