Ukraine updates: Russia ready for nuclear war, Putin says

Volunteer Russian forces fighting alongside Ukrainians against the Kremlin have urged civilians to flee border areas such as Belgorod and Kursk as they plan large-scale attacks on military targets there. 

Groups of volunteer fighters, made up of Russians who oppose President Vladimir Putin, said this week they had crossed from Ukraine into Russia and captured a village in the Kursk region.

“We are forced to inflict shelling on military positions that are stationed in the cities of Belgorod and Kursk,” three groups — the Freedom of Russia Legion, the Russian Volunteer Corps, and Sibir — said in a joint statement.

“We call on the local authorities to preserve human lives and begin evacuating the cities of Kursk and Belgorod,” they added.

Moscow denies that the fighters had gained territory and says it has repelled all incursions.
The Ukraine-based militias have claimed to have been behind previous incursions into Russian territory.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said additional troops and weapons systems would be stationed on the country’s northwestern border with new NATO member Finland. 

The announcement came as the Russian leader also warned that Moscow is technically ready for nuclear war.

In an interview on Russian state television, Putin said Finland’s joining NATO was an “absolutely senseless step” that did not align with its national interests. 

Both Finland and Sweden applied for membership in the military alliance after Russia staged its all-out invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago. Both countries are now members.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia is prepared to use nuclear weapons if there is a threat to his country’s statehood, sovereignty or independence. 

Putin delivered a blunt warning to the West: “The nations that say they have no red lines regarding Russia should realize that Russia won’t have any red lines regarding them either.”

The leader said Russia had certain advantages in some of the newest types of weaponry. 

“In this regard, no one should have any doubts that a direct attack on our country will lead to defeat and horrible consequences for any potential aggressor,” he said.

Putin said Russia’s nuclear triad — nuclear weapons delivered by land, sea and air — was “much more” advanced than those in the West.

“Our triad, the nuclear triad, it is more modern than any other triad,” he said. “Only we and the Americans actually have such triads. And we have advanced much more here,” 

The Russian leader has repeatedly spoken about his readiness to use nuclear weapons since launching the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.  

Putin praised US President Joe Biden as someone who fully understands the possible dangers of nuclear escalation, and said he doesn’t think that the world is heading to a nuclear war.

In his state-of-the-nation address last month, Putin warned the West that deepening its involvement in the fighting in Ukraine would risk a nuclear war.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said France, Germany and Poland are set to hold emergency talks on Ukraine in Berlin on Friday. 

The summit of the Weimar Triangle, a format of the three countries that was initially created in 1991, was described as an “emergency and unplanned.”

Tusk made his announcement after discussions about Ukraine in Washington. 

Poland is among Ukraine’s strongest allies and has repeatedly urged its Western partners to increase military aid spending for Kyiv to fend off the Russian invasions.

Russia’s TASS news agency says a Ukrainian drone hit a building used by the FSB state security service in the city of Belgorod. 

The news comes as a wave of drone strikes targeted Russia’s oil refineries and border regions for the second day in a row on Wednesday. 

One of the drones sparked a fire and injured several people in the Ryazan region, officials said.

While dozens of drones were launched overnight, regional governors said the vast majority were shot down causing some damage but no victims. 

Russia said the drones were aimed at the Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, and Voronezh regions.

rc/sms (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)