State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters in Washington that the U.S. would not object to Ukraine using U.S.-supplied weapons to attack those areas if they are annexed by Russia.

 

“We have been clear when it comes to certain longer-range systems with our Ukrainian partners that these systems are for use on sovereign Ukrainian territory. If and when this annexation occurs as we expect it will, these areas will remain sovereign Ukrainian territory,” Price said.

 

After a counteroffensive by Ukraine this month dealt Moscow’s forces heavy battlefield setbacks, Russia said it would call up 300,000 reservists to join the fight. It also warned it could resort to nuclear weapons.

 

That partial mobilization is deeply unpopular in some areas, however, triggering protests, scattered violence, and Russians fleeing the country by the tens of thousands.

 

The mass exodus has created miles-long lines for days at some borders, and local Russian authorities on one area along the border with Georgia said they would start providing food, water, warming stations and other aid to those in line.

 

Moscow also reportedly set up draft offices at borders to intercept some of those trying to leave.

 

The mobilization prompted the U.S. Embassy in Moscow to warn Americans in Russia to leave immediately because “Russia may refuse to acknowledge dual nationals’ U.S. citizenship, deny their access to U.S. consular assistance, prevent their departure from Russia, and conscript dual nationals for military service.”

 

Previous embassy security alerts issued during the war also advised Americans to leave.

 

Ukraine’s military and Western analysts said Russia is sending troops with hardly any training to the front line. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, cited an online video by a man who identified himself as a member of Russia’s 1st Tank Regiment, visibly upset, saying he and his colleagues wouldn’t receive training before shipping out to Russian-occupied parts of the Kherson region.

 

“Mobilized men with a day or two of training are unlikely to meaningfully reinforce Russian positions affected by Ukrainian counteroffensives in the south and east,” the institute said.

 

Meanwhile, the EU expressed outrage over the suspected sabotage Tuesday of two underwater natural gas pipelines from Russia to Germany, and warned of retaliation for any attack on Europe’s energy networks.

 

“All available information indicates those leaks are the result of a deliberate act,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said. Perpetrators have not been identified.

 

Kremlin spokesman Peskov said allegations that Russia could be behind the incidents were “predictable and stupid,” saying the damage has caused Russia huge economic losses. A U.N. Security Council meeting was called for Friday at Moscow’s request.

 

The damage makes it unlikely the pipelines will be able to supply any gas to Europe this winter, according to analysts.

On the battlefield, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Ukraine’s counteroffensive is advancing slowly, meeting a stouter Russian defense.

 

Local Ukrainian officials reported Russian attacks in the partially occupied Donetsk region that killed five people, and artillery strikes in the southern Ukrainian city of Nikopol. That city saw 10 high-rises and private buildings hit, as well as a school and power lines, said Valentyn Reznichenko, the head of the local military administration.