Kremlin warns of nuclear war if the European Union backs Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons on Russian soil, escalating tensions to Cold War levels.

Russia warned the West and Ukraine on Friday of "disastrous consequences" if Kyiv moved against close Russian ally Belarus, making clear it would intervene to defend a country where it has deployed tactical nuclear weapons.

According to documents obtained by the Ukrainian military and shared with The Guardian, Russia's military command foresaw Ukraine's August 6 incursion and failed to act on warnings from those in the region. Newsweek has contacted the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment on the reports.

Russia said on Friday that its army would regain control of its Kursk region "in a timely manner", declining to say how soon this could be achieved. Ukraine on Aug. 6 launched the biggest foreign attack on Russia since World War Two,

Russian military command had predicted that Ukraine might launch an operation in Russia's Kursk Oblast and spent several months planning how to prevent it, according to documents seized by the Ukrainian army from abandoned Russian positions in the region.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is sceptical of Russian leader Vladimir Putin's threats, which come amid discussions about allowing Ukraine to launch long-range missiles deep into Russia. Source: Stoltenberg in an interview with The Times,

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia was ramping up drone production by around ten times to nearly 1.4 million this year in a bid to ensure the Russian armed forces win in Ukraine. Since Russia sent tens of thousands of soldiers into Ukraine in February 2022,

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the Russian military received around 140,000 drones in 2023 and that Moscow plans to increase this number tenfold in 2024.