Nuclear Threat: ‘All of humanity’ at risk: UN

The UN human rights chief yesterday slammed Russia's attack on Ukraine, warning of a "massive impact" on the rights of millions and cautioning that heightened nuclear threat levels showed all of humanity was at risk.

Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Michelle Bachelet warned that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched a week ago, "is generating massive impact on the human rights of millions of people across Ukraine."

"Elevated threat levels for nuclear weapons underline the gravity of the risks to all of humanity," she added.

Her comments, during an urgent council debate on the Ukraine conflict, came after Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday ordered Russia's nuclear forces be put on high alert.

Earlier yesterday, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Western politicians of fixating on nuclear war.

"It is clear that World War Three can only be nuclear," Lavrov said in an online interview with Russian and foreign media.

"I would like to point out that it's in the heads of Western politicians that the idea of a nuclear war is spinning constantly, and not in the heads of Russians," he said.