LIVE UPDATES: US Actions Fraught With Direct Military Clash of Nuclear Powers - Russian Embassy

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the operation aims to "protect people subjected to genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." As of March 25, the Russian Armed Forces completed the main tasks of the first stage, significantly reducing the combat potential of Ukraine. Western nations have imposed numerous sanctions on Russia and have been supplying weapons to Ukraine.

"Today, the United States continues to act with no regard to other countries’ security and interests, which does contribute to an increase in nuclear risks. The US steps to further engage in a hybrid confrontation with Russia in the context of the Ukrainian crisis are fraught with unpredictable escalation and a direct military clash of nuclear powers," the embassy said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the operation aims to "protect people subjected to genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." As of March 25, the Russian Armed Forces completed the main tasks of the first stage, significantly reducing the combat potential of Ukraine. Western nations have imposed numerous sanctions on Russia and have been supplying weapons to Ukraine.

He said these provocations could pose a real threat to nuclear security not only in Ukraine, but also in Europe, and the Kiev regime and Western countries, according to an already worked out scenario with wide media coverage, will blame the Russian military for their possible consequences.

The world’s largest seed and fertilizer company said it was committed to helping prevent what could become an "unprecedented food crisis." Bayer shares the UN’s view that access to Russian food and fertilizers and Ukrainian food is essential to alleviate pressure on the global food system, it said.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Twitter that his country also received six more M109 howitzers from Latvia and they "are already showing results on the battlefield."

"On August 15, 2022, Russian Defense Minister Gen. of the Army Sergei Shoigu held phone conversation with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to discuss the conditions for the safe operation of the Zaporozhye NPP," the ministry said.

The spokesperson explained that the UN Secretariat is in close contact with the IAEA and has assessed that the agency has the logistics and security capacity to support a mission to the Zaporozhye plant from Kiev "should both, Russia and Ukraine agree."

All five said they understood the charges and pleaded not guilty. Offenses they are accused of are punishable by life in prison or death penalty in martial criminal justice, a spokesperson with the prosecutor's office told Sputnik earlier in August.

Gustafsson surrendered in Mariupol in the industrial zone of the Azovstal steel plant. He is accused of fighting for the Ukrainian army as a mercenary.

Ukraine is creating obstacles to the visit, he added.

Sopko emphasized that it is very necessary to create a new oversight structure dedicated specifically to Ukraine to prevent losses like the ones incurred in Afghanistan.

Russia has revoked licenses from repair enterprises of the Czech Republic and Bulgaria for cooperation with Ukraine on Mi helicopters, Director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) Dmitry Shugaev said on Monday.

"All states that have announced the transfer of domestic military products to the Kiev regime have been sent official notes about the inadmissibility of such actions. Licences for the right to repair Mi-type helicopters of a number of enterprises located in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic have been revoked," he said during the Army-2022 forum, talking about the measures taken by the FSMTC to combat the illegal re-export of military equipment in the interests of Ukraine.

According to Shugaev, Russia has also suspended the supply of spare parts and components for aviation and other Russian/Soviet-made equipment located in unfriendly countries.

A statement made by over 40 countries on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant is biased and can only encourage Ukraine to continue attacking the facility, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's Permanent Representative to the international organizations in Vienna, said on Monday.

A statement by 42 countries, including the United States, member states of the European Union, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Japan, South Korea, Australia and others, called on Russia to hand over the NPP to Ukraine.

"It's surprising, but in the joint statement, which, as follows from the headline, is dedicated to the situation at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, this statement does not say a word about the fact that this plant is subjected to systematic shelling. Of course, I understand that the co-authors of this document are biased and cannot afford to say directly that the shelling is carried out by the Ukrainian side, but, probably, one could at least mention this fact, even if in a neutral way, but this was not done," Ulyanov told the Rossiya 24 TV channel.

The Russian diplomat added that the statement has nothing to do with real politics and can only "encourage Kiev to continue missile and artillery strikes on the facility."

Defense spending in Ukraine has increased 4.7 times this year compared with 2021, member of Ukrainian parliament Yaroslav Zhelezniak said on Monday.

"Spending on security and defense increased 4.7 times this year compared to the previous one," Zhelezniak said on Telegram.

The Ukrainian parliament, Verkhovna Rada, will soon vote for a fifth increase of military expenditures this year by 270 billion hryvnia ($7.3 billion), the lawmaker said.

"With such changes in the state budget of 2022, national security and defense will account for 1.2 trillion hryvnia. This is almost as much as all state expenditures combined in 2021," Zhelezniak said.

One day of war costs Ukraine about $70 million, excluding infrastructure damages, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal said back in April. Kiev has been receiving tens of billions dollars worth of assistance from foreign countries.