Vladimir Putin warned that Nato will be directly at war with Moscow if the US and UK allow Kyiv to use longer-range weapons against targets inside Russia, as both nations deliberated the move in Washington.
“It would mean that Nato countries, the US, European countries, are at war with Russia,” Mr Putin said. “If that’s the case, then taking into account the change of nature of the conflict, we will take the appropriate decisions based on the threats that we will face,” the Russian president said.
Mr Putin did not address reports of Russia recently acquiring new ballistic missiles from Iran to likely use them in the war against Ukraine.
On the war front, Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed Russia’s counter-offensive in Kursk, stating that Kyiv had anticipated Russian forces to fight back.
President Joe Biden is set to give Mr Zelensky the go-ahead to use Storm Shadow missiles and their French equivalent, Scalp missiles, to strike deeper into mainland Russia, sources said.
Russian shelling killed three people and injured nine in a village in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, regional prosecutors said yesterday.
Key Points
- Putin warns of war with Nato
- Russia starts counterattack on Kyiv’s forces in Kursk
- Three Red Cross workers killed by Russian shelling
- Russia strikes grain vessel near Nato member Romania
Russia strikes grain vessel near Nato member Romania
04:43
Arpan Rai
Ukraine accused Russia of using strategic bombers to strike a civilian grain vessel in a missile attack in Black Sea waters near Nato member Romania, escalating tensions between Moscow and the military alliance.
Volodymyr Zelensky said the vessel carrying Ukrainian grain to Egypt had been hit overnight by a Russian missile just after it left Ukrainian territorial waters. There were no casualties, he said.
The US ambassador to Ukraine “strongly condemned” the attack and said Russia was responsible. A UN spokesperson said the incident was a “stark reminder” of the threats still faced in the Black Sea by civilian vessels.
There was no immediate comment from Russia.
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said the strike was “a brazen attack on freedom of navigation and global food security”. Ukraine’s navy said Russian Tupolev Tu-22 bombers had fired a number of cruise missiles at 11.02pm local time (2002 GMT) on Wednesday.
It was the first time a missile has struck a civilian vessel transporting grains at sea since the start of Moscow’s invasion in February 2022. Some vessels have been damaged during Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports where they were moored.
Kharkiv village under Russian attack, three killed
04:39
Arpan Rai
Russian shelling killed three people and injured nine in a village in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, regional prosecutors said yesterday.
A statement said one person died of his injuries in hospital after the attack on the village of Borova, southeast of Kharkiv. Kharkiv is Ukraine’s second largest city and a frequent target of Russian strikes.
The Interior Ministry had earlier reported emergency services were working at the site of the initial attack when Moscow’s troops shelled it again. Three rescuers were among the injured.
Prosecutors also reported that five people were injured in a Russian airstrike on the city of Kharkiv’s Kyivskyi district.
Three Red Cross staff members killed in Ukraine
04:31
Arpan Rai
At least three Red Cross staff members were killed by artillery strikes in eastern Ukraine yesterday. The deadly strikes, which left two others wounded, hit a Red Cross truck that was delivering firewood in the war-divided Donetsk region, the organisation said. Photos released by local police showed the truck engulfed in flames.
Volodymyr Zelensky blamed Russia for the attack, which he said warranted a “firm and fundamental” response from the international community.
Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, confirmed the deaths. “I condemn attacks on Red Cross personnel in the strongest terms. It’s unconscionable that shelling would hit an aid distribution site,” Ms Spoljaric said in a statement.
“Our hearts are broken today as we mourn the loss of our colleagues and care for the injured,” she added.
Another Russian war crime. Today, the occupier attacked vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross humanitarian mission in the Donetsk region.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 12, 2024
As of now, we know of two injured people who are receiving all necessary assistance. Unfortunately, three people were… pic.twitter.com/Ta2Vbj9TSj
Ukraine’s chief rabbi mourns adopted son killed in battle
04:28
Arpan Rai
Servicemen, veterans and others gathered in Kyiv yesterday to remember the adopted son of Ukraine’s chief rabbi, Moshe Azman, who was killed in battle.
