More than six months after Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are locked in a scramble for spaces in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose forces introduced an offensive in August, vowed to retake all Russian-occupied territory. But Putin announced in September a mobilization of reservists, which is expected to call up to 300,000 more troops.
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The erosion of Russia’s scenario may lead Russian President Vladimir Putin to “more nuclear noise,” U. S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned on Saturday.
“The waves of the Russian invasion traveled beyond Europe. Beijing, like Moscow, seeks a world where autocrats can smother the flame of freedom,” Austin said in a speech to the Halifax International Security Forum.
Austin said the fatal explosion in Poland this week was the result of “the recklessness of Putin’s election war. “
“Russia’s invasion gives a glimpse into an imaginable world of tyranny and confusion that none of us would need to live in. And it’s an invitation to an increasingly dubious world haunted by the shadow of nuclear proliferation,” Austin said.
He continued: “Putin’s other autocrats are watching and would possibly conclude that obtaining nuclear weapons would give them their own hunting license. And this can also lead to a damaging spiral of nuclear proliferation.
-Matt Seyler of ABC News
An investigation into the cause of a leak from Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea has “extensive damage” and several “foreign objects,” some with detectable “explosive debris,” the Swedish security service and a prosecutor said on Friday.
“The complex investigation is still ongoing; the goal is to draw more definitive conclusions about the Nord Stream incidents. The investigation is vast and complex and will eventually show if it can be suspected and then prosecuted for it,” prosecutor Mats said. Ljungqvist and said the Swedish security service in a statement.
Several explosions near the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines on September 26 caused leaks. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the explosions. Major pipelines carrying herbal fuel from Russia to Europe were shut down in September. At the time of the explosion, the pipes were filled with herbal fuel.
– Will Gretsky of ABC News
A Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro wounded 23 people, 15 of whom were hospitalized. One user is in serious condition, according to Valentyn Reznichenko, governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
Local officials earlier said the attack had left at least 14 other people dead.
Airstrike sirens sounded in several Ukrainian cities, Odessa and Zaporizhzhia. Officials said 4 missiles were shot down in Kyiv.
– Will Gretsky, Joe Simonetti and James Longman of ABC News
The Polish government allowed Ukrainian investigators access to the site of the missile’s explosion, while the investigation into the origin of the missile continues, according to Jakub Kumoch, an aide to Polish President Andrzej Duda.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who denies the missile came from Ukrainian air defense, asked the site.
– Will Gretsky of ABC News