Putin Puts Russia's Nuclear Forces on Alert, Cites Sanctions

The announcement means Putin has ordered Russia’s nuclear weapons prepared for increased readiness to launch, raising the threat that the tensions could boil over into nuclear warfare

Adam Berry | Getty Images News | Getty Images A fragment of a destroyed Russian tank is seen on the roadside on the outskirts of Kharkiv on February 26, 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin dramatically escalated East-West tensions by ordering Russian nuclear forces put on high alert Sunday, while Ukraine's embattled leader agreed to talks with Moscow as Putin's troops and tanks drove deeper into the country, closing in around the capital.

Citing “aggressive statements” by NATO and tough financial sanctions, Putin issued a directive to increase the readiness of Russia's nuclear weapons, raising fears that the invasion of Ukraine could lead to nuclear war, whether by design or mistake.

The Russian leader is “potentially putting in play forces that, if there’s a miscalculation, could make things much, much more dangerous,” said a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss rapidly unfolding military operations.

Putin's directive came as Russian forces encountered strong resistance from Ukraine defenders. Moscow has so far failed to win full control of Ukraine’s airspace, despite advances across the country. U.S. officials say they believe the invasion has been more difficult, and slower, than the Kremlin envisioned, though that could change as Moscow adapts.

Amid the mounting tensions, Western nations said they would tighten sanctions and buy and deliver weapons for Ukraine, including Stinger missiles for shooting down helicopters and other aircraft.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, meanwhile, announced plans for a meeting with a Russian delegation at an unspecified location on the Belarusian border.

It wasn’t immediately clear when the meeting would take place, nor what the Kremlin was ultimately seeking, either in those potential talks on the border or, more broadly, from its war in Ukraine. Western officials believe Putin wants to overthrow Ukraine’s government and replace it with a regime of his own, reviving Moscow’s Cold War-era influence.

The fast-moving developments came as scattered fighting was reported in Kyiv. Battles also broke out in Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, and strategic ports in the country's south came under assault from Russian forces.

By late Sunday, Russian forces had taken Berdyansk, a Ukrainian city of 100,000 on the Azov Sea coast, according to Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to Zelenskyy’s office. Russian troops also made advances toward Kherson, another city in the south of Ukraine, while Mariupol, a port city on the Sea of Azov that is considered a prime Russian target, is “hanging on," Arestovich said.

See How Russia's Attacks on Ukraine Unfolded

There have been dozens of reports of attacks in Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a military invasion into the country on Feb. 23, 2022.

Note: Timeline in Eastern Time
Source: NBC News
Credit: Andrew Williams/NBC

With Russian troops closing in around Kyiv, a city of almost 3 million, the mayor of the capital expressed doubt that civilians could be evacuated. Authorities have been handing out weapons to anyone willing to defend the city. Ukraine is also releasing prisoners with military experience who want to fight, and training people to make firebombs.

In Mariupol, where Ukrainians were trying to fend off attack, a medical team at a city hospital desperately tried to revive a 6-year-old girl in unicorn pajamas who was mortally wounded in Russian shelling.

During the rescue attempt, a doctor in blue medical scrubs, pumping oxygen into the girl, looked directly into the Associated Press video camera capturing the scene.

“Show this to Putin," he said angrily. “The eyes of this child, and crying doctors."

Their resuscitation efforts failed, and the girl lay dead on a gurney, her jacket spattered with blood.

Nearly 900 kilometers (560 miles) away, Faina Bystritska was under threat in the city of Chernihiv.

“I wish I had never lived to see this,” said Bystritska, an 87-year-old Jewish survivor of World War II. She said sirens blare almost constantly in the city, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) from Kyiv.

Chernihiv residents have been told not to switch on any lights “so we don’t draw their attention,” said Bystritska, who has been living in a hallway, away from any windows, so she could better protect herself.

“The window glass constantly shakes, and there is this constant thundering noise,” she said.

Meanwhile, the top official in the European Union outlined plans by the 27-nation bloc to close its airspace to Russian airlines and buy weapons for Ukraine. The EU will also ban some pro-Kremlin media outlets, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The U.S. also stepped up the flow of weapons to Ukraine, announcing it will send Stinger missiles as part of a package approved by the White House on Friday. Germany likewise plans to send 500 Stingers and other military supplies.

We don't know what's going on in Vladimir Putin's head as Russia invades Ukraine, says Anatol Lieven, an author and senior fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. It seems like Russia wants Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy to surrender and agree to demilitarize, but there does not appear to be a concrete plan to replace the Ukrainian government.

Also, the 193-member U.N. General Assembly scheduled an emergency session Monday on Russia's invasion.

Putin, in ordering the nuclear alert, cited not only statements by NATO members but the hard-hitting financial sanctions imposed by the West against Russia, including Putin himself.

