Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday hit out at Russia’s threat to use nuclear weapons as the country marked the 78th anniversary of atomic bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. "Japan, as the only nation to have suffered atomic bombings in war, will continue efforts towards a nuclear-free world," Kishida said during a ceremony in Hiroshima, as per an AFP report. The ceremony was attended by thousands of people including survivors, relatives and foreign dignitaries from a record 111 countries. 


"The path towards it is becoming increasingly difficult because of deepening divisions in the international community over nuclear disarmament and Russia's nuclear threat," he said.


"Given this situation, it is all the more important to bring back international momentum towards realisation of a nuclear-free world," Kishida said.


ALSO READ: 'Barbaric Actions': Moscow Says Ukraine Drone Attack On Russian Tanker 'Will Not Go Unanswered'


"Devastation brought to Hiroshima and Nagasaki by nuclear weapons can never be repeated," said Kishida, whose family comes from Hiroshima.


United Nations chief Antonio Guterres echoed the same concern who issued a statement on the Hiroshima anniversary saying that "some countries are recklessly rattling the nuclear sabre once again, threatening to use these tools of annihilation."


"In the face of these threats, the global community must speak as one. Any use of nuclear weapons is unacceptable," Guterres said, as per the report. 


At the ceremony, the attendees prayed for those killed or wounded in the bombing and called for world peace. 


ALSO READ: Boost Production For Missiles Engines, Other Weapons: Kim Jong Un Tells North Korea Arms Factory, Says Report


Russia and Belarus were not invited to the ceremony for the second straight year because of the Ukraine crisis.


Participants, many dressed in black, offered a silent prayer at 8:15 am (local time) when the first nuclear weapon used in wartime was dropped.


The bombings had claimed the lives of over 1,40,000 people in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 while 74,000 people were killed in Nagasaki, three days later when the US dropped the atomic bombs on the two Japanese cities, days before the end of World War II.