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2022-08-01T16:23:25Z | Sanctions against Russia are not backfiring | Letters | Simon Jenkins (The rouble is soaring and Putin is stronger than ever – our sanctions have backfired, 29 July) writes that sanctions “are meant to intimidate peoples into restraining their princes”. Throughout his piece he puts forward this very instrumentalist view of sanctions, but says not a word about the ethical component.
If you learned that a friend was engaging in deeply immoral behaviour, you may well confront them on it, and if they persist you may choose to distance yourself. I doubt if anyone would think that withholding friendship will force them to change; you just don’t want anything to do with them any more. You no longer operate in a shared moral universe.
I think there are a great number of people in this country who would rather suffer high fuel costs than buy Russian gas – on moral grounds. Of course, the problem with ethical sanctions is where to draw the line; if Russia, then why not Saudi Arabia, China or Israel? This is often a grey area, not least because we in the “enlightened west” are far from being morally pure. But invading a neighbouring country, unprovoked, is as unequivocal a violation of the international order as you can find, and it should not be tolerated, whatever the cost.
David Sutherland
London
Mr Jenkins’ well-argued article misses the point. Although he correctly points out that “the interdependence of the world’s economies, so long seen as an instrument of peace, has been made a weapon of war”, he entirely misses the fact that the sanctions regime orchestrated against Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine is primarily targeted at breaking Russia’s interdependence – its supposed integration – in the world economy. Just as Angela Merkel foolishly believed integrating Russia into the world economy by importing its conveniently priced gas would reduce the threat, so now too many, Mr Jenkins included, fail to see that sanctions are effectively decoupling Russia from the world economy. The “cheap” energy from Russia has come at an enormous cost. But better to pay that cost now than to wait until Russia is eyeing Lithuania or Poland.
Scott Blau
Keighley, West Yorkshire
When I was reading Simon Jenkins’ piece about the sanctions against Russia, my wife was crying about the 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war murdered in Russia’s shelling of Olenivka prison in the Donetsk region. Those were Azov servicemen, who defended Mariupol.
Mr Jenkins might be absolutely right about the economic price of sanctions, but this one-dimensional, gas-heated view misses something important. The sanctions are not just a tool to hammer Russia’s economy “back to the stone age”, but rather a way to demonstrate solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
Switching sanctions off while continuing weapon supplies? Come on, it is like treating a broken limb with painkillers, but not using any firm bandages. The situation is getting painful and more difficult to handle for Russia. The sanctions, combined with Ukrainian successes on the battlefield, make Russia more inclined towards peace talks. Here, 400km from the frontline, we see Russia losing face.
Since 24 February, Ukrainian citizens see the world in black and white. While our people die from Russian missiles, there’s no room for “Yes, but …” We just don’t get that. We have a right to ignore all those “buts”.
I would like to thank the UK for its help and pray that the conflict ends with our victory.
Bohdan Kisil
Kyiv, Ukraine |
2022-07-26T07:54:56Z | Can Ukrainian forces recapture Kherson from Russia? | In the first phase of the war in Ukraine, the decisive weapon was arguably the British made NLAW anti-tank bazooka, helping repel Russian forces from the fringes of Kyiv. The second phase was dominated by Russia’s 152mm artillery, bombing cities to rubble before its ground forces gradually moved in.
But the talk now is of the impact of the US-made Himars rocket artillery, which the Ukrainian forces have been using to halt the Russian advance by striking ammunition dumps in the rear – 50 according to the country’s defence minister, Oleksiy Reznikov – and whether they can create the conditions for a successful advance towards Kherson, one of the largest cities captured by the invaders.
Kherson, captured in early March, has long been a focus for the Ukrainians, with the defenders making limited gains in the countryside between Mykolaiv and the target city since April. But, apparently helped by the longer-range weapons, with an effective firing distance of up to 50 miles (80km), the Ukrainians are growing more confident.
Sergiy Khlan, an aide to the administrative head of the Kherson region, told Ukrainian TV a turning point had been reached, and the region “will definitely be liberated by September”. It is a bold claim on the available evidence, and perhaps not surprisingly, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, instead talked about liberating Kherson “step by step”.
The Himars – of which Ukraine has 12 with four more on their way – appear to be having an impact in allowing Kyiv’s forces to target four key bridges leading into Kherson. The city, the only Russian stronghold west of the Dnieper River, is obviously strategically vulnerable if Ukraine can muster the force to push the occupiers out.
But the tale of the bridges partly illustrates some of the difficulties Ukraine faces in recapturing its population centres. Social media postings by Khlan make clear that Ukraine’s goal is not to destroy key bridges, in this case the Dariv Bridge across the Inhulets River east of the city, but rather to damage them to the point where the Russians cannot transport heavy equipment across them.
The Ukrainian military wants to ensure that food supplies can still cross into the city, and so, Khlan added, the country’s armed forces would “do everything possible not to destroy the structure”. That may be a difficult balance to strike, even allowing for the greater accuracy of the Himars – but more importantly it reveals a key constraint on the Ukrainians’ ability to strike back.
Russian officials, according to the RIA Novosti news agency, acknowledged damage to another of the key bridges, near the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station, across the Dnieper, about 40 miles to the east of Kherson. The damage, the Russians said, came from Himars rocket artillery, but the news agency shortly after released pictures to show workers apparently filling in a hole in the road.
If cutting off the city by destroying the bridges is challenging, then capturing it, given the remaining civilian population, will be harder. Russia has shown it was willing to destroy cities such as Mariupol and Sievierodonetsk before capturing them. But for Ukraine – seeking to liberate its own territory – that is not obviously an option. Dislodging the Russians may be difficult if they choose to stay in the city itself.
Nor is it obvious that the arrival of one longer-range weapon can create the conditions for a more rapid overall advance. Ukraine has no meaningful air power available, so it must rely on an assembling a preponderance of ground forces against an enemy that has held the city for nearly five months. Meanwhile, western supplies continue to arrive gradually rather than in the numbers Ukraine needs.
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Reznikov said on Monday the first three of 15 Gepard mobile artillery guns promised by Germany back in April had arrived in Ukraine, and that he hoped to take delivery of several dozen Leopard tanks soon – most likely from Spain. The increasing supply may help Ukraine tip the balance on one part of the front, but so far there has been no evidence the defenders can manage a breakthrough.
After four months of gradual Russian advance in the east and the south, the arrival of Himars and rocket artillery looks to have tilted the military balance towards an equilibrium. But it is not yet obvious that the invaders can be rolled back: perhaps no wonder then that Khlan optimistically suggested the best option for the Russians was to voluntarily surrender Kherson. |
2022-08-05T15:00:03Z | Nightlands review – talking through what’s become of Russia | Who exactly is the enemy currently laying waste to Ukraine? There was a time the answer would have been easy. Those of us who grew up on this side of the iron curtain were schooled to see the old USSR as a dictatorship, an unyielding empire hell-bent on protecting its interests. There was no ambiguity in such an adversary.
But three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, supposedly a triumph for the west, the nature of Putin’s Russia is harder to determine. For all the free-market values ushered in since perestroika, this is a country – and a president – on which the old ideology still exerts a force. Those shaped by communism have reason to believe democracy did not bring them all they were promised.
And if that sounds a lot to load on to two characters, one embodying Stalinist doctrine, the other standing for rootless youth, well, it is, but playwright Jack MacGregor makes a decent stab at it. His play is heavy with research, at times more of a dialectical argument than a drama (it could transfer seamlessly to radio), but it is also an intelligent attempt at describing how all of us are shaped by the forces of history.
His setting is Pyramiden, a model village in Svalbard, now deserted but once a Soviet coal-mining settlement, with a population of 1,000, on Norwegian territory. Here, as the polar night approaches and the Arctic storms kick off, Rebecca Wilkie’s Slava arrives as backup for Matthew Zajac’s Sasha, a security guard. They have a lot of time to talk and a lot of talk to be done, both actors hitting the text with energy and passion in MacGregor’s production for Dogstar.
It is a moot point whether this isolated outpost is a wasteland or some kind of utopia, but even in its emptiness, it holds memories of global power struggles. Sasha, no longer recognising the Russia of today, looks cynically at a world divided by different brands of capitalism. Slava, who was 15 when the USSR dissolved, is more ambivalent, but is defined by memories of her own.
If the two of them are more conduits than fully fleshed characters, they nonetheless show how our values are forged by political circumstance and remind us that it pays to know your enemy. |
2022-08-02T16:28:09Z | Russia claims US ‘directly involved’ in Ukraine war | The role of American intelligence in the war in Ukraine has been put under scrutiny after Russia accused the White House of supplying targeting information used by Kyiv to conduct long-range missile strikes.
Russia’s defence ministry claimed Washington was “directly involved” in the war, and had passed on intelligence that had led to the “mass deaths of civilians”. The US was responsible for rocket attacks by Kyiv on populated areas in the eastern Donbas and in other regions, it said.
“All this undeniably proves that Washington, contrary to White House and Pentagon claims, is directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Biden administration has so far given more than $8bn (£6.55bn) in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia’s February invasion, including an additional $550m tranche unveiled on Monday. But it strongly denies it is a participant in the conflict or is at war with Russia.
The Kremlin’s comments came after an interview given to the Telegraph on Monday by Vadym Skibitsky, Ukraine’s acting deputy head of military intelligence. Skibitsky said the US-made long-range Himars artillery systems had been extremely effective in wiping out Russian fuel and ammunition dumps.
He said excellent satellite imagery and real-time information had helped. He denied US officials were providing direct targeting information. But he acknowledged there was consultation between US and Ukrainian intelligence officials before strikes, so Washington could vet and if necessary veto intended targets.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, leaped on the remarks. She told the RIA Novosti news agency: “No other confirmation of the direct involvement of the United States in the hostilities on the territory of Ukraine is required.
“The supply of weapons is accompanied not only by instructions on its use, but in this case they perform the function of gunners in their purest form.”
The US has given Ukraine 16 Himars systems so far. Four more arrived this week. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has credited them with slowing Russia’s advances in the east and south and inflicting significant damage on enemy operations.
Superior US-supplied artillery is likely to play a key role in a possible Ukrainian counter-offensive to recapture the southern city of Kherson, which the Russians took in the first days of the invasion. In recent days Russia has transferred troops and equipment to the southern front to shore up its defences.
Moscow claims a Himars strike killed 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war last week at a Russian-operated prison near Olenivka, in the Donetsk region. Another 73 were injured. Kyiv says the Russians murdered the prisoners from the Azov regiment, who were captured in May in Mariupol.
On Tuesday, the regiment called on the US state department to recognise Russia as a “terrorist state”.
“Russia has been proving this status with its daily actions for many years. Its army and special services commit war crimes every day,” it said, claiming its fighters were victims of a Moscow “public execution”.
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On Monday the Institute for the Study of War published a report that concluded Russian forces were behind the prison explosion. It said satellite imagery strongly suggested a “precision strike or an internally planted incendiary or explosive” caused the blast. |
2022-07-27T12:40:40Z | Is Russia killing off the International Space Station? | The International Space Station, which circles the planet from 250 miles up, is often considered to be above the earthly conflicts that play out beneath. The orbiting outpost has weathered its share of political turmoil in more than two decades of hosting humans. As a symbol of post-cold war cooperation, the US-Russian partnership has been a clear success. But it has not always been a smooth ride.
This week’s announcement by Yury Borisov, the new head of Roscosmos, that Russia will quit the International Space Station after 2024, is only the latest expression of the country’s discontent. In 2015, Roscosmos said it would leave the partnership in 2024, unbolt its modules, and use them to build an outpost of its own. A Russian space station remains one of the agency’s prime ambitions.
Fractures in the partnership, which also includes Europe, Canada and Japan, have appeared before. In 2014, Russia’s then deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin said his country would reject plans to extend ISS operations beyond 2020, in protest against sanctions over the annexation of Crimea. The threat was dropped, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine this year sparked further upheaval for space cooperation that looks far harder to repair.
The US and Russia entered talks in January to operate the ISS until 2030, but Russia’s war in Ukraine triggered a fresh round of sanctions, with some having a direct impact on the country’s space programme. Responding to the sanctions, Rogozin, who was dismissed as the head of Roscosmos this month, claimed the station could crash on an unsuspecting nation without the Russians to keep it aloft. (Rogozin has a reputation for wayward remarks, once suggesting Nasa transport its astronauts to the ISS via a trampoline.)
Nasa’s current plan is to ditch the ISS in 2031, de-orbiting the ageing structure on a trajectory that would send any remnants of re-entry into a remote region of the south Pacific Ocean. In the years beforehand, the station may further open its airlocks to commercial enterprises, for activities as broad as tourism, sports and moviemaking.
02:18 Russia sends actor and director to ISS to make film in space – video
But the extreme uncertainty over Russia’s commitment means that space agencies working on the ISS must plan for the country’s departure while hoping it stays on. As Dr Pavel Luzin, a Russian military and space analyst, points out, Borisov said “after 2024”, not “at the end of 2024”, leaving the door open for longer involvement.
Dr John Logsdon, the former director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, said that with Russia’s stance on the ISS, space agencies would be in dereliction of their duty if they had not made contingency plans. “It’s been a hope that Russia could be persuaded to continue, but that hope was pre-Ukraine,” he said. “With all the ramifications of the Ukraine situation, resuscitating west-Russia cooperation is going to be very challenging. The US and its partners have to take this seriously.”
If Russia quits, the immediate task would be keeping the station in orbit. That role is now fulfilled by the Russian Progress spacecraft, which gives the ISS periodic boosts to maintain its altitude. Northrop Grumman and SpaceX are contenders for taking over if Russia drops out, but it is not a trivial job.
“It is not easy, but technically it is possible,” said Luzin. “The US and other partners do have all necessary capabilities and technologies for this.” Another option is to pay Russia to carry on with its station-keeping service.
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Prof Jan Wörner, the former director general of the European Space Agency, said his “personal belief and hope” was that Russia would continue beyond 2024. “The station without the Russians makes no sense … If Borisov’s announcement becomes reality, it is the end of the ISS,” he said.
“Maybe with some extraordinary effort it is possible to keep the ISS without Russia, but I doubt that this will be done,” Wörner added. “I always said: space is a bridge over troubled water … and the Russian regime broke the bridge.”
Whatever the fate of the International Space Station, the next step in human space exploration will see alliances shift. While the US, Europe, Canada and Japan have plans for the moon, including a lunar space station, Russia will partner with China for a separate lunar station and moon base.
For Russia, the prospect of future space collaborations with the west looks dim, and that could affect its aspirations. “Russia destroyed the basis for these relations,” said Luzin. “The problem is that the Russian space programme is impossible without space cooperation with the west. Russia will lose its manned space programme, its space exploration programme, the Glonass [satellite navigation] system and even the military part of its space activity because all these fields depend on the American, European and Japan components, industrial equipment and technologies.”
According to Logsdon, Russia’s discontent with the ISS is an opportunity to think seriously about whether the station has had its time. “The US could, with agreement of its partners, say enough is enough and change its plans and de-orbit early,” he said. “It’s been a symbolic success, but you can’t say every year it’s newly a symbolic success. There’s a fair question as to why spend multiple billions of dollars to keep it in operation.” |
2022-06-21T16:28:56Z | Russia blocks Telegraph website over Ukraine reporting | Russia has blocked the website of the Telegraph for its reporting on the invasion of Ukraine.
The newspaper said it had been accused of “disseminating false information about a special military operation by the Russian armed forces in Ukraine”.
According to Russian government data, Telegraph.co.uk was blocked by internet censor Roskomnadzor for a report published before the invasion on the deployment of mobile crematoriums that could incinerate the bodies of soldiers killed on the battlefield.
The UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, had told the newspaper that the system could be a way for the Kremlin to cover up any future combat losses.
The Telegraph report was published on 23 February, a day before Vladimir Putin launched a major attack on Ukraine that sought to capture the capital, Kyiv.
Online data from Roskomnadzor showed that the ban on the Telegraph website was approved in April. It is unclear why the ban was only enforced and made public in June. The topic of combat losses has been extremely controversial in Russia since the military campaign has faced setbacks in Ukraine.
The Telegraph has said it is the first British newspaper to have its website blocked in Russia for its coverage of the war. The website of the BBC and a number of other international media have been blocked in Russia for their coverage of the war as well.
The company said: “The Telegraph is proud of its reporting of the invasion of Ukraine and regrets attempts by Russia to restrict press freedoms.”
Last week, Russia banned 29 members of the British media, including five Guardian journalists, from entering the country. A number of the Telegraph’s staff, including Chris Evans, the editor, were also banned from Russia.
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Russia has banned most local independent media for criticising the war. The independent TV Rain shut down in March after it was blocked, while newspaper Novaya Gazeta suspended operations after government warnings over its coverage of the war.
Echo of Moscow, a popular radio station that was part of state-owned energy corporation Gazprom’s media empire, was also close in March for broadcasting reports and opinions critical of Russia’s war in Ukraine. |
2022-07-28T11:59:51Z | Brittney Griner lawyers welcome prospect of Russia prisoner swap | Brittney Griner’s defence team have given the prospect of including the WNBA star in a prisoner swap a cautious welcome, as Russia said talks between Moscow and Washington on exchanging prisoners were “ongoing”.
“Griner’s Russian defence team learned about US’s offer from the news … In any case, we would be really happy if Brittney will be able to come home and hope it will be soon,” said the WNBA star’s lawyers, Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov, in a statement.
“The defence team is not participating in the swap discussions,” the lawyers added.
On Wednesday, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, told reporters that the US offered a deal to Russia aimed at bringing back Griner and another jailed American, ex-US marine Paul Whelan.
CNN and the New York Times have reported that Washington was willing to exchange Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States, as part of a deal.
Commenting on Blinken’s statements, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told journalists on Thursday that negotiations between Moscow and Washington on exchanging prisoners are ongoing, but have not “resulted in concrete results”.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “so far there are no agreements in this area”.
Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport in February. She acknowledged in court earlier this month that she had vape canisters containing cannabis oil when she arrived in Russia but contends she had no criminal intent and the canisters ended up in her luggage inadvertently. Griner faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
The next hearing is planned for 2 August.
“From a legal point of view, an exchange is only possible after a court verdict,” Griner’s lawyers said.
Griner’s high-profile arrest has also brought renewed attention to the plight of Whelan, a former US marine who was detained in a Moscow hotel in 2018 and sentenced to 16 years in prison two years later, accused of spying. Whelan has repeatedly denied the charges against him.
Whelan lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov told the Guardian on Thursday he believed Moscow wanted Bout to be part of a swap for his client.
According to Zherebenkov, Russia in 2020 proposed to exchange Whelan for Bout and the Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, an offer he claimed was rejected by the US.
Zherebenkov said that at the time, an American diplomat met Whelan in prison and said that the trade was “unrealistic because Russia will start to kidnap our citizens, illegally accuse them and then trade for them”.
Zherebenkov said he believed that exchange this time would take place and was realistic.
“Now I think a trade is realistic because as far as I understand the Russian side has always been for a trade and in this case, it now appears to be the position of the American side.”
Russian officials have repeatedly expressed interest in the release of Bout, an arms dealer once labelled the “Merchant of Death”.
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Bout’s wife, Alla, told RIA Novosti news agency on Wednesday evening said that her husband wasn’t aware of any negotiations taking place.
“We talked yesterday on the phone. Victor doesn’t know anything about the negotiations between Russia and the US. We, of course, assume such talks could be talking place … but we both don’t have any information on the talks,” she said.
If successful, Whelan and Griner’s prisoner swap would mark the second high-profile exchange between the two adversaries this year. On 27 April , Russia and the US carried out a prisoner exchange swapping the former US Marine Trevor Reed for Yaroshenko, who was convicted of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine into the United States. |
2022-05-22T14:41:11Z | Russia bans 963 Americans from entering country | Russia on Saturday released a list of 963 Americans it said were banned from entering the country, a punctuation of previously announced moves against president Joe Biden and other senior US officials.
The country, which has received global condemnation for its 24 February invasion of Ukraine, said it would continue to retaliate against what it called hostile US actions, Reuters reported.
The lifetime bans imposed on the Americans, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, US Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and CIA head William Burns, are largely symbolic.
They came on the same day Biden signed a support package providing nearly $40bn (£32bn) in aid for Ukraine.
But the latest action by Russia forms part of a downward spiral in the country’s relations with the west since its invasion of Ukraine, which prompted Washington and allies to impose drastic sanctions on Moscow and step up arms supplies to Ukraine’s military.
Several on the Russian government’s list of undesirables wouldn’t have been able to make the trip anyway: they are already dead.
John McCain, the former Republican US presidential candidate and long-serving senator; Democrat Harry Reid, who served as senate majority leader from 2007 to 2015; and Orrin Hatch, whose 42 years in the chamber made him the longest-serving Republican senator in history; are all included.
McCain died in August 2018 at the age of 81; Reid died last December, aged 82; and Hatch died on 23 April at 88.
Notably, Donald Trump, who as president from 2017 to 2021 sought a close relationship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, is absent from the ban list.
Others who are still very much alive, but now banned from Russia for perceived slights against Putin or his regime, are the actor Morgan Freeman, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, British journalist and CNN correspondent Nick Paton Walsh, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, chief executive of the DreamWorks animation studio.
Last month, Russia’s foreign ministry banned Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Ben Wallace and 10 other British government members from entering the country.
The ministry said the decision was made “in view of the unprecedented hostile action by the UK government”. |
2022-07-15T15:51:31Z | Russia escalating attacks on civilians, says top Ukrainian official | A top Ukrainian official has accused Russia of deliberately escalating its deadly attacks on civilian targets, after recent missile strikes including this week’s targeting of the crowded city centre of Vinnytsia, which killed 23 people, including three children.
Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s national security council, told the Guardian that monitoring of Russian strikes suggested an increased emphasis in recent weeks on terrorising Ukraine’s civilian population.
“We have a system to monitor and track all airstrikes and other attacks in our country and what we have noticed recently is a tendency to destroy more and more civilian targets. They have decided to terrorise civilian population. That’s not my emotions but what our monitoring is telling us.”
While Russia has been accused of targeting civilians throughout its invasion of Ukraine, missile strikes on civilians and civilian infrastructure appear to have increasingly become a distinct tactic with a string of deadly attacks over the past month.
An attack on a shopping mall at Kremenchuk, a small city on the Dnieper river, at the end of June killed 18 people and injured 59. An apartment block and beach hotel in Serhiivka, 50km south of Odesa, was hit on 1 July, killing 21 people and injuring 35.
Two apartment buildings in Chasiv Yar, near the frontline in Donetsk oblast, were hit on 9 July: 48 people are believed to have been killed, making it one of the deadliest single attacks in the entire five-month long war. Vinnytsia, a central city far from the frontlines, was struck on Thursday, five days later.
Danilov suggested that some attacks – including during a visit by the UN secretary general, António Guterres, to Kyiv – appeared designed to deliver a message of defiance. Thursday’s attack in Vinnytsia took place as European ministers sat down in The Hague to discuss how to hold Russia accountable for atrocities committed during its invasion of Ukraine.
“We have an enemy that breaks all the rules of war and rejects international law so we cannot expect any better behaviour,” said Danilov. “What I am surprised by is the fact that a country that rejects international law is allowed to participate in international institutions to claim its ‘rights’.”
A multiple missile attack on Kyiv’s university district on 26 June, just as the G7 summit was beginning – and after an EU summit had just concluded – was interpreted as an attempt to intimidate Ukrainians and show that Russia did not fear the west. It was the first time the capital had been hit for three weeks.
Dr Sidharth Kaushal, an analyst from the Rusi thinktank, said that Russia had used long-range missiles, capable of hitting anywhere in Ukraine, for two purposes: either “disrupting the flow of supplies to the frontline or the terrorisation of civilians”. Recent strikes, he added, “suggest an emphasis on the latter function both because their targets were clearly nonmilitary”.
Some of the missiles used have been from the Soviet era – and used in a manner not intended by their original design. Kaushal said that at Kremenchuk, Russia used a AS-4 “kitchen’ anti-ship missile first deployed in the 1960s. Amnesty International said the same munition was used in the double missile strike in Serhiivka – indicating, Kaushal added, that “the goal is terror, not precision”.
Ukraine’s missile defence systems are limited, with early warning capabilities lost in the early stages of the war. Its system of air raid warnings is largely ineffective, and sirens in cities outside conflict zones are rarely followed by attacks. To improve the situation, Kyiv has sought to obtain defence systems from the west – receiving limited supplies so far.
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At the beginning of July, the US promised to supply two US-Norwegian Nasams air defence systems, which operate with a range of about 20 miles, suitable for protecting Kyiv or another major population centre. But Russia’s recent wave of missile strikes have been focused on secondary or tertiary centres.
Konrad Muzyka, a military analyst and director of Rochan Consulting, said he believed the increasing Russian strikes were linked to Ukraine’s use of longer-range multiple-launch rocket artillery systems, principally the newly arrived Himars truck-mounted battery from the US.
“The more successful Ukrainians will be with their employment of Himars, the more likely Russians are to target civilians,” Muzyka said, arguing that Moscow’s tactics were in effect a crude attempt at deterrence, designed to weaken Kyiv’s desire to counterattack and kick the invaders out.
Danilov rejected this interpretation. “You cannot connect the arrival of Himars with these strikes. Even if we did not have those systems they would still be terrorising and killing the civilian population so that linkage risks being a Russian narrative.”
A security alert released overnight on Thursday, headlined Missile Threat Awareness, once again advised Americans to leave Ukraine. It added: “Avoid large gatherings and organised events as they may serve as Russian military targets anywhere in Ukraine, including its western regions.”
The latest attacks have coincided with intercepted messages and social media posts by Russian servicemen and pro-Russia bloggers explicitly celebrating the strikes on Ukrainian civilians.
On Friday Russia acknowledged it had targeted the centre of Vinnytsia, claiming the target was a meeting of Ukrainian officials and western arms dealers but without providing any evidence. Previously, pro-Kremlin sources had denied hitting Vinnytsia, claiming another town had been hit. |
2022-06-14T17:07:26Z | Russia bans 29 UK journalists, including Guardian correspondents | Russia has banned 29 members of the British media, including five Guardian journalists, from entering the country, its foreign ministry has said.
Moscow said the sweeping action was a response to western sanctions and the “spreading of false information about Russia”, as well as “anti-Russian actions of the British government”.
“The British journalists included in the list are involved in the deliberate dissemination of false and one-sided information about Russia and events in Ukraine and Donbas,” the ministry said in a statement.
Twenty individuals it described as “associated with the defence complex”, including military figures, senior aerospace figures and MPs, were also banned.
Among the journalists banned are the Guardian correspondents Shaun Walker, Luke Harding, Emma Graham-Harrison and Peter Beaumont, as well as Katharine Viner, the editor-in-chief of the Guardian.
British journalists working for the BBC, the Sunday Times, the Daily Mail, the Independent, Daily Telegraph, Sky News and a number of other outlets have also been banned. The editors-in-chief of the Times, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and Independent were also listed.
A Guardian spokesperson said: “This is a disappointing move by the Russian government and a bad day for press freedom. Trusted, accurate journalism is more important now than ever, and despite this decision we will continue to report robustly on Russia and on its invasion of Ukraine.”
Russia has launched an unprecedented crackdown on Russian and foreign independent news outlets since its 24 February invasion of Ukraine, as well as on foreign social media networks. Legislation was introduced soon after the war began to criminalise media outlets that disseminate “false information” about the Russian army.
A number of media groups stopped operating in Russia as a result, with the draconian law in effect threatening to punish independent journalism with prison sentences of up to 15 years. Russia has also blocked access to several foreign news organisations’ websites, including the BBC and Deutsche Welle.
Russia warned US news organisations this month they risked being stripped of their accreditation unless the treatment of Russian journalists in the US improved.
“Work on expanding the Russian ‘stop list’ will continue,” the statement said.
Among those banned on the second part of the list were the UK minister of state for defence procurement, Jeremy Quin, and Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston.
The full list is:
Shaun Walker, Guardian correspondent; Con Coughlin, Daily Telegraph columnist; Stuart Ramsay, chief correspondent, Sky News; James Rothwell, Daily Telegraph journalist;
John Witherow, editor-in-chief, the Times; Chris Evans, editor-in-chief, the Daily Telegraph; Katharine Viner, editor-in-chief, the Guardian;
Richard Sharp, chair of the BBC board of governors; Timothy Davie, director general of the BBC; Clive Myrie, BBC correspondent and news presenter; Orla Guerin, BBC correspondent; Nick Robinson, BBC presenter; Paul Adams, BBC correspondent; Nick Beake, BBC correspondent; Alexander Thomson, Channel 4 News correspondent and presenter; Dan Rivers, ITV correspondent;
Peter Beaumont, Guardian correspondent; Emma Graham-Harrison, Guardian correspondent; Sophy Ridge, journalist and Sky News presenter; Catherine Newman, journalist and host of Channel 4 News; Edward Verity, editor-in-chief, Daily Mail; Christian Broughton, editor-in-chief, the Independent; Larisa Brown, military news editor, the Times; Mark Galeotti, political scientist;
Joseph Barnes, Daily Telegraph correspondent; Gideon Rachman, Financial Times correspondent; Luke Harding, Guardian correspondent; Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times and Daily Mail columnist; Lawrence Freedman, Sunday Times columnist.
Jeremy Quin, minister of state for defence procurement; Leo Docherty, under secretary of defence; Benjamin Key, commander of the Royal Navy, chief of staff of the Royal Navy; Mike Wigston, RAF commander; Robert Magowan, deputy chief, UK strategic command; Charles Stickland, commander, joint operations, UK armed forces;
Roger Martyn Carr, chair of the board of directors, BAE Systems; Charles Woodburn, executive director of the BAE Systems; David Armstrong, managing director of BAE Systems; Glynn Phillips, managing director of BAE Systems; Clifford Robson, managing director of BAE Systems; Alexander Cresswell, chair of the board of directors and CEO of Thales UK; Christopher Shaw, chief operating officer of Thales UK; Paul Gosling, vice-president, Thales UK; Ewen McCrorie, vice-president, Thales UK; Suzanne Stratton, vice-president, Thales UK; Lynne Watson, vice-president, Thales UK;
Gregory Campbell, MP; Gavin Robinson, MP; Samuel Wilson, MP. |
2022-06-12T14:55:07Z | McDonald’s restaurants in Russia reopen under new brand | Former McDonald’s restaurants in the Russian capital have reopened under a new name, Vkusno & tochka (“Tasty and that’s it”), in a rebranding intended to comfort Russians that they can continue to live western lifestyles – even if Big Macs are gone from the menu.
McDonald’s announced its exit from the Russian market in May, saying it would sell its 850 restaurants due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It joined an exodus of western businesses from the Russian market amid sanctions and serious shortages in some sectors.
On Sunday, the new Russian fast-food chain that bought out McDonald’s, opened its first 15 restaurants in Moscow. Vkusno & tochka plans to eventually reopen all 850.
At a grand opening on Moscow’s Pushkin Square, the restaurant appeared to be an intentional copy of the American chain. Fish burgers, chicken nuggets and double cheeseburgers were all on the menu. “Our goal is that our guests do not notice a difference either in quality or ambience,” said Oleg Paroev, chief executive of Vkusno & tochka. The restaurant served old packets of McDonald’s hot mustard sauce marked up to erase any reference to the fast-food chain.
The new name was an appeal to the nostalgia of many Russians, who have become accustomed to western goods and brands, even as the Kremlin has decried the influence of the west. “The name changes, the love remains,” read the new restaurant’s slogan. Slogans sewn on the employees’ uniforms said: “The same smiles.”
It was the employees’ smiles that many Russians remembered from 32 years ago when the first McDonalds’ opened on Pushkin Square in 1990, heralding an influx of western goods and services into the closed Soviet economy. More than 30,000 Soviet customers queued for hours in the cold to try their first hamburger or Coke.
Now, Vkusno & tochka’s opening marks a new trend toward isolation, as Russia’s war has left tens of thousands dead and its market has become untouchable for some of the world’s largest multinationals.
The name has been met with bemusement and some mockery. “It’s a bit specific but … interesting,” one Muscovite told the pro-Kremlin website Life. “MakDak would have been better,” said another, referring to the shorthand Russians often used to refer to McDonald’s. `
McDonald’s copies are not a new trend. A McDonald’s in Russian-occupied Donetsk was renamed DonMak after the city was captured following the beginning of the war in 2014.
Alexander Govor, the owner of the chain, said up to 7 bn roubles (£98.63m) would be invested this year in the business, which employs 51,000 people, Reuters reported. But BBC Russian reported that the sanctioned bank Sovcombank may also have played a role in the acquisition, saying that Govor would not have had enough capital to acquire the entire fast-food chain on his own.
As the restaurant reopened on Sunday, one protestor held up a sign: “Bring back the Big Mac.” He was swiftly escorted out. |
2022-07-08T13:13:04Z | Putin claims Russia has barely started campaign in Ukraine | Vladimir Putin has issued one of his most ominous warnings yet, claiming Moscow has barely started its campaign in Ukraine and daring the west to try to defeat it on the battlefield.
Speaking at a meeting with parliamentary leaders on Thursday, the Russian president said the prospects for any negotiation would grow dimmer the longer the conflict dragged on.
“Everyone should know that by and large we haven’t started anything yet in earnest,” he said. “At the same time, we don’t reject peace talks. But those who reject them should know that the further it goes, the harder it will be for them to negotiate with us.”
Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov doubled down on the threats on Friday, saying that only “a small part” of Russia’s “great” military potential was currently being used in Ukraine.
Putin in his meeting with parliamentary leaders accused Ukraine’s western allies of fuelling hostilities, charging that “the west wants to fight us until the last Ukrainian” and that they were welcome to try but it would only bring tragedy for Ukraine.
“Today we hear that they want to defeat us on the battlefield. What can you say – let them try,” he said. “The goals of the special military operation will be achieved. There are no doubts about that.”
Putin’s statements contradict recent US intelligence that said Russian forces in Ukraine had been so heavily degraded by more than four months of combat that they could achieve only “incremental gains” in the near term.
Mikhail Podolyak, a key adviser to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, tweeted: “37,000 dead Russian soldiers. Total sanitary losses [injured] of 98-117 thousand people. 10 generals were eliminated. 1605 tanks, 405 planes/helicopters were turned into scrap. Has Russia not started fighting yet? Is [the] Kremlin considering war only by Stalin’s mathematics – 20 million losses?”
Nevertheless, the Russian leader’s comments indicate that the Kremlin has no intentions of winding down the fighting in Ukraine, an assessment shared by US officials who believe Putin still wants to seize most of Ukraine.
After Moscow failed to achieve a rapid victory following its invasion of Ukraine, the fighting has turned into a grinding war of attrition focused on the eastern Donbas region, with no clear end in sight. This week, Putin ordered his senior generals to carry on their advance towards western parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk province after the Russian army seized the country’s far eastern Luhansk region.
To continue its offensive in Donbas, Russia would need to replenish its infantry units, according to assessments made by military experts and western governments. In a recent intelligence briefing, the British defence ministry said Russia’s campaign would probably increasingly rely on echelons of reserve forces.
The Russian president said at a meeting with parliamentary leaders on Thursday that the prospects for any negotiation would grow dimmer the longer the conflict dragged on. Photograph: Sputnik/Reuters
Prisons and large state companies across Russia have started to recruit volunteers to fight in Ukraine, according to two reports by independent media published this week. And in another sign that Russia is preparing for the long haul, the parliament pushed through two bills on Wednesday that will give the state greater control over private business and workers, which will in effect place Russia on a war economy footing.
“In the context of operations carried out by the armed forces of the Russian Federation outside of Russia, including on the territory of Ukraine, there is a need to repair weapons, military equipment and provide the armed forces with material and technical means,” said an explanatory note to one of the bills.
The bills, which still need to be reviewed by the upper house of parliament and signed by Putin to become law, will allow the government to force businesses to supply the military with goods and compel their employees to work overtime and at night to provide goods to the army.
During a discussion of the new laws, the deputy prime minister, Yuri Borisov, acknowledged that western sanctions were creating pressure on the economy and that the new laws were needed to “guarantee the supply of arms and ammunition”.
He said: “Russia has been conducting a special military operation for four months now under enormous sanctions pressure.” |
2022-07-31T06:00:47Z | Ukrainian offensive forces Russia to bolster troops in occupied south | Russia is moving large numbers of troops to Ukraine’s south for battles against the country’s forces through the newly occupied territories and Crimea, according to Ukraine’s deputy head of military intelligence.
If Russia won, it would try to capture more territory, said Vadym Skibitsky. “They are increasing their troop numbers, preparing for our counteroffensive [in Ukraine’s south] and perhaps preparing to launch an offensive of their own. The south is key for them, above all because of Crimea,” he said.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy corroborated these reports in his latest national address, saying Russia was relocating troops from the east to the south of Ukraine in order to push towards Kherson’s regional capital as well as the Zaporizhzhia region.
“Now the Russian army is trying to strengthen its positions in the occupied areas of the south of our country, increasing activity in the relevant areas,” he said, adding that “strategically, Russia has no chance of winning this war”.
Russian troop movements come in response to Ukraine’s declared counteroffensive to liberate the southern occupied regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Ukrainian forces have retaken dozens of villages and towns along the border, according to the region’s military governor, Dmytro Butrii, and are pushing towards Kherson’s regional capital.
The Kherson region stretches across Ukraine’s Dnieper river. Earlier this month, Ukraine carried out precision strikes using US-supplied weapons on the Antonovskiy bridge in the Kherson region, damaging a key Russian supply line. Washington’s Institute for the Study of War said Ukrainian forces and partisans also damaged the only two other bridges connecting occupied Kherson.
On Saturday, Ukraine’s military said it had killed scores of Russian soldiers and destroyed two ammunition dumps while fighting in Kherson.
Telling residents to stay away from Russian ammunition dumps, the first deputy head of the Kherson regional council, Yuri Sobolevsky, said that the “Ukrainian army is pouring it on against the Russians, and this is only the beginning”.
According to Skibitsky, Russia withdrew tactical groups of airborne forces from Donbas two weeks ago and moved them to occupied Kherson. Russia is also moving troops from its eastern military district, which was being used to attack Sloviansk, a town in Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk, and were in reserve in Russia’s southern Belgorod region.
The open-source investigative group, Conflict Intelligence Team, confirmed Skibitsky’s claim in part last week.
Meanwhile, in occupied eastern Ukraine, a prison holding Ukrainian prisoners of war was hit on Thursday night. Zelenskiy denounced the strike as a “war crime”, accusing Russia of carrying out the attack to cover up its mistreatment of prisoners. Russia denied responsibility and said Ukrainian forces had struck the prison with rockets. Zelenskiy said at least 50 people died. Ukraine’s authorities say they do not yet know the identities of the dead.
Despite moving its tactical battalion groups to the south from the Donbas, Russia would continue to attack in the region, albeit with less intensity, said Skibitsky.
In the Kharkiv area, he said, Russia was focused on defending positions and stopping Ukrainian forces from reaching the Ukraine-Russia border.
If Russia won the battles in southern and eastern Ukraine, it would pursue new offensives to capture more Ukrainian territory using units it was currently forming in Russia, said Skibitsky. “They are currently creating rifle battalions of reservists in each Russian military district and a third army corps in [Russia’s] western military district,” he said.
Training and equipping of the new corps had begun under the direct supervision of Russia’s minister and deputy minister of defence.
Where Russia used the new corps would depend on how the battle developed in Ukraine’s southern and eastern regions, Skibitsky said.
He warned that one of the Russian army’s “positives” lay in its ability to move troops and equipment quickly. He said Russia practised this during military exercises leading up to the war and pointed to how the Russian forces retreated from Ukraine’s northern regions in March and reappeared in the Donbas two weeks later. “We know they can return to Belarus in two to three weeks if they need to,” he said.
Skibitsky said that aside from more weapons, Ukraine needed help training troops abroad. He said that Russia had been actively targeting Ukrainian training bases, giving several examples, including a strike on a military base just north-east of Kyiv that killed 87 Ukrainian soldiers in May.
Running out of steam… https://t.co/bExZXZ3l3z — Richard Moore (@ChiefMI6) July 30, 2022
Last Thursday Russian forces hit a military base north-west of Kyiv, according to Ukraine’s armed forces. It was not clear if there were casualties. Ukraine has not disclosed military losses for strategic purposes since the war started.
The head of MI6, Richard Moore, tweeted on Saturday that Russia was running out of steam after losing dozens of men and that it had been forced to use Soviet-era weapons.
Skibitsky said Russia was running out of high-quality rockets, but he stressed that they had “a huge amount” of old, Soviet rockets left in its stockpiles. In the last two months, Russia has been using Soviet anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles on land targets.
“They are using rockets which are, let’s say, past their sell-by date – over 30 years old – so are less effective,” he said. “But they have enough of them and any rocket works to scare the population.”
Russia was ramping up production of new weapons, he added. In early July, Russia’s parliament passed war economy measures to compel businesses to supply the military with goods and oblige certain employees to work overtime.
Though western sanctions on hi-tech components that could be used for military purposes have made things slower and more difficult, Russia appears to have found ways to evade them. The US authorities have blacklisted dozens of companies for helping the Russian military dodge sanctions since the invasion.
“We are going into winter,” said Skibitsky, who said that Ukraine would need weapons as well as food and financing from the west to get through it.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian ships loaded with grain spent another day in port. The vessels are ready to begin exporting goods but the country is waiting for the go-ahead from the UN and Turkey, which brokered a deal with Russia to allow Ukrainian ships safe passage.
Shipments from the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi will be overseen by an Istanbul-based joint coordination centre, which will involve Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and UN officials. |
2022-07-26T15:14:17Z | Russia seeks to play down closure of Israel migration agency | The Kremlin has insisted its decision to shut down the agency that processes Jewish migration to Israel should not be “politicised”, amid a widening rift between the two countries over Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.
Last week Russia’s justice ministry requested the liquidation of the Russian branch of the Jewish Agency, a private charity closely affiliated with the Israeli government that promotes migration to Israel.
The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that the ministry’s request came after the organisation, which has several offices in cities across the country, violated Russian laws.
“There are issues from the point of view of complying with Russian law,” Peskov said. “The situation should not be politicised or projected on to the entirety of Russian-Israeli relations.”
While Israel is one of the few western nations not to have imposed sanctions on Russia, and has abstained from selling weapons to Ukraine, senior Israeli officials have grown more vocal in their condemnation of Russia’s war.
In April the then foreign minister, Yair Lapid, accused Moscow of war crimes after reports emerged of the killing of civilians in the Ukrainian towns of Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel.
Last month the family of Pinchas Goldschmidt, Moscow’s longtime rabbi, announced that Goldschmidt left for Israel weeks after the invasion of Ukraine after resisting Kremlin pressure to support the war.
Relations between the two countries also took a hit in May when Russia’s longtime foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, claimed that Adolf Hitler “had Jewish blood” and that the “most rabid antisemites tend to be Jews”. Israel has called these comments “unforgivable”.
Lapid, who is now Israel’s caretaker prime minister, said on Sunday that the closing of the Jewish Agency would be “grave, with ramifications for [bilateral] relations”.
Amid the diplomatic spat, Israel announced on Tuesday its plans to expand humanitarian assistance for Ukraine, which for the first time will include financial support for civil aid organisations in the war-battered country, the Times of Israel reported.
Meanwhile, Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry, criticised Israel’s “completely unconstructive and, most importantly, biased” stance over Ukraine. “It has been completely incomprehensible and strange to us,” she told Russian state television on Tuesday.
