MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Alexei Saytsev said on Monday that nuclear weapons would not be used in Ukraine. This comes at a time when Western nations are openly expressing concern over Russia’s use of nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that an arms depot in eastern Ukraine had been destroyed by a missile attack. The ministry said Ukraine’s SU-25 and MiG-29 fighter jets had been shot down in the Luhansk region.
British military intelligence reports that Russia has launched a second offensive against the Azovstal steel plant in the city of Mariupol, where Ukrainian troops are hiding.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Selensky said in a video message last Thursday that Russia was shelling the area, where civilians have sought refuge. U.N. The president’s office said 500 people had been evacuated from Mariupol as part of a rescue operation.
Efforts continue to rescue people from the Azovsital factory complex. Russian troops violate ceasefire as evacuation operations continue in Mariupol Ukrainian officials say one person has been killed in a Russian airstrike on a vehicle carrying civilians to safety.
“Currently, Ukraine is focusing on the evacuation of Azov,” he told the Associated Press. The commander of the Azov battalion of the Ukrainian army had yesterday requested that the people and the dying soldiers be rescued from the factory premises.
Presidential spokesman Andrei Yermak said in a telegram that Ukraine would retaliate later for the Azov attack.
The G7 leaders said they would hold talks with President Volodymyr Selensky on the current situation in Ukraine.
