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.
ADVT
International
Russia puts nuclear forces on high combat alert
MORE International ARTICLES
Indian Sikh Woman Who Tried To Flee With Pakistani Facebook Friend Sent Back From Kartarpur
Manjit Kaur, in her early 20s, visited the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib via the Kartarpur corridor, some 125kms from Lahore, in last week of November, sources said.
Indian Sikh Woman Who Tried To Flee With Pakistani Facebook Friend Sent Back From Kartarpur
Twitter Users Have Fun Over Toddlers' Race In US
A video clipping about a toddlers' race on a basketball court in the US evoked some funny responses from the Twitter users.
Twitter Users Have Fun Over Toddlers' Race In US
Chennai Space Enthusiast Finds Vikram Debris On Moon: NASA
A space enthusiast from Chennai who worked independently, found a debris from the Vikram moonlander that scientists had been looking for and helped guide them to the spot where it had crashed.
Chennai Space Enthusiast Finds Vikram Debris On Moon: NASA
2 Indian Students Dead In Us Hit-And-Run
Two Indian students were killed in a hit-and-run incident in the US state of Tennessee, with the accused surrendering himself to the police, media reports said.
2 Indian Students Dead In Us Hit-And-Run
Mob Attacks Offices Of Pakistan Newspaper 'Dawn' After It Says London Attacker Is 'Pakistan Origin Man'
The Dawn newspaper in its headline had identified Usman Khan, a convicted Islamist terrorist from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir who stabbed two people to death in a terror attack on London Bridge last week, as "UK national of Pakistani origin".
Mob Attacks Offices Of Pakistan Newspaper 'Dawn' After It Says London Attacker Is 'Pakistan Origin Man'
'I'm Not A Billionaire. I Can't Fund My Own Campaign’: Kamala Harris Drops Out Of 2020 Presidential Race
California’s powerful India-origin Democratic Senator Kamala Harris told her supporters on Tuesday that she was ending her bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.