Tens of thousands of Russians, many highly educated and skilled, have left the country since Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine more than five months ago. About 16,000 people have arrived in Israel from Russia since the start of the war, according to the Jewish Agency.
Israel’s immigration minister, Pnina Tamano-Shata, told local television that 600,000 Russians were currently eligible to move to Israel.
Kremlin critics have linked the pressure on the Jewish Agency to the growing crackdown on civil society since the start of the campaign in Ukraine. Dozens of foreign-funded organisations and charities have been shut down.
According to the Jerusalem Post, several foreign-funded Jewish organisations operating in Russia received warning letters from the Russian government last week. |
2022-07-19T18:15:40Z | Germany worries about gas rationing as supply from Russia halted | Germans are fretting about the coming winter freeze even while Europe sweats in record temperatures, amid uncertainty over whether a complete stopping of Russian gas deliveries would force energy rationing on private households as well as industry.
Germany, which has managed to reduce its reliance on Russian gas from 55% to about 35% of its demand since the start of the Ukraine war, is still heavily reliant on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which closed down for 10 days from 11 July due to scheduled maintenance works.
The two other pipelines that usually carry Russian gas to Germany are also currently not servicing the country. Gazprom in May ceased deliveries through the Yamal pipeline passing through Belarus and Poland, while the Ukraine-transiting Transgas, an extension of the Soyuz pipeline from Russia, is having deliveries to Slovakia and Austria prioritised.
Sources in Moscow told news agency Reuters on Tuesday that Nord Stream 1 was expected to resume operation on time, though at less than its capacity of about 160m cubic metres (mcm) a day.
However, if Vladimir Putin does not turn the tap back on at the end of the maintenance period on Thursday – as a majority of Germans expect, according to one recent survey – it would put particular strain on Europe’s largest economy.
“The worst-case scenario is that European countries will need to reduce their gas consumption by around 15%,” said Simone Tagliapietra, a senior fellow at the Brussels-based economic policy thinktank Bruegel.
Germany, however, would have to find reductions of almost 30%, or 20% if it manages to complete two floating LNG terminals in the North Sea ports of Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbüttel by the start of next year, as planned.
“If European states fall into Putin’s trap and we have a scenario of energy protectionism by the winter, the economic damage will be considerably worse,” Tagliapietra added.
A survey by public broadcaster ZDF, published last Friday, suggests the German public still strongly backs its government’s political support of Ukraine: 70% of respondents said they would stand by the country under attack from its eastern neighbour in spite of rising energy prices.
But a separate survey by pollster Forsa shows concerns about an energy crisis to have steadily grown as the war begins to drop from the forefront of people’s minds. As of last week, 58% of respondents identified shortages as the most important issue of the day, while 70% named the military conflict in Ukraine.
Whether the government of Olaf Scholz can counter-steer Russian attempts to sap German morale will also depend on whether it can communicate a clear strategy for how it will meet the looming energy crisis, said Alexander Sandkamp, an economist at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
“Currently there is a lot of angst among Germany’s population because there has been a lack of clear messages around how rationing would hit household consumers,” said Sandkamp.
Under current plans, private households would be protected from gas rationing along with other “protected” customers such as care homes or hospitals. The brunt of reductions would have to be made by German industry, accountable for about a third of the country’s gas use.
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Yet in recent weeks voices from the chemical and pharmaceutical industries have started to make public appeals, arguing that rationing their sector could set off domino effects with more catastrophic consequences.
“Making medical supplies is obviously more essential than making videogame consoles,” said Sandkamp. “But it’s very hard for the government to set these priorities via gas quotas.”
Instead, Sandkamp called for a more transparent mechanism that allows energy providers to pass their rising gas prices to consumers, forcing them into making savings of their own accord. Since many private households in Germany pay their gas bills on account to property management companies, rising prices are not as apparent to consumers as rising fuel prices at petrol stations.
Recent comments by Germany’s energy minister, Robert Habeck, suggest he may harbour some sympathies for such a view. On a recent trip to Vienna, the Green politician said private households too had to “play their part”, since a long-term stop of industrial production would have “massive consequences”.
In turn, Germany’s government would probably have to move to offer further cost of living subsidies. Steffi Lemke, the minister for consumer protection, recently proposed temporarily barring gas and electricity companies from cutting off customers who were unable to pay their bills. |
2022-06-21T13:24:53Z | Russia threatens ‘serious consequences’ as Lithuania blocks rail goods | The head of the Kremlin’s security council has threatened the “population of Lithuania” in an escalation of the row over Lithuanian railway’s refusal to allow some goods to cross to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
After a meeting in the region, which is wedged between Lithuania and Poland, 800 miles from Moscow, Nikolai Patrushev, a close ally to Vladimir Putin, upped the rhetoric by threatening “serious consequences”.
“Russia will certainly respond to such hostile actions,” Patrushev said. “Appropriate measures … will be taken in the near future … Their consequences will have a serious negative impact on the population of Lithuania.”
Patrushev did not specify how Russia would retaliate, merely saying it would be “interagency”. Lithuania has already blocked Russian energy imports, leaving few other options for the Kremlin.
At the weekend, Lithuanian state railway had told Russian clients it could no longer transport steel or iron ore across EU territory to Kaliningrad, on the Baltic sea.
Goods banned from entering the EU under sanctions introduced after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine include Russian coal, metals, construction materials and advanced technology. Just less than half of the goods that cross Lithuania in about 100 train journeys every month fall under EU sanctions, although there are different dates for them coming into force.
Activists protesting outside the Lithuanian embassy in Moscow on 21 June against rail curbs in Kaliningrad display posters saying ‘Closing the border? Our army has visa-free’ and ‘Lithuania in queue for decommunisation’. Photograph: Maxim Shipenkov/EPA
A ban on oil will not be enforced until December as part of a compromise among the 27 EU member states.
The railways announcement prompted some panic shopping in Kaliningrad and an angry response from Moscow, where officials accused Lithuania of breaching transit agreements struck in 2004.
The European Commission has said Lithuania was acting legally, although the EU’s head of foreign policy, Josep Borrell, said on Monday that he would “double-check”, in what appeared to be an attempt to take the sting out of the row.
Patrushev had been speaking after a meeting in Kaliningrad, while earlier on Tuesday Russia’s foreign ministry summoned the EU ambassador to Moscow, Markus Ederer, over the “anti-Russian restrictions”.
“The inadmissibility of such actions, which violate the relevant legal and political obligations of the European Union and lead to an escalation of tensions, was pointed out,” the ministry said in a statement.
Speaking shortly after the meeting, Ederer said he had called on the Russian government to “remain calm” and “resolve this issue diplomatically”, the Russian news agency Tass reported.
Kaliningrad, which has a population of about 500,000, is the headquarters for Russian’s Baltic fleet and hosts some of its most powerful armaments, including hypersonic missiles. It was captured from Nazi Germany by the Red Army in April 1945 and ceded to the Soviet Union at the end of the war.
The region is strategically important to Russia. Nato has long identified a 50-mile strip of Polish and Lithuanian borderland, known as the Suwalki Gap, that lies between Russian Kaliningrad in the west and Kremlin-friendly Belarus to the east as a possible Putin target in the event of conflict.
Such a move could cut off Lithuania and Latvia in the north from the rest of the EU. |
2022-05-26T14:43:13Z | Russia uses Orwellian propaganda news vans in Mariupol | Russia has deployed mobile propaganda vans with large-screen televisions to humanitarian aid points in the captured city of Mariupol as the Kremlin has pushed forward with efforts to integrate newly occupied territories across the south of Ukraine.
Videos published by the Russian ministry of emergency situations showed the vans, which it called “mobile information complexes”, playing state TV news segments and political chat shows where pundits support the invasion to locals in the ruined city that still lacks electricity and running water.
The Orwellian turn comes as much of Mariupol was destroyed in an artillery bombardment that left thousands dead. One of the vans was deployed near the ruins of the Mariupol drama theatre, where hundreds were killed in an airstrike in March.
Several of the trucks now patrol the city, mainly playing Russian television news segments. “The people of Mariupol have been held in a virtual informational vacuum for three months due to the lack of electricity,” wrote the emergencies ministry in a statement.
The mobile screens have reportedly been deployed to places where Mariupol residents are receiving humanitarian aid, Russian documents, and at points in the city where drinking water is available.
“The practice of ‘there is nothing to eat, so feed them lies’ is gaining momentum,” wrote Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian mayor of Mariupol. It’s “cynicism of the highest level”.
“The truth and the propaganda,” wrote Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian interior ministry, posting a video of the trucks superimposed over images of the ruins of the city. This is “the Russian world”, he added.
The effort to install Russian propaganda in the ruined city is part of a larger effort at pacifying and integrating captured cities like Mariupol despite earlier assurances by Vladimir Putin that Russia did not seek to occupy new territory in Ukraine.
Putin on Wednesday signed a law that would fast-track applications for citizenship from Mariupol, as well as the Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia that are partly under government control.
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The Kremlin decision has been decried as “passportisation”, an attempt to annex the territories by filling them with de facto Russian citizens.
Senior Kremlin officials have already promised to remain in southern Ukraine “for ever”.
“The simplified system will allow all of us to clearly see that Russia is here not just for a long time but for ever,” the Moscow-appointed deputy leader of the occupied Kherson region, Kirill Stremousov, told Russia’s RIA Novosti state news agency.
“The illegal issuing of passports … is a flagrant violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as norms and principles of international humanitarian law,” the Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Russian-controlled administration in Kherson also announced that it would begin issuing salaries in roubles on Thursday, effectively adopting Russia’s currency as part of the creeping annexation of southern Ukrainian territories.
Local authorities installed by Russia have also said they may formally request annexation. |
2022-04-26T15:34:29Z | Russia accused of shelling Mariupol humanitarian corridor | Russia has stepped up attempts to encircle defending forces in the east of Ukraine and stood accused of shelling a humanitarian corridor out of Mariupol, as the US vowed to move “heaven and earth” to help Ukraine win the war.
Amid a flurry of diplomatic activity in Moscow and Germany, a fresh wave of civilian deaths were reported across eastern Ukraine as Vladimir Putin’s forces escalated their barrage of key targets on Tuesday and appeared to renege once again on giving safe passage to women and children.
Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, the besieged port city on the Sea of Azov where the remaining Ukrainian forces and civilians have been hiding out in a steel works, said the latest attempt to get people out had failed.
Andryushchenko claimed that agreement on a humanitarian corridor out of the Azovstal steelworks had proven to be a “trap”, with Russian forces firing their artillery on the exit zone just moments after announcing through loudspeakers that a green corridor had been opened.
Last week, Putin had ordered his troops not to storm the steel mill, but to seal it off so that “not even a fly comes through”. There are an estimated 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers in the complex, along with many of their families.
Andryushchenko said that over the past 24 hours, there had been 35 airstrikes against the Azovstal plant, with one strike causing a fire to break out in one of the workshops where civilians had been hiding, leaving some under rubble.
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, meeting the UN secretary general in Moscow, dismissed Ukraine’s proposal to stage peace talks in the port city, saying it was a “theatrical gesture” and “they probably wanted another heartrending scene”.
Russia’s apparent flouting of the agreement for a humanitarian rescue of civilians trapped in Mariupol came amid increased efforts to push on in the east of Ukraine.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of the Donetsk region, reported that two people had been killed and six others wounded as “Russians continue to deliberately fire at civilians and to destroy critical infrastructure”.
In the neighbouring region of Luhansk, the governor, Serhiy Haidai, said three people had died after Russian shells hit a residential building in the city of Popasna, which Russian forces have been trying to capture.
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There were also reports of damage to an important bridge across the Dniester estuary linking the strategically vital region of Bessarabia to the rest of the country.
Should Ukrainian forces leave Bessarabia for fear of being cut off it could become a staging post for an attack on the Black Sea city of Odesa.
Russia has refocused its operations in Ukraine in recent weeks away from storming the capital, Kyiv, in the north and towards creating a Kremlin-controlled region stretching across the east and south of Ukraine.
At the US Ramstein airbase in Germany, Joe Biden’s defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, attending a meeting of officials from about 40 countries, pledged more weapons to foil Putin, while Germany announced it had cleared the way for delivery of Gepard anti-aircraft guns to Ukraine.
Austin said he wanted to find a “common and transparent understanding of Ukraine’s near-term security requirements because we’re going to keep moving heaven and earth so that we can meet them”.
Meanwhile, the head of the UN’s atomic watchdog has condemned the Russian occupation of the Chernobyl nuclear plant, describing the situation as “absolutely abnormal and very, very dangerous”.
Rafael Grossi, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general, spoke to reporters as he arrived at the site of the former nuclear power plant, which was occupied by Russian troops for several weeks.
Grossi was heading an expert mission to Chernobyl to “deliver equipment, conduct radiological assessments and restore safeguards monitoring systems”, the IAEA said. |
2022-07-08T11:20:41Z | Russia has not paused its Donbas offensive, says Ukraine official | Russia is continuing its offensive into Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region after capturing almost the entire neighbouring Luhansk region, according to the head of Ukraine-controlled Luhansk’s regional civil administration.
Serhiy Haidai told Ukraine’s United News he did not agree with recent western assessments that Russia had paused its offensive and was resting to regroup. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based thinktank, and British military intelligence have both said in recent days that Russian forces are resting and taking time to reposition themselves for the next offensive.
“There has not been any kind of operational pause or reduction in shelling,” said Haidai. “Their attempts to advance forward are constant. They are putting in new units, including tank units.”
He said the assessment were predictions most likely based on Ukraine’s successful destruction of ammunition depots in Russian-occupied areas last week that could give Moscow real logistical problems.
Ukraine’s general staff said on Friday that Russian forces had made advances eastwards towards the Ukrainian-controlled town of Bakhmut, in north-eastern Donetsk oblast.
Meanwhile, over the past week, Russian forces have repeatedly hit major urban areas in the Ukrainian-controlled parts of Donetsk. At least eight people have been killed and 27 injured in strikes on Sloviansk in the past week, according to the city’s authorities.
Particularly harrowing was the 5 July strike on Sloviansk’s town market, where people had been working and shopping. Video footage shows Ukrainian soldiers and civilians pulling people out of a fire, while other bystanders try to extinguish it.
Russian forces struck a market and a residential area in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slovyansk on July 5. Ukrainian officials said at least two people were killed and seven others were injured. (WARNING: Viewers may find the content of this video disturbing.) pic.twitter.com/9AN4DatrxX — Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (@RFERL) July 5, 2022
Russian forces have also hit the city of Kramatorsk, the post-2014 regional capital of Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk, twice in the past week, killing one person and injuring seven.
Tens of thousands of civilians have fled Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk in the anticipation of type of the shelling unleashed in neighbouring Luhansk oblast. The mayor of Sloviansk has been encouraging the population to leave, but about 23,000 residents remain.
To get to the main towns under Ukrainian control, the Russians must push through areas in the northern and eastern parts of Donetsk oblast where Ukrainian forces had dug in their positions, said Haidai.
“Within that 100 sq metres, if Russian soldiers are being killed and their equipment is being destroyed that we can still say Luhansk region is still holding,” said Haidai, referring to the slither of Luhansk oblast still controlled by Ukraine.
“They are trying to put all their reserve forces into getting to the administrative borders [of Luhansk oblast] but so far they have not been successful.”
The UK’s defence ministry said on Friday that Russian forces were pausing to replenish and reposition their equipment to launch an offensive on Siversk, a small town in the north of Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk, in order to push towards the urban areas under Ukrainian control.
Earlier this week, the Institute for the Study of War said Russian forces were pausing to rest and regain their combat capabilities – a statement Russia’s defence ministry confirmed.
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, said at a meeting with parliamentary leaders on Thursday that Russia had not “started anything yet in earnest” in Ukraine and that it would be harder to negotiate the longer the conflict continued.
00:54 Putin warns Russia is just getting started in Ukraine – video
Russia’s reported strategy has been to systematically destroy buildings in order to strip the Ukrainian forces of cover for their positions, forcing them to retreat. But this tactic requires a constant stream of artillery ammunition, say experts, which Ukrainian are targeting.
Ukraine has hit 20 Russian ammunition depots in the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, the Ukrainian military expert Ivan Kyrychevsky told Ukraine’s Radio NV.
Ukraine’s general staff claimed on Friday that they had successfully hit an ammunition depot in Nova Kakhovka, Kherson region, killing 44 Russian soldiers and destroying air defence systems in the process.
Military experts told the Guardian that the longer-range rocket systems recently supplied by the west, in particular the US Himars systems, had allowed Ukrainian forces to target storage facilities behind enemy lines, slowing down Russia’s operational strategy and forcing them to be more careful with their ammunition.
The Himars rockets systems allow Ukrainian forces to precisely strike their target, unlike the systems they used before.
The military expert Oleg Zhdanov told FeganLive, a popular analysis programme on YouTube, that there were nine Himars operating in Ukraine. The most a Himar missile would deviate from its target was one to three metres, if targeting an object 75km away, Zhdanov said. Whereas a Smerch, said Zhdanov, could deviate by 1km when attempting to hit a target 70km away.
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The US senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal, while visiting Kyiv on Thursday, said the US should quickly supply Ukraine with more weaponry, including ammunition for Himars, Reuters reported.
“We have a chance here in the next 60 days … the decisions we make can turn the tide of this war in favour of Ukraine,” Graham said.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and his advisers have said they believe UK support for Ukraine would remain unchanged despite Boris Johnson’s resignation on Thursday.
Johnson became popular in Ukraine because of his vocal support for Kyiv on the international stage and the UK’s supply of weapons to Ukraine.
“We have no doubt that Great Britain’s support will be preserved, but your personal leadership and charisma made it special,” Zelenskiy said.
The UK’s army chief visited his Ukrainian counterpart in Ukraine on Thursday and reiterated the UK’s support. |
2022-08-01T14:53:34Z | Grain ship leaves Ukraine port for first time since Russia blockade | A ship carrying Ukrainian grain has left the port of Odesa for the first time since the start of the Russian invasion under an internationally brokered deal to unblock Ukraine’s agricultural exports and ease a growing global food crisis.
The Sierra Leone-flagged ship Razoni, carrying 26,000 tonnes of corn, finally set sail for Lebanon on Monday morning, according to Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry, following weeks of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, led by Turkey and the United Nations.
The Russian blockade of Ukraine’s ports since the start of the war in February has stoked a worldwide grain shortage that has caused the UN to warn of a looming hunger catastrophe.
“Ukraine, together with our partners, has taken another step today in preventing world hunger,” said Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s infrastructure minister. He stressed that Ukraine had done “everything” to restore the ports and said the lifting of the blockade would give Ukraine’s economy $1bn (£820m) in foreign exchange revenue.
The Kremlin said the news of the departure was “very positive” and Turkey’s defence ministry said more ships would follow. Kubrakov said 16 loaded vessels had been stuck in Ukraine’s ports since the Russian invasion began and that officials planned for the ports to regain full transport capacity in the coming weeks.
Fighting meanwhile continued across Ukraine’s frontlines, according to Ukraine’s general staff, as four additional US-supplied Himar long-range rocket systems as well as a third German Mars II, another long-range rocket system, arrived in Ukraine.
4 additional HIMARS have arrived in🇺🇦. I’m grateful to @POTUS @SecDef Lloyd Austin III and 🇺🇸people for strengthening of #UAarmy
We have proven to be smart operators of this weapon. The sound of the #HIMARS volley has become a top hit 🎶 of this summer at the front lines!
🇺🇦🤝🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/iOBoxfjV7e — Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) August 1, 2022
The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Syenkevych, said Sunday’s shelling of the city, which has been hit almost every day since the war began, had been the heaviest yet. Among the dead was an agro-tycoon and one of Ukraine’s richest men, Oleksiy Vadaturskyi. One man was also killed and another injured in shelling early on Monday in Kharkiv, which continues to be shelled regularly.
In the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the regional military administration, said on Monday that three people were killed and 16 injured as a result of fighting on Sunday. Ukraine’s authorities have called for all residents in areas of Ukrainian-controlled Donbas, which has no stable gas or electricity supply, to evacuate and its minister for the temporarily occupied territories, Iryna Vereshchuk, said they planned to evacuate about 50,000 children and 200,000 adults. Those who choose to stay, said Vereshchuk, will be asked to sign a form acknowledging their decision.
The first 🇺🇦 grain ship since #RussianAggression has left port. Thanks to the support of all our partner countries & @UN we were able to full implement the Agreement signed in Istanbul. It’s important for us to be one of the guarantors of 🌏 food security. pic.twitter.com/jOz3bdmdfB — Oleksandr Kubrakov (@OlKubrakov) August 1, 2022
Russia’s blockade of Ukraine, one of the world’s biggest grain producers, has caused a worldwide grain shortage and price rises, which pushed some countries that are reliant on grain imports, mainly in the Middle East and Africa, towards famine. About 20m tonnes of grain is reportedly stuck in the country waiting to be exported.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, described the departure of the grain shipment as a “day of relief for the world” and Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, tweeted that he hoped exports from Ukraine would continue without interruptions and problems.
“We’ll do what is necessary to this end. We hope that the agreement will lead to a ceasefire and lasting peace,” he said.
The UN’s joint coordination centre, set up to facilitate the deal, said it authorised the ship to leave the port and that it would be monitoring the vessel as it sailed through the agreed path.
But the world is watching to see if Russia sticks to its side of the bargain, after an attack on the port of Odesa a week ago.
The UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, who is leading the race to become Britain’s next prime minister, described the shipment as an important first step and accused Russia of weaponising global food supplies. She said in a statement that the “only way [Vladimir] Putin can alleviate the global food security crisis is by ending his brutal invasion of Ukraine”.
“There’s room for cautious optimism today but implementation is still fraught with risks,” said Timothy Ash, senior sovereign strategist at Bluebay Asset Management and associate fellow at Chatham House. “I think we need to remember it is still a very active war zone; it only takes one stray missile for shipments to stall.”
In the deal, signed on 22 July in Istanbul, Russia agreed to allow grain ships to leave Ukraine and to not attack them, or Ukraine’s ports, while the shipments were in transit. Less than 24 hours later, the veracity of the deal was cast into doubt when Russian forces struck the port of Odesa.
When questioned by Turkey’s defence minister, Russia at first denied it was involved in the attack. But the next day it issued a statement saying it had struck a Ukrainian vessel that was in the port and carrying western weapons. Ukraine’s authorities rejected Russia’s explanation.
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Since the blockade, Ukraine has managed to export more than 4m tonnes of grain through the Danube River and its railways, but work is needed to reach the prewar export levels of 6m to 8m tonnes a month, say experts.
Industry experts have said finding insurers and crews ready to take the risk will be a major obstacle for exports now and in the future.
On Friday, the Lloyd’s of London insurer Ascot and the broker Marsh announced they had launched marine cargo and war insurance for grain and food products moving from the Black Sea ports.
The British ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, said that while the UK was not involved in the deal, it had helped in securing commercial insurance for the ships from providers in London. The announcement from Ascot signalled that progress had been made.
Simmons said the port attack had worried insurance companies, but she insisted they should not be deterred. “The main thing is not to be scared of Russia’s tactics because that’s what they are – tactics, to stop this from happening,” she said. |
2022-06-12T07:00:43Z | Specialist gang ‘targeting’ Ukrainian treasures for removal to Russia | A specialist gang is smuggling valuable historic artefacts out of Ukraine and into Russia, according to an international team of academics and digital technology experts who are tracking thefts.
“There is now very strong evidence this is a purposive Russian move, with specific paintings and ornaments targeted and taken out to Russia,” said Brian Daniels, an anthropologist working with archaeologists, historians and digital imaging specialists.
From a laboratory in the US state of Virginia, Daniels and his colleagues have monitored the despoiling and destruction of cultural targets since the invasion began, and have detected patterns in the crimes.
The trail of thefts focuses heavily on precious Scythian gold. These are high-worth ancient filigree pieces, often depicting animals. They were produced by tribes of the area of central Asia and eastern Europe once known as Scythia.
“These items are visually stunning, and there are now so many reports of thefts it is evident that it is a strategy,” said Daniels. “The Ukrainians, of course, are also very keen that we establish a list of stolen items.”
Daniels told the Observer that it was hard to know if the monetary value was the most important factor for the Russians, or whether the objects were chosen for their cultural significance. “There is a possibility it is all part of undermining the identity of Ukraine as a separate country by implying legitimate Russian ownership of all their exhibits.”
What is clear to Daniels is that the thefts tend to follow the menacing interrogation of museum curators and custodians. Russian attempts to locate and steal hidden artefacts in occupied Ukrainian cities are becoming more determined.
“We have growing concern for the museum workers and security staff, particularly when they find themselves behind Russian lines,” said Daniels. |
2022-07-04T17:30:22Z | Russia releases photo of cosmonauts holding Luhansk flag on ISS | Russia’s space agency has published photos appearing to show cosmonauts on the International Space Station (ISS) holding the flags of the self-proclaimed republics in Luhansk and Donetsk.
In a message posted to the official Roscosmos Telegram channel, Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveyev and Sergey Korsakov appear to be holding the flags of the two occupied territories, whose occupiers are recognised as legitimate authorities only by Russia and Syria among UN member states.
The cosmonauts with the flag of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. Photograph: Roscosmos
The message accompanying the pictures says: “Liberation Day of the Luhansk People’s Republic! We celebrate both on Earth and in space.”
Roscosmos goes on in the statement to say: “Roscosmos and our cosmonauts, who are working today at the International Space Station, join the congratulations of the head of the LPR, Leonid Pasechnik, on the ‘new Day of the Great Victory’.
“This is a long-awaited day that residents of the occupied areas of the Luhansk region have been waiting for eight years. We are confident that 3 July 2022 will for ever go down in the history of the republic. Citizens of the allied Donetsk People’s Republic, wait!”
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It is unclear how the flags might have arrived at the ISS, although on 3 June an uncrewed Russian Progress cargo spacecraft docked with the space station, having departed from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. According to Nasa, it was carrying almost three tons of food, fuel and supplies.
Also at the station working with the three Russian cosmonauts are Nasa’s American astronauts Jessica Watkins, Robert Hines and Kjell N Lindgren, as well as the Italian Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency (ESA).
The crew, Nasa and the ESA have not commented on the flag-raising. Hines tweeted about US Independence Day on Monday.
“Happy Birthday, America! … I am so thankful for the opportunities our country provides. God Bless America!” he wrote, adding emojis of the US flag, a hamburger and a hotdog.
Happy Birthday, America! The crew of FREEDOM and @Space_Station Expedition 67 wishes everyone back home a Happy Independence Day! I am so thankful for the opportunities our country provides. God Bless Ameica! 🇺🇸🎆🎇🍔🌭🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/88EYidqXDF — Bob “Farmer” Hines (@Astro_FarmerBob) July 4, 2022
Artemyev, Matveyev and Korsakov were the first Russian crew to join the ISS since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February, and when they emerged from their Soyuz capsule in yellow uniforms it was widely seen as a message of solidarity with Ukraine. However, the cosmonauts were coy about that interpretation. Asked about the suits at the time, Artemyev said every crew chose their own.
Korsakov, Artemyev and Matveyev were the first new faces in space since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine and emerged from the Soyuz capsule in February wearing yellow flight suits with blue stripes. Photograph: AP
“It became our turn to pick a colour. But in fact we had accumulated a lot of yellow material so we needed to use it,” he said. “So that’s why we had to wear yellow.”
The so-called Luhansk People’s Republic claims to control almost all of Ukraine’s eastern oblast of Luhansk, which borders Russia, after Ukrainian forces withdrew from the city of Lysychansk on Sunday. |
2022-07-26T17:01:01Z | EU agrees plan to ration gas use over Russia supply fears | The EU has been forced to water down its plan to ration gas this winter in an attempt to avoid an energy crisis generated by further Russian cuts to supply.
Energy ministers from the 27 member states, except Hungary, backed a voluntary 15% reduction in gas usage over the winter, a target that could become mandatory if the Kremlin ordered a complete shutdown of gas to Europe.
After days of fraught negotiations, ministers agreed opt-outs for island nations and possible exclusions for countries little connected to the European gas network, which will blunt the overall effect in the event of a full-blown gas crisis.
The deal came less than 24 hours after Russia’s state-controlled energy firm, Gazprom, announced a steep reduction in gas supplies through the critical Nord Stream 1 pipeline from Wednesday. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said there was “no justifiable technical reason” for the cut.
She has accused the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, of attempting to blackmail European countries for supporting Ukraine. Russia has cut or reduced supplies to a dozen EU countries.
“The announcement by Gazprom that it is further cutting gas deliveries to Europe through Nord Stream 1, for no justifiable technical reason, further illustrates the unreliable nature of Russia as an energy supplier,” Von der Leyen said. “Thanks to today’s decision, we are now ready to address our energy security at a European scale, as a union.”
EU officials hailed the agreement as a milestone for a united energy policy that recalled the leap in integration on health taken during the Covid pandemic.
Jozef Síkela, the Czech minister of industry and trade, who brokered the final deal, said: “I know the decision was not easy but I think at the end everyone understands that this sacrifice was necessary. We have to and we will share the pain,” he told reporters. He said the decision meant Europe could avoid “dramatic consequences in winter”, including price hikes.
02:43 'We will share the pain': EU to ration gas this winter in case Russia cuts supply – video
The European Commission had suggested that a collective 15% gas savings target would reduce gas consumption by 45bn cubic metres. Once exemptions are taken into account the final tally will be lower, after a revolt led by southern European countries that use less or no Russian gas. A senior EU diplomat said the plan would not hit the 45bn cubic metres estimate in the event of a major supply crisis, but still added up to “significant reductions”.
But the backing for the plan was not unanimous. Hungary, which has already secured an opt-out from the EU’s embargo on Russian oil, was alone in voicing its opposition. Unusually for an EU energy ministers’ meeting, Hungary was represented by its foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, who was given an award by Putin last November, only a few months before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Hungary has backed EU sanctions against Russia but has blamed the measures for increasing prices for Hungarian drivers and households, a link strongly rebutted by Brussels.
Under the energy savings plan, all EU member states will strive to reduce gas consumption by 15% from August through to the end of March. In the event of a total shutdown of Russian gas or high demand, EU states can declare an energy emergency that triggers immediate mandatory savings. Member states rejected an attempt by the European Commission to decide when an energy emergency was under way, which would launch compulsory energy rationing.
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Countries will be exempt from mandatory cuts if they are island nations unconnected to the EU gas network, a provision that applies to Ireland, Malta and Cyprus.
The Baltic states can also apply for an exemption because their electricity systems are linked to Russia, making them vulnerable to blackouts in the event of a Kremlin-ordered switch-off. The exemption is designed to protect the three former Soviet countries if they are forced to rely on gas to boost electricity supplies.
Member states can also ask for an exemption or reduced savings target if they are little connected to the European gas network and can send liquified natural gas to their neighbours, a provision that affects Spain.
Spain, with Portugal and Greece, led opposition to the uniform 15% target, arguing it was unfair and failed to take account of their national circumstances.
Arriving at the Brussels meeting, Spain’s minister for ecological transition, Teresa Ribera, said no one questioned the need for solidarity but the initial proposal was “not necessarily the most effective approach”. Her rejection of the proposal last week kindled memories of the eurozone crisis, when southern European member states faced strictures from Germany for falling into debt.
Turning the eurozone debate on its head, Ribera said Spain had “done our homework” by investing in infrastructure to boost supplies of liquified natural gas, comments that were widely seen as an implicit criticism of Berlin’s decades-long reliance on cheap Russian gas.
Critics complained the plans had been designed to help Germany, which has been accused of allowing itself to become dangerously dependent on Russian gas.
“Germany made a strategic error in the past with its great dependency on Russian gas and the faith that it would always flow constantly and cheaply,” said Germany’s vice-chancellor, Robert Habeck, who is responsible for energy. “But it is not just a German problem.”
France’s minister for energy transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, said the health of the whole European economy was at stake: “Our industrial chains are completely interdependent: if the chemical industry in Germany coughs, the whole of European industry could come to a halt.” |
2022-07-23T23:00:08Z | US accuses Russia of deepening global food crisis – as it happened | From 23 Jul 2022 22.17 The US Secretary of State has condemned the Russian attack against Odesa, accusing Russia of deepening the global food shortage. In a statement posted on Twitter, Anthony Blinken said, “The United States strongly condemns Russia’s attack on the port of Odesa today. It undermines the effort to bring food to the hungry and the credibility of Russia’s commitments to the deal finalized yesterday to allow Ukrainian exports.” The United States strongly condemns Russia’s attack on the port of Odesa today. It undermines the effort to bring food to the hungry and the credibility of Russia’s commitments to the deal finalized yesterday to allow Ukrainian exports. — Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) July 23, 2022 Blinken also said that the attack undermines the diplomacy of the UN, Turkey and Ukraine in formulating the deal in attempts to alleviate the growing food crisis around the world. “This attack casts serious doubt on the credibility of Russia’s commitment to yesterday’s deal and undermines the work of the UN, Turkey and Ukraine to get critical food to world markets,” he added. The Secretary of State went on to blame Russia for the global food shortage and said “Russia bears responsibility for deepening the food crisis and must stop its aggression.”
Updated at 22.28 BST
23 Jul 2022 00.00 Summary Thank you for joining us for today’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine. It’s 2am in Kyiv and we will be pausing our live reporting overnight and returning in the morning. You can read our comprehensive summary of the day’s events below. Ukraine’s defence ministry on Saturday urged citizens in Enerhodar, a key area seized by Russia, to reveal where Russian troops were living and who among the local population was collaborating with the occupying authorities. “Please let us know as a matter of urgency the exact location of the occupying troops’ bases and their residential addresses…and the places of residence of the commanding staff,” it said, adding that exact coordinates were desirable.”
“Please let us know as a matter of urgency the exact location of the occupying troops’ bases and their residential addresses…and the places of residence of the commanding staff,” it said, adding that exact coordinates were desirable.” The governor of the Zaporizhizhia has said that Russia is keeping 170 people captive in the Zaporizhizhia oblast, the Kyiv Independent reports. According to governor Oleksandr Starukh, Russian forces have abducted at least 415 people in the southern region since February 24 - the day Russian forces invaded Ukraine - and at least 170 individuals are still being kept captive.
According to governor Oleksandr Starukh, Russian forces have abducted at least 415 people in the southern region since February 24 - the day Russian forces invaded Ukraine - and at least 170 individuals are still being kept captive. The US Secretary of State has condemned the Russian attack against Odesa, accusing Russia of deepening the global food shortage. “ In a statement posted on Twitter, Anthony Blinken said, “The United States strongly condemns Russia’s attack on the port of Odesa today. It undermines the effort to bring food to the hungry and the credibility of Russia’s commitments to the deal finalized yesterday to allow Ukrainian exports.”
In a statement posted on Twitter, Anthony Blinken said, “The United States strongly condemns Russia’s attack on the port of Odesa today. It undermines the effort to bring food to the hungry and the credibility of Russia’s commitments to the deal finalized yesterday to allow Ukrainian exports.” 3.7 million Ukrainian refugees have received temporary protection status in the European Union, according to the UNHCR. In a new report released Friday, the UNHCR cited that 3.7 million Ukrainians have registered for Temporary Protection or similar national protection schemes in Europe.
In a new report released Friday, the UNHCR cited that 3.7 million Ukrainians have registered for Temporary Protection or similar national protection schemes in Europe. Video footage has emerged of a powerful explosion that took place in the Russian-occupied territory of Horlivka on Saturday in the Donetsk Oblast, Euromaidan reports. Emerging reports from outlets have been claiming that Ukrainian armed forces have hit a Russian ammunition depot.
Emerging reports from outlets have been claiming that Ukrainian armed forces have hit a Russian ammunition depot. The former deputy secretary of Ukraine’s Security Council has been suspected of high treason, the Kyiv Independent reports. According to a report released on Saturday by the Ukrainian State Bureau of Investigations, Volodymyr Sivkovych is suspected of collaborating with Russian intelligence services and managing a network of agents in Ukraine that spied on behalf of Russia.
According to a report released on Saturday by the Ukrainian State Bureau of Investigations, Volodymyr Sivkovych is suspected of collaborating with Russian intelligence services and managing a network of agents in Ukraine that spied on behalf of Russia. Germany has delayed defense weapon delivery to Ukraine, the Kyiv Independent reports. The outlet, sourcing German media organization German Welt, cites that anonymous Ukrainian officials have reported that Ukraine’s application for eleven IRIS-T air missile defense systems is currently being held up by Germany’s Federal Security Council.
The outlet, sourcing German media organization German Welt, cites that anonymous Ukrainian officials have reported that Ukraine’s application for eleven IRIS-T air missile defense systems is currently being held up by Germany’s Federal Security Council. Hungary’s nationalist prime minister Viktor Orban Saturday called for US-Russian peace talks to end the war in Ukraine, lashing out at the European Union’s strategy on the conflict. In a speech in Romania, the 59-year-old ultra-conservative leader also defended his vision of an “unmixed Hungarian race” as he criticised mixing with “non-Europeans.” Orban has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, but maintains an ambiguous position on the conflict.
Updated at 00.25 BST
23 Jul 2022 23.50 Two US citizens recently died in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, CNN reported on Saturday, citing a U.S. State Department spokesperson. Reuters reports: The spokesperson, not named in the report, did not provide any details about the individuals or the circumstances of their deaths but said the US administration was in touch with the families and providing “all possible consular assistance,” according to CNN. “Out of respect to the families during this difficult time, we have nothing further to add,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying by CNN. The State Department did not respond to emailed queries from Reuters on Saturday. Ukraine has been under siege by Russia for nearly five months in what Moscow calls a “special military operation” to disarm Ukraine and rid it of anti-Russian nationalism fomented by the West. Kyiv and the West say Russia launched an unprovoked war. Several Americans have volunteered to fight alongside Ukrainian forces despite warnings not to take up arms. A US citizen was killed in combat in May after he joined thousands of foreign fighters who have volunteered to help Ukraine fend off Russian forces.
23 Jul 2022 23.22 Ukraine’s defence ministry on Saturday urged citizens in Enerhodar, a key area seized by Russia, to reveal where Russian troops were living and who among the local population was collaborating with the occupying authorities. “Please let us know as a matter of urgency the exact location of the occupying troops’ bases and their residential addresses ... and the places of residence of the commanding staff,” it said, adding that exact coordinates were desirable. The statement by the ministry’s defence intelligence directorate was posted on Telegram and was directed towards Enerhodar residents and those around the city, which is home to a major nuclear power station. The statement also asked residents for details “of local collaborators who went over to the side of the enemy,” including where they lived and worked, as well as information about “people who ‘sympathise’ with the occupiers.” Russian forces captured Enerhodar in early March and in May, the Russian-appointed head of the city was injured in an explosion. Russia has identified the explosion as a “terrorist attack.” The intelligence directorate’s appeal also asked for the routes that Russian military equipment was using in Enerhodar. “Together, let’s kick the occupants out of our homeland!” it said, adding people could either provide details via WhatsApp or Signal or by phone calls. Enerhodar had a pre-war population of more than 50,000. Many residents work at the two power plants near the town, one of which is the Zaporizhzhia facility, the largest nuclear power station in Europe.
23 Jul 2022 22.52 The governor of the Zaporizhizhia has said that Russia is keeping 170 people captive in the Zaporizhizhia oblast, the Kyiv Independent reports. According to governor Oleksandr Starukh, Russian forces have abducted at least 415 people in the southern region since February 24 - the day Russian forces invaded Ukraine - and at least 170 individuals are still being kept captive.
23 Jul 2022 22.17 The US Secretary of State has condemned the Russian attack against Odesa, accusing Russia of deepening the global food shortage. In a statement posted on Twitter, Anthony Blinken said, “The United States strongly condemns Russia’s attack on the port of Odesa today. It undermines the effort to bring food to the hungry and the credibility of Russia’s commitments to the deal finalized yesterday to allow Ukrainian exports.” The United States strongly condemns Russia’s attack on the port of Odesa today. It undermines the effort to bring food to the hungry and the credibility of Russia’s commitments to the deal finalized yesterday to allow Ukrainian exports. — Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) July 23, 2022 Blinken also said that the attack undermines the diplomacy of the UN, Turkey and Ukraine in formulating the deal in attempts to alleviate the growing food crisis around the world. “This attack casts serious doubt on the credibility of Russia’s commitment to yesterday’s deal and undermines the work of the UN, Turkey and Ukraine to get critical food to world markets,” he added. The Secretary of State went on to blame Russia for the global food shortage and said “Russia bears responsibility for deepening the food crisis and must stop its aggression.”
Updated at 22.28 BST
23 Jul 2022 21.32 3.7 million Ukrainian refugees have received temporary protection status in the European Union, according to the UNHCR. In a new report released Friday, the UNHCR cited that 3.7 million Ukrainians have registered for Temporary Protection or similar national protection schemes in Europe. Additionally, the organization cited that there are now nearly six million individual Ukrainian refugees across Europe since the war began in February. In total, nearly one-third of Ukrainians have been forced from their homes since the Russian invasion, making the conflict the “largest human displacement crisis in the world today.”
23 Jul 2022 20.59 Video footage has emerged of a powerful explosion that took place in the Russian-occupied territory of Horlivka on Saturday in the Donetsk Oblast, Euromaidan reports. Emerging reports from outlets have been claiming that Ukrainian armed forces have hit a Russian ammunition depot. A powerful explosion occurred today in the Russian-occupied Horlivka, Donetsk Oblast
As "Novosti Donbasa" reports, the explosion occurred on the territory of the Mashzavod after shelling pic.twitter.com/2ttphj23Ep — Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) July 23, 2022 Massive explosions in the occupied Horlivka again. Reportedly, Ukraine's armed forces have hit a concentration of Russia's equipment pic.twitter.com/qMTC5bbxBI — UkraineWorld (@ukraine_world) July 23, 2022
23 Jul 2022 20.18 The former deputy secretary of Ukraine’s Security Council has been suspected of high treason, the Kyiv Independent reports. According to a report released on Saturday by the Ukrainian State Bureau of Investigations, Volodymyr Sivkovych is suspected of collaborating with Russian intelligence services and managing a network of agents in Ukraine that spied on behalf of Russia. The outlet also reported the bureau saying that Ukraine’s former deputy head of security service in Crimea, Oleh Kulinich, was detained due to him allegedly being part of the same network of spies.
23 Jul 2022 19.38 Germany has delayed defense weapon delivery to Ukraine, the Kyiv Independent reports. The outlet, sourcing German media organization German Welt, cites that anonymous Ukrainian officials have reported that Ukraine’s application for eleven IRIS-T air missile defense systems is currently being held up by Germany’s Federal Security Council. The council is led by German chancellor Olaf Scholz, who in recent weeks defended his country’s record of delivering weapons to Ukraine, saying that Germany began sending weapons to Ukraine as soon as the war began in February. Germany’s ministry of economy had previously approved of Ukraine’s application for the defense systems and passed the decision onto the Federal Security Council, German Welt reported.
