LEAD

The prospect of an all-out nuclear war over the Ukraine crisis ticked up slightly on Sunday after Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the alert level of his nuclear arsenal to "special combat readiness" following the US and its G7 partners ramping up sanctions, virtually cutting off Russia from the international financial system.

The heightened alert, which is still several steps short of a full-blown "Defcon" situation, came even as Ukraine agreed to unconditional talks with Moscow after three days of holding out against Russian forces seeking to overrun Kyiv and Kharkhiv, its two major cities. Washington reacted calmly to Russia upping the ante with no public announcement regarding its nuclear alert status. The White House said the Russian alert is part of a pattern of Moscow manufacturing threats to justify aggression.

India is under enormous pressure from both Washington and Moscow to vote with them on a UN Security Council resolution to censure Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Both sides have reached out to New Delhi to make their case and openly expressed hope that they will have India's support for a vote that is expected in the early hours of Saturday IST.

Barring a dramatic shift in India's traditionalist and independent-minded geo-political thinking, it is expected to abstain or vote nay on the resolution, which in any case will be largely symbolic because Russia, as a permanent member of the UNSC will veto it.

Warning that any nation that supported Russian leader Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine will be "stained by association", US President Joe Biden, on Thursday unleashed what he described as a "devastating package of sanctions and other economic measures" to cripple the Russian economy.

The sanctions include the freezing of assets of four major Russian banks, including VTB, which Biden said held more than $ 250 billion in the US.

"Putin is the aggressor... he chose the war... and now he has to face consequences," Biden said in a White House speech, announcing a raft of sanctions and punitive economic measures after convening a meeting of his national security council and G7 leaders earlier in the day.

Four out of nine districts in UP’s Avadh, Terai and Bundelkhand regions on Wednesday reported a higher voter turnout than in 2017, including a decade high of 61% in Lucknow, but the overall figure of just over 60% in the 59 seats that went to polls in Round 4 fell short of the 62% clocked five years ago.

Besides Lucknow, the districts that outperformed were Pilibhit, Rai Bareli and Fatehpur. Pilibhit’s voter presence was the highest at 67% while Lakhimpur Kheri, where four farmers were among eight people killed in violence during a farm protest last October, recorded 65%.

Other districts in focus such as Unnao had a below-par turnout of 55%. Hardoi, where PM Narendra Modi campaigned for BJP on Sunday, reported 57%. Fatehpur's 57.9%, though lower than the average for the fourth phase, exceeded its 2017 showing.

Russian parliament's upper house on Tuesday voted to allow President Vladimir Putin to use the Russian army outside the country to support separatists in Ukraine.

A total of 153 Russian senators backed the decision, with no one voting against or abstaining.

Despite Russia's foreign ministry earlier saying they are not planning to send troops to eastern Ukraine "for now," Putin asked the Federation Council to approve the army's use outside the country to back separatists who have been fighting the Ukrainian army since 2014.

"Negotiations have stalled. The Ukrainian leadership has taken the path of violence and bloodshed," Deputy Defence Minister Nikolay Pankov said during a session of the Federation Council called at Putin's request.