President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian nuclear deterrent forces on alert amid tensions with the West over his invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking at a meeting with his top officials, Mr Putin asserted that leading Nato powers had made “aggressive statements” along with the West imposing hard-hitting financial sanctions against Russia, including the president himself.
Mr Putin ordered the Russian defence minister and the chief of the military’s General Staff to put the nuclear deterrent forces in a “special regime of combat duty”, reports The Mirror.
The order means Mr Putin wants Russia’s nuclear weapons prepared for increased readiness to launch and raises the threat that Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and the West’s response to it could boil over into nuclear warfare.
The move comes as the Russian president is becoming increasingly frustrated as the speed of the invasion.
Ukrainian troops and citizens have held off the attackers who have failed to capture the capital of Kyiv.
Overnight, Russian troops and tanks entered Kharki v triggering a fight on the streets for Ukraine's second city.
Speaking on state TV, Putin said: "As you can see, not only do Western countries take unfriendly measures against our country in the economic dimension - I mean the illegal sanctions that everyone knows about very well - but also the top officials of leading NATO countries allow themselves to make aggressive statements with regards to our country."
The latest move comes as Belarus special forces are believed to be preparing to assault the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
Ukrainian intelligence has learned from within Belarus that “special ops” troops have been spotted loading up planes for a major attack.
A senior Ukrainian source told the Daily Mirror: “If this happens it will mean Belarus has openly joined Russia in its invasion of sovereign Ukraine.
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