23 Jul 2022 18.43 Hungary’s nationalist prime minister Viktor Orban Saturday called for US-Russian peace talks to end the war in Ukraine, lashing out at the European Union’s strategy on the conflict. Agence France-Presse reports: In a speech in Romania, the 59-year-old ultra-conservative leader also defended his vision of an “unmixed Hungarian race” as he criticised mixing with “non-Europeans.” Orban has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, but maintains an ambiguous position on the conflict. Before Moscow sent in troops, he had sought close ties with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. And last week, he said Europe had “shot itself in the lungs” by imposing sanctions against Moscow over the military operation. “We’re sitting in a car with four flat tyres”, he said on Saturday, of efforts to stem the bloodshed. He went on to add, “A new strategy is needed, which should focus on peace negotiations instead of trying to win the war.” Orban said “only Russian-US talks can put an end to the conflict because Russia wants security guarantees” only Washington can give. The EU, he added, “should not side with the Ukrainians, but position itself” between both sides. The sanctions “will not change the situation” and “the Ukrainians will not come out victorious”, he said, adding, “The more the West sends powerful weapons, the more the war drags on.” Orban claimed the “war would never have broken out if Donald Trump were still head of the United States and Angela Merkel were the German Chancellor.” Hi everyone, this is Maya Yang and I’ll be taking over the blog for the next few hours with the latest updates. Stay tuned.
23 Jul 2022 18.05 Three people were killed and 19 others were injured when 13 Russian missiles hit a military airfield and railway infrastructure in Ukraine’s central region of Kirovohrad, the regional governor has said. A soldier and two security guards were among those killed at an electricity substation, Andriy Raikovych said on television. Raikovych said the strikes had disrupted the electricity grid and that one district of the regional capital, Kropyvnytskyi, had been left without power as a result, Reuters reported.
Updated at 18.19 BST
23 Jul 2022 17.40 Miranda Bryant Under the threat of imprisonment and interrogation, and the constant pressure of searches by Russian soldiers, six artists secretly met in a basement studio in the occupied Ukrainian city of Kherson. In the months after their homes were taken over by Putin’s forces, the artists formed a residency during which they created dozens of works, including drawings, paintings, video, photography, diary entries and stage plays. The results, which they have named Residency in Occupation, offer a harrowing insight into the horrors endured by millions of Ukrainians living under the Russian invasion. Kherson’s secret art society produces searing visions of life under Russian occupation Read more
Updated at 17.43 BST
23 Jul 2022 17.23 Ruth Michaelson Turkey’s defence minister, Hulusi Akar, has said Turkish officials are “concerned” following the Russian missile attack on Odesa, highlighting that the attack occurred a day after a deal to safely export Ukrainian grain was signed in Istanbul. Akar said the Turkish defence ministry spoke to the Ukrainian defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, and infrastructure minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s signatory for the grain deal yesterday. “We received the necessary information,” said Akar. “There was a missile attack there. They stated that one of the missile attacks hit one of the silos there, and the other one fell in an area close to the silo, but that there was no negativity in the loading capacity and capability of the docks, which is important, and that the activities there can continue.” Akar added that he had also spoken with the Russian side: “In our contact with Russia, the Russians told us that they had absolutely nothing to do with this attack and that they were examining the issue very closely and in detail. “The fact that such an incident occurred right after the agreement we made yesterday regarding the grain shipment really worried us. “However, we continue to fulfil our responsibilities within the agreement we made yesterday, and we also expressed in our meetings that we are in favour of the parties to continue their cooperation calmly and patiently here.” The text of the agreement states that the deal to export the grain from three Ukrainian ports including Odesa should last for a period of 120 days, unless one party officially notifies the others of its intent to pull out. However, it also states that “the parties will not undertake any attacks against merchant vessels and other civilian vessels and port facilities engaged in this initiative”. The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has pushed to position Turkey as a key diplomatic partner for both Russia and the west on Ukraine and hosted multiple sets of talks, mentioned the grain deal during a speech to workers in a small central Turkish town, but with no reference to the port attack.
Updated at 17.29 BST
23 Jul 2022 17.06 Oleksandr Chubuk, a Ukrainian farmer, stands on wheat grain in a warehouse in the village of Zghurivka, in Kyiv oblast. Photograph: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
Updated at 17.17 BST |
2022-05-10T06:00:31Z | China’s pro-Russia propaganda exposed by online activists | A number of Chinese government-linked media outlets and pro-Russia social media accounts are spreading pro-Kremlin sentiment on the Chinese internet by mistranslating or manipulating international news about the war in Ukraine.
In response, online, anonymous volunteers – such as those under the Twitter account Great Translation Movement – have exposed China’s pro-Russia propaganda by highlighting mistranslations that falsely blame Ukrainian troops for bombings and atrocities perpetrated by Russian forces against civilians.
On 21 April, an article published by the Guardian revealed how civilians, who died during the Russian occupation of the Ukrainian city of Bucha, were killed by tiny metal arrows called flechettes, from shells of a type fired by Russian artillery.
However, the South Review, an official state media and subsidiary of the Chinese Communist party, owned by the Guangzhou Daily newspaper group, mistranslated the article, claiming the flechette rounds were fired by Ukrainian forces.
In China's EN-CN dictionary, "Russia" translates into "Ukraine." @guardian @Lorenzo_Tondo, MISTRANSLATION of your article by South Reviews. This is official state media, a subsidiary of the #CCP owned Guangzhou Daily Newspaper Group.#大翻译运动 #TheGreatTranslationMovement pic.twitter.com/pV8vDRbga1 — The Great Translation Movement 大翻译运动官方推号 (@TGTM_Official) April 26, 2022
“The UK Guardian published the first postmortem findings of the Bucha incidents: they were caused by Ukraine shelling Bucha,” reads the article from South Review. On Weibo, a military-focused account with more than 4.7 million followers added: “Although the Guardian normally publishes anti-Russian comments, this time the forensic doctor’s report turned out to be the exact opposite.” (When checked by the Guardian on 6 May, the author had since modified this Weibo entry).
The apparently mistranslated article caused much controversy even on China’s heavily monitored social media. Many English-speaking users of Weibo pointed out the mistake. On 27 April, China Fact Check, under the Shanghai-based the Paper news website, clarified and said it was “mistranslation”.
On other occasions, despite Chinese officials preaching a neutral stance on the conflict in Ukraine, pro-Russia social media accounts have manipulated the news coming from the Ukrainian front.
For example, on 8 April, in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, two Russian ballistic missiles exploded over the railway station, dropping cluster munitions, killing 59 people and injuring hundreds of passengers.
The same day, a popular military Weibo account with more than 34 million followers falsely claimed the attack was carried out by Ukrainian troops. Towards the end of the entry, the account added a hashtag that suggested US labs in Ukraine were working on eight severely infectious diseases.
‘‘In China’s EN-CN dictionary, Russia translates into Ukraine,” the Great Translation Movement, which has about 150,000 followers, said on Twitter.
Born shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Great Translation Movement – a Twitter account and a related hashtag that identifies itself as “fourth estate” and “holds muck-rake in hand, wears crown from gutter” – has been a source for English-language speakers to understand how state-linked Chinese social media discuss the war in Ukraine.
The decentralised anonymous group is operated by several hundred volunteers around the world. For security reasons, they say, they do not know geographical locations of fellow contributors. But they were glued together by the same mission: contradicting Beijing’s propaganda and naming and shaming those in China who support Putin’s military adventure in his neighbour.
“To put it simply, the context behind everything is the colossal gulf between the different types of messaging that the Chinese government shapes for the rest of the world, versus that of within China,” they said in a written statement.
Debates about Russia’s invasion do exist in China, but on social media, which is heavily monitored, views similar to those in the western media are often met with censorship. Anti-western commentators of the events toe a Kremlin line, blaming Nato and the US for what they call “special military actions”.
Last month, some Chinese pundits went so far as to question whether the killings in Bucha were a “staged performance”. “[A]fter all, Zelenskiy is an actor doing what actors are trained to do,” said a military commentator on Phoenix TV. A month earlier, the same pundit said Russia’s invasion was “in self-defence” in the face of US pressure.
But as the Great Translation Movement began its crusade against pro-Russian misinformation, Chinese state media also launched their own campaign to discredit it. The nationalist tabloid the Global Times, for example, has since March published a number of articles accusing it of being a part of the “anti-China force”. It even compared the account to the anti-communist McCarthyist crusade in 1950s America.
“Such a despicable ‘movement’ has a large potential audience, mostly in the west,” wrote one piece on 31 March. “Some of them are novelty-seeking and feel superior on a cultural level. In light of China’s rapid rise and the west’s decline, these people need an illusional superiority to feel better.” |
2022-07-22T16:41:06Z | Ukraine and Russia sign UN-backed deal to restart grain exports | Ukraine and Russia have signed a UN-backed deal to allow the export of millions of tonnes of grain from blockaded Black Sea ports, potentially averting the threat of a catastrophic global food crisis.
A signing ceremony at Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul was attended by the UN secretary general, António Guterres, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s president, who had played a key role during months of tense negotiations.
Guterres said in remarks at the ceremony that the deal would open the way to significant volumes of food exports from Ukraine and alleviate a food and economic crisis in the developing world. He said “the beacon of hope was shining bright in the Black Sea” and called on Russia and Ukraine to fully implement the accord.
In Kyiv, there is deep scepticism about Russia’s intentions but Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Ukraine was trusting in the UN and Turkey to police the agreement.
The aim of the deal is to secure the passage of grain and essential goods such as sunflower oil from three Ukrainian ports, including Odesa, even as the war continues to rage elsewhere in the country. The UN had warned that the war risked mass malnutrition, hunger and famine.
The arrangement also seeks to guarantee the safe passage of Russian-made fertiliser products, essential for ensuring future high yields on crops, amid efforts to ease a global food crisis provoked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
UN officials said they hoped preliminary shipments of grain could begin as soon as Saturday, with the hope of reaching prewar levels of export from the three Ukrainian ports – a rate of 5m metric tonnes a month – within weeks.
According to UN officials, under agreements signed by Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, and Ukrainian infrastructure minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov:
A coalition of Turkish, Ukrainian and UN staff will monitor the loading of grain on to vessels in Ukrainian ports before navigating a pre-planned route through the Black Sea, which remains heavily mined by Ukrainian and Russian forces.
Ukrainian pilot vessels will guide commercial vessels transporting the grain in order to navigate the mined areas around the coastline using a map of safe channels provided by the Ukrainian side.
The vessels will then cross the Black Sea towards Turkey’s Bosphorus strait while being closely monitored by a joint coordination centre in Istanbul, containing representatives from the UN, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey.
Ships entering Ukraine will be inspected under the supervision of the same joint coordination centre to ensure they are not carrying weapons or items that could be used to attack the Ukrainian side.
The Russian and Ukrainian sides have agreed to withhold attacks on any of the commercial vessels or ports engaged in the initiative to transport vital grain, while UN and Turkish monitors will be present in Ukrainian ports in order to demarcate areas protected by the accord.
Guterres said brokering such a deal between two warring countries was “unprecedented” and that it would “bring relief for developing countries on the edge of bankruptcy and the most vulnerable people on the edge of famine”.
“And it will help stabilise global food prices, which were already at record levels even before the war – a true nightmare for developing countries,” he added.
“Specifically, the initiative we just signed opens a path for significant volumes of commercial food exports from three key Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea – Odesa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny..”
Kubrakov said the agreement was made possible thanks to the Ukrainian military’s defence of waters off Ukraine’s Black Sea coast. In June, Ukraine pushed Russian forces from Snake Island near Odesa. Ukraine claimed Russia had planned to use the island to launch a land invasion.
The agreement would help boost the Ukrainian economy, he added. “More than 20m tons of grain have been in warehouses since last year,” he said. “If the president’s team did not manage to move this issue from a dead end, Ukrainian farmers would question the very need to sow fields for the next year.”
The agreement is the product of months of constant and difficult negotiations between UN officials, including Guterres, and leading Russian and Ukrainian officials, who first broached the issue in April.
US officials had accused the Russian government of effectively “weaponising food” by taking Ukrainian grain hostage in order to reduce the effects of sanctions on Russian exports. Still, the US and EU have both reassured businesses carrying Russian agricultural goods that they are not violating sanctions ahead of the signing of the deal.
Senior UN officials said prior to the signing of the agreement that demining Ukraine’s coastline had not been seen as a viable option. Ukrainian officials expressed concerns that removing defensive mines from their coastline would increase their vulnerability to Russian attacks.
But the final text contains provisions for a potential minesweeping operation by an agreed party to check that the maritime route for the ships remains safe, as well as a potential search and rescue vessel in the Black Sea.
UN officials emphasised that the deal to prevent attacks only included specific areas in Ukraine’s ports covered by the grain agreement.
They added that they had engaged with the shipping industry and insurers to ensure the commercial costs of insuring the grain shipments does not become punitive, thereby raising the cost of the grain on the international market.
The details were finalised after Erdoğan met Russia’s president, , in Tehran earlier this week, officials in Ankara said. Turkey has the authority over sea traffic entering and leaving the Black Sea.
İbrahim Kalın, a spokesperson for Erdoğan, said the arrangement would be “critical for global grain security”.
Ukraine is the world’s fifth-largest wheat exporter but exports have badly stalled since the war began, with about 20m tonnes of grain stuck in silos at Odesa close to the frontline.
The US state department said it welcomed the deal “in principle” and was focused on holding Russia accountable for implementing it.
Putin effectively called the deal a quid-pro-quo earlier this week, saying that Russia would “facilitate the exportation of Ukrainian grain, but we are proceeding from the fact that all restrictions related to … the export of Russian grain will be lifted.”
While Russian grain exports were not sanctioned by the US, some shipping companies have avoided carrying Russian goods because of the financial and reputations risks involved.
Robert Mardini, director general of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said the deal was “nothing short of life-saving for people across the world who are struggling to feed their families”.
“Nowhere are the consequences felt harder than in communities already affected by armed conflict and climate shocks”, he said. “For example, our market monitoring, over the past six months has seen the price of food staples rise by 187% in Sudan, 86% in Syria 60% in Yemen, 54% in Ethiopia, as compared to the same time period last year.” |
2022-05-08T21:30:12Z | UK expands import sanctions against Russia and Belarus | The UK government has expanded its sanctions against Russia to include punitive import tariffs on Russian precious metals, as well as export bans on certain UK products, to increase economic pressure on Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine.
The third wave of sanctions was announced by the Department for International Trade just hours ahead of Russia’s 9 May Victory Day celebrations, when the country celebrates the end of the second world war with military parades and when President Vladimir Putin is expected to repackage details of the war in Ukraine to citizens.
The latest £1.7bn sanctions on Russia and neighbouring Belarus – which has joined in the invasion of Ukraine and been used as a base for Russian soldiers – are aimed at knocking Putin’s ability to fund his war.
The announcement came shortly after G7 leaders, including Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden, held a video call with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a show of unity with the country ahead of the Kremlin’s Victory Day parades.
The new package of restrictions includes £1.4bn of UK import tariffs – border taxes paid by buyers on goods shipped from Russia – that will affect imports of platinum, palladium and other products including chemicals from Russia.
The international trade department said Russia was highly dependent on the UK for exports of the precious metals, which will be subject to additional 35 percentage point tariffs.
The government will also ban the export of more than £250m of goods in sectors where the Russian economy is most dependent on UK products, including key materials like chemicals, plastics, rubber and machinery.
The latest measures, announced by the international trade secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, and the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, bring the total value of products subject to full or partial trade sanctions since Russia’s invasion to more than £4bn.
Previous rounds of measures have targeted the energy sector, and have also included an asset freeze on Russia’s largest bank, and sanctions against people and organisations principally involved with information and media.
Trevelyan said: “This far-reaching package of sanctions will inflict further damage on the Russian war machine.
“It is part of a wider coordinated effort by the many countries around the world who are horrified by Russia’s conduct and determined to bring to bear our economic might to persuade Putin to change course.”
Sunak said: “Working closely with our allies, we can and will thwart Putin’s ambitions.” |
2022-06-27T14:23:05Z | Russia defaults on debt for first time since 1998 – reports | Russia is poised to default on its debt for the first time since 1998, further alienating the country from the global financial system after sanctions imposed over its war in Ukraine.
The country missed a deadline of Sunday night to meet a 30-day grace period on interest payments of $100m (£81.2m) on two eurobonds originally due on 27 May, Bloomberg reported on Monday morning.
Some Taiwanese holders of Russian eurobonds said on Monday that they had not received interest payments due, two sources told Reuters. Official confirmation of the default was expected to come from international ratings agencies.
Russia’s efforts to avoid the default hit a insurmountable roadblock in late May when the US treasury department’s office of foreign assets control (OFAC) effectively blocked Moscow from making payments.
“Since March we thought that a Russian default is probably inevitable, and the question was just when,” Dennis Hranitzky, the head of sovereign litigation at law firm Quinn Emanuel, told Reuters. “OFAC has intervened to answer that question for us, and the default is now upon us.”
While a formal default would be largely symbolic given Russia cannot borrow internationally at the moment and does not need to thanks to plentiful oil and gas export revenues, the stigma would probably raise its borrowing costs in future.
The Kremlin denied the country was in default, with Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, calling the claims “absolutely unjustified” and saying it was “not our problem” that sanctions had prevented intermediaries from transferring the payments.
Russia has defaulted for first time in a century on $100m in interest payments
Russia has pushed back against the default, saying it has the funds to cover & has been forced into non-payment
Investors can wait & see
A formal default declaration would come from a ratings agency https://t.co/n27uvzPs6I pic.twitter.com/RILrYAQ3Cy — Ayesha Tariq, CFA (@ayeshatariq) June 27, 2022
Russia owes about $40bn in foreign bonds. Before the start of the war, Moscow had about $640bn in foreign currency and gold reserves, much of which was held overseas and is frozen.
Ukraine and some western countries want to use this frozen cash to repair the damage caused by the war and compensate for Kyiv’s losses. Peskov called such an idea “completely illegal and essentially amount to straight-up theft”.
Investors have expected Russia to default for months. Insurance contracts that cover Russian debt have priced a 80% likelihood of default for weeks, and rating agencies such as Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s have placed the country’s debt deep into junk territory.
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Once a country defaults, it can be cut off from bond-market borrowing until the default is sorted out and investors regain confidence in the government’s ability and willingness to pay. Russia has already been cut off from western capital markets, so any return to borrowing is a long way off anyway.
The Kremlin can still borrow roubles at home, where it mostly relies on Russian banks to buy its bonds.
Western sanctions over the war have sent foreign companies fleeing from Russia and interrupted the country’s trade and financial ties with the rest of the world. Default would be one more symptom of that isolation and disruption.
Investment analysts are cautiously reckoning that a Russian default would not have the kind of impact on global financial markets and institutions that came from its default in 1998. Back then, Russia’s default on domestic rouble bonds led the US government to step in and get banks to bail out Long-Term Capital Management, a large US hedge fund whose collapse, it was feared, could have shaken the wider financial and banking system. |
2022-06-01T16:31:48Z | Luhansk governor says Russia now controls 70% of Sievierodonetsk | Russian forces now control more than two-thirds of the key eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk, as Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, conceded that Kyiv’s forces were suffering up to 100 deaths and 500 wounded every day.
With fierce street fighting in Sievierodonetsk, western officials suggested that the city of Sloviansk was the likely next target for a Russian advance that has made gains in the past two weeks, even as the Biden administration in the US announced it was sending advanced rocket systems to Kyiv.
Confirming the latest gains in Sievierodonetsk, a strategically important city in Ukraine’s east, the Luhansk regional governor, Serhiy Haidai, said on Wednesday that Russia controlled 70% of the city.
“Unfortunately, today, Russian troops control most of the city,” said Haidai. “Some Ukrainian troops have retreated to more advantageous, pre-prepared positions.”
Haidai also said “quite a few” civilians were sheltering in Soviet-era bomb shelters under a chemical plant in the city, although he said the complex was not likely to become the site of a prolonged siege similar to that of the Azovstal steel factory in Mariupol.
Ukraine said on Tuesday that Russian forces had struck a tank containing nitric acid at a Sievierodonetsk chemical plant.
The high levels of attrition on the Ukrainian side, whose defenders have been pounded by Russian shelling, was conceded by Zelenskiy in an interview with the US Newsmax TV channel. “The situation is very difficult; we’re losing 60-100 soldiers per day as killed in action and something around 500 people as wounded in action. So we are holding our defensive perimeters,” he said.
Joe Biden announced the supply of advanced rocket systems, called Himars, and munitions that could strike with precision at long-range Russian targets as part of a $700m (£560m) weapons package expected to be unveiled on Wednesday.
“We have moved quickly to send Ukraine a significant amount of weaponry and ammunition so it can fight on the battlefield and be in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table,” the US president wrote in an opinion piece in the New York Times.
Ukraine’s general staff said Russian forces continued to hit northern, southern and eastern districts of the city of Sievierodonetsk in Luhansk, one of two provinces in the eastern Donbas region that Moscow claims on behalf of separatists.
If Russia captures Sievierodonetsk, and its smaller twin Lysychansk on the higher west bank of the Siverskyi Donets River, it will hold all of Luhansk, a key war aim of Vladimir Putin’s forces.
The update added that Russian forces were regrouping and strengthening their positions in preparation for launching a renewed attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk in Donetsk. Russian forces currently occupy Izium, a city north of Sloviansk.
The expected Ukrainian loss of Sievierdonetsk, however, “is unlikely to be the crux” of Russia’s Donbas campaign, a western official said, adding that the war that could now grind on “to the end of the year” given the slow rate of Moscow’s advance.
The average gain of Russian forces in Popansa south of Sievierdonetsk has “averaged between 500 metres and one kilometre” a day in the last month, the official added, meaning capturing the remainder of the Donetsk region in the Donbas would take months more at least.
Russia would have to achieve “further challenging operational objectives” to declare victory on the Kremlin’s now reduced campaign terms, the official said.
That would require taking the city of Kramatorsk, and more of the M04 main road between the Ukrainian-held city of Dnipro and the Russian-held city of Donetsk, they added, and more rivers would have to be crossed in the process.
“Although we see Russia is starting to learn from its mistakes and make advances in the Donbas, I think it’s important to stress that the battle for Sievierodonetsk is unlikely to be the kind of the crux of the Donetsk campaign” the official said in a briefing.
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The latest fighting in the east came amid predictions from some analysts that Russia may be overstretched in other areas, including around Kherson.
In its daily update, the US-based Institute for the Study of War noted: “Moscow’s concentration on seizing Sievierodonetsk and Donbas generally continues to create vulnerabilities for Russia in Ukraine’s vital Kherson oblast, where Ukrainian counteroffensives continue.
“Kherson is critical terrain because it is the only area of Ukraine in which Russian forces hold ground on the west bank of the Dnipro River.
“If Russia is able to retain a strong lodgement in Kherson when fighting stops, it will be in a very strong position from which to launch a future invasion. If Ukraine regains Kherson, on the other hand, Ukraine will be in a much stronger position to defend itself against future Russian attack.”
However, a recent limited Ukrainian counteroffensive around Kherson appears to have had only limited success so far. An official in southern Ukraine said Russian troops were retreating and blowing up bridges to obstruct a possible Ukrainian advance.
Zelenskiy said in his nightly address on Tuesday that Ukrainian fighters had seen “some success in the Kherson direction”.
Russia is concentrating most of its military power on trying to capture all of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.
Franz-Stefan Gady, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, also cautioned over how much impact the newly announced US rocket systems might have on the balance of the fighting and how quickly they could be effectively deployed.
We have an incomplete picture of the current combat status of the Ukrainian armed forces. I would be cautious when attempting to assess how quickly 🇺🇦 would be able to integrate new platforms/weapons systems to increase combat effectiveness in a larger-scale counteroffensive. — Franz-Stefan Gady (@HoansSolo) June 1, 2022
Writing on Twitter he said: “We have an incomplete picture of the current combat status of the Ukrainian armed forces. I would be cautious when attempting to assess how quickly Ukraine would be able to integrate new platforms/weapons systems to increase combat effectiveness in a larger-scale counteroffensive.
“Combined arms manoeuvre is a complex undertaking. What you don’t want is rushing undertrained brigades into combat. Knowing how to rudimentary use and do simple repairs on a weapon system is merely the first step and does not indicate how effective units will be in actual combat.” |
2022-07-20T09:50:44Z | Erdoğan asks Russia and Iran to back Turkey’s incursion into Syria | The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has used trilateral talks with his Iranian and Russian counterparts in Tehran to make the case for a further Turkish incursion into north-western Syria.
Erdoğan cited Kurdish forces in Tel Rifaat and Manbij, two towns in north-west Syria where Russian and Iranian forces are present, as justification for Turkey extending its zone of control in the country. “What we expect from Iran and Russia is to support Turkey in its fight against terrorist organisations,” he told a press conference following the meeting.
The Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned Erdoğan against a further invasion during talks at his office, stating that “a military incursion of Syria will benefit terrorists”.
The visit to Tehran provided Erdoğan with an opportunity to reaffirm ties to both Tehran and Moscow, along with plentiful opportunities to court Moscow’s cooperation on key issues.
Putin and Erdoğan greeted each other warmly at the start of their bilateral talks, despite a brief moment where the Turkish leader kept his counterpart waiting. The talks provided an opportunity for Erdoğan to secure Moscow’s backing for a tentative agreement to evacuate grain across the Black Sea with a control centre in Istanbul, with UN-backed talks expected to continue in Istanbul this week.
“With your mediation, we have moved forward. True, not all issues have yet been resolved, but the fact that there is movement is already good,” Putin told Erdoğan. The Turkish president later referred to his counterpart as “my dear friend Putin” during a roundtable discussion on Syria.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, Turkish authorities have insisted on balancing the country’s Nato membership with its longstanding relationship with Moscow.
Turkey has hosted peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, and sold Ukraine armed drones for use against Russian forces. Haluk Bayraktar, who heads the company manufacturing the TB2 drones used in Ukraine, told CNN shortly before Erdoğan arrived in Tehran that his company would never sell drones to Russia, as “we support Ukraine, its sovereignty and its resistance”.
But Turkey has declined to join sanctions against Russia, stepped up its purchases of Russian oil since the invasion, and continues to push ahead with construction of a nuclear power plant by the Russian state company Rosatom, under threat due to western sanctions on Sberbank, a major backer of the project.
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“Russia can’t afford not to engage with Turkey. They want a relationship with Turkey as a Nato ally – that wouldn’t change even if Putin and Erdoğan step aside tomorrow,” said Hanna Notte, an analyst at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation. “But the fact they deal so efficiently and closely on issues, that you can put down to the Putin-Erdoğan rapport,” she added, saying the leaders share elements of anti-western sentiment that has fuelled a longstanding personal relationship.
“They share a view of the world as multipolar, where countries outside of the west should have a say on how things are run.”
Yet Erdoğan’s approach to foreign policy rests on showing that Turkey acts independently, putting its interests first. This aids his appeal to a domestic audience ahead of an election expected in the coming year, where Erdoğan faces increasing opposition.
Despite previously lifting objections to Finland and Sweden joining Nato and securing the lifting of some weapons sales in the process, Erdoğan this week repeated threats to “freeze” their accession if Turkish demands aren’t met. At a Nato summit in Madrid in late June, Erdoğan’s tactics secured him a meeting with the US president, Joe Biden, who stated his support for sales of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, despite ongoing opposition from Congress.
Last week, the Turkish president leaned on Putin during a phone call in which he pressed for Russian agreement on the UN security council’s cross-border aid mechanism providing vital aid to more than 2 million Syrians in rebel-held areas in the north-west, blunting Russian threats to veto the aid renewal altogether.
“There’s all this leverage building up because of Ukraine and all these crises at once; it would be surprising if Erdoğan doesn’t try to squeeze something out of this moment, as this is what he does,” said Aron Lund, of the Washington-based thinktank the Century Foundation.
“Under Erdoğan, especially in the latter half of his rule, Turkey is always stirring up crises and then getting something in return for stopping them. That’s been the modus operandi all along,” said Lund.
“It damages Turkey’s standing in a lot of countries. We witnessed a severe lack of appreciation for this in Congress and in the EU parliament, for example. But Erdoğan doesn’t care, or doesn’t seem to. He can show off the results to aid public opinion and he benefits domestically – plus Turkey benefits in real foreign policy terms, they do get results,” he said. |
2022-06-25T16:14:29Z | Russia pushes to block off city of Lysychansk, says Ukraine | Russian forces are trying to cut off the strategic twin city of Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine, having reduced Sievierodonetsk to rubble.
Lysychansk is set to become the next main focus of fighting, as Moscow has launched massive artillery bombardments and airstrikes on areas far from the heart of the eastern battles.
According to Russia’s Interfax news agency, Russian troops entered Lysychansk, the last city held by Kyiv in Luhansk province, on Saturday after Ukrainian forces were ordered to withdraw from Sievierodonetsk.
If Lysychansk falls, the entire region of Luhansk, which along with Donetsk makes up the eastern Donbas region, could fall under Russian control, marking another strategic breakthrough for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, since the beginning of the invasion.
“The people’s militia of the Luhansk People’s Republic and the Russian army have entered the city of Lysychansk,” Andrei Marochko, a representative for pro-Russian separatists, said on Telegram. “Street fighting is currently taking place,” he added.
The claim could not be independently verified and there was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian side.
However, Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Luhansk province, said on Facebook that Russian and separatist fighters were trying to blockade Lysychansk from the south.
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Haidai said the Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk and the villages of Synetsky and Pavlograd, and others, were shelled, but made no mention of casualties.
Vitaly Kiselev, an interior ministry official of the self-proclaimed republic in Luhansk, which is recognised only by Russia, told the Tass news agency it would take another week and a half to secure full control of Lysychansk.
About 95% of Luhansk is already under the control of Russian troops while about half of Donetsk is also occupied by Moscow’s forces.
In a separate development on Saturday, 20 rockets “fired from the territory of Belarus and from the air” targeted the village of Desna in the northern Chernihiv region, Ukraine’s northern military command said.
The command added that infrastructures were hit, but no casualties had yet been reported.
Although it is officially not involved in the conflict, Belarus has provided logistic support to Moscow since the beginning of the invasion.
“Today’s strike is directly linked to Kremlin efforts to pull Belarus as a co-belligerent into the war in Ukraine,” the Ukrainian intelligence service said.
The attack came before a planned meeting between Putin and his Belarussian counterpart and close ally, Alexander Lukashenko, in St Petersburg on Saturday.
Meanwhile, four Russian rockets hit a “military object” in Yaroviv, the Lviv regional governor, Maksym Kozytskyy, said. He did not give further details of the target, but, according to the Associated Press, Yaroviv has a sizable military base used for training fighters, including foreigners who have volunteered to fight for Ukraine.
Although far from the frontlines, the Lviv region, described as the soul of Ukraine and a symbol of Ukrainian nationalism, has come under fire at various points in the war.
During what has been described as the most difficult moment for Ukrainian troops since the beginning of the invasion, Kyiv pressed for more weapons again on Friday. Its top general, Valeriy Zaluzhny, told his US counterpart in a phone call that Kyiv needed “fire parity” with Moscow to stabilise the situation in Luhansk.
AFP, Associated Press And Reuters contributed to this report |
2022-07-20T09:50:44Z | Erdoğan asks Russia and Iran to back Turkey’s incursion into Syria | The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has used trilateral talks with his Iranian and Russian counterparts in Tehran to make the case for a further Turkish incursion into north-western Syria.
Erdoğan cited Kurdish forces in Tel Rifaat and Manbij, two towns in north-west Syria where Russian and Iranian forces are present, as justification for Turkey extending its zone of control in the country. “What we expect from Iran and Russia is to support Turkey in its fight against terrorist organisations,” he told a press conference following the meeting.
The Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned Erdoğan against a further invasion during talks at his office, stating that “a military incursion of Syria will benefit terrorists”.
The visit to Tehran provided Erdoğan with an opportunity to reaffirm ties to both Tehran and Moscow, along with plentiful opportunities to court Moscow’s cooperation on key issues.
Putin and Erdoğan greeted each other warmly at the start of their bilateral talks, despite a brief moment where the Turkish leader kept his counterpart waiting. The talks provided an opportunity for Erdoğan to secure Moscow’s backing for a tentative agreement to evacuate grain across the Black Sea with a control centre in Istanbul, with UN-backed talks expected to continue in Istanbul this week.
“With your mediation, we have moved forward. True, not all issues have yet been resolved, but the fact that there is movement is already good,” Putin told Erdoğan. The Turkish president later referred to his counterpart as “my dear friend Putin” during a roundtable discussion on Syria.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, Turkish authorities have insisted on balancing the country’s Nato membership with its longstanding relationship with Moscow.
Turkey has hosted peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, and sold Ukraine armed drones for use against Russian forces. Haluk Bayraktar, who heads the company manufacturing the TB2 drones used in Ukraine, told CNN shortly before Erdoğan arrived in Tehran that his company would never sell drones to Russia, as “we support Ukraine, its sovereignty and its resistance”.
But Turkey has declined to join sanctions against Russia, stepped up its purchases of Russian oil since the invasion, and continues to push ahead with construction of a nuclear power plant by the Russian state company Rosatom, under threat due to western sanctions on Sberbank, a major backer of the project.
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“Russia can’t afford not to engage with Turkey. They want a relationship with Turkey as a Nato ally – that wouldn’t change even if Putin and Erdoğan step aside tomorrow,” said Hanna Notte, an analyst at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation. “But the fact they deal so efficiently and closely on issues, that you can put down to the Putin-Erdoğan rapport,” she added, saying the leaders share elements of anti-western sentiment that has fuelled a longstanding personal relationship.
“They share a view of the world as multipolar, where countries outside of the west should have a say on how things are run.”
Yet Erdoğan’s approach to foreign policy rests on showing that Turkey acts independently, putting its interests first. This aids his appeal to a domestic audience ahead of an election expected in the coming year, where Erdoğan faces increasing opposition.
Despite previously lifting objections to Finland and Sweden joining Nato and securing the lifting of some weapons sales in the process, Erdoğan this week repeated threats to “freeze” their accession if Turkish demands aren’t met. At a Nato summit in Madrid in late June, Erdoğan’s tactics secured him a meeting with the US president, Joe Biden, who stated his support for sales of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, despite ongoing opposition from Congress.
Last week, the Turkish president leaned on Putin during a phone call in which he pressed for Russian agreement on the UN security council’s cross-border aid mechanism providing vital aid to more than 2 million Syrians in rebel-held areas in the north-west, blunting Russian threats to veto the aid renewal altogether.
“There’s all this leverage building up because of Ukraine and all these crises at once; it would be surprising if Erdoğan doesn’t try to squeeze something out of this moment, as this is what he does,” said Aron Lund, of the Washington-based thinktank the Century Foundation.
“Under Erdoğan, especially in the latter half of his rule, Turkey is always stirring up crises and then getting something in return for stopping them. That’s been the modus operandi all along,” said Lund.
“It damages Turkey’s standing in a lot of countries. We witnessed a severe lack of appreciation for this in Congress and in the EU parliament, for example. But Erdoğan doesn’t care, or doesn’t seem to. He can show off the results to aid public opinion and he benefits domestically – plus Turkey benefits in real foreign policy terms, they do get results,” he said. |
2022-05-31T09:51:07Z | Mongolia under pressure to align with Russia and China | Mongolia, a squeezed outpost of democracy in north-east Asia, is under renewed pressure from its authoritarian neighbours, Russia and China, to shed its independence and form a triangle of anti-western cooperation in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
The country is doggedly pursuing a path of neutrality, coupled with a policy of economic diversification designed to keep its unique culture and still relatively recent independence alive, according to Nomin Chinbat, its culture secretary.
A Soviet satellite state until 1990, and heavily dependent on China as a market and conduit for its copper and coal exports, Mongolia has to tread carefully. It is three times the size of France but has a population of only 3.5 million, half of whom live in the capital, Ulaanbaatar.
So far it has dodged a definitive position on Ukraine by abstaining in major UN votes. However, its governing Mongolian People’s party is attending briefings given by United Russia, the biggest party in Russia – which has been interpreted in Russia as support for the war.
Doubtless all this is a disappointment to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, who spent four of his childhood years in the Mongolian town of Erdenet as the son of a Soviet mining specialist.
Nomin Chinbat and US deputy secretary of state, Wendy Sherman, visit the Choijin Lama Temple Museum in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, July 2021. Photograph: Byamba-Ochir Byambasuren/EPA
Chinbat, a graduate of the University of East Anglia, is a model of diplomacy when she points out the term ambassador was invented in Mongolia. “Abstaining was a decision that our country had to make because of our geopolitical location,” she said. “We have had very healthy and manageable relationships with our two neighbours, but we also have a third neighbour policy that allows us to develop a multi-pillar international relationships with other countries.
“We have survived where we are, and our sovereignty has been respected by our neighbours. But democracy is what will keep us developing further.”
Chinbat, who has been tasked with attracting foreign investment to her country – whether from film-makers, industrialists or tourists – said there had been a generational shift among Mongolians, over 60% of whom are under 35. The outlook of younger people, she said, is less defined by relations with the country’s neighbours and more by Mongolia’s own development.
Nevertheless, if there is a prolonged war Mongolia’s ultimate political orientation may once again be up for grabs, especially if China and Russia genuinely form the long-discussed anti-western alliance, making it harder for Mongolia to play its two powerful neighbours off one another.
One path for the country is to form the third part of a Russian-Chinese triangle, largely becoming a transport hub between the two superpowers, and supplier of raw materials, while the other option is to try to acknowledge the two countries’ economic importance, while exploiting Mongolia’s own mineral resources to diversify the economy and modernise. The visit in May of the UK Asia minister, Amanda Milling, is a sign that Britain and the US will try to coax it along the latter course.
Nomin Chinbat. Photograph: World Economic Forum
Some claim Mongolia in reality has already chosen the Sino-Russian option, since four days after the invasion it signed a memorandum of understanding to press ahead with the long-planned trans-Mongolian gas pipeline deal. This pipeline would increase Mongolia’s dependence on Russia by taking gas from Siberia’s Yamal fields and allowing Russia to transport gas originally destined for Europe to find a new market in China.
As a landlocked country, its vulnerability to China has been exposed by the prolonged Chinese border closures caused by Covid, slowing a planned rise in Mongolian energy exports to Chinese ports due to be enabled by a network of new freight lines that will cut journey times by a third.
Chinbat said the government had invested heavily in a wider economic policy of privatisation, tourism, climate and rural development policies, which will allow it to diversify its economy over the next 20 years. The plan needs to succeed: in April, young people took to the streets to protest against the impact of inflation on their lives.
Once in charge of one of her country’s largest independent broadcasters, Chinbat said Mongolia would not backslide from democracy. “We have free media and democracy. It is one of the beauties of Mongolia: that we have this ability to have so much different media, from black and white to middle ground.”
Chinbat acknowledged that Mongolia’s culture of ubiquitous citizen journalists operating in a society that is not particularly media literate could be frustrating, but said: “Media should be challenging – that is what I fought for in my period in the media industry. Democracy and freedom of speech keeps our society lively and upright.”
A bigger problem Chinbat identified was keeping younger people committed to the nomadic lifestyle, when parents sometimes want to send their children to be educated in the city.
Chinbat said that at the heart of the nomad mentality was a respect for nature, a skill to survive in extreme weathers and a neighbourliness that means doors are left open in case herdsmen get lost. Mongolian politicians will require all that tact and resourcefulness in the years ahead. |
2022-06-23T15:57:05Z | Germany moves closer to gas rationing as Russia chokes supplies | Germany has moved one step closer to gas rationing, after the country’s economic ministry on Thursday warned of a high risk of long-term supply shortages due to Russia systematically choking off gas deliveries.
Economy minister Robert Habeck announced the second of three energy emergency plan phases, which enables utility firms to pass on high gas prices to customers and thereby help to lower demand.
The ministry said the reason for the warning was a reduction in Russian gas deliveries since 14 June amid continued high prices on the gas market. Should Russian gas deliveries via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline continue to remain at the low level of 40%, the ministry said in a statement, “a storage target of 90% by December cannot be reached without additional measures”.
Habeck said there would “hopefully never” be a need to ration gas, but added: “Of course, I cannot rule it out. The plan was to making savings, expand infrastructure and switch to alternative sources of energy during the hot summer months to avert a rationing scenario in the winter.
Germany’s plans to replenish its gas reserves face another obstacle next month, when the Nord Stream 1 pipeline is closed for its annual inspection on 11 July and will be unable to carry any gas. The inspection usually lasts around 10 days, but Habeck indicated concerns that Russia’s president could use the opportunity to stop deliveries completely under some technical pretext.
“There’s no point pretending – the throttling of gas deliveries amounts to an economic attack on us by Putin,” the minister for economic and energy affairs said. “Putin’s strategy is blatantly to stir insecurity, to drive up prices and to drive a wedge through our society.
“Even if it doesn’t feel like it yet, we are in a gas crisis,” he added. “From now on, gas is going to be a scarce good.”
The Green party politician said the current crisis was also a result of preceding German governments having allowed themselves to become too reliant on Russian gas and not sufficiently diversified its energy sources.
“That is now coming back to haunt us and must be rectified at great speed,” Habeck said at a press conference on Thursday morning.
Germany has been racing to fill its gas storage facilities in time for the winter, as Europe’s largest economy scrambles to wean itself off Russian energy supplies in the face of a possible European embargo or a potential decision by Moscow to completely cut off supplies.
In a move controversial with the Green party’s voter base, the German government is planning to build two new liquified natural gas terminals on the North Sea coast and restart some coal-fired power plants that were due to be phased out.
On 14 June, Gazprom announced it was reducing deliveries through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline by 40%, citing delayed repairs of technical parts by German company Siemens. Habeck said on Thursday the technical reasons given were “only a pretext”.
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The economic minister rallied German industry leaders around his emergency plans on Tuesday, warning them that large companies could face not just days but months of gas shortages in the coming winter.
“If the plan works out, the storage units will be full in winter,” he said at a meeting of German DAX companies in Berlin. “There is a certain degree of hope that we can manage this. But make no mistake, we are not there yet, the units are only at 60%.” |
2022-05-02T20:49:41Z | Israel summons Russia envoy over minister’s Hitler comments | Israel has summoned the Russian ambassador and demanded an apology over remarks by the Kremlin foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, that Adolf Hitler “had Jewish blood” and that the “most rabid antisemites tend to be Jews”.
The remarks were part of Lavrov’s defence of Russia’s policy of “denazification” in Ukraine, the Kremlin’s term for a sweeping purge that Ukraine says is a pretext for “mass murder.”
In an interview with Italian TV, Lavrov was asked to address how Russia could say it needed to “denazify” the country when its president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is Jewish.
“As to [Zelenskiy’s] argument of what kind of nazification can we have if I’m Jewish, if I remember correctly, and I may be wrong, Hitler also had Jewish blood,” Lavrov said during an interview with Italian television channel Mediaset. “It doesn’t mean anything at all.”
“We have for a long time listened to the wise Jewish people who say that the most rabid antisemites tend to be Jews,” Lavrov continued. “There is no family without a monster.”
The remarks have sparked a diplomatic row with Israel, one of the few western countries that has yet to impose sanctions on Russia over its invasion and has not provided military aid to Ukraine.
“His words are untrue and their intentions are wrong,” said the Israeli prime minister, Naftali Bennett. “Using the Holocaust of the Jewish people as a political tool must cease immediately.”
Yair Lapid, Israel’s foreign minister, said Israel made “every effort” to have good relations with Russia “but there is a limit and this limit has been crossed this time. The government of Russia needs to apologise to us and the Jewish people.”
He said: “Foreign Minister Lavrov’s remarks are both an unforgivable and outrageous statement as well as a terrible historical error. Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust. The lowest level of racism against Jews is to accuse Jews themselves of antisemitism.”
