Russia-Ukraine war Russian

Germany and Britain have delivered Western heavy tanks to Ukraine, officials said Monday, providing a key infusion of armored firepower that will aid.

Nato on Sunday criticised Vladimir Putin for what it called his "dangerous and irresponsible" nuclear rhetoric, a day after the Russian president said he would station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. It demanded a Security Council session and also called on the G7 countries and the EU to warn Belarus of 'consequences' if it decides to accept the Russian weapons. The plan is one of Russia's clearest nuclear signals since the start of its invasion of Ukraine 13 months ago, and Ukraine called for a meeting of the UN Security Council in response. "Russia once again confirms its chronic inability to be a responsible steward of nuclear weapons as a means of deterrence and prevention of war, not as a tool of threats and intimidation," the ministry said. "Together with its Euro-Atlantic partners, Lithuania will decide how to react to these militaristic plans of the Russian and Belarusian regimes," the ministry said in a statement. Russian air defences halted a Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian town on Sunday in which three people were hurt and apartment blocks were damaged, the Russian defence ministry said. Nato castigated Vladimir Putin over his nuclear rhetoric a day after the Russian president said he planned to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, escalating a standoff with the West. "Fire and rescue services are at the site of the fire after the explosion in the Sviatoshyno district of the capital," Klitschko said in a Telegram post, following it up to note that the fire had been contained, and "No casualties were found". The Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff said in a Monday evening update that Russian forces were still trying to storm Bakhmut and had shelled the city and surrounding towns. In his comments on Saturday, Putin likened the move to the US stationing its weapons in Europe, while insisting that Russia would not violate its nuclear non-proliferation promises. Speaking during a televised interview on Saturday, Putin said Moscow would station the tactical nuclear weapons "without violating our international agreements on nuclear non-proliferation". "Without an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops and staff from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station and adjacent areas, any initiatives on restoring nuclear safety and security are doomed to failure," the presidential website quoted Zelenskyy as saying.

The Ukrainian military said it repelled 24 Russian attacks as heavy fighting rages in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Follow here for live updates.

The US Navy has not sailed into the Black Sea since December 2021. However, the new routes place those flights more than forty nautical miles from the Ukrainian coast, rather than the 12 nautical miles normally recognized as the limit of a nation’s airspace. When CNN first reported this change, one US official said the new routes were part of an effort “to avoid being too provocative,” as the Biden administration continues to be careful to avoid any incident that could escalate into a direct conflict with Russian forces.