Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened the West on Wednesday, threatening "lightning" rapid strikes on any country that "interferes" with Russia's conflict in Ukraine.
This week, Russia drew worldwide ire after suggesting that Western support for Kyiv during Russia's 60-day assault may lead to nuclear conflict.
Despite requests from countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom to tone down the threatening rhetoric, Putin stepped up the rhetoric on Wednesday. As Russia intensifies its second attack in eastern and southern Ukraine, NATO nations and other allies have committed to continue to defend Ukraine. Defense officials have warned that the combat will be considerably more violent.
Vladimir Putin Blames NATO Nations
Moscow has defended its special military operation in Ukraine by claiming to attempt to "denazify" particular regions, a claim that Ukraine and the West have dismissed as demonstrably false.
Russian forces have failed to make any significant military advances, and Western governments warned this week that they want Russia to fail in Ukraine and be debilitated to the point that it is unable to start another operation, Fox News reported.
Putin pledged to complete the special military operation to reclaim Ukrainian land, which Moscow deems to be Russian historically. He criticized NATO and its partners for starting the conflict in Ukraine. He said NATO planned to invade Russia via Ukraine, claiming that the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014, and the separatist-held eastern Donbas border area would be used as a staging ground.
According to Western sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence findings, Russia has made gradual progress in the Donbas area in the east, with minimal advances, including the takeover of villages and small towns south of Izyum and on the outskirts of Rubizhne.
According to authorities, the onslaught continues to be hampered by inadequate command, troop and equipment losses, adverse weather, and the fierce Ukrainian opposition.
Some Russian forces have been moved from Mariupol, the devastated southern port city, to other areas of the Donbas. However, some people stay in Mariupol to resist Ukrainian soldiers who have taken residence in the Azovstal steel mill, the city's last stronghold. There were about 1,000 people there, along with 2,000 Ukrainian defenders.
A Russian munitions storage burned on Wednesday in the Belgorod area, just across the border, after numerous explosions were reported. Authorities in Russia's Voronezh area claimed an air defense system shot down a drone, and explosions were reported near the Ukrainian border in Russia's Kursk region, according to Al Jazeera via MSN.
Russia Plans To Hold "Referendums" in Cities of Ukraine
According to the Latvian news portal Meduza, which cites sources close to the Kremlin, Russia plans to stage "referendums" in the eastern Ukrainian towns of Donetsk and Luhansk.
The referendums were previously slated for the end of April but will now take place in mid-May. According to sources, a referendum might be held in Kherson, in the south. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the United Kingdom warned last week that Russia was plotting a staged referendum in the Kherson region to establish a land route to Crimea.
The Ministry of Defense warned in an intelligence briefing that Russia is arranging a staged referendum in the southern city of Kherson to justify its takeover. The city is crucial to Russia's plan to build a land bridge to Crimea and control southern Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the White House pledged today to continue pressing for the unconditional release of a former US soldier who is being held in Russia on spying charges. Paul Whelan, who has British, Canadian, and Irish passports, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage in 2020.
He was apprehended red-handed with a computer memory stick holding a list of secret Russian spies, according to police. On the other hand, the former marine pled not guilty, alleging that a sting operation set him up and that the USB drive was supplied to him by someone else.
Whelan was recently highlighted by a US-Russia prisoner trade that resulted in the release of Trevor Reed, another former US marine. Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, stated that the US would continue to fight for his unconditional release, as per Sky News.