Russian air strikes killed at least four people and injured 21 others in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region on Saturday.
Ukraine’s Air Force announced that the country had come under attack from 10 Russian drones, of which eight were shot down over the Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson regions.
The drones were fired after Volodymyr Zelensky suggested he would temporarily cede Ukrainian territory to Russia in exchange for joining Nato.
“If we want to stop the hot phase of the war, we need to take under the Nato umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control,” Mr Zelensky told Sky News. “We need to do it fast. And then on the occupied territory of Ukraine, Ukraine can get them back in a diplomatic way.”
The UK’s former ambassador to Russia, Sir Tony Brenton, warned that a Nato membership for Ukraine is “frankly going to be very, very difficult”.
He added: “That is actually quite a major concession, because the longer term could be a very long time indeed,” he said, adding: “[Putin] will say to himself, ‘Ah, they are feeling weak, I can press for more.’ That is a danger if we go into this.”
Key Points
- Russia ‘constantly’ debating whether to resume nuclear tests, minister says
- Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine could temporarily cede territory to Russia
- Russia suffers ‘record 2,000 daily casualties’, Ukraine says
- North Korea’s Kim vows steadfast support for Russia
UK-based spy ring passed secrets to Russia for nearly three years, court told
04:00
Andy Gregory
A “sophisticated” UK-based spy ring passed secrets to Russia for nearly three years, a court has heard.
Bulgarian nationals Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39, allegedly carried out surveillance on individuals and places of interest to Russia.
The spying activities allegedly included locations in London, Vienna, Valencia, Montenegro and Stuttgart, jurors have heard.
Read the full report from our crime correspondent Amy-Clare Martin below:
Russia strikes rebels in Syria
03:53
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
The Russian defence ministry said its air force carried out strikes on Syrian rebels in support of the country’s army after the faction led by Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham killed dozens of Syrian soldiers.
The strikes followed what was the boldest rebel assault for years in a civil war where front lines had largely been frozen since 2020.
The state-run Russian Centre for the Reconciliation of the Enemy Parties in Syria said the missile and bomb strikes had targeted “militant concentrations, command posts, depots, and artillery positions” in Aleppo and Idlib provinces.
It added that about 300 rebel fighters had been killed in the attacks.
North Macedonia arrests man for ‘intending to join Russian army’
03:30
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Police in North Macedonia have arrested a Macedonian national suspected of intending to join the Russian army and fight in Ukraine, according to the country’s interior ministry.
The man, identified only by his initials as JK, was arrested late on Friday and the investigative judge has ordered him placed under house arrest for 30 days.
The man was charged with “participating in a foreign army, police, paramilitary or parapolice formation”. If convicted, he faces a minimum three-year sentence.
The ministry said the suspect had been in online contact with a person who had introduced himself as tasked by the Russian army to recruit soldiers for a compensation of £2,490. Willing to join a newly formed detachment, the suspect flew to Moscow in October.
When he returned to North Macedonia a week later the suspect was interrogated upon arrival at Skopje airport. Police said he told interrogators that he was to “sign a contract for work in the Russian army and be taken to a training camp where he would be trained to fight in Ukraine”.
Russian visit to North Korea suggests their allegiance is set to intensify, analyst says
03:00
Andy Gregory
Russian defence minister Andrey Belousov’s visit to North Korea this week incidates that cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang is set to increase further, an analyst has said.
“The Russian defence minister doesn’t visit North Korea just to celebrate bilateral ties,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.
“This visit indicates Putin and Kim’s military cooperation in violation of international law is about to increase further.”
North Korea has already deployed some 10,000 troops to Russia, which is expected to in turn to potentially share information on military technology with Pyongyang.
Russian strike kills four in Ukraine
02:52
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
At least four people were killed yesterday when a Russian missile hit Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, president Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Dnipropetrovsk governor Serhiy Lysak said that the strike also wounded at least 21 people, of which eight were in a serious condition.
Ukraine’s air force announced that the country had come under attack from 10 Russian drones, of which eight were shot down over the Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson regions.
One drone returned to Russian-occupied territory, while the final drone disappeared from radar, often a sign of the use of electronic defenses.
