Russia-Ukraine updates: Putin suspends key US-Russia nuclear treaty in speech denouncing West

During Thursday's United Nations Security Council meeting in New York City, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to urge all members to send a clear message of opposition to Moscow over Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent threats of nuclear warfare, according to a senior official with the U.S. Department of State.

The State Department official previewed what Blinken will say at the upcoming session, which his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov is expected to attend. While Blinken plans to tell the council that the United States takes Putin's nuclear threats seriously, he is not expected to urge any specific action, given the obstacles that the council's makeup presents. Rather, the official said Blinken sees Thursday's meeting as an opportunity to further shine a spotlight on the impacts of Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.

Furthermore, Blinken is expected to hit on the latest developments out of Russia, including the partial military mobilization and referenda. He also plans to reference evidence of atrocities uncovered in recent days, specifically in the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum, stressing that these are not the actions of rogue units but a clear pattern emerging across Russian-occupied territory and must be met with accountability.

While Lavrov is expected to attend Thursday's meeting, there is of course no guarantee he will be in the room when Blinken speaks. Blinken, however, is expected to remain through the entirety of the session, where both Russia and China will also have an opportunity to address the room.

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy demanded punishment for Russia in his remarks to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.

"A crime has been committed against Ukraine, and we demand just punishment," he said in video remarks, the only state leader allowed to appear virtually this year.

Zelenskyy spelled out the alleged atrocities discovered in Izyum after Russian forces retreated. "The bodies of women and men, children and adults, civilians and soldiers were found there -- 445 graves," he said.

Zelenskyy vowed to other world leaders that Ukraine's forces would ultimately emerge successful -- and claimed any rhetoric from Russia about negotiating peace was a façade.

"We can return the Ukrainian flag to our entire territory. We can do it with the force of arms, but we need time," he said. "Russia wants to spend the winter on the occupied territory of Ukraine and prepare forces to attempt a new offensive -- new Buchas, new Izyums."

He warned that Russia's warfare near nuclear plants meant no one was safe and again made an appeal for Russia to be branded as a state sponsor of terrorism by all nations -- something the Biden administration has so far said it is against.

"We must finally recognize Russia as a state sponsor of terrorists, at all levels, in all countries," Zelenskyy urged. "This is the foundation for restoring global security."

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford

More than 1,400 people were detained at antiwar protests that have erupted across Russia after President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilization of reservists to fight in Ukraine, according to the independent Russian human rights monitoring group OVD-Info.

At least 1,408 people have been detained at mobilization protests in nearly 40 cities on Wednesday, OVD-Info said in its latest update. Most were reported at protests in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

The protests followed a televised address Wednesday morning during which Putin announced the start of the first mobilization in Russia since World War II. The measure is expected to draft more than 300,000 Russian citizens with military experience, according to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Protesters could be seen holding "stop war" signs. One man shown being taken into custody in Novosibirsk had shouted, “I don’t want to die for Putin or for you,” according to Russian independent media outlet Mediazona.

Russia has criminalized protests against the war, and demonstrations held following its invasion have been met with a heavy police response.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's partial military mobilization for his ongoing war in neighboring Ukraine is "definitely a sign that he's struggling," according to the White House's National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.

"And we know that," Kirby told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos during an interview Wednesday on "Good Morning America."

"[Putin] has suffered tens of thousands of casualties. He has terrible morale, unit cohesion on the battlefield, command and control has still not been solved. He's got desertion problems and he's forcing the wounded back into the fight," Kirby added. "So clearly manpower's a problem for him, he feels like he's on his back foot, particularly in that northeast area of the Donbas."

Some 300,000 Russian reservists are expected to be conscripted, which Kirby noted is "a lot."

"That's almost twice as much as [Putin] committed to the war back in February," he said.

Kirby said Putin's latest nuclear threats are "typical" but something the United States and its allies still take "seriously."

"We always have to take this kind of rhetoric seriously," he added. "It's irresponsible rhetoric for a nuclear power to talk that way, but it's not atypical for how he's been talking the last seven months and we take it seriously. We are monitoring as best we can their strategic posture so that if we have to, we can alter ours. We've seen no indication that that's required right now."

And if Russia does use nuclear weapons, "there will be severe consequences," according to Kirby.

While Moscow appears poised to annex Russian-held regions in Ukraine and attempt to politically legitimize it with sham referendums in the coming days and weeks, Kirby said the United States will still consider those areas Ukrainian territory.

"We're going to continue to support Ukraine with security systems and other financial aid, as the president said, for as long as it takes," he added. "That is Ukrainian territory. It doesn't matter what sham referendum they put in place or what vote they hold, it is still Ukrainian territory."

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John Kirby talks Putin's move to call up more troopsThe national security council coordinator for strategic communications at the White House discusses Russia's latest war strategy in Ukraine.

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