Ilyas Verdiev, who lives in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, told Sky’s Ukraine War Diaries podcast that if Vladimir Putin uses a nuclear weapon, he will take Russia “to the end. “
He said: “No one will be left out and the Western world will step in. This will be the end of Putin and his regime. This will cause Russia to collapse in every single way, economic and at some point physical. “
“We all prepare. We perceive the threat. We are taking all measures. Thanks to our government, we were informed. They said there is no sign that Putin is preparing to use nuclear weapons. “
“But anyway, we have commands (about) how to behave and what to do in the event of a nuclear disaster. Even if you are in the center, if you are inside, you have to close everything. Make sure the air doesn’t get in. ” Enter. Water supply. Food supply. Take off your clothes.
“It may sound surreal to you to hear, but we’re in a state where we don’t care much. You know, the farther you are from the country where the war is taking place, the more terrible the picture. in your head. “
Ilyas is a computer scientist who fled Kyiv for Lviv shortly after the war began in February. His wife and two children are now in Poland, but Ilyas returned to Kyiv in May.
Read about Ilyas on the Ukraine War Diaries podcast below. . .
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As we have reported, Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to begin his annual address imminently.
His idea is to start at 2 p. m. , but it turns out to be delayed.
In the meantime, here’s a look at the Valdai Discussion Club, a Moscow-based tank where Mr. Putin participates in the lengthy question-and-answer session.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is not expected to answer tough questions in his annual address, according to leaked documents notified through Ukraine’s national news agency.
Ukrinform reported that the documents showed that the questions had been prepared in advance.
The first consultation should be made through Alexander Prokhanov of the newspaper Zavtra: “The main content of Russian history is a Victory over Darkness, military, non-secular and political victory. Do you think Russia’s ideology is one of Russian victory?”
Next, Igor Gilov of the Brazilian newspaper Folha De S. Paolo asked: “You evaluate the Ukraine crisis as a major confrontation between the collective West and Russia. His administration spoke earlier about the ‘red lines’ that the United States and NATO will have to face. “Do not cross
“While Russian nuclear doctrine establishes ‘existential dangers to the state or its sovereignty’ as a basis for the deployment of nuclear weapons, how can it be implemented in new territories that have joined Russia?What ‘red lines’ to cross in this case because it still is? Is it difficult to know which edges are presented? »
Ukraine has pulled out of peace talks with Russia on “orders” from the United States, said Vladimir Putin (who has yet to show up for his keynote speech), according to the Kremlin.
Referring to the March talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “The text is ready. . . And then, suddenly, the Ukrainian side went off the radar, the Ukrainian side said it didn’t need to continue negotiations. “
Yesterday, Guinea-Bissau Umaro Sissoco Embalo, head of ECOWAS’ West Africa bloc, visited Kyiv after a meeting with Mr. Putin.
In Kyiv, he said Putin “expressed the concept that he is in a position to negotiate” with Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Asked about those comments, Peskov said “we are in a position to guarantee our interests at the negotiating table. “
As he waited for Russian President Vladimir Putin, here is a reminder of the threats he made in his speeches:
Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Mr. Putin ordered the Russian nuclear forces to go on high alert.
While we wait for Vladimir Putin, who, as is the case, is late to start a speech, we will continue to pass on other news about Ukraine, including. . .
The Swiss operator of the leaking Nord Stream 1 pipeline said it had still obtained permission from Denmark to investigate damage to its pipeline.
Denmark and Sweden have concluded that 4 Nord Stream leaks were caused by explosions last month. They did not say who might be responsible, world leaders called it an act of sabotage, with their hands pointing at Russia, which of course denied any involvement.
The damaged pipes released massive amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere.
By Diana Magnay, Moscow correspondent
The name gives us some clues, it is The world after hegemony: justice and security for all.
This is the message that I think Vladimir Putin needs to convey to the global South, that Russia is right about what it is doing in Ukraine, and to its own people.
He gave us a glimpse of the essentials when he spoke to the intelligence chiefs of the ex-Soviet countries, saying that the global political confrontation was intensifying dramatically. He spoke of the United States in a veiled manner, saying that “some political actors seek to maintain their failed hegemony at all costs. “
We can expect to hear more. The online page of the Valdai Discussion Club states that they are in a position to explain to foreign participants the reasons and consequences of what is happening lately in Russian-Ukrainian relations. Say the word “war” in this country.
I think it will be long and wide and disjointed. Last year it lasted 3 and a half hours.
Vladimir Putin is expected to lay out his worldview, and potentially his war-related intentions, in an annual speech at 2 p. m.
The Russian leader’s speech may only measure his appetite for escalating the standoff as fears mount over whether the Kremlin will use nuclear weapons.
It will be held at the Valdai Discussion Club, a Moscow-based think tank, and Western journalists and analysts may ask the Kremlin questions.
The consultation can last several hours.
All this a day after Putin oversaw a scheduled nuclear training that tested a “massive” retaliatory strike.
Poland has demolished 4 monuments to the Red Army infantrymen who died in World War II, as between Warsaw and Moscow they continue to worsen following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
While Russia claims to have liberated Poland when its forces drove out the Nazis at the end of the war, many Poles say the Soviet Union replaced the Nazi profession with its own form of repression.
“This monument is a monument of lies,” Karol Nawrocki said as he stood in front of a statue in Glubczyce in southern Poland shortly before its demolition.
He said that the spirit of this formula is provided in the Russian Federation, which kills civilians in Ukraine.
Demolished monuments in Byczyna and Staszow in the south and Bobolice in the north.
The latest in a long series of warnings issued across Moscow to the West this afternoon.
Russia has insisted it will “retaliate” if its state’s assets are confiscated through the European Union.
This comes as EU leaders have warned that this could be the case, after rounds of sanctions were imposed in a bid to pressure Vladimir Putin.
Russia has been at war with Ukraine since February and has claimed that 4 regions were annexed after widely described referendums as a farce.
Asked about the latest proposals, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said it would be “stealing. “
She said: “The EU’s judicial formula denies the assets of Russians. “