Chris Lange, FISM News

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The U.S. warned Moscow of “catastrophic consequences” if it used nuclear weapons in Ukraine as Russian troops in four separatist regions continued going door to door, forcing residents to vote for annexation referendums, Reuters reported.

Both Kyiv and Washington have called the referendums a “sham” and accused the Kremlin of using them as a means to justify the possible use of nuclear weapons, particularly in the context of President Vladimir Putin’s threat last week that Russia will use any weapons it deems necessary to defend its territory.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday warned Moscow that the United States would respond to any use of nuclear weapons against Ukraine.

“If Russia crosses this line, there will be catastrophic consequences for Russia,” Sullivan told NBC News on Sunday. “The United States will respond decisively.”

While Sullivan did not provide any specificity regarding exactly how Washington would respond, he said Moscow has been advised “in greater detail exactly what that would mean.”

Russia’s referendums to incorporate Luhansk and Donetsk in the east and Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in the south would essentially provide the Kremlin with the opportunity to frame any efforts by Ukraine to retake the territory as an attack on Russia itself, a condition required for the use of nuclear weapons under the country’s nuclear arms policy.

Meanwhile, when asked whether Moscow would consider using nuclear weapons to defend annexed regions, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said all Russian territory is under the “full protection of the state.”

Voting ends on Tuesday, after which Russia’s parliament is expected to move quickly to formalize the annexations. 

Zelenskyy to Russian protesters: ‘Keep fighting’ draft or die in Ukraine

Demonstrators continued publicly protesting Russia’s new military draft while tens of thousands of military-aged men continued a mass exodus across the country’s borders. Finnish authorities said on Monday that nearly 17,000 Russians crossed into Finland alone over the weekend.

Meanwhile, independent monitoring group OVD-Info reported that more than 2,000 Russian citizens were arrested for participating in demonstrations in defiance of the country’s ban on criticizing the Kremlin regime.

The local governor of the Irkutsk region of Siberia on Monday said that a 25-year-old gunman opened fire at a draft office.

In a Sunday video clip, Zelenskyy addressed Russian protesters directly, advising them to “keep on fighting so that your children will not be sent to their deaths — all those that can be drafted by this criminal Russian mobilization. Because if you come to take away the lives of our children … we will not let you get away alive.”

Separately, Zelenskyy reported the grim discovery of two more mass burial sites containing hundreds of bodies in the northeastern town of Izium which was recaptured from Russian forces this month. 

“Today I received more information … They found two more mass graves, big graves with hundreds of people … We’re talking about (the) little town of Izium,” Zelenskyy said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said on Monday that more than 40 towns fell under Russian shelling as heavy fighting continued in southern and southeast Ukraine over the weekend. 

Elsewhere, United Nations atomic watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday he was ready to hold talks in Ukraine and Russia this week on setting up a protection zone at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Grossi joins Ukraine’s call for the demilitarization of the plant to prevent an atomic disaster.