Breaking news and news from Russia's war in Ukraine

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7 mins ago

On Putin's nuclear threat, Zelensky says "I don't think he's bluffing"

By Mick Krever

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to CBS in an interview broadcast on September 25.

(Photo: CBS)

Russian President Vladimir Putin's threat to use nuclear weapons in Moscow's invasion of Ukraine "could become a reality," according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"Maybe yesterday it was a bluff. Now, it could be a reality," Zelensky told CBS in an interview broadcast on Sunday.

"I don't think he's bragging."

Putin announced his military escalation during a national address on Wednesday last week, in an effort to strengthen Moscow's faltering military campaign in Ukraine.

He called for an increase in military recruitment, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu later confirmed that the country will call up 300,000 reservists to serve in the conflict, a strategy that has already been met with a backlash in the form of heated protests at home. .

Addressing the possible use of nuclear weapons, Putin warned that "those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the prevailing winds may turn in their direction."

Following Putin's comments last week, Zelensky said Russia was trying to take advantage of its occupation of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.

"He wants to scare the whole world. These are the first steps of his nuclear blackmail," he said.

"I think the world is holding him back and containing this threat. We have to keep putting pressure on him and not allow him to continue."

9 mins ago

Zelensky says two more mass graves were discovered in Izium

By Mick Krever

President Volodymyr Zelensky said two more mass graves were discovered in Izium, northeastern Ukraine, following their liberation from Russian occupation earlier this month.

"Today I have received more information," Zelensky told CBS in an interview broadcast on Sunday.

"The journalists are on their way. They have found two more mass graves, large graves with hundreds of people."

• Ukraine reports that there are signs of torture and mutilations on the bodies exhumed from Izium

"Also, and we're talking about a small town in Izium. You know, there are two more mass graves in a small town. This is what's going on."

A bit of background:

Days ago, Ukrainian authorities completed the exhumation of more than 400 bodies from a previously discovered mass burial site in Izium.

Most of the bodies showed signs of violent death, and 30 had traces of torture, according to an official.

11 mins ago

More than 2,350 detainees across Russia since announcement of partial mobilization, according to independent watchdog group

By Radina Gigova

Police officers detain a demonstrator during an unauthorized rally protesting the military invasion in Ukraine and partial mobilization on September 24, in Moscow, Russia.

(Photo: Getty Images)

More than 2,350 people have been detained across Russia since President Vladimir Putin's announcement of a partial mobilization, according to the independent protest monitoring group OVD-Info.

At least 2,352 people were detained in various Russian cities from September 21 to September 25, but the number of detainees may be higher, according to the latest figures from OVD-Info published on Monday.

This Sunday, at least 128 people were detained in five cities, including Makhachkala, Yakutsk, Irkutsk, Reftinsky and Kotlas, OVD-Info said.

A bit of background

: Makhachkala is the capital of the Muslim-majority region of Dagestan.

In some ethnic minority regions of Russia, including Dagestan, heated protests have erupted, with activist groups and Ukrainian officials claiming these minorities are disproportionately recruited into the war.

15 mins ago

Putin threatens to resort to nuclear energy.

Here's what to know about the weapons you could deploy

By Brad Lendon

With his forces retreating from Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin once again threatened to resort to nuclear weapons, most likely so-called tactical nuclear weapons.

In a speech last week, he warned that "in the event of a threat to the territorial integrity of our country and to defend Russia and our people, we will certainly make use of all the weapons systems at our disposal. This is not bragging. ".

Russian weapons systems include 4,477 deployed and reserve nuclear warheads, of which some 1,900 are "non-strategic" warheads, also known as tactical nuclear weapons, according to the Federation of American Scientists.

Tactical warheads refer to those designed for use on a limited battlefield, for example to destroy a column of tanks or a carrier battle group if used at sea.

These warheads, with explosive yields of 10 to 100 kilotons of dynamite, are also called "low yield".

• ANALYSIS |

  US warnings against Putin's nuclear threats are a worrying fact for the world

By contrast, Russia's most powerful "strategic" nuclear warheads have an explosive yield of between 500 and 800 kilotons and are designed to destroy entire cities, and then some.

The reference to "low yield" of tactical weapons is somewhat misleading, as explosive yields of 10 to 100 kilotons of dynamite are still enough to cause great destruction, as the world found out in 1945 when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima. and Nagasaki in Japan.

Those bombs were equivalent to about 15 and 21 kilotons of dynamite, respectively, which is equivalent to Russia's tactical nuclear weapons.

And it is because of this devastating ability that many people say that there really is no difference between a strategic and a tactical weapon when used in war.

"I don't think there is such a thing as a 'tactical nuclear weapon,'" former US Defense Secretary James Mattis said during a congressional hearing in 2018. "Any nuclear weapon used at any time is a strategic weapon," Mattis said. .

war in ukraine