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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Ukraines government on Sunday called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to counter the Kremlins nuclear blackmail after Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed plans to station tactical atomic weapons in Belarus.

One Ukrainian official said Russia took Belarus as a nuclear hostage.

Further heightening tensions, an explosion deep inside Russia wounded three people Sunday. Russian authorities blamed a Ukrainian drone for the blast, which damaged residential buildings in a town just 175 kilometers (110 miles) south of Moscow.

Russia has said the plan to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus comes in response to the Wests increasing military support for Ukraine. Putin announced the plan in a TV interview that aired Saturday, saying it was triggered by a U.K. decision this past week to provide Ukraine with armor-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium.

Putin argued that by deploying its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Russia was following the lead of the United States. He noted that Washington has nuclear weapons based in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.

We are doing what they have been doing for decades, stationing them in certain allied countries, preparing the launch platforms and training their crews, he said.

Ukraines Foreign Ministry condemned the move in a statement Sunday and demanded an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

Ukraine expects effective action to counter the Kremlins nuclear blackmail by the U.K., China, the U.S. and France, the statement read, saying these countries have a special responsibility regarding nuclear aggression.

The world must be united against someone who endangers the future of human civilization, the statement said.

Ukraine has not commented on Sundays explosion inside Russia. It left a crater about 15 meters (50 feet) in diameter and five meters deep (16 feet), according to media reports.

Russian state-run news agency Tass reported authorities identified the drone as a Ukrainian Tu-141. The Soviet-era drone was reintroduced in Ukraine in 2014, and has a range of about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles).

The explosion took place in the town of Kireyevsk in the Tula region, about 300 kilometers (180 miles) from the border with Ukraine. Russias Defense Ministry said the drone crashed after an electronic jamming system disabled its navigation.

Similar drone attacks have been common during the war, although Ukraine hardly ever acknowledges responsibility. On Monday, Russia said Ukrainian drones attacked civilian facilities in the town of Dzhankoi in Russia-annexed Crimea. Ukraines military said several Russian cruise missiles were destroyed, but did not specifically claim responsibility.

In December, the Russian military reported several Ukrainian drone attacks on long-range bomber bases deep inside Russia. The Russian Defense Ministry said the drones were shot down, but acknowledged that their debris damaged some aircraft and killed several servicemen.

Also, Russian authorities have reported attacks by small drones in the Bryansk and Belgorod regions on the border with Ukraine.

On Saturday, Putin argued that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has long asked to have nuclear weapons in his country again to counter NATO. Belarus shares borders with three NATO members Latvia, Lithuania and Poland and Russia used Belarusian territory as a staging ground to send troops into neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Both Lukashenkos support of the war and Putins plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus has been denounced by the Belarusian opposition.

Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraines National Security and Defense Council, tweeted Sunday that Putins announcement was a step towards internal destabilization of Belarus that maximized the level of negative perception and public rejection of Russia and Putin in Belarusian society. The Kremlin, Danilov added, took Belarus as a nuclear hostage.

Tactical nuclear weapons are intended for use on the battlefield and have a short range and a low yield compared with much more powerful nuclear warheads fitted to long-range missiles. Russia plans to maintain control over the ones it sends to Belarus, and construction of storage facilities for them will be completed by July 1, Putin said.

Russia has stored its tactical nuclear weapons at dedicated depots on its territory, and moving part of the arsenal to a storage facility in Belarus would up the ante in the Ukrainian conflict by placing them closer to Russian aircraft and missiles already stationed there.

The U.S. said it would monitor the implications of Putins announcement. So far, Washington hasnt seen any indications Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon, National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said.

In Germany, the foreign ministry called it a further attempt at nuclear intimidation, German news agency dpa reported late Saturday. The ministry went on to say that the comparison drawn by President Putin to NATOs nuclear participation is misleading and cannot be used to justify the step announced by Russia.

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Kirsten Grieshaber contributed to this report from Berlin.

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Ukraine demands emergency UN meeting over Putin nuclear plan - The Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Attention. Air raid alert, the voice says with a Jedi knights gravitas. Proceed to the nearest shelter.

