|
Kyiv,
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
high
alert
Sunday
in
response
to
what
he
called
“aggressive
statements”
by
leading
NATO
powers.
credit:
PTI
The
order
means
Putin
wants
Russia’s
nuclear
weapons
prepared
for
increased
readiness
to
launch
and
raises
the
threat
that
Moscow’s
invasion
of
Ukraine
and
the
West’s
response
to
it
could
boil
over
into
nuclear
warfare.
Amid
the
worrying
development,
the
office
of
Ukraine’s
president
said
a
delegation
would
meet
with
Russian
officials
as
Moscow’s
troops
drew
closer
to
Kyiv.
Putin,
in
giving
the
nuclear
alert
directive,
cited
not
only
the
alleged
statements
by
NATO
members
but
the
hard-hitting
financial
sanctions
imposed
by
the
West
against
Russia,
including
the
Russian
leader
himself.
Speaking
at
a
meeting
with
his
top
officials,
Putin
told
his
defense
minister
and
the
chief
of
the
military’s
General
Staff
to
put
the
nuclear
deterrent
forces
in
a
“special
regime
of
combat
duty.”
“Western
countries
aren’t
only
taking
unfriendly
actions
against
our
country
in
the
economic
sphere,
but
top
officials
from
leading
NATO
members
made
aggressive
statements
regarding
our
country,”
Putin
said
in
televised
comments.
Putin
threatened
in
the
days
before
Russia’s
invasion
to
retaliate
harshly
against
any
nations
that
intervened
directly
in
the
conflict
in
Ukraine,
and
he
specifically
raised
the
specter
of
his
country’s
status
as
a
nuclear
power.
The
U.S.
ambassador
to
the
United
Nations
responded
to
the
news
from
Moscow
while
appearing
on
a
Sunday
news
program.
“President
Putin
is
continuing
to
escalate
this
war
in
a
manner
that
is
totally
unacceptable,”
Ambassador
Linda
Thomas-Greenfield
said.
“And
we
have
to
continue
to
condemn
his
actions
in
the
most
strong,
strongest
possible
way.”
The
practical
meaning
of
Putin’s
order
was
not
immediately
clear.
Russia
and
the
United
States
typically
have
the
land-
and
submarine-based
segments
of
their
strategic
nuclear
forces
on
alert
and
prepared
for
combat
at
all
times,
but
nuclear-capable
bombers
and
other
aircraft
are
not.
If
Putin
is
arming
or
otherwise
raising
the
nuclear
combat
readiness
of
his
bombers,
or
if
he
is
ordering
more
ballistic
missile
submarines
to
sea,
then
the
United
States
might
feel
compelled
to
respond
in
kind,
according
to
Hans
Kristensen,
a
nuclear
analyst
at
the
Federation
of
American
Scientists.
That
would
mark
a
worrisome
escalation
and
a
potential
crisis,
he
said.
The
alarming
step
came
as
street
fighting
broke
out
in
Ukraine’s
second-largest
city
and
Russian
troops
squeezed
strategic
ports
in
the
country’s
south,
advances
that
appeared
to
mark
a
new
phase
of
Russia’s
invasion
following
a
wave
of
attacks
on
airfields
and
fuel
facilities
elsewhere
in
the
country.
Around
the
same
time
as
Putin’s
nuclear
move,
Ukrainian
President
Volodymyr
Zelenskyy’s
office
said
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
precise
time
for
the
meeting.
The
announcement
came
hours
after
Russia
announced
that
its
delegation
had
flown
to
Belarus
to
await
talks.
Ukrainian
officials
initially
rejected
the
move,
saying
any
talks
should
take
place
elsewhere
than
Belarus,
where
Russia
placed
a
large
contingent
of
troops.
Belarus
was
one
of
the
places
from
where
Russian
troops
entered
Ukraine.
Earlier
Sunday,
the
Ukrainian
capital,
Kyiv,
was
eerily
quiet
after
huge
explosions
lit
up
the
morning
sky
and
authorities
reported
blasts
at
one
of
the
airports.
Only
an
occasional
car
appeared
on
a
deserted
main
boulevard
as
a
strict
39-hour
curfew
kept
people
off
the
streets.
Terrified
residents
instead
hunkered
down
in
homes,
underground
garages
and
subway
stations
in
anticipation
of
a
full-scale
Russian
assault.
