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| Nuclear attack illustration and portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) - Believes in Himself Vladimir Putin, Russia's Strongest Nuclear Country, Now Commands Its Military Combat Mode |
KYIV, Ukraine - President Vladimir Putin dramatically escalated East-West pressures by ordering Russian nuclear forces put on high alert Sunday, while Ukraine's embattled leader agreed to addresses with Moscow as Putin's colors and tanks drove deeper into the country.
Citing “ aggressive statements” by NATO, Putin issued a directive to increase the readiness of Russia's nuclear munitions — a step that raised fears that the irruption of Ukraine could boil over into nuclear war, whether by design or mistake.
The Russian leader is “ potentially putting in play forces that, if there’s a misapprehension, could make effects much, much more dangerous,” said a elderlyU.S. defense functionary, speaking on condition of obscurity.
Amid the mounting pressures, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office blazoned that the two sides would meet at an unidentified position on the Belarusian border, where a Russian delegation was staying Sunday.
But the Kremlin’s ultimate points in Ukraine — and what way might be enough to satisfy Moscow — remained unclear.
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The fast- moving developments came as scattered fighting was reported in Kyiv, battles broke out in Ukraine's alternate-largest megacity, Kharkiv, and strategic anchorages in the country's south came under assault from Russian forces.
With Russian colors closing in around Kyiv, a megacity of nearly 3 million, the mayor of the capital expressed mistrustfulness civilians could be vacated.
Across the country, Ukrainian protectors were putting up stiff resistance that appeared to decelerate Russia's advance.
In the southern harborage megacity of Mariupol, where Ukrainians were trying to forfend off attack, a medical platoon at a megacity sanitarium desperately tried to revive a 6- time-old girl in unicorn pajamas who was mortally wounded in Russian shelling.
During the deliverance attempt, a croaker in blue medical diminutives, pumping oxygen into the girl, looked directly into the Associated Press videotape camera landing the scene.
“ Show this to Putin,"he said angrily. “ The eyes of this child, and crying croakers." Their reanimation sweats failed, and the girl lay dead on a gurney, her jacket spattered with blood.
Nearly 900 kilometers (560 country miles) down, Faina Bystritska was under trouble in the megacity of Chernihiv.
“ I wish I had noway lived to see this,” said Bystritska, an 87- time-old Jewish survivor of World War II. She said enchantresses herald nearly constantly in the megacity, about 150 kilometers (90 country miles) from Kyiv.
Chernihiv residers have been told not to switch on any lights “ so we do n’t draw their attention,” said Bystritska, who has been living in a hallway, down from windows, the better to cover herself.
“ The window glass constantly shakes, and there's this constant thundering noise,” she said.
Meanwhile, the top functionary in the European Union outlined plans by the 27- nation bloc to close its airspace to Russian airlines and buy munitions for Ukraine.
“ For the first time ever, the European Union will finance the purchase and delivery of munitions and other outfit to a country that's under attack,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The EU will also ban somepro-Kremlin media outlets, she said.
TheU.S. also stepped up the inflow of munitions to Ukraine, publicizing it'll shoot Stinger dumdums, for shooting down copters and other aircraft, as part of a package approved by the White House on Friday. Germany likewise plans to shoot 500 Stingers and other military inventories.
Also, the 193- memberU.N. General Assembly listed an exigency session Monday on Russia's irruption.
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Putin, in ordering the nuclear alert, cited not only statements by NATO members but the hard- hitting fiscal warrants assessed by the West against Russia, including Putin himself.
“ Western countries are n’t only taking unfriendly conduct against our country in the profitable sphere, but top officers from leading NATO members made aggressive statements regarding our country,” Putin said in televised commentary.
U.S. defense officers would not expose their current nuclear alert position except to say that the service is prepared all times to defend its motherland and abettors.
White House press clerk Jen Psaki told ABC that Putin is resorting to the pattern he used in the weeks before the irruption, “ which is to manufacture pitfalls that do n’t live in order to justify farther aggression.”
The practical meaning of Putin’s order wasn't incontinently clear. Russia and the United States generally have land-and submarine- grounded nuclear forces that are on alert and prepared for combat at all times, but nuclear-able bombers and other aircraft are not.
Still, or if he's ordering further ballistic bullet submarines to ocean, also the U, If Putin is arming or else raising the nuclear combat readiness of hisbombers.S. might feel compelled to respond in kind, said Hans Kristensen, a nuclear critic at the Confederation of American Scientists.
Before Sunday, Kyiv was eerily quiet after explosions lit up the morning sky and authorities reported blasts at one field. A main street was virtually deserted as a strict curfew kept people off the thoroughfares. Authorities advised that anyone venturing out without a pass would be considered a Russian graffitist.
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Alarmed residers squat down in homes, underground garages and shelter stations in expectation of a full-scale Russian assault. Food and drug were running low, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Authorities have been handing out munitions to anyone willing to defend the megacity. Ukraine is also releasing captures with military experience who want to fight, and training people to make firebombs.
“ Right now, the most important question is to defend our country,” Klitschko said.
In town Kharkiv, 86- time-old Olena Dudnik said she and her hubby were nearly thrown from their bed by the pressure blast of a near explosion.
“ Every day there are road fights, indeed town,” with Ukrainian fighters trying to stop Russian tanks, armored vehicles and bullet launchers, Dudnik said by phone. She said the lines at apothecaries were hours long.
“ We're suffering immensely,” she said. “ We do n’t have important food in the closet, and I worry the stores are n’t going to have anything moreover, if they renew."She added “ I just want the firing to stop, people to stop being killed."
Pentagon officers said that Russian colors are being braked by Ukrainian resistance, energy dearths and other logistical problems, and that Ukraine's air defense systems, while weakened, are still operating.
But a elderlyU.S. defense functionary said that will presumably change “ We're in day four. The Russians will learn and acclimatize.” Putin has n’t bared his ultimate plans, but Western officers believe he's determined to erect Ukraine’s government and replace it with a governance of his own, reviving Moscow’s Cold War- period influence.
The number of casualties from Europe's largest land conflict since World War II remained unclear amid the fog of war. Ukraine’s health minister reported Saturday that 198 people, including three children, had been killed and further than others wounded. It wasn't clear whether those numbers encompassed both military and mercenary casualties.
Russian Defense Ministry spokespersonMaj.Gen. Igor Konashenkov gave no numbers on Russia's dead and wounded but said Sunday his country's losses were “ numerous times” lower than Ukraine's. About Ukrainians have arrived in neighboring countries since the irruption started Thursday, according to theU.N. exile agency.
Along with military backing, theU.S., European Union and Britain also agreed to block named Russian banks from the SWIFT system, which moves plutocrat around thousands of banks and other fiscal institutions worldwide. They also moved to poke restrictions on Russia’s central bank.
Russia's frugality has taken a pounding since the irruption, with the ruble plunging and the central bank calling for calm to avoid bank runs. Russia, which concentrated nearly colors along Ukraine's borders, claims its assault is aimed only at military targets, but islands, seminaries and domestic neighborhoods have also been hit.