Putin puts Russia’s nuclear forces on alert, cites sanctions

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations responded to the news by saying, “President Putin is continuing to escalate this war in a manner that is totally unacceptable.”[The Kremlin / CC BY-SA 4.0 ]
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian nuclear forces on alert amid tensions with the West over his invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking at a meeting with his top officials, Putin asserted on Sunday that leading NATO powers had made “aggressive statements” along with the West imposing hard-hitting financial sanctions against Russia, including the president himself.
Putin ordered the Russian defense minister and the chief of the military’s General Staff to put the nuclear deterrent forces in a “special regime of combat duty.”
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations responded to the news by saying, “President Putin is continuing to escalate this war in a manner that is totally unacceptable.”