Israeli officials confirmed Russia’s ambassador, Anatoly Viktorov, had been summoned to the foreign ministry and Israel had “stated its position”.
In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said Lavrov’s comments showed that Moscow has forgotten, or never learned, the lessons of the second world war.
“No one has heard any denial or any justification from Moscow. All we have from there is silence … this means that the Russian leadership has forgotten all the lessons of world war two,” he said. “Or perhaps they have never learned those lessons.”
World leaders also condemned the remarks, which the Italian prime minister, Mario Draghi, described as “obscene” and Canada’s Justin Trudeau said were “ridiculous and unacceptable.”
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelenskiy, called Lavrov’s statement “antisemitic” and said that it was “further evidence that Russia is the legal successor of Nazi ideology”.
“Trying to rewrite history, Moscow is simply looking for arguments to justify the mass murders of Ukrainians,” he said.
Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, also condemned Lavrov’s remarks as “absurd, delusional, dangerous and deserving of condemnation”.
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The organisation in March had also attacked Zelenskiy for comparing Russia’s intentions in Ukraine to the Holocaust.
Lavrov has addressed Zelenskiy’s religion in the past as Moscow has been pressed to explain how it can “denazify” a country with a Jewish leader. In March, shortly after Russia began its war in Ukraine, Lavrov told US broadcaster ABC News: “I think the Nazis and neo-Nazis manipulate [Zelenskiy].”
In his interview this week, Lavrov also said he did not want Ukraine to surrender but simply that it “stop resisting”.
“We don’t demand that [Zelenskiy] surrender,” Lavrov said. “We demand that he give the order to release all civilians and stop resisting. Our goal does not include regime change in Ukraine.”
Italy’s Mediaset TV channel also came under fire for giving space to Lavrov, with Enrico Letta, the leader of the centre-left Democratic party, describing the exclusive interview on the current affairs programme Zona bianca as “a propaganda advert”.
Laura Garavani, a senator with the small Italia Via party, said the interview, conducted by Giuseppe Brindisi, “was an offensive spectacle for a democracy like ours. The network acted as a sounding board for Russian propaganda by letting Lavrov speak undisturbed, denying the crimes he is committing without any cross-examination”.
Ruth Dureghello, the president of the Jewish Community of Rome, said Lavrov’s statements were “delusional and dangerous”, and that their most serious aspect was that they were made “on Italian television, without any cross-examination and without the presenter opposing the lies that were uttered”. “This is unacceptable and cannot be allowed to pass by in silence,” she added. |
2022-06-21T11:43:38Z | Eastern Donbas ‘extremely difficult’ for Ukrainians as Russia intensifies attacks | The military situation for Ukraine’s defenders in the eastern Donbas is “extremely difficult”, the governor of the Luhansk region has said, as Russian attacks intensified in an effort to capture Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk.
Serhiy Haidai said overnight that Russia had said 568 civilians were holed up in the Azot chemical plant at Sievierodonetsk, the last site held by Ukraine’s forces in the city on the east bank of the Siverskyi Donets River.
“It is a sheer catastrophe,” he told the Associated Press. “Our positions are being fired at from howitzers, multiple rocket launchers, large-caliber artillery, missile strikes.”
Neighbouring Lysychansk on the west bank was being shelled “en masse”, Haidai added, while analysts warned of a nearby Russian breakthrough that meant the invaders’ forces were four miles (7km) south-east of the city.
A police station in the city took a “direct hit”, wounding 20 officers, according to special forces colonel Oleksandr Kutsepalenko, and the residential neighbourhood around it was marked with craters from shelling and airstrikes.
The Ukrainian president’s office said that at least six civilians had been killed in the previous 24 hours, and 16 others were wounded. It said Russian forces has shelled the northern Chernihiv region, and intensified their shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Explosions had also occurred on Tuesday morning in the southern city of Mykolaiv.
Konrad Muzyka, a military analyst, said the situation in Lysychansk looked “increasingly bleak for Ukrainians” after Russians broke defence lines near the villages of Toshkivka and Ustynivka to its south.
Haidai acknowledged that “the situation along the entire Luhansk front is extremely difficult” in an earlier posting on his Telegram channel, saying Russia was launching “a large-scale offensive” using reserve forces.
Rodion Miroshnik, the ambassador to Russia of the self-proclaimed republic in Luhansk, said its forces were “moving from the south towards Lysychansk” and predicted an imminent victory.
Capturing Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk would hand Russia almost all Luhansk oblast, one of the two regions of the Donbas. Moscow’s goal may be to demonstrate to the west it can achieve a military victory before the EU, G7 and Nato summits that starting on Thursday this week.
Previously, Volodymyr Zelenskiy had predicted Russia would step up attacks before the EU summit. Overnight he added: “Russia is very nervous about our activity. We are defending Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk. This whole region is the most difficult, there are the hardest battles.”
Muzyka said Ukraine should have withdrawn from Sievierodonetsk some time ago and focused on the defence of Lysychansk, which sits at a higher elevation to its near neighbour and is in theory easier to protect. But the flanking advance across the river from the south-east now threatens it.
00:38 Drone footage shows artillery strikes on Ukrainian town since captured by Russia – video
The two sides have been engaged in an increasingly intense struggle over the past six weeks for Sievierodonetsk, with thousands of casualties. Ukraine has almost certainly suffered most in the face of a protracted artillery bombardment by the Russians that has destroyed dozens of buildings.
Ukrainian forces meanwhile claimed their first successful use of western-donated Harpoon anti-ship missiles to engage Russian forces, the UK Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday. “The target of the attack was almost certainly the Russian naval tug Spasatel Vasily Bekh, which was delivering weapons and personnel to Snake Island in the north-western Black Sea,” it said in its daily update.
Kyiv’s defence ministry also said it had “finally” deployed an advanced German artillery system after all seven howitzers promised by Berlin arrived. “Panzerhaubitze 2000 are finally part of 155 mm howitzer arsenal of the Ukrainian artillery,” Ukraine’s defence minister Oleksiy Reznikov wrote on social media, thanking his German counterpart, Christine Lambrecht.
Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said that Russia would further strengthen its armed forces as a result of “potential military threats”, in a speech to a group of graduates of Russian military academies.
“We will continue to develop and strengthen our armed forces, taking into account potential military threats and risks,” he said. Putin added that the Russian army was being supplied with the S-500 surface-to-air missile system and said that Russia would this year deploy the newly tested Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles, capable of more than 10 nuclear warheads.
Russia’s defence ministry said Russian television was now broadcasting across the entire occupied Kherson region in the south, captured by the invaders in the first week of the war.
It is the latest step in a forced Russification of the occupied areas of Ukraine, where Russia has tried to issue passports, introduce the rouble, ask teachers to switch curriculums and other measures.
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Two US volunteer soldiers captured in fighting north of Kharkiv a fortnight ago have been filmed by Russian television at a detention facility in the self-proclaimed republic of Donetsk, some distance from where they were taken.
Alexander Drueke, 39, and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, both from Alabama, had been fighting as part of the Ukrainian army. The US state department said it was aware of the film and was “closely monitoring”.
The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said in an interview released by NBC News that the men “should be held responsible for those crimes that they have committed” and were not covered by the Geneva conventions protecting prisoners of war.
Three other foreign fighters, the Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner and the Moroccan Brahim Saadoun, were sentenced to death by a court in Donetsk earlier this month, although they have time to appeal. Russia does not carry out the death penalty but the separatist republic, unrecognised by the west, does. |
2022-06-22T14:32:36Z | Russia bears down on Lysychansk, targeting police and judicial buildings | Sievierodonetsk and its neighbouring city, Lysychansk, continue to be battered by intense Russian shelling as Moscow edges closer to seizing the last pocket of resistance in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region.
Luhansk’s governor, Serhiy Haidai, said on Wednesday that Russian forces were moving towards Lysychansk, targeting the buildings of police, state security and prosecutors.
“Lysychansk is constantly suffering from enemy fire … Massive shelling significantly destroyed infrastructure and housing,” Haidai said in a post on Telegram
Sievierodonetsk is also shelled “every day”, he added.
Ukrainian officials have said that the coming days will be decisive in Russia’s efforts to take Sievierodonetsk, as fears in Kyiv grow that Russian advances could envelop the entire region.
Russia is now believed to control all of Sievierodonetsk with the exception of the Azot chemical plant, where about 500 Ukrainian citizens and an unknown number of Ukrainian troops are hiding.
Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said on Tuesday evening that Russian forces could soon cut off Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk from Ukrainian-held territory.
“The threat of a tactical Russian victory is there, but they haven’t done it yet,” he said in an online video.
Russia has been aiming to capture Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk for months, bombing much of the area’s civilian infrastructure in the process.
Control of the two cities would give Moscow command of the entire Luhansk region and allow its forces to focus on the neighbouring Donetsk region. Luhansk and Donetsk provinces combined are known as the Donbas.
During his nightly video address on Tuesday, Zelenskiy admitted that the military situation in Luhansk was very difficult as Russia stepped up an effort to drive Ukrainian troops from key areas.
“That is really the toughest spot. The occupiers are pressing strongly,” he said.
In its latest intelligence briefing, Britain’s defence ministry said that Russia was “highly likely preparing to attempt to deploy a large number of reserve units to the Donbas”, in a push to make further gains in the region. Britain further said that pro-Russian separatists were experiencing “extraordinary attrition” in the Donbas.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russia resumed its shelling of Kharkiv, the country’s second-biggest city, on Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday, Oleh Synegubov, the regional governor, said that at least 15 civilians were killed in the Kharkiv region as a result of Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure.
The city, which was returning to normal life after Ukraine pushed back Russian forces, experienced some of the worst Russian shelling to date in the last week, as worries grow in Kyiv that Russia is mounting another attack on the city.
Ukrainian military on Wednesday provided more detail about Monday’s attack on Snake Island, saying it had destroyed a Russian air defence system, radar installation and vehicles on the strategically important Russian-controlled Black Sea island.
Russia’s defence ministry said it prevented the Ukrainian attack, which Moscow claimed was meant to land Ukrainian soldiers on the island.
“The unsuccessful fire attack forced the enemy to abandon the landing on Snake Island,” the Russian military said in a statement.
Satellite images provided by US-based Maxar Technologies showed an overview of Snake Island on Tuesday, with damage visible to the tower on the southern end of the island and burned vegetation in several places.
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Meanwhile, Ukraine was accused on Wednesday of using two drones to hit a major Russian oil refinery in the Rostov region, near the border with Ukraine.
“As a result of terrorist actions from the western border of the Rostov region, two unmanned aerial vehicles struck at the technological facilities of Novoshakhtinsk,” representatives of the plant said in a statement.
Social media footage on Wednesday morning showed a drone flying towards the refinery, located just five miles from the border with Ukraine, before a fire explosion erupts from it.
Pro-Russian separatists also accused “Ukrainian saboteurs” of staging a “failed assassination” on the Moscow-appointed head of a town outside Kherson, a Black Sea port city occupied by Russia.
The Russian state agency TASS, citing local security services, said that the head of the town of Chernobaevka, Yuri Turulev, was lightly injured as a result of a car bomb attack.
The extent of partisan warfare in Kherson is difficult to measure, with little information trickling out of the occupied region, but several attacks have recently been reported in Kherson on Russian soldiers as well as Ukrainian officials who switched sides to collaborate with the Russians. |
2022-06-19T11:18:10Z | Russia-Ukraine war could last for years, say western leaders | Western leaders have said the war in Ukraine could last for years and will require long-term military support as Russia brought forward reserve forces in an apparent attempt to capture the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk.
“We must prepare for the fact that it could take years,” Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said in an interview with the German newspaper Bild on Sunday. “We must not let up in supporting Ukraine.”
The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, echoed Stoltenberg’s comments. “I am afraid that we need to steel ourselves for a long war,” he said, adding that it was necessary “to enlist time on Ukraine’s side”.
It came as the new head of the British army said British troops must prepare “to fight in Europe once again”. “There is now a burning imperative to forge an army capable of fighting alongside our allies and defeating Russia in battle,” Gen Sir Patrick Sanders said, writing to his charges about the challenges they face.
The statements suggest the west believes Ukraine cannot achieve a rapid military breakthrough despite the anticipated arrival of fresh Nato-standard arms, while officials in the country have continued to call for rapid help.
Ukraine’s forces remain on the defensive in the eastern Donbas region, where fighting continues in Sievierodonestsk. Serhiy Haidai, the governor of the Luhansk region, said Russia was massing forces in an attempt to take full control of the city after weeks of fighting.
“Today, tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, they will throw in all the reserves they have … Because there are so many of them there already, they’re at critical mass,” Haidai told Ukrainian television.
Russia already controls most of Sievierodonetsk, Haidai said on Sunday morning, and if Ukrainian forces lose the city, fighting is expected to focus on neighbouring Lysychansk, from which 32 residents have been evacuated over the weekend despite heavy shelling.
Russia’s defence ministry also said its Iskander missiles had destroyed weaponry supplied by the west in the Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, north-west of Luhansk. A Ukrainian interior ministry official said Russian forces were trying to approach Kharkiv, which experienced intense shelling earlier in the war, and turn it into a “frontline city”.
Smoke and flames rise from the Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk after a Russian bombardment on Saturday. Photograph: Reuters
The UK’s Ministry of Defence said in a morning update that the intense fighting meant combat units from both sides were “likely experiencing variable morale”, a rare acknowledgment of the pressures faced on both sides.
“Ukrainian forces have likely suffered desertions in recent weeks. However, Russian morale highly likely remains especially troubled. Cases of whole Russian units refusing orders and armed standoffs between officers and their troops continue to occur,” the ministry said on Twitter.
Ukraine has been calling for a large influx of western weaponry so that it can try to push back the Russian invaders, but what has been offered so far is less than Kyiv has requested. The US, UK and Germany have promised to send 10 rocket artillery systems, but Ukrainian advisers have called for 60 or even 300.
One Ukrainian official said that helping the country win a quick victory would be a saving in the long term. Oleksandr Starukh, the governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, said: “We need these weapons because winter is coming,” adding that the country would face greater economic costs if the war dragged on.
The problems could extend beyond Ukraine, he said, arguing that Europe could face another wave of immigrants from African and Middle Eastern countries previously reliant on grain exports from Ukraine if the war continued to disrupt maritime exports.
Stoltenberg said the price of long-term support for Ukraine was justified, despite the cost of military equipment and rising energy and food prices, because the west would pay a much higher price if Vladimir Putin were to succeed and Russian forces occupied large parts of Ukraine.
Johnson, writing in the Sunday Times, said the supply of weapons had to continue, and that it would be necessary to “preserve the viability of the Ukrainian state” by providing financial support “to pay wages, run schools, deliver aid and begin reconstruction”.
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The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, conceded in an interview that his country had “concentrated our energy supply too much on Russia” to the point that it was not possible to change course “if the worst came to the worst”. But he defended his predecessor Angela Merkel’s policy of seeking good relations with Moscow.
Germany’s minister for economic affairs and climate action, Robert Habeck, said coal-fired power plants would have to be used more as an emergency measure to offset falls in the supply of Russian gas. Bringing back coal-fired power plants was “painful, but it is a sheer necessity”, he said.
City mayors and regional governors in Ukraine say that in most cases they already face funding shortfalls and there is no money to repair infrastructure and buildings damaged in places such as Borodianka, north-west of Kyiv because government spending is focused on the war effort.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, visited the south-western frontline at Mykolaiv and the nearby city of Odesa on Saturday. He insisted after his visit that Ukraine would not cede any of the occupied territories in the south of the country to Russia, which occupies the bulk of the country’s coastal areas.
“We will not give away the south to anyone. We will return everything that’s ours and the sea will be Ukrainian and safe,” he said. “Russia does not have as many missiles as our people have the desire to live.” |
2022-06-20T17:01:41Z | Russia threatens retaliation as Lithuania bans goods transit to Kaliningrad | Russia has provoked concern in Brussels after threatening to retaliate over Lithuania’s ban on the transit of some goods across its territory to Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad.
The move by the government in Vilnius was described as “unprecedented” in Moscow, where the Russian foreign office said they reserved the right to respond to protect their national interest.
The comments set off alarm bells in Brussels, where the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said Lithuania was simply enforcing the bloc’s sanctions regime. He added, however, that he was concerned by the risk of retaliation and that he would check that all the rules were being followed, while accusing the Kremlin of peddling propaganda.
“I am always worried about Russian retaliation,” he said. “There is no blockade. The land transit between Kaliningrad and other parts of Russia has not been banned. Second, transit of people and goods that are not sanctioned continues. Third, Lithuania has not taken any unilateral national restrictions.
“We are in a precautionary mood. We will double-check the legal aspects in order to verify that we are completely aligned with any kind of rule.
“But Lithuania is not guilty. It is not implementing national sanctions. It is not implementing their will. Whatever they are doing has been the consequence of previous consultation with the commission, which has provided guidelines. And implementing guidelines.”
There was panic buying in Kaliningrad over the weekend after authorities in the region claimed that Lithuania was preparing to close off rail and gas pipe links to Russia.
Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, further escalated tensions on Monday by threatening a response to what he said was an “illegal move”. He said: “This decision is really unprecedented. It’s a violation of everything. We consider this illegal. The situation is more than serious … We need a serious in-depth analysis in order to work out our response.”
Wedged between Lithuania to its north and east, and Poland to its south, Kaliningrad is about 800 miles (1,300km) from Moscow and relies on much of its supplies coming in by rail.
Russia’s foreign ministry said Vilnius must reverse the “openly hostile” move. “If cargo transit between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of the Russian Federation via Lithuania is not fully restored in the near future, then Russia reserves the right to take actions to protect its national interests,” it said.
The foreign ministry summoned Lithuania’s chief diplomatic representative in Moscow for a formal protest and alleged that the Baltic nation was acting in breach of international agreements.
However, after a meeting in Brussels, Lithuania’s foreign minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, said Moscow was spreading false information and that the state railway service was acting lawfully by merely implementing the EU’s sanctions regime prohibiting the supply of steel or goods made from iron ore to Russia.
Landsbergis said that under half of the goods usually supplied by transiting across Lithuania would be covered by the sanctions regime over time, with the ban on steel coming into force on 17 June.
“I think there was some false information, not for the first time, announced by the Russian authorities, but I’m glad that we have a chance to explain this,” he said. “At this point, about slightly less than half of goods that transit Lithuania are on the sanctions list, but that doesn’t mean that all of them are under sanctions right now.
“Because there are different wind-down periods, and some of it, for example oil, will be sanctioned just at the end of the year, starting from December, even though the authorities have announced it is sanctioned already, which is not true actually.”
Goods banned under EU sanctions introduced following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine include coal, metals, construction materials and advanced technology.
Much of the panic in the exclave appeared to have been prompted by calls for calm from the region’s governor, Anton Alikhanov, on Saturday.
He said two vessels were already ferrying goods between Kaliningrad and St Petersburg, and seven more would be in service by the end of the year. “Our ferries will handle all the cargo,” he said on Saturday.
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Video footage that could not be independently verified subsequently emerged of people loading up shopping trolleys in DIY stores in response to the news.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, tweeted: “Russia has no right to threaten Lithuania. Moscow has only itself to blame for the consequences of its unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine. We commend Lithuania’s principled stance and stand firmly by our Lithuanian friends.”
Kaliningrad, where Russia’s Baltic Sea fleet has its headquarters, has a population of about 500,000 people. It was captured from Nazi Germany by the Red Army in April 1945 and ceded to the Soviet Union at the end of the war. |
2022-04-30T06:50:38Z | Russia bombs Kharkiv but Ukraine claims ‘tactical successes’ | Russia has bombarded Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, as part of its renewed push in the east of the country, while claiming the “draft of a possible treaty” between the two countries is being discussed on a daily basis.
One person was killed and five were injured “as a result of enemy artillery and mortar strikes”, Kharkiv’s regional military administration said on Telegram. Despite the bombardment, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said: “The situation in the Kharkiv region is tough. But our military, our intelligence, have important tactical success.”
Ukrainian forces said they had recaptured a “strategically important” village of Ruska Lozova, near Kharkiv, and evacuated hundreds of civilians.
One Kharkiv resident, Antonina, told AFP she returned home to find a rocket had smashed through her building and lodged in her bathroom. “When I came home, everything was destroyed … It was scary,” she said.
Three months into an invasion that failed in its short-term aim of capturing Kyiv, Russia is now intensifying operations in the eastern Donbas region and tightening its stranglehold on the devastated southern port city of Mariupol.
A senior Nato official said Russia had made only “minor” and “uneven” advances in their attempt to encircle enemy positions as Ukrainian forces counterattacked. The Pentagon said the Kremlin’s eastern offensive was “behind schedule” as airstrikes were failing to facilitate lightning ground offensives.
Russia has been forced to merge and redeploy units from failed advances in Ukraine’s north-east, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence report released on Saturday morning. “Russia hopes to rectify issues that have previously constrained its invasion by geographically concentrating combat power, shortening supply lines and simplifying command and control.
Russia still faces considerable challenges. It has been forced to merge and redeploy depleted and disparate units from the failed advances in north-east Ukraine. Many of these units are likely suffering from weakened morale.
“Shortcomings in Russian tactical coordination remain. A lack of unit-level skills and inconsistent air support have left Russia unable to fully leverage its combat mass, despite localised improvements.”
Zelenskiy said in his address that Russia wanted to make Donbas “uninhabited”.
“The occupiers are doing everything to destroy any life in this area,” he said. “Constant brutal bombings, constant Russian strikes at infrastructure and residential areas show that Russia wants to make this area uninhabited.”
Zelenskiy described Mariupol as a “Russian concentration camp in the middle of ruins”.
“And the order of the occupiers in that part of Mariupol which they unfortunately still control differs insignificantly from what the Nazis did in the occupied territory of eastern Europe,” he said.
Ukrainian authorities said they had planned to evacuate civilians on Friday from the besieged Azovstal steel plant, the last holdout in Mariupol where hundreds were sheltering with Ukrainian troops.
Ukraine’s president called for a stronger global response to Thursday’s strikes on the capital Kyiv, which immediately followed his talks in the city with the UN’s secretary general, António Guterres. “It is unfortunate, but such a deliberate and brutal humiliation of the United Nations by Russia has gone unanswered,” he said.
Guterres had also toured Bucha and other Kyiv suburbs where Moscow is alleged to have committed war crimes. Russia denies killing civilians. Guterres posted online afterwards: “I was moved by the resilience and bravery of the people of Ukraine. My message to them is simple: we will not give up.”
Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, claimed that a million people had fled Ukraine for Russia. Ukraine says people have been taken over the border against their will.
Discussing the peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv, Lavrov, said the lifting of sanctions imposed on Russia was part of the negotiations. He said talks were “difficult” but continued daily by video conferencing.
Kyiv, though, has warned that talks are in danger of collapse, and Zelenskiy has insisted since the invasion that western sanctions on Russia needed to be strengthened and could not be part of negotiations. Ukraine and Russia have not held face-to-face peace talks since 29 March.
In his latest address, Zelenskiy also said Ukraine would soon stamp out fuel shortages, even though Russian forces had damaged a number of oil depots.
This week, Russia struck Ukraine’s main fuel producer, the Kremenchuk oil refinery, as well as several other large depots.
“Queues and rising prices at gas stations are seen in many regions of our country,” Zelenskiy said. “The occupiers are deliberately destroying the infrastructure for the production, supply and storage of fuel.
“Russia has also blocked our ports, so there are no immediate solutions to replenish the deficit.
“But government officials promise that within a week, maximum two, a system of fuel supply to Ukraine will be at work that will prevent shortages.”
The economy minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, said the shortages would be eliminated within a week, as Ukraine’s operators had secured contracts with European suppliers.
With Reuters, the Associated Press and AFP |
2022-05-23T11:48:51Z | Zelenskiy urges ‘maximum sanctions’ against Russia in Davos speech | Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has urged the west to intensify its economic sanctions against Russia as he said business leaders in Davos needed to decide whether “brute force” should rule the world.
In a keynote video address to the World Economic Forum (WEF), Zelenskiy called for a full oil embargo, the severing of Russian banks from the global financial system, the complete isolation of the Russian IT sector and a ban on trade with Russia.
Ukraine’s president called for the implementation of “maximum sanctions” against Vladimir Putin’s regime and said there would be no point to Davos if Russian aggression was allowed to prevail.
Noting that history was at a turning point, Zelenskiy said: “This is really the moment when it is decided whether brute force will rule the world.”
Zelenskiy received a standing ovation and concluded his 45-minute session at the WEF by sending out a collective message to business leaders, telling them they should “wake up each morning with the feeling ‘what have I done for Ukraine today?’”.
Russia’s absence from this year’s Davos gathering has provided Ukraine with an opportunity to make its case for a stepping up of the west’s economic war against Russia, with Zelenskiy’s team of ministers at the WEF all urging tougher action.
Earlier Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, called for secondary sanctions against companies that continued to do business in Russia. “Now is not the time for a cost benefit analysis. We have to cut Russia off from the global economy completely,” Svyrydenko said.
Citing the example of the Munich agreement in 1938, Zelenskiy called for the withdrawal of all foreign companies from Russia so they were not used in the “bloody interests” of the Kremlin.
He said any company quitting Russia was welcome to move to Ukraine, where they could help with the massive task of repairing the colossal damage to an economy expected to shrink by at least 30% this year.
“We offer the world the chance to set a precedent for what happens if you try to destroy a neighbour,” he said. “I invite you to take part in this rebuilding.”
Zelenskiy said he was looking at alternative ways of getting Ukraine’s food out of the country after accusing Russia of stealing grain supplies ready for export. Talks are under way with Poland to see if food could be shipped out of ports on the Baltic Sea.
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He added a corridor should be established for exports such as wheat and sunflower oil, to prevent a food crisis for countries in Africa and Asia.
Sir Lawrence Freedman, the emeritus professor of war studies at King’s College London, said he agreed about the urgent need for international agreement to secure a good corridor because the blockading of Ukraine’s food was “looming large now”.
Freedman added: “The Ukraine line is there’s no time to waste. Just hit hard, hit now, and we need all the support we can get. And don’t nod in the direction of the Russians, they’ve got nothing to give you.” |
2022-08-03T18:47:36Z | Russia to open duty-free shops selling western imports to foreign diplomats | Russia will introduce duty-free shops selling western imports to diplomats for foreign currency in a practice that will remind many Russians of the infamous beryozka stores that epitomised official privilege during the Soviet era.
The shops, which could open as soon as the autumn, will sell imported goods that may become hard to find in ordinary Russian shops as foreign brands flee the country over the war in Ukraine.
But in order to make a purchase, visitors will have to provide an official document to prove they are a foreign diplomat, employee of an international organisation or a family member. And the shops will also accept payment in dollars and euro, mimicking the beryozka stores’ function as a magnet for foreign currency.
“It’s a total USSR!” wrote Sergei Smirnov, the editor-in-chief of the Russian outlet Mediazona, which wrote about the legislation after its announcement in Russia’s official parliamentary newspaper.
Western brand names have already become more difficult to find in many shops in Russia. Shoppers have flocked to stores owned by major brands like H&M as the Swedish clothing retailer reopened its doors this week in a final sell-off of its inventory before leaving the country for good.
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The duty-free stores will be owned by a company created by the Russian foreign ministry and another entity chosen in a competition. The shops’ goods will include alcohol, tobacco products, jewellery, cosmetics, perfumes and sweets, as well as smartphones and watches, Mediazona reported.
It is not yet clear whether the electronic goods will include products such as iPhones, which are no longer being directly imported to Russia.
The foreign ministry has considered opening a duty-free store for foreign diplomats since at least 2015, after Russia banned many European food imports as part of its counter-sanctions package after the annexation of Crimea, according to Russian news outlets.
In a 2014 letter obtained by the Russian news website Gazeta.ru, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said the shops would help curtail “financial losses and delays” associated with delivering goods to foreign diplomatic missions in Russia, Radio Free Europe reported. |
2022-08-03T14:08:08Z | Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 161 of the invasion | The first shipment of grain to leave Ukraine under a deal to ease Russia’s naval blockade has reached Turkey. The Sierra Leone-registered ship, Razoni, set sail from Odesa port for Lebanon on Monday under an accord brokered by Turkey and the United Nations. The ship has been inspected by members of the Joint Coordination Centre, and is now expected to move through the Bosporus strait “shortly”.
The Ukrainian president has dismissed the importance of the first grain export shipment from his country since Russia invaded, saying it was carrying a fraction of the crop Kyiv must sell to help salvage its shattered economy. Volodymr Zelenskiy’s downbeat comments, via video to students in Australia on Wednesday, came as an inspection of the ship was completed in Turkey before it continues to its final destination in Lebanon under a deal aimed at easing a global food crisis.
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has insisted that Russia had no reason to hold up the return of a gas turbine for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline. The turbine is stranded in Germany, following servicing in Canada, in an escalating standoff that has resulted in flows to Europe falling to a trickle, just 20% of capacity. Standing next to the turbine on a factory visit to Siemens Energy in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Scholz said it was fully operational and could be shipped back to Russia at any time – provided Moscow was willing to take it back.
The UN has said that there have been over 10m border crossings into and out of Ukraine since Russia launched its latest invasion of the country on 24 February. Data gathered by the UNHCR states that 6,180,345 individual refugees from Ukraine are now recorded across Europe . Ukraine’s neighbours have taken the largest individual numbers. Poland has 1.25 million refugees.
Russia has started creating a military strike force aimed at Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih and warned that Moscow could be preparing new offensive operations in southern Ukraine , Ukraine said on Wednesday. Russia holds swathes of Ukraine’s south that it captured in the early phases of its invasion, but Kyiv has said it will mount a counter-offensive. It said on Tuesday it had already recaptured 53 villages in occupied Kherson region, Reuters reports.
In its latest operation briefing, Russia’s ministry of defence has claimed that its strike on Radekhiv in the Lviv region “destroyed a storage base with foreign-made weapons and ammunition delivered to the Kyiv regime from Poland”. Earlier today, Lviv’s governor acknowledged the strike, and said “one building was damaged. Fortunately, no one was hurt.”
The UK’s M inistry of D efence says there is likely to be an increase in civilians attempting to flee Kherson and the surrounding area as hostilities continue and food shortages worsen, putting pressure on transport routes. They have also said that a Ukrainian strike against a Russian ammunition train in Kherson oblast, southern Ukraine , means it is “highly unlikely” the rail link between Kherson and Crimea is operational.
Mykola Tochytskyi , deputy minister of foreign affairs, has repeated Ukraine’s request for the skies over nuclear installations to be closed to prevent a potential accident and their misuse. He said: “For the first time in history, civil nuclear facilities have been turned into military targets and springboards for the Russian army in breach of the non-proliferation provisions on peaceful use of nuclear energy. The world witnesses how nuclear terrorism, sponsored by the nuclear-weapon state, is arising in reality. The robust joint actions are needed to prevent nuclear disaster at global scale. We ask to close the sky over the nuclear power plants in Ukraine.”
The US embassy in Kyiv has criticised what it says is a decision by Roskomnadzor , the Russian government’s media agency, to block a US government website – share.america.gov.
Schröder has come under fire for a private meeting held with the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, after he travelled on holiday to Moscow to meet him. Schröder is facing an investigation by the Social Democrats of which he has been a member since 1963, over his Kremlin links and his refusal to distance himself from Putin, and could yet be ejected from the party.
Ukraine has said any negotiated peace settlement with Moscow would be contingent on a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops, brushing off comments by Schroeder. In response on Wednesday, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak described Schroeder derisively as a “voice of the Russian royal court”.
Gerhard Schrö der, a former German chancellor and friend of Vladimir Putin, said the Russian president wanted a negotiated solution to the war in Ukraine and last month’s agreement on grain shipments might offer a way forward. “The good news is that the Kremlin wants a negotiated solution,” Schröder told Stern weekly and broadcasters RTL/ntv, adding he had met Putin in Moscow last week. “A first success is the grain deal, perhaps that can be slowly expanded to a ceasefire.”
The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said the US has not offered Russia to resume talks on the New Start nuclear arms reduction treaty.
Nicola Sturgeon , Scotland’s first minister, has been accused of glorifying war after she retweeted a Ukrainian tweet listing Russia’s war dead – described in an embedded graphic as “eliminated personnel”, before she quickly deleted it. The original tweet from the Ukrainian defence ministry quoted a Robert Burns poem saying “tyrants fall in every foe! Liberty’s in every blow! Let us do or die!”
Ukrainian refugees are likely to become victims of rising tensions and disinformation campaigns in their host countries, a report has warned . False reports exaggerating how much aid refugees receive compared with local people, as well as linking refugees with violent crime and political extremism, could cause a breakdown in relations with local communities, the charity World Vision said.
A group of Russian soldiers have accused their commanders of jailing them in eastern Ukraine for refusing to take part in the war. About 140 soldiers were detained and four have filed complaints with an investigative committee, said Maxim Grebenyuk, head of Moscow-based group Military Ombudsman.
Russia has accused the US of being “directly involved” in the war by supplying targeting information for Ukraine’s long-range missile strikes. Vadym Skibitsky, Ukraine’s acting deputy head of military intelligence, denied US officials were providing direct targeting information but acknowledged there was consultation.
The US has imposed sanctions on Vladimir Putin’s purported lover. Alina Kabaeva, 39, landed on the latest update to the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s specially designated nationals list – freezing any of her assets in the US and generally prohibiting Americans from dealing with her.
Russia’s supreme court has designated the Azov regiment – a former volunteer battalion that was incorporated into Ukraine’s army – a “terrorist” organisation, allowing for lengthy jail terms for its members.
The G7 is threatening to further deprive Russia of revenue by blocking services that enable the transportation of its oil globally if it doesn’t heed the proposed oil price cap. Russia has already stated it will not obey the cap and will ship to nations that don’t support the price ceiling.
|
2022-08-05T12:31:57Z | Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 163 of the invasion | Ukraine has accused Russian forces of strikes near a nuclear reactor at the Zaporizhzhia power plant in the country’s southeast, which has been occupied since the early days of the invasion. Energoatom, Ukraine’s state-run operator of the country’s nuclear power plants, said in a statement: “Three strikes were recorded on the site of the plant, near one of the power blocks where the nuclear reactor is located.”
Three ships carrying almost 60,000 tonnes of grain between them have departed Ukrainian Black Sea ports and are on their way to Britain, Ireland and Turkey respectively. Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s infrastructure minister, said he plans “to ensure ports have the ability to handle more than 100 vessels per month”.
Vladimir Putin has met Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for talks that were expected to focus on Russia’s war in Ukraine and that are being rumoured to include Kremlin efforts to circumvent western sanctions. Putin welcomed Erdoğan to Sochi, a resort city on the Black Sea, by thanking the Turkish president for help in securing an international deal that resumed exports of grain from Ukraine that had been disrupted by the Kremlin war machine – as well as Russian foodstuffs and fertilisers – to world markets. They agreed to boost cooperation in the transport, agriculture, finance and construction industries, they said in a joint statement after a four-hour meeting.
Russia says it is ready to talk about a prisoner swap with the US following Wednesday’s nine-year jail sentence for US basketball player Brittney Griner. However, the Kremlin says any such negotiations should not be played out publicly.
Amnesty International has said it stands by its accusation that Ukraine is endangering civilians by creating army bases in residential areas to counter Russian forces, after a report from the rights group prompted a furious response from Kyiv. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, criticised Amnesty over the report published on Thursday, saying the rights group was drawing a false equivalence between Ukraine as victim of aggression and the Russian invaders.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has raised concerns about the “security and safety” of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is under Russian control. It says Russia has “used artillery units based in these areas to target Ukrainian territory on the western bank of the Dnipro river”.
An EU plan to cut gas use and help Germany wean itself off dependency on Russia will come into effect early next week, the bloc’s presidency said on Friday. Last week, EU member states agreed to reduce their use of gas by 15% over the winter, with exceptions for some countries and despite opposition from Hungary.
Canada is sending up to 225 Canadian armed forces to the UK to recommence the training of Ukrainian military recruits, the Canadian defence minister has announced. Since 2015, Canada has trained 33,000 Ukrainian military and security personnel but in February paused aspects of the training.
A US official has accused Moscow of preparing to plant fake evidence to make it look like the recent mass killing of Ukrainian prisoners in an attack on a Russian-controlled prison was caused by Ukraine. Kyiv and Moscow have traded blame over the strikes on the prison in Kremlin-controlled Olenivka, in eastern Ukraine, last week.
A leading Russian hypersonics expert has been arrested on suspicion of treason, the state-controlled TASS news agency reported on Friday. Andrei Shiplyuk heads the hypersonics laboratory at the Novosibirsk Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, according to the institute’s website, and has in recent years coordinated research to support the development of hypersonic missile systems, Reuters reports.
Ukraine has ceded some territory in the Donbas region to Russian forces, with Kyiv acknowledging Russia’s “partial success” in recent days. Zelenskiy has described the pressure his forces are under in the east of the country as “hell”. They have recaptured two villages near the city of Sloviansk, according to Ukrainian general Oleksiy Hromov, but have been forced to abandon a coal mine regarded as a key defensive position as forces are pushed to the outskirts of Avdiivka. |
2022-08-06T00:59:35Z | Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 164 of the invasion | Ukraine has accused Russian forces of strikes near a nuclear reactor at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia power plant in the country’s south-east. Energoatom, the state-run operator of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, said in a statement: “Three strikes were recorded on the site of the plant, near one of the power blocks where the nuclear reactor is located.” Russia’s defence ministry accused Ukrainian forces of shelling the plant, saying a leak of radiation had been avoided only by luck.
Vladimir Putin has met Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for talks that were expected to focus on Russia’s war in Ukraine and that are being rumoured to include Kremlin efforts to circumvent western sanctions. The Russian president welcomed Erdoğan to Sochi, a resort city on the Black Sea, by thanking the Turkish president for help in securing an international deal that resumed grain exports from Ukraine that had been disrupted by the Kremlin war machine – as well as Russian foodstuffs and fertilisers – to world markets. They agreed to boost cooperation in the transport, agriculture, finance and construction industries, they said in a joint statement after a four-hour meeting.
Three ships carrying almost 60,000 tonnes of grain between them have departed Ukrainian Black Sea ports and are on their way to Britain, Ireland and Turkey respectively. Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s infrastructure minister, said he planned “to ensure ports have the ability to handle more than 100 vessels per month”.
Russia says it is ready to talk about a prisoner swap with the US following Thursday’s nine-year jail sentence for US basketball player Brittney Griner. However, the Kremlin said any such negotiations should not be played out publicly.
Amnesty International has said it stands by its accusation that Ukraine is endangering civilians by creating army bases in residential areas to counter Russian forces, after a report from the rights group prompted a furious response from Kyiv. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, criticised Amnesty over the report published on Thursday, saying the rights group was drawing a false equivalence between Ukraine as the victim of aggression and the Russian invaders.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has raised concerns about the “security and safety” of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, saying Russia has “used artillery units based in these areas to target Ukrainian territory on the western bank of the Dnipro [Dnieper] river”.
A European Union plan to cut gas use and help Germany wean itself off dependency on Russia will come into effect early next week, the bloc’s presidency said on Friday. Last week, EU member states agreed to reduce their use of gas by 15% over the winter, with exceptions for some countries and despite opposition from Hungary.
Canada is sending up to 225 Canadian armed forces to the UK to recommence the training of Ukrainian military recruits, the Canadian defence minister has announced. Since 2015, Canada has trained 33,000 Ukrainian military and security personnel but in February paused aspects of the training.
A US official has accused Moscow of preparing to plant fake evidence to make it look like the recent mass killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war in an attack on a Russian-controlled jail was caused by Ukraine. Kyiv and Moscow have traded blame over last week’s strikes on the prison in Kremlin-controlled Olenivka, in eastern Ukraine. |
2022-06-16T00:12:21Z | Two US volunteers in Ukraine feared taken prisoner by Russia | Two American volunteers in Ukraine have gone missing and are feared to have been taken prisoner by Russia, officials and family members said on Wednesday.
Alexander Drueke, 39, and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, are both US military veterans who had been living in Alabama and went to Ukraine to assist with war efforts. Relatives have been in contact with Senate and House offices seeking information on the men’s whereabouts.
The pair haven’t been heard from in days, members of the state’s congressional delegation have said.
Captive Americans would add another layer of complexity to efforts by the US, which is pumping billions of dollars into Ukraine but trying to steer clear of direct confrontation with Russia.
If confirmed, they would be the first Americans fighting for Ukraine known to have been captured since the war began in February.
Drueke’s mother reached out earlier this week, said Terri Sewell, her local congresswoman.
“According to his family, they have not heard from Drueke in several days,” Sewell said in a statement. “We will continue to do everything in our power to assist in locating him and finding answers for his family.”
White House spokesman John Kirby said he could not confirm the disappearance of the two Americans but said, “If it’s true, we’ll do everything we can to get them safely back home.”
He said that the US discouraged Americans from traveling to Ukraine, which has endured a nearly four-month war against invading Russian forces.
“It is a war zone. It is combat. And if you feel passionate about supporting Ukraine, there’s any number of other ways to do that that are safer and just as effective,” Kirby told reporters.
The Telegraph, which first reported their disappearances, quoted an unnamed fellow fighter who said the two men were captured after running into a larger Russian force during a 9 June battle north-east of Kharkiv.
Drueke’s mother, Lois Drueke, said her son told his family that he was teaching Ukrainian troops how to use US-made weapons.
“Alex felt very strongly that he had been trained in ways that he could help the Ukrainians be strong and push Putin back,” she told the Washington Post, referring to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Two British nationals have been reported killed in the fighting and another two Britons are facing the death penalty after being captured and convicted as mercenaries by a pro-Russian court.
Joe Biden earlier Wednesday announced another $1bn in military aid to Ukraine but has said that US forces will not directly engage Russia, a fellow nuclear power. |
2022-07-08T15:58:40Z | Germany to reactivate coal power plants as Russia curbs gas flow | Germany’s two houses of parliament have passed emergency legislation to reactivate mothballed coal-fired power plants in order to support electricity generation amid fears of gas shortages as Russia curbs capacity.
The move has been described as “painful but necessary” by the government’s environmentalist economics minister, Robert Habeck. It has the backing of leading Greens in the coalition government, who argue it is needed as a short-term crisis management tool.
It was given final approval by the upper house of parliament on Friday, passed along with a package of measures to boost the expansion of renewable energies – in part by classifying them as a matter of public security – including by setting a minimum on the proportion of land each federal state must allow for windfarms.
But environmental campaigners argue the potential return to using such a highly polluting energy is a compromise too far and that Germany is in danger of missing even its most basic climate targets.
Before the Ukraine conflict, Germany planned to phase out coal by 2030 as it is far more carbon intensive than gas. But when gas supplies from Russia – on which Germany is highly dependent – started running short after Russia reduced the flow, moves were made to restart coal-fired power plants that had been mothballed.
The measures are meant to help wean Germany off Russian gas, making it less open to blackmail, and to preserve energy supplies before winter, using coal to produce electricity instead of gas, which needs to be saved for a wide range of industrial processes.
Industry bosses welcomed the move on Friday. In a statement, the Federation of German Industries (BDI) called the decision “better late than never”.
It said: “Politics and the economy must urgently use the summer months in order to save gas, to ensure the storage facilities are full ahead of the coming heating season. Otherwise we face a grave gas shortage with a sharp decline in industrial production. In this tense situation what counts is every single day and every cubic metre of gas we can save.”