Zelensky says Ukraine could temporarily cede territory in exchange for Nato membership
02:00
Andy Gregory
ICYMI | Iran nuclear proliferation ‘critical threat’ in coming months, French spy chief says
01:00
Andy Gregory
The risk of Iranian nuclear proliferation is a serious threat in coming months, and Britain and France are working out strategies to prepare for such an event, the head of France’s foreign intelligence service has warned – as Iranian and European leaders meet to discuss Tehran’s ties with Moscow.
“Our services are working side by side to face what is undoubtedly one of the threats, if not to say the most critical threat, in the coming months – the possible atomic proliferation in Iran,” Nicolas Lerner, head of the DGSE, said at the British embassy in Paris, alongside MI6 chief Richard Moore.
His rare public comments come as Iran and European powers meet in Geneva to discuss Iran’s nuclear programme, the situation in the Middle East, and Tehran’s ties with Russia amid the war in Ukraine.
“The intelligence will be crucial to enable our authorities to make the right decisions and define the right strategies,” he said.
Sir Richard echoed those comments, saying: “The regime’s nuclear ambitions continue to threaten all of us, especially friends of France and the UK in the Gulf region.”
Ukrainian poet Myroslav Herasymovych killed in frontline, brother says
00:01
Andy Gregory
A Ukrainian poet and screenwriter was reportedly killed on the frontlines while fighting against Russia in Donetsk Oblast.
Myroslav Herasymovych died on 25 November just four days before turning 57, his brother Taras Kulyk confirmed on Facebook.
“In the battle with Russia, my brother, Myroslav, gave away his life in the city of Avdiivk, Donetsk region,” Mr Kulyk wrote on Friday about his brother whose real name is Myroslav Kulyk, according to Ukrainska Pravda. He shared a picture of his brother wearing a military uniform.
Read the full article here:
Boris Johnson calls for British ‘peacekeeper’ troops in Ukraine after Russia ceasefire
Saturday 30 November 2024 23:05
Andy Gregory
British troops should be sent to guard Ukraine’s border under any future ceasefire with Russia, Boris Johnson has said.
The former prime minister has said responsibility for keeping any deal intact should fall to a group of European peace-keeping forces.
Ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, which is expected to spark talks to end the conflict, Mr Johnson said British troops should be sent to Ukraine to maintain a ceasefire.
Speaking to The Telegraph’s Ukraine: The Latest podcast, he said: “I don’t think we should be sending in combat troops to take on the Russians.
“But I think as part of the solution, as part of the end state, you’re going to want to have multinational European peace-keeping forces monitoring the border [and] helping the Ukrainians.
“I cannot see that such a European operation could possibly happen without the British.”
The former PM said Western countries should ensure Russia cannot simply re-arm and launch another attack on Ukraine down the line by making clear what security guarantees are on offer.
Ukraine imposes first wartime tax hikes to fight Russian invasion
Saturday 30 November 2024 22:11
Andy Gregory
President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed into law Ukraine's first wartime tax increases as the war against Russia reaches its 34th month.
Finance minister Serhiy Marchenkko said that the bill was vital to ensure smooth funding for the Ukrainian defence sector next year. The changes will take effect from Sunday, he said.
The government is raising the war tax for residents to 5 per cent from 1.5 per cent paid currently on personal income and is introducing the war tax for tens of thousands of individual entrepreneurs and small businesses.
It also increases some rental payments, taxes commercial banks' profits at 50 per cent, and raises taxes on the profits of other financial institutions to 25 per cent.
The tax increases would help raise about 140 billion hryvnias (£2.8bn) in additional revenues next year to fund Ukraine's defence efforts at a critical juncture of the war as Kyiv is battling with a much bigger and better-equipped enemy.
MI6 chief warns Russia must not succeed in turning Ukraine into ‘vassal state'
Saturday 30 November 2024 21:21
Andy Gregory
The head of MI6 has accused Russia of waging a “staggeringly reckless campaign” of sabotage in Europe to undermine support against Vladimir Putin’s push to turn Ukraine into a “vassel state”.