Its a surreal moment in an already surreal war: the grave but calming baritone of actor Mark Hamill, Luke Skywalker of Star Wars, urging people to take cover whenever Russia unleashes another aerial bombardment on Ukraine.

The intrusion of Hollywood science-fiction fantasy into the grim daily realities of war in Ukraine is a consequence of Hamills decision to lend his famous voice to Air Alert a downloadable app linked to Ukraines air defense system. When air raid sirens start howling, the app also warns Ukrainians that Russian missiles, bombs and deadly exploding drones may be incoming.

Dont be careless, Hamills voice advises. Your overconfidence is your weakness.

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In an audio excerpt, actor Mark Hamill, Luke Skywalker of Star Wars, urges Ukrainians to take cover whenever Russia unleashes another aerial bombardment

The actor says hes admired from afar, in California how Ukraine has shown such resilience ... under such terrible circumstances. Its fight against the Russian invasion, now in its second year, reminds him of the Star Wars saga, he says of plucky rebels battling and ultimately defeating a vast, murderous empire. Voicing over the English-language version of the air-raid app and giving it his Star Wars touch was his way of helping out.

A fairy tale about good versus evil is resonant with whats going on in Ukraine, Hamill said in an interview with The Associated Press. The Ukrainian people rallying to the cause and responding so heroically ... Its impossible not to be inspired by how theyve weathered this storm.

When the dangers from the skies pass, Hamill announces via the app that the air alert is over. He then signs off with an uplifting: May the Force be with you.

Hamill is also raising funds to buy reconnaissance drones for Ukrainian forces on the front lines. He autographed Star Wars-themed posters that are being raffled off.

Here I sit in the comfort of my own home when in Ukraine there are power outages and food shortages and people are really suffering, he said. It motivates me to do as much as I can.

Although the app also has a Ukrainian-language setting, voiced by a woman, some Ukrainians prefer to have Hamill breaking the bad news that yet another Russian bombardment might be imminent.

On the worst days, sirens and the app sound every few hours, day and night. Some turn out to be false alarms. But many others are real and often deadly.

Bohdan Zvonyk, a 24-year-old app user who lives in the repeatedly struck western city of Lviv, says he chose Hamills voiceover rather than the Ukrainian setting because he is trying to improve his English. Hes a Star Wars fan, too.

Besides, he said, we could use a little bit of the power that Hamill wishes us.

After one alert, Zvonyk was riding a trolley bus when Hamills voice rang out from his phone. He said the man in front turned to me and said, smiling: Oh, those damn Sith, to describe Russian forces. The Sith are the malevolent enemies of the do-gooding Jedi.

Olena Yeremina, a 38-year-old business manager in the capital, Kyiv, said Hamills May the Force be with you signoff at first made her laugh. Now its enduring humor gives her strength.

Its a very cool phrase for this situation, she said. I wouldnt say that I feel like a Ukrainian Jedi, but sometimes this phrase reminds me to straighten my shoulders and keep working.

Sometimes it can be wise to shut Hamill off. Yeremina forgot to do that on a trip outside Ukraine to Berlin and paid for the error when the alarm started shrieking at 6 a.m. and, again, when she rode the subway in the German capital. She wasnt alone. Another person in the subway car also had the app and it erupted, too. The two of them first cursed, but then it made both me and that person smile, Yeremina recalled.

Ajax Systems, a Ukrainian security systems manufacturer that co-developed the app, hopes Hamills star power will encourage people outside Ukraine to download it so they get a taste of the angst heaped on Ukrainians by nerve-shredding alarms and airborne death and destruction.

With Marks approach, it wont be so terrifying, said Valentine Hrytsenko, the chief marketing officer at Ajax. But they will understand somehow the context.

In the invasions first year, air-raid alarms sounded more than 19,000 times across the country, so of course people are getting tired, he said. The app has been downloaded more than 14 million times. Hrytsenko is among those who use its English-language setting to hear Hamills voice.

For Star Wars fans, it sounds really fantastic, he said. Its kind of a Ukrainian mentality to find some humor even in the bad situation or to try to be positive.

Hamill is pleased that the sci-fi saga is again transporting people, even if just temporarily, to its galaxy far, far away.