Gas storage facilities were only about one-third full when war broke out. By Friday they had gradually been filled to about 63% capacity, amid saving measures and efforts to procure supplies from elsewhere. But they are still a considerable way off a 90% goal to be reached by 1 November, which experts say should just about see Germany through the winter.
Already households and industry have been urged to save as much energy as possible. Habeck has talked about reducing the length of his showers, and is encouraging Germans to do the same. Elsewhere municipalities have introduced measures to cut down on street lighting, to reduce the temperature of swimming pools, and some housing associations have even started rationing supplies of hot water to their tenants.
Gas bills have already doubled and could as much as quadruple over the winter. “We are talking about increases amounting to a month’s income for some families,” Haback has warned.
At the start of the war, Germans were being urged to cut gas usage to punish Vladimir Putin. Now the message has switched to cutting gas to ensure warmth in winter.
Supplies of gas from Russia via the pipeline Nord Stream 1 that runs through the Baltic Sea to Germany have been reduced to about 40% of the usual levels. On Monday an annual maintenance project on the pipeline, which is expected to shut it down for about 10 days, is being viewed as a crunch moment. There are widespread fears, supported by Habeck and other government figures, that Russia could use the opportunity to shut the pipeline down completely, on the pretext of failing parts.
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Habeck told parliament on Thursday that Germany was a hostage to circumstance, but also blamed the energy policies of the former government of Angela Merkel. “If you pose in front of melting icebergs, and rightly make a decision to turn your back on [nuclear] energy but forget that you need to build up an infrastructure for that to work, if you make climate policy decisions but don’t back them up with measures, then it’s like leaving Germany standing in the rain,” he said.
Klaus Ernst, the chair of the parliamentary committee on climate protection and energy, said the decision to reignite coal-fired plants amounted to a “climate policy disaster”.
Ernst, a member of the far-left Links party, said by imposing sanctions on Russia for which it was now seeking revenge, Germany had put itself in the position of “grasping at measures which hit our own country harder than the country we meant to hit with sanctions”.
He said that should gas supplies from Russia stop, Germany would face its worst economic crisis since the second world war.
Ricarda Lang, the chair of the Greens, said the coal-plant decision made her “stomach ache”, but that in the short term it was vital to ensure energy security over the coming months. “It is therefore right that we’re enabling coal plants to be used again, but at the same time we of course need to bust a gut to ensure that we still manage to stick to our goal of withdrawing from coal by 2030.” |
2022-07-10T15:03:38Z | Germany braces for ‘nightmare’ of Russia turning off gas for good | Germany is bracing itself for a potentially permanent halt to the flow of Russian gas from Monday when maintenance work begins on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that brings the fuel to Europe’s largest economy via the Baltic Sea.
The work on the 759-mile (1,220km) pipeline is an annual event and requires the gas taps to be closed for 10 to 14 days. But never before in the pipeline’s decade-long history has Germany seriously been asking whether the flow will begin again.
Robert Habeck, Germany’s economy minister, has not shied away from addressing the government’s concerns. On Saturday, he spoke of the “nightmare scenario” that could occur.
“Everything is possible, everything can happen,” Habeck told the broadcaster Deutschlandfunk. “It could be that the gas flows again, maybe more than before. It can also be the case that nothing comes.
“We need to honestly prepare for the worst-case scenario and do our best to try to deal with the situation.”
Contingency plans are rapidly being drawn up across Germany, where there are genuine concerns that Moscow may use the opportunity to further weaponise gas as a lever against the west in its war with Ukraine and permanently turn off supplies.
Russian gas is vital to the running of Germany’s economy as well as keeping the majority of homes warm. Flows through the pipeline have been reduced in recent months and are at about 40% of the usual levels. Russia has blamed sanctions for the reduced flow, arguing they have hindered its access to spare parts.
On Saturday, Canada said after consultation with Germany and the International Energy Agency that it would issue a temporary exemption to sanctions against Russia in order to allow the return from Montreal of a repaired Russian turbine that is required for the maintenance work to be carried out.
On Friday, the Kremlin said it would increase gas supplies to Europe once the turbine was returned to Russia. Ukraine has objected to this, arguing it helps continue the continent’s dependency on Russian gas.
But Canada’s natural resources minister, Jonathan Wilkinson, said the permission is “time-limited” and will help “Europe’s ability to access reliable and affordable energy as they continue to transition away from Russian oil and gas”.
Since the start of the war in February, Germany has been working to reduce its dependence on Russian gas, including through the construction of liquefied natural gas (LNG) ports.
On Friday, emergency legislation completed its passage through both houses of parliament to allow the reactivation of mothballed coal power plants, despite their carbon intensity.
But the overall withdrawal process has been complex and slow.
The short-term goal is to attempt to replenish stocks in Germany’s gas storage facilities to last the winter. The most recent reading, released by the Federal Network Agency on Friday, showed storage facilities to be at 63% capacity. The goal is 90% by 1 November.
The longer-term target is to lessen dependency on gas by increasing the generation of renewable energy, in part by redefining the sectors as being of vital importance to national security.
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German industry and households consume about two-thirds of the country’s gas supplies.
Plans are already in place to prioritise who would have access to gas in case of a cut. Hospitals and emergency services top the list, while households are ranked above most industrial concerns.
But on a more local level, as authorities battle with rising energy costs and the challenge of how to cope if households are left in the cold this winter, contingency plans are in place involving everything from shutting swimming pools, turning off street lamps and traffic lights, and housing citizens in industrial-scale dormitories. Not long ago destined for coronavirus patients, the makeshift containers have been described as “warm rooms” or “warmth islands”.
Meanwhile, demand for everything that heats without gas is at an unprecedented high, including electric and oil heaters, infrared panels and convectors, as well as basic camping stoves.
Installers of wood-burning ovens and heat pumps report long waiting lists and cite a chronic lack of parts, as well as a shortage of qualified personnel. |
2022-08-04T01:38:41Z | Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 162 of the invasion | Eight people have been killed and four have been wounded in Russian artillery shelling in the eastern Ukrainian town of Toretsk in Donetsk region on Thursday, the regional governor said. The shelling hit a public transport stop where people had gathered, the governor for the area, Pavlo Kyrylenko, wrote on Telegram. Three children were among the wounded, he said.
The UN is conducting a fact-finding mission in response to requests from both Russia and Ukraine after 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in an explosion at a barracks in separatist-controlled Olenivka. The warring nations have accused each other of carrying out the attack. Ukraine claims it was a special operation plotted in advance by the Kremlin, and carried out by Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group. Russia’s defence ministry, however, claims the Ukrainian military used US-supplied rockets to strike the prison.
A US official accused Moscow of preparing to plant fake evidence to make it look like the recent mass killing of Ukrainian prisoners in an attack on a Russian-controlled prison was caused by Ukraine. Kyiv and Moscow have traded blame over the strikes on the prison in Kremlin-controlled Olenivka, in eastern Ukraine, which Russia said took place overnight on 29 July.
Amnesty International has said the Ukrainian army is endangering the life of civilians by basing themselves in residential areas, in a report rejected by Ukrainian government representatives as placing blame on it for Russia’s invasion. The human rights group’s researchers found that Ukrainian forces were using some schools and hospitals as bases, firing near houses and sometimes living in residential flats. Ukraine’s deputy defence minister, Hanna Maliar, accused Amnesty of “distorting the real picture”.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, wants to talk directly to China’s leader, Xi Jinping, in the hope China can use its influence with Russia to bring the war to an end. According to a report in the South China Morning Post Zelenskiy said: “It’s a very powerful state. It’s a powerful economy. So (it) can politically, economically influence Russia. And China is [also a] permanent member of the UN security council.” So far, China has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion and its president, Xi Jinping, told Putin it would support Russia’s “sovereignty and security”.
A Moscow court has convicted the US basketball player Brittney Griner on drug charges, sentencing her to nine years in prison and a 1m rouble fine in a politically charged verdict that could lead to a prisoner swap with the United States. Griner, a basketball talent who played in Russia during off-seasons from the Phoenix Mercury, was arrested for cannabis possession in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport in February.
The US Senate has ratified Finland and Sweden’s accession to Nato, voting 95-1 in support. The US is the 23rd member state to ratify what would be the most significant expansion of the 30-member alliance since the 1990s as it responds to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “This historic vote sends an important signal of the sustained, bipartisan US commitment to Nato, and to ensuring our alliance is prepared to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow,” the president, Joe Biden, said in a statement. All 30 Nato members must ratify the accession before Finland and Sweden can become members.
Ukraine is pulling out its 40 peacekeepers from the Nato-led mission in Kosovo, which totals 3,800 members, according to Ukraine news. In March, Zelenskiy issued a decree for all missions to return to Ukraine to support the war.
A Russian official in Ukraine has claimed Ukrainian forces are using western arms to attack the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Europe’s largest nuclear plant is now controlled by Russian forces and being used as a military base, according to Reuters. However, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Ukrainian forces are not firing against Russian forces “lest there be a terrible accident involving the nuclear plant”. Reuters was unable to verify battlefield accounts from either side of the war.
The first shipment of grain to leave Ukraine under a deal to ease Russia’s naval blockade has reached Turkey. The Sierra Leone-registered ship Razoni set sail from Odesa port for Lebanon on Monday under an accord brokered by Turkey and the UN. The ship has been inspected by members of the joint coordination centre, and is now expected to move through the Bosphorus Strait “shortly”.
The Ukrainian president has dismissed the importance of the first grain export shipment from his country since Russia invaded, saying it was carrying a fraction of the crop Kyiv must sell to help salvage its shattered economy. In downbeat comments, Zelenskiy, via video to students in Australia on Wednesday, said more time was needed to see whether other grain shipments would follow.
The Kremlin said on Thursday that the Turkish-brokered deal to unblock Ukraine’s grain exports from the Black Sea was not a “one-off mechanism”, and that it hoped it would continue to work effectively. The deal, which allows for Ukrainian grain to be shipped to world markets via Turkey, must be renewed every 120 days by agreement of the parties.
The first shipment of Ukrainian grain to the UK since the war began is expected to arrive in 10 days, western officials said. Millions of tonnes of grain have been stuck in Ukraine since Russia invaded just over six months ago. |
2022-07-07T14:25:41Z | Glee in Russia and sadness in Ukraine as Boris Johnson quits | Boris Johnson’s downfall has been met with delight and ridicule in Moscow, while in Kyiv Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed sadness at the resignation of his key ally.
Johnson, who championed weapons transfers to Ukraine in the early stages of the war and was the first leader of a G7 country to visit Kyiv in April, has emerged as a much-loved figure in Ukraine. “We all heard this news [of Johnson’s resignation] with sadness,” Zelenskiy said in a statement after the two leaders spoke by phone. “Not only me, but also the entire Ukrainian society, which is very sympathetic to you.
“We have no doubt that Great Britain’s support will be preserved, but your personal leadership and charisma made it special.”
In a separate Instagram post, Zelenskiy addressed Johnson as a “friend”, writing that “all Ukrainians were saddened by the news of the resignation of the leader of the Conservative party”.
In Russia Johnson’s support for Ukraine made him a frequent target for state media. The Kremlin described him as the “most active anti-Russian leader”.
“He doesn’t like us. We don’t like him either,” Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said on Thursday morning.
As news of Johnson’s looming resignation reached Moscow, other senior Russian officials and Kremlin-linked businesspeople used stronger words, saying he had finally got his reward for arming Ukraine against Russia.
“The moral of the story – do not seek to destroy Russia. Russia cannot be destroyed. You can break your teeth on it, and then choke on them,” the foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram.
The deputy chair of Russia’s security council, Dmitry Medvedev, gloated that Johnson’s resignation was “the logical result of British arrogance and mediocre policy”.
“Ukraine’s best friends are departing. We are waiting for news from Germany, Poland and the Baltic states,” the former Russian president wrote on Telegram.
Russia’s leading businessman, Oleg Deripaska, said it was an “inglorious end” for a “stupid clown” whose conscience would be plagued by “tens of thousands of lives in this senseless conflict in Ukraine”.
Others used the opportunity to mock Johnson’s recent statements. The Russian embassy in the UK tweeted a Bloomberg headline from last month, which quoted him as saying he planned to stay on as prime minister until the mid-2030s. “Something must have gone wrong,” the embassy’s caption above the headline said.
In Ukraine one adviser to the president, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the subject, similarly said: “We believe that the UK will remain an important ally, but we are of course saddened. There was a genuine personal bond between the two leaders.”
00:42 Boris Johnson's confidence vote win is 'great news', says Zelenskiy – video
Mikhail Podolyak, another adviser to the Ukrainian president, thanked Johnson in a video address for “realising the threat of the Russian Federation monster and always being at the forefront of supporting Ukraine”.
He said: “Mr Johnson is a person who began to call a spade a spade from the beginning … Thanks to Mr Johnson we understand that victory is a real symbol of the future of Ukraine.”
Zelenskiy’s office has made no secret of its fondness for Johnson, repeatedly praising him as an example to other world leaders.
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When Johnson survived a confidence vote in April, Zelenskiy said he was “very happy” that Ukraine had not lost an important ally.
Johnson, too, appeared to cherish his relationship with Zelenskiy, which he was accused by critics of using to distract from scandals at home.
On the day of the confidence vote, Johnson tweeted an image of himself in 10 Downing Street speaking to Zelenskiy on the phone, along with a message offering long-term support for Ukraine.
As his ratings at home hit dramatic lows, his popularity on the streets of Kyiv, where he was affectionately known by many as Borys Johnsoniuk, only grew over time.
A poll published in June showed that Johnson was the most popular foreign leader in Ukraine, with a 90% approval rating, just three percentage points behind Zelenskiy.
A hipster bakery chain in Kyiv even dedicated a pastry to him in the form of an apple cake topped with a frilly coating of meringue, to reflect his signature mop of unkempt hair. |
2022-05-21T23:17:58Z | Russia bans 963 Americans from country - as it happened | From 21 May 2022 23.34 Joe Biden among 963 Americans receiving 'lifetime bans' from Russia Russia on Saturday released a list of 963 Americans it said were banned from entering the country, a punctuation of previously announced moves against president Joe Biden and other senior US officials. The country, which has received global condemnation for its 24 February invasion of Ukraine, said it would continue to retaliate against what it called hostile US actions, Reuters reported. The lifetime bans imposed on the Americans, including secretary of state Antony Blinken, US senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, defence secretary Lloyd Austin and CIA head William Burns, are largely symbolic. Joe Biden. Photograph: Getty Images They came on the same day Biden signed a support package providing nearly $40bn (£32bn) in aid for Ukraine. But the latest action by Russia forms part of a downward spiral in the country’s relations with the west since its invasion of Ukraine, which prompted Washington and allies to impose drastic sanctions on Moscow and step up arms supplies to Ukraine’s military. Several on the Russian government’s list of undesirables wouldn’t have been able to make the trip anyway: they are already dead. John McCain, the former Republican US presidential candidate and long-serving senator; Democrat Harry Reid, who served as senate majority leader from 2007 to 2015; and Orrin Hatch, whose 42 years in the chamber made him the longest-serving Republican senator in history; are all included. McCain died in August 2018 at the age of 81; Reid died last December, aged 82; and Hatch died on 23 April at 88. Last month, Russia’s foreign ministry banned Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Ben Wallace and 10 other British government members from entering the country. The ministry said the decision was made “in view of the unprecedented hostile action by the UK government”.
Updated at 23.36 BST
21 May 2022 00.17 This blog is closing now but we will be back in a few hours with more rolling updates on the war in Ukraine. In the meantime you can read all our coverage of the conflict here.
21 May 2022 00.00 That’s it from me, Richard Luscombe in the US, for tonight. Thanks for joining me for the last few hours. I’ll leave you with this latest look at the position in Ukraine from the Observer’s graphics desk, showing the areas of the country where Russia has been advancing, and others where the defenders have been fighting back. After the reported fall of Mariupol on Friday, Russia appears to be concentrating on Ukraine’s second largest city of Kharkiv, which is under attack from renewed shelling and pushes from Russian troops. Courtesy: Institute for the Study of War
Updated at 00.14 BST
21 May 2022 23.49 Shaun Walker The lights dimmed, a hush came over the auditorium and the orchestra struck up the first notes of the overture. This ritual has taken place thousands of times at Kyiv’s grand opera house over the past century, but the performance on Saturday afternoon was something out of the ordinary. In a city that over the past three months became used to wailing air-raid sirens and the thuds of artillery from the suburbs, the audience was instead treated to the frothy melodies of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. It marked the first performance since the missiles and shells of Vladimir Putin’s invasion rudely interrupted the opera season – and everything else in Ukraine – in the early hours of 24 February. Now, less than three months later and with fierce battles still raging in the eastern part of the country, the opera is back, although with some changes. Performances will only take place on weekend afternoons, a maximum of 300 tickets are sold, and the audience has to be ready to move quickly to the basement cloakrooms if air-raid sirens sound during a performance. The Kyiv Opera performs The Barber of Seville Photograph: Alessio Mamo/The Observer Saturday’s audience was a mix of couples enjoying their first opportunity for weeks to wear their most elegant outfits, and soldiers in military fatigues taking a break from their army service for some high culture. Only the stalls were full, with the four tiers of gilded balconies off-limits to ensure an evacuation could take place more quickly if needed. “I can’t say opera is my usual entertainment, but it is an incredible feeling to hear this music and to be in a different world for a little while, before coming back to our reality,” said Volodymyr, a soldier who only wanted to give his first name. Read more: Bravo! Music at reopened Kyiv opera replaces noise of Russian artillery Read more
21 May 2022 23.34 Joe Biden among 963 Americans receiving 'lifetime bans' from Russia Russia on Saturday released a list of 963 Americans it said were banned from entering the country, a punctuation of previously announced moves against president Joe Biden and other senior US officials. The country, which has received global condemnation for its 24 February invasion of Ukraine, said it would continue to retaliate against what it called hostile US actions, Reuters reported. The lifetime bans imposed on the Americans, including secretary of state Antony Blinken, US senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, defence secretary Lloyd Austin and CIA head William Burns, are largely symbolic. Joe Biden. Photograph: Getty Images They came on the same day Biden signed a support package providing nearly $40bn (£32bn) in aid for Ukraine. But the latest action by Russia forms part of a downward spiral in the country’s relations with the west since its invasion of Ukraine, which prompted Washington and allies to impose drastic sanctions on Moscow and step up arms supplies to Ukraine’s military. Several on the Russian government’s list of undesirables wouldn’t have been able to make the trip anyway: they are already dead. John McCain, the former Republican US presidential candidate and long-serving senator; Democrat Harry Reid, who served as senate majority leader from 2007 to 2015; and Orrin Hatch, whose 42 years in the chamber made him the longest-serving Republican senator in history; are all included. McCain died in August 2018 at the age of 81; Reid died last December, aged 82; and Hatch died on 23 April at 88. Last month, Russia’s foreign ministry banned Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Ben Wallace and 10 other British government members from entering the country. The ministry said the decision was made “in view of the unprecedented hostile action by the UK government”.
Updated at 23.36 BST
21 May 2022 23.14 Discord over the war in Ukraine spilled over into the Cannes film festival on Saturday night, with the presence of Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov - a dissident who has spoken out against his country’s invasion - under attack from Ukrainian filmmaker Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk. Reuters says that the Ukrainian used the debut showing of his movie Pamfir to criticise festival organisers for inviting the Russian. Kirill Serebrennikov. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images “When he’s here, he is part of the Russian propaganda, and they can use him,” Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk told the news agency during Cannes’ directors’ fortnight event. Serebrennikov, who has spoken out against the invasion of Ukraine, and said earlier this week that Russian culture should not be boycotted, premiered his in-competition film Tchaikovsky’s Wife at the festival on Wednesday. Set in the forests of western Ukraine’s Chernivtsi region, Pamfir begins with the return of a father, Leonid, to his family after months of working in Poland, a story with parallels in Ukrainian men being separated from loved ones while they fight the Russian invasion. “[The film] is a reflection of the strength and power of the Ukrainian people, who are very strong and who will win. It’s just a question of time … because we can’t be defeated,” actor Oleksandr Yatsentyuk, who plays Leonid, told Reuters.
Updated at 23.23 BST
21 May 2022 22.44 The Associated Press has published an incredibly powerful montage of images from inside Mariupol’s Azovstal steel mill, where hundreds of Ukrainian fighters and civilians were holed up for weeks before their final surrender on Friday. The pictures were taken by Dmytro Kozatsky, a member of Ukraine’s military who photographed his colleagues during lulls in fighting. He is now a prisoner of war in the hands of Russian forces. The images, the AP says, are his legacy. See them here. Dmytro Kozatsky was among the Ukrainian forces inside Mariupol’s Azovstal steel mill. In lulls between fighting, he photographed his comrades.
He is now a prisoner of war. His photos are his legacy. https://t.co/SHwEYV29bw — The Associated Press (@AP) May 21, 2022
21 May 2022 22.06 Summary It’s midnight in Kyiv, and time to take stock of today’s main developments in the Ukraine conflict: Russia is considering giving up Ukraine fighters captured in Mariupol for Viktor Medvedchuk , a detained ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin.
, a detained ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin. Russia banned 963 Americans, including President Biden, from entering the country. The list includes president Joe Biden, secretary of state Antony Blinken, and the CIA chief, William Burns.
The list includes president Joe Biden, secretary of state Antony Blinken, and the CIA chief, William Burns. President Biden signed the Ukraine funding bill . The US will provide nearly $40bn, or £32bn, in aid for Ukraine.
. The US will provide nearly $40bn, or £32bn, in aid for Ukraine. Turkey continues to have reservations about Sweden’s relationship with Kurdish militants , Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Swedish prime minister Magdalena Andersson in a phone call.
, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Swedish prime minister Magdalena Andersson in a phone call. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy met Portugal’s prime minister António Costa and described the meeting as “important and meaningful”. Portugal later announced an agreement to provide €250m in financial aid to Ukraine.
and described the meeting as “important and meaningful”. Portugal later announced an agreement to provide €250m in financial aid to Ukraine. Zelenskiy also had a phone conversation with Italy’s prime minister Mario Draghi, and says he stressed the importance of more sanctions on Russia and unblocking Ukrainian ports.
and says he stressed the importance of more sanctions on Russia and unblocking Ukrainian ports. Canada has imposed sanctions on the Russian-born billionaire and newspaper proprietor Alexander Lebedev. The former KGB agent is also the former owner of UK newspapers the Evening Standard and the Independent.
Updated at 19.49 BST
21 May 2022 21.35 Ukraine on Saturday again ruled out agreeing to a ceasefire with Russia and said Kyiv would not accept any deal with Moscow that involved ceding territory, Reuters reports. Acknowledging that Kyiv’s stance on the war was becoming more uncompromising, presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told the agency that concessions would backfire on Ukraine because Russia would hit back harder after any break in fighting: The war will not stop [after any concessions]. It will just be put on pause for some time. Podolyak was speaking with Reuters in an interview in the heavily guarded presidential office, where some of the windows and corridors are protected by sandbags, the agency said. You can read the full interview here.
21 May 2022 21.08 Russia 'considering prisoner swap' for oligarch Medvedchuk Moscow is exploring a possible exchange of Ukraine fighters captured at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol for an oligarch and politician close to president Vladimir Putin, a leading Russian negotiator says. According to AFP, Leonid Slutsky, a senior member of Russia’s negotiating team, the prisoners might be handed over if Ukraine gives up Viktor Medvedchuk, a wealthy businessman known as the “dark prince” of Ukraine politics who was detained last month for a second time. Viktor Medvedchuk. Photograph: Serhii Nuzhnenko/Reuters “We are going to study the possibility,” Slutsky said, speaking from the separatist city of Donetsk in southeastern Ukraine, according to AFP citing the RIA Novosti news agency.
Medvedchuk, 67, is one of Ukraine’s richest people and is known for his close ties to Putin, as well as being a member of Ukraine’s parliament. The Guardian reported last month that the Kremlin said it would not consider a trade for Medvedchuk, who escaped from house arrest after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, but was re-arrested in mid-April. Among the Ukrainian fighters who gave themselves up to Russian troops in Mariupol were members of the Azov regiment, a former paramilitary unit which has integrated into the Ukrainian armed forces.
21 May 2022 20.44 Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke with Italian prime minister Mario Draghi Saturday afternoon, and says he stressed the importance of more sanctions on Russia and unblocking Ukrainian ports. Zelenskiy tweeted that he had also thanked Draghi for his “unconditional support” of Ukraine’s bid to become a member of the European Union. Draghi initiated the call, he said. Had a phone conversation with #MarioDraghi at his initiative. Talked about defensive cooperation, the need to accelerate the 6th package of sanctions and unblock Ukrainian ports. Thanked for the unconditional support for Ukraine on the path to the #EU. — Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 21, 2022
21 May 2022 20.38 Several among the 963 Americans banned for life from entering Russia wouldn’t have been able to make the trip anyway: because they are already dead. John McCain, the former Republican US presidential candidate and long-serving senator; Democrat Harry Reid, who served as senate majority leader from 2007 to 2015; and Orrin Hatch, whose 42 years in the chamber made him the longest-serving Republican senator in history; are all on the Russian government’s new list of undesirables. McCain died in August 2018 at the age of 81; Reid died last December, aged 82; and Hatch died on 23 April at 88. Morgan Freeman. Photograph: Kevin Winter/Getty Images Still very much alive, but now banned from Russia for perceived slights against Russian president Vladimir Putin or his regime, are the actor Morgan Freeman, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, British journalist and CNN correspondent Nick Paton Walsh, and Jeff Katzenberg, chief executive of the DreamWorks animation studio. As if to reinforce the fact that whomever compiled the lists didn’t fully complete their homework, Chuck Schumer, the Democratic senate majority leader is incorrectly identified as a “former Democratic senator” and “deputy senate minority leader”; while Rod Rosenstein, deputy attorney general of the US from 2017 to 2019, is given the first name “Ron”.
You can peruse the full list here.
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2022-07-07T14:25:41Z | Glee in Russia and sadness in Ukraine as Boris Johnson quits | Boris Johnson’s downfall has been met with delight and ridicule in Moscow, while in Kyiv Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed sadness at the resignation of his key ally.
Johnson, who championed weapons transfers to Ukraine in the early stages of the war and was the first leader of a G7 country to visit Kyiv in April, has emerged as a much-loved figure in Ukraine. “We all heard this news [of Johnson’s resignation] with sadness,” Zelenskiy said in a statement after the two leaders spoke by phone. “Not only me, but also the entire Ukrainian society, which is very sympathetic to you.
“We have no doubt that Great Britain’s support will be preserved, but your personal leadership and charisma made it special.”
In a separate Instagram post, Zelenskiy addressed Johnson as a “friend”, writing that “all Ukrainians were saddened by the news of the resignation of the leader of the Conservative party”.
In Russia Johnson’s support for Ukraine made him a frequent target for state media. The Kremlin described him as the “most active anti-Russian leader”.
“He doesn’t like us. We don’t like him either,” Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said on Thursday morning.
As news of Johnson’s looming resignation reached Moscow, other senior Russian officials and Kremlin-linked businesspeople used stronger words, saying he had finally got his reward for arming Ukraine against Russia.
“The moral of the story – do not seek to destroy Russia. Russia cannot be destroyed. You can break your teeth on it, and then choke on them,” the foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram.
The deputy chair of Russia’s security council, Dmitry Medvedev, gloated that Johnson’s resignation was “the logical result of British arrogance and mediocre policy”.
“Ukraine’s best friends are departing. We are waiting for news from Germany, Poland and the Baltic states,” the former Russian president wrote on Telegram.
Russia’s leading businessman, Oleg Deripaska, said it was an “inglorious end” for a “stupid clown” whose conscience would be plagued by “tens of thousands of lives in this senseless conflict in Ukraine”.
Others used the opportunity to mock Johnson’s recent statements. The Russian embassy in the UK tweeted a Bloomberg headline from last month, which quoted him as saying he planned to stay on as prime minister until the mid-2030s. “Something must have gone wrong,” the embassy’s caption above the headline said.
In Ukraine one adviser to the president, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the subject, similarly said: “We believe that the UK will remain an important ally, but we are of course saddened. There was a genuine personal bond between the two leaders.”
00:42 Boris Johnson's confidence vote win is 'great news', says Zelenskiy – video
Mikhail Podolyak, another adviser to the Ukrainian president, thanked Johnson in a video address for “realising the threat of the Russian Federation monster and always being at the forefront of supporting Ukraine”.
He said: “Mr Johnson is a person who began to call a spade a spade from the beginning … Thanks to Mr Johnson we understand that victory is a real symbol of the future of Ukraine.”
Zelenskiy’s office has made no secret of its fondness for Johnson, repeatedly praising him as an example to other world leaders.
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When Johnson survived a confidence vote in April, Zelenskiy said he was “very happy” that Ukraine had not lost an important ally.
Johnson, too, appeared to cherish his relationship with Zelenskiy, which he was accused by critics of using to distract from scandals at home.
On the day of the confidence vote, Johnson tweeted an image of himself in 10 Downing Street speaking to Zelenskiy on the phone, along with a message offering long-term support for Ukraine.
As his ratings at home hit dramatic lows, his popularity on the streets of Kyiv, where he was affectionately known by many as Borys Johnsoniuk, only grew over time.
A poll published in June showed that Johnson was the most popular foreign leader in Ukraine, with a 90% approval rating, just three percentage points behind Zelenskiy.
A hipster bakery chain in Kyiv even dedicated a pastry to him in the form of an apple cake topped with a frilly coating of meringue, to reflect his signature mop of unkempt hair. |
2022-06-13T17:13:40Z | More than 15,000 millionaires expected to leave Russia in 2022 | More than 15,000 millionaires are expected to flee Russia this year, as wealthy citizens turn their back on Vladmir Putin’s regime after the invasion of Ukraine, according to an analysis of migration data.
About 15% of Russians with more than $1m (£820,000) in ready assets are expected to have emigrated to other countries by the end of 2022, according to projects based on migration data by Henley & Partners, a London-based firm that acts as matchmaker between the super-rich and countries selling their citizenships.
“Russia [is] haemorrhaging millionaires,” said Andrew Amoils, the head of research at New World Wealth, which compiled the data for Henley. “Affluent individuals have been emigrating from Russia in steadily rising numbers every year over the past decade, an early warning sign of the current problems the country is facing. Historically, major country collapses have usually been preceded by an acceleration in emigration of wealthy people, who are often the first to leave as they have the means to do so.”
Ukraine is projected to suffer the greatest loss of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) as a proportion of its population, with 2,800 millionaires (or 42% of all HNWIs in Ukraine) expected to have left the country by the end of the year.
The world’s wealthy have traditionally relocated to the US and the UK but Henley said the United Arab Emirates is expected to overtake them as the No 1 destination for millionaire emigrants. “UK has lost its wealth hub crown, and the US is fading fast as a magnet for the world’s wealthy, with the UAE expected to overtake it by attracting the largest net inflows of millionaires globally in 2022,” Henley said in its report, which is based on “systematically tracking international private wealth migration trends”.
About 4,000 HNWIs are expected to have moved to the UAE by the end of the year, ahead of Australia, which is expected to attract about 3,500, Singapore (2,800) and Israel (2,500).
Large numbers of millionaires are also expected to move to “the three Ms”: Malta, Mauritius and Monaco.
“Malta has been one of Europe’s great success stories of the past decade, not just in terms of millionaire migration but also in terms of overall wealth growth,” Amoils said. “It is currently one of the world’s fastest-growing markets, with US dollar wealth growth of 87% between 2011 and 2021. Its citizenship by naturalisation process has brought substantial new wealth to the island nation and has been credited with propelling Malta’s strong growth in multiple sectors including financial services, IT and real estate. Approximately 300 millionaires are expected to move to Malta in 2022.”
The Guardian reported last year that many wealthy people buying “golden passports” to Malta (and thereby the EU) often planned to spend little time in the country. At the time, Henley said it was “proud of the service that it has provided to Malta and its people”.
The Indian Ocean island nation Mauritius is described by Henley as a “wealth magnet” because of the creation of an international financial centre offering significant tax breaks. The country has no capital gains tax, no inheritance tax, and maximum tax rate of 3% of global companies.
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According to the Africa Wealth Report 2022, Mauritius is now home to 4,800 HNWIs compared with 2,700 a decade ago. Approximately 150 millionaires are expected to move to Mauritius in 2022, mainly from South Africa and Europe.
Monaco has long attracted the world’s super-rich because it does not charge income tax, capital gains tax or property tax. Just under seven in 10 people living in Monaco are dollar millionaires.
The UK’s HNWI population is expected to decline by 1,500, taking the number of people with more than $1m in ready assets to 738,000. There are currently just over 15 million HNWIs in the world. |
2022-07-29T12:21:30Z | Evgeny Lebedev wanted private Russia trip for Johnson when mayor of London | The Evening Standard owner, Evgeny Lebedev, sought to organise a private weekend trip in Russia in June 2014 for Boris Johnson when he was London mayor, according to emails newly disclosed under freedom of information laws.
The unusual excursion, at one point discussed over dinner in Moscow by Johnson’s then chief of staff, Edward Lister, and Evgeny’s father, Alexander, would have been tacked on to the end of an official visit to Moscow and St Petersburg.
Ultimately, the proposed trip, with its two-day “personal leg”, did not go ahead. But emails sent the previous autumn show there was enthusiasm on both sides for a holiday that sheds fresh light on the relationship between Johnson, Evgeny Lebedev and his father, a former colonel in the KGB.
Evgeny Lebedev’s chief of staff wrote directly to Lister on 7 August 2013 to begin outlining a trip by Johnson to Russia in June the following year. The email makes clear the two had already discussed the idea.
“He is very happy to agree to a June date for the proposed visit to Russia,” the aide wrote. “In terms of the personal leg of the trip, he [Evgeny] was keen this happened at the tail end – ie the weekend following the ‘formal’ business.”
An email from Lister on 16 September indicated plans were developing: “Boris has it in his diary for the 23 June [2014] for a week and I have told him that the end of the week and weekend will be private with Evgeny (I hope that’s right) so we need to build a programme around the rest?”
Alexander and Evgeny Lebedev in London in 2012. Photograph: Wenn Rights Ltd/Alamy
It is not clear from the correspondence why the trip did not go ahead as discussed, but it appears to have become politically impossible after Russia’s invasion of the Ukrainian province of Crimea in spring 2014.
An article in the Evening Standard in March 2014 reported that Johnson had been invited by his mayoral counterpart in Moscow for a “short trade and cultural trip in early October” – but said it could be cancelled after “events in Ukraine”.
Johnson has known Evgeny Lebedev for well over a decade, a relationship marked by the senior politician’s regular attendance at parties hosted by the Evening Standard proprietor in London and Italy. When Johnson was foreign secretary, he visited the proprietor’s Italian palazzo without security for a weekend party in April 2018 – and while he was prime minister handed his friend a peerage.
But a trip to Russia, even before the Crimea crisis, would probably have been different. Western intelligence officials say that Russian spy agencies take an intense interest in visiting western politicians, using their trips as an opportunity to create or develop psychological profiles of key figures.
Kremlin papers from early 2016 seen by the Guardian suggested that, from a Russian perspective, a “mentally unstable” Donald Trump would be the best candidate to win that year’s presidential race. They refer to information obtained from Trump’s earlier “non-official visits to Russian Federation territory”.
Earlier this month, Johnson acknowledged he had met Alexander Lebedev at the family palazzo at the 2018 party – but he told MPs this week that the meeting was not pre-arranged and insisted that “as far as I am aware, no government business was discussed”.
The cache of emails also shows that Lister sought a meeting with Alexander Lebedev in Moscow in December 2013, when he was due to attend the Moscow Urban Forum. An aide of Lister’s inquires “about whether there is potential for a meeting, lunch or dinner with Mr A Lebedev” during his trip.
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It was agreed the two would meet on 5 December at Bistrot, a stylish Italian-themed restaurant, where the idea of a visit by Johnson was discussed. Lebedev paid for the meal; a gift, the emails indicate, that was worth £100 to Lister.
“As we discussed, the mayor is keen to visit Moscow if his diary allows,” Lister wrote in a subsequent thank you letter, which also suggests the plans had become more fluid. Johnson’s aide promised to get back in touch when “we have a firmer idea of when he may be able to travel to Russia”.
Len Duvall, a Labour member of the London Assembly, who helped uncover the correspondence, said the emails “raise questions about some of the international business and investment links that were forged under Boris Johnson’s mayoralty”.
Given recent reporting about Johnson’s links to the Lebedevs, it was “firmly in the public interest” to look back at his record running the city, he added. |
2022-07-26T13:40:07Z | British pro-Kremlin video blogger added to UK government Russia sanctions list | A British citizen who video blogs pro-Kremlin material from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine has been added to a UK government sanctions list.
Graham Phillips, who has been accused of being a conduit for pro-Russian propaganda, is one of 42 new designations added to the UK’s Russia sanctions list. Other additions include Russia’s minister and deputy minister of justice and two nephews of the Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who was himself placed under sanctions by Britain in March.
Phillips – the first UK citizen to be added to the growing sanctions list – has long been a controversial figure, receiving medals from the Russian state for his reporting. He has consistently toed the Russian line on the war, suggesting in recent weeks that Ukraine is run by Nazis and that the massacre of Ukrainians in Bucha was staged.
In April Phillips drew condemnation from Boris Johnson and others when he interviewed Aiden Aslin, a British member of the Ukrainian armed forces who had been captured by Russian forces during the siege of Mariupol. Aslin is facing the death penalty.
The new UK sanctions list includes Syrian officials accused of recruiting mercenaries to fight in Ukraine, as well as Vitaliy Khotsenko, the Russian-imposed prime minister of the self-proclaimed republic in Donetsk, and Vladislav Kuznetsov, the first deputy chairman of the self-proclaimed republic in Luhansk, eastern Ukraine.
Sarvar and Sanjar Ismailov, the nephews of Alisher Usmanov, have significant interests in the UK and are believed to own homes in Highgate and Hampstead Heath in London.
Phillips – who faces a freeze of his assets – is described on the sanctions list as “a video blogger who has produced and published media content that supports and promotes actions and policies which destabilise Ukraine and undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine”.
Commenting on the newly sanctioned individuals, the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, said: “We will not keep quiet and watch Kremlin-appointed state actors suppress the people of Ukraine or the freedoms of their own people. We will continue to impose harsh sanctions on those who are trying to legitimise Putin’s illegal invasion until Ukraine prevails.”
Johnson described Phillips’ interview with Aslin as a “propaganda message” for Russia. Aslin’s local MP, Robert Jenrick, said Phillips’ video showed his constituent “handcuffed, physically injured and being interviewed under duress for propaganda purposes”.
Jenrick said the video was a breach of the Geneva conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war and that “the interviewer Graham Phillips is in danger of prosecution for war crimes”.
Aslin was captured by Russian forces while defending the besieged city of Mariupol, although it remains unclear how he ended up being interviewed by Phillips.
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Phillips says his work is self-funded and regularly solicits donations from his 264,000 YouTube subscribers. He also earns money from YouTube adverts paid for by big western companies. YouTube has so far declined to take down Phillips’ videos, despite calls from politicians to remove the channel.
In July 2014 he was banned from entering Ukraine but managed to illegally enter the occupied territories.
His rise from obscure Briton abroad to figure of national political interest was unlikely. According to a 2014 interview with BuzzFeed News, Phillips first went to Ukraine when travelling as an away fan to an England football match.
Aged 30, he quit his job at the now defunct UK government Central Office of Information and moved full-time to Ukraine, where he reinvented himself as a journalist. |
2022-07-03T17:20:10Z | Russia says it has full control of Luhansk region in Ukraine | Russia has said it is in control of Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region after taking over Lysychansk, the last Ukrainian-controlled city in the region.
The Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, told Vladimir Putin on Sunday that their forces had established “full control” over Lysychansk and several nearby settlements, the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
Ukraine’s military command confirmed on Sunday evening that its troops had been forced to pull back from the city, saying there would otherwise be “fatal consequences”.
It said: “In order to preserve the lives of Ukrainian defenders, a decision was made to withdraw.”
Earlier in the day Ukraine had disputed the Russian claim. The president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Russia was not in full control and the battle was continuing on the outskirts of the city. He admitted, however, that Ukraine was in a tough spot.
But by Sunday night, he acknowledged the loss of the city, vowing to retake the area due to the army’s tactics and the prospect of new, improved weaponry.
“If the commanders of our army withdraw people from certain points at the front, where the enemy has the greatest advantage in fire power, and this also applies to Lysychansk, it means only one thing,” Zelenskiy said in his evening video address. “That we will return thanks to our tactics, thanks to the increase in the supply of modern weapons.”
Fighting in Ukraine’s east has remained intense since Moscow refocused its efforts there. Violence has even spread out of Ukraine, with officials in the Russian city of Belgorod accusing Ukrainian forces on Sunday of bombing a neighbourhood and killing three people and damaging homes.
A Russian takeover of Lysychansk means Moscow has in effect won control of the entire Luhansk region as well as more than half of the Donetsk region, amounting to about 75% of the two eastern regions, which are collectively known as Donbas.
Occupying the whole of the Donbas region has been a key goal of the Russian invasion, with the country concentrating a large chunk of its forces there after failing to occupy northern Ukraine, including the capital, Kyiv, at the end of March.
The advance would bring Russian forces closer to several other cities and towns in Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk, including the frontline town of Sloviansk, where authorities said six people were killed and 15 injured in shelling on Sunday, and in the post-2014 regional capital of Kramatorsk, where a missile destroyed a hotel, according to its mayor Oleksandr Goncharenko. He said three rockets hit the town on Sunday and that there were no reported victims so far.
The night Russia invaded Ukraine, we were staying at this hotel in Kramatorsk (where the decor and sateen sheets were something else)
Today it was flattened in a Russian missile strike @tonyprod77 @JonHughes1 @DariaSipigina pic.twitter.com/jr8PR1RbC8 — Sarah Rainsford (@sarahrainsford) July 3, 2022
Russian forces published a video online allegedly shot in Lysychansk of Russian soldiers jubilantly holding up Russian and Chechen flags in front of war-damaged buildings.
Last month Ukraine’s army withdrew from the Luhansk city of Sievierodonetsk, just north of Lysychansk, citing the scale of their losses. Though Ukraine does not publicise figures on the number of Ukrainian soldiers killed and in what locations, the Ukrainian president’s adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said at the time that between 100 and 200 Ukrainian soldiers were dying each day.
The London-based Institute for the Study of War said Ukrainian forces had probably deliberately withdrawn from Lysychansk to avoid encirclement.
The highway and main supply route between the Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk region and Lysychansk had become precarious because of shelling. Several civilians including a French journalist have died driving along the route over the last month.
Inside Lysychansk, according to one aid worker interviewed by France24 who was still doing evacuations from the city, Russia was using its superior artillery capabilities to flatten buildings one by one, which meant Ukrainian troops had nowhere to shelter.
“Russian forces are entrenched in the area of Lysychansk and the city is on fire,” said Serhiy Haidai, the governor of the Luhansk region. “If houses and administrative buildings in Sievierodonetsk survived a month of street fighting, in Lysychansk the same administrative buildings were completely destroyed in a shorter period of time.”
Haidai said that despite Ukrainian forces destroying a Russian ammunitions depot in eastern Ukraine, the Russians were “stubbornly advancing”.
Ukraine’s military intelligence told the Guardian last month that Ukraine had one artillery piece to 10 to 15 Russian artillery pieces. Since then, several western countries have promised the delivery of more military aid, including artillery.
