Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow will soon deploy Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, while the first pieces of heavy artillery (howitzers) arrived from Germany to Ukraine about 4 months after the start of the war.

Putin said during his speech today, Tuesday at a ceremony in the Kremlin, that his country will continue to develop and strengthen its armed forces, taking into account potential military threats and risks.

He stressed that Moscow will deploy by the end of the year the newly tested Russian "Sarmat" intercontinental ballistic missiles nicknamed "Satan", capable of carrying more than 10 warheads.

The Russian president's threat to escalate the military comes as the crisis between Russia and Lithuania overshadowed today's events, as the European Union ambassador to Russia said that he had asked Moscow to solve the problem of crossing to Kaliningrad diplomatically.

The Russian Foreign Ministry had summoned the European Union's ambassador to it to submit a protest note due to Lithuania's restriction of transit of goods to the Russian territory of Kaliningrad, and summoned the European Union's ambassador to it to submit a protest note as well.

For his part, Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev said that Russia will respond as soon as possible to the ban imposed by Lithuania on the transit of goods and merchandise to the Kaliningrad region.

Patrushev stressed the need to strengthen the protection of Russian borders in light of the new threats in light of the possibility of Finland and Sweden joining NATO, he said.


Support with arms

In a parallel context, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that what he called Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine is a fundamental blow to the European peace system and a flagrant violation of international law.

Schulz stressed that Germany will continue to send weapons to Ukraine as long as necessary, and that it will provide large-scale financial and humanitarian assistance to it, pointing to the importance of sanctions imposed on Russia despite its harm to German companies, as he put it.

During his speech at the Industry Day conference - which is organized on the repercussions of the war on Ukraine - Schultz affirmed Berlin's strong support for Lithuania and the allies in Eastern Europe, and renewed his country's support for Sweden and Finland's request to join NATO.

According to Ukrainian data, the first pieces of heavy artillery (self-propelled howitzers) arrived from Germany to Ukraine, about 4 months after the start of the war.

In the area of ​​sanctions, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said that her country intends to impose more sanctions on Moscow.

Truss made it clear in a session before parliament that her country will continue to provide more weapons to Ukraine to support it in removing Russian forces from its territory.

On the same issue, The Wall Street Journal quoted the head of Turkey's Defense Industries Organization, Ismail Demir, as indicating to Ankara's caution regarding further arms deliveries to Ukraine.

According to the newspaper, Demir made it clear that Turkey could not communicate with the Russian and Ukrainian parties if it sent weapons to one of them, explaining that Turkey should be able to talk to both sides.

However, the head of the Turkish Defense Industries Organization stressed that Ankara does not hesitate to sell other equipment to Ukraine such as protective equipment.

For his part, US Attorney General Merrick Garland will visit Ukraine on Tuesday to discuss the prosecution of individuals involved in war crimes in the country, according to a Justice Department official.

Garland will meet with Ukrainian Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova, to discuss US international efforts to help Kyiv "identify, arrest and prosecute individuals involved in war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine," according to the same source.


Clashes and mutual shelling

On the ground, Al-Jazeera correspondent in Kramatorsk reported that a center for selling building supplies had most of its parts destroyed after it was subjected to a Russian air strike on Monday.

British intelligence indicated that the Ukrainian defenses were able to neutralize Russia's ability to control the northwest Black Sea after the bombing of a Russian ship carrying weapons and soldiers to Snake Island.

A member of the Russian Federation Council of the Republic of Crimea spoke of the continuing fire in the offshore drilling platform of the Black Sea Oil and Gas Company after it was subjected to Ukrainian shelling on Monday morning.

In the Donbass region, Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that clashes continued in the vicinity of the Azot plant in the industrial zone of the city of Severodonetsk.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported that its forces launched raids on an airport in the Odessa region using cruise missiles in response to the Ukrainian attack on gas production platforms in the Black Sea.

Moscow confirmed that its forces repelled an attack from the Ukrainian forces on the island of Zminy and downed 13 Ukrainian drones at the place.

The Russian Defense Ministry also reported the destruction of 15 howitzers in one day, in addition to the destruction of two platforms for launching the S-300 air defense system in the Ochakovo and Tuzli regions, and the downing of a Ukrainian Sukhoi warplane. 25" on the outskirts of Kharkiv.

On the other hand, Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Stuben accused Russia of targeting civilian infrastructure in the city of Ochakovo, adding that the Russian raids on the city of Severodonetsk did not stop.

Sergei Gaidi, governor of Lugansk, confirmed that more than 10 buildings, several houses and a police station were destroyed in the bombing of the town of Lyschansk during the past 24 hours.

In humanitarian terms, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Frischuk said that it will be difficult to open humanitarian corridors in the event that Ukrainian forces advance towards areas controlled by Russian forces in the southern Kherson province.

Frischuk called on all residents of those regions to urgently evacuate their homes and move to the Crimea, to facilitate the progress of Ukrainian forces towards more locations in the province and to take control of it.