- Russian forces near Ukraine starting to 'uncoil' - U.S.
- Separatists in east Ukraine call for military mobilisation
- Kremlin says Putin starts nuclear drills, no invasion plan
DONETSK,
Ukraine/MOSCOW, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Russia's strategic nuclear forces
held exercises overseen by President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, and
Washington accused Russian troops massed near Ukraine's border of
advancing and being "poised to strike".
With
Western fears of war rising, foreign ministers from the G7 group of
rich nations said they had seen no evidence Russia is reducing its
military activity in the area and remained "gravely concerned" about the
situation.
After
Kyiv and Moscow traded accusations over new shelling near the border,
France and Germany urged all or some of their citizens in Ukraine to
leave. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Russian forces were
beginning to "uncoil and move closer" to the border.
"We
hope he (Putin) steps back from the brink of conflict," Austin told a
news conference in Lithuania, saying an invasion of Ukraine was not
inevitable. read more
Russia
ordered the military build-up while demanding NATO prevent Ukraine from
ever joining the alliance but says Western warnings that it is planning
to invade Ukraine are hysterical and dangerous. Moscow says it is
pulling back, but Washington and allies say the build-up is mounting.
Washington and NATO say Moscow's main demands are non-starters, but in Ukraine fears are growing over Putin's plans.
Venting
his frustration at a security conference in Munich, Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the global security architecture was "almost
broken". He urged the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council,
Germany and Turkey to meet to draw up new security guarantees for his
country.
"The
rules that the world agreed on decades ago no longer work," Zelenskiy
said. "They do not keep up with new threats ... This is a cough syrup
when you need a coronavirus vaccine." read more
World Bank President David Malpass told Zelenskiy on Saturday the bank was readying funding to Ukraine of up to $350 million. read more
HYPERSONIC AND CRUISE MISSILES
The
Kremlin said Russia successfully test-launched hypersonic and cruise
missiles at sea during the nuclear forces drills. Putin observed the
exercises on screens with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko from a
"situation centre". read more
U.S.
President Joe Biden said on Friday he believed Putin would invade
Ukraine in the coming days and Austin said the exercises were stoking
concerns around the world.
G7
foreign ministers called on Russia to choose the path of diplomacy. "As
a first step, we expect Russia to implement the announced reduction of
its military activities along Ukraine's borders. We have seen no
evidence of this reduction," they said in a statement.
Zelenskiy
said he had an "urgent" phone conversation with French President
Emmanuel Macron and discussed possible ways of immediate de-escalation
and political-diplomatic settlement. Macron is due to speak with Putin
on Sunday. read more
The
nuclear drills follow manoeuvres by Russia's armed forces in the past
four months that have included a build-up of troops -- estimated by the
West to number 150,000 or more -- to the north, east and south of
Ukraine.
A
Russian Yars intercontinental ballistic missile is launched during the
exercises by nuclear forces in an unknown location in Russia, in this
still image taken from video released February 19, 2022. Russian
Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS
PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MANDATORY CREDIT.
New
helicopters and a battle group deployment of tanks, armoured personnel
carriers and support equipment have been moved to sites in Russia near
the border, according to U.S.-based Maxar Technologies, which tracks
developments with satellite imagery.
Moscow-based analysts said Saturday's exercises were aimed at sending a message to take Russia's demands seriously.
"Ignoring
Russia's legitimate rights in this area adversely affects the stability
not only on the European continent, but also in the world," Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted by his ministry as telling his
French counterpart by phone.
A
NATO official said the alliance relocated staff from Kyiv to the
western city of Lviv and to Brussels for safety reasons. The United
States and other countries have moved diplomats to Lviv.
SHELLING ALLEGATIONS
Russian-backed
rebels seized a swathe of eastern Ukraine and Russia annexed Crimea
from Ukraine in 2014. Kyiv says more than 14,000 people have been killed
in the conflict in the east.
Separatist
leaders in eastern Ukraine have declared a full military mobilisation
after ordering women and children to evacuate to Russia, citing the
threat of an imminent attack by Ukrainian forces, which Kyiv denied.
Kyiv
and Western leaders say the mobilisation, evacuation and increased
shelling are part of a Russian plan to create a pretext for an invasion.
Russia's FSB security service said two shells landed on Russian territory near the border, Russia's Tass news agency reported.
Ukraine's
military accused Russia of faking pictures of shells to make out they
were Ukrainian, and said mercenaries had arrived in separatist-held
eastern Ukraine to stage provocations in collaboration with Russian
special forces.
Ukraine's
foreign minister demanded an independent international investigation of
the alleged incidents and the military said two soldiers had been
killed in shelling by pro-Russian separatists in east Ukraine. read more
The
two Russian-backed, self-proclaimed republics in Ukraine's Donetsk and
Luhansk regions were hit by more than 1,400 explosions on Friday, the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said. And
almost 2,000 ceasefire violations were registered in the area by OSCE
monitors on Saturday, a diplomatic source told Reuters. read more
Multiple
explosions were heard overnight into Sunday in the centre of the
separatist-controlled city of Donetsk, a Reuters reporter said. The
blasts' origin was not clear. There was no immediate comment from
separatist authorities or Kyiv.
"It's really scary. I've taken everything I could carry," said Tatyana, 30, who was boarding a bus with her 4-year-old daughter.
Russian news agencies said 10,000 evacuees had arrived in Russia. Separatist leaders say they aim to evacuate 700,000 people.
Reporting
by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Philippa Fletcher,
Timothy Heritage and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Frances Kerry and
Daniel Wallis