“The
past
night
was
tough
–
more
shelling,
more
bombing
of
residential
areas
and
civilian
infrastructure,”
Zelenskyy
said.
Until
Sunday,
Russia’s
troops
had
remained
on
the
outskirts
of
Kharkiv,
a
city
of
1.4
million
about
20
kilometers
(12.4
miles)
south
of
the
border
with
Russia,
while
other
forces
rolled
past
to
press
the
offensive
deeper
into
Ukraine.
Videos
posted
on
Ukrainian
media
and
social
networks
showed
Russian
vehicles
moving
across
Kharkiv
and
Russian
troops
roaming
the
city
in
small
groups.
One
showed
Ukrainian
troops
firing
at
the
Russians
and
damaged
Russian
light
utility
vehicles
abandoned
nearby.
The
images
underscored
the
determined
resistance
Russian
troops
face
while
attempting
to
enter
Ukraine’s
bigger
cities.
Ukrainians
have
volunteered
en
masse
to
help
defend
the
capital,
Kyiv,
and
other
cities,
taking
guns
distributed
by
authorities
and
preparing
firebombs
to
fight
Russian
forces.
Ukraine’s
government
also
is
releasing
prisoners
with
military
experience
who
want
to
fight
for
the
country,
a
prosecutor’s
office
official,
Andriy
Sinyuk,
told
the
Hromadske
TV
channel
Sunday.
He
did
not
specify
whether
the
move
applied
to
prisoners
convicted
of
all
levels
of
crimes.
Putin
hasn’t
disclosed
his
ultimate
plans,
but
Western
officials
believe
he
is
determined
to
overthrow
Ukraine’s
government
and
replace
it
with
a
regime
of
his
own,
redrawing
the
map
of
Europe
and
reviving
Moscow’s
Cold
War-era
influence.
The
pressure
on
strategic
ports
in
the
south
of
Ukraine
appeared
aimed
at
seizing
control
of
the
country’s
coastline
stretching
from
the
border
with
Romania
in
the
west
to
the
border
with
Russia
in
the
east.
A
Russian
Defense
Ministry
spokesman,
Maj.
Gen.
Igor
Konashenkov,
said
Russian
forces
had
blocked
the
cities
of
Kherson
on
the
Black
Sea
and
the
port
of
Berdyansk
on
the
Azov
Sea.
He
said
the
Russian
forces
also
took
control
of
an
airbase
near
Kherson
and
the
Azov
Sea
city
of
Henichesk.
Ukrainian
authorities
also
have
reported
fighting
near
Odesa,
Mykolaiv
and
other
areas.
Cutting
Ukraine’s
access
to
its
sea
ports
would
deal
a
major
blow
to
the
country’s
economy.
It
also
could
allow
Moscow
to
build
a
land
corridor
to
Crimea,
which
Moscow
annexed
in
2014
and
until
now
was
connected
to
Russia
by
a
19-kilometer
(12-mile)
bridge,
the
longest
bridge
in
Europe
which
opened
in
2018.
Flames
billowed
from
an
oil
depot
near
an
airbase
in
Vasylkiv,
a
city
37
kilometers
(23
miles)
south
of
Kyiv
where
there
has
been
intense
fighting,
according
to
the
mayor.
Russian
forces
blew
up
a
gas
pipeline
in
Kharkiv,
prompting
the
government
to
warn
people
to
cover
their
windows
with
damp
cloth
or
gauze
as
protection
from
smoke,
the
president’s
office
said.
Ukrainian
military
deputy
commander
Lt.-Gen.
Yevhen
Moisiuk
sounded
a
defiant
note
in
a
message
aimed
at
Russian
troops.
“Unload
your
weapons,
raise
your
hands
so
that
our
servicemen
and
civilians
can
understand
that
you
have
heard
us.
This
is
your
ticket
home,”
Moisiuk
said
in
a
Facebook
video.
The
number
of
casualties
so
far
from
Europe’s
largest
land
conflict
since
World
War
II
remains
unclear
amid
the
fog
of
combat.
Ukraine’s
health
minister
reported
Saturday
that
198
people,
including
three
children,
had
been
killed
and
more
than
1,000
others
wounded.
It
was
unclear
whether
those
figures
included
both
military
and
civilian
casualties.
Russia
has
not
released
any
casualty
information.