It does inspire people, he said. Everyone flashes back to being 6 years old again. And if the movie can help people get through hard times, so much the better.

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Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine and https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine-a-year-of-war

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Mark Hamill lends 'Star Wars' voice to Ukrainian air-raid app - The Associated Press

A single father,who was separated from his daughter and sentenced on Tuesday to two years in prison over "discrediting" the Russian army, has fled house arrest, officials said.

Alexei Moskalyov, 54, first came to the authorities' attention last year after his daughter Maria drew a picture at school showing missiles next to a Russian flag heading towards a woman and child standing by a Ukrainian flag.

Subsequently a criminal case was opened against him over alleged comments criticising Russia's assault on Ukraine.

On Tuesday, a court in the town of Yefremov south of Moscow handed Moskalyov a two-year jail sentence over comments on social media criticising Moscow's assault on Ukraine.

But in a dramatic turn of events, court officials said Moskalyov had fled house arrest.

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Moskalyov has been separated from his 13-year-old daughter as punishment for his criticism of Kremlin policies, a first in Russia, experts say.

"The verdict was read out in the absence of the defendant, because he disappeared and did not appear at the hearing," Elena Mikhailovskaya, a spokeswoman for the Yefremov district court, told AFP.

Moskalyov's lawyer Vladimir Biliyenko said he was in a "state of shock".

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"His disappearance is a total surprise for me. This has happened for the first time in my career," he told AFP.

He said that Moskalyov's daughter Maria could be sent to an orphanage "within a month".

The Moskalyovs' case has garnered national attention and led to an online petition calling for the girl to be re-united with her father.

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The pair hail from Yefremov, a small town of around 37,000 people some 300 kilometres (180 miles) south of Moscow.

The case against Moskalyovs was opened after Maria's headmistress contacted the police about her picture with the flags and the missiles.

Police said an online search uncovered comments criticising Moscow's action in Ukraine on the social media profiles of the girl's father.

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In early March, authorities placed Maria in a "rehabilitation centre" for minors, whileMoskalyov was put under house arrest.

On Monday, prosecutors demanded a two-yearprison term for the father.

Since President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine over a year ago public criticism of Moscow's offensive in the pro-Western country has been outlawed.

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During the height of Stalin-era purges in the late 1930s thousands of children were taken away from their parents.

In modern Russia, the first recorded attempts to strip activists of parental rights were in Moscow in 2019. Prosecutors' attempts to punish two families for taking their children to political protests were not successful at the time, however.

Even Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner paramilitary force spearheading Russia's assault in eastern Ukraine, has voiced support for Maria and criticised the local authorities.

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Russian Father Jailed Over Ukraine Flees House Arrest - Barron's

Ukrainian service members near Bakhmut on March 24, 2023. Aris Messinis/Getty Images

After just over a year of fighting, the war in Ukraine is stalemated. Both sides have seen heavy losses, but the war has gone especially poorly for Russia as it's suffered a series of embarrassing setbacks on the battlefield and failed to accomplish its broader aims. That said, Russian President Vladimir Putin is showing no signs of giving up as his forces continue to push for gains in the eastern cities of Bakhmut and Avdiivka.

A new assessment from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) suggests Ukraine has three fairly straightforward choices in the face of such obstinance and immediate peace talks are not among them.

"This would be an appropriate moment for Putin to conclude that Russia cannot impose its will on Ukraine by force and that he must seek a compromise settlement. He has clearly come to no such conclusion, however," ISW said.

In this context, one option for Ukraine is to stop fighting, even as Russia continues ground and air attacks, which ISW said almost no one is pushing for and would "lead to disastrous defeat." The second potential approach is for Ukrainian forces to continue fighting in a "very constrained way," with the goal of holding on to the territory they currently control. But this would "encourage Putin to continue his efforts to pursue outright military victory."

The third option is for Ukraine to "launch successive counter-offensive operations with the twin aims of persuading Putin to accept a negotiated compromise or of creating military realities sufficiently favorable to Ukraine that Kyiv and its Western allies can then effectively freeze the conflict on their own regardless of Putin's decisions."

Ukraine has continued to defend Bakhmut, which has seen the fiercest fighting in the war in recent months, though analysts say the city has little strategic significance. Some military experts have argued Kyiv's manpower and resources should not be further spent on Bakhmut, and instead should be reserved for a counteroffensive.

