Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

U.S. President Joe Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin's threat to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine has brought the world closer to "Armageddon" than at any time since the Cold-War Cuban Missile Crisis, and human rights campaigners of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine won the Nobel Peace Prize.


Reuters | Updated: 07-10-2022 21:27 IST | Created: 07-10-2022 21:27 IST
Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

U.S. President Joe Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin's threat to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine has brought the world closer to "Armageddon" than at any time since the Cold-War Cuban Missile Crisis, and human rights campaigners of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine won the Nobel Peace Prize. CONFLICT

* Biden, commenting on Putin's threat to use nuclear weapons, said the United States was "trying to figure out" the Russian leader's off-ramp. * Putin turned 70 amid fawning congratulations from subordinates and a plea from Orthodox Patriarch Kirill for all to pray for the health of the longest-serving paramount leader of Russia since Josef Stalin.

* After Ukrainian rescuers found 11 bodies and rescued 21 people from the rubble of buildings destroyed in missile attacks in the city of Zaporizhzhia, the regional governor said there was a new rocket strike on the city on Friday. * A Ukrainian missile hit a bus in the Russian-controlled city of Kherson, killing four and wounding three civilians, Russia's RIA Novosti news agency reported.

* Russia has sacked the commander of its Eastern Military District, Colonel-General Alexander Chaiko, the Russian news site RBC reported. * Putin is grappling with the gravest domestic crisis of his 23-year rule: an increasingly public quarrel inside the Russian elite over who is to blame for battlefield defeats in Ukraine.

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE AND HUMAN RIGHTS * Jailed Belarusian activist Ales Byalyatski, Russian organisation Memorial and Ukrainian group Center for Civil Liberties won the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize. The prize will be seen by many as a condemnation of Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

* A U.N. human rights body passed a motion to appoint a new independent expert on alleged human rights abuses in Russia, accusing Moscow of creating a "climate of fear" through repression and violence. ENERGY AND ECONOMY

* The head of Ukrainian state energy company Naftogaz criticised local authorities on Friday for turning on the heating too soon before what is likely to be a difficult winter following Russia's invasion. * Ukrainian farmers have completed the 2022 wheat and barley harvests, threshing 19.2 million and 5.5 million tonnes respectively, the agriculture ministry said.

* A crime scene investigation of the damages on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines has strengthened suspicions of "gross sabotage", Swedish security police said. * European Union leaders agreed to give more financial and military aid to Ukraine, but talks in Prague seemed to bring them no closer to deciding on whether or how to cap gas prices.

QUOTES "I don't think there's any such thing as the ability to easily (use) a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon," U.S. President Joe Biden told Democratic donors in New York. (Compiled by Timothy Heritage and Hugh Lawson)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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