US President Joe Biden on Thursday warned for the first time since the Cold War about the risk of an “apocalypse” due to threats to use nuclear weapons by Russia, whose troops are under pressure from a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

The main thing from Friday, the 226th day of the Ukrainian war, LIVETEXT:

08:11 Key points of the Institute for the Study of War’s latest assessment:

• Russia’s use of Iranian-made drones does not create asymmetric effects, like Ukraine’s use of US-supplied HIMARS systems, and is unlikely to significantly affect the course of the war.
• Private military company Wagner announced the creation of its own private Telegram channel on Thursday, suggesting that Wagner financier Yevgeny Prigozhin may want a voice that is clearly his to compete with military bloggers and possibly the leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, each of whom has his own voice. channels in Telegram.
• On Thursday, Ukrainian troops probably continued counteroffensive actions in the northeast of Kharkiv region in the Kupyansk region and preparations for shelling Russian positions on the Kreminna-Svatov highway in the west of Luhansk region.
• Russian troops are likely to create defensive positions in the upper part of the Kherson region after the failure of the Russian line in the northeast of Kherson.
• Russian forces continued ground attacks in Donetsk region on Thursday and may have made little progress around Bakhmut.
• On Thursday, Moscow’s troops continued to carry out artillery, air and missile strikes west of Gulyaipol and in the area of ​​Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolaiv regions.
• Local Russian officials appear to be frantically looking for ways to fund their mobilized units, as the Kremlin increasingly expects local governments to pay for the military effort from their own budgets.
• The “Ukrainian Resistance” Center reported on Thursday that Russian troops began the forced mobilization of Ukrainian citizens from Kremmin and Starobilsk, Luhansk region.

Biden compares nuclear threats to the Cuban Missile Crisis

08:02 Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the United States was “considering a number of options in response” to its relationship with Saudi Arabia after Riyadh and other OPEC+ nations agreed this week to a major cut in oil output.

“As for further relations (with Riyadh), we are considering several options for the answer. We are consulting closely with Congress,” Blinken said, without specifying what steps Washington was considering. (Reuters)

07:46 Joe Biden said Vladimir Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons could be the biggest threat of its kind since the Cuban Missile Crisis, adding that Washington was “trying to understand” Putin’s path to de-escalation.

The White House has repeatedly said it sees no signs that Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons, despite more or less veiled threats from the Kremlin. But Biden said Thursday that he is keeping a close eye on Putin and how he might react as the Ukrainian army advances against the Russian invaders.

“For the first time since the Cuban Missile Crisis, we have a direct threat of nuclear weapons if, in fact, things continue on the path they’ve been on,” Biden said.

A brief summary of recent events:

• As a result of the missile attack on the city of Zaporizhia in the southern region of the same name, several people were trapped under the rubble, the governor of the region reported. “The Russians continue to purposefully attack civilians in order to sow fear,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
• Leaders of the EU and other European nations, including Britain and Turkey, met on Thursday to discuss the security and energy emergencies that have affected them all since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a symbolic summit that underscored Moscow’s isolation
• The EU has imposed new trade restrictions on Russia and expanded the list of those subject to asset freezes and entry bans as part of the 8th package of sanctions against Moscow that came into force on Thursday.
• A Russian-backed official in Ukraine publicly criticized President Vladimir Putin’s “generals and ministers” for not understanding frontline issues
• Kyrylo Stremousov, the deputy head of the regional administration installed by the Russians in Kherson, spoke disparagingly of the Moscow generals and suggested that Shoigu should shoot himself due to failures
• A Russian propagandist offered to kill officials from NATO countries live on Russian television to stop the war in Ukraine
• Moscow’s troops left behind more military equipment and weapons than any Western country has donated to Ukraine since the beginning of the war, WSJ writes
• Ukrainian armed forces have advanced about 55 km in the past two weeks in a counteroffensive in northeastern Ukraine in the Kharkiv region, a Ukrainian general said
• On the southern Ukrainian front, Ukrainian troops are strengthening their positions and regrouping in the north of the Kherson region after a significant advance in recent days
• The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Raphael Grossi, said that the UN atomic agency considers the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya NPP to be a Ukrainian facility.
• Investigation at the site of damage to Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines has increased suspicions of “gross sabotage”, Swedish authorities said
• Norway has announced it will impose restrictions on Russian fishing vessels using its ports, further tightening security measures following last week’s gas pipeline leak in the Baltic Sea.
• Putin said he expects increased sanctions pressure on the Russian economy in televised remarks from a meeting with government officials
• The Kremlin denied the information that 700,000 Russians left the country since the announcement of the “partial mobilization” campaign
• According to the New York Times, US intelligence agencies believe that parts of the Ukrainian government authorized the car bomb explosion in August that killed Daria Dugina, the daughter of a prominent Russian nationalist.

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• Thursday’s events surrounding the Russian invasion were broadcast LIVE on HotNews.ro