Russian President, Vladimir Putin, on Sunday ordered forces operating Russia’s nuclear deterrent to be ‘on alert’ amid simmering tensions with the West over Ukraine.
Putin said he had ordered the troops onto a ‘special regime of duty’ in light of ‘aggressive statements’ from NATO leaders and ‘unfriendly economic actions’.
This came as the warlord leader of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, complained Russia’s tactics had been ‘too sluggish’ as he appeared to pave the way for a further escalation of violence against Ukraine.
He said the Ukrainians were ‘armed to the teeth with new weaponry and ammunition, and new generation heavy artillery’ and that he is ‘hoping they will come to their senses’ and surrender.
Early Sunday, Putin gave a special TV address in which he praised his special forces for ‘heroically carrying out their military duties’.
Meanwhile, Russian forces on Sunday entered Ukraine’s second largest city of Kharkiv after failing in their overnight efforts to seize control of the capital city of Kyiv.
The Kremlin has so far not declared any fatalities from the fighting, although the head of the Dagestan regional government recently offered his condolences to the family of a slain paratrooper in what may have been a case of going off-script.
Footage from the town of Koryukivka, near the Russian border, showed hundreds of locals massing on a road to block the advance of a Russian tank column.
UK’s Ministry of Defence released its latest intelligence update, saying there had been an ‘intensive’ exchange of rocket artillery in the city, followed by ‘heavy fighting’ between Ukrainian and Russian forces.
It said fighting in the capital Kyiv had been ‘less intense’ than previous nights.
(DAILY MAIL)
