Vladimir Putin has ordered Russia's military to put its deterrence forces, which include nuclear weapons, on "special alert". He told defence chiefs it was because of "aggressive statements" by the West, amid widespread condemnation of his invasion of Ukraine. The announcement does not mean Russia intends to use the weapons. The US immediately condemned his decision calling it an "unacceptable escalation". Last week, Mr Putin had warned that "whoever tries to hinder us" in Ukraine would see consequences "you have never seen in your history". Those words were widely interpreted as signalling a threat to use nuclear weapons if the West stood in his way. That warning became sharper on Sunday when he ordered the Russian defence minister and the chief of the military's general staff to put the nuclear deterrent forces on a "special regime of combat duty". Media caption, Watch Russian police carry an anti-war protester into...