“In 37 years in the intelligence profession I’ve never seen the world in a more dangerous state. And the impact on Europe, our shared European home, could hardly be more serious,” Sir Richard Moore said, adding that if “Putin is allowed to succeed in reducing Ukraine to a vassal state he will not stop there.”
Read more details in this report:
Why is Russia targeting Ukraine’s energy grid with missile attacks?
Saturday 30 November 2024 20:33
Andy Gregory
Russia has unleashed another “massive” attack against Ukraine‘s energy infrastructure, firing nearly 200 missiles and drones and leaving more than a million households without power, Ukrainian officials said.
Explosions were heard across the country as damage to the energy and other critical infrastructure was reported by officials in cities in the west, south and centre of the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia used cruise missiles with cluster munitions in Thursday’s attack, calling it a “vile escalation”.
In this article, The Independent takes a look at why Russia is launching so many strikes and the likely impact of them on Ukraine.
Read our analysis here:
Full report: Russia suffers ‘record 2,000 casualties in day’ as Ukraine military chief vows to reinforce eastern front
Saturday 30 November 2024 19:52
Andy Gregory
Russia has suffered more than 2,000 casualties in a single day, Ukraine’s military has claimed, in what would mark the heaviest toll of losses inflicted on Vladimir Putin’s forces at any point in the war so far.
Read the full report on today’s developments in Ukraine here:
Zelensky: I want to speak with Trump directly without voices around him
Saturday 30 November 2024 19:09
Andy Gregory
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his need to speak to Donald Trump directly without “different voices from people around him” that could risk destroying their communication, my colleague Holly Patrick reports.
In a wide-ranging interview with Sky News, Mr Zelensky said he did not want to allow “anybody [around] to destroy our communication.”
Putin’s secret daughter ‘is part-time DJ living in Paris under pseudonym’
Saturday 30 November 2024 18:30
Andy Gregory
Vladimir Putin’s youngest daughter is an occasional DJ who has lived in Paris under a pseudonym, according to reports.
While the Russian president officially has two daughters with his ex-wife, who has remarried as Lyudmila Ocheretnaya after she and Putin were divorced in 2014, he is also alleged to have had a daughter with a woman named Svetlana Krivonogikh.
Her daughter Elizaveta has now been reported in Ukrainian media to haved lived in Paris under the name Elizaveta Olegovna Rudnova, and to have studied at the ICART international school of art management.
You can read more details here:
Russia using thermal and radar decoys to trick Ukrainian air defences
Saturday 30 November 2024 18:01
Andy Gregory
Ukraine’s air force has warned that Russia was using thermal and radar decoys to trick Ukrainian air defences, and putting electronic warfare devices on its missiles.
"All this significantly complicates the operation of Soviet-made anti-aircraft missile systems. Western systems work much more effectively in such conditions, but Ukraine does not have enough to reliably cover hundreds of critical infrastructure facilities," the air force said.
It said foggy weather conditions also made it harder for machine gunners to spot drones, as Russia launched a large-scale attack this week on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
No reason to think Russian offensive will run out of steam any time soon, says analyst
Saturday 30 November 2024 17:15
Andy Gregory
There is no reason to think Russia is going to run out of steam any time soon in its attacks on Ukraine, an analyst has warned.
Warning that a ceasefire in the conflict is “a terrible idea” which would hand Vladimir Putin time to regroup for another attack, Keir Giles of the Chatham House think-tank told The Independent that Russia’s heavy assaults in Ukraine’s east are “probably” sustainable, at least in the short term.
“Especially if there is not a Western response which dissuades Russia from expanding that North Korean group into something which is militarily significant and actually brings increased pressure to bear on the Ukrainians,” said Mr Giles, author of the recently published book Who Will Defend Europe?
“And especially if they can keep up their campaign of pressure both militarily and against Ukraine functioning as a state through these attacks on critical infrastructure.
“There’s no reason to think Russia is going to run out of steam any time soon. Eventually of course, they’ll find it is not sustainable. But that’s in the medium-term, and we have to survive the short-term in the meantime.”
