Moscow escalates warnings with nuclear war games in the Baltic

Source: Reuters, AP

Reacting to the prospect of Sweden and Finland joining NATO in the wake of the war in Ukraine, Moscow escalated its warnings by simulating a nuclear-tipped missile fired at the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, an electronic simulation of the Iskander ballistic missile was carried out yesterday at dawn, while combat forces of the Russian army carried out exercises with the scenario of neutralizing responsive blows with radioactive and chemical weapons. Kaliningrad is a Russian possession between Poland and Lithuania, opposite the Nordic countries. Sweden and Finland are moving to apply for NATO membership, a process that is expected to take about a year. Yesterday, the secretary-general

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday apologized to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett for Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's comment that Hitler was of Jewish descent. In a telephone conversation with the Russian leader, Bennett said he had accepted Putin's apology. The latter insisted that Russia was willing to provide a safe passage for civilians located at Azovstal in Mariupol, but asked Kyiv to order Ukrainian fighters inside to hand over their weapons.

Fierce fighting broke out yesterday in many parts of eastern and southern Ukraine. Denis Prokopenko, commander of the last forces of the Azov Order, which is fortified in the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, said that Russian troops had invaded the underground shelters, which the Kremlin spokesman denied.