Separately, Russia blamed Ukraine for a missile attack on the Russian city of Belgorod, near the border with Ukraine, in which it said three people died and four were injured, including a 10-year-old child. Belgorod’s regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said 11 apartment buildings and 39 detached houses were damaged or destroyed in the overnight incident.
The Russian defence ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said it “was intentionally planned and launched at the civilian population”. Russia said it intercepted three Ukrainian missiles, but one fell on to an apartment building.
There have been several instances of explosions in Belgorod since the invasion began. Ukraine has not directly accepted responsibility but has previously described the incidents as “karma” for Russia.
The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, a Russian ally, has said the two states have created “a single army” and that Belarus will stick with Russia in its war against Ukraine.
“We were and will act together with our brothers in Russia. Our participation in the ‘special operation’ was determined by me a long time ago,” the Belarusian state news agency Belta reported Lukashenko as saying as he marked Belarusian Independence Day on Sunday.
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On Saturday, Lukashenko claimed that no Belarusian soldier was currently fighting in Ukraine, and that Belarus would only fight in response to a provocation. He then claimed, without providing evidence, that last week Belarusian anti-aircraft systems had shot down several missiles that were fired by Ukraine at Belarusian military installations.
“We are being provoked. I have to tell you – three days ago, maybe a little more, they tried to attack military facilities on the territory of Belarus from the territory of Ukraine. But, thank God, the Panzer anti-aircraft systems managed to intercept all the missiles,” Lukashenko said.
Ukraine has not responded to Lukashenko’s claims but in an interview on 6 June, Zelenskiy played down the risk of a repeat invasion from Belarusian territory. |
2022-06-10T06:45:15Z | Finland and Russia: a photo journey through the border zone | Antti Kettunen, 44, runs through a slalom consisting of two orange pylons with his pistol drawn. Then, back at the starting point, he kneels behind a construction of two pallets, aims through a gap and hits the target more than eight meters away.
Behind him, intently, two women and six men watch as Kettunen moves. They have all volunteered to take part in reserve exercises. Kettunen, the trainer and chairman of the reserve association, is seeing some of them today for the first time. In a patch of forest about an hour away from Helsinki, weekly shooting exercises are held with four different types of weapons. Since 24 February this year, the reservist association in Vantaa has received more than 400 new members; at the beginning of the year, the entire association counted about 1,000 members.
Antti Kettunen, 44, the coach and chairman of the Vantaa Reservists Association.
On 18 May 2022, Finland submitted its Nato application – a decision Kettunen has been awaiting for a long time. Although there was only about 20% support for Nato membership before Russia’s aggression, Kettunen does not know a single person who would oppose membership. Shortly after the end of the war in Kosovo, Kettunen took part in a peace mission. “You could say the mass graves were still warm when we arrived. The mission changed everything for me. Only alliances like Nato can ensure peace in the long run.” So says Kettunen when asked about Finland’s imminent accession to Nato.
From late April to mid-May we – the Finnish photographer Jonathan Terlinden and German photographer Patrick Junker – travelled through Finland to visit people and places to better understand the history between Finland and Russia.
Suomenlinna fortress, where even today marines are trained. A large part of the island has been a Unesco world heritage Site since 1991.
The first stop on our journey took us to Suomenlinna fortress, a few miles outside Helsinki. Its construction was started in 1748 and became necessary when the Russian tsar Peter the Great tried to assert Russia as a naval power by founding St Petersburg. The fortress surrendered in 1808, and the then Swedish province of Finland became the Grand Duchy of Finland a year later and thus part of Russia.
Tamara Danylova, 26, a journalist from Ukraine, arrived in Finland two weeks ago. She is living with two friends in a hostel that has been converted into a refugee shelter. She comes from Sloviansk, a city in the Donetsk region, and has supported the Ukrainian army with her family since 2014. Most recently, she lived in Lviv. But as the fighting drew closer and closer to the city, she decided to flee.
Juho Moilainen, 20, is completing his military service and has come home for the weekend. He is not worried. “We have always lived here on the Russian border. Nothing has changed,” he says. As is common in rural Finland, he spends his Friday evening in the car with his friends. For the young generation, the threat of war is very abstract.
Fifty years later, tsar Alexander II granted the Finns extensive autonomy. The Finnish language was promoted to weaken the influence of the Swedes and anchor the Grand Duchy in the Russian Empire. But the desire for Finnish independence grew. Only in 1917, after the October Revolution in Russia, did Finland declare independence. But Finland was a divided country. A bloody civil war between the Whites led by the conservative Finnish senate fought against the Red socialists ensued. Almost 30,000 people died in connection with the Finnish civil war.
Helena Seppänen is waiting to watch the bears. She lives right on the Finnish-Russian border, in Ruhtinansalmi.
“People in Russia are not evil. I have many good friends there. But if I hadn’t seen so much of Russia, I would think differently today,” says Helena Seppänen, 71, from Ruhtinansalmi, a town 450 miles north of Helsinki and a walk from the Russian border. Suomussalmi, the nearest major city, is an hour’s drive away. When we arrive here at the end of April, the days are sunny and clear. Nevertheless, the rugged lake landscape ice is still strong enough to carry cross-country skiers and ice fishers. Helena and Eero Seppänen, 77, could already see the first bears. A few weeks ago they woke up from hibernation.
Before 1989, there was an invisible wall here. It was a strange situation. Now we have this invisible wall again Helena Seppänen
A family portrait of Eero Seppänen, taken in 1946. He is the baby on his father’s arm and one year old at the time.
Eero Seppänen has lived here all his life. His mother, Lempi, is revered as a hero in the village. She watched the first Russian soldiers cross the border on 30 November 1939. She took her three children and ran 6 miles to warn the villages and soldiers on the other side of the river. It was the beginning of the winter war and consolidated the national identity of the Finns. In this chapter of Finnish history, especially the battle around Suomussalmi, are many parallels to the situation in Ukraine today.
Russian security interests served as a pretext for attacking a militarily hopelessly inferior nation. But the Finns were able to resist the overwhelming enemy in the impassable terrain and deep winter, a resistance the Soviets did not expect. They actually believed that they would free the Finnish people from the yoke of the landowners and capitalists. But the opposite was the case: the enemy’s attack and the first victories of their own military made the camps, which had been hostile to each other from the civil war, grow together. Through the “spirit of the winter war” Finland gained international prestige and internal strength. A peace treaty was reached, yet Finland had to cede territory to the Soviet Union. Although the country fought alongside Germany in the continuation war from 1941, it remained independent and free of alliances after the second world war.
The Russian memorial on Raate Museum Road was erected on 19 September 1994. The statue’s base bears the text in Russian and Finnish: “To the sons of the fatherland – mourning Russia”.
Veli Merentie, 98
The permanently perceived latent threat from the east forced Finland to perform an often criticised balancing act in its foreign policy in the decades after the second world war, which aimed at not provoking the Soviet Union and later Russia. During the cold war, the term “Finlandisation” was established in the west. Although neutrality was maintained, the influence of the Soviet Union was noticeable. For this reason, the country has consciously refrained from joining Nato.
There has always been a lot of talk about the war in Finland. Especially since we have such an unpredictable neighbour Veli Merentie, 98
“When Putin threatened Finland and said we shouldn’t join the Nato, I changed my mind completely; of course, we should join the Nato,” says Veli Merentie, 98. “He has nothing to say about what we Finns should do.” Merentie himself took part in the continuation war, and two of his brothers died in the winter war. Finland is a country on high alert. It has always been the border between the west and east.
Paavo Terä, is doing his military service in the tank brigade. He comes from a military family, and his great-grandfathers have already fought in the winter war and continuation war.
“Russia already sees us as an enemy since we joined the EU. For them, we are already the frontline, they just haven’t attacked yet,” says Paavo Terä, 19, as we met him at the Arrow 22 military exercise. Unlike many other EU countries, Finland has retained its military service even after joining the EU. The Finnish armed forces have a standing strength of 34,700 and about 900,000 reservists. The armed forces regularly participate in various international exercises. In May 2022, the Finnish army was visited by forces from the UK, Latvia, the US, and Estonia to practice cooperation in the framework of Exercise Arrow 22.
On the day we and more than 40 other media visited the Arrow 22 military exercise, a Russian military helicopter violated Finnish airspace. Such incidents are becoming more frequent. For example, in early April, a Russian army transport aircraft briefly entered Finnish airspace. In parallel, property is being expropriated from Russian oligarchs, and economic cooperations are terminated. Finns have become more aware that Russian oligarchs have suspect properties in Finland in recent years. Large apartment buildings and villas in strategically essential locations have attracted much media attention.
Pentti Seppänen playing his accordion.
Back to Suomussalmi; Pentti Seppänen, 82, has also spent his whole life close to the Russian border. The retired teacher is involved in many associations, including the Veterans Association. He was born when his mother was evacuated, and his father fought in the battle for Suomussalmi in the winter war. Yet, no matter what the politicians decide, all that matters to him is that peace is kept. “The war in Ukraine shows that the Russian government can make absurd decisions. A Finnish Nato membership probably won’t make them start thinking rationally.” |
2022-07-24T16:22:11Z | Russia rallies support in Africa as doubt cast on Ukraine grain deal | Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has reassured Egypt over Russian grain supplies at the start of a four-country tour of Africa, amid uncertainty over the future of a deal to resume Ukrainian exports via the Black Sea.
Egypt, one of the world’s top wheat importers, bought 80% of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine last year, and has been torn between ties to Moscow and its close relationship to the west.
“We confirmed the commitment of Russian exporters of cereal products to meet their orders in full,” Lavrov said in Cairo after talks with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry. “We discussed … cooperation in this area, agreed on further contacts, and have a common understanding of the causes of the grain crisis.”
Russia’s 24 February invasion of Ukraine has massively disrupted grain shipments, with a blockade of Ukrainian ports by Russia’s Black Sea fleet trapping tens of millions of tonnes of grain, dramatically exacerbating existing supply chain problems.
Global commodity prices have soared, prompting the UN to say that an additional 47 million people are facing “acute hunger”. Many of the worst-affected countries are in Africa. Russia has blamed the blockade on Ukrainian mines.
Lavrov’s tour, which will also take in Uganda, Ethiopia and Congo, is aimed essentially at rallying African nations to Russia’s side. In an article published in four African papers, he rejected accusations that Russia was responsible for the food crisis.
He hailed what he called “an independent path” taken by African countries in refusing to join western sanctions against Russia and the “undisguised attempts of the US and their European satellites to gain the upper hand and impose a unipolar world order”.
The Russian foreign minister’s visit came as Ukraine warned that grain exports would not restart as hoped after the signing of a landmark deal aimed at easing the food crisis if a Russian airstrike on a key port on Saturday was a sign of things to come.
The attack, which the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, denounced as “barbarism” and as a sign that Moscow could not be trusted to implement the freshly inked deal, drew international condemnation.
Turkey, which helped broker the accord allowing exports to resume, said immediately after the double cruise missile hits on the strategic southern port that it had received assurances from Moscow that Russian forces were not responsible.
But Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday the strikes had destroyed a naval vessel and arms delivered by Washington. Kyiv said two Kalibr missiles fired from Russian warships hit an area around a pumping station and that two more were shot down.
“High-precision, long-range missiles launched from the sea destroyed a docked Ukrainian warship and a stockpile of anti-ship missiles delivered by the US,” Moscow claimed. “A Ukrainian army repair and upgrade plant has also been put out of order.”
The strike, which Ukrainian armed forces said did not hit the port’s grain storage area or cause significant damage, cast grave doubts on the future of the deal, which allows Ukrainian grain ships to navigate safe corridors that avoid known mines in the Black Sea and was hailed on Friday as a diplomatic breakthrough.
Kyiv said preparations to restore grain shipments to their prewar levels of 5m tonnes a month were continuing, but Zelenskiy’s economic adviser, Oleg Ustenko, warned on Sunday that the airstrike “indicates it will definitely not work like that”.
Ustenko told Ukrainian television that Ukraine had the capacity to export 60m tonnes of grain over the next nine months, but it would take up to 24 months if its ports could not function properly.
Odesa is one of three designated export hubs under the deal brokered by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the UN chief, António Guterres, who presided over the signing ceremony on Friday and – along with the EU, US, UK, Germany and Italy – unequivocally condemned the attack.
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The agreement in Istanbul has brought little reprieve on the battlefield. As the war entered its sixth month on Sunday, Russian forces continued to bombard a sprawling frontline over the weekend, Ukraine’s presidency said on Sunday.
It said that among the attacks in the industrial east and south, four Russian cruise missiles had hit residential areas in the southern city of Mykolaiv on Saturday, injuring five people, including a teenager.
The governor of the eastern Donetsk region, one of two that make up Ukraine’s industrial heartland of the Donbas and are a key focus of Russia’s offensive, said two civilians had been killed and two more injured in the last 24 hours.
The British defence ministry said on Sunday in its daily intelligence update that Russia was making “minimal progress” in its Donbas offensive, which it said remained small-scale and focused on the eastern city of Bakhmut.
The Ukrainian military again referred to Russian operations paving the way for an assault on Bakhmut, while heavy Russian shelling prompted the mayor of Kharkiv to urge people of Ukraine’s second largest city to avoid travelling overground.
“The last week has shown that the aggressor doesn’t even pretend to be firing at military targets any more,” Ihor Terekhov said on Sunday. “Use the metro system more often – as of today it is the safest way to get around.”
In more encouraging news from Kyiv, Serhiy Khlan, an aide to the head of the southern Kherson region, which fell to Russian forces in early March, told Ukrainian television on Sunday that it would be recaptured by Kyiv’s forces by September.
Helped by deliveries of western-supplied long-range artillery, Ukrainian forces have been clawing back territory in the southern Kherson region in recent weeks. “We see that our armed forces are advancing openly. We can say that we are switching from defensive to counteroffensive actions,” Khlan said. |
2022-06-08T04:00:12Z | The Congolese student fighting with pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine | Fighting alongside pro-Russia separatists as part of Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine wasn’t mentioned in the brochures of Luhansk University when Jean Claude Sangwa, a 27-year-old student from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, moved to the breakaway region last year to study economics.
But when the head of the Kremlin-controlled, self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic announced a full military mobilisation of the region on 19 February, Sangwa, together with two friends and fellow students from DRC and Central African Republic, decided to join the local militia and take up arms against Ukraine.
“I joined because the war came to our republic. What should I have done? I am a man and have to fight,” Sangwa said in broken Russian. “The whole world is fighting against Russia,” he added when asked why he had decided to join the militia.
Sangwa moved to Russia two years ago to study in Rostov, a city close to the Ukrainian border, and then moved to Luhansk, which had been captured by separatists backed by the Russian army in 2014.
There is a long tradition of Africans studying in Russia, beginning from when the Soviet Union started offering scholarships to African students in newly independent socialist and communist states in the post-colonial period.
Between the late 1950s and 1990, about 400,000 Africans studied in the Soviet Union. While the numbers decreased significantly after the fall of communism, Vladimir Putin recently said more than 17,000 Africans were currently enrolled in Russian universities.
Shortly after joining the Luhansk militia, Sangwa was sent into combat and spent two months fighting. During that time, many of his African friends assumed that he was dead and posted goodbye messages on his social media accounts.
Three days after the war started, on 27 February, Sangwa’s photo was posted online by Find Your Own, a Telegram channel created by the Ukrainian internal affairs ministry to identify captured and killed soldiers. The post said Sangwa had been killed by Ukrainian forces alongside another African soldier.
“The Ukrainian enemy found my military ID card and said I was dead. I am alive, as you can see,” Sangwa said. He is currently back patrolling the streets in Luhansk as a member of the militia.
Pro-Russia forces drive past a destroyed residential building in Popasna, Luhansk, in May. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
There is no evidence that apart from Sangwa and his two friends, more African soldiers have been sent to Ukraine. But while Sangwa’s story is unusual, his pro-Moscow sentiments and opinions about who is responsible for the war are mainstream in large parts of Africa.
“Certainly, the west likes to think that sanctions have isolated Russia globally,” said Paul Stronski, a senior fellow and specialist on Russia at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “And they did when it comes to the transatlantic community and wealthy Asian nations. But in the eyes of the rest of the world, and particularly the African continent, Russia isn’t that isolated.”
For many years, Stronski said, Moscow has been cultivating ties with African leaders, and in 2019 Putin hosted the first Russian-African summit, attended by the leaders of 43 African nations.
“Many on the African continent now believe the conflict is driven by Nato expansion, by reckless western policies,” Stronski said.
According to Stronski, some of Africa’s support for Russia can be explained by anti-western sentiments stemming from the legacy of European colonialism. Russia has been accused of amplifying those grievances through disinformation campaigns on the continent.
“In Africa, the west has also been accused of double standards, caring more about Ukraine and its refugees than it does about other tragedies unfolding in Africa and across the world,” Stronski added.
Some of Putin’s most enthusiastic supporters since the start of the war have been pan-Africanists – advocates of the doctrine of African unity and anti-imperialism.
Putin just “wants to get his country back,” Kémi Séba, a prominent Franco-Beninese pan-Africanist, said in early March. “He doesn’t have the blood of slavery and colonisation on his hands. He is not my messiah, but I prefer him to all the western presidents.”
Similarly, a leader of the Nigerian community in Moscow told the Guardian that most Nigerians there were sympathetic to Russia. “The issue is complicated, but the west pushed Russia to do this,” he said.
A pro-Russia rally in Bangui, Central African Republic, in March. Photograph: Carol Valade/AFP/Getty Images
Beyond issues of morality, Russia has gained a foothold in Africa through developing defensive alliances, supplying weapons to authoritarian leaders with no strings attached and presenting itself as an ally against armed insurgents.
Several African leaders, most notably South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, have openly said they believe western efforts to expand Nato contributed to the war.
Even though African nations are likely to be disproportionately affected by the impending global food crisis owing to their strong dependence on Russian and Ukrainian wheat, some African leaders have shifted the blame for food shortages and price rises on to the west, parroting Russia’s narratives.
On Friday, during a meeting with Putin in Sochi, Senegal’s president, Macky Sall, the current chair of the African Union, blamed EU sanctions on Russian banks and products for worsening the problem, and steered away from criticising Russia’s actions, including its blockade of Ukrainian ports.
Despite its political clout in parts of Africa, Moscow has not yet indicated an intention to recruit soldiers from the continent or other places to bolster its forces, even though reports have emerged that Russia is facing a shortage of infantry.
Kremlin officials were quick to play down reports that several hundred local men in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, had gathered outside the Russian embassy in April hoping to fight in Ukraine.
Nevertheless, pro-Kremlin voices have embraced Sangwa’s presence in Luhansk as a sign of the growing military ties between Russia and Africa.
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On 31 May the Telegram channel WarGonzo, led by the popular Russian propagandist Semen Pegov, posted a video of Sangwa in full military gear patrolling in Luhansk.
“It is not just our Wagner guys in Congo,” Pegov said, referring to the notorious, Kremlin-linked, private military group that has propped up authoritarian leaders in Mali, Central African Republic and Sangwa’s home country, DRC. “Now our Congo guys are also in Luhansk.” |
2022-07-23T23:52:24Z | Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 151 of the invasion | Russia has targeted Ukraine’s main port of Odesa – through which grain shipments would take place – with cruise missile strikes, barely 12 hours after Moscow signed a deal with Ukraine to allow monitored grain exports from Ukraine’s southern ports. “The enemy attacked the Odesa sea trade port with Kalibr cruise missiles,” Ukraine’s operational command south wrote on Telegram, raising doubts about the viability of the deal that was intended to release 20m tonnes of grain to ward off famine in large parts of the developing world.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy claimed the strikes on Odesa showed Moscow could not keep its promises. “This proves only one thing: no matter what Russia says and promises, it will find ways not to implement it,” he said during a meeting with US lawmakers, according to a statement from the presidency.
The US secretary of state condemned the Russian attack against Odesa, accusing Russia of deepening the global food shortage. In a statement posted on Twitter, Antony Blinken said: “The United States strongly condemns Russia’s attack on the port of Odesa today. It undermines the effort to bring food to the hungry and the credibility of Russia’s commitments to the deal finalized yesterday to allow Ukrainian exports.”
Ukraine’s defence ministry has urged citizens in Enerhodar, a key area seized by Russia, to reveal where Russian troops are living and who among the local population was collaborating with the occupying authorities. “Please let us know as a matter of urgency the exact location of the occupying troops’ bases and their residential addresses … and the places of residence of the commanding staff,” it said on Saturday, adding that exact coordinates were desirable.
The governor of Zaporizhizhia has said that Russia is keeping 170 people captive in the Zaporizhizhia oblast, the Kyiv Independent reports. According to the governor, Oleksandr Starukh, Russian forces have abducted at least 415 people in the southern region since 24 February – the day Russian forces invaded Ukraine – and at least 170 individuals are still being kept captive.
The UNHCR says 3.7 million Ukrainian refugees have received temporary protection status in the European Union. In a new report released Friday, the UNHCR cited that 3.7 million Ukrainians have registered for Temporary Protection or similar national protection schemes in Europe.
Video footage has emerged of a powerful explosion that took place in the Russian-occupied territory of Horlivka on Saturday in the Donetsk oblast, Euromaidan reports. Reports from outlets have been claiming that Ukrainian armed forces have hit a Russian ammunition depot.
The former deputy secretary of Ukraine’s Security Council has been suspected of high treason, the Kyiv Independent reports. According to a report released on Saturday by the Ukrainian State Bureau of Investigations, Volodymyr Sivkovych is suspected of collaborating with Russian intelligence services and managing a network of agents in Ukraine that spied on behalf of Russia.
Germany has delayed weapons delivery to Ukraine, the Kyiv Independent reports. The outlet, sourcing German media organisation German Welt, reported that anonymous Ukrainian officials had reported that Ukraine’s application for eleven IRIS-T air missile defence systems is currently being held up by Germany’s Federal Security Council.
Hungary’s nationalist prime minister Viktor Orbán called for US-Russian peace talks to end the war in Ukraine, lashing out at the European Union’s strategy on the conflict. In a speech in Romania on Saturday, the 59-year-old rightwing leader also defended his vision of an “unmixed Hungarian race” as he criticised mixing with “non-Europeans”. Orban has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, but maintains an ambiguous position on the conflict. |
2022-07-23T17:12:28Z | Russia fires missiles at Odesa port hours after signing grain export deal | Barely 12 hours after Moscow signed a deal with Ukraine to allow monitored grain exports from Ukraine’s southern ports, Russia targeted Ukraine’s main port of Odesa – through which grain shipments would take place – with cruise missile strikes.
“The enemy attacked the Odesa sea trade port with Kalibr cruise missiles,” Ukraine’s operational command south wrote on Telegram, raising doubts about the viability of the deal that was intended to release 20m tonnes of grain to ward off famine in large parts of the developing world.
Russia’s defence ministry did not immediately confirm responsibility for the attack.
Eyewitness footage posted on social media, taken in the port area, showed one of the missiles exploding close to the seafront behind rows of containers and not far from a docked ship.
The British foreign secretary, Liz Truss, said the “appalling” attack hours after the deal was signed was “completely unwarranted” and proof that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, could not be trusted.
The landmark deal signed by Moscow and Kyiv on Friday, which is aimed at easing a supply crunch by allowing certain exports to be shipped from Black Sea ports including Odesa, is seen as crucial to curbing soaring global food prices.
UN officials had said on Friday they hoped the agreement would be operational in a few weeks, restoring grain shipments from the three reopened ports to prewar levels of 5m tonnes a month, but it was not yet clear if that would still be possible, given Saturday’s strikes.
In one of the largest attacks on the city since the war began, explosions rattled buildings in the centre and sent up a plume of smoke that was visible across the city.
On Odesa’s seafront, beachgoers applauded as air defences brought down two of four missiles, with the remaining two hitting the port.
The attacks, coming so soon after the signing of the grain deal in Istanbul, drew immediate condemnation.
“Outrageous,” tweeted the US ambassador to Kyiv, Bridget Brink. “Russia strikes the port city of Odesa less than 24 hours after signing an agreement to allow shipments of agricultural exports. The Kremlin continues to weaponise food. Russia must be held to account.”
According to a spokesperson, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, “unequivocally condemns” the strikes, adding that all parties in the Russia-Ukraine war had committed to a deal for the export of grains from Ukrainian ports.
Russia and Ukraine are important global wheat suppliers and the war has sent food prices soaring. A global food crisis has pushed 47 million people into “acute hunger”, according to the World Food Programme.
Friday’s deal seeks to avert famine in poorer countries by putting more wheat, sunflower oil, fertiliser and other products into world markets, including for humanitarian needs, partly at lower prices.
The attack was one of a series of Russian strikes across Ukraine, with the city of Kropyvnytskyi hit by 13 missiles on Saturday morning. The local governor, Andriy Raikovych, said at least one serviceman and two guards were killed, while 13 other people were wounded in Kropyvnytskyi.
Local people in the city said the strikes targeted an airbase on the outskirts, as well as a railway substation.
Strikes were also reported in Kharkiv, where a residential area was hit, killing at least three people, and in the southern city of Mykolaiv.
A man stands inside an apartment damaged by a Russian military strike in Kharkiv on Saturday. Photograph: Reuters
The sudden rise in Russian missile attacks follows several days of relative quiet in Ukraine. In the southern Kherson region, which Russian troops seized early in the invasion, Ukrainian forces preparing for a potential counteroffensive fired rockets at crossings on the Dnieper River to try to disrupt supplies to the Russians, amid claims that Ukrainian troops near the city had surrounded a Russian formation.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in his nightly video address that the agreements offered “a chance to prevent a global catastrophe, a famine that could lead to political chaos in many countries of the world, in particular in the countries that help us”.
Despite progress on that front, fighting raged unabated in eastern Ukraine’s industrial heartland of Donbas, where Russian forces tried to make gains in the face of stiff Ukrainian resistance.
Russian troops have also faced Ukrainian counterattacks but largely held their ground in the Kherson region just north of the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.
A blockade of Ukrainian ports by Russia’s Black Sea fleet since Moscow’s 24 February invasion has trapped tens of millions of tonnes of grain and stranded many ships.
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Under the export plan signed on Friday, Ukrainian officials would guide ships through safe channels across mined waters to three ports, including Odesa, where they would be loaded with grain.
Moscow has denied responsibility for the crisis, blaming sanctions for slowing its own food and fertiliser exports and Ukraine for mining the approaches to its Black Sea ports. |
2022-07-23T01:44:06Z | Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 150 of the invasion | Lithuania has lifted a ban on the rail transport of sanctioned goods into and out of the Russian territory of Kaliningrad, Russia’s RIA news agency said on Friday. The Baltic state had stopped Russia from sending sanctioned goods via rail to Kaliningrad in June, triggering a promise from Moscow of swift retaliation. RIA cited Mantas Dubauskas, a spokesperson for the state railway company, as saying it had informed customers they could ship goods again. “It is possible that some goods will be transported today,” he was quoted as telling Lithuanian TV.
Emergency workers recovered three bodies from a school hit by a Russian strike in eastern Ukraine, officials said on Friday, one of a string of attacks as Russia claims its forces destroyed four Himar (high mobility artillery rocket) systems. The casualties in the city of Kramatorsk followed a barrage Thursday on a densely populated area of Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, that killed at least three people and wounded 23.
The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said he had little confidence in Russia fulfilling its side of a bargain reached with Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations on resuming grain shipments from Ukraine, Agence France-Presse reported. “Canada’s confidence in Russia’s reliability is pretty much nil,” Trudeau said on Friday.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Ukraine had about $10bn worth of grain available for sale in the wake of the deal. “This is another demonstration that Ukraine can withstand the war,” he said in a late-night address on Friday, Reuters reported. Ukraine would also have a chance to sell the current harvest, he said.
Wheat prices tumbled to levels last seen before the Russian invasion after the deal on resuming grain exports from Ukraine. In Chicago, the price of wheat for delivery in September dropped 5.9% to $7.59 a bushel, which is equivalent to about 27kg and the lowest close since Russia’s invasion on 24 February. On Euronext, wheat prices for delivery in September fell 6.4% to $325.75 a ton.
The US is exploring whether it can send American-made fighter jets to Ukraine, the White House said on Friday. Joe Biden’s administration had started making explorations into the possibility of providing the jets to Ukraine but the move was not something that would be done immediately, White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.
The US signed off on an additional $270m in military aid to Ukraine, including four new Himar systems. Kirby said on Friday that Russia had “launched deadly strikes across the country, striking malls, apartment buildings, killing innocent Ukrainian civilians”.
A new statement from Europol said the organisation had no records of weapons being smuggled out of Ukraine. The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation said it has full confidence in Ukraine, especially because the country had started to implement new measures to monitor and track weapons, Euromaidan reports. |
2022-06-29T18:49:25Z | Ukraine announces largest exchange of prisoners of war since Russia invaded | Ukraine has announced the largest exchange of prisoners of war since Russia invaded, securing the release of 144 of its soldiers, including 95 who defended the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol.
“This is the largest exchange since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion,” said Ukrainian military intelligence in a Telegram message on Wednesday. “Of the 144 freed, 95 are Azovstal defenders.”
It added that most of the Ukrainians released had serious injuries, including burns and amputations, and were now receiving medical care.
A Pro-Russian separatist head confirmed the prisoner swap, saying that 144 Russian and separatist soldiers were returned to Russia.
“We handed over to Kyiv the same number of prisoners from the Ukrainian armed forces, most of whom were wounded. Our main task is to rescue the fighters who took part in a special military operation,” said Denis Pushilin, the head of the pro-Russian separatists Donbas People’s Republic.
Pushilin added that some of the Ukrainian soldiers released were part of “nationalist battalions.”
There was no comment from Moscow about the prisoner swap.
More than a thousand Azovstal defenders were transferred to Russian-held territory in May after they surrendered to Moscow’s forces at the end of a three-month siege. The fate of the soldiers remained a significant concern for officials in Kyiv who said they would swap in a prisoner exchange.
Among the Azovstal defenders swapped on Wednesday, Ukraine said, were 43 members of the Azov regiment, a battalion that has played a central role in Russia’s justification for its invasion.
The Azov regiment was formed in 2014 as a volunteer militia to fight Russia-backed forces in east Ukraine, and many of its original members had far-right extremist views. Since then, the unit has been integrated into the Ukrainian national guard and the regiment now denies being fascist, racist or neo-Nazi.
Russian state media has used the existence of the regiment as proof of its false claim that the Ukrainian state has been infected with nazism, as Russia’s president Vladimir Putin vowed to “denazify” the country.
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After the capture of the Azov soldiers in Mariupol, a number of Russian officials said they should face trial and even execution. Several MPs in Russia’s State Duma also said they would propose new laws that could derail prisoner exchanges of fighters who Moscow claims are “terrorists”.
The decision to exchange prisoners was met with anger by some Russian military bloggers and pro-war politicians.
Andrei Medvedev, a deputy in the Moscow Duma and a state news journalist, took to his Telegram to demand “answers” about the swap.
“Why did we have to change Azov soldiers? Was there no one else we could have swapped?” |
2022-07-22T15:15:53Z | Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 149 of the invasion | Guterres said “agreement did not come easy”, and described the deal as “a beacon on the Black Sea”. He said “You have overcome obstacles, and put aside differences, to pave the way for an initiative that will serve the common interests of all. Promoting the welfare of humanity has been the driving force of these talks. The question has not been what is good for one side or the other. The focus has been on what matters most for the people of our world. And let there be no doubt – this is an agreement for the world. It will bring relief for developing countries on the edge of bankruptcy, and the most vulnerable people on the edge of famine, and to help stabilise global food prices.” |
2022-06-04T14:54:23Z | Russia must not be humiliated in Ukraine, says Emmanuel Macron | Russia must not be humiliated in Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron has said, to allow an improvement in diplomatic relations between the west and Moscow whenever the war comes to an end.
The French president said his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, had made a “historic and fundamental” error in invading Ukraine, but that nevertheless a wider escalation in hostilities had to be avoided.
Giving an interview to a group of regional newspapers in his home country, Macron said: “We must not humiliate Russia so that the day the fighting stops, we can build a way out through diplomatic channels.”
The role of France was to be that of “a mediating power”, the president added, saying he had put “time and energy” into ensuring the conflict did not escalate into a wider war, including negotiating with the Russian president.
“I have lost count of the conversations I have had with Vladimir Putin since December,” Macron said. They amounted to 100 hours’ worth, he added, which were “at the request of” Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Macron has consistently sought to engage directly with Putin and has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in the conflict, including on an 80-minute phone call at the end of last month with the Russian leader and the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz.
That has led to periodic accusations that the French leader wants Ukraine to make concessions to secure a peace agreement, although the Élysée Palace says any peace agreement must be negotiated between Putin and Zelenskiy, showing “due respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine”.
None of the discussions, however, appear to have borne fruit. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine passed the 100-day mark on Friday, with little sign of the war ending amid heavy fighting in the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk.
Macron said he believed Putin had “isolated himself” and did not know what to do next. “Isolating oneself is one thing, but being able to get out of it is a difficult path,” the French president added.
Elsewhere, the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said overnight he had spoken to Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Finland’s prime minister, Sanna Marin, in his efforts to deal with Ankara’s resistance to Finland and Sweden joining the military alliance.
Stoltenberg said he had “a constructive phone call” with Erdoğan and welcomed Turkey’s efforts to reach a maritime agreement between Russia and Ukraine to allow for the resumption of food exports from Ukraine’s blockaded ports.
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Turkey is threatening to block the accession of Finland and Sweden, who have sought to join Nato in the aftermath of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, accusing the two countries of supporting Kurdish figures Ankara says are terrorists.
Erdoğan’s office said the president had emphasised that Sweden and Finland should “make it clear that they have stopped supporting terrorism”, lift defence export restrictions placed on Turkey, and be “ready to show alliance solidarity”.
The two Nordic countries had imposed curbs after Turkey launched a military operation to take control of areas in Syria previously held by the country’s Kurdish minority. Stoltenberg tweeted late on Friday that he discussed with Marin “the need to address Turkey’s concerns and move forward” to ensure the Finnish and Swedish membership applications were approved. |
2022-07-20T17:17:55Z | Russia may seek to occupy more territory in Ukraine, says foreign minister | Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, has said that Moscow wants to permanently occupy broad swaths of southern Ukraine in the clearest signal yet that the Kremlin is preparing to launch a new round of annexations.
In televised remarks, Lavrov also said Russia may seek more territory along the frontlines in Ukraine, calling it a buffer against the Himars long-range rocket artillery provided by the US.
While Lavrov claimed Russia’s new territorial ambitions were driven by the course of the war, the initial invasion sought to occupy much of Ukraine’s south and capture the capital, Kyiv.
Despite that evidence, the Kremlin has maintained that it launched its attack to protect its proxy governments in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
“Now the geography is different,” Lavrov said, in a change of rhetoric from the Russian government. “It’s not just Donetsk and Luhansk, it’s Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and a number of other territories. And this is an ongoing process, consistent and insistent.”
His remarkswere also an admission that the invasion was designed as a war of conquest, despite early denials from the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, that Russia planned to occupy any new Ukrainian territory at all.
The Russian government has sought to integrate Donetsk and Luhansk by introducing the Russian rouble, Russian telecommunications networks and other infrastructure, and by crushing protests and local dissent.
John Kirby, spokesperson for the US national security council, said Russia was planning to annex more Ukrainian territory, possibly in September to coincide with regional elections.
“Russia is beginning to roll out a version of what you could call an annexation playbook, very similar to the one we saw in 2014,” he said, referring to when Russia annexed Crimea.
“The Russian government is reviewing detailed plans to purportedly annex a number of regions in Ukraine, including Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, all of Donetsk and Luhansk,” Kirby said on Tuesday, a day before Lavrov’s interview went public.
It was not clear what other territories Lavrov was referring to in his remarks.
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In remarks to the RT editor-in-chief, Margarita Simonyan, Lavrov also said Russia would seek more territory due to the western military aid to Ukraine, in particular the delivery of Himars missile systems that have destroyed a number of Russian military command posts.
“The west … in a desire to maximally exacerbate the situation have pumped Ukraine with more and more long-range weapons,” he said, citing a Ukrainian defence minister’s remarks that Ukraine was negotiating for munitions that could strike targets 300 km away. “That means our goal will be to move them back from the current line even further.
“Because we can’t allow that in that part of Ukraine which will be controlled by [Volodymyr] Zelenskiy or whoever replaces him, there were weapons that could present a direct threat to our territory.”
Russia has launched cruise missiles into Ukrainian cities far behind the frontlines. A recent attack on the western Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia left 25 dead, including several children. |
2022-07-19T12:28:54Z | Ukrainian boy held hostage by Russia tells of cleaning up torture rooms | A 16-year-old Ukrainian boy has described how he was held hostage by Russian soldiers for 90 days as he heard other prisoners being tortured in a nearby cell.
Vladislav Buryak, who was separated from his family on 8 April at a checkpoint while attempting to flee the city of Melitopol, was released after a months-long negotiation between his father, Oleg – a local Ukrainian official – and Russian soldiers, who wanted to exchange Vladislav for an individual of interest to the Russian military.
Vladislav’s vivid account of his time in captivity is a depiction of violent interrogations involving brutal beatings, and confirms other reports of Russian and pro-Russian separatist forces mistreating detainees.
He is one of about 500 cases of civilian hostages whose information has been collected by the Centre for Civil liberties in Ukraine, including several other young people, although the organisation says that total is likely to be the tip of the ice berg.
In an interview with the Guardian, Vladislav described his long ordeal and how he was taken from a convoy of vehicles.
“We’d left Melitopol for Zaporizhzhia at 9am in the morning,” he said, sitting next to his father. “Around 11 o’clock we were stopped at the checkpoint, where Russian soldiers started checking documents.
A Russian serviceman guarding a grain elevator in Melitopol on 14 July. Photograph: Olga Maltseva/AFP/Getty Images
“They asked me if I’d filmed the checkpoint and demanded I give them my phone. Then found a video from a Ukrainian Telegram which had Russian soldiers on it talking about how they didn’t want to fight.
“That made them angry, and a soldier with a machine gun pointed it at me and said I needed to follow him and took me to the tent where they were ‘filtering’ people who were leaving. That’s when they found out I was the son of a local official and valuable as a hostage.”
Vladislav said he was taken to a location being used as a prison in Vasylivka, where he was kept for more than 40 days in a single cell before being transferred to a hotel for his last month in captivity.
“They had me working washing the floor of the room they used for interrogations, cleaning officers’ rooms and throwing out the trash. The cell where I was kept was a few metres from where they did the interrogations. I could hear people shouting, and when I cleaned the room I could see bloodstains. Because I could move around when I was cleaning cells, I sometimes had the chance to see what had happened to people and they could sometimes talk to me for a minute or so when the guards weren’t watching.”
Vladislav described the room where the interrogations took place: “There was a metal table and two chairs. One was for the person being questioned and the other was for the person taking notes.
A Russian serviceman on guard in Melitopol. Photograph: Olga Maltseva/AFP/Getty Images
“There were bloodstains and soaked bandages. I could hear the questioning too, at least three times week. ‘Do you have weapons? Who else has weapons?’ They were shouting and the people being tortured were yelling really loudly.
“People were being beaten up and tortured with electric shocks. If someone didn’t say something, the torture would continue, sometimes for several hours.”
“I saw people afterwards as well, and their faces were bruised. I was really scared that they would beat me up as well, so I tried to keep myself emotionless. No one ever told me why they were keeping me but I guessed that it was to exchange me.”
While Vladislav was being held, his father was negotiating with the Russians to try to secure his son’s release.
“They first called me the day after Vladislav was taken on 9 April,” Oleg said. “I was told: ‘I’ve got your son.’ They said: ‘I need this person to exchange.’ It was clear he was a hostage. But I also understood that he was valuable to them and so they probably weren’t going to harm him.
“I couldn’t argue with them and say: he is a child! There was no room for debate. By 4 July they’d made it clear he could be released if this individual was released. In all the 90 days I only managed to speak to Vladislav six times, and even then we knew that Russians were listening.”
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The Buryak family’s account confirms other reports of torture, including a report by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe [OSCE] that said it had found credible evidence of crimes against humanity committed by Russian forces during the invasion of Ukraine, including “signs of torture and ill-treatment on the corpses of killed civilians … show[ing] disregard of the principle of humanity that should guide the application of international humanitarian law.”
The report added: “Some of the most serious violations include targeted killing of civilians, including journalists, human rights defenders, or local mayors; unlawful detentions, abductions and enforced disappearances of such persons; large-scale deportations of Ukrainian civilians to Russia; various forms of mistreatment, including torture, inflicted on detained civilians and prisoners of war; the failure to respect fair trial guarantees; and the imposition of the death penalty.”
The report also documented the discovery of a “series of torture chambers separated by concrete walls” at a summer camp in Bucha, outside Kyiv, including a room it said appeared to be used for executions, with bullet holes in the walls. In another room, where experts said there was evidence of torture and waterboarding, five dead men were found “covered with burns, bruises, and lacerations”. |
2022-06-24T10:57:22Z | German gas prices could triple as Russia reduces supply, expert says | German consumers could face a tripling of gas prices in the coming months after Russia’s throttling of deliveries to Europe, a senior energy official has said.
Moscow reduced the flow of gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline by 40% last week, citing technical reasons that Berlin dismisses as a pretext, prompting a four- to sixfold rise in market prices, said the head of Germany’s federal network agency, Klaus Müller.
Such “enormous leaps in price” were unlikely to be passed down entirely to consumers, Müller said, but German citizens had to brace themselves for dramatically rising costs. “A doubling or tripling is possible,” he told the public broadcaster ARD.
He said the rising costs now showing up on people’s energy bills were the result of higher prices on the gas market last autumn.
The German economic ministry announced the second of three energy emergency plan phases on Thursday, warning of a high risk of long-term supply shortages as a result of Russia systematically choking off gas deliveries.
The so-called “alarm phase” enables utility firms to pass on high gas prices to customers and thereby help to lower demand.
Robert Habeck, the minister for economic affairs, said there was some concern that there would be a complete stop to Russian gas deliveries after 13 July, when the Nord Stream 1 has to be closed down for 10 days for an annual inspection.
Asked by the RTL Nachtjournal programme if he was worried that Vladimir Putin might not switch the gas tap on again after the scheduled interruption, Habeck said: “I would be lying if I said that isn’t something I worry about.”
Müller said Germany could go for just over two months without Russian gas supplies. “If the storage facilities in Germany were mathematically 100% full … we could do without Russian gas completely … for just about two-and-a-half months and then the storage tanks will be empty,” he told the Maybrit Illner programme on Thursday evening.
To prepare for the supply crunch, Germany needed to save gas and rapidly diversify its suppliers, he said. “Most of the scenarios are not pretty and mean either too little gas by the end of the winter, or even – and that’s a very tricky situation – in the autumn or winter.” |
2022-05-05T16:20:22Z | Russia opens artillery barrages in south and east Ukraine | Russia has unleashed heavy artillery barrages against multiple Ukrainian positions in the south and east of the country, amid conflicting claims over whether Russian forces were attempting to storm the last Ukrainian positions in the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol.
While Ukrainian officials and fighters claimed Russian troops had entered the labyrinthine industrial area in the southern city and that heavy fighting was taking place inside, the Kremlin denied its troops had entered and said humanitarian corridors to evacuate trapped civilians were operating there on Thursday.
