Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered nuclear-armed units to increase alertness.
According to the Associated Press, Putin said in a televised speech on the 27th local time that he had "instructed the Defense Minister and Chief of Staff to enter into special combat missions of the nuclear deterrence unit."
Putin said, "Western countries are not only taking economically unfriendly measures to Russia, but also high-ranking officials from major NATO member states are making aggressive comments towards Russia."
It shows that the West is retaliating for pressure on Russia, including removing Russian banks from the International Interbank Telecommunication Association (SWIFT) payment network and putting Putin directly on the sanctions list.
A nuclear deterrent unit refers to a unit in charge of nuclear weapons, such as the Russian strategic rocket force operating intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). “It means that the current tensions increase the risk of a nuclear war,” he said.
The United States strongly opposed Putin's orders to strengthen the vigilance posture of the nuclear deterrent force, calling it "unacceptable".
"It means that President Putin continues to escalate this war in a way that is absolutely unacceptable," Linda-Thomas Greenfield, US ambassador to the United Nations, told CBS. "