Kyiv — In a dramatic escalation of East-West tensions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian nuclear deterrent forces placed on excessive alert Sunday in response to what he known as "aggressive statements" by main NATO powers.
The order means Putin has ordered Russia's nuclear weapons ready for elevated readiness to launch, elevating the menace that the tensions may boil over right into a nuclear conflict. In giving it, the Russian chief additionally cited hard-hitting monetary sanctions imposed by the West in opposition to Russia, together with Putin himself.
Talking at a gathering together with his prime officers, Putin directed the Russian protection minister and the chief of the army's Basic Employees to place the nuclear deterrent forces in a "particular regime of fight responsibility."
"Western international locations aren't solely taking unfriendly actions in opposition to our nation within the financial sphere, however prime officers from main NATO members made aggressive statements concerning our nation," Putin mentioned in televised feedback.
The alarming step got here as avenue preventing broke out in Ukraine's second-largest metropolis and Russian troops squeezed strategic ports within the nation's south, advances that appeared to mark a brand new part of Russia's invasion following a wave of assaults on airfields and gas services elsewhere within the nation.
The capital, Kyiv, was eerily quiet after large explosions lit up the morning sky and authorities reported blasts at one of many airports. Solely an occasional automobile appeared on a abandoned major boulevard as a strict 39-hour curfew saved individuals off the streets. Terrified residents as an alternative hunkered down in properties, underground garages and subway stations in anticipation of a full-scale Russian assault.
"The previous night time was powerful – extra shelling, extra bombing of residential areas and civilian infrastructure," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned. "There's not a single facility within the nation that the occupiers would not take into account as admissible targets."
Following its positive aspects to the east within the metropolis of Kharkiv and a number of ports, Russia despatched a delegation to Belarus for peace talks with Ukraine, in line with the Kremlin. Zelensky recommended different areas, saying his nation was unwilling to satisfy in Belarus as a result of it served as a staging floor for the invasion.
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 shifting throughout Kharkiv and Russian troops roaming the town in small teams. One confirmed Ukrainian troops firing on the Russians and broken Russian gentle utility autos deserted close by.
The photographs underscored the decided resistance Russian troops face whereas trying to enter Ukraine's larger 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 battle Russian forces.
Large explosions lit up the sky early Sunday close to Kyiv, the place terrified residents hunkered down in properties, underground garages and subway stations in anticipation of a full-scale Russian assault.
Putin hasn't disclosed his final plans, however Western officers consider he's 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 within the south of Ukraine appeared aimed toward seizing management of the nation's shoreline stretching from the border with Romania within the west to the border with Russia within the east. A Russian Protection Ministry spokesman, Main Basic 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 even have reported preventing close to Odessa, Mykolaiv and different areas.
Reducing Ukraine's entry to its sea ports would deal a significant blow to the nation's economic system. It additionally may permit Moscow to construct a land hall to Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014 and till now was related 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 23 miles south of Kyiv the place there was intense preventing, in line with the mayor. Russian forces blew up a gasoline pipeline in Kharkiv, prompting the federal government to warn individuals to cowl their home windows with damp fabric or gauze as safety from smoke, the president's workplace mentioned.
Ukrainian army deputy commander Lt.-Gen. Yevhen Moisiuk sounded a defiant word in a message aimed toward Russian troops.
"Unload your weapons, elevate your palms in order that our servicemen and civilians can perceive that you've heard us. That is your ticket dwelling," Moisiuk mentioned in a Fb video.
The U.S. pledged a further $350 million in army help to Ukraine, together with anti-tank weapons, physique armor and small arms. Germany mentioned it could ship missiles and anti-tank weapons to the besieged nation and that it could shut its airspace to Russian planes.
The U.S., European Union and United Kingdom agreed to dam "chosen" Russian banks from the SWIFT international monetary messaging system, which strikes cash round greater than 11,000 banks and different monetary establishments worldwide, a part of a brand new spherical of sanctions aiming to impose a extreme price on Moscow for the invasion. Additionally they agreed to impose "restrictive measures" on Russia's central financial institution.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in the meantime, mentioned Sunday that his nation is committing 100 billion euros, or $112.7 billion, to a particular fund for its armed forces, elevating its protection spending above 2% of gross home product. Scholz informed a particular session of the Bundestag the funding was wanted "to guard our freedom and our democracy."