Ukrainian fighters inside Azovstal said they were fighting “difficult, bloody battles” inside the plant, according to Denys Prokopenko, commander of the Azov regiment.
Ukraine’s military general staff said the assault on the plant had air support, and pictures released by Russian-backed fighters appeared to show smoke and flames enveloping it.
However, asked to comment on the claim that Russian troops had broken into the plant’s territory, the official Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, referred reporters to president Vladimir Putin’s previous order not to storm the plant.
Asked about a New York Times report that US intelligence helped Ukraine kill a number of Russian generals, Peskov said: “The United States, Britain, Nato, as a whole hand over intelligence … to Ukraine’s armed forces on a permanent basis.
“Coupled with the flow of weapons that these countries are sending to Ukraine, these are all actions that do not contribute to the quick completion of the operation,” he said.
Fears of prolonged war were also voiced by a European official who said that Ukraine is just at the beginning of an “attrition war”, in which resupplying the troops with new weapons, agility, and morale will be decisive. The official suggested that Ukraine had a potential advantage in all three areas.
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Peskov’s comments came as Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said civilians would need to be dug from bunkers under the steelworks which is littered with concrete debris.
Ukrainian officials believe that about 200 civilians remain trapped along with fighters in the network of underground bunkers at the sprawling Soviet-era complex.
Having failed to capture the capital, Kyiv, in the early weeks of an invasion that has killed thousands and flattened towns and villages, Russia has accelerated attacks in southern and eastern Ukraine.
Putin called off plans for an assault on the plant last month, telling his defence minister to seal it off instead.
Russia’s defence ministry added on Thursday that its artillery had struck multiple Ukrainian positions and strongholds overnight, claiming it had killed 600 fighters.
The defence ministry also said its missiles destroyed aviation equipment at the Kanatovo airfield in Ukraine’s central Kirovohrad region and a large ammunition depot in the southern city of Mykolaiv.
The Russian claims of Ukrainian fatalities in the hundreds were impossible to verify and reflect statements by both Ukrainian and Russian officials in recent days, both claiming heavy enemy losses.
Ukraine and Russia have both said that fighting had been heavy across the south and east over the past day.
While it is difficult to assess accurate casualty numbers, senior western officials who have briefed journalists recently suggested that Russian losses may have declined somewhat since the heavy casualties incurred during the failed campaign to take Kyiv.
There are also suggestions that Ukrainian losses may be mounting under intense Russian artillery bombardments that have marked Moscow’s conduct of the latest phase of the war.
With Ukraine’s western allies rushing to supply Kyiv with artillery systems and shells to counter Russia’s, the conflict in Ukraine appears to be turning into a grinding artillery duel between the two sides, with Russian advances limited to a small number of kilometres each day.
Despite claims of Ukrainian counteroffensives in the east, these appear to have been limited in scope, with an adviser to Zelenskiy having said that Ukraine was unlikely to launch a significant counteroffensive before mid-June, when it hopes to have received more weapons from its allies.
While senior western officials have spoken openly about their desire to leave Russia “weakened” by its invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin on Thursday accused the west of preventing a “quick” end to Russia’s military campaign.
The wives of at least two Ukrainian soldiers inside Azovstal have been in Rome, pleading with the international community for an evacuation of the soldiers there, arguing they deserve the same rights as civilians.
Kateryna Prokopenko, the wife of the Ukrainian commander at the plant, said she gone without word from him for more than 36 hours before finally hearing from him on Wednesday.
Should the Azovstal fighters be taken captive, it’s not clear whether Russia would uphold its commitments under international law regarding prisoners of war, given its alleged previous violations of rules governing wartime conduct and a lack of evidence of its treatment of captured Ukrainian troops. |
2022-05-09T02:57:32Z | Russia-Ukraine war latest: G7 commits to phasing out Russian oil, says Putin’s actions ‘bring shame on Russia’– as it happened | From 8 May 2022 21.48 60 people confirmed killed at school bombed by Russians Volodymyr Zelenskiy confirmed late Sunday what many had feared but were hoping would not be true: 60 people who were sheltering in the Bilohorivka school that Russian forces bombed this weekend were killed in the attack. About 90 people had been sheltering in that school at the time of the attack. In news overnight, dozens of people are feared dead after a bomb hit a school in east Ukraine.
About 90 people had been sheltering in the building and 30 were rescued, seven of them wounded, from the rubble of the school in Bilohorivka — Sam Wilkinson (@WilkoSam) May 8, 2022 António Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations, issued a statement Sunday saying he was “appalled” by the attack on the school. “This attack is yet another reminder that in this war, as in so many other conflicts, it is civilians that pay the highest price,” said Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the secretary-general. Read more here: Sixty killed in Russian airstrike on Ukraine school Read more
Updated at 22.38 BST
9 May 2022 03.57 Japan will take time to phase out Russian oil imports after agreeing on a ban with other G7 nations to counter Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, prime minister Fumio Kishida has said. “For a country heavily dependent on energy imports, it’s a very difficult decision. But G7 coordination is most important at a time like now,” Kishida told reporters according to Reuters, repeating comments he made at the G7 meeting. As for the timing of the reduction or stoppage of (Russian) oil imports, we will consider it while gauging the actual situation. We will take our time to take steps towards a phase-out. He did not elaborate. The G7 nations committed to the move “in a timely and orderly fashion” at an online meeting on Sunday to put further pressure on president Vladimir Putin, although members such as resource-poor Japan depend heavily on Russian fuel. There have been no ships loading Russian oil for Japan since mid-April, according to Refinitiv data. About 1.9 million barrels were exported from Russia to Japan in April, 33% down from the same month a year ago. Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida. Photograph: Yoshio Tsunoda/AFLO/REX/Shutterstock The Ukraine crisis has highlighted Japan’s energy dependence on Russia even as Tokyo has acted swiftly and in tandem with the G7 in instituting sanctions. The latest ban underlines a turn in Japan’s policy. Japan has said it would be difficult to immediately cut off Russian oil imports, which accounted for about 33 million barrels of Japan’s overall oil imports, or 4%, for 2021. It has already said it will ban Russian coal imports in stages, leaving just liquefied natural gas (LNG). Japan is in a particularly tough spot since it shut down the bulk of its nuclear reactors following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Russia was Japan’s fifth-biggest supplier of crude oil and LNG last year.
9 May 2022 03.33 A Fiji court has suspended the execution of a US warrant to seize a $300 million super yacht Washington claims is owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, prosecutors have said according to AFP. The 348-foot Amadea has been targeted because Kerimov is among a group of oligarchs close to Moscow who have been sanctioned by the United States over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The yacht remains in Fiji police custody and is blocked from leaving the Pacific nation’s waters despite the warrant suspension, prosecutors said. The luxurious Amadea – which has a helipad, pool, jacuzzi and “winter garden” on its sun deck, according to tracking website superyachtfan.com – has been berthed in Lautoka, Fiji in the South Pacific since mid-April. The super yacht Amadea, reportedly owned by a Russian oligarch, berthed at the Queens Wharf in Lautoka, Fiji. Photograph: Leon Lord/FIJI SUN/AFP/Getty Images Last week, Fijian law enforcement, backed by US agents, took control of the super yacht under the warrant, which was lodged with the island state’s High Court. The US Justice Department requested the vessel, which it has estimated to be valued at $300 million, be seized for violating sanctions and for alleged ties to corruption. But the company officially registered as the Amadea’s owner, Millemarin Investment, on Friday obtained a temporary stay on the US warrant’s execution from the Court of Appeal, Fiji prosecutors said. The Court of Appeal “granted an interim stay on the execution of the warrant”, a spokeswoman for Fiji’s office of the director of public prosecutions told AFP on Monday. The case is scheduled to return to court on Thursday and the US warrant remains officially registered with the Fiji courts, she said. “The yacht has been further restrained from leaving the Fiji waters until further notice,” she added. “It is in Fiji police custody at this point.”
9 May 2022 02.50 Joanna Partridge The UK government has expanded its sanctions against Russia to include punitive import tariffs on Russian precious metals, as well as export bans on certain UK products, to increase economic pressure on Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine, Guardian business reporter Joanna Partridge writes. The third wave of sanctions was announced by the Department for International Trade just hours ahead of Russia’s 9 May Victory Day celebrations. The latest £1.7bn sanctions on Russia and neighbouring Belarus – which has joined in the invasion of Ukraine and been used as a base for Russian soldiers – are aimed at knocking Putin’s ability to fund his war. The new package of restrictions includes £1.4bn of UK import tariffs – border taxes paid by buyers on goods shipped from Russia – that will affect imports of platinum, palladium and other products including chemicals from Russia. The international trade department said Russia was highly dependent on the UK for exports of the precious metals, which will be subject to additional 35 percentage point tariffs. The latest measures, announced by the international trade secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, and the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, bring the total value of products subject to full or partial trade sanctions since Russia’s invasion to more than £4bn. For more, read on here: UK expands import sanctions against Russia and Belarus Read more
9 May 2022 02.35 Here’s a bit more from Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, who gave an interview to Reuters during his unannounced visit to Ukraine on Sunday, telling the newswire the world would do everything possible to ensure that Russian president Vladimir Putin loses his war in Ukraine, including keeping Moscow under sanctions for years. “What Putin needs to understand is that the west is absolutely determined and resolved to stand against what he is doing,” Trudeau said. His illegal war, his escalations, his crossing of red lines by choosing to further invade Ukraine means that we will do as a world everything we can to make sure that he loses. Speaking on the sidelines of an unannounced visit to Ukraine for talks with president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whom he calls a friend, Trudeau said Putin was making a terrible mistake. “He is inflicting atrocities upon civilians, and it’s all something that he is doing because he thought he could win. But he can only lose,” Trudeau said when asked what he would tell Putin on the eve of Russia’s commemorations of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War Two, which Moscow calls the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45. Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau (L) meets with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv. Photograph: EyePress News/REX/Shutterstock Trudeau also echoed a statement from the Group of Seven issued earlier on Sunday, following a video call of G7 leaders with Zelinskiy, on how Putin’s “actions bring shame on Russia and the historic sacrifices of its people” during the second world war.
Quite frankly, on Victory in Europe Day, when we all celebrate the victory over fascism of so many decades ago. Vladimir Putin is bringing shame upon the memory of the millions of Russians who fought and died in the fight for freedom and the fight against fascism. Earlier, Trudeau said Canada would provide new weapons and equipment for Ukraine and will reopen its embassy in Kyiv, the country’s capital.
Trudeau said all the countries that have imposed sanctions on Moscow, which have taken a steep toll on the Russian economy, are determined to keep them in place as long as necessary, even for years.
Vladimir Putin cannot upend over 70 years of stability and growth and prosperity for the world and expect to continue to benefit from that stability, growth and prosperity.
9 May 2022 02.21 Ukraine’s counteroffensive northeast of Kharkiv has likely forced Russian troops to redeploy to the city instead of reinforcing stalled Russian offensive operations elsewhere in eastern Ukraine, the Institute of War has said in its latest analysis of the conflict. Russian forces are likely amassing in Belgorod to deploy to the Kharkiv City region to prevent the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the area from reaching the international border.
Russian forces were also continuing their attempt to reach the administrative borders of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts but have not made substantial territorial gains since securing Popasna on Saturday, the US-based think tank added. Other potential developments to look out for were: Russian forces will likely continue to merge offensive efforts southward of Izyum with westward advances from Donetsk in order to encircle Ukrainian troops in southern Kharkiv oblast and Western Donetsk.
Russia may change the status of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, possibly by merging them into a single “Donbas Republic” and/or by annexing them directly to Russia.
Russian forces have apparently decided to seize the Azovstal plant through ground assault and will likely continue operations accordingly.
Russian forces may be preparing to conduct renewed offensive operations to capture the entirety of Kherson oblast in the coming days.
#Russian forces did not make any significant advances on any axis of advance on May 8. The #Ukrainian counteroffensive NE of #Kharkiv City has likely forced Russian troops to redeploy to that area.
Read the latest from @TheStudyofWar & @criticalthreats: https://t.co/K87fihFBxY pic.twitter.com/QtaXCwPIy4 — ISW (@TheStudyofWar) May 8, 2022
9 May 2022 01.55 President Volodymyr Zelenskiy presented Ukraine’s famous mine sniffing dog Patron and his owner with a medal on Sunday to recognise their dedicated service since Russia’s invasion, Reuters has reported. The pint-size Jack Russell terrier has been credited with detecting more than 200 explosives and preventing their detonation since the start of the war on 24 February, quickly becoming a canine symbol of Ukrainian patriotism. Zelenskiy made the award at a news conference in Kyiv with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau. Patron barked and wagged his tail, prompting laughter from the audience. Trudeau patted his pockets as though looking for a dog treat. “Today, I want to award those Ukrainian heroes who are already clearing our land of mines. And together with our heroes, a wonderful little sapper – Patron – who helps not only to neutralise explosives, but also to teach our children the necessary safety rules in areas where there is a mine threat,” Zelenskiy said in a statement after the ceremony. The award also went to Patron’s owner, a major in the Civil Protection Service, Myhailo Iliev. Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau (R) and Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy (second from R) present a medal to Patron and his owner Myhailo Iliev. Photograph: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters Mine sniffing dog Patron. Photograph: Efrem Lukatsky/AP Patron the dog has received an official award alongside his colleagues from Ukraine President Zelenskyy, in the presence of Canada PM @JustinTrudeau. What an honour! pic.twitter.com/uig8VFi5z4 — Stratcom Centre UA (@StratcomCentre) May 9, 2022
Updated at 02.35 BST
9 May 2022 01.43 Emma Graham-Harrison An update from one of the Guardian’s correspondents in Ukraine, Emma Graham Harrison, on the evacuees from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol: The convoy arrived in the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia after dark, carrying about 170 evacuees. There were 51 civilians who had been sheltering in the Azovstal complex, and about 120 others who had walked or hitched lifts across the city to a pickup point in a ruined shopping mall. The journey of just over 200 kilometres took two days, as the convoy of buses was held for hours at Russian checkpoints and the hungry, weary residents inside interrogated. “I didn’t think we would make it out alive, so I don’t have any plans for my future,” said Natalia, who worked at the Azovstal plant all her adult life and then sheltered for over two months in its network of bunkers. She had fled with little more than a collection of drawings made by children in their shelter; she had organised drawing competitions to occupy them and kept the pictures to remember. “I wouldn’t have given them up even if they shot me. About 36 hours later the group filed slowly off the buses into the late evening dark, and fell upon a hot meal prepared in the registration tent. It also had clothes and toys, as most people fled with just a couple of bags. “It is a breath of fresh air to be on Ukrainian-held land,” said Tatiana, who fled with her daughter and granddaughter. Men, women and children get off a bus in Zaporizhzhia after having arrived from Mariupol. Photograph: ed ram/The Guardian Read on here: ‘I didn’t think we would make it’: last wave of Azovstal evacuees reach safety Read more
Updated at 02.23 BST
9 May 2022 01.05 The Guardian’s Ed Ram has managed to take some pictures of the civilians evacuated from the Azovstal steelworks to Zaporizhzhia: Children eat and drink at a food tent. Photograph: ed ram/The Guardian Men, women and children get off a bus in Zaporizhzhia after having arrived from Mariupol. Photograph: ed ram/The Guardian Women and children eat and drink at a food tent. Photograph: ed ram/The Guardian An elderly women is helped off a bus. Photograph: ed ram/The Guardian
8 May 2022 23.52 Vladimir Putin’s regime is “mirroring” the actions of the Nazis, the UK’s defence secretary, Ben Wallace, will say as the Russian leader stages a military parade to celebrate victory over Hitler’s fascists, according to an advance copy of the speech. In a speech on Monday, Wallace will say president Putin and his inner circle should share the same fate as the Nazis, who ended up defeated and facing the Nuremberg trials for their atrocities. In Moscow, Putin will watch the Victory Day parade of military hardware, marking the defeat of the Nazis in 1945. Ukraine speech: Tomorrow Defence Secretary @BWallaceMP will say Russian military leaders are as much to blame for the invasion as President Putin and should face the consequences 👇
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/ckPmf8HhBc — Ministry of Defence Press Office (@DefenceHQPress) May 8, 2022 According to extracts briefed to the Telegraph and Times, Wallace will say: “Through their invasion of Ukraine, Putin, his inner circle and generals are now mirroring the fascism and tyranny of 70 years ago, repeating the errors of last century’s totalitarian regimes. “Their fate must also, surely, eventually be the same.” Read on here in this report by PA’s political editor David Hughes: Putin’s ‘fascism and tyranny’ equal to Nazis, Ben Wallace says Read more
Updated at 02.38 BST
8 May 2022 23.36 Hello, this is Helen Livingstone taking over from my colleague Vivian Ho to bring you the latest developments from the conflict in Ukraine. “Russia will lose, because evil always loses,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said in his latest nightly address on Sunday, 8 May, when Ukraine marks the end of the second world war with its remembrance and reconciliation day. The main thing I felt today was the world’s even greater willingness to help us. And the fact that we have already achieved a historic result, because it is clear to the whole free world that Ukraine is the party of good in this war. Russia marks its second world war Victory Day on 9 May, Zelenskiy noted, “when peace should be the main word. For all normal people.” But he said, Russia had killed about 60 people in a “targeted” airstrike on a school in Luhansk, while another missile struck a residential building in the Odesa region. There was further shelling in the regions Sumy, the Donbas and Kharkiv. The Russian army would not be itself if it did not kill today - on the eve of certainly important days for any European.
He also thanked Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, who along with several other western leaders visited Kyiv on Sunday, saying that they had agreed to expand economic and defence cooperation and Canada had made the “extremely important decision” to remove all barriers to trade for one year. He also said that Canada had “a strong potential in mine clearance” and that “we expect that this potential will be used in Ukraine - where the Russian occupiers left thousands of mines, tripwire mines, shells.”
8 May 2022 23.08 Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, was one of several western leaders who made a surprise visit to Ukraine today. During his visit, he announced that Canada would be providing an additional $50m in military assistance. Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy speak before a meeting in Kyiv on Sunday. Photograph: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters Justin Trudeau and Volodymyr Zelenskiy take part in a video conference involving G7 leaders on Sunday. Photograph: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters Justin Trudeau and Volodymyr Zelenskiy hold a joint news conference in Kyiv. Photograph: Alexey Furman/Getty Images Justin Trudeau and Volodymyr Zelenskiy attend a meeting in Kyiv. Photograph: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters
Updated at 23.39 BST
8 May 2022 22.29 US first lady Jill Biden met today with Olena Zelenska, wife of Volodymyr Zelenskiy, outside a public school in Uzhhorod. Here are some photos: US first lady Jill Biden meets with Olena Zelenska, wife of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in Uzhhorod. Photograph: Reuters Jill Biden with Olena Zelenska in Uzhhorod.
Photograph: Reuters Jill Biden and Olena Zelenska join a group of children who were making tissue-paper bears to give as Mother’s Day gifts.
Photograph: Reuters
Updated at 22.51 BST
8 May 2022 21.48 60 people confirmed killed at school bombed by Russians Volodymyr Zelenskiy confirmed late Sunday what many had feared but were hoping would not be true: 60 people who were sheltering in the Bilohorivka school that Russian forces bombed this weekend were killed in the attack. About 90 people had been sheltering in that school at the time of the attack. In news overnight, dozens of people are feared dead after a bomb hit a school in east Ukraine.
About 90 people had been sheltering in the building and 30 were rescued, seven of them wounded, from the rubble of the school in Bilohorivka — Sam Wilkinson (@WilkoSam) May 8, 2022 António Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations, issued a statement Sunday saying he was “appalled” by the attack on the school. “This attack is yet another reminder that in this war, as in so many other conflicts, it is civilians that pay the highest price,” said Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the secretary-general. Read more here: Sixty killed in Russian airstrike on Ukraine school Read more
Updated at 22.38 BST
8 May 2022 21.26 After today’s successful arrival in Zaporizhzhia, the total number of people evacuated from Azovstal and Mariupol is now more than 600. 🔴BREAKING: 170+ people just arrived in Zaporizhzhia, through a @UNOCHA - @ICRC operation. This bring the total number of people evacuated from Azovstal & Mariupol to more than 600.
The @UN will continue its efforts to reach people in need of assistance. https://t.co/is3FgxReLB pic.twitter.com/EU27DKor72 — OCHA Ukraine (@OCHA_Ukraine) May 8, 2022 I'm relieved to confirm that we managed to bring 174 more people to safety from the hell of Mariupol today.
Our work is not yet done. I don't forget those who've been left behind. pic.twitter.com/D7VpVVAl62 — Osnat Lubrani (@OsnatLubrani) May 8, 2022 Mykhaylo Podolyak, aide to president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said on Twitter that they “won’t stop until we evacuate all our people” from Azovstal. “The life of every defender is sacred to the Ukrainian state,” he said. “Every conversation of the president with the leaders of the world begins with the word ‘Azovstal’,” Podolyak said. “We calculate all formats, and if the history of international law does not know such formats - we offer new ones. We managed to get women and children out of the factory, but we will not stop until we get everyone out.”
8 May 2022 21.14 Kyiv has responded to Berlin police confiscating a Ukrainian flag today in Germany. To recap: with tensions heightened on the anniversary of Nazi Germany’s surrender in World War II, the city of Berlin decided to suppress all public displays of support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine - everything from Russian flags to the beeping of horns at car rallies. Officials included Ukrainian flags under this decision, and earlier today police were filmed confiscating a large flag. Berlin made a mistake by prohibiting Ukrainian symbols. It’s deeply false to treat them equally with Russian symbols. Taking a Ukrainian flag away from peaceful protestors is an attack on everyone who now defends Europe and Germany from Russian aggression with this flag in hands. — Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) May 8, 2022
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2022-06-24T10:57:22Z | German gas prices could triple as Russia reduces supply, expert says | German consumers could face a tripling of gas prices in the coming months after Russia’s throttling of deliveries to Europe, a senior energy official has said.
Moscow reduced the flow of gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline by 40% last week, citing technical reasons that Berlin dismisses as a pretext, prompting a four- to sixfold rise in market prices, said the head of Germany’s federal network agency, Klaus Müller.
Such “enormous leaps in price” were unlikely to be passed down entirely to consumers, Müller said, but German citizens had to brace themselves for dramatically rising costs. “A doubling or tripling is possible,” he told the public broadcaster ARD.
He said the rising costs now showing up on people’s energy bills were the result of higher prices on the gas market last autumn.
The German economic ministry announced the second of three energy emergency plan phases on Thursday, warning of a high risk of long-term supply shortages as a result of Russia systematically choking off gas deliveries.
The so-called “alarm phase” enables utility firms to pass on high gas prices to customers and thereby help to lower demand.
Robert Habeck, the minister for economic affairs, said there was some concern that there would be a complete stop to Russian gas deliveries after 13 July, when the Nord Stream 1 has to be closed down for 10 days for an annual inspection.
Asked by the RTL Nachtjournal programme if he was worried that Vladimir Putin might not switch the gas tap on again after the scheduled interruption, Habeck said: “I would be lying if I said that isn’t something I worry about.”
Müller said Germany could go for just over two months without Russian gas supplies. “If the storage facilities in Germany were mathematically 100% full … we could do without Russian gas completely … for just about two-and-a-half months and then the storage tanks will be empty,” he told the Maybrit Illner programme on Thursday evening.
To prepare for the supply crunch, Germany needed to save gas and rapidly diversify its suppliers, he said. “Most of the scenarios are not pretty and mean either too little gas by the end of the winter, or even – and that’s a very tricky situation – in the autumn or winter.” |
2022-06-22T15:50:20Z | What happens if Russia turns off Europe’s gas supply this winter? | Vladimir Putin and Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom appear to be turning the screw on Europe by limiting gas supplies. The head of the International Energy Agency has now warned that Europe needs to prepare immediately for the eventuality of Russia turning off all gas exports to the region this winter. The invasion of Ukraine has triggered a scramble by countries to wean themselves off energy imports from Russia, but fresh urgency has been injected into those efforts.
What’s happening?
Russia has begun cutting off countries from supplies in an apparent move to hinder their efforts to fill their gas storage before the winter. Over the past week, Gazprom has cut supplies running through Europe’s major natural gas pipeline, Nord Stream 1, by 60%. This has triggered supply cuts in Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Gas has also been shut off to a string of other countries including Poland, Bulgaria, France and the Netherlands. An explosion at a huge Freeport liquified natural gas (LNG) facility in the Texas Gulf Coast – which shipped gas to Europe – has also squeezed supplies.
Can Europe replace Russian gas by the winter?
No chance. Before the war, Russia supplied 40% of Europe’s gas supplies, so limitations on storing gas or ramping up imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in certain countries including Germany make replacing Russian gas entirely near impossible in the short term. EU leaders have downplayed the likelihood of a total ban on Russian gas as it is seen as impractical and politically divisive.
Instead, nations are racing to fill up their storage caverns earlier in the year than usual. Europe’s underground storage caverns are 57% currently full. The European Commission has asked each country to reach 80% storage by the start of November, with Germany targeting 90% by the same point. However, without Russian gas, these targets will be hard to meet. “The only way they’ll get near the target is by paying very high prices. The US is sending LNG to Europe over Asia because countries in Europe are paying more,” said Investec oil and gas analyst Nathan Piper.
Where can European countries turn?
European governments are increasingly turning to the US to supply greater volumes of expensive LNG. The UK could capitalise on the crisis by ramping up natural gas exports to the EU further via interconnectors. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that goods exports to the EU rose for the third consecutive month to £16.4bn in April, the highest monthly level in current prices since comparable records began in 1997, driven by gas and crude oil shipped to the Netherlands and Ireland.
European governments are also attempting to get more piped gas from Norway and Azerbaijan and ramp up the use of renewable energy. Meanwhile, Asian countries, such as Pakistan, are increasingly having to turn back to heavily polluting coal as Europe snaps up all the gas.
What happens if they can’t replace it?
The most likely outcome will be that businesses will scale back on energy use. In Germany, which gets 35% of its gas imports from Russia, energy-intensive industries such as steelmaking will face a squeeze and limits on production. “Either governments will impose limits on energy usage, or prices will become so high that it will become uneconomic to use,” said Piper. “There could be a pinch point if Russia cuts off gas flows this winter when usage is high. Even during the cold war, Russia was a reliable energy supplier. Now that link has been cut.”
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Could Russia’s cutoffs affect the UK?
The UK imported just 4% of its gas needs from Russia last year and appears to be fairly well insulated from the supply issues. The combination of domestic gas supplies, piped supplies from Norway and LNG imports mean Britain is in a good position, although it will continue to be exposed to rocketing prices.
However, the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, has been attempting to ramp up domestic supply options in case there are knock-on supply problems this winter. This has included extending the lifetime of the West Burton A coal-fired power station in Nottinghamshire. The government is also in discussions with the British Gas owner, Centrica, to reopen the huge Rough gas storage site off the east coast of England, which was closed in 2017.
What effect will this have on consumers?
Consumers are unlikely to see any interruption to the energy supplies in the UK and Europe, as industrial use would be limited first. However, prices that are already high look likely to escalate. The price cap on annual energy bills is expected to hit £2,980 in October, and could reach £3,003 in January, research firm Cornwall Insight said this week. If Russian completely cuts off gas exports, it could be pushed even higher. |
2022-05-28T14:15:47Z | Revealed: Russia-linked superyachts ‘going dark’ to avoid sanctions threat | In the sparkling azure waters of Antigua, the gleaming £95m superyacht Alfa Nero could be seen at anchor last week by sightseers enjoying the Caribbean coastline. But few of the tourists who spotted its sleek black hull would have appreciated that it was quite a find.
Since the invasion of Ukraine, the superyacht, which is linked to the Russian billionaire Andrey Guryev, has vanished off the global tracking maps used to locate marine traffic.
An investigation by the Observer this weekend reveals it is one of at least six superyachts linked to UK-sanctioned oligarchs which have “gone dark” on ocean tracking systems. The owners of these yachts will almost certainly realise they are at risk of being targeted in a global hunt for the assets of Russia’s super-rich.
At least 13 such vessels with a total value of nearly £2bn have already been impounded since the invasion of Ukraine, from southern France to Fiji. In the latter case, the superyacht Amadea, allegedly linked to the gold billionaire Suleiman Kerimov, was seized on behalf of the US.
Analysts report an increase in Russian-linked yachts which are turning off the automatic identification system (AIS) equipment used for tracking large vessels. The system can be turned off for legitimate reasons, but experts believe some vessels want to avoid detection.
An analysis by the Observer of AIS data compiled by the maritime and aviation market intelligence firm VesselsValue reveals other superyachts which have “gone dark” for more than a month include:
The 72-metre (238ft) superyacht Clio, linked to industrialist Oleg Deripaska, which sailed from the Indian Ocean to Turkey after the invasion. Its last transmitted location was on 18 April in the Black Sea, within range of the Russian ports of Sochi and Novorossiysk.
The 70-metre Galactica Super Nova, linked to the oligarch Vagit Alekperov, the sanctioned former president of Lukoil. The last transmitted location of the vessel was on 2 March off the Croatian coast.
The 140-metre Ocean Victory, linked to the sanctioned oligarch Viktor Rashnikov, which last transmitted its location at anchor in the Maldives on 1 March.
One member of crew on a superyacht linked to a Russian oligarch sanctioned by the UK told the Observer last week: “We were told to turn off the AIS. We removed the screws on the power plug and pulled it out.”
There are about 9,300 superyachts on the seas, worth more than £50bn, according to industry data. An estimated 10% of that fleet is owned by Russians.
The swimming pool with waterfall feature on the Galactica Super Nova, which last transmitted a location via AIS on 2 March. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
One of the first superyachts to be impounded was the 86-metre Amore Vero, linked to the oil tycoon Igor Sechin, which was seized by customs officers at a shipyard at La Ciotat, near Marseille, on 2 March.
Italian authorities also impounded the 143-metre Sailing Yacht A on 12 March in Trieste. It is believed to be owned by the billionaire entrepreneur Andrey Melnichenko. He was sanctioned by the UK on 15 March.
Melnichenko’s other superyacht, the futuristic £240m Motor Yacht A, has disappeared from global tracking system. Its last confirmed location was on 10 March in the Maldives.
The last recorded location of the Alfa Nero on AIS was in the Caribbean on 3 March, when it was anchored at Philipsburg in Sint Maarten. The yacht is operating on a skeleton crew and has put its tender, the Alfa Fish, into storage.
Guryev, 62, a Russian who made his fortune with the Russian fertiliser giant PhosAgro, is reported by maritime sources to be the owner of the vessel. He was revealed to have bought London’s largest private residence, the 25-bedroom mansion Witanhurst, for £50m in 2008.
He has regularly enjoyed sailing on the Alfa Nero. The vessel is also used by his family, including his son (also Andrey) and his son’s wife, Valeria, who studied at the London College of Fashion and once reportedly stated on Instagram that she was “too pretty for work”. Like many yachts, it is owned via an opaque offshore structure, and Guryev has denied being the owner.
Other yachts which have not been tracked by AIS for more than a month include the Galactica Super Nova, which has a glass-bottomed swimming pool with a waterfall. It left Tivat in Montenegro on 2 March and promptly disappeared off the system.
The Clio, linked to Deripaska, sailed more than 3,000 miles after the invasion, from the Maldives, through the Suez Canal, across the Mediterranean and into the Bosphorus, gateway to the Black Sea and its Russian ports. In the Clio’s case, one reason it may have gone dark could be the perilous situation in the Black Sea arising from the war.
The Amore Vero, which is linked to the oil tycoon Igor Sechin, after being seized at La Ciotat, near Marseille in March. Photograph: Albert Gea/Reuters
Other yachts which have not transmitted a confirmed location via AIS for at least a month include the My Sky, linked to the cigarette tycoon Igor Kesaev, which last reported its location in the Maldives on 30 March. The Maldives has no extradition treaty with the US, and at least five yachts linked to Russian owners have headed for its waters since the invasion. Other vessels, including two owned by Roman Abramovich, have headed to Turkey.
Under maritime rules, AIS should always be in operation when ships are under way or at anchor. All vessels of 300 gross tonnage and upwards must be fitted with it. A cruising vessel will typically transmit its location frequently, but it can turn the system off when in port. The data is relayed by radio receivers and satellites.
Sam Tucker at VesselsValue said: “There are some vessels where we would be previously getting a signal every few minutes from transponders and we are now seeing gaps of months. It’s very likely that some have flicked off the switch and gone into stealth mode.”
None of the sanctioned oligarchs linked to the six superyachts suspected of turning off their AIS responded to a request for comment. |
2022-07-12T16:35:25Z | Lego to end all operations in Russia after earlier halt to deliveries | Lego is to cease all operations in Russia “indefinitely” after pausing deliveries to its 81 stores in the country in March.
The world’s largest toymaker said it was ending the employment of most of its staff in Moscow and terminating a partnership with Inventive Retail Group, the company that runs stores on its behalf in the country.
Lego said: “Given the continued extensive disruption in the operating environment, we have decided to indefinitely cease commercial operations in Russia.”
The Danish toymaker had already halted deliveries to Russia in March after the invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions by western countries in protest against the war.
In early May, Russia placed Lego products on a list of goods that could be imported without the agreement of the intellectual property owner in order to bypass restrictions imposed over the conflict in Ukraine.
Among the list published by the industry and commerce ministry were Apple and Samsung smartphones, major car brands, games consoles and spare parts used in various industries.
The measure came as most western companies have now ceased exports to Russia, while goods made in the country have been pulled from the shelves in British, US and European supermarkets.
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Some prominent US and UK retail brands have said they are still operating in Russia because they have been unable to force independent franchise operators to close down.
Burger King’s owner, Restaurant Brands International, said its fast food restaurants were still operating with its brand because its former Russian partner had refused to shut.
UK retailer Marks & Spencer, which was in a similar situation, finally announced it was fully exiting Russia in May at a cost of £31m while McDonald’s sold its business in Russia, after 30 years of operating its restaurants in the country.
Starbucks, Coca-Cola and Pepsi have paused operations in Russia, as have consumer brands including Burberry, Ikea, Levi’s, Netflix and Unilever, which owns Marmite and Ben & Jerry’s. |
2022-07-11T17:25:32Z | Patience is vital tactic in Ukraine’s hopes of turning tide against Russia | Ukraine hopes to assemble a “million strong” army to try to retake territory occupied by Russia, the defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, said over the weekend. Its forces, he added, had also demonstrated to the US they could make good use of newly acquired longer-range rocket artillery, opening the door to the supply of more.
But however impressive sounding the claims were, it is hard to believe Ukraine is yet capable of an effective counteroffensive, even if the much-vaunted US Himars and the British M270 rocket artillery, with their range of 70km to 80km, have begun to arrive and are being put to good use. A turning of the military tide, if it happens at all, will most likely take time.
Ukraine has to talk up its prospects. The idea of a counteroffensive “is a hugely popular idea inside Ukraine”, said Orysia Lutsevych, a research fellow at the Chatham House thinktank, and Kyiv needs to convince the west that with sustained help, its military has a realistic chance of kicking the Russians out.
Ukraine intends to retake Black Sea coastal areas Ukraine intends to retake Black Sea coastal areas
The country began the war with a 125,000-strong army plus 100,000 in national and border guards, according to figures from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) – but says it is lifting that to an army of 700,000 plus 300,000 of the paramilitaries. But if it can assemble that number under arms, a key issue is their quality.
The three-month long battle in Donbas so far has cost the defenders many casualties, as Russia switched tactics to artillery bombardment. Various figures have been bandied about, but Ukrainian military intelligence sources recently told experts at the Rusi thinktank that 100 were being killed a day, on average.
Add in wounded at 300 or 400 a day, and casualties could amount to about 15,000 a month – perhaps 35,000 to 45,000 in total. A further 7,200 Ukrainian soldiers have gone missing since the start of the war, the country estimated on Monday. Many of these losses will have come from Ukraine’s most experienced forces.
The need to enhance the fighting force is well recognised by Ukraine and its western backers. Britain has begun training Ukrainian recruits – 600 are currently receiving a few weeks of basic training around the UK – and there is capacity to train 2,400 at once and 10,000 every 120 days, assuming the UK government sticks to a pledge made by the outgoing prime minister, Boris Johnson.
Some of the Ukrainian recruits, aged between 18 and 60, are people who have never fired a gun. This is an army that has to be replenished from scratch. Elementary learning is quick though. Raw recruits at first were only able to hit targets with rifle fire 50% of the time. It rose rapidly to 80%, one British trainer said.
Such military training is clearly critical for the Ukrainians, but a successful counteroffensive will require more: a strategic use of a combination of arms, an ability to concentrate force on the chosen battlefield of at least three to one or ideally more (Russia is thought to have managed seven to one in Donbas) and advanced western weapons.
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Ukraine has lobbied heavily for Nato standard munitions as it gradually runs out of its traditional Soviet-standard supply. The new weapons, however, create fresh problems as experts Jack Watling and Nick Reynolds noted in a comprehensive analysis for Rusi. For example, while Nato forces use 155mm shells, there is no such thing as a single western howitzer: “Nato standardisation is not very standardised,” they wrote.
At the same time, the US, the lead weapons supplier, remains cautious in the amount it will provide of critical kit. So far, the initial four Himars truck-mounted rocket artillery has been upped to 12. Nevertheless, as Reznikov mentioned, there are encouraging signs.
On Sunday, the Russian nationalist Igor Girkin warned on his Telegram channel that Russian air defence systems were proving “ineffective against” strikes by Himars missiles, and claimed that over the past five to seven days, “more than 10” ammunition and logistics stores had been hit and “about a dozen” command posts. When will the Russians start “fighting in full force?” Girkin asked.
Ukraine will hope that by striking deeper behind enemy lines, the rocket artillery will disrupt Moscow’s ability to continue its grinding offensive in Donbas.
A key indicator of whether Ukraine can halt the Russians is whether Moscow will be able launch a full offensive against the adjacent Donbas cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, the two largest population centres in Donetsk province that it does not hold. Until now, Russia has been firing about 20,000 shells a day, slowly destroying Sievierodonetsk and other towns and cities in its path.
As for Ukraine, there are key elements in any normal offensive military package still not available to it. Its air power is limited while moves to supply extra Soviet-standard fighter jets advance at glacial speeds. Russian forces have dug in on large parts of the long front, and where Ukraine has made gains, in the south, towards occupied Kherson, they have been modest, reflecting the resources available to it so far.
Ben Barry, a land warfare specialist with the IISS, said: “If the Russian offensive in the Donbas culminates, there will be growing pressure on the Ukrainians to launch a major counterattack. But the longer they have to prepare, to build up training and stockpiles, the more chance it has of succeeding.” Failure, by contrast, could be a political disaster for Kyiv.
Barry highlights Operation Storm, the final winning offensive in Croatia’s war against Serbian separatists in the 1990s. The August 1995 attack was years in the planning, with the Croats receiving training from a US military consultancy, and it ended more than three years of stalemate. “There may be reason why such wars take years not months,” Barry concluded. |
2022-08-01T14:57:20Z | Russia-Ukraine war latest: what we know on day 159 of the invasion | The mayor of Mykolaiv has said an attack on medical facilities in the city today is “nothing more than cynical terrorism by Russian troops”. Oleksandr Syenkevych described the damage, informing residents “For some time, our emergency hospital will not be able to accept patients. Part of the hospital’s main building was also destroyed. There, too, it is necessary to put everything in order. This is an ordinary hospital, which every day received residents of the city, including victims of Russian shelling. Therefore, today’s attack on this medical facility is nothing more than cynical terrorism by Russian troops.” |
2022-08-02T10:16:58Z | Russia-Ukraine war latest: what we know on day 160 of the invasion | The US announced on Monday a new tranche of weapons for Ukraine’s forces fighting Russia, including ammunition for increasingly important rocket launchers and artillery guns. The $550m package will “include more ammunition for the high mobility advanced rocket systems otherwise known as Himars, as well as ammunition” for artillery, national security council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu has said that Russia had destroyed six US-made Himars missile systems since the beginning of the latest Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Three people have reportedly been killed by Russian shelling while evacuating in a minibus near Kherson, Ukraine’s military is reporting. Ukraine’s Operational Command ‘South’ reported that three people died from the attack on the bus near Dovhove.
Turkey’s representative at the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul has said that the first ship carrying Ukrainian grain to world markets was expected to anchor at Istanbul on Tuesday night. At a briefing held at the JCC, general Özcan Altunbulak said the course of the ship was going as planned. Another official said “The plan is for a ship to leave every day. If nothing goes wrong, exports will be made via one ship a day for a while.”
Ukraine’s state security service says it is investigating 752 cases of treason and collaboration. According to the agency, the greatest amount of cases have been documented in the regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.
The United Nations’ secretary general, António Guterres, has warned that a misunderstanding could spark nuclear destruction, as the US, Britain and France urged Russia to stop “its dangerous nuclear rhetoric and behaviour”.
Sabina Higgins, the wife of Ireland’s president, Michael D Higgins, has triggered a political row in Ireland by urging Russia and Ukraine to call a ceasefire and enter negotiations. Critics said the intervention amounted to Kremlin propaganda because it appeared to equate Moscow’s aggression with Kyiv’s fight for survival. |
2022-08-01T15:50:36Z | Keir Starmer and Piers Morgan among new list of Britons banned from Russia | Russia has banned 39 senior British politicians, businesspeople and journalists from entering the country, including the Labour party leader, Keir Starmer, the former prime minister David Cameron and the presenter Piers Morgan.
“It was decided to include on the Russian ‘stop list’ a number of British politicians, businessmen and journalists who contribute to London’s hostile course aimed at the demonising of our country and contributing to its international isolation,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement published on its website on Monday.
“Given London’s destructive drive to spin the sanctions flywheel on far-fetched and absurd pretexts, work on expanding the Russian stop list will continue,” the ministry added.
The shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, and the shadow levelling up secretary, Lisa Nandy, are also on the list.
The journalists banned include the Guardian’s defence and security editor, Dan Sabbagh, as well as British journalists working for the BBC, the Sunday Times, the Economist, the Daily Telegraph and Sky News.
Moscow banned dozens of British journalists, media figures and defence figures from entering the country in June in what the foreign ministry said was a response to western sanctions and the “spreading of false information about Russia”. In total, more than 200 Britons, including most of the country’s leading politicians, are banned from entering the country.
Russia has launched an unprecedented crackdown on Russian and foreign independent news outlets since its 24 February invasion of Ukraine, as well as on foreign social media networks. Legislation was introduced soon after the war began to criminalise media outlets that disseminate “false information” about the Russian army. Russia has already barred dozens of US and Canadian officials and journalists from entering.
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A number of media groups have stopped operating in Russia as a result, with the far-reaching law in effect threatening to punish independent journalism with prison sentences of up to 15 years.
Russia has also blocked access to several foreign news organisations’ websites, including the BBC and Deutsche Welle.
In a separate move, the Russian ministry of justice on Monday labelled the British-based Calvert 22 cultural foundation as an “undesirable organisation”, effectively criminalising its operation in Russia.
“It has been established that its activity poses a threat to the foundations of the constitutional order and the security of the Russian Federation,” it said in a statement.