Ukraine says war has damaged most of its civilian airports
Saturday 30 November 2024 16:35
Andy Gregory
Fifteen of Ukraine’s civilian airports have been damaged since Russia invaded in February 2022, Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal has said.
Ukraine, which the state aviation service says has 20 civilian airports, has been exploring avenues to partially open its airspace for the first time since the full-scale war began.
“We conducted a risk assessment and determined the needs of the air defence forces to partially open the airspace,” local news agency Ukrinform quoted Shmyhal as saying at a transportation conference. “Security issues and the military situation remain key to this decision.”
Mr Shmyhal added that Russia had attacked Ukraine’s port infrastructure nearly 60 times in the last three months, damaging or destroying nearly 300 facilities and 22 civilian vessels.
A senior partner at insurance broker Marsh McLennan told Reuters earlier this month that Ukraine could reopen the airport in the western city of Lviv in 2025 if regulators deem it safe and a political decision is made.
Comment | Zelensky’s footwork is far more deft than his European allies
Saturday 30 November 2024 16:15
Andy Gregory
In this analysis piece for Independent Voices, historian Mark Almond writes:
After Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, Western leaders repeated constantly that they would stand behind Kyiv “as long as it takes”, first as Ukraine struck back, then as Russia counter-attacked.
But the costly bloodletting and Europe’s inability to sustain Ukraine’s munitions and monetary needs was skinning those proud commitments to the bone even before the spectre of Donald Trump’s return to the White House became a nightmarish reality. But Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky wasn’t a tap dancer for nothing. His footwork is far more deft than his European partners’. The Russians have already found that to their cost.
Zelensky’s warm words about Donald Trump are not just positioning for the new president. Trump’s talk of “peace through strength” offers the Ukrainian president a chance to profile himself as the pilot who steered Ukraine, or most of it, to safety under an American umbrella.
Getting in well with Trump could buy Ukraine, and Zelensky himself, time to reconstruct its economy while hoping for things to go wrong for Putin at home or abroad.
Full report: Zelensky’s plan a ‘major concession’ to Putin, says former UK ambassador
Saturday 30 November 2024 15:51
Andy Gregory
Volodymyr Zelensky’s suggestion that Ukraine could temporarily cede territory to Russia in exchange for joining Nato would mark a “major concession” to Vladimir Putin, the UK’s former ambassador to Russia has said.
Read more in this report:
Putin would not accept any part of Ukraine being in Nato, analyst suggests
Saturday 30 November 2024 15:30
Andy Gregory
James Nixey of the Chatham House think-tank has warned that any part of Ukraine being in Nato would be unacceptable to Vladimir Putin.
“After all, it is, for him, an abhorance. Putin doesn’t want a pause anyway – he believes he’s on the brink of an historic and strategic victory, kindly deal-sealed by Donald Trump,” Mr Nixey told The Independent.
Zelensky may be partly attempting to call West’s bluff, historian says
Saturday 30 November 2024 15:12
Andy Gregory
Volodymyr Zelensky’s proposals for ending the war in part likely reflect “the unfolding political and military realities, as the Russians continue to advance and Donald Trump’s shadow looms over everything”, according to historian Mark Galeotti, author of Forged in War: A Military History of Russia.
“But I think it may also be Zelensky’s attempt to, in effect, call the West’s bluff,” Dr Galeotti told The Independent.
“Actually getting all Nato’s 32 members to agree to a quick membership would be very difficult, but in effect he is asking, ‘if not the Article 5 security guarantee, what else could be offered?’”
Zelensky ‘playing a very sophisticated game’, UK’s former ambassador to Russia says
Saturday 30 November 2024 14:47
Andy Gregory
Volodymyr Zelensky’s suggestion that Ukraine could temporarily cede territory to Russia in exchange for joining Nato would mark a “major concession” to Vladimir Putin, the UK’s former ambassador to Russia has said.
Praising Mr Zelensky as “playing a very sophisticated game”, Sir Tony Brenton – who served as ambassador to Russia between 2004 and 2008 – told the broadcaster: “He knows that Trump is about to descend on him and on Russia. He is already arranging to have something to offer Trump.
