Strongly condemning the Russian invasion of the international body, Joe Biden said reports of abuses against civilians in Ukraine “should make your blood run cold”. He also said President Vladimir Putin’s new nuclear threats against Europe showed “reckless disregard” for his nation’s responsibilities as a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Putin orders ‘partial mobilization’ in Ukraine – live updates “A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought,” he added. “We will stand in solidarity against Russia’s aggression. Biden said no one threatened Russia, despite its claims to the contrary, and that only Russia sought conflict. And he criticized Russia for planning “fake referendums” this week in territories it forcibly seized in Ukraine. Earlier, Mr Putin ordered a “partial mobilisation” of military reserves – a move which the Russian defense minister said amounted to around 300,000 troops. Read more: What nuclear weapons does Russia have and what damage could they do? Is Ukraine getting the upper hand in the arms race with Russia? Why the southern attack of Ukraine is more difficult than the northern blitzkrieg It means that people with previous military experience will join the war unless they are too old or medically incapacitated. He cited allegations that Ukraine is bombing the occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant and said some NATO representatives had raised the possibility of using nuclear weapons against Russia. He warned them that his country “has various weapons of destruction and in some respects they are even more advanced than those of NATO”. Click to subscribe to Ukraine War Diaries wherever you get your podcasts It also approved referendums in four Ukrainian regions under Russian occupation. Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia announced the plans on Tuesday. They are scheduled to take place from September 23 to 27. Together, the regions make up about 15% of Ukrainian territory.
