US President Joe Biden has warned Russian President Vladimir Putin against using chemical or tactical nuclear weapons in the wake of serious losses in his war in Ukraine.
"Don't. Don't. Don't," Mr Biden said, in an excerpt from an interview with CBS' '60 Minutes' aired yesterday evening.
Mr Biden was responding to an interviewer's question about the possibility of Mr Putin, whose army is incurring heavy losses in the Ukraine counteroffensive this month, resorting to chemical or tactical nuclear weapons.
"You would change the face of war unlike anything since World War II," Mr Biden said.
"They will become more of a pariah in the world, more than they have ever been," the US leader added.
Ukraine has recaptured swathes of territory in the east from occupying Russian forces in recent weeks, boosted by heavy weapons supplied by Western allies.
But Mr Putin remained steadfast, saying his war against Russia's Western-leaning neighbour was proceeding according to plan.
"The plan is not subject to adjustment," Mr Putin said yesterday. "Our offensive operations in Donbas itself do not stop. They are going at a slow pace... The Russian army is occupying newer and newer territories."
Earlier, Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal thanked the United States for its support after Ukraine received a further $1.5 billion in international financial assistance.
"The state budget of Ukraine received a grant of $1.5 billion. This is the last tranche of $4.5 billion aid from the United States from @WorldBank Trust Fund," Mr Shmyhal tweeted.
He said the funds would be used to reimburse budget expenditure for pension payments and social assistance programmes.
The state budget of 🇺🇦 received a grant of $1.5 bln. This is the last tranche of $4.5 bln aid from 🇺🇸 from @WorldBank Trust Fund. Funds will be used to reimburse budget expenditures for pension payments & social assistance programs. Grateful to @POTUS & 🇺🇸 for supporting Ukraine.
— Denys Shmyhal (@Denys_Shmyhal) September 17, 2022
It comes as Russia said that its forces attacked Ukrainian troops, command posts, ammunition depots, while Ukraine claimed to defeat several Russian attacks in Donetsk.
Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said at a daily briefing yesterday that Russian forces attacked Ukrainian army's 66th mechanised brigade in Kharkov, struck the 80th airborne assault brigade in Donetsk with a high-precision attack, and destroyed several armament and munitions depots.
Russia's army aviation and artillery troops attacked the command posts in places including Donetsk, as well as artillery units, manpower and military equipment concentration areas, said Konashenkov.
The spokesman also said that Russian troops assaulted eight ammunition depots in Donetsk, Zaporozhye, and Nikolayev.
On the same day, the Ukrainian General Staff said that Ukrainian troops repelled several Russian attacks in Donetsk and intercepted sea-based missiles fired by Russian forces in Odesa.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted on his official social media account that Ukraine has controlled almost all of Kharkov region, according to Ukraine media reports.
Russia 'may not have sufficient reserves' to withstand further Ukraine assault
It is unclear whether Russian frontline forces have "sufficient reserves or adequate morale" to withstand another concerted assault in eastern parts of Ukraine, according to defence experts.
British defence intelligence analysts believe Moscow has established a defensive line between the Oskil River and the town of Svatove following a successful counter-offensive from the Ukrainians, forcing the Kremlin to concede swathes of territory.
The zone is viewed as important partly because it sits along the border of the Luhansk region, part of the Donbas, which Russia has sought to "liberate" as one of its key war aims.
Any substantial loss of territory here would "unambiguously undermine" Vladimir Putin's strategy for the conflict, the experts say.
In its latest update on the situation in Ukraine, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it is unclear whether Russia's frontline forces have adequate reserves or morale to withstand another concerted Ukrainian assault in eastern parts of the country.
Moscow is facing fresh outrage from the West after the discovery of a mass grave outside the formerly Russian-occupied city of Izyum, where, Kyiv officials say, almost all of the exhumed bodies showed signs of torture.
Mr Zelensky said the dead included both children and adults, civilians and military.
"Tortured, shot, killed by shelling," Mr Zelensky said.
"Even entire families are buried there: Mother, father and daughter."
The Czech Republic, which currently holds the EU presidency, has since called for the establishment of an international tribunal for war crimes.
Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko said the recapture of Izyum was a "huge strategic gain", militarily speaking.
"Ukraine is making confident advances in the northeast and the southeast of the country as well," she told Sky News.
"We are making progress for our sake, but also for the sake of bringing back long-standing peace to the continent."
Asked what she thought Mr Putin might do next, she said: "Nobody can be in the mind of that power-crazed leader."
She added: "Whatever it is, we have to be prepared for it - we have to be prepared for it as Ukrainians, you have to be prepared for it in the UK.
"And actually, people worldwide need to be prepared that something absolutely atrocious, another crazy move, can happen any time.
"For that, Ukrainians need to have the weapons to protect themselves, the ammunition in the necessary amount to protect themselves.
"And the West needs to be prepared to apply every sanction that there is in the book against Russia."
Additional reporting: PA