“What he is suggesting in many ways is bringing us much closer to the obvious target area which is a freeze in the fighting where the lines actually currently are and then an eventual negotiation about who retains which bit of territory, and then security guarantees for Ukraine in the course of that ceasefire.”
Warning that Nato membership for Ukraine is “frankly going to be very, very difficult”, he said that Mr Zelensky’s statement that he is prepared to see a ceasefire and then negotiate the return of Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine over the longer term would be viewed by Mr Putin as a concession.
“That is actually quite a major concession, because the longer term could be a very long time indeed,” he said, adding: “[Putin] will say to himself, ‘ah, they are feeling weak, I can press for more’. That is a danger if we go into this.”
Former British diplomat gives verdict on whether ceding territory would hand Putin a form of victory
Saturday 30 November 2024 14:25
Andy Gregory
Asked whether Ukraine ceding territory in a peace deal would hand a form of victory to Vladimir Putin, the UK’s former representative to Nato Sir Adam Thomson told Sky News: “The outcome that Zelensky is suggesting is agreement to disagree over who owns a chunk of Ukraine currently owned by Russia.
“Russia would claim it as its own. Zelensky is making the crucial point that this would not be internationally legally recognised – it would just be a de facto control that could change at some future stage through diplomacy.
“Putin would have seized some territory, he would have done it at extraordinary cost – billions and billions of dollars, two new Nato members already, a thousand or more Russian soldiers being killed or wounded every day at the moment.
“It’s in that sense a compromise. He’s got some territory under his control, it’s not recognised, and it’s an outcome that means he’s lost the rest of Ukraine and alienated Europe for a generation.”
Russia has raised threat of nuclear weapons 200 times, former UK diplomat says
Saturday 30 November 2024 14:06
Andy Gregory
Russia has raised the threat of using nuclear weapons more than 200 times since invading Ukraine, the UK’s former representative to Nato has said.
Sir Adam Thomson told Sky News: “If Ukraine were actually inside Nato it would have the US nuclear guarantee. And this has been a very nuclear conflict.
“Over 200 times Moscow has threatened its nuclear capability as a way of deterring Western countries from helping Ukraine, and it’s perfectly logical therefore that the best way of stabilising this is giving Ukraine the Nato nuclear guarantee.”
He added: “The whole Russian behaviour and use of nuclear threat is extraordinarily dangerous because Putin is actually bluffing until he isn’t, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to tell when that moment comes.
“But clearly at present Russia is not in a desperate situation where it would contemplate the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine and its bluff in that sense has been called by its use of British and American missiles deeper into Russian territory.”
Ukraine ‘entering potentially decisive phase’ in Russia’s war, says ex-Nato ambassador
Saturday 30 November 2024 14:01
Andy Gregory
Ukraine is entering a “potentially decisive phase” in Russia’s war which will be crucial for Britain’s future security and prosperity, the UK’s former representative to Nato has said.
Speaking to Sky News in the wake of Volodymyr Zelensky’s interview discussing how to end the “hot phase” of the war, Sir Adam Thomson said: “This is a very significant statement by President Zelensky.
“With a new US administration coming in, we’re entering a potentially decisive phase in the Ukraine war that’s going to be crucial for the UK’s security and prosperity for years to come.
“Zelensky is addressing his own domestic audience, and is preparing them for compromises, but above all in this interview he is making opening moves in what’s likely to be an extended negotiation with the incoming Trump administration about what line Washington is going to take with the Kremlin.
“He’s moving Ukraine to a much more realistic position. Still not necessarily an achievable one, but more realistic.
“About three quarters of Nato allies, I would say, privately think that if it could be done Nato membership would be the least bad outcome in the sense of being the least expensive and the most stable outcome. But it couldn’t be done without the US president being wholly behind it and persuading two thirds of the US senate and quite a number of doubting allies.”
Watch: Zelensky says Ukraine could temporarily cede territory in exchange for Nato membership
Saturday 30 November 2024 13:43
Andy Gregory
Full report: Poland's prime minister visits defensive fortifications on border with Russia
Saturday 30 November 2024 13:21
Andy Gregory
Poland’s premier Donald Tusk has travelled to his country’s border with the Russian region of Kaliningrad to inspect progress in the construction of military fortifications along the eastern frontier, calling it “an investment in peace.”
