MOSCOW: Moscow claims a Ukrainian drone has been shot down by Russian forces, local media reported on Sunday. Russian Ministry of defense said that the drone came down in Kireyevsk – some 400km from the Ukraine border, officials said. Kyiv has rejected previous claims that it has targeted civilians with explosive drone and has not yet commented over the current incident.
Earlier, Ukraine called for an emergency meeting of the UNSC to “counter the Russia’s nuclear blackmail” after President Vladimir Putin revealed plans to deploy tactical atomic arms in Belarus. One Ukrainian official said Moscow “took Belarus as a nuclear arms detainee.”
Kyiv-Moscow
Further heightening tensions, a blast deep inside Moscow injured 3 people Sunday. Russian officials blamed a Ukrainian drone for the explosion, which also damaged residential buildings in a town 175 kilometers south of Moscow.
Moscow has said its plan to deploy tactical nuclear arms in Belarus comes in answer to the West’s increasing military assistance and support for Kyiv. President Putin announced the plan in a television interview, saying it was triggered by a Britain decision to supply Kyiv with armor-piercing shells containing depleted uranium.
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He argued that by deploying its nuclear weapons in Belarus, Moscow was following the lead of the US. Putin also noted that the US has nuclear arms based in Germany, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.
The Russian President said that they are doing what the US has been doing for several decades, stationing “nuclear weapons” in certain allied states, preparing the launch platforms and also training their crews.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the move in a statement on Sunday and demanded an emergency meeting of the UNSC over the matter.
“Kyiv expects effective action to counter Russia’s nuclear blackmail by China, the UK, the US and France,” these nations “have a special responsibility” about nuclear aggression, the statement said.
It added that the globe must be united against someone who tries to endanger the future of human civilization. However, Ukraine did not comment on Sunday’s blast inside Russia. Russian state-run news agency Tass claimed that officials identified the drone as a Ukrainian.
