New Delhi, Feb 28 (IANS) Russian ground units, equipped with intercontinental ballistic missiles as well as vessels from the Northern and Pacific Fleets, have been placed on high combat alert, the Russian Defence Ministry confirmed on Monday.
The Russian Navy includes submarines armed with nuclear missiles, RT reported.
The ministry said the move was made in accordance with the order issued by President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, RT reported.
Putin cited "illegitimate sanctions" against Russia and "aggressive statements" by Western officials, without elaborating.
Many countries, including the US, the UK and EU member states, have imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in response to its military operation in Ukraine.
Earlier, Putin had placed the country's nuclear deterrent forces on "special" alert on Sunday, RT reported.
The move was announced during Putin's meeting with Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu and Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov.
"Western countries are not only taking unfriendly actions against our country in the economic area. I'm speaking about the illegitimate sanctions that everyone is well aware of. However, the top officials of the leading NATO countries also make aggressive statements against our country as well," Putin stated.
The move comes in response to 'hostile' rhetoric by top NATO officials, Putin said, RT reported.
The internal documents also cite studies from Canada, Singapore and Scotland showing that the delta variant may pose a greater risk for hospitalization, intensive care treatment and death than the alpha variant, first detected in the United Kingdom.
The dead included a 82-year-old man in Akseki’s Kepezbeleni neighborhood, where some 80% of the houses were incinerated, the district’s governor, Volkan Hulur, told the the state-run Anadolu Agency.
The four were among those who endured the wrath of the crowd — supporters of Donald Trump aiming to prevent the certification of Joe Biden's election win.
With only about 57 per cent of eligible U.S. residents fully vaccinated, media reports say the Biden administration plans to keep its borders closed for now.
Cohen, a lawyer, lobbyist and fundraiser who currently serves as a senior adviser to the head of U.S. communications giant Comcast, had long been pegged as the likely nominee.
