Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that if any Western nation that is a nuclear power were to aid Ukraine in a conventional attack on Russia, it would be considered a “joint attack on the Russian Federation.”
Putin spoke at a meeting of Russia’s Security Council, which is considering proposals to change the country’s nuclear doctrine.
The “joint attack on the Russian Federation” proposal is included in a proposed revised version of Russia’s nuclear doctrine, Putin said. It was not immediately clear if Russia would respond to a joint attack with nuclear weapons, but Russia’s use of nuclear weapons is among the proposals.
Putin has long warned the U.S. and NATO that if they allow Ukraine to use Western-supplied, long-range weapons on Russia, that move could then open the door for war between Russia and NATO countries.
Russia has slowly but steadily been gaining control of territory in Ukraine as the war continues through its third year. The Kremlin is attempting to discourage Western nations from providing stronger support to Kyiv.
Meanwhile, Ukraine said Wednesday it shot down 28 out of 32 drones and four of eight missiles launched during an overnight Russian attack.
The regional governor of Odessa, Oleh Kiper, said on the Telegram messaging app that one missile hit an area and started a fire, and debris damaged two trucks.
In Kyiv, regional governor Ruslan Kravchenko said a drone attack did not harm critical or residential infrastructure.
In the northwestern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv, Russian strikes damaged a hangar early Wednesday. On Tuesday, three people were killed there and more than 30 were wounded, Ukrainian officials said.
"The targets of the Russian bombs were an apartment building, a bakery, a stadium. In other words, the everyday life of ordinary people," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement.
Zelenskyy released a photograph of the apartment building which showed an immense hole in the middle of the structure, several floors destroyed, blown-out windows and rubble strewn across the ground.
The attack came while Zelenskyy is in the U.S. He addressed the United Nations General Assembly earlier Wednesday.
"There is much discussion now at the U.N. General Assembly about collective efforts for security and the future. But we just need to stop the terror. To have security. To have a future," he said.
The mayor of Kharkiv said the same building had been attacked at the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and repairs were nearly complete. The mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said on Telegram that the most densely populated part of the city was hit. Regional prosecutors said, also on Telegram, that the city was hit by six Russian-guided bombs.
Two people also were reported killed in Pokrovsk by Russian shelling, according to Agence France-Presse.
Some information for this story was provided by Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
