- NATO accuses Putin of “dangerous and irresponsible” rhetoric
- The EU calls on Belarus not to deploy Russian nuclear weapons
- Avdiivka becomes “post-apocalyptic”, the city closes – officially
- Russia crashes Ukrainian drone south of Moscow, 3 injured – ministry
KIEV, March 27 (Portal) – The commander of Ukraine’s ground forces said on Monday Kiev is planning its next move after Moscow shifted the focus of its offensive from a weak attack on the eastern city of Bakhmut to another city farther south, designated as called post-apocalyptic.
The Ukrainian military is keen to wear down Russian forces as much as possible before launching a counteroffensive in the coming weeks or months to end the all-out invasion launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin 13 months ago.
The commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who said last week that the counterattack could come “very soon”, visited front-line troops in the east on Monday and said his forces were still repelling Russian attacks on Bakhmut.
Defending the small town in the industrialized Donbass region that Russia has been trying to conquer for months is a “military necessity,” he said, praising Ukraine’s resilience in “extremely difficult conditions.”
“We are calculating all possible options for the development of the events and will react appropriately to the current situation.”
Commander-in-Chief General Valery Zaluzhniy said on Saturday the situation around Bakhmut was being “stabilized” where Russian forces said they were fighting street by street.
Last week, Ukraine’s military warned that Avdiivka, a smaller town 90 km (55 miles) further south, could become a “second Bakhmut” as Russia turns its attention to it. Both cities were reduced to rubble in battles that both sides dubbed the “meat grinder.”
“I’m sorry to say this, but Avdiivka is becoming more and more like a place from post-apocalyptic movies,” said Vitaliy Barabash, head of the city’s military administration. Of the 30,000 pre-war residents, only about 2,000 remain and he told them to leave.
A Ukrainian military video showed smoke billowing from destroyed apartment blocks and dead soldiers in open areas and in trenches in Bakhmut.
Regional Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said two people were killed and 29 injured on Monday after Russian forces fired two S-300 rockets at the eastern city of Sloviansk, northwest of Bakhmut. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy released video of smoldering debris and vowed that “Ukraine will not forgive such attacks”. Moscow denies attacks on civilians.
In Russia, the defense ministry said it shot down a Ukrainian drone on Sunday, wounding three people and damaging apartment blocks in the attack south of Moscow.
Kyiv generally does not comment on reports of attacks inside Russia. The latest reported attack on the town of Kireyevsk in the Tula region, 220 km (140 miles) south of Moscow, appeared to be one of the closest hitherto to the Russian capital.
NUCLEAR PLAN
As the invasion that Putin launched to “demilitarize” Ukraine stalled, he and other senior Russian officials have played up the prospect that the war could escalate to include nuclear weapons: On Saturday he said he had reached an agreement to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus .
While not unexpected, the Belarusian plan is one of Russia’s clearest nuclear signals and a warning to NATO about its military support for Ukraine, which has called for a UN Security Council meeting in response.
“Russia’s nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and irresponsible,” NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said on Sunday.
“NATO is vigilant and we are closely monitoring the situation. We have seen no changes in Russia’s nuclear stance that would cause us to adjust our own.”
Putin compared his plan for Belarus to the stationing of US arms in Europe and insisted that Russia would not violate its nuclear non-proliferation promises.
However, Lungescu said Putin’s non-proliferation pledge and his description of US arms use abroad were far off the mark.
“Russia’s reference to NATO’s nuclear sharing is completely misleading. NATO allies are acting in full respect of their international obligations,” she added in a statement.
“Russia has consistently broken its arms control commitments.”
Ukraine’s security chief Oleksiy Danilov said Russia’s plan would destabilize Belarus, which he says has been “held hostage” by Moscow.
Others condemning Putin’s plan were Lithuania, which said it would call for new sanctions on Moscow and Minsk, while EU political leader Josep Borrell urged Belarus not to host the guns and threatened more sanctions.
Belarus and Russia have close military ties, and Minsk allowed Moscow to use its territory as a base for its invasion of Ukraine last year.
Experts see Russia’s move as significant because, unlike the United States, it has prided itself on not having deployed nuclear weapons outside its borders. This may be the first time this has been planned since the mid-1990s.
The US downplayed concerns about the planned deployment of Russia.
“I can tell you that we have seen nothing to suggest that Mr. Putin is preparing to use tactical nuclear weapons in any way in Ukraine,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Sunday to broadcaster CBC.
“And I can also tell you that we haven’t seen anything that would cause us to change our own strategic nuclear deterrent posture.”
Tactical nuclear weapons are used to achieve specific gains on a battlefield, rather than those capable of wiping out cities. It is unclear how many such weapons Russia possesses, as the issue is still shrouded in Cold War secrecy.
Putin claimed on Sunday that the Western powers were building a new “axis” similar to the partnership between Germany and Japan during World War II, while denying that Russia is building a military alliance with China.
It was a reiteration of a theme that emerged in his portrayal of the war as Moscow’s struggle against a perceived Nazi grip on Ukraine, backed by Western powers that threaten Russia. Ukraine rejects this as a false pretext for an imperial war of conquest.
Reporting by Dan Peleschuk and the Portal offices. Writing by Himani Sarkar and Philippa Fletcher. Editing by Gerry Doyle, Clarence Fernandez, Peter Graff
Our standards: The Thomson Portal Trust Principles.