Ukraine’s
U.N.
ambassador,
Sergiy
Kyslytsya,
tweeted
Saturday
that
Ukraine
appealed
to
the
International
Committee
of
the
Red
Cross
“to
facilitate
repatriation
of
thousands
of
bodies
of
Russian
soldiers.”
An
accompanying
chart
claimed
3,500
Russian
troops
have
been
killed.
Laetitia
Courtois,
ICRC’s
permanent
observer
to
the
U.N.,
told
The
Associated
Press
that
the
situation
in
Ukraine
was
“a
limitation
for
our
teams
on
the
ground”
and
“we
therefore
cannot
confirm
numbers
or
other
details.”
The
United
Nations’ refugee
agency
said
Sunday
that
about
368,000
Ukrainians
have
arrived
in
neighboring
countries
since
the
invasion
started
Thursday.
The
U.N.
has
estimated
the
conflict
could
produce
as
many
as
4
million
refugees,
depending
how
long
it
continues.
Zelenskyy
denounced
Russia’s
offensive
as
“state
terrorism.”
He
said
the
attacks
on
Ukrainian
cities
should
be
investigated
by
an
international
war
crimes
tribunal
and
cost
Russia
its
place
as
one
of
the
five
permanent
members
of
the
United
Nations
Security
Council.
As
Russia
pushes
ahead
with
its
offensive,
the
West
is
working
to
equip
the
outnumbered
Ukrainian
forces
with
weapons
and
ammunition
while
punishing
Russia
with
far-reaching
sanctions
intended
to
further
isolate
Moscow.
The
U.S.
pledged
an
additional
$350
million
in
military
assistance
to
Ukraine,
including
anti-tank
weapons,
body
armor
and
small
arms.
Germany
said
it
would
send
missiles
and
anti-tank
weapons
to
the
besieged
country
and
that
it
would
close
its
airspace
to
Russian
planes.
The
U.S.,
European
Union
and
United
Kingdom
agreed
to
block
“selected” Russian
banks
from
the
SWIFT
global
financial
messaging
system,
which
moves
money
around
more
than
11,000
banks
and
other
financial
institutions
worldwide,
part
of
a
new
round
of
sanctions
aiming
to
impose
a
severe
cost
on
Moscow
for
the
invasion.
They
also
agreed
to
impose
“restrictive
measures”
on
Russia’s
central
bank.
Responding
to
a
request
from
Ukraine’s
minister
of
digital
transformation,
tech
billionaire
Elon
Musk
said
on
Twitter
that
his
satellite-based
internet
system
Starlink
was
now
active
in
Ukraine
and
that
there
were
“more
terminals
en
route.”
German
Chancellor
Olaf
Scholz,
meanwhile,
said
Sunday
that
his
country
is
committing
100
billion
euros
($112.7
billion)
to
a
special
fund
for
its
armed
forces,
raising
its
defense
spending
above
2%
of
gross
domestic
product.
Scholz
told
a
special
session
of
the
Bundestag
the
investment
was
needed
“to
protect
our
freedom
and
our
democracy.”
Putin
sent
troops
into
Ukraine
after
denying
for
weeks
that
he
intended
to
do
so,
all
the
while
building
up
a
force
of
almost
200,000
troops
along
the
countries’
borders.
He
claims
the
West
has
failed
to
take
seriously
Russia’s
security
concerns
about
NATO,
the
Western
military
alliance
that
Ukraine
aspires
to
join.
But
he
has
also
expressed
scorn
about
Ukraine’s
right
to
exist
as
an
independent
state.
Russia
claims
its
assault
on
Ukraine
is
aimed
only
at
military
targets,
but
bridges,
schools
and
residential
neighborhoods
have
been
hit.
Ukraine’s
ambassador
to
the
U.S.,
Oksana
Markarova,
said
Ukraine
was
gathering
evidence
of
shelling
of
residential
areas,
kindergartens
and
hospitals
to
submit
to
an
international
war
crimes
court
in
The
Hague
as
possible
crimes
against
humanity.
The
International
Criminal
Court’s
prosecutor
has
said
he
is
monitoring
the
conflict
closely.
British
Foreign
Secretary
Liz
Truss
warned
Sunday
that
Putin
could
use
“the
most
unsavory
means,” including
banned
chemical
or
biological
weapons,
to
defeat
Ukraine.
“I
urge
the
Russians
not
to
escalate
this
conflict,
but
we
do
need
to
be
prepared
for
Russia
to
seek
to
use
even
worse
weapons,” Truss
told
Sky
News.