Kremlin Says Annexed Regions In Ukraine Are Now Under Its Nuclear Protection

Russian mobile intercontinental ballistic missile launch system Topol-M. Vitaly V. Kuzmin (CC BY-SA 4.0)  

Reuters: Russia says seized Ukrainian lands are under its nuclear protection 

LONDON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Russia said on Tuesday that four Ukrainian regions whose annexation it proclaimed last month are under the protection of its nuclear arsenal. 

The statement from the Kremlin came at a moment of acute tension, with both NATO and Russia expected to hold military exercises shortly to test the readiness of their nuclear weapons forces. 

Asked by reporters if the regions were under Moscow's nuclear umbrella, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "All these territories are inalienable parts of the Russian Federation and they are all protected. Their security is provided for at the same level as [it is for] the rest of Russia's territory." 

President Vladimir Putin said last month that Moscow was ready to use nuclear weapons if necessary to defend Russia's "territorial integrity". 

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Oct. 6 that his threat had brought the world closer to "Armageddon" than at any time since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when many feared a nuclear war might be imminent.  

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Update #1: Russia: Annexed Ukrainian regions under nuclear protection (The Hill)  

Update #2: New regions under Russia’s nuclear umbrella, Kremlin assures (TASS)  

WNU Editor: Has Russia deployed nuclear weapons in these regions? I doubt it. But this announcement from the Kremlin raises the stakes in this war a few degrees hotter.