Vanessa Gera and Rafal Niedzielski have more details in this report:
Russia open to resuming nuclear tests, deputy foreign minister suggests
Saturday 30 November 2024 13:04
Andy Gregory
Russia is open to resuming nuclear tests for the first time since the Soviet era, Moscow’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov has suggested.
“This is a question at hand,” he told the Tass state news agency. “And without anticipating anything, let me simply say that the situation is quite difficult. It is constantly being considered in all its components and in all its aspects.”
Russia, which has not carried out a nuclear test since 1990, withdrew last year from a global treaty banning such tests, in a move Moscow said would bring it in line with the US, which signed but never ratified the treaty.
Russia has suffered 1,740 casualties in past day, Ukraine says
Saturday 30 November 2024 12:54
Andy Gregory
Ukraine claims to have inflicted 1,740 casualties on Russia over the past 24 hours, bringing the claimed total to more than 740,000 – as Vladimir Putin’s forces continue to take heavy losses in their push to seize territory in Ukraine’s east.
The fresh claim by Kyiv’s military chiefs, who said there had been nearly 200 combat clashes over the past day in locations along the vast front line, comes just a day after Ukraine said it had inflicted a record 2,030 daily casualties upon Russia.
Russia appears to be ramping up its push for territory with the Kremlin potentially anticipating that Donald Trump could seek to follow through on his presidential election campaign claim that he would rapidly end Moscow’s invasion with a peace deal once he re-enters the White House in January.
As Moscow focuses its efforts in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas – made up of the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk – and in trying to push Ukraine’s forces from Russia’s Kursk region, war analysts say that Russia is seizing more territory than at any point since the early days of its February 2022 invasion.
But Russian losses have for weeks been consistently among the highest of the war so far, with around 1,500 casualties each day, Ukrainian and Western military chiefs have said.
Georgia’s PM claims ‘foreign entities’ seeking ‘Maidan-style scenario'
Saturday 30 November 2024 12:13
Andy Gregory
Georgia’s prime minister has claimed that unspecified “foreign entities” wish to see the “Ukrainisation” of Georgia with a “Maidan-style scenario”, in a reference to Ukraine’s 2014 uprising, as his government said more than 100 people had been arrested in protests.
It marked the second night of protests since prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced a decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union, in the wake of his Georgian Dream party’s disputed victory in parliamentary elections on 26 October.
The government’s announcement that it was suspending EU negotiations came hours after the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning last month’s vote as neither free nor fair. It said the election represented another manifestation of Georgia’s continued democratic backsliding “for which the ruling Georgian Dream party is fully responsible”.
In his latest remarks, Mr Kobakhidze claimed that Georgia remained committed to European integration. He has said that Georgia will reject any budgetary grants from the EU until the end of 2028.
He said: “Once again, we pledge to the Georgian public, which expressed solid trust in us during the October 26 elections, that no one will shake the peace and stability of Georgia. Despite artificial barriers, Georgia will persistently continue its progress toward European integration.”
More than 100 arrested as Georgian police clash with protesters over suspension of EU talks
Saturday 30 November 2024 11:50
Andy Gregory
Georgia’s interior ministry has said that more than 100 demonstrators were arrested overnight as protesters clashed with police following the government’s decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union.
It was the second straight night of protests after premier Irakli Kobakhidze announced the decision the previous day. Demonstrators faced off against police late on Friday in a number of major Georgian cities, including the capital, Tbilisi, and the Black Sea port of Batumi.
The Associated Press reported that protesters in Tbilisi were chased and beaten by police as demonstrators rallied in front of the country’s parliament building. Riot police used water cannon to disperse protesters, and used heavy force against members of the media, while shouting profanities and insults at the crowds using loudspeakers.
Georgian Dream’s disputed victory in the country’s parliamentary election last month, which was widely seen as a referendum on Georgia’s aspirations to join the European Union, has sparked massive demonstrations and led to an opposition boycott of the parliament.
