Russia-Ukraine War: Latest updates to know as Putin escalates tensions

Tensions over Ukraine escalated further after Russian President Vladimir Putin put his nuclear forces on increased alert.

The U.S. and some European countries said they were dramatically upping their deliveries of weapons to Ukraine, including more Stinger missiles and fighter jets.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, meanwhile, announced plans for a meeting Monday with a Russian delegation at an unspecified location on the Belarusian border.

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Russia’s military assault on Ukraine entered its fifth day with fighting in the streets of the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, and troops moving closer to the capital, Kyiv.

Here are the things to know about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the security crisis in Europe:

Unearthing long-buried fears from the Cold War, Putin on Sunday ordered Russian nuclear weapons prepared for increased readiness to launch.

He said NATO had made “aggressive statements” toward Russia and cited the stiff economic sanctions imposed on Russia.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told CNN that Putin's invocation of Russia's nuclear arsenal was “dangerous rhetoric.”

The practical meaning of Putin’s order was not immediately clear. Russia and the United States typically have land- and submarine-based nuclear forces on alert and prepared for combat at all times, but nuclear-capable bombers and other aircraft are not.

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Russian troops drew closer to Kyiv, a city of almost 3 million, and street fighting broke out in Kharkiv. Strategic ports in the south were coming under pressure from attackers.

Ukrainian defenders put up stiff resistance that appeared to slow the invasion. But a U.S. official cautioned that far stronger Russian forces inevitably will learn and adapt their tactics as Russia’s assault goes on.

Only an occasional car appeared on a deserted main boulevard of Kyiv as a strict 39-hour curfew kept people off the streets until Monday morning. Authorities warned that anyone venturing out without a pass would be considered a Russian saboteur.

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Terrified residents instead hunkered down in homes, underground garages and subway stations in anticipation of a full-scale Russian assault.

“I wish I had never lived to see this,” said Faina Bystritska, 87, a Jewish survivor of World War II. She said sirens blare almost constantly in her hometown, Chernihiv, which is about about 150 kilometers (90 miles) from Kyiv and under attack.

Ukrainians have volunteered en masse to defend their country, taking guns distributed by authorities and preparing firebombs. Ukraine is also releasing prisoners with military experience who want to fight for the country, authorities said.

Pentagon officials said Russian troops are being slowed by Ukrainian resistance, fuel shortages and other logistical problems, and that Ukraine’s air defense systems, while weakened, are still operating.

After rejecting Putin’s offer to meet in the Belarusian city of Homel on the grounds that Belarus was helping the Russian assault, Zelenskyy agreed to send a Ukrainian delegation to meet Russian counterparts at an unspecified time and location on the Belarusian border.

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The announcement came hours after Russia announced that its delegation had flown to Belarus to await talks. Ukrainian officials initially rejected the move, saying any talks should take place elsewhere. Belarus has allowed Russia to use its territory as a staging ground for the invasion of Ukraine.

Zelenskyy named Warsaw, Bratislava, Istanbul, Budapest and Baku as alternative venues for talks, before accepting the Belarus border.

Read: Russia-Ukraine crisis: Blasts heard in Ukraine's Kyiv and Kharkiv

The Kremlin added later that Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had offered to help broker an end to the fighting in a call with Putin. It didn’t say whether the Russian leader accepted.

The number of Ukrainians fleeing Europe’s largest armed conflict since World War

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