“Western countries aren’t only taking unfriendly actions against our country in the economic sphere, but top officials from leading NATO members made aggressive statements regarding our country,” Putin said in televised comments.

U.S. defense officials would not disclose their current nuclear alert level except to say that the military is prepared all times to defend its homeland and allies.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told ABC that Putin is resorting to the pattern he used in the weeks before the invasion, “which is to manufacture threats that don’t exist in order to justify further aggression.”

President Joe Biden made the announcement during his State of the Union address Tuesday, joining the European Union and Canada in a similar ban.

The practical meaning of Putin’s order was not immediately clear. Russia and the United States typically have land- and submarine-based nuclear forces that are on alert and prepared for combat at all times, but nuclear-capable bombers and other aircraft are not.

If Putin is arming or otherwise raising the nuclear combat readiness of his bombers, or if he is ordering more ballistic missile submarines to sea, then the U.S. might feel compelled to respond in kind, said Hans Kristensen, a nuclear analyst at the Federation of American Scientists.

Earlier Sunday, Kyiv was eerily quiet after explosions lit up the morning sky and authorities reported blasts at one airport. A main boulevard was practically deserted as a strict curfew kept people off the streets. Authorities warned that anyone venturing out without a pass would be considered a Russian saboteur.

Terrified residents hunkered down in homes, underground garages and subway stations in anticipation of a full-scale Russian assault. Food and medicine were running low, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

“Right now, the most important question is to defend our country,” Klitschko said.