The opposition has alleged that the vote was rigged with the help of Russia, and Georgian president Salome Zourabichvili joined protesters on Thursday, after accusing the government of declaring war on its own people. In an address to the nation, she urged police not to use force against protesters.
“This is evident in every way – no one is willing to accept a Russified Georgia, a Georgia deprived of its constitution, or a Georgia in the hands of an illegitimate government and parliament,” Zourabichvili said, adding: “It is unprecedented for citizens of Georgia to rise up simultaneously and spontaneously in this way.”
Donald Tusk inspects new fortifications on Poland’s eastern border
Saturday 30 November 2024 11:27
Andy Gregory
Poland’s premier Donald Tusk has travelled to his country’s border with the Russian region of Kaliningrad to inspect the construction of military fortifications there, which he called “an investment in peace”.
Poland’s government and army began building the system dubbed East Shield this year, which will eventually stretch to approximately 500 miles along Poland’s borders with Russia and Belarus.
“The better the Polish border is guarded, the more difficult it is to access for those with bad intentions,” Mr Tusk told reporters near the village of Dabrowka, as he stood in front of concrete anti-tank barriers.
Mr Tusk’s government estimates that the strategic military project – which he expects to eventually be expanded to protect Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – will cost at least 10 billion zlotys (£1.9bn).
“Everything we are doing here – and we will also be doing this on the border with Belarus and Ukraine – is to deter and discourage a potential aggressor, which is why it is truly an investment in peace,”Mr Tusk said. “We will spend billions of zlotys on this, but right now the whole of Europe is observing these investments and our actions with great satisfaction and will support them if necessary.”
Desertion threatens to starve Ukraine's forces at a crucial time in its war with Russia
Saturday 30 November 2024 10:30
Holly Evans
Desertion is starving the Ukrainian army of desperately needed manpower and crippling its battle plans at a crucial time in its war with Russia, which could put Kyiv at a clear disadvantage in future ceasefire talks.
Facing every imaginable shortage, tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops, tired and bereft, have walked away from combat and front-line positions to slide into anonymity, according to soldiers, lawyers and Ukrainian officials. Entire units have abandoned their posts, leaving defensive lines vulnerable and accelerating territorial losses, according to military commanders and soldiers.
Some take medical leave and never return, haunted by the traumas of war and demoralized by bleak prospects for victory. Others clash with commanders and refuse to carry out orders, sometimes in the middle of firefights.
Ukraine’s Western allies provided enough aid to equip two brigades out of requested 10, Zelensky says
Saturday 30 November 2024 10:27
Andy Gregory
Ukraine’s Western allies provided enough aid to fully equip just two and a half out of the 10 Ukrainian brigades that Kyiv had requested support for, president Volodymyr Zelensky has warned.
“Just equip the brigades,” Mr Zelensky said, after being asked what Nato or the US could do to help with Ukraine’s shortages of troops.
Russia suffers ‘record 2,000 casualties in day’ as Ukraine military chief vows to reinforce eastern front
Saturday 30 November 2024 10:00
Holly Evans
Russia has suffered more than 2,000 casualties in a single day, Ukraine’s military has claimed, in what would mark one of the heaviest toll of losses inflicted on Vladimir Putin’s forces at any point in the war so far.
Russia appears to be ramping up its push for territory with the Kremlin potentially anticipating that Donald Trump could seek to follow through on his presidential election campaign claim that he would rapidly end Moscow’s invasion with a peace deal once he re-enters the White House in January.
As Moscow focuses its efforts in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas – made up of the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk – and in trying to push Ukraine’s forces from Russia’s Kursk region, war analysts say that Russia is seizing more territory than at any point since the early days of its February 2022 invasion.
Read the full article here:
North Korea’s Kim Jong Un vows ‘steadfast support’ for Russia
Saturday 30 November 2024 08:30
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Russia temporarily lifts ban on gasoline exports
Saturday 30 November 2024 07:39
Holly Evans
Russia’s government has lifted a temporary ban on gasoline exports for producers but extended the restrictions for other exporters of the fuel until 31 January 2025, it said on Saturday.
