Russia issues new nuclear warning as it wraps up contested Ukraine referendums - Reuters UK

LONDON/ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine, Sept 27 (Reuters) - An ally of President Vladimir Putin issued a stark new nuclear warning to Ukraine and the West on Tuesday as Russia began releasing results of referendums it bills as a prelude to it annexing four Ukrainian regions.

Analysts say they are designed to deter Ukraine and the West by hinting at a readiness to use tactical nuclear weapons to defend newly annexed territory, where Russian forces have faced strong Ukrainian counteroffensives in recent weeks.

Medvedev's warning differed from earlier ones in that he predicted for the first time that the NATO military alliance would not risk a nuclear war and directly enter the Ukraine war even if Moscow struck Ukraine with nuclear weapons.

First partial voting results from four regions of Ukraine partly occupied by Russia and its proxies showed overwhelming majorities in favour of joining Russia, Russia's state news agency RIA reported.

Russian government officials have repeatedly warned they might use nuclear weapons if Kyiv's forces, who control some of the areas Moscow claims, try to take what Russia will soon regard as sovereign territory.

A man walks with his bicycle past banners informing about a referendum on the joining of Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine to Russia, in the Russian-controlled city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine September 26, 2022.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Ukraine was preparing for the possibility of a Russian nuclear strike, but the onus was on nuclear-armed states to deter it.

"...Where exactly should we evacuate people in the event of a Russian nuclear strike against Ukraine?" he asked in an interview with Swiss newspaper Blick?

In central Kyiv, music teacher Andrii Liubomyr said he was unfazed by the possibility of a nuclear strike?

Putin is expected to announce the accession of the occupied regions to the Russian Federation in the coming weeks during an address to parliament on Sept.

The head of the upper house of the Russian parliament said the chamber may consider the incorporation of the four regions into Russia on Oct 4.

Ukrainian and Russian forces were locked in heavy fighting in different parts of Ukraine on Tuesday.