KYIV-That was a reiteration of a theme that had appeared in his depiction of the conflict as Moscow's struggle against a Ukraine ruled by purported Nazis, assisted by Western powers who threatened Russia. These are rejected by Ukraine as fictitious jus

Putin claimed on Sunday that Western nations were forming a new "axis" akin to Germany and Japan's alliance during World War Two, while denying that Russia was forming a military alliance with China.

Instead of being able to completely destroy cities, tactical nuclear weapons are those that are used to achieve specific objectives on the battlefield. The number of these weapons Russia possesses is unknown because the subject is still shrouded in Cold War secrecy.

I can also say that we have not observed anything that would prompt us to alter our position regarding our strategic nuclear deterrent.

According to John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, "I can tell you we've seen nothing that would indicate Mr. Putin is preparing to use tactical nuclear weapons in any way whatsoever in Ukraine,"

Lungescu claimed that Putin's pledge to prevent nuclear proliferation and his account of the deployment of American weapons abroad were both false. Oleksiy Danilov, head of security for Ukraine, claimed that Russia's plan would destabilize Belarus, which Moscow had taken "hostage" Josep Borrell, the policy director for the EU and Lithuania, urged Belarus not to host the weapons and vowed to impose more sanctions. Since Belarus and Russia have strong military ties, Minsk permitted Moscow to use Belarus as a staging area for its invasion of Ukraine in 2014. The move by Russia is significant because, unlike the United States, it had previously taken pride in not having nuclear weapons stationed outside of its borders. The planned deployment by Russia was a source of concern, but it was downplayed by the US.

The agreement to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday. The nuclear signal from Russia is one of its strongest to date, and it serves as a warning to NATO regarding its military backing of Ukraine. NATO has requested a meeting of the U.N. Security Council in response, and Oana Lungescu, a spokeswoman for NATO, has stated that Russia's nuclear rhetoric is reckless and dangerous. Insisting that Russia would not go back on its nuclear non-proliferation commitments, Putin compared his plans for Belarus to the US stationing its weapons in Europe.

However, the most recent reported attack, on the town of Kireyevsk, in the Tula region, 220 kilometres (140 miles) south of Moscow, appeared to be one of the closest yet to the Russian border. Kyiv generally does not comment on reports of attacks inside Russia.

In a military video from Ukraine, dead soldiers were seen in trenches and on the open ground in Bakhmut, as well as smoke rising from destroyed apartment buildings. Three people were hurt and several apartment buildings were damaged in the attack south of Moscow, according to the Russian defence ministry, which also claimed to have shot down a Ukrainian drone on Sunday.

According to regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko, two people were killed and 29 were hurt on Monday after Russian forces fired two S-300 missiles at the eastern city of Sloviansk to the northwest of Bakhmut.

The Ukrainian military issued a warning last week that Avdiivka, a smaller town 90 kilometers (55 miles) to the south, might turn into a "second Bakhmut" as Russia focuses on it. Both sides have referred to the conflict as a "meat grinder" as it has left both towns in ruins.

General Valery Zaluzhniy, the commander-in-chief, declared on Saturday that the situation in and around Bakhmut, where Russian forces claim to be battling street by street, was "stabilised"

"We are calculating all possible options for the development of events, and will react adequately to the current situation"

He praised the tenacity of the Ukrainian people under "military necessity" and said that protecting the small city in the industrialized Donbas region that Russia has been attempting to seize for months was a "extremely difficult conditions"

Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, visited front line soldiers in the east on Monday and stated that his forces were still fending off Russian attacks on Bakhmut, contrary to remarks he made last week that the counterattack might occur "very soon"

Before launching a counteroffensive in the coming weeks or months to end the all-out invasion started by Russian President Vladimir Putin 13 months ago, the Ukrainian military seeks to wear down Russian forces as much as possible.

After Moscow shifted the focus of its offensive from a waning assault on the eastern city of Bakhmut to another town further south, which was described as post-apocalyptic, the commander of Ukraine's ground forces said on Monday that Kyiv was planning its next move. tifications for an imperial conquest war.