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Cities across Ukraine remain on high alert on the fifth day of the country's fight against Russia's invasion. Ukraine's military says Russian troops had made repeated attempts to storm the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv, but had failed to capture it.

The unexpected armed resistance from Ukraine, along with tightening economic sanctions from Western governments, prompted Russia's President Putin to put his country's nuclear forces 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 US has described it as an escalation that could lead to dangerous consequences. The western military alliance, Nato, says the move as irresponsible. Jens Stoltenberg is Nato's secretary general and told Newshour, "Russia is the aggressor. Russia is conducting a full-scale military invasion of a sovereign, peaceful nation, Ukraine... it is President Putin who is responsible for this war."

"We provide support to Ukraine, they have the right to self-defence, we are helping them to uphold that right... Nato does not want a war with Russia... but we need to make sure there is no room for misunderstanding, miscalculation, about our ability to defend and protect our allies."

(Image: Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Credit: Reuters)

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