Russia Ukraine War LIVE Updates: Russians flee to neighbour nations on mobilisation call

Putin expected to annex parts of Ukraine after 'referendums' end

Russians flee to neighbour nations on mobilisation call

Ukraine foreign minister says annexation votes 'will not have any influence' on military goals

US 'ready to provide support' to Europe after Nord Stream gas pipeline leaks: official

Kyiv says Nord Stream gas pipeline leaks a 'terrorist attack' by Moscow

Underwater 'blasts' recorded prior to Nord Stream pipeline leaks: Swedish seismic institute

Russian election officials say early results show Ukraine regions strongly favour annexation: News agencies

Meta says it removed a sprawling network of 1,600 fake Facebook accounts used to spread Russian propaganda about Ukraine, reports AP

EU to sanction organisers of 'illegal' Russia referendums in Ukraine regions: spokesman

The Kremlin warned Tuesday that votes held in Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine to join Russia would have security implications, with officials in Moscow recently threatening the use of nuclear weapons. "The legal situation will radically change from the point of view of international law and that will also have consequences for security in these territories," the Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. (AFP)

On Tuesday, the local interior ministry in a Russian region that borders Georgia said there was a back-up of around 5,500 cars waiting to reach the Georgian border.

Over the first four months of the war, nearly 50,000 Russians have fled to Georgia, where they can stay for a year without a visa, the tiny Black Sea nation's statistics office said in June. Some 40,000 more fled over the same period to Armenia, another top destination that also has no visa requirement for Russians.

"Four to five days ago 5,000-6,000 (Russians) were arriving in Georgia daily. The number has grown to some 10,000 per day," Georgia's interior minister Vakhtang Gomelauri told journalists.

The number of Russians arriving daily in neighbouring Georgia has nearly doubled since President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilisation for the war in Ukraine, officials in Tbilisi said Tuesday. Putin's announcement has sparked a new wave of exodus to the Caucasus country of Georgia which has been a major destination for Russians fleeing since the war began on February 24. (AFP)

"I have to remind you again - for those deaf ears who hear only themselves. Russia has the right to use nuclear weapons if necessary," Medvedev said, adding that it would do so "in predetermined cases" and in strict compliance with state policy. Medvedev's comments come as Russia prepares to annex large swathes of Ukrainian territory after referendums in Russian-controlled regions in Ukraine. Ukraine and the West have denounced the votes as an illegal sham.

"I believe that Nato would not directly interfere in the conflict even in this scenario," Medvedev said. "The demagogues across the ocean and in Europe are not going to die in a nuclear apocalypse."

According to Russia's nuclear doctrine, Putin may use nuclear weapons if the state faces an existential threat, including from conventional weapons.

"Let's imagine that Russia is forced to use the most fearsome weapon against the Ukrainian regime which had committed a large-scale act of aggression that is dangerous for the very existence of our state," former Russia President Medvedev said in a post on Telegram.

Voting to wrap up in Russia-held areas of Ukraine

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday that Moscow has the right to defend itself with nuclear weapons if it is pushed beyond its limits and that this is 'certainly not a bluff'. Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, also warned that Moscow has the right to respond "without much consultation", as tensions rise with the West over referendums held in large swathes of Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory. (Reuters)