Russia broadens conditions for using nuclear weapons

As the war in Ukraine entered its 1,000th day Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a revised nuclear doctrine stating that a conventional attack on Russia by any nation supported by a nuclear power is considered a joint attack and could trigger a nuclear response.
The proclamation came a day after U.S. President Joe Biden authorized Ukraine to use long-range weapons from the U.S. to attack military targets in Russia.
When Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov was asked if the revised doctrine was issued in response to the U.S. authorization, he said it was put forth “in a timely manner” and that Putin wanted it updated to be “in line with the current situation,” the Associated Press reported.
The doctrine states nuclear weapons could be used in case of a massive air attack involving ballistic and cruise missiles, aircraft, drones and other flying vehicles.
It says an attack against Russia by a nonnuclear power with the “participation or support of a nuclear power” will be seen as their “joint attack on the Russian Federation.”
It doesn’t specify whether such an attack would definitely be met with a nuclear response.
Peskov the aim of the updated policy was to make potential enemies understand the inevitability of retaliation for an attack on Russia or its allies.
It also states that Russia could use nuclear weapons if another country attacks ally Belarus.
1,000 days of fighting
Both Russia and Ukraine issued statements about the 1,000th day of the war, both vowing that they would continue fighting against each other.
The Kremlin said Western support for Kyiv would have no impact on the military campaign.
“The military operation against Kyiv continues,” Peskov said, adding that Western aid “cannot affect the outcome of our operation. It continues, and will be completed.”
Ukraine, meanwhile, said it would continue to resist the Russian invasion.
“Ukraine will never submit to the occupiers, and the Russian military will be punished for violating international law,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Attack on Russian weapons depot
There was no word if long-range U.S. weapons were used in Ukraine’s strike against a large weapons depot near the Russian town of Karachev in the Bryansk region more than 110 miles from the border with Ukraine.
Reuters reported that Ukraine often uses domestically produced drones to hit targets deep inside Russia, and in an announcement on Tuesday, the military did not specify which weapons had been used for the strike.
“The destruction of ammunition depots will continue for the army of the Russian occupiers in order to stop the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine,” the Ukrainian military said on the Telegram messaging app.
An overnight Russian drone attack in the northeastern Sumy region killed eight people, including one child, Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday.
The attack on a residential building in the border town of Hlukhiv also wounded 12 people, including two children, Ukraine’s national police force said on Telegram.
Two high-rise buildings and a hospital were damaged, and more people could be in the rubble.
Ukraine’s air force said on Tuesday it shot down 51 out of 87 drones launched by Russia overnight.
Tear gas detected near front line
Also on Tuesday, Ukraine urged action after the international chemical weapons watchdog said banned CS riot control gas, also known as tear gas, had been found in Ukrainian soil samples from the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Russia has not reacted to the report by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which did not assign blame for the chemical.
The Chemical Weapons Convention strictly bans the use of riot control agents including CS outside riot control situations when it is used as “a method of warfare,” Agence France-Presse reported.
CS gas causes irritation to the lungs, skin and eyes.
Both sides have accused each other of using chemical weapons in the conflict, and Ukraine’s Western allies have claimed Moscow has employed banned weapons.
“Russia’s use of banned chemicals on the battlefield once again demonstrates Russia’s chronic disregard for international law,” a statement from Ukraine’s foreign ministry said.
OPCW stressed however that the report did “not seek to identify the source or origin of the toxic chemical.”
Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.