Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 397

Diplomacy 

Ukraine has requested a special meeting of the UN Security Council to "take significant actions" to stop Russia from using nuclear weapons after Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, an ally.

Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, claimed on Twitter that Russia had "taken Belarus as a nuclear hostage."

The action has been denounced by NATO as "dangerous and reckless."

The hosting of Russian nuclear weapons, according to the European Union, would be a "irresponsible escalation and threat to European security."

Putin's move has been been denounced by Germany, and Lithuania has indicated it would demand further sanctions be imposed on both Moscow and Minsk.

Yet, the United States has reacted to Putin's action with caution; according to a senior administration official, Washington believes there are no signs that Russia is getting ready to deploy nuclear weapons.

Rafael Grossi, the head of the UN's nuclear inspector, said on Saturday that he will visit the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in Ukraine the next week to examine the dire circumstances there.

Ukrainian supporters in the UK decorated a portion of London's Wembley Stadium in the colours of their nation's flag as they cheered on their side against England in an emotional Euro 2024 qualifying match.

 

 

Fighting

The city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine is still experiencing fighting, although Kyiv's top soldier, General Valerii Zaluzhniy, claimed that things were beginning to calm down.
Meanwhile, the UK defence ministry said that massive army casualties had caused Russia's months-long assault on Bakhmut to stop.

According to the General Staff of Ukraine, in the previous 24 hours, its forces have thwarted 85 Russian assaults in various locations along the eastern front, including the Bakhmut region.
Three people were reportedly injured in the drone strike on the village of Kireyevsk in southern Russia, according to Russian reports. According to the Russian official news agency TASS, the drone was an explosives-loaded Ukrainian Tupolev Tu-141 Strizh.