Anton Samborskyi, 32, was reported missing in late July, and his death was confirmed after weeks of uncertainty. The funeral service underlining unity among Ukraine‘s diverse communities in the fight against Russia’s invasion took place at the Central Synagogue of Kyiv, followed by a burial at the city’s Jewish cemetery.
Rabbi Azman, who adopted Samborskyi when he was a 10-year-old orphan, shared his grief publicly, referring to his son by his chosen Jewish name, Matityahu or “Moty”.
Mr Azman wrote in a post on social media that Samborskyi had a daughter in May, but he was drafted into the army a week after the baby was born. He said the last time he spoke to his son was on 17 July.
About 100 mourners, including servicemen and veterans in uniform, many holding flowers and wearing yarmulkes – some with a camouflage design – gathered for the service. Mourners filed past the closed casket, which was draped with a tallit, or Jewish prayer shawl, and hugged Mr Azman and his relatives.
“He went to the front voluntarily – as someone who wanted to defend his country. That’s why he joined an assault brigade,” David Milman, a Jewish army chaplain who attended the service, told The Associated Press.
Ukraine has a centuries-old Jewish heritage, with Jewish communities playing a significant role in the country’s cultural and religious history, despite periods of persecution. Its Jewish population was decimated during the Holocaust in the Second World War.
Starmer stares down Putin as he and Biden prepare to escalate Ukraine war with missiles
04:13
Arpan Rai
Sir Keir Starmer defiantly stared down a threat of retaliation by Vladimir Putin as he flew out to Washington DC for talks with Joe Biden on the Ukraine war.
The prime minister and the US president are believed to be on the cusp of allowing Kyiv to open up a new front in the war with Russia by using Western Storm Shadow long-range missiles.
But in a message apparently timed for when Sir Keir and his entourage were over the Atlantic on their way to the US, President Putin said such a move would mean that Russia would be “at war with Nato”.
“So this is not a question of allowing the Ukrainian regime to strike Russia with these weapons or not. It is a question of deciding whether or not Nato countries are directly involved in a military conflict,” Mr Putin told Russian state TV.
But a determined prime minister told journalists on the flight: “First, to reiterate, it was Russia who started this in the first place. They caused the conflict, they’re the ones who are acting unlawfully. And Ukraine obviously has the right to self-defence.
Putin warns of war with Nato
03:15
Jane Dalton
Nato countries will be at war with Russia if the United States allows Ukraine to use long-range missiles deep inside Russian territory, Vladimir Putin has warned:
Two people killed and rescuers wounded in Kharkiv
02:00
Jane Dalton
Russian shelling on Thursday killed two people and injured seven more in the Ukrainian northeastern Kharkiv region, the Ukrainian interior ministry said.
It said on the Telegram messenger that emergency services were working at the site after a Russian attack on Borova village when Moscow troops shelled it again.
Three rescuers were among the injured.
Blinken and Lammy pledge to forward Kyiv appeals
Friday 13 September 2024 00:45
Jane Dalton
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has finished his Ukraine-focused European tour in Poland after hearing repeated appeals from Ukrainian officials to use Western-supplied weaponry for long-range strikes inside Russia.
Mr Blinken traveled to Warsaw after spending a day in Kyiv with British foreign secretary David Lammy, during which they pledged to take the Ukrainian requests to their leaders.
US president Joe Biden and British prime minister Keir Starmer are to meet in the United States on Friday amid signs both Washington and London are growing more receptive to allowing the Ukrainians to use their arms to hit targets farther inside Russia than previously agreed.
“As what Russia’s doing has changed, as the battlefield has changed, we’ve adapted,” Mr Blinken said at a news conference in Warsaw.
Biden has allowed Ukraine to fire US-provided missiles across the border into Russia in self-defence, but has largely limited the distance they can be fired.
Watch: Putin warns West over long-range missiles
Thursday 12 September 2024 23:30
Jane Dalton
Air strikes set to spark health crisis in Ukraine, WHO warns
Thursday 12 September 2024 22:30
Jane Dalton
The World Health Organisation has issued a stark warning about a potential health crisis in Ukraine as the country faces its third winter of war since Russia’s invasion.
Russian air strikes have severely damaged the nation’s energy and healthcare infrastructure, leaving millions vulnerable as temperatures drop, officials from the United Nations agency said.
Hans Kluge, the WHO’s regional director for Europe, said this winter was likely to be the most challenging yet.
The nearly 2,000 attacks on Ukraine’s healthcare infrastructure were having a severe effect on the largely public health system.
“Frequent power outages are already taking a toll with danger signs for the winter,” Mr Kluge said after a visit to frontline regions in eastern Ukraine.
“This could jeopardise the storage and distribution of vaccines, leading to a rise in vaccine-preventable diseases,” he said.
Other concerns, he said, included possible contamination of water due to frequent power outages and growing signs of antimicrobial resistance because of misuse of antibiotics.
“We have stories of wounds that simply will not heal due to resistance to antibiotics,” Mr Kluge said.
“This could have consequences far beyond Ukraine if drugs become ineffective.”
WHO plans to install 15 heating units at hospitals at risk of further attack as well as a network of treatment clinics in areas where health care access is difficult.
Russia hits ship taking grain abroad
Thursday 12 September 2024 21:45
Jane Dalton
A Russian missile has hit a civilian vessel carrying grain from Ukraine that had already left Ukrainian waters in the Black Sea.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha called the strike “a brazen attack on freedom of navigation and global food security.”
President Zelensky said the vessel was on its way to Egypt but there were no casualties.
“Ukraine’s food deliveries to African and Middle Eastern countries are critical,” he said in a post on social media.
“We will continue to make every effort to safeguard our ports, the Black Sea, and food exports to global markets. Wheat and food security should never be targets for missiles.”
An industry source told Reuters the grain vessel was struck in Romanian waters near the mouth of the Danube river in the Black Sea overnight.
Counterterror police probe sudden death of British journalist who reported on Ukraine
Thursday 12 September 2024 21:03
Jane Dalton
British counterterror police have joined an investigation into the sudden death of a Telegraph journalist who presented an award-winning podcast on Ukraine:
Fresh evacuation order for Pokrovsk
Thursday 12 September 2024 13:55
Barney Davis
Russian forces have been gaining ground in parts of east Ukraine including Pokrovsk, whose capture could enable Moscow to open up new lines of attack and complicate Ukrainian logistics in the east.
Donetsk’s regional governor said a filtering station had stopped working because of heavy fighting, severing the water supply to Pokrovsk.
He said it would be impossible to fix soon and renewed calls to civilians to flee the town.
“The situation is difficult and it won’t get better soon. So I again call on you to evacuate!” the official, Vadym Filashkin, wrote in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
Putin’s forces gain ground in eastern Ukraine
Thursday 12 September 2024 13:30
Jane Dalton
Russian forces have knocked out power and water to a rail hub in northern Ukraine and severed water supplies to the eastern town of Pokrovsk:
Zelensky blasts China Brazil callls for peace in Ukraine
Thursday 12 September 2024 13:02
Barney Davis
President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed a Chinese-Brazilian peace initiative for the war in Ukraine as “destructive”, and complained that Kyiv had not been involved in the process.
China and Brazil called in May for an international peace conference recognised by both Russia and Ukraine, involving equal participation of all parties, and what they called fair discussion of all peace plans.
“The Chinese-Brazilian proposal is ... destructive, it’s just a political statement,” Zelenskiy said.
“How can you offer ‘here is our initiative’ without asking anything from us?”
Zelensky said the initiative lacked respect for Ukraine and its territorial integrity, according to video footage posted by Metropoles, and that Russian President Vladimir Putin had to take steps to show he wants to end the war.
Russian sabotage activity decreasing on Ukraine border
Thursday 12 September 2024 12:01
Barney Davis
The spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Andrii Demchenko has told national TV Russian sabotage activity on the border has decreased in recent weeks.
He said: “Recently, the activity of the enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups, especially in Sumy region, has decreased significantly. The enemy has not given up its sabotage activities, and we can observe this both in Sumy and Chernihiv regions – they are trying to penetrate into our territory to plant mines in some directions, hoping that Ukrainian soldiers will stumble upon such a trap.
“However, all the components of the Defense Forces act together in order to timely expose such actions of the enemy,” said Demchenko.
Ukrainian academic thanks charity for helping him escape warzone
Thursday 12 September 2024 11:55
Barney Davis
A Ukrainian academic has thanked a charity for helping him relocate to the UK as the threat to scholars is said to be the worst globally since the rise of Nazi Germany.
Academics are routinely targeted by authoritarian governments and extremist groups who view free thinking and freedom of expression as a threat.
Operating for nearly a century, charity Cara supports scholars fleeing violence, repression and threats to intellectual and individual freedom.
The anonymous academic thanked Cara for granting him a safe haven in the UK. He said: “The first days of the Russia’s full-scale invasion of my home country of Ukraine were the most shocking days of my life. Like many citizens of Kyiv, I spent my nights in a bomb shelter, and during the day I tried to get scarce food products, periodically hiding in the subway during air raids.
“Unsurprisingly, the Institute where I worked as a cancer researcher suspended all work … This was the moment when I truly realized how important and valuable Cara is … I am eternally grateful to all the people who have made it possible for me to be safe and have given me the opportunity to continue doing research, the work that I have always loved.”
In the past three academic years alone the long-established charity has received over 2,000 requests for help from at-risk academics urgently seeking temporary refuge in the UK with wars raging in Ukraine and Gaza.
This represents nearly a 400% increase in demand for assistance, compared to the previous three academic years and is the highest level the charity has recorded since its foundation in the 1930s as a rescue mission for academics in Germany under threat from the Nazis.
Kremlin claims Ukraine using weapons from the West likely to trigger reaction from Moscow
Thursday 12 September 2024 10:02
Barney Davis
The Kremlin said on Thursday that letting Ukraine use Western weaponry to strike Russian territory would deepen Western involvement in the conflict and trigger a reaction from Moscow, the TASS state news agency reported.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken is wrapping up a three-nation, Ukraine-focused European tour in Poland after hearing repeated appeals from Ukrainian officials to use Western-supplied weaponry for long-range strikes inside Russia.
Mr Blinken travelled to Warsaw on Thursday after spending a day in Kyiv with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, during which they pledged to bring the Ukrainian requests to their leaders.
President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer are to meet in the United States on Friday amid signs both Washington and London are growing more receptive to allowing the Ukrainians to use their arms to hit targets deeper inside Russia than previously approved.
Russia launches massive strike on Ukraine’s power grid
Thursday 12 September 2024 09:55
Barney Davis
Russian forces attacked energy infrastructure in six regions in the past 24 hours, Ukraine’s energy ministry said on Thursday.
The ministry said via the Telegram messaging app that the attacks had temporarily disrupted the work of power substations in at least three of these regions.
14 injured in Konotop energy strike by Russian drones
Thursday 12 September 2024 09:04
Barney Davis
Russian drones inflicted significant damage to the northern Ukrainian town of Konotop’s energy infrastructure in an overnight attack that injured at least 14 people and cut electricity to the settlement, local officials said on Thursday.
Rescuers were working to restore power in the town, which had a pre-war population of about 83,000. Regional officials said there had been 10 explosions during the attack and Mayor Artem Semenikhin said the power system was in critical condition.
“At the moment, energy workers are doing everything they can to provide electricity to the hospital and the water supply system,” he said in the early hours of Thursday.
Hospitals continued to operate, he added.
Editorial: We must give Ukraine the tools it needs to finish the job
Thursday 12 September 2024 07:59
Arpan Rai
As winter draws near, the need to help Ukraine protect the home front grows ever more urgent. The increasingly close relationship between Moscow and Tehran also has highly disturbing implications for the situation in the Middle East.
Yet as Russia bombards the people of Ukraine, President Zelensky and his generals have been restrained from using long-range weaponry supplied by the West on legitimate Russian military targets. According to their comments in their press conference, it seems that those operational restrictions are to be relaxed, and not before time.
Ukraine downs 44 out of 64 Russia-launched drones overnight
Thursday 12 September 2024 07:50
Arpan Rai
Ukraine‘s air force said shot down 44 out of 64 drones launched by Russia overnight, officials said.
Russia also fired five missiles, the air force added in a statement posted on Telegram. It was unclear whether these reached their targets or were shot down.
Russian commander claims Ukrainian troops pushed back in Kursk
Thursday 12 September 2024 07:08
Arpan Rai
Russian forces have begun a significant counter-offensive against Ukrainian troops, a senior Russian commander has said, claiming to have recaptured some territory.
Major General Apti Alaudinov, who commands Chechnya’s Akhmat special forces fighting in Kursk, said that Russian troops had gone on the offensive and taken back control of about 10 settlements in Kursk, TASS reported.
“The situation is good for us,” said Alaudinov, who is also deputy head of the Russian defence ministry’s military-political department.
“A total of about 10 settlements in the Kursk region have been liberated,” he said.
Last week, Volodymyr Zelensky said his forces controlled 100 settlements in Kursk over an area of more than 1,300 sq km (500 sq miles), a figure disputed by Russian sources.
UK to provide £600 million of support for Ukraine
Thursday 12 September 2024 07:00
Alexander Butler
British foreign secretary David Lammy has announced that Britain would provide a further £600 million of support for Ukraine as he visited Kyiv with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The British government said it would provide £242 million of funding, including for humanitarian needs, and £484 million in loan guarantees for World Bank lending to Ukraine before the end of the year.
Will letting Ukraine use long-range missiles push Putin over the edge?
Thursday 12 September 2024 06:34
Arpan Rai
The joint visit to Kyiv by the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and our own foreign secretary, David Lammy, is much more than that latest show of transatlantic support for Ukraine.
The possible lifting of restrictions on the use of the US and UK’s longer-range missiles is widely being billed as a “game-changing” move, one that would enable strategic targets deeper within Russia to be hit by Ukrainian forces for the first time. Lammy has said that the West is “listening carefully” to Ukraine’s needs.
Certainly for President Zelensky, it comes at a critical moment, as the solidity of the EU’s backing of the war appears to be wavering. With Germany going “wobbly” as its domestically-embattled chancellor Scholz calls for a peace conference, and with winter now approaching, the Anglo-American show of support for Ukraine is vitally important.
But potentially of even greater consequence, to an even greater number of people around the world, is whether giving permission to use long-range weapons to strike Russian territory proves to be a tipping point for Putin – one that prompts him to go nuclear.
Mark Almond writes:
Russia hits energy facilities, infrastructure in Sumy
Thursday 12 September 2024 06:25
Arpan Rai
Russian forces attacked energy facilities and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine’s northeastern town of Konotop overnight, officials in Sumy region said via Telegram.
The attack injured at least 13 people, based on preliminary information, according to the statement.
Blinken now heads to Poland discuss support for Ukraine
Thursday 12 September 2024 06:00
Arpan Rai
US secretary of state Antony Blinken will meet with senior Polish government officials today to discuss support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia, as well as deepening US defence cooperation with Warsaw.
Mr Blinken’s trip to Nato ally Poland follows a visit to Kyiv yesterday where he heard Ukraine’s appeals to be allowed to fire Western-supplied missiles deep into Russian territory.
The top diplomat is scheduled to meet with Polish prime minister Donald Tusk, president Andrzej Duda and foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski, according to their offices.
More than two and a half years since Russia’s invasion began, Ukrainian forces are being pressured on the battlefield by a better armed and bigger foe, as they try to fend off Russian gains in the east where Moscow is focusing its attacks.
US pledges over $700m in humanitarian support
Thursday 12 September 2024 06:00
Alexander Butler
Speaking at a joint US-UK press conference in Kyiv, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has announced over $700m in humanitarian support for the country.
Mr Blinken announced $323m in support for Ukraine’s energy grid, $290m in support for food, water and medicine, and $102m in support for de-mining.
David Lammy slams Russian ‘imperialism'
Thursday 12 September 2024 05:00
Alexander Butler
UK foreign secretary David Lammy has slammed Russian “imperialism” and “fascism” as he warned the liberty of Ukraine, Europe and the West were at stake.
It comes after Britain pledged to provide a further £600 million of support for Ukraine as he visited Kyiv with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The British government said it would provide £242 million of funding, including for humanitarian needs, and £484 million in loan guarantees for World Bank lending to Ukraine before the end of the year.
Russia starts counterattack on Kyiv’s forces in Kursk
Thursday 12 September 2024 04:59
Arpan Rai
Russian forces have started to counterattack along Kursk’s western edge and have reportedly taken back several settlements in the past 48 hours, a US-based think tank said.
“The size, scale, and potential prospects of the 11 September Russian counterattacks in Kursk Oblast are unclear and the situation remains fluid as of this report. It is premature to draw conclusions about Russia’s new counterattacks and ISW will continue following the situation,” the Institute for the Study of War said.
Several Russian military bloggers claimed that Russian forces launched the mechanised counterattack from the north near Korenevo and that Russian forces quickly advanced into Snagost, the ISW said.
It cited available visuals and said Russian forces are “operating in company-sized units and may be using elements of more combat-experienced units to conduct counterattacks”.
Kyiv’s forces, in response, are fighting back and have initiated new attacks in the west of Snagost, the Washington-based think-tank said in its latest assessment last night.
No breakthrough on US missile strikes inside Russia
Thursday 12 September 2024 04:42
Arpan Rai
Top diplomats from the US and Britain visiting Kyiv could not clear the use of long-range Western missile strikes inside Russia.
“Among other things, we discussed long-range fires, but a number of other things as well. And as I said at the outset, I’m going to take that discussion back to Washington to brief the president on what I heard,” US secretary of state Antony Blinken told reporters.
Volodymyr Zelensky has been pleading with Kyiv’s allies for months to let Ukraine fire Western missiles including long-range US ATACMS and British Storm Shadows deep into Russian territory to limit Moscow’s ability to launch attacks.
“We are listening carefully and, of course, we are having discussions on a range of issues, including the military equipment that Ukraine needs to win,” Lammy told a news conference alongside Blinken and Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha.
The British foreign minister suggested those discussions could continue for a few more weeks, a remark that will disappoint Ukrainians hoping the West would quickly discard fears of escalation.
What is the Storm Shadow cruise missile? The British weapon banned from use in Russia by Ukrainian troops
Thursday 12 September 2024 04:38
Arpan Rai
The US appears poised to lift restrictions on long-range missiles being used by Ukraine to target deep inside Russia, which would free up British-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles to also be used.
High-level talks are taking place over the issue, which Ukraine says is crucial for defending against Russia’s invasion. US secretary of state Antony Blinken, UK foreign secretary David Lammy and president Volodymyr Zelensky are due to discuss the issue at a meeting in Kyiv on Wednesday, with Mr Blinken saying the war has entered a “critical moment”.
Until now the Storm Shadow missiles have been limited to Russian targets operating inside Ukraine, as well as in occupied Crimea. The missiles were likely used in the largest Ukrainian attack on the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea fleet last year at Sevastopol.
Here’s more about the Storm Shadow cruise missile:
Biden suggests US could soon allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles to target deep inside Russia
Thursday 12 September 2024 04:00
Alexander Butler
Voices: Why Xi secretly hates and fears Russia – and may be about to betray Putin
Thursday 12 September 2024 03:00
Alexander Butler
The bear and the dragon can never be friends. That is a lesson Xi Jinping heard at a young age. And it explains why the Chinese leader’s “no limits” partnership with Vladimir Putin may turn into a limitless liability – for the Kremlin.
While researching a new biography of Xi, I came across a startling declassified US document. It reveals that the man who was Xi’s mentor in his first job, at the heart of China’s military, was fiercely anti-Russian. Never trust Moscow, he told his staff.
Today, it all looks fine. The two autocrats have boasted of their alliance for more than two years now. It’s clear that Putin gave his “friend” a tip that he was about to invade Ukraine in February 2022. Since then, Xi has stood alongside him, talking peace but sending Russia weapons technology in exchange for oil and gas.
Read the full article by Michael Sheridan, longtime foreign correspondent and diplomatic editor of The Independent:
Watch: Trump refuses to say whether he wants Ukraine to win war against Russia
Thursday 12 September 2024 02:00
Alexander Butler
Training Ukrainian troops ‘constrains’ British army’s own training, watchdog warns
Thursday 12 September 2024 01:00
Alexander Butler
Ukraine’s attack on Russia started as a triumph – but could turn into a catastrophic strategic mistake
Thursday 12 September 2024 00:01
Alexander Butler
The Ukrainian doctors forced to perform surgery without anaesthetic
Wednesday 11 September 2024 23:00
Alexander Butler
Where are the frontlines now as Kremlin claims advances in Donetsk?
Wednesday 11 September 2024 22:00
Alexander Butler
What is the Storm Shadow cruise missile? The British weapon banned from use in Russia by Ukrainian troops
Wednesday 11 September 2024 21:00
Alexander Butler
The US appears poised to lift restrictions on long-range missiles being used by Ukraine to target deep inside Russia, which would free up British-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles to also be used.
high-level talks are taking place over the issue, which Ukraine says is crucial for defending against Russia’s invasion.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken, UK foreign secretary David Lammy and president Volodymyr Zelensky are due to discuss the issue at a meeting in Kyiv on Wednesday, with Mr Blinken saying the war has entered a “critical moment”.
Until now the Storm Shadow missiles have been limited to Russian targets operating inside Ukraine, as well as in occupied Crimea.
The missiles were likely used in the largest Ukrainian attack on the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea fleet last year at Sevastopol.
The new underground hospital saving lives near the frontline in eastern Ukraine
Wednesday 11 September 2024 20:00
Alexander Butler
Ukraine has built its first steel, underground frontline hospital in a bid to provide “critical” first aid to severely wounded soldiers.
The complex, which comprises two full-scale operating theatres and six enlarged steel bunkers, is capable of housing around 100 soldiers.
The Ministry of Defence said the hospital is capable of both stabilising the wounded and performing up to four surgeries simultaneously.
It has been supplied with alternative power sources, ventilation and water supply, allowing it to operate without additional support if the area comes under threat.
Comment: Will letting Ukraine use long-range missiles push Putin over the edge?
Wednesday 11 September 2024 19:00
Alexander Butler
The joint visit to Kyiv by the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and our own foreign secretary, David Lammy, is much more than that latest show of trans-Atlantic support for Ukraine.
The possible lifting of restrictions on the use of the US and UK’s longer-range missiles is widely being billed as a “game-changing” move, one that would enable strategic targets deeper within Russia to be hit by Ukrainian forces for the first time. Lammy has said that the West is “listening carefully” to Ukraine’s needs.
Certainly for President Zelensky, it comes at a critical moment, as the solidity of the EU’s backing of the war appears to be wavering.
WithGermany going “wobbly” as its domestically embattled Chancellor Scholz calls for a peace conference, and with winter now approaching, the Anglo-American show of support for Ukraine is vitally important.
Read the full article here:
David Lammy slams Russian ‘imperialism'
Wednesday 11 September 2024 17:51
Alexander Butler
UK foreign secretary David Lammy has slammed Russian “imperialism” and “fascism” as he warned the liberty of Ukraine, Europe and the West were at stake.
It comes after Britain pledged to provide a further £600 million of support for Ukraine as he visited Kyiv with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The British government said it would provide £242 million of funding, including for humanitarian needs, and £484 million in loan guarantees for World Bank lending to Ukraine before the end of the year.