The initial ban on gasoline exports was set to expire at the end of this year.
“The decision was taken to maintain a stable situation in the domestic fuel market, support the economy of oil refining, and counteract grey exports of motor gasoline,” the statement says.
Putin says Russia would use all weapons at its disposal if Ukraine got nuclear weapons
Saturday 30 November 2024 07:30
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Vladimir Putin has claimed that Russia would use all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine if Kyiv were to acquire nuclear arms.
The New York Times reported last week that some unidentified Western officials had suggested US president Joe Biden could give Ukraine nuclear weapons before he leaves office.
“If the country which we are essentially at war with now becomes a nuclear power, what do we do? In this case, we will use all, I want to emphasize this, precisely all means of destruction available to Russia. Everything: we will not allow it. We’ll be watching their every move”, Putin said during a press conference in Astana, Kazakhstan.
“If officially someone were to transfer something, then that would mean a violation of all the non-proliferation commitments they have made,” Mr Putin said.
The Russian president also said it was practically impossible for Ukraine to produce a nuclear weapon, but that it might be able to make some kind of “dirty bomb”, a conventional bomb laced with radioactive material in order to spread contamination. In that case, Russia would respond appropriately, he said.
Russia has repeatedly said, without providing evidence, that Ukraine might use such a device.
Ukraine says faster military aid more important than drafting more men
Saturday 30 November 2024 07:00
Andy Gregory
Ukraine is asking its allies to speed up deliveries of military aid, saying quicker delivery of critical battlefield equipment was more important than drafting more men.
“We are now in the situation when we need more equipment to arm all the people that have already been mobilised, and we think the first priority is to send quicker, faster military aid,” Heorhii Tykhyi, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s foreign ministry, told reporters in Kyiv.
His statement echoed a comment from Ukrainian presidential adviser Dmytro Lytvyn, who criticised what he said was sluggish military aid. “Ukraine cannot be expected to compensate for delays in logistics or hesitation in support with the youth of our men on the frontline,” Mr Lytvyn wrote on X.
A senior US official said earlier that Ukraine was not mobilising enough new soldiers to replace those lost on the battlefield, and urged Kyiv to reduce the mobilisation age from 25 to 18.
Russia could test nuclear weapon, says diplomat
Saturday 30 November 2024 06:30
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Moscow could possibly resume testing of nuclear weapons due to hostile US policies, a senior Russian diplomat was quoted as saying.
“This is a question at hand,” deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov told TASS news agency when asked whether Moscow was considering a resumption of tests.
“And without anticipating anything, let me simply say that the situation is quite difficult. It is constantly being considered in all its components and in all its aspects.”
In September, Mr Ryabkov referred to president Vladimir Putin as having said that Russia would not conduct a test as long as the US refrained from carrying one out.
Moscow has not conducted a nuclear weapons test since 1990, the year before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
World at most dangerous point in 40 years, MI6 chief warns
Saturday 30 November 2024 05:30
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
The world is at its most dangerous point for 40 years, the head of MI6 has warned, accusing Russia of waging a “staggeringly reckless campaign” of sabotage in Europe to undermine support for Ukraine.
Sir Richard Moore also said the West could face a “reckoning” as potential terrorists are radicalised over war in the Middle East.
“In 37 years in the intelligence profession I’ve never seen the world in a more dangerous state. And the impact on Europe, our shared European home, could hardly be more serious,” Sir Richard said, adding that if “Putin is allowed to succeed in reducing Ukraine to a vassal state he will not stop there”.
Andy Gregory reports.
Russia kills five Ukrainian prisoners of war, prosecutor general says
Saturday 30 November 2024 05:00
Andy Gregory
Russian forces have killed five Ukrainian prisoners of war in Zaporizhzhia region, according to the Ukrainian prosecutor general.
In a statement on Facebook, the prosecutor general said an investigation has been launched after Russian forces shot five out of six captured Ukrainian soldiers.
Investigators also received a video of the moment the shooting was recorded, the prosecutor said.
New NATO chief Rutte says alliance ‘needs to go further’ in support for Ukraine
Saturday 30 November 2024 04:30
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
