Putin talks up nuclear arsenal as Ukraine repels attacks

Vladimir Putin on Thursday unveiled plans to expand Russia’s nuclear arsenal by deploying new missiles known as Satan II — as Ukraine’s forces repelled dozens of Russian assaults along the front line on the eve of the first anniversary of the war.

“As before, we will pay increased attention to strengthening the nuclear triad,” Putin said in an address marking Defender of the Fatherland Day, referring to nuclear missiles based on land, at sea and in the air.

“We will continue mass production of air-based hypersonic Kinzhal systems and will start mass supplies of sea-based Zircon hypersonic missiles,” he added.

Putin’s comments talking up the country’s arsenal came just days after he suspended Russia’s participation in the New START nuclear arms control pact with the US.  

The nuclear-capable Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, known as Satan II and classified as a “superweapon” by Russia, was introduced in 2018 and first deployed in April 2022.

According to US officials speaking to CNN earlier this week, Russia carried out a test of the missile, which apparently failed, just as President Biden visited Ukraine Monday.

Putin made no mention of the supposedly botched test in his state of the nation speech Tuesday.

Ukraine and its Western allies have brushed off Putin’s nuclear saber-rattling as a distraction from Russia’s failures on the battlefield, a year into the biggest land war in Europe since World War II.

In recent weeks, Russian forces have stepped up attacks in eastern and southern Ukraine in preparation for an anticipated large-scale offensive involving up to 500,000 conscripts, aimed at capturing large swaths of territory to give Putin a victory to announce.

Ukraine’s military said Thursday that Kyiv’s troops repelled 90 Russian assaults in the northeast and east over the past 24 hours alone.  

Brig. Gen. Oleksiy Gromov said Russia had set the goal of capturing all the land it does not yet control in Donetsk and Luhansk regions by summer.

The bloodiest fighting remained around the key city of Bakhmut, he told a military briefing.

“The enemy, having an advantage in the resource of human mobilization, is deliberately intensifying hostilities in an effort to deplete the units of the armed forces of Ukraine,” Gromov said.

Ukrainian officials said Russian forces are suffering heavy loses as the military throws newly drafted conscripts into battle — but Gromov said Moscow was using more seasoned soldiers from regular units in the battle for Bakhmut, which both sides have dubbed “the meat grinder.”

“The most difficult situation remains in the direction of Bakhmut where the enemy, despite significant losses, does not abandon attempts to surround Bakhmut,” Gromov said.

Moscow’s forces have been making incremental gains to encircle Bakhmut, but have failed to break through Ukrainian lines to the north near Kremmina and to the south at Vuhledar, where they have taken enormous casualties.

Ukraine has shuttered schools across the country for the war’s anniversary as a precaution in case Russia decides to launch long-range missile attacks to mark the occasion. But Kyiv officials downplayed the threat.

“Nothing unusual will happen. Usual (Russian) effort … A small missile strike is planned,” Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, told the news outlet Ukrainska Pravda. “23-24 (February), they have two dates. Believe me, we have experienced this more than 20 times.”

Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in its daily intelligence update that the Kremlin could be planning another massive assault on Vuhledar, despite failed attacks there earlier this month that annihilated thousands of elite marines.

In New York, the UN General Assembly is expected to mark the eve of the Ukraine war’s first anniversary by passing a resolution demanding a halt to it. Ukraine hopes to deepen Russia’s diplomatic isolation by seeking yes votes from nearly three-quarters of countries.

Moscow, which claims its “special military operation” was justified by concerns about its security, calls the text unbalanced.

“Russia violated the UN Charter by becoming an aggressor,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba said at the United Nations.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday denounced Russia’s invasion as a violation of the founding UN Charter and international law.

“We have heard implicit threats to use nuclear weapons. The so-called tactical use of nuclear weapons is utterly unacceptable. It is high time to step back from the brink,” Guterres said.

With Post wires