The West has received a nuclear warning from Alexander Lukashenko weeks after his nation began receiving Russian tactical nuclear weapons.
Targets for strikes in the event of aggression have already been decided, according to the president of Belarus.
He declared: “We are not going to attack anyone with nuclear weapons” at a meeting with foreign reporters at his Minsk mansion.
You can forget about using nuclear weapons as long as you don’t hit us. However, the reaction will be immediate if you act aggressively. The goals have been selected.
His stark warning comes as Ukraine is still grappling with the ‘serious threat’ at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has called for ‘full and immediate’ access to the site to examine for ‘explosives’.
Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, also gave an update about the whereabouts of Yevgeny Prigozhin.
‘As for Prigozhin, he is in St Petersburg. He is not on the territory of Belarus,’ he said.
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Russia will hold illegal ‘elections’ in the occupied areas of Kherson Oblastin September, regional governer Yurii Sobolevskyi has confirmed.
The Ukrainian official cited the formation of a ‘Kherson Oblast election commission,’ set up by the Russian occupation authorities and urged locals not to take part in the process.
‘The occupiers set the dates of elections in the Kherson region — September 8, 9, 10. This was officially announced by the “head of the Kherson Region Election Commission” from the occupation authorities,’ he wrote on Telegram.
‘These actions have nothing to do with the election process and are absolutely illegal. Considering the way they already conducted the “referendum”, you can’t call it anything other than a circus and theater of the absurd.
‘I want to remind everyone that there will be responsibility for participating in the organization of this show. Each person will be held accountable.’
Russia’s central election commission also confirmed plans to hold illegal votes in the four partially-occupied Ukrainian oblasts of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk.
The sham vote, which is expected to take place on the same day as elections in Russian regions, shows the Kremlin’s desire to present the areas as integral parts of Russia, according to the U.K. Defense Ministry.
The UK government has named Martin Harris as its next ambassador to Ukraine, starting in September.
A longstanding diplomat, Harris previously served as the British ambassador to Romania between 2010-14 and has worked closely with HM goverment on diplomatic missions in both Moscow and Kyiv.
He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2010, and a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 2023.
Outgoing ambassador to Kyiv, Melinda Simmons, who was appointed to the role in 2019, will take another diplomatic service appointment, the government said in a statement.
Ukraine plans to abandon conscription and move to a professional army after the war with Russia to bring Kyiv closer to NATO standards, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Thursday.
After a meeting with top defence and security officials at which reforms known as ‘the Ukrainian shield’ were discussed, Shmyhal said the government would also continue to focus on supporting a further increase in domestic weapons production.
‘The primary task is to complete the transition of the Security and Defence Forces of Ukraine to NATO standards. In all aspects: from equipment and weapons to planning and analysis,’ Shmyhal said on the Telegram messaging app.
‘After the end of the war, Ukraine will abandon the draft as it existed before the war. The foundation of our defence will be a professional army.’
The United States is expected to announce it will give cluster munitions to Ukraine for its fight against Russia’s invasion, the New York Times has reported, citing an unidentified senior Biden administration official.
Ukraine says it wants to use the explosives to clkear minefields andstrike at dug-in Russians, but Human Rights groups have criticised the move and say the unexploded bomblets are a threat to civilians.
Cluster munitions, banned by more than 120 countries, normally release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area, threatening civilians.