Paula Bronstein /Getty Images
Firefighters respond to a four story residential building after it was hit by a “kamikaze drone” attack early morning, Oct. 17, 2022, in Kyiv, Ukraine. Approximately three people were killed.
Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images
Smoke rises over the street after a drone attack in Kyiv, Oct. 17, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. – Ukraine officials said Kyiv had been struck four times in an early morning Russian attack with Iranian drones that damaged a residential building and targeted the central train station.
Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A Ukrainian woman is seen with her child after the Russian attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine, Oct. 17, 2022. It was reported that at least four explosions were heard in Ukraineâs capital Kyiv on Monday as authorities reported attacks by Russian kamikaze drones.
Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Firefighters work on a building destroyed by Russian strikes in Kyiv, Ukraine, Oct. 17, 2022.
Sofiia Bobok/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The city council in Kupyansk, Kharkiv, Ukraine, destroyed by shelling by Russian forces on Oct. 16, 2022.
Sergei Chuzavkov/AFP via Getty Images
Police examine destroyed cars in Kyiv after several Russian strikes hit the capital, Oct. 10, 2022. The strikes come two days after an explosion damaged the Kirsh Bridge – Russia’s sole link to annexed Crimea.
Sergei Supinksy/AFP via Getty Images
A rescue worker escorts an injured resident and her dogs out of a building after several Russian strikes hit Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, Oct. 10, 2022. The strikes come two days after an explosion damaged the Kirsh Bridge – Russia’s sole link to annexed Crimea.
Sergei Supinksy/AFP via Getty Images
People hug outside a partially destroyed office building after several Russian strikes hit Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, Oct. 10, 2022. The head of the Ukrainian military said that Russian forces launched at least 75 missiles at Ukraine Monday morning, with fatal strikes targeting the capital as well as cities in the south and west. The strikes come two days after an explosion damaged the Kirsh Bridge – Russia’s sole link to annexed Crimea.
Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images
Residents examine a crater following a missile strike in Dnipro, Ukraine, Oct. 10, 2022. The strikes come two days after an explosion damaged the Kirsh Bridge – Russia’s sole link to annexed Crimea.
AFP via Getty Images
Black smoke billows from a fire on the Kerch bridge that links Crimea to Russia, after a truck exploded on the bridge near Kirch, Oct. 8, 2022. The explosion damaged Russia’s sole land link with annexed Crimea in a symbolic win for Ukraine.
Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images
A local resident cycles past an abandoned Russian T-72 tank in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Sept. 29, 2022. Russia’s latest invasion into Ukraine has lasted over 200 days, with an end to the conflict nowhere in sight.
Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images
Destroyed churches seen in Bohorodychne village in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, Sept. 13, 2022. Russia said on September 13 it was carrying out “massive strikes” across the Ukrainian front line.
Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images
Destroyed houses seen after a strike in Pryvillya, Donbas, June 14, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, which are separated by a river, have been targeted for weeks as the last areas still under Ukrainian control in the eastern Luhansk region.
Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images
A local community art center is destroyed following a strike in Lysychansk, Donbas, June 17, 2022, as the Russian-Ukraine war enters its 114th day.
Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images
Ukrainian soldiers inspect a destroyed warehouse reportedly targeted by Russian troops on outskirts of Lysychansk, Donbas, on June 17, 2022, as the Russian-Ukraine war enters its 114th day.
Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images
The tail of a rocket is nailed into a pavement in the city of Lysychansk, Donbas, on June 17, 2022, as the Russian-Ukraine war enters its 114th day.
Maxar Technologies via AP
The Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, under the Donetsk People’s Republic, eastern Ukraine, May 12, 2022. Mariupol's last defenders surrendered to Russian forces mid-May after weeks of assaults below the steelworks plant, as Russia sought to solidify its influence over the separatist-controlled territory of Donbas.
Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images
Police walk among the rubble of a destroyed house in Bohdanivka village, April 14, 2022, amid Russia’s invasion launched on Ukraine.
Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images
Calcinated cars seen outside a train station hit by a Russian rocket attack killing at least 35 people, on April 8, 2022, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. The station was being used for civilian evacuations at the time.
FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images
A picture taken on March 21, 2022 shows a view of the damage at the Retroville shopping mall, a day after it was shelled by Russian forces in a residential district in the northwest of the Ukranian capital Kyiv. At least six people were killed in the bombing.
Anadolu Agency
In this photo, newborn babies are seen inside their cribs in Kyiv, Ukraine on March 17, 2022. Surrogate-born babies cannot reunite with their biological families due to ongoing Russian attacks in Ukraine.
Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images
The main television tower in Kyiv after it was hit by a Russian airstrike the day before, March 2, 2022.
Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images
Police officers pass by the wreckage of a building after reported shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 2, 2022.
Aytac Unal/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A man cuddles a newborn baby in the basement of a maternity hospital, which was converted to a medical ward and used as a shelter amid Russian attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 2, 2022.
Khalil Mazraawi/AFP via Getty Images
Jordanian nationals who fled the war in Ukraine reunite with relatives at the Marka military airport, Amman, Jordan, upon their evacuation by a military flight from Romania on March 2, 2022.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Distraught women and children fleeing war-torn Ukraine wait to cross into Poland at the Korczowa crossing, March 2, 2022 near Korczowa, Poland.
Abdullah Tevge/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Ukrainians work on a camouflage net for the army in Lviv, Ukraine, March 2, 2022.
Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Rocket fire launched by Russian invaders damages a five-story hostel in Vasylkiv, Ukraine.
Sergey Bobok / AFP via Getty Images
A Ukrainian armored personnel carrier (APC) BTR-4 destroyed as a result of fight not far from the center of Kharkiv, Ukraine, Feb. 28, 2022, a little over 30 miles from the Russian-Ukrainian border.
Sergey Bobok/AFP via Getty Images
A school is reduced to a pile of rubble after fight in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Feb. 28, 2022. The fight was only a little over 30 miles from the Russian-Ukrainian border.
Andrea Carrubba/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Ukrainian territorial defense forces hug in a basement used as a military base on the fifth day since start of large-scale Russian attacks in the country, in Dnipro, Ukraine, Feb. 28, 2022.
Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A woman stands amid damage due to armed conflict in Donetsk region under the control of pro-Russian separatists, Ukraine, Feb. 28, 2022.
Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images
A refugee sits by a fire after crossing the Ukrainian-Polish border, Medyka, Poland, on Feb. 28, 2022.
Andrea Carrubba/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
People construct barricades outside schools and public buildings on the fifth day since Russia invaded Ukraine, in Dnipro, Ukraine, Feb. 28, 2022.
Woitek Radwanski/AFP via Getty Images
Refugees from Ukraine gather to take a bus from the border crossing in Medyka to Przemysl, eastern Poland, Feb. 28, 2022.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Refugees from Ukraine arrive at a temporary shelter on Feb. 28, 2022, near Korczowa, Poland.
Maxar/GettyImages
A large deployment of Russian ground forces containing hundreds of military vehicles are seen in convoy northeast of Ivankiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 27, 2022. The convoy —which extends for more than 3.25 miles — contains fuel, logistics and armored vehicles moving towards Kyiv.
Chris McGrath/Getty Images
A boy plays on a swing in front of a damaged residential block hit by an early morning missile strike on Feb. 25, 2022, in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Pierre Crom/Getty Images
Firemen extinguish a fire inside a residential building damaged by a missile on Feb. 25, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine.
ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images
Ukrainian servicemen ride on tanks towards the front line with Russian forces in the Lugansk region of Ukraine on Feb. 25, 2022.
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
People gather in a shelter during Russian shelling, in Mariupol, Ukraine, Feb. 24, 2022.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
People clean out damaged homes after attacks in Yasinovataya (Yasynuvata) controlled by the pro-Russian separatists, self-proclaimed so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR), Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Children leave a damaged home after attacks in Yasinovataya (Yasynuvata) controlled by the pro-Russian separatists, self-proclaimed so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR), Ukraine, Feb. 24, 2022.
Emilio Morenatti/AP
A woman holds her baby as they leave Kyiv, Ukraine, by bus on Feb. 24, 2022. Russia launched a wide-ranging attack on Ukraine on Thursday, hitting cities and bases with airstrikes or shelling, as civilians piled into trains and cars to flee.
Pierre Crom/Getty Images
Inhabitants of Kyiv leave the city following pre-offensive missile strikes of the Russian armed forces and Belarus, Feb. 24, 2022, in Kyiv, Ukraine. Overnight, Russia began a large-scale attack on Ukraine, with explosions reported in multiple cities and far outside the restive eastern regions held by Russian-backed rebels.
Sergei Supinksy/AFP via Getty Images
Police and security personnel inspect gather by the remains of a shell landed in a street in Kyiv on Feb. 24, 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday with explosions heard soon after across the country and its foreign minister warning a “full-scale invasion” was underway.
Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Ukrainian firefighters arrive to rescue civilians after an airstrike hit an apartment complex in Chuhuiv, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine, Feb. 24, 2022.
Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images
Black smoke rises from a military airport in Chuguyev near Kharkiv on Feb. 24, 2022.
Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images
Firefighters work on a building caught on fire after the eastern Ukraine town of Chuguiv was bombed,, Feb. 24, 2022, as Russian armed forces are trying to invade Ukraine from several directions.
Efrem Lukatsky/AP
A man stands in front of a Russian Ka-52 helicopter gunship that is seen in a field after a forced landing outside Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022.
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
A woman walks past the debris in the aftermath of Russian shelling, in Mariupol, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022.
AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda
Ukrainian servicemen sit atop armored personnel carriers driving on a road in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022.
AP Photo/Sergei Grits
A metallurgical plant is seen on the outskirts of the city of Mariupol, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. The city is one of many attacked by Russian forces.
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
Smoke rises from an air defense base in the aftermath of an apparent Russian strike in Mariupol, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022.
Sergei Grits/AP
Damaged radar arrays and other equipment is seen at a Ukrainian military facility outside Mariupol, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022.
Andrew Marienko/AP
People stand next to fragments of military equipment on the street in the aftermath of an apparent Russian strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022.
Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images
This photograph taken on Feb. 24, 2022, shows smoke rising near the town of Hostomel and the Antonov Airport, in northwest Kyiv.
Efrem Lukatsky/AP
Smoke and flame rise from the debris of a private house in the aftermath of Russian shelling outside Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022.

