Ukraine news: Putin practices “nuclear intimidation”

The essentials in brief:

• Berlin criticizes the planned stationing of nuclear weapons in Belarus
• Russia wants to increase tank production
• Situation around Bakhmut stabilizes
• IAEA chief Rossi will visit the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant again

The German government has clearly criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intention to station nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus. The Foreign Office in Berlin spoke of a “further attempt at nuclear intimidation”. It went on to say: “President Putin’s comparison to NATO’s nuclear sharing is misleading and cannot serve to justify the step announced by Russia.” In addition, Belarus has made several declarations internationally that it will be free of nuclear weapons.

Putin announced on state television on Saturday evening that Russia and Belarus had agreed to deploy tactical nuclear weapons. The Kremlin chief pointed out that the United States had also stationed nuclear weapons with allies in Europe. “We’re just doing what they’ve been doing for decades,” Putin said.

The US reacts cautiously

The US Department of Defense is monitoring the situation. The Pentagon and the US President’s Office in Washington said there was no reason to change their own nuclear weapons policy, nor were there any signs that Russia was preparing to use a nuclear weapon.

Russia wants to increase tank production

In view of the western supply of tanks to Ukraine, Russia will increase its own tank production, according to President Vladimir Putin. “The total number of tanks in the Russian army will exceed Ukraine’s by three times, even more than three times,” Putin said on state television. While Ukraine will get 420 to 440 tanks from the west, Russia will build 1,600 new tanks or modernize existing tanks.

Putin also said Russia could produce three times the amount of ammunition that western Ukraine wants to supply. The national armaments industry is developing at a rapid pace. While the Russian economy is suffering severely from Western sanctions, the defense industry has been working at full speed for months.

Situation around Bakhmut stabilizes

According to reports from Kiev and London, the Ukrainian army is repelling months of Russian attacks on the city of Bakhmut with increasing success. The situation in the region in the east of the country is stabilizing, said the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, Valeriy Zalushnyi. According to the British Ministry of Defence, the Russian attacks are faltering mainly because of heavy casualties. The online medium “Novoye Vremya”, citing a Ukrainian military spokesman, reported that the number of daily Russian attacks on Bakhmut had fallen from 30 or more to fewer than 20.

IAEA chief Grossi is traveling to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant again

In view of the ongoing risky situation at the Ukrainian Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, will travel to the Russian-occupied plant again next week. This was announced by the IAEA in Vienna. “Despite our presence at the plant for seven months now, the situation at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is still precarious,” Grossi said. The dangers to nuclear safety are all too obvious, as is the need to act now to prevent an accident. The IAEA boss emphasized that he would continue to do “everything in my power” for this. He proposed setting up a security zone around the nuclear power plant.

Russia captured the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine shortly after the start of its war of aggression in February 2022 and has occupied it ever since. For months Moscow and Kiev have accused each other of being responsible for attacks around and on the nuclear power plant.

In September 2022, Grossi traveled to the nuclear power plant with a team of experts. Since then, the IAEA has had a permanent on-site presence with experts.

se/wa (dpa, rtr, afp)

This article will be continuously updated on the day of its publication. Reports from the combat zones cannot be independently verified.