The National Security Adviser of the White House, Jake Sullivan, said today (Sunday) that “there will be catastrophic consequences” if Russia uses nuclear weapons in this Ukraine, against the background of the words of Russian President Vladimir Putin during his statement on the order to recruit 300,000 Russians into the country’s army , in which he also sent an implicit message about the use of nuclear weapons. At the same time, in the occupied territories in the east and south, residents continue to vote in the referendum on annexation to Russia. As expected, today the Russians published polls which show that there is an absolute majority in favor of the annexation.
According to the polls conducted by a Russian research body called RIPSI based in the Crimean Peninsula, on the first day of the referendum 94% of the voters in Donetsk support joining Russia, in Lugansk 93% are in favor of annexation, 87% in Zaporozhye and 80% in Kherson. In the West, the referendum in the West is seen as a pretext for escalating the attacks – because all the territories of the Russian Federation that are protected, and perhaps there will be more such territories, in the Russian constitution are without any doubt under the full protection of the state.
Putin presses the gas Listen to draw another day
Meanwhile, Moscow is also forced to deal with the protests in Russia against the general conscription order which are only escalating, as today for the first time the use of live weapons was recorded by the security forces in order to keep protesters away. Monitoring organizations reported that last night more than 700 were arrested in protests. Since Putin’s announcement of the recruitment, more than 2,000 people have been arrested in Russia.
In the background, thousands of Russians continue to cross the border even today to escape the threat of conscription into the Russian army, but restrictions are already being imposed on them in the neighboring countries. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have already announced that they refuse the entry of the “new refugees”, while Finland announced the other day that it too will significantly limit the entry of Russian citizens into its territory.
Only yesterday more than 7,000 people crossed the border from Russia to Finland. This is double the amount that crossed the border on the day the conscription order was announced. Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavistu said Tuesday at a press conference from New York that Russians will be prevented from entering Finland for tourism reasons only. The policy will also apply to visas already issued by Finland and by other Schengen countries: “We impose our own strict restrictions here. I believe that the reduction will be very significant.’
At the same time, the United States continues to arm Ukraine. Tonight, the country’s president, Volodymyr Lazansky, said that Ukraine received advanced air defense systems from the United States. This is the first time that Ukraine admits that it has received a surface-to-air missile system, systems they have been waiting for since its delivery was approved in Washington about a month ago.
In the meantime, Ukraine is reducing its diplomatic ties with Iran because it provided unmanned attack aircraft to the Russian army. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kyiv announced today the cancellation of the Iranian ambassador’s charter and a significant reduction of the diplomatic staff in the Iranian embassy.
Tonight, President Zelensky said that so far the Ukrainian forces have shot down eight Iranian-made UAVs. Iran expressed regret for Ukraine’s decision and called on it not to be influenced by factors that seek to sabotage relations between the two countries.