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.
A total of 7,120 hate crimes were reported by law enforcement agencies around the country last year, slightly down from 7,175 in 2017, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said on Tuesday, adding that this involved 8,496 offenses.
Republican Senator from Indiana Todd Young, who has introduced a resolution in the Senate on the occasion, said the Sikh-Americans had succeeded in making a profound impact across the US because they followed the teachings of the first Sikh guru.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's former wife, Reham Khan, has won "substantial" damages and received an apology from a Pakistani news channel over defamatory allegations by a government minister during a show last year.
Labour Friends of India (LFIN), the representative diaspora group of the UK’s Opposition Labour Party, on Wednesday issued a sharp rebuke of its party’s failure to select enough Indian-origin candidates to contest the December 12 General Election.
Considering the long-standing demand of Pakistan's Hindu community, the Imran Khan government has decided to reopen the closed Hindu temples and also renovate them.
The Pakistani military has scotched reports that Pakistan is to amend the Army Act to allow Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav the right to file an appeal in a civilian court.
