Although talks are finally scheduled with Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has triggered a state of alert with his nuclear bombs, and the “red button” can now “be activated at any time”, has said a Russian general.
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Photo: AFP
Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Defense Minister stoically listening to Vladimir Putin’s orders when he demanded maximum deterrent force, which includes nuclear weapons.
In a brief filmed interview, Putin today ordered the defense minister and the chief of the general staff to put the deterrent forces, which include nuclear weapons, on special alert.
Thus, the nuclear case “has been opened” and the “red button can be activated at any time”, said the Moscow daily Komsomolskaya Pravda General Boris Solovyov, who served in the Strategic Missile Forces and in the General Staff.
This “brings forces into play which, if miscalculated, could make things much more dangerous,” a senior US military officer told reporters, Reuters reported.
Photo: AFP
Despite the crisis, the Russian president visited the construction site of the National Space Center in Moscow.
Then, in the evening, Belarus announced changes to its constitution to allow Russia to install nuclear weapons on its territory.
Belarus has been a leading partner of Russia since the beginning of the war since it allows the presence of Russian troops within its borders.
Pictures REUTERS
Putin must have been less smiling after seeing the images of the destruction of Russian vehicles by a Ukrainian army drone on Sunday.
Ukraine resists
According to Western analysts and experts consulted by Agence France Presse, Putin’s declarations as to the state of alert with his nuclear weapons are a bluff, a dangerous game and a headlong rush that show Vladimir Putin’s frustration with Ukrainian military resistance.
On the ground, the Ukrainian forces still manage to keep the main cities, including Kiev, under their control.
A Russian breakthrough came today in Kharkiv, the second largest city, but the Ukrainian army has regained “full control”, regional governor Oleg Sinegoubov said.
According to him, “the Russian enemy is totally demoralized”, abandoning its vehicles and groups of soldiers “surrendering to the Ukrainian military”.
On the international stage, several actors, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Germany’s defense minister, saw Putin’s nuclear threat as a sign that his invasion of Ukraine was not going as it should. ‘planned.
This evening, Moscow seemed to be on the verge of attempting a new offensive, since a five-kilometer convoy of vehicles from its army was heading for Kiev.
According to The Kyiv IndependentPresident of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky told Boris Johnson that the next 24 hours will be “a crucial period” for Ukraine.
Negotiations
At the same time, Moscow announced that talks with Kiev must finally begin quickly on the border between Ukraine and Belarus. This is the first time the two sides have attempted to negotiate since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
“I say things as always frankly: I don’t really believe in a result”, but “we have to try”, expressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a video statement.
—With Agence France Presse
► Consult our complete file on the Russian invasion in Ukraine
Comments on the nuclear threat
Several UN members, ministers and experts reacted today to the nuclear threat hanging over Ukraine.
“The mere idea of a nuclear conflict is simply inconceivable.”
– UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, AFP reported.
“It means that President Putin continues to escalate this war in a way that is completely unacceptable. We must continue to condemn his actions in the strongest possible way. »
– Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Ambassador to the UN, AFP reported.
“The Russian state is taking a further step and we feel that this also has to do with the fact that in its megalomania the rapid invasion of Ukraine was stopped by courageous and determined actions of the Ukraine.”
– Christine Lambrecht, Minister of Defense of Germany, on the German public television channel ZDF.
“This is a sign of Putin’s deep irrationality […] This is dangerous for Russia and for the rest of the world. But now is not the time to be intimidated. It’s time to be clearheaded, determined, and above all united in our opposition to what President Putin is doing.”
– Bob Rae, Canadian Ambassador to the UN, in an interview with CBC.
“President Putin is playing a dangerous game by placing nuclear weapons on combat alert. Our campaign strongly condemns this action and we call for an immediate ceasefire, as well as the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine.”
– Jean-Marie Collin, spokesperson for the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), AFP reported.