ISW's assessment suggests that Ukraine needs multiple major operational victories to create the possibility for negotiations or for Putin to "accept unfavorable military realities absent a formal settlement."

Some analysts have expressed concern that even if Kyiv and Moscow reached a negotiated settlement that led to a cessation in hostilities, Russia would simply use this as an opportunity to regroup and resume its push for the total subjugation of Ukraine later on. Accordingly, ISW says Ukraine will need to retake terrain that's vital to its survival both militarily and economically, and that would be key to "renewed Russian offensives."

Though Kyiv has repeatedly said it would not agree to any terms that required it to cede territory to Russia, ISW said there is "likely is a line short of the full restoration of Ukrainian control over all of occupied Ukrainian territory that could be the basis for a protracted cessation of hostilities on terms acceptable to Ukraine and the West," going on to emphasize that that this line is "not close to where the current front lines stand."

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Ukraine has 3 options since Putin's not giving up, war experts say - Business Insider

Russia launched another wave of Iranian-made drones on Kyiv and its surroundings, but Ukraine's air defenses shot down almost all of them and there were no immediate reports of casualties, the military said on March 27, as heavy fighting continued in and around Bakhmut in the eastern region of Donetsk.

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensives, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

An air-raid alert initially declared late on March 27 in the regions of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya, and Luhansk was later extended to the regions of Kherson, Zhytomyr, and Kirovohrad.

"Russian forces used 15 Shahed-136 attack drones to launch air strikes on Ukraine, and 14 of them were destroyed by the Ukrainian military," the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in its daily bulletin.

"The probability of launching further missile and air strikes remains high throughout the territory of Ukraine," the General Staff cautioned.

Serhiy Popko, the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, reported that 12 drones were shot down overnight near the Ukrainian capital.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported explosions in the Obolon and Svyatoshyn districts of the capital. A fire engulfed a shop in the Svyatoshyn district but it was rapidly contained and no victims were reported, Klitschko said. The fire was apparently triggered by falling debris from a downed drone.

In the east, the General Staff said that fighting raged on several fronts in the Donetsk region, where Ukrainian forces repelled 62 attacks over the past 24 hours. Russian forces continued to launch assault after assault on Bakhmut, the ruined mining city that has become the epicenter of Moscow's offensive.

Lately, the Russian military has also stepped up the shelling of Maryinka and Avdiyivka, two Ukrainian-controlled towns on the outskirts of the city of Donetsk that has been under the control of Moscow-backed forces since 2014.

In Avdiyivka, Russian shelling has shut down all public services and municipal workers have been evacuated. Only about2,000 civilians out of a prewar population of some 30,000 remain in the city.

Vitaliy Barabash, the chief of Avdiyivka's military administration, has said continuous Russian bombardments have turned the town into "a place from postapocalyptic movies."

WATCH: Ukrainian soldiers have been honing their skills to shoot down Iranian-made drones with machine guns.

Sky Hunters: Ukrainian Border Guards Gun Down Iranian-Made Drones

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made a surprise visit on March 27 to frontline positions in the region of Zaporizhzhya, where he also met with UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi to discuss the protection of Europe's largest nuclear power station.

Zelenskiy told the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it was not possible to restore safety at the plant with Russia still in control of the facility.

"Without the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops and personnel from the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant and adjacent territory, any initiatives to restore nuclear safety and security are doomed to failure," Zelenskiy told Grossi, according to a statement from the president's office.

He also drew Grossi's attention to the constant pressure that power plant personnel are under from Russian forces, the statement said.

"I met with Zelenskiy today in Zaporizhzhya City & had a rich exchange on the protection of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant and its staff. I reiterated the full support of the IAEA to Ukraines nuclear facilities," Grossi said on Twitter.

Zelenskiy's office said in an earlier statement that the president had met with troops "in frontline positions" in the Zaporizhzhya region.

The latest fighting came as Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Germany has delivered 18 of the promised advanced Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine.

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Russia Launches Fresh Wave Of Drones Against Ukraine As Fighting Rages In East - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty