Vladimir Putin will not accept a peace deal pushed by US president-elect Donald Trump, because the Russian president is “obsessed” with “crushing” Ukraine and exposing the weakness of the West, Ukraine’s former foreign minister has warned.
Dmytro Kuleba – who resigned in September – warned that Mr Trump instead risks collapsing Ukraine’s front lines if his administration decides to starve Kyiv of military aid.
Warning that Mr Putin still believes he “can snuff out Ukrainian statehood”, he told Politico: “Ukraine is a personal obsession for Putin, but crushing Ukraine is also a means to accomplish his grand goal – to show to the world how the West is incapable of defending itself or what it stands for.”
It came as Ukrainian officials said an experimental new ballistic missile fired by Russia at Dnipro last week carried multiple dummy warheads but no explosives. Mr Putin has called the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile strike a successful test and claimed it reached its target – a missile and defence facility.
Key Points
- Vladimir Putin ‘won’t accept Trump peace deal’ as he is ‘obsessed with crushing Ukraine’
- Putin’s new missile fired at Ukraine carried warheads without explosives
- No 10 denies spying claims against UK diplomat
- Kyiv withdraws 100,000 mortar rounds after troops report failures
- Kremlin says discussion in West about giving Ukraine nuclear weapons is irresponsible
Full report: Imprisoned Kremlin critic stands a second trial for opposing Ukraine war
Wednesday 27 November 2024 16:54
Andy Gregory
Imprisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Gorinov – the first known Russian jailed under a new wartime law effectively banning criticism of Moscow’s military – appeared in court on Wednesday for a second trial for opposing Russia’s war in Ukraine, an independent news site reported.
The new trial against Mr Gorinov, a 63-year-old former member of a Moscow municipal council who is suffering from a chronic lung condition, is the latest in the unrelenting crackdown against dissent that the Kremlin unleashed after sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
Dasha Litvinova has more in this report:
UK broadcaster Jeremy Kyle cuts off caller who defends Putin during live interview
Wednesday 27 November 2024 16:27
Andy Gregory
Nordics, Baltics and Poland to bolster support and increase ammunition to Ukraine
Wednesday 27 November 2024 15:59
Andy Gregory
The Nordic states, the three Baltic republics and Poland have said in a joint statement that they will step up their support for Ukraine and make more ammunition available to Kyiv in the coming months.
Trump eyes retired General Keith Kellogg for Ukraine envoy, sources say
Wednesday 27 November 2024 15:35
Andy Gregory
Donald Trump is considering retired lieutenant general Keith Kellogg, who has presented the US president-elect with a plan to end the war in Ukraine, to serve as a special envoy for the conflict, three sources with knowledge of the matter have told Reuters.
Mr Kellogg, who was the chief of staff for the White House National Security Council during Trump’s 2017-2021 term, would likely play a central role in attempting to resolve the conflict if he is selected.
Mr Kellogg’s plan for ending the war, which began when Russia invaded Ukrainian sovereign territory, involves freezing the battle lines at their prevailing locations and forcing both Kyiv and Moscow to the negotiating table, Reuters reported in June.
There is currently no special envoy for the conflict, but Trump is likely to create the position, said all the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss private deliberations.
Richard Grenell – Trump’s former acting director of national intelligence, who has advocated for the creation of “autonomous zones” as a means of settling the conflict – is also in the running, Reuters reported on Friday. One of the sources with knowledge of Mr Kellogg’s potential appointment said Mr Grenell still appeared to be the frontrunner.
Russia expels two German journalists in tit-for-tat retaliation, ministry says
Wednesday 27 November 2024 15:11
Andy Gregory
Moscow claims to have revoked the accreditation of two journalists with German broadcaster ARD and ordered them to leave Russia – in what it described as a retaliation to German authorities’ move targeting two Russian state TV employees.
Maria Zakharova told a briefing in Moscow that it may issue accreditation to other ARD employees if German authorities allow journalists from Russia’s Channel One to work in Berlin.
Germany’s foreign ministry denied the federal government had shut Channel One’s office, as the Russian broadcaster has claimed.
“The federal government has not closed the office of this broadcaster,” a spokesperson said. “Russian journalists can report freely and unhindered in Germany.”
“I can only surmise that this has to do with questions of residence status,” but those are not dealt with by federal authorities in Germany and state authorities make their decisions independently, the spokesperson added
Channel One has been under European Union sanctions since December 2022 as tensions soared between Moscow and the West over Russia’s military action in Ukraine. The EU sanctions prevent it from broadcasting in Europe but don’t affect the presence of staff who work for it in Berlin.
Commenting on the decision to strip ARD employees in Moscow of their accreditation, Wagner said: “If this report is true, then we would, of course, condemn it in the strongest terms.”
Russia says it will respond if US places missiles in Japan
Wednesday 27 November 2024 14:51
Andy Gregory
Russia has said that a move by the United States to station missiles in Japan would threaten Russian security and prompt Moscow to retaliate.
Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday that Japan and the US aim to compile a joint military plan for a possible Taiwan emergency that includes deploying missiles.
It cited unnamed US and Japanese sources as saying that under the plan, Washington would deploy missile units to the Nansei Islands of Japan’s southwestern Kagoshima and Okinawa prefectures, and to the Philippines.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused Japan of escalating the situation around Taiwan to justify the expansion of military ties with Washington.
“We have repeatedly warned the Japanese side that if, as a result of such cooperation, American medium-range missiles appear on its territory, this will pose a real threat to the security of our country and we will be forced to take the necessary, adequate steps to strengthen our own defense capability,” she said.
Russia says it would be ‘insane’ for West to give Ukraine nuclear weapons
Wednesday 27 November 2024 14:50
Andy Gregory
The Russian foreign ministry has warned that an idea reportedly being floated in the West that the United States should give Ukraine nuclear weapons is “insane” and could bring the world to “the brink of catastrophe”.
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.
Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry, said it was in the interests of all responsible governments to ensure that such a scenario, which she called “suicidal”, did not unfold.
“We regard this as insanity,” Ms Zakharova told reporters. “This is absolute insanity being foisted upon a certain part of the political establishment in Ukraine by Westerners.”
“Irresponsible actions” by Ukraine and its Western backers could bring the world to “the brink of catastrophe”, she warned.
Listen | Starmer denies UK at war after Ukraine fires British Storm Shadow missiles into Russia
Wednesday 27 November 2024 14:09
Andy Gregory
South Korea calls for joint response to North Korean threat
Wednesday 27 November 2024 13:49
Andy Gregory
South Korea’s president has called for a joint response to the threat posed by North Korea’s recent dispatch of more than 10,000 soldiers to support Russia’s war against Ukraine, as he met with a Kyiv delegation pushing Seoul to provide military aid.
During the meeting with the delegation led by defence minister Rustem Umerov, president Yoon Suk Yeol said he hoped that Seoul and Kiev will work out effective ways to cope with the security threat posed by the North Korean-Russian military cooperation, Mr Yoon’s office said.
The two nations agreed to continue to share information on the North Korean troops in Russia and North Korean-Russian weapons and technology transfers while closely coordinating with the United States, a statement said – but did not mention whether the possible supply of weapons was discussed.
Russia is still working to deploy Sarmat intercontinental missile, TASS says
Wednesday 27 November 2024 13:12
Reuters
Russia is continuing work to put its Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile – part of its strategic nuclear arsenal – on combat duty, state news agency Tass has said.
The RS-28 Sarmat missile is designed to deliver nuclear warheads to strike targets thousands of miles away in the United States or Europe, but its development has been dogged by delays and testing setbacks.
In September, arms experts said Russia appeared to have suffered a catastrophic failure in the missile's latest test, leaving a deep crater at the launch silo.
Russian minister claims Oreshnik missile launch needed to make Moscow’s voice heard
Wednesday 27 November 2024 12:56
Andy Gregory
Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov has said that the use of the new Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile against Ukraine was needed to make Moscow’s voice heard.
State news agency RIA quoted Mr Ryabkov as saying that Russia did not believe that the time for negotiations with the West had passed, but that it now needed to use stronger methods in order to get its point heard clearly.
Signing a peace deal ceding Ukrainian land to Russia ‘would be the end of Zelensky politically’
Wednesday 27 November 2024 12:37
Andy Gregory
Any move by Volodymyr Zelensky to sign a peace deal which cedes territory to Russia would “be the end of” him politically, his former foreign minister has said.
With Donald Trump expected to push a deal upon Kyiv potentially freezing the current conflict, Dymtro Kuleba told Politico: “The Russians keep the Donbas, they keep Crimea, no Nato membership.
“Can Zelensky sign? He cannot because of the Constitution. And because it will be the end of Zelensky politically.”
Jailed Moscow politician urges end to Ukraine war at start of new terrorism trial
Wednesday 27 November 2024 12:19
Andy Gregory
A Moscow district councillor serving a seven-year sentence for criticising Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has staged an anti-war protest from a courtroom cage at the start of a new trial against him on charges of justifying terrorism.
In summer 2022, Alexei Gorinov became the first person in Russia to be jailed under a new wartime censorship law which punished the dissemination of “deliberately false information” about the Russian army.
He is now further charged by Russian prosecutors with “justifying terrorism” for alleged conversations he had with cellmates about Ukraine’s Azov battalion, which Moscow considers a terrorist group, and the bombing of a bridge in Russian-annexed Crimea, independent outlet Mediazona reported.
Mr Gorinov, 63, risks up to five more years in prison if found guilty. His lawyers and supporters have voiced concerns about his health in prison, where they say he regularly suffers from bronchitis and is sometimes forced to shovel snow while ill.
From behind the bars of the defendants’ cage in the city of Vladimir, east of Moscow, Mr Gorinov held up a sign on Wednesday reading “Stop killing” and “Let’s stop the war”, accompanied by a drawing of a peace sign.
Mediazona reported that Mr Gorinov denied the terrorism charge on Wednesday, and told the court: “I have nothing to do with your terrorism and never have in my entire life. I was imprisoned for seven years only for speaking out ... about the fact that civilians are suffering and children are dying during the war.
“Life has shown that I was right.”
Republican claims Biden could be trying to start nuclear war to sabotage Trump
Wednesday 27 November 2024 11:59
Andy Gregory
US Republican politician Marjorie Taylor Greene has baselessly suggested that outgoing president Joe Biden may be trying to start a nuclear war in Europe before he leaves office in order to sabotage Donald Trump’s incoming administration.
The Georgia populist, who is never short of a wild conspiracy theory, took to X on Monday to respond to a thinly-sourced post by conservative influencer Mario Nawfal on the Russia-Ukraine war that read: “WTF: U.S WANTS TO ARM UKRAINE WITH NUKES BEFORE BIDEN LEAVES?!
However, there is no evidence at all to suggest he is seeking to escalate the war for domestic political gain or has any intention of returning nuclear weapons to the former Soviet satellite state for the first time in three decades – a move that Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev has warned would invite a direct retaliation from Moscow.
My colleague Joe Sommerlad reports:
Slovakia’s Fico and Trump discuss Ukraine war
Wednesday 27 November 2024 11:42
Andy Gregory
Slovakia’s prime minister Robert Fico has held a phone call with Donald Trump in which he and the US president-elect’s discussions focused mainly on the war in Ukraine, the Slovakian government has said.
After taking office more than a year ago, Fico’s leftist-nationalist government immediately halted military supplies to Kyiv, while allowing commercial sales to continue, and it has argued that weapons deliveries are prolonging the war there.
Mr Fico’s stance, which echoes that of Hungary’s Viktor Orban – viewed as the European Union leader closest to Mr Putin – contrasts with the official position of the EU, which has mostly looked to isolate Moscow.
The Slovakian leader drew criticism from the country’s opposition last month when he appeared in an interview on Russia’s state-run Rossiya-1 television channel, in which he criticised the EU’s approach to the Ukraine war.
Slovakia’s Fico to attend Victory Day commemoration in Moscow
Wednesday 27 November 2024 11:25
Andy Gregory
Slovakian premier Robert Fico has said he has accepted an invitation from Vladimir Putin to attend Second World War commemorations in Moscow in May.
Just two other EU leaders – Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Austria’s Karl Nehammer – have visited Mr Putin since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Mr Fico, a leftist whose government has sought to improve relations with Russia, has spoken before about wanting to attend events in Moscow next year.
He said: “It is natural that as prime minister of the Republic of Slovakia I have an eminent interest in participating in the official celebrations of the victory over fascism, which will take place on May 9, 2025, in Moscow.
“I was therefore pleased to accept the official invitation of the President of the Russian Federation V. Putin to participate in these important celebrations, which I will do.”
Romanian far-right presidential candidate insists he does not want to leave Nato or EU
Wednesday 27 November 2024 11:10
Andy Gregory
The surprise far-right winner of the first round of Romania’s presidential election has denied that he wants to leave Nato and the European Union, appearing to roll back some of his positions amid protests over his victory.
Having polled in single digits prior to the first round of Romania’s elections on Sunday, the 62-year-old independent candidate Calin Georgescu surged to a shock victory with 22.9 per cent of the vote, lining him up to face centrist contender Elena Lasconi in a run-off on 8 December.
Mr Georgescu has previously praised 1930s Romanian fascist politicians as national heroes and martyrs, has been critical of Nato and Romania’s pro-Ukraine position, and has said the country should engage, not challenge Russia.
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Bucharest on Tuesday evening, chanting: “No Putin, no fear, Europe is our mother,” and “young people ask you not to vote for a dictator”, with demonstrations also held in other major cities.
But in a stream on Facebook on Tuesday evening, he said: “I do not want to leave Nato, I do not want to leave the European Union. What I want, however, is to take a stance, not to kneel over there, not to take everything. Like I said, we should do everything in our national interest.”
Ukraine’s front lines ‘will collapse’ if Trump starves Kyiv of aid, Kuleba warns
Wednesday 27 November 2024 10:37
Andy Gregory
Ukraine’s front lines “will collapse” if Donald Trump halts military aid for Ukraine, Kyiv’s former foreign minister has warned – as he criticised a lack of Western support for Kyiv in comparison with North Korea’s intensified backing of Russia.
“The front line in the Donbas will collapse and the Russians will be at the gates of Dnipro, Poltava and Zaporizhzhia,” Dmytro Kuleba told Politico. “That will be the most dangerous moment for Ukraine in this war.”
“People in Europe can be pissed off with me, but I kept saying, and I will keep saying, that the truth is today Russia has a friend ready to send its soldiers to die for Russia[’s] war,” he said, whereas Ukraine’s friends are hesitant even to send it the weapons it needs.
Poland’s Tusk to urge ‘navy policing’ in Baltic Sea
Wednesday 27 November 2024 10:19
Andy Gregory
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk has said that he will urge Baltic and Nordic countries to take joint action regarding the security of Baltic Sea waters, during a two-day trip to Sweden.
In the face of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, Nato countries are taking joint action to protect themselves, including joint control of airspace over the Baltic countries within the framework of so-called “air policing”.
“I will convince our partners of the need to immediately create an analogous formula when it comes to the control and security of the Baltic waters, to ‘navy policing’, a joint undertaking of the countries that lie on the Baltic Sea and that have the same sense of threat when it comes to Russia,” Mr Tusk said.
Mr Tusk will take part in a meeting of the prime ministers of the Baltic and Nordic countries on Wednesday and Thursday, and will meet with Swedish premier Ulf Kristersson. The talks will cover transatlantic relations, regional cooperation on security and a common policy towards the Ukraine war.
Putin ‘won’t accept Trump peace deal’ as he is ‘obsessed’ with crushing Ukraine, ex-Kyiv minister says
Wednesday 27 November 2024 10:01
Andy Gregory
Ukraine’s former foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has warned that Vladimir Putin will not accept a peace deal brokered by US president-elect Donald Trump, because the Russian president is “obsessed” with “crushing” Ukraine and exposing the weakness of the West.
Speaking to Politico, Mr Kuleba – who resigned in September – warned that Mr Trump instead risked collapsing Ukraine’s front lines if his administration decides to starve Kyiv of military aid.
Mr Kuleba said: “Putin still believes he can snuff out Ukrainian statehood and crush Ukraine as an independent democracy, and he thinks he’s one step away from exposing the West as weak.
“Ukraine is a personal obsession for Putin, but crushing Ukraine is also a means to accomplish his grand goal – to show to the world how the West is incapable of defending itself or what it stands for.”
Footage appears to show Russia's ICBM launch hitting Ukraine
Wednesday 27 November 2024 09:40
Andy Gregory
South Koreans remain opposed to sending arms to Ukraine, polls suggest
Wednesday 27 November 2024 09:21
Andy Gregory
South Koreans remain widely opposed to directly supplying arms to Ukraine, polls suggest – despite renewed international requests from Kyiv after North Korean troops were deployed to Russia.
A Ukrainian delegation led by defence minister Rustem Umerov were set to meet South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol – who is suffering record low approval ratings due to domestic scandals – as early as Wednesday, amid media reports that their visit aimed to seek arms support.
“No to the South Korean government planning arms supply to Ukraine,” read a banner held by a small group of protesters outside the presidential office in Seoul.
Most South Koreans viewed growing military ties between Pyongyang and Moscow as a threat, a Gallup Korea poll showed in October, but nevertheless 82 per cent opposed sending military aid, including arms.
“To the South Korean government, there will be fewer benefits for continuing to support (military aid) when there is little domestic support and the relationship with the next US government could deteriorate,” Yang Uk, an analyst at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, told Reuters.
Mr Yoon’s low approval ratings, along with little public backing for supply of weapons, are burdens sapping his mandate on foreign policy, he added.
Georgian ruling party nominates hardline ex-soccer player for president
Wednesday 27 November 2024 09:02
Andy Gregory
Georgia’s ruling party has nominated Mikheil Kavelashvili, a fierce critic of the West who briefly played football for Manchester City in the 1990s, as its candidate for president ahead of next month’s election.
Mr Kavelashvili is a founder member of People’s Power, a splinter group of the ruling Georgian Dream party, and has a record of hardline, anti-Western statements, in September describing the opposition as a “fifth column” who were trying to undermine peace in Georgia at the instruction US officials.
In June, he accused US congressmen of planning for “a direct violent revolution, a plan for the Ukrainisation of Georgia, and an insatiable desire to destroy our country”.
His election is all but assured, as Georgian Dream dominates the electoral college of members of parliament and local government representatives. He is set to succeed President Salome Zourabichvili, who was elected as an ally of the governing bloc, but has become a trenchant critic, accusing it of deliberately derailing Georgia’s EU accession hopes.
Although the president’s post is largely ceremonial, the choice of Mr Kavelashvili is likely to be viewed by the European Union and the United States as a further sign that Georgia is turning away from the West and moving closer to Russia.
Ukrainian delegation visiting Seoul to ask for weapons aid, media reports say
Wednesday 27 November 2024 08:40
Andy Gregory
A Ukrainian delegation led by defence minister Rustem Umerov is visiting South Korea this week to ask for weapons aid, according to reports.
Seoul, which has emerged as a leading arms producer, has been under pressure from some Western countries and Kyiv to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons – but has so far focused on non-lethal aid including demining equipment.
However, South Korea’s foreign minister Cho Tae-yul said earlier this month that all possible scenarios were under consideration as thousands of North Korean troops were deployed to Russia, with Moscow expected to share military technology with Pyongyang in return.
The Ukrainian delegation met with South Korea’s national security adviser Shin Won-sik to exchange views on the conflict in Ukraine, the DongA Ilbo newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The South China Morning Post also reported this week that a Ukrainian delegation was due to visit South Korea to request weapons aid, citing an informed source.
The delegation was expected to meet with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol as early as Wednesday, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. Asked for comment, an official at Yoon’s office declined to confirm the reports.
In an interview with South Korean broadcaster KBS in October, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv would send a detailed request to Seoul for arms support including artillery and an air defence systems.
Three wounded in Russian drone attack on Kyiv, officials say
Wednesday 27 November 2024 08:26
Andy Gregory
A Russian drone attack on Kyiv has wounded three people, officials in the Ukrainian capital have said.
Falling debris from a destroyed drone damaged a non-residential building in Kyiv’s Dniprovskyi district, mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said that air defence units were operating in the city after midnight on Wednesday.
The Ukrainian military said its air defences downed 36 of 89 Russian drones launched overnight. The military said it had lost track of 48 drones, and another five had left Ukraine’s airspace in the direction of Russia and Belarus.
The strikes come after Russia launched a record number of drones targeting Ukraine on Tuesday, cutting power to much of the western region of Ternopil and damaging residential buildings in the Kyiv region.
Ukraine downs 36 out of 89 Russian drones, air force says
Wednesday 27 November 2024 07:18
Arpan Rai
Ukraine’s air defences downed 36 of 89 Russian drones launched overnight, the Ukrainian military said this morning.
The military said on Telegram it had lost track of 48 drones, and another five had left the territory of Ukraine to Russia and Belarus.
The overnight attack comes a day after Russia fired its biggest aerial attack with 188 drones on Kyiv yesterday.
New Nato chief Rutte says alliance ‘needs to go further’ in support for Ukraine
Wednesday 27 November 2024 07:03
Arpan Rai
Nato’s new secretary general Mark Rutte said the alliance “needs to go further” to support Ukraine in its fight against a Russian invasion and accused Moscow of dangerously escalating the conflict by bringing in thousands of North Korean troops.
“In pursuing its illegal war in Ukraine, Russia makes use of North Korean weapons and troops, Iranian drones and Chinese dual use goods for its defense industry,” Mr Rutte said while on a visit to Greece yesterday. “This is a dangerous expansion of the war and a challenge to global peace and security.”
Mr Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister who took over as Nato chief last month, met Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens and thanked him for Greek support for Ukraine that includes weapons and ammunition, as well as training for F-16 pilots and technicians.
Russia hammers civilian areas of Ukraine with increasingly heavy attacks since middle of year
Wednesday 27 November 2024 07:00
Tara Cobham
Russia has been hammering civilian areas of Ukraine with increasingly heavy drone, missile and glide bomb attacks since the middle of the year.
At the same time, Russia's army has largely held the battlefield initiative for the past year and has been pushing hard in the eastern Donetsk region where it is making significant tactical advances, according to Western military analysts.
Ukraine faces a difficult winter, with worries about the reliability of the electricity supply amid Russia's attacks and how much US support it can count on next year after President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
Russia says it destroys 22 Ukrainian drones overnight
Wednesday 27 November 2024 06:15
Arpan Rai
Russian air defence systems destroyed 22 Ukrainian drones overnight, Russia’s defence ministry said this morning.
Of these, 10 of the drones were destroyed over the territory of the southern Rostov region, while the rest were in the Belgorod, Voronezh, Kursk, Bryansk, and Smolensk regions, the ministry said on Telegram.
Photos: Ukraine marks 1,007th day of war
Wednesday 27 November 2024 05:26
Arpan Rai
Locals in Kyiv go about their days, shortly after Russia launched 188 drones against most regions of Ukraine in a nighttime blitz.
The Ukrainian air force said it was a record number of drones deployed in a single attack. Many of the drones were intercepted, according to the air force, but apartment buildings and critical infrastructure such as the national power grid were damaged.
No casualties were immediately reported in the 17 targeted regions.
Russian drone attack injures three in Kyiv
Wednesday 27 November 2024 05:13
Arpan Rai
A Russian drone attack on Kyiv wounded three people, two of whom were hospitalised, officials in the Ukrainian capital said today.
Falling debris from a destroyed drone damaged a non-residential building in Kyiv’s Dniprovskyi district, mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said that air defence units were operating in the city after midnight.
The scale of the attack was not immediately clear. The strikes come after Russia launched a record number of drones targeting Ukraine yesterday, cutting power to much of the western region of Ternopil and damaging residential buildings in the Kyiv region.
Recap: Watch live firing of British Army’s new Archer Mobile Howitzer close to Russia border
Wednesday 27 November 2024 05:00
Tara Cobham
Kyiv withdraws 100,000 mortar rounds after troops report failures
Wednesday 27 November 2024 04:17
Arpan Rai
Ukraine is withdrawing faulty 120mm mortar shells from the frontline after multiple reports of them misfiring, officials said.
The supply of defective shells is being investigated by an interdepartmental commission, Ukraine’s defence ministry said, which said around 100,000 Ukraine-made 120mm rounds had to be recalled from the battlefield.
Several complaints and videos shared on social media showed the mortar shells not exploding or failing to hit their targets. Ukraine’s defence ministry confirmed the withdrawal of the batches of ammunition and said it will now provide Ukrainian forces with imported shells.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian soldiers said the rounds did not explode, remained stuck in the launcher or fell off target.
Russia expels British diplomat for ‘spying’ after launching record drone attack on Ukraine
Wednesday 27 November 2024 04:13
Arpan Rai
Russia has expelled a British diplomat for spying in an accusation denied by London as a fresh row erupts in the latest blow to relations between the two countries.
The Russian FSB security service named the diplomat, whose photo was splashed across TV news bulletins, as Edward Wilkes and alleged he had intentionally provided false information when he entered Russia – a claim disputed by the UK Foreign Office as “malicious and baseless”.
In a statement issued yesterday, the FSB said: “During counterintelligence work, the Russian Federal Security Service has discovered an undeclared British intelligence presence under the cover of the national embassy in Moscow.
Putin’s new missile fired at Ukraine carried warheads without explosives
Wednesday 27 November 2024 03:28
Arpan Rai
A new ballistic missile fired by Russia at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro last week carried multiple warheads but no explosives, two senior Ukrainian government sources said. The deadly missiles caused little damage upon hitting targets in Ukraine’s east, they said.
Vladimir Putin said the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile strike was a successful test and that it reached its target – a missile and defence enterprise in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
Their comments appeared to confirm the Kremlin’s own description of the weapon’s use last Thursday as a warning to the West after the United States and Britain allowed Ukraine to fire their missiles into Russia.
The two sources provided more details about the new weapon as Western experts try to learn more about what US officials say was an experimental intermediate-range missile.
Intermediate-range ballistic missiles are typically meant to be used for long-range nuclear strikes on targets thousands of kilometres away. One of the sources said the missile was carrying dummy warheads and described the damage caused as “quite small”.
The second source said: “In this case, (the missile) was without explosives... There were no types of explosions like we expected. There was something, but it was not huge.”
Russia advances at fastest rate in Ukraine’s east
Wednesday 27 November 2024 03:12
Arpan Rai
Russian forces are advancing in Ukraine at the fastest rate since the early days of the 2022 invasion, taking an area half the size of London over the past month, analysts and war bloggers said.
Russian troops swept through swathes of Ukraine in early 2022 before being pushed back to its east and south. The 1,000km (620-mile) frontline has been largely static for two years, until the latest, smaller-scale advances that began in July.
“Russia has set new weekly and monthly records for the size of the occupied territory in Ukraine,” independent Russian news group Agentstvo said in a report.
The Russian army captured almost 235 sq km (91 sq miles) in Ukraine over the past week, a weekly record for 2024, it said.
Russian forces had taken 600 sq km (232 sq miles) in November, it added, citing data from DeepState, which studies combat footage and provides front line maps.
The war is entering what some Russian and Western officials say could be its most dangerous phase, with Russia reported to be using North Korean troops in Ukraine and Kyiv now using Western-supplied missiles to strike back inside Russia.
Moscow, which like North Korea has not confirmed or denied the presence of the troops, used a hypersonic intermediate-range missile on Ukraine last week and Ukraine reported the biggest Russian drone attack on its territory so far yesterday.
The thrust of the advance has been in Donetsk region, with Russian forces pushing towards the town of Pokrovsk and into the town of Kurakhove. Russia has increasingly encircled territory and then pummelled Ukrainian forces with artillery and glide bombs, according to Russian analysts.
Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, said yesterday that Russia held the complete strategic initiative on the battlefield.
Neither side publishes accurate data on their own losses though Western intelligence estimates casualties to number hundreds of thousands killed or injured, while swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine have turned into wastelands.
Ukrainian officials in Seoul to ask for weapons aid
Wednesday 27 November 2024 03:00
Arpan Rai
A Ukrainian delegation led by defence minister Rustem Umerov is visiting South Korea to ask for weapons to use in its war with Russia, according to media reports.
The delegation had met with South Korea’s national security adviser Shin Won-sik to exchange views on the conflict in Ukraine, the DongA Ilbo newspaper reported today, without giving a source.
Volodymyr Zelensky has said Kyiv will send a detailed request to Seoul for arms support including artillery and air defence systems, according to his remarks in an interview with South Korean broadcaster KBS in October.
The South China Morning Post also reported this week that a Ukrainian delegation was due to visit South Korea to request weapons aid, citing an informed source.
The group was expected to meet South Korean counterparts as early as today, according to the report.
South Korea’s foreign minister Cho Tae-yul, asked earlier this month whether Seoul would send weapons to Ukraine in response to North Korea aiding Russia, said all possible scenarios were under consideration and Seoul would be watching the level of participation by North Korean troops in Russia and what Pyongyang received from Moscow in return.
Moscow obtained Shahed drones by circumventing international sanctions, says Zelensky
Wednesday 27 November 2024 03:00
Tara Cobham
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky noted that each Shahed drone that Russia launched at his country overnight on Monday has 85 foreign components and that Moscow obtained them by circumventing international sanctions.
He said on the Telegram messaging app that "we need more joint effort so that the sanctions work and force Russia to stop this war".
Air raid alert in Kyiv region overnight Monday lasted more than seven hours
Wednesday 27 November 2024 02:00
Tara Cobham
As Russian Shahed drones spread out across Ukraine late on Monday, the air raid alert in the Kyiv region overnight lasted more than seven hours.
Russia is trying to unnerve civilians and wear down their will to resist in the war, military analysts say.