Russia Ukraine Vladimir Putin nuclear

Ukraine has defied the odds and remains in control of cities under fire, including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, and Mariupol.

The actual number of those killed and wounded will almost certainly be considerably higher and will continue to rise, it said. “The situation is quite critical,” he said, adding that it was difficult to estimate how many people had been killed in hours of shelling and air raids because they could not collect all the bodies. Despite heavy Russian shelling, the cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol remain in Ukrainian hands, the department said. He said people could not leave because of the damage to trains and bridges. He said that the next round of talks could lead to agreements, some of which would need to be ratified by Russian and Ukrainian parliaments. “It is important for our Ukrainian community members to know that they are supported locally, even as they worry about their family and homeland from afar,” the Rev. Ronald Popivchak said in a statement. “We will gather to pray and advocate for an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of the Russian military.” Battles escalated across Ukraine on Thursday as Russia laid siege to major cities, stepping up assaults in the face of fierce Ukrainian resistance. He called on the civilian population to build barricades in cities, hold rallies with Ukrainian flags, and create online networking groups. “The goal was to maximize the impact on Putin and Russia and minimize the harm on us and our allies and friends around the world. Our interest is in maintaining the strongest unified economic impact campaign on Putin in all history, and I think we’re well on the way to doing that.” “There is a real threat of nuclear danger in the biggest atomic energy station in Europe.”

Frustrated by a lack of military progress in Ukraine, the Russian president has put his country's nuclear arms on high alert. Russian President Vladimir Putin ...

“Use of a nuclear weapon by Russia is still highly unlikely because MAD remains the current state of affairs among the major nuclear powers in their deterrence relationships. The risk of nuclear weapons use is obviously elevated relative to normal circumstances, but the threat remains low for now.” “The Russian nuclear arsenal is vast insofar as estimates of it hold that it has 14,000 nuclear weapons in storage. “Russia has an estimated 1,600 deployed tactical nuclear weapons… That said, the majority of these weapons are not immediately usable. “Putin is reaching for it at this point because the war is probably not going as well as he anticipated.

A fire broke out in a training building outside a nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia in the early hours of Friday, after being shelled by Russian forces, ...

The president went on to accuse Ukrainian forces of using civilians as “human shields”while providing no evidence. - Russian forces continue to control both local and regional government buildings in the strategically important Black Sea port of Kherson, local authorities said. - A fire broke out in a training building outside a nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia in the early hours of Friday, after being shelled by Russian forces, Ukrainian authorities said. For the first time in the history of humankind, the terrorist state commits nuclear terrorism. - After burning for at least four hours amid reports Russian troops had prevented emergency teams from attending to the blaze, Ukrainian emergency services confirmed the blaze was extinguished at 6.20am local time. - Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy made another appeal to Europe for help following the attack on the nuclear plant.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine enters its second week Thursday as fighting continues across the smaller country.

The update added that despite heavy Russian shelling, the cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol were still in Ukrainian hands. Even if the Kremlin succeeds in taking capital city Kyiv and toppling President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, "how are they going to construct an effective government to replace him? "With an active investigation now underway, I repeat my call to all those engaged in hostilities in Ukraine to adhere strictly to the applicable rules of international humanitarian law," he said. "The column has made little discernible progress in over three days." Meanwhile, the east of Ukraine had been the scene of low-level fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces for eight years until Russia's renewed invasion on Feb. 24. "And to keep it the same, these requirements must be met." "Peace is the only way to halt this tragedy." "The regional operational headquarters continues to work and address pressing issues to help residents of the region. A live-streamed security camera linked from the homepage of the nuclear power plant showed what appeared to be armored vehicles rolling into the facility's parking lot and shining spotlights on the building where the camera was mounted. "I would immediately cease any payments in the energy markets," he said. "The situation is evolving quickly, and we will continue to share updates when appropriate." The emergency service said that there was a fire behind the nuclear power plant in an area that is used for training.

Deterrence won't be enough for a Russian leader who has never lost a war.

The United States and its allies should obviously avoid triggering a nuclear exchange, but we should also prepare for the possibility that such an outcome may not be in our control. Russian oligarchs and Kremlin leaders already know that their president has overplayed his hand, and Putin may need a swift victory in Ukraine. Why wouldn’t he use a nuclear strike to bring Ukraine to its knees and compel the West to succumb to his demands? The Kremlin has fed Russians a steady stream of disinformation to justify the invasion of Ukraine, but do the people believe Putin’s stories? I do not believe the Russian people condone the violence inflicted on Ukraine, and as their sons vanish in combat, the antiwar protests in cities will grow. Fiona Hill, former senior director for European and Russian affairs at the National Security Council, disclosed in an interview with Politico that when she was serving in the White House, Putin had seemed to threaten the use of nuclear force during a discussion with President Donald Trump. Each war he’s won has been followed by another in his quest to be remembered in history as the one who reasserted Russia’s glory as a world power.

Surprised by the speed at which sanctions have been poured on Russia, Biden's top aides suspect that Putin's reaction will be to double down and lash out ...

And Mr. Putin has shown, twice this week, that he is ready to remind the world of the powers of his arsenal. And, especially after the Russian military’s poor performance in the first week of the war, he may be concerned that any whiff of failure could weaken his hold on power. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is making Moldova one of his stops on a reassurance tour that began on Thursday. But the administration would calibrate its sanctions, and perhaps reduce them, if Mr. Putin begins to de-escalate. He seems unlikely to accept any result that does not achieve his goal of bringing Ukraine closer to the Russian fold. “I think right in this moment, they are marching toward Kyiv with a convoy and continuing to take reportedly barbaric steps against the people of Ukraine. So now is not the moment where we are offering options for reducing sanctions.” So they have described a series of possible reactions, ranging from indiscriminate shelling of Ukrainian cities to compensate for the early mistakes made by his invading force, to cyberattacks directed at the American financial system, to more nuclear threats and perhaps moves to take the war beyond Ukraine’s borders. A few hours after he spoke, S&P dropped Russia’s credit rating to CCC-, the credit-rating agency said in a statement. American officials are expecting that President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko may well ask Mr. Putin to place tactical weapons in his country, where they would be closer to European capitals. It suggested that Mr. Putin’s effort to “sanctions-proof” his economy had largely failed. And the sanctions, the official noted, were designed not as a punishment, but as leverage to end the war. Mr. Putin’s tendency, American intelligence officials have told the White House and Congress, is to double down when he feels trapped by his own overreach.