Russia threatened to cut off the last gas pipeline to Ukraine’s European allies and moved to annex a large chunk of Ukrainian territory amid a string of military setbacks in the seven-month-long war.
Moscow prepared to declare landslide victories in the hastily organized “referendums” it held in the territories currently occupied by its forces. The United Nations has condemned the voting as illegal with people at times forced at gunpoint.
With this fresh warning, the calling up of 300,000 more troops and hints it may use nuclear weapons, the Kremlin is sending a clear signal that it’s committed to a conflict that many in the U.S. and Europe argue it can’t win. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s forces are steadily pushing back Russia’s hold on the land it claims.