In downtown Kharkiv, 86-year-old Olena Dudnik said she and her husband were nearly thrown from their bed by the pressure blast of a nearby explosion.

“We are suffering immensely,” she said by phone. “We don’t have much food in the pantry, and I worry the stores aren’t going to have anything either, if they reopen." She added: “I just want the shooting to stop, people to stop being killed."

Russia’s failure thus far to win full control of Ukraine’s airspace is a surprising lapse that has given outgunned Ukrainian forces a chance to slow the advance of Russian ground forces. Normally, gaining what the military calls air superiority is one of the first priorities for an invading force.

But even though Russian troops are being slowed by Ukrainian resistance, fuel shortages and other logistical problems, a senior U.S. defense official said that will probably change. “We are in day four. The Russians will learn and adapt,” the official said.

The number of casualties from Europe's largest land conflict since World War II remained unclear amid the confusion.

An unexploded Russian grad rocket was discovered at a kindergarten playground in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Kharkiv is in Eastern Ukraine, close to the border of Russia. No injuries were reported.

Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said Sunday that 352 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, including 14 children. It said an additional 1,684 people, including 116 children, have been wounded.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov gave no figures on Russia's dead and wounded but said Sunday his country's losses were “many times” lower than Ukraine's.

About 368,000 Ukrainians have arrived in neighboring countries since the invasion started Thursday, according to the U.N. refugee agency.

Along with military assistance, the U.S., European Union and Britain also agreed to block selected Russian banks from the SWIFT system, which moves money around thousands of banks and other financial institutions worldwide. They also moved to slap restrictions on Russia’s central bank.

Russia's economy has taken a pounding since the invasion, with the ruble plunging and the central bank calling for calm to avoid bank runs.

Russia, which massed almost 200,000 troops along Ukraine's borders, claims its assault is aimed only at military targets, but bridges, schools and residential neighborhoods have also been hit.

Click here for complete coverage of the crisis in Ukraine.


Isachenkov reported from Moscow, and Miller from Washington. Francesca Ebel, Josef Federman and Andrew Drake in Kyiv; Mstyslav Chernov and Nic Dumitrache in Mariupol, Ukraine; and other AP journalists from around the world contributed to this report.

Copyright The Associated Press
Exit mobile version