MOSCOW —
Russian President
Vladimir Putin ordered his defense chiefs to put the
country’s nuclear “deterrence forces” on high alert Sunday and accused the West
of taking “unfriendly” steps against his country.
اضافة اعلان
International
tensions are already soaring over Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine, and Putin’s
order will cause further alarm.
Moscow has the
world’s second-largest arsenal of
nuclear weapons and a huge cache of ballistic
missiles which form the backbone of the country’s deterrence forces.
“I order the
defense minister and the chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces
to put the deterrence forces of the Russian army into a special mode of combat
service,” Putin said.
“You see that
Western countries are not only unfriendly to our country in the economic sphere
-- I mean illegitimate sanctions,” he added, in a televised address.
“Senior
officials of leading
NATO countries also allow aggressive statements against
our country.”
Defense Minister
Shoigu replied: “Affirmative.”
President
Vladimir Putin’s decision to place his nuclear forces on alert amounts to
“irresponsible” behavior, NATO charged Sunday.
“This is
dangerous rhetoric. This is a behavior which is irresponsible,” the alliance’s
secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg told CNN.
The Russian
president on Thursday ordered the invasion of Ukraine, sending shockwaves
around the world.
Russian ground
forces have pressed into Ukraine from the north, east and south but have
encountered fierce resistance from Ukrainian troops, the intensity of which has
likely surprised
Moscow, according to Western sources.
Ukrainian authorities
describe some Russian troops as demoralized and exhausted, claiming that dozens
have surrendered.
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