Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday called Nato "a machine for confrontation", advised against any expansion and lamented the "significant" loss of Russian lives in Ukraine.
He gave the most sombre assessment so far of its invasion, describing the "tragedy" of mounting troop losses and the economic effect of sanctions, as eastern cities in Ukraine were evacuated before an anticipated military offensive.
Russia had previously acknowledged its attack had not progressed as quickly as it wanted but Mr Peskov lamented the rising death toll.
"We have significant losses of troops," he said in an interview with Sky News. "It's a huge tragedy for us."
He was speaking minutes after the UN General Assembly voted to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine was in part to counter the expansion of Nato in Eastern Europe, yet in recent weeks the alliance has sent more troops to the region while Europe's largest power, Germany, has committed to increasing its defence spending.
Mr Peskov said Russia intends to "rebalance the situation" and "take additional measures" to ensure its security.
"It's not a peaceful alliance," he said. "It was tailored for confrontation and the main purposes of its existence is to confront our country."
At the outset of its invasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke of "consequences greater than any ... in history" should the West intercede directly on behalf of Ukraine.
The threat was understood to be a statement of nuclear intent and Mr Peskov raised that again when talking of mutual deterrence should Finland and Sweden decide to join Nato.
"Should one side be more powerful than the other, especially in terms of nuclear arms, then it will constitute a threat for the whole architecture of security and it will [force] us to take additional measures to strengthen our credentials," he said.
"We will have to rebalance the situation. We'll have to make our western flank more and more sophisticated in terms of ensuring our security."
Asked if any Nato expansion would be seen as an existential threat by Russia, circumstances in which it has said it will use nuclear weapons, Mr Peskov initially appeared to assent before backtracking.
Mr Peskov repeated claims that Ukraine was using its civilians as human shields.
"They are covering themselves with civilian people and not letting them flee the town," he said.
He called satellite pictures of the massacre in Bucha fakes and part of a "conspiracy" and said Russia had provided "detailed explanations" on the matter.
"Of course, it can be a play of fakes. It can be a play of lies," Mr Peskov said. "We have to doubt sometimes."
He was less doubtful when asked if Mr Putin was worried about facing charges of war crimes in an international court.
"No, he's not," Mr Peskov said. "We don't see any possibility for that."
Speaking shortly after the interview, British MP Tom Tugendhat told Sky News that Mr Peskov's claims could not be believed.
"You know, the tragedy is that these lies aren't meant to be believed," said Mr Tugendhat, chairman of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee.
"What they're meant to do is they're meant to convince Russians that there is no such thing as the truth and that everybody's as bad as the other."
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Abu Dhabi race card
5pm Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige | Dh110,000 | 1,400m
5.30pm Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige | Dh110,000 | 1,400m
6pm Abu Dhabi Championship Listed | Dh180,000 | 1,600m
6.30pm Maiden | Dh80,000 | 1,600m
7pm Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap | Dh80,000 | 1,400m
7.30pm Handicap (TB) |Dh100,000 | 2,400m
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
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Company%20profile
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AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
FA CUP FINAL
Manchester City 6
(D Silva 26', Sterling 38', 81', 87', De Bruyne 61', Jesus 68')
Watford 0
Man of the match: Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
Tank warfare
Lt Gen Erik Petersen, deputy chief of programs, US Army, has argued it took a “three decade holiday” on modernising tanks.
“There clearly remains a significant armoured heavy ground manoeuvre threat in this world and maintaining a world class armoured force is absolutely vital,” the general said in London last week.
“We are developing next generation capabilities to compete with and deter adversaries to prevent opportunism or miscalculation, and, if necessary, defeat any foe decisively.”
