Kiev, Feb 28, (dpa/GNA) – The Russian Defence Ministry said it had switched the country’s deterrence forces to enhanced combat alert on Monday, despite Russian and Ukrainian delegations beginning their peace talks at the Belarusian border.
Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu, informed Russian President, Vladimir Putin, strategic missile forces, the Northern and Pacific Fleets and the long-range air forces had all been placed on high alert in response to aggressive statements by NATO.
Russia has faced a barrage of unprecedented international sanctions and an outpouring of support for Ukraine since Putin launched an invasion of that country on Thursday.
On Sunday, Putin already raised the prospect of a nuclear escalation with the West over Ukraine, when he ordered the country’s “deterrent weapons” be put on special alert.
The Russian delegation to the peace talks is led by the Kremlin’s special envoy, Vladimir Medinsky, while the Ukrainian side is led by Davyd Arakhamia, who leads President Zelensky’s Servant of the People party in the Ukrainian parliament.
Medinsky stressed that Moscow was serious about reaching an agreement, while a statement from the Ukrainian delegation said: “The key issue in the negotiations is the immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of troops from the territory of Ukraine.”
Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said it was regrettable that “these negotiations did not start 24 hours ago, although the opportunity was there,” according to state news agency TASS.
As negotiations got underway, the Russian offensive on Ukraine’s capital city Kiev continued on Monday, the Ukrainian military said.
In the north of the city, the Russian army was attempting to build a pontoon bridge to cross the Irpin River, the Ukrainian military’s General Staff said on Facebook. There was also another unsuccessful attempt to take the city of Irpin, just outside Kiev, they said.
Russian news agency Interfax reported that Russian troops, advanced from the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson towards the city of Mykolaiv.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian state communications service, said in a post on Telegram that a missile had hit a residential building in the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, near the border with Belarus.
Ukraine’s state energy company Energoatom, dismissed claims by Russia that its troops had taken control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as fake news. “Currently, all four nuclear power plants are under the control of Ukraine and are operating normally.”
Details of the military developments could not be independently verified.
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry has reported 352 civilian deaths, including 14 children since Russia began its attack in the early hours of Thursday.
A further 1,684 people, including 116 children, were reportedly wounded as of Sunday night, according to ministry figures.
Ukraine’s military said the “loss” of Russian personnel now stood at around 4,500 soldiers, and that Russian helicopters, tanks and other military vehicles had been destroyed.
While Russia conceded that there have been deaths among its ranks during the fighting in Ukraine, it has not given a death toll.
Western powers have responded with tough sanctions on Moscow, and US President Joe Biden was due to speak to allies and partners by telephone to discuss the latest developments in the crisis on Monday.
Russia would counter Western sanctions in kind, the Kremlin said on Monday, following the closure of European Union airspace to all Russian aircraft.
EU countries and other Western states have announced numerous sanctions on Moscow, including the exclusion of multiple Russian banks from the SWIFT financial transfer system.
“These are severe sanctions. They are problematic, but Russia has the necessary potential to compensate for the damage caused by the sanctions,” Peskov said, accusing the EU of taking a “hostile course” against Russia.
Peskov also warned that supplies of weapons, equipment and ammunition from EU states, including Germany, were further destabilizing the situation in Ukraine.
This does not help to restore order in the country, Peskov stressed, adding that Russia felt vindicated in its actions in Ukraine.
GNA