INTERNATIONAL: Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his military command to put Russian security forces on its units, including those with nuclear weapons, on high alert, citing "angry" statements. Leading the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and economic sanctions against Moscow.

"I order the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff of the Russian Armed Forces to deploy the Russian Defense Forces as a special mode of combat," President Putin has said in a televised statement to the people. "

Moscow has the world's second-largest nuclear arsenal and a large ballistic missile depot that forms the backbone of the country's military. Russia is estimated to have more than 6,000 nuclear warheads.