Live: CIA warns of nuclear risk posed by Vladimir Putin – FRANCE 24

Published on: 04/15/2022 – 05:55 CIA boss Williams Burns said on Thursday that military setbacks in Ukraine could prompt Russian President Vladimir Putin to resort to a tactical or low-power nuclear weapon in that country. Follow our live. 2:37 a.m.: Powerful explosions heard in Kyiv Powerful explosions were heard in Kyiv in the early hours of Friday, as warning sirens sounded across Ukraine as Ukrainian forces and residents moved prepared for new Russian attacks. These appear to be the largest blasts in and around the Ukrainian capital since the Russian military withdrew from the area earlier this month for redeployment in the south and east of the country . 2:30 a.m.: CIA warns of nuclear risk posed by Putin facing setbacks “Since it is possible that President Putin and the Russian leadership will descend into despair, given the setbacks they have suffered so far From a military point of view, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or low-power nuclear weapons,” CIA chief William Burns said Thursday during a briefing. a speech in Atlanta. The Kremlin mentioned putting its nuclear forces on alert “but we haven’t really seen any concrete signs such as deployments or military measures that could heighten our concerns”, added the boss of the America’s main intelligence agency. “Obviously we are very concerned. I know that President (Joe) Biden is deeply concerned about the risk of World War III and is doing everything to avoid getting to the point where a nuclear conflict becomes possible”, a- he added. 11:50 p.m .: the Moskva sunk, “a hard blow” for the Russian fleet The loss of the cruiser Moskva, flagship of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea which sank on Thursday, is “a hard blow” for the Russian fleet in the region , Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Thursday. “This will have consequences for their” combat capabilities, because the ship was a “key element in their efforts to establish naval dominance in the Black Sea”, added the American spokesperson on the CNN channel. 01:51 The Moskva “provided air cover for the other vessels during their operations, in particular the bombardment of the coast and the landing maneuvers”, detailed for his part the spokesman of the regional military administration of Odessa Sergei Bratchouk , on Telegram. Whatever the circumstances of the sinking, it is one of Russia’s biggest setbacks and a major humiliation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky drove home the point in his ritual video message from the evening by referring to the Ukrainians as “those who showed that Russian ships can only go to the bottom”. With AFP and Reuters