Calvert 22 was established in London in 2009 by the Russian-born economist Nonna Materkova and focuses on arts and culture in Russia and eastern Europe. |
2022-08-02T10:16:58Z | Russia-Ukraine war latest: what we know on day 160 of the invasion | The US announced on Monday a new tranche of weapons for Ukraine’s forces fighting Russia, including ammunition for increasingly important rocket launchers and artillery guns. The $550m package will “include more ammunition for the high mobility advanced rocket systems otherwise known as Himars, as well as ammunition” for artillery, national security council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu has said that Russia had destroyed six US-made Himars missile systems since the beginning of the latest Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Three people have reportedly been killed by Russian shelling while evacuating in a minibus near Kherson, Ukraine’s military is reporting. Ukraine’s Operational Command ‘South’ reported that three people died from the attack on the bus near Dovhove.
Turkey’s representative at the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul has said that the first ship carrying Ukrainian grain to world markets was expected to anchor at Istanbul on Tuesday night. At a briefing held at the JCC, general Özcan Altunbulak said the course of the ship was going as planned. Another official said “The plan is for a ship to leave every day. If nothing goes wrong, exports will be made via one ship a day for a while.”
Ukraine’s state security service says it is investigating 752 cases of treason and collaboration. According to the agency, the greatest amount of cases have been documented in the regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.
The United Nations’ secretary general, António Guterres, has warned that a misunderstanding could spark nuclear destruction, as the US, Britain and France urged Russia to stop “its dangerous nuclear rhetoric and behaviour”.
Sabina Higgins, the wife of Ireland’s president, Michael D Higgins, has triggered a political row in Ireland by urging Russia and Ukraine to call a ceasefire and enter negotiations. Critics said the intervention amounted to Kremlin propaganda because it appeared to equate Moscow’s aggression with Kyiv’s fight for survival. |
2022-08-01T15:50:36Z | Keir Starmer and Piers Morgan among new list of Britons banned from Russia | Russia has banned 39 senior British politicians, businesspeople and journalists from entering the country, including the Labour party leader, Keir Starmer, the former prime minister David Cameron and the presenter Piers Morgan.
“It was decided to include on the Russian ‘stop list’ a number of British politicians, businessmen and journalists who contribute to London’s hostile course aimed at the demonising of our country and contributing to its international isolation,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement published on its website on Monday.
“Given London’s destructive drive to spin the sanctions flywheel on far-fetched and absurd pretexts, work on expanding the Russian stop list will continue,” the ministry added.
The shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, and the shadow levelling up secretary, Lisa Nandy, are also on the list.
The journalists banned include the Guardian’s defence and security editor, Dan Sabbagh, as well as British journalists working for the BBC, the Sunday Times, the Economist, the Daily Telegraph and Sky News.
Moscow banned dozens of British journalists, media figures and defence figures from entering the country in June in what the foreign ministry said was a response to western sanctions and the “spreading of false information about Russia”. In total, more than 200 Britons, including most of the country’s leading politicians, are banned from entering the country.
Russia has launched an unprecedented crackdown on Russian and foreign independent news outlets since its 24 February invasion of Ukraine, as well as on foreign social media networks. Legislation was introduced soon after the war began to criminalise media outlets that disseminate “false information” about the Russian army. Russia has already barred dozens of US and Canadian officials and journalists from entering.
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A number of media groups have stopped operating in Russia as a result, with the far-reaching law in effect threatening to punish independent journalism with prison sentences of up to 15 years.
Russia has also blocked access to several foreign news organisations’ websites, including the BBC and Deutsche Welle.
In a separate move, the Russian ministry of justice on Monday labelled the British-based Calvert 22 cultural foundation as an “undesirable organisation”, effectively criminalising its operation in Russia.
“It has been established that its activity poses a threat to the foundations of the constitutional order and the security of the Russian Federation,” it said in a statement.
Calvert 22 was established in London in 2009 by the Russian-born economist Nonna Materkova and focuses on arts and culture in Russia and eastern Europe. |
2022-07-31T08:54:51Z | Russia claims five injured in Ukraine drone attack on Black Sea fleet HQ | Russia has claimed that its Black Sea fleet headquarters in Sevastopol have been hit by a Ukrainian drone strike, wounding five people and prompting officials to cancel festivities planned for Navy Day.
The attack was reported by Mikhail Razvozhayev, the head of the local Russian administration in Sevastopol in Crimea, which was occupied and then annexed in 2014.
“Early this morning, [Ukraine] decided to spoil our Navy Day,” he posted. “An unidentified object flew into the yard of the fleet headquarters, according to preliminary data, it was a drone. Five people were injured, these are employees of the fleet headquarters, there were no fatalities.
“All celebratory events have been cancelled due to safety concerns,” he wrote. “I ask you to stay calm and stay at home if possible.”
A spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern command, Natalia Gumenyuk, did not confirm Ukrainian involvement in the strike. But she said Ukraine was conducting operations to liberate Russian-occupied areas by targeting Russian military facilities inside Ukraine, not Russia, and that it considered Crimea part of Ukraine.
“Ukraine’s armed forces are carrying out activities to liberate our occupied territories, using the weapons models that are available for this purpose. Our targets are exclusively the military facilities of the Russian Federation. We do not strike on the territory of the Russian Federation. Crimea is Ukraine,” she said.
Photographs posted on Razvozhayev’s account showed bloodstains and broken glass at the entrance to a military building. A popular Russian military account said the location was the entrance to a cafeteria, 40 to 50 metres from the internal courtyard where Russian officials said the drone had struck.
No names or ranks were given for those injured in the attack.
The strike is the latest setback for the Black Sea fleet in the five-month-old war against Ukraine. Ukraine sank the flagship of the Black Sea fleet, the Moskva cruiser, in a missile strike in April. Authorities took days to confirm the attack, leading families of the conscript sailors onboard to take to social media demanding more information on their loved ones’ fates.
It is still unclear how many sailors were killed in the Moskva attack. Russia has confirmed only one death onboard, while dozens of sailors are listed as missing.
The Russian navy also lost the Saratov Alligator-class landing ship to a fire reportedly caused by a Ukrainian missile strike on the Berdiansk port in March, as well as a landing craft and a number of patrol boats to drone strikes near Snake Island.
The Moskva would have been conspicuously absent from Russia’s Navy Day festivities, which were meant to include a tour of the ships in Sevastopol Bay by the fleet commander, as well as a concert and fireworks, according to Russian state media.
Sevastopol is at the southern tip of Crimea and is located hundreds of miles from the frontlines, making it more likely that the attack was launched from Russian-controlled territory. A spokesperson for the Black Sea fleet called the drone “homemade” and said it was carrying a small explosive onboard.
Vladimir Putin has travelled to Kronstadt in St Petersburg, the main base of Russia’s Baltic Fleet, to mark the Navy Day celebrations. |
2022-04-04T04:55:51Z | Russia now synonymous with Bucha killings, says Zelenskiy | Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that Russia’s public image is now one of torture and execution after the retreat of Russian forces in the town of Bucha led to the discovery of the killing of hundreds of civilians.
Calling Russian soldiers “murderers”, “butchers” and “rapists”, Zelenskiy said late on Sunday: “your culture and human appearance perished together with the Ukrainian men and women”. He warned that “even worse things” may be found in other occupied regions.
Ukrainian officials said the bodies of 410 civilians have been found in Kyiv-area towns that were recently retaken from Russian forces. Satellite images taken late last week show a 14-metre (45ft) mass grave in Bucha near the Church of St Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints. Maxar, the company that took the pictures, said the first signs of excavation for a mass grave there were seen on 10 March, several weeks into the invasion.
Witnesses of alleged atrocities in Bucha told the Guardian that Russian soldiers had fired on men fleeing the town, and had killed civilians at will. Taras Schevchenko, 43, said Russian soldiers had refused to allow men to leave through a humanitarian corridor, instead shooting at them as they fled across an open field. Bodies, he said, were scattered on the pavements, with some of those killed having been “squashed by tanks … like animal skin rugs”.
Shevchenko’s mother, Yevdokia, 77, said she had witnessed an elderly man who had challenged a Russian soldier being shot dead as his wife stood next to him. “They shot him dead, and ordered the woman to leave,” she said. The accounts could not be independently verified.
01:48 Civilians lie dead in the street as Russian forces retreat from Bucha – video
Photographs from the town showed a scene of devastation, with hunks of charred and destroyed tanks and armoured vehicles lined up along one street, along with dead bodies.
Zelenskiy on Sunday made a surprise video appearance at the Grammy Awards celebration in Las Vegas and appealed to viewers to support his country “in any way you can”.
“Fill the silence with your music. Fill it today, to tell our story. Support us in any way you can. Any, but not silence,” Zelenskiy said in English in a video introducing John Legend’s performance of Free and featured Ukrainian musicians and a reading by Ukrainian poet Lyuba Yakimchuck.
Russia denied responsibility for the killing of civilians. Its defence ministry described the photos and videos from towns such as Bucha as “another staged performance by the Kyiv regime”, echoing a similar claim made after the bombing of a children’s and maternity hospital in Mariupol.
Figures around the world have condemned the brutality of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s forces.
The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, said the “despicable” killings added to evidence of Russian war crimes, while the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, expressed shock about the “terrible and horrifying” footage from Bucha. “Streets littered with bodies. Bodies buried in makeshift conditions. There is talk of women, children and the elderly among the victims,” Scholz said. His defence minister, Christine Lambrecht, said the European Union should consider a ban on gas imports from Russia.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken described the images from retaken towns as “a punch in the gut” while United Nations secretary general António Guterres called for an independent investigation.
The head of the European Council, Charles Michel, said he was shocked by “haunting images of atrocities committed by [the] Russian army”, adding that “further EU sanctions and support are on their way”.
The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said she was “appalled by reports of unspeakable horrors in areas from which Russia is withdrawing”. An independent investigation was urgently needed, she said, and “perpetrators of war crimes will be held accountable”.
01:34 Bucha resident recounts finding husband dead in basement – video
Zelenskiy said he expected a UN security council meeting on Tuesday to discuss the atrocities, and was scathing on Sunday night of a historic western policy of “appeasing” Russia by failing to make Ukraine a Nato member 14 years ago at a summit in Bucharest. He invited former German and French leaders Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy to visit Bucha “to see what the policy of concessions” to Russia has led to, and urged Ukraine’s allies to do more than increase sanctions.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia warned on Monday against inferring much from the withdrawal of Russian forces around Kyiv. “They are now regrouping. They are using it as an operational pause and I’m sure they will mount another assault and therefore we need support of the free world to help us fight,” said ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko.
“We see civilians’ dead bodies lying around the city, many of them have their hands tied up. We are now collecting the evidence from the witnesses,” Myroshnychenko said of the recent discoveries in town such as Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel. “Multiple rapes of women, children killed. This is a massacre.”
The west needed to provide heavy weapons, air defence systems, anti-ship missiles, armoured, vehicles, tanks and planes to help Ukraine, the ambassador said. “It’s only two and a half flight from Kyiv to Paris. We’re in the middle of Europe and this is happening now in the 21st century.”
In other developments: |
2022-06-16T09:55:42Z | Plan needed to make Russia pay reparations to Ukrainians, says report | Western and Ukrainian rhetoric claiming Russia will be required to pay reparations for the damage caused by its invasion of Ukraine is not backed by a coherent roadmap based on international law to achieve justice for Ukraine’s victims, a new report prepared by the British thinktank Ceasefire has warned.
The report, one of the first detailed studies on how reparations for Ukraine might work, says little progress has been made in setting up a global mechanism to require Russia to pay compensation and says the delays must end.
It says it is remarkable how far plans are lagging in comparison with the number of war crimes investigations being launched, even though history suggests the numbers of Russian soldiers or politicians likely to be prosecuted is low.
The Ceasefire report says payment of state reparations is well established in international law but basic questions remain to be answered.
Questions that need answering include: “What form should such reparations take? To whom would they be made and on what authority? What sort of mechanism could be entrusted to take on the task of awarding and administering reparations on such a scale? Where will the money come from?”
Ceasefire’s director, Mark Lattimer, proposes a UN general assembly or multilateral mechanism to take charge of administering reparations to civilian claimants, with the UK and other national governments using national and international law to put sanctions on assets to make Russia pay.
“The legal obligation to pay reparations falls most heavily on Russia, but self-evidently it will not pay of its own accord. The example of the Iran-US claims tribunal set up in the wake of the US embassy hostage crisis shows, however, that sanctioned assets can be used as leverage to ensure that reparations are paid – or in the alternative those assets could be used to pay reparations directly.”
The report finds for differing reasons that neither the international court of justice, the international criminal court nor the European court of human rights “are in a position to award reparations any time soon with the scope and scale required by the conflict in Ukraine”. It suggests the UN general assembly does have powers following an example in Syria to set up an investigating body to determine reparations, but even then the UN body would have no power of enforcement. “Russia’s veto-wielding power means that the UN security council – and with it the UN system – is effectively prevented from taking enforcement action against Russia.”
The lack of consensus on reparations has led individual national legislatures to start ad hoc proceedings. The US and Canada have begun legal steps whereby reparations could be paid, by repurposing frozen assets, including yachts and property, held overseas by Russian oligarchs. The EU has so far set out plans that largely focus on criminal accountability, as opposed to financial redress, for Russia’s war crimes and other breaches of humanitarian law. Germany alone, for instance, claims to have frozen €4.5bn (£3.9bn) of Russian assets since May.
It is a major step to move from simply freezing an oligarch’s assets to seizing them, and then handing them to an international body to pay reparations to the Ukrainian people, especially if there is little evidence that these private assets were gained corruptly.
The second source of potential revenue is the $300bn (£250bn) of Russian central bank reserves held in G7 territories.
There is resistance in Europe, and British Conservative circles, to the simple seizure of Russian bank reserves. The former Conservative foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind, a strong supporter of Ukraine, admitted he had concerns about the impact on faith in the global financial system. He said: “We are a country that believes in the rule of law and due process. You do not confiscate other people’s assets on a political judgment on the spur of the moment just because you feel sorry for people. It creates a very very disturbing precedent. The consequences go far beyond Ukraine.”
Although the US has seized state assets in the cases of Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Venezuela, it has not yet declared Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, illegitimate or an adversary in a declared war, the previous legal bases for their seizure of assets.
The Ceasefire report proposes that it would be better that Russia’s arm was twisted to make it pay reparations “voluntarily”, by making the lifting of global sanctions contingent on payment, as opposed to a straightforward clause in a humiliating peace agreement. This could follow the model used after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and carve out a set slice of oil revenue to pay for reconstruction costs.
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Dedicating a proportion of Russian oil revenues to compensation – as Iraq was required to do to fund a UN compensation commission – might, for example, prove more advantageous to Russia than being forced to sell its oil at a discount, the report suggests.
“As the combined effect of sanctions produces severe economic contraction and, according to predictions by the Bank of Russia, ‘years of reverse industrialisation’, the incentives to come to the negotiating table could well intensify.”
But the body that was used to transfer the Iraq cash – the UN compensation commission – has just been closed down, and it is unlikely Russia would allow a new body to be established. |
2022-07-31T00:18:06Z | Russia-Ukraine war latest: what we know on day 158 of the invasion | Ukrainian officials have denounced a call by Russia’s embassy in Britain for fighters from the Azov regiment to face a “humiliating” execution, Agence France-Presse has reported. Twitter said the embassy had violated its rules on “hateful conduct” but put a warning on the tweet rather than ban the post about the Azov, a Ukrainian battalion that retains some far-right affiliations. Andriy Yermak, the head of the office of the Ukrainian presidency, responded on Telegram on Saturday: “Russia is a terrorist state. In the 21st century, only savages and terrorists can talk at the diplomatic level about the fact that people deserve to be executed by hanging. Russia is a state sponsor of terrorism. What more evidence is needed?”
Renewed Russian strikes on Ukraine’s frontline have left one person dead in the south of the country and also hit a school in Kharkiv, officials said. The mayor of the southern city of Mykolaiv said one person was killed when rockets pounded two residential districts overnight, AFP reported. In Ukraine’s second city of Kharkiv, rockets from an S-300 surface-to-air system destroyed part of an educational facility, local authorities said.
Russia announced it was banning 32 New Zealand officials and journalists from entering its territory, in response to similar measures taken by Wellington against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, AFP reported. Among those subjected to sanctions are the mayor of Wellington, Andrew Foster; the mayor of Auckland, Philip Goff; the commander of New Zealand’s navy, Commodore Garin Golding; and the journalists Kate Green and Josie Pagani, Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
The Ukrainian military said it had killed scores of Russian soldiers and destroyed two ammunition dumps in fighting in the Kherson region, the focus of Kyiv’s counter-offensive in the south and a key link in Moscow’s supply lines. Reuters reported the military’s southern command as saying rail traffic to Kherson over the Dnipro River had been cut, potentially further isolating Russian forces west of the river from supplies in occupied Crimea and the east.
Gazprom has suspended gas supplies to Latvia following tensions between Moscow and the west over the conflict in Ukraine and sweeping sanctions against Russia, AFP reports. The company drastically cut gas deliveries to Europe via the Nord Stream pipeline on Wednesday to about 20% of its capacity. European Union states have accused Russia of squeezing supplies in retaliation for western sanctions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The United States ambassador to the United Nations said on Friday there should no longer be any doubt that Russia intended to dismantle Ukraine, Reuters reported. Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the UN security council that the US was seeing growing signs of Russia laying the groundwork to attempt to annex all of the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk and the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Russia is “running out of steam” in its war on Ukraine, the chief of Britain’s MI6 intelligence agency, Richard Moore, said in a brief comment on Twitter on Saturday. Moore made the remark above an earlier tweet by the Ministry of Defence that said the Kremlin was “growing desperate”.
Russia and Ukraine have both launched criminal investigations into strikes that have reportedly killed at least 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were held at a pre-trial detention centre in the village of Olenivka, after both countries blamed the other side for the attack. The UN is prepared to send a group of experts to Olenivka to investigate the incident, if it gets consent from both parties.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has accused Russia of a “petrifying war crime” over the killings and called on world leaders to “recognise Russia as a terrorist state”. |
2022-07-30T01:06:49Z | Russia-Ukraine war latest: what we know on day 157 of the invasion | Russia and Ukraine have both launched criminal investigations into strikes that have reportedly killed at least 40 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were held at a pre-trial detention centre in the village of Olenivka, after both countries blamed the other side for the attack.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has accused Russia of a “petrifying war crime” over the killings and called on world leaders to “recognise Russia as a terrorist state”.
Ukraine has said it is ready for grain exports to leave its ports again but is waiting for the go-ahead from the United Nations, which it hoped it would receive later on Friday.
Horrific video has emerged that appears to show a Russian soldier castrating a Ukrainian prisoner, who other reports suggest was subsequently murdered. The footage, reviewed by the Guardian, was originally posted on pro-Russian Telegram channels. Aric Toler at investigative outlet Bellingcat, suggested that the video – featuring a Russian soldier, wearing a distinctive black wide-brimmed hat, approaching another figure who has his hands bound and is lying face down with the back of his trousers cut away – appeared to be authentic .
At least five people have been killed and seven injured in a strike on a bus stop in the city of Mykolaiv, according to the regional governor, Vitaliy Kim. Graphic images from the scene show the street littered with bodies.
Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said on Friday that Russia staunchly supported China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, after the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, warned the US president, Joe Biden, against “playing with fire” over Taiwan in a phone call on Thursday.
Germany’s economy minister said on Friday that putting the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline into operation was not an option as this would only play into the hands of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. There is growing anger in Germany over soaring energy prices.
Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov, a Russian operative who was subjected to US sanctions on Friday, has been charged with using political groups in the US to advance pro-Russia propaganda, including during the invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.
The US treasury department said on Friday it had imposed sanctions on another individual alongside Ionov, as well as on four entities that support the Kremlin’s global malign influence and election interference operations, including in the US and Ukraine.
Belarus recalled its UK ambassador on Friday in response to what it called “hostile and unfriendly” actions by London.
North Macedonia plans to donate an unspecified number of Soviet-era tanks to Ukraine as it seeks to modernise its own military to meet Nato standards, its defence ministry said on Friday.
Germany would deliver 16 Biber bridge-layer tanks to Ukrainian forces, the German defence ministry said.
A Ukrainian court on Friday reduced to 15 years a life sentence handed to a Russian soldier in May for pre-meditated murder in the country’s first war crimes trial.
A Russian ammunition depot in the southern Kherson region had been destroyed, Ukrainian officials said on Friday. |
2022-06-15T11:37:11Z | Man arrested at Gatwick airport on suspicion of spying for Russia | Security officials trying to thwart Russian spying in Britain have arrested a man at Gatwick airport as he was trying to board a flight to leave the UK.
The arrest followed a joint intelligence-led operation by Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command – which deals with arrests for espionage matters – and the British security services.
It is understood detectives knew the man might be trying to leave the UK and were waiting for him at Gatwick airport.
The man in his 40s was arrested on Monday under the Official Secrets Act, under a provision that outlaws spying on the UK.
He is still in custody, and detectives have up to 96 hours to hold him, with approval from a court to extend his detention. They then have to charge the man, or release him and drop the case, or release him while he is still under investigation.
The Metropolitan police said: “We can confirm that officers from the Met’s counter terrorism command arrested a man in his 40s at Gatwick airport on Monday 13 June on suspicion of offences under section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1911. He has been taken to a London police station, where he currently remains in police custody. Inquiries continue.”
Tension between Russia under Vladimir Putin and the UK has been high for years, but worsened after a nerve agent attack on British soil in 2018 targeting a critic of the Russian leader, and again after this year’s invasion of Ukraine.
The British security services have intensified their counter-espionage work as they try to stop Russian efforts to spy on the UK, and warned publicly of the growing threat. |
2022-07-29T14:11:24Z | Russia-Ukraine war latest: what we know on day 156 of the invasion | The UK defence minister, Ben Wallace, has said that Russian forces in Ukraine are in “a very difficult spot”, and said that Vladimir Putin’s strategy is akin to putting his forces through a meat grinder. In his opinion, he said Russia was “certainly not able to occupy the country. They may be able to carry on killing indiscriminately and destroying as they go, but that is not a victory”. |
2022-07-28T15:55:19Z | Russia-Ukraine war latest: what we know on day 155 of the invasion | A former state TV journalist charged with discrediting Russia’s armed forces by protesting against Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine was found guilty on Thursday, after she told a court that the charge against her was absurd. Marina Ovsyannikova defiantly repeated her protest, refused to retract her words and said she did not understand why she was there and what she was being judged for. She faces up to 15 years in jail for discrediting the armed forces under a law passed in March. |
2022-07-28T15:55:19Z | Russia-Ukraine war latest: what we know on day 155 of the invasion | A former state TV journalist charged with discrediting Russia’s armed forces by protesting against Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine was found guilty on Thursday, after she told a court that the charge against her was absurd. Marina Ovsyannikova defiantly repeated her protest, refused to retract her words and said she did not understand why she was there and what she was being judged for. She faces up to 15 years in jail for discrediting the armed forces under a law passed in March. |
2022-07-27T16:25:08Z | UK energy bills forecast to hit £3,850 as Russia cuts gas supply further | British households face being told shortly before Christmas to brace for annual energy bills of £3,850, three times what they were paying at the start of 2022, after Russia further squeezed Europe’s gas supplies.
Consumers have also been warned that annual charges of more than £3,500 a year, or £300 a month, could become the norm “well into 2024”.
The grim forecasts came a day after MPs said millions of people would fall into “unmanageable debt” without more government help to pay bills, following a surge in wholesale gas prices to near-record levels.
After Russia cut flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Wednesday, British wholesale gas for delivery this winter climbed to as high as 535p per therm, while European prices also rose.
The energy-focused management consultancy BFY said the increase meant it now expected October’s price cap – set by the energy regulator, Ofgem – to hit £3,420 for the average dual-fuel tariff. Ofgem is expected to lift the cap higher in January, and BFY is forecasting it could reach £3,850.
The cap is revised every six months but if Ofgem goes ahead with plans to shorten that period to three months, the new ceiling would take effect in January and would be announced in December, as consumers who are already wrestling with the cost of living crisis enter the traditionally high-spending Christmas period.
A source at one of the UK’s largest energy firms told the Guardian its analysts believed the forecast for the price cap – which factors in what energy suppliers pay for gas on the wholesale markets – was realistic.
BFY said the average customer could end up “facing a bill of £500 in January alone”, reflecting increased consumption during the coldest months.
Cornwall Insight, which has typically forecast price caps with a high degree of accuracy, will not update its predictions for January until next week. It said it expected October’s figure to hit £3,500, with bills remaining at least that high “well into 2024”.
On Wednesday, runaway energy bills took centre stage in the race between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss to be the next leader of the Conservative party and prime minister of the UK.
Sunak, who repeatedly dismissed Labour’s call to scrap the 5% VAT rate on energy bills while he was chancellor, suddenly backed the policy, in a change of heart that the Truss-supporting business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, called a “screeching U-turn”.
Sunak said removing VAT on domestic energy would save households £160 a year, although that would rise to nearly £200 if the BFY’s forecast of an average £3,850 bill proves to be correct.
Under current proposals, which were unveiled earlier this year by Sunak as chancellor, households will get £400 off their bills, with the most vulnerable receiving support worth up to £1,200.
But if the BFY forecast proves accurate, the energy price cap, which affects 22m households, would have increased by more than £2,500 within a year, more than tripling from £1,271 to £3,850 for the average dual-fuel tariff.
A spokesperson for Greenpeace said the government had done “practically nothing” to offset the energy bill crisis, while Cornwall Insight said the £400 rebate on bills was “only scratching the surface”.
MPs on the business and energy committee said this week that the price cap should be replaced by a “social tariff”, with the lowest-income households paying discounted bills, funded either by taxation or by wealthier bill payers.
The gloomier prognosis for bills came in response to Russia cutting supplies of gas through pipelines to Europe, against the backdrop of a prolonged standoff over Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Kremlin-controlled gas firm Gazprom said earlier this week it would cut flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to 20% of capacity, a threat it has followed up on. It blamed problems with turbines, which it said had been made worse by sanctions imposed by the west because of the invasion of Ukraine.
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Europe is scrambling to reduce reliance on Russian gas, with rationing now an option for the coming winter. While the UK sources relatively little gas from Russia compared with highly dependent countries such as Germany, European wholesale markets have a significant knock-on effect on prices paid in Britain.
02:43 'We will share the pain': EU to ration gas this winter in case Russia cuts supply – video
As concern about the price and availability of gas mounted, data showed how reliant Europe was on gas, not only for heating in winter but also for electricity, depending on conditions. A relatively windless day meant gas was generating 50% of the UK’s electricity on Wednesday, with similar data reflected across Europe.
Greenpeace UK’s political campaigner, Ami McCarthy, said: “Even more wild than the astronomical price energy bills are set to reach in January, is the fact that the government’s known for ages that this was going to happen but done practically nothing to prevent it or support the millions of families that will be forced to freeze this winter.
“The real solution is reducing our energy use and ending our reliance on gas, which is now more expensive than ever.”
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said: “Unlike Europe, Britain isn’t dependent on Russian gas. The UK’s secure and diverse energy supplies will ensure households, businesses and industry can be confident they can get the electricity and gas they need.
“However, we are vulnerable to volatile gas markets. While no national government can control the gas price, we have introduced an extraordinary £37bn package to help households, including £1,200 each for 8m of the most vulnerable households.” |
2022-07-27T22:51:31Z | Risk of nuclear war from cutting off China and Russia, says security tsar | The west risks the initiation of nuclear conflict with China or Russia because of a “breakdown of communication” with the two countries, the UK’s national security adviser has warned.
Sir Stephen Lovegrove, 55, said that the erosion of backdoor channels had resulted in an increased chance of an accidental escalation into war.
In a speech in Washington at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, he said he believed the deterioration of communication with China and Russia had created a higher risk of “rapid escalation to strategic conflict”.
“The cold war’s two monolithic blocks of the USSR and Nato – though not without alarming bumps – were able to reach a shared understanding of doctrine that is today absent,” he said. “Doctrine is opaque in Moscow and Beijing, let alone Pyongyang or Tehran.”
Lovegrove, who was appointed to Whitehall’s most senior defence role in March 2021, added: “During the cold war, we benefited from a series of negotiations and dialogues that improved our understanding of Soviet doctrine and capabilities, and vice versa. This gave us both a higher level of confidence that we would not miscalculate our way into nuclear war.
“Today, we do not have the same foundations with others who may threaten us in the future – particularly with China. Here the UK strongly supports President Biden’s proposed talks with China as an important step.”
A Russian MIG-31 fighter jet carrying a Kinzhal hypersonic missile. The missiles have been deployed in Ukraine and are said to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Photograph: Maxim Shipenkov/EPA
Joe Biden, the US president, is expected to have a phone call with China’s president, Xi Jinping, on Thursday – their first conversation since March – in an attempt to defuse tensions over Taiwan.
Taiwanese troops have practised fighting off an invasion as tensions with Beijing intensified over plans by Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, to visit the self-governing island.
China insists Taiwan, which has its own democratically elected government, is its sovereign territory and is determined to reunify the island, by force if necessary.
Last year, Beijing tested a hypersonic missile that circumnavigated the globe before hitting a target. China, Russia and the US are also developing hypersonic missiles that travel at more than five times the speed of sound and can manoeuvre in the air.
Lovegrove praised the White House’s decision to re-engage with China but also highlighted the risks of technological advances.
“We have clear concerns about China’s nuclear modernisation programme that will increase both the number and types of nuclear weapon systems in its arsenal,” he said.
Sir Stephen Lovegrove, left, meeting with his US counterpart Jake Sullivan at the Nato headquarters in Brussels in October. Photograph: Virginia Mayo/EPA
Russia became the first country to use hypersonic systems during a war when Moscow deployed its Kinzhal missiles in Ukraine. The Kremlin claims the missiles are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Dmitry Medvedev, the former president of Russia, said in a speech earlier this month that western support for Ukraine has triggered the most serious crisis in relations between Russia and the west since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
Despite the increased risks, Lovegrove said much of the existing architecture remains “vital”, such as the chemical weapons convention and the biological and toxin weapons convention, and the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. However, he added that the reality is “that current structures alone will not deliver what we need a modern arms control system to achieve”.
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On the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the former permanent secretary at the Ministry of Defence said: “We recently passed the grim milestone of 150 days since Putin launched this unprovoked, illegal war, bringing untold suffering to the innocent people of Ukraine.
“I’m afraid the conflict fits a pattern of Russia acting deliberately and recklessly to undermine the global security architecture.
“That’s a pattern that includes the illegal annexation of Crimea, the use of chemical and radiological weapons on UK soil, and the repeated violations that caused the collapse of the INF [intermediate-range nuclear forces] treaty.
“And we will continue to hold Russia to account for its destabilising actions as an international community.” |
2022-07-05T14:06:00Z | Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 132 of the invasion | The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, has said alternative routes to retrieve grain stuck in Ukraine would need to be looked at, including through Europe’s Danube River, if it cannot be moved via the Bosphorus strait in Turkey. “The Turks are absolutely indispensable to solving this. They’re doing their very best … We will increasingly have to look at alternative means of moving that grain from Ukraine if we cannot use the sea route, if you can’t use the Bosphorus,” he told parliament on Monday.
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2022-05-20T10:39:01Z | US accuses Russia of holding food supplies hostage | First Thing | Good morning.
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine entering its 86th day, the US is accusing Russia of holding the world’s food supply hostage amid growing fears of famine in developing countries. Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, demanded at a UN security council meeting yesterday that Russia lift its blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports and enable the flow of food and fertiliser around the world.
“The Russian government seems to think that using food as a weapon will help accomplish what its invasion has not: to break the spirit of the Ukrainian people,” he said at the meeting called by the Biden administration.
Ukraine’s grain exports fell from 5m tons a month before Russia’s February invasion to 200,000 tons in March and about 1.1m tons in April, said Serhii Dvornyk, a member of Ukraine’s mission to the UN, who pointed out that 400 million people around the world depended on grain from Ukraine.
Dmitry Medvedev, a former president of Russia, warned that Russia would not continue food supplies unless the west eased its sanctions against the Kremlin.
Pete Buttigieg at Berlin’s central station. Photograph: Christian Jungeblodt/The Guardian
As the discussions about the food crisis continue, Pete Buttigieg, the US transportation secretary, is in Berlin and backing a recovery program for Ukraine similar to the Marshall plan, which helped rebuild Europe after the second world war.
“With the memory of the Marshall plan in mind, what we’re talking about is not only about how we fund immediate needs and support their ability to maintain the war effort, but how we support the ability of Ukraine to be economically viable and generate a sustainable future for themselves, even as they’re under attack,” Buttigieg told the Guardian.
This comes as the Senate overwhelmingly approved a $40bn infusion of military and economic aid for Ukraine. “Help is on the way, really significant help. Help that could make sure that the Ukrainians are victorious,” said the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer.
Former special agent: FBI is failing to address white supremacist violence
The FBI headquarters building in Washington DC. Photograph: Yuri Gripas/Reuters
A former FBI special agent who infiltrated white supremacist groups in the 1990s has told the Guardian that his former agency is failing to address the rising scourge of white supremacist violence – even amid stark warnings that such attacks pose the greatest domestic terrorism threat in the US.
“US law enforcement is failing, as it long has, to provide victimized communities like Buffalo’s with equal protection under the law. They are not actually investigating the crimes that occur,” said Michael German, a fellow with the Brennan Center at NYU School of Law.
The Buffalo mass shooting suspect was heckled in court yesterday, with some calling him a coward. Payton Gendron, 18, is accused of killing 10 Black people in a racist, targeted attack on a Buffalo supermarket.
Oklahoma passes nation’s strictest abortion ban
Pro-choice demonstrators rally at the state capitol in Oklahoma City. Photograph: Sue Ogrocki/AP
Oklahoma’s Republican-led legislature passed a bill yesterday allowing citizens to sue anyone, anywhere who “aids or abets” a patient in terminating a pregnancy. The bill bans abortion from conception, even before an egg implants in the uterus, and would go into effect immediately if signed by the Republican governor, Kevin Stitt.
In other news …
A pro-Trump mob storms the US Capitol building on 6 January 2021. Photograph: Leah Millis/Reuters
Stat of the day: more than 5,000 firefighters are battling wildfires blazing across the American south-west
Vadix Armendarez looking for hot spots along state highway 434 north of Mora last week as firefighters from all over the country converged on northern New Mexico. Photograph: Jim Weber/AP
Wildland blazes have been burning across New Mexico, Texas and Colorado for weeks now, with thousands of fire personnel battling flames in dry, windy weather. A fire in west Texas has destroyed dozens of structures and the gusty winds, high temperatures and extremely low humidity in New Mexico have authorities expecting that the number of structures destroyed there will reach 1,000.
Don’t miss this: Sex, death and Benediction
The British film director Terence Davies photographed at his home in Essex. Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian
Director Terence Davies spoke to the Guardian about reconstructing trauma on screen, the use of humor and his upcoming Siegfried Sassoon biopic. “Being in the past makes me feel safe because I understand that world,” Davies said, on how he has largely avoided contemporary settings.
Climate check: A mustard shortage
A man walks past a mustard shop in Dijon. Photograph: Jeff Pachoud/AFP/Getty Images
French mustard producers said seed production in 2021 was down 50% after poor harvests, which they are attributing to the changing climate in France’s Burgundy region and Canada, the second largest mustard seed producer in the world. The result is that supermarkets in France are now running out of dijon mustard, raising questions about whether the shortage may spread to other countries as well.
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Last Thing: A chaos creature
Aidan Harte’s sculpture of a púca. Photograph: Aidan Harte
It was the horse that launched a thousand memes. Eighteen months ago, sculptor Aidan Harte was commissioned to create a 2-meter-tall bronze statue of a púca for the town square in Ennistymon, County Clare in Ireland. When photographs of the clay mould for the sculpture leaked in April 2021, they elicited an immediate response on social media: the parish priest called it “sinister”. An artist painted it in a mural. One songwriter composed a song lauding the sculpture but another composer wrote a a piece that envisaged blowing it up. “Your ugly horse can kiss my ’orse,” said one line.
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2022-07-05T13:38:28Z | Sloviansk mayor urges residents to flee city as Russia steps up shelling | The mayor of Sloviansk has called on its remaining residents to evacuate as the Russian invaders stepped up their shelling of the frontline Ukrainian city after the capture of Lysychansk on Sunday.
Vadim Lyakh said 40 houses had been shelled on Monday – while other officials later said two people were killed and seven injured after Russian forces struck a market and a residential area in the city.
“It’s important to evacuate as many people as possible,” Lyakh said in an interview with Reuters, noting separately that 144 people had been evacuated on Tuesday, including 20 children, from a city now deemed at risk from Russian bombardment.
A day earlier, six people were killed and 20 injured in missile attacks aimed at the city, one of the main population centres in the Donbas region that remains outside Russian military control.
00:49 Firefighters battle a blaze after a Russian missile strike in Sloviansk – video
The strikes came as Nato’s 30 members signed an accession protocol that formally invited Sweden and Finland to join the alliance. The agreement has to be ratified by every member state’s parliament, although last week Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, warned that Ankara may not sign off on the deal.
Turkey had raised objections to Sweden and Finland’s membership amid concerns about the latter two countries’ relationship with Turkey’s Kurdish minority, but these were dropped after an agreement between the three last week.
At a news conference, the foreign ministers of Sweden and Finland both denied that the two countries had agreed to extradite specific people to Turkey. “There is, of course, no lists or anything like that in the memorandum,” Sweden’s foreign minister, Ann Linde, said.
Russia had concentrated its forces to capture the cities of Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk between May and July, the last two cities in Luhansk province it did not control, through an unrelenting and often untargeted artillery barrage.
Ukraine said on Monday it had retreated from Lysychansk, prompting speculation that Russia would now focus on Sloviansk and Kramatorsk to the south, the two main cities in Donetsk province held by Kyiv. The provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk make up Ukraine’s industrial Donbas region.
Sloviansk had a population of 107,000 and Kramatorsk 210,000 before the war. Despite the threat of a Russian attack, thousands had remained, reluctant to abandon their homes despite being just a few miles from the frontlines.
It is unclear if Moscow will immediately attempt to seize Sloviansk. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said on Monday that Russian troops who fought in Luhansk needed to “take some rest and beef up their combat capability”.
On Tuesday, Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister, said the war in Ukraine would continue until all Putin’s goals were achieved – but added that “the main priorities” for Moscow at the moment were “preserving the lives and health” of the troops, as well as “excluding the threat to the security of civilians”.
Ukraine hopes to bring forward recently obtained western weapons into the battlefield, most notably rocket artillery donated by the US and the UK, pointing to a critical point in the conflict in which Kyiv hopes to demonstrate it will be able to push the Russian invaders back.
“This is the last victory for Russia on Ukrainian territory,” Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in a video posted online.
“Taking the cities in the east meant that 60% of Russian forces are now concentrated in the east and it is difficult for them to be redirected to the south,” he said. “And there are no more forces that can be brought in from Russia. They paid a big price for Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk.”
One western analyst said he believed that assessment was optimistic. Nick Reynolds, a land warfare expert at the Rusi thinktank, said: “The loss of Lysychansk is a bad sign, and I fear that it is indeed a sign of sustainable Russian momentum.” While it was possible that Russia would run out of steam, he added, “I fear that the Ukrainian army will continue to be pushed back.”
Both sides suffered heavy losses in the battle for the two Luhansk cities, but Ukraine almost certainly more so because Russia, with as much as 10 times the artillery, was able to shell the defenders from a distance before moving in ground forces. Estimates provided to Rusi from Ukraine’s military were that 100 people a day on average were killed.
Four missiles hit the southern city of Mykolaiv on Tuesday, according to Roman Kostenko, an MP and special forces commander. Kostenko said infrastructure targets had been hit and some civilians suffered minor injuries.
“As they do every morning, Russia used their missiles as an alarm clock,” Kostenko said. “There were a few mornings when we woke up and didn’t hear any strikes. That was unusual. Today there were four missiles from either Kherson direction or from the Black Sea.”
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Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine its troops all but encircled Mykolaiv and its port on the Bug River, seizing the airport after advancing from the north-east. However, after weeks of fighting the Ukrainian army managed to push the Russians back, and the city has become a symbol of anti-Russian resistance.
According to Ukrainian authorities, Mykolaiv province is still regarded as a strategic target by Moscow and central to its goal of annexing Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, making it a “non-sea country”. |
2022-07-27T15:09:05Z | Germany accuses Russia of ‘power play’ as gas pipeline supply drops by half | Germany has accused Moscow of engaging in “power play” over energy exports, as Russian state-run Gazprom further throttled gas supplies into Europe.
As announced two days earlier, the energy giant on Wednesday reduced the gas flow through Nord Stream 1 to 33m cubic metres a day – about 20% of the pipeline’s total capacity and half the amount it has been delivering since resuming service last week after 10 days of maintenance work.
According to network data from the gas transfer station in Lubmin, north-east Germany, only about 17m kilowatt hours of gas arrived between 8am and 9am, compared with more than 27m kWh between 6am and 7am.
Meanwhile, the Italian energy major Eni said it had been told by Gazprom it would only receive “approximately 27m cubic metres” of natural gas on Wednesday, down from around 34m cubic metres in recent days.
The Russian gas firm said gas flow was down because one of the last two operating turbines had to be halted due to a “technical condition of the engine” – an argument the German government in strong terms dismissed as a made-up pretext.
“The turbine is there, it has been serviced,” said the government spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann in Berlin, referencing a turbine Russia had previously cited as a reason for reduced deliveries.
“At this point in time supply contracts aren’t being honoured,” she added. “What we are seeing is indeed power play, and we won’t allow ourselves to be impressed by that.”
A Kremlin spokesperson blamed supply shortages on European sanctions.
“Technical pumping capacities are down, more restricted. Why? Because the process of maintaining technical devices is made extremely difficult by the sanctions adopted by Europe,” Dmitry Peskov said.
“Gazprom was and remains a reliable guarantor of its obligations ... but it can’t guarantee the pumping of gas if the imported devices cannot be maintained because of European sanctions.”
On Tuesday, the operator Eugas announced a booking of extra capacity for its Transgas pipeline via Slovakia and Ukraine, raising hopes in Germany that Gazprom was looking to make up for lower deliveries by pumping gas via a different route.
However, on Wednesday no increased deliveries via Transgas were reported.
“Transgas has plenty of spare capacity,” said Andreas Schröder, an energy expert for the market analyst ICIS. “If Russia really wanted to deliver its gas to Europe it could easily reroute via Slovakia. However, that would also entail paying higher transit fees to Ukraine.”
Deliveries of Russian gas through the Yamal pipeline, which passes through Belarus and Poland, ceased in May due to sanctions.
On Tuesday, energy ministers from all of the European Union’s 27 member states except Hungary backed a voluntary 15% reduction in gas usage over the winter, a target that could become mandatory if the Kremlin ordered a complete shutdown of gas to Europe.
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Ministers agreed opt-outs for island nations and possible exclusions for countries little connected to the European gas network, which will blunt the overall effect in the event of a full-blown gas crisis. Germany, which is more reliant on Russian gas than its neighbours, is expected to have to make bigger savings to help the bloc of states meet its reduction targets.
“Germany has to consume less gas,” said Klaus Müller, the head of the country’s federal network agency. He said it was unrealistic to expect Nord Stream 1 to resume delivering at 40% of capacity.
Müller said Germany had already started to make significant savings, in part due to warm temperatures in the spring and summer. Private households and industry consumed “five, six, seven per cent less gas” than usual.
However, Müller warned of difficult months ahead. “In the autumn the situation will change, gas consumption will rise,” he said, noting the country’s strong reliance on gas for its heating. |
2022-07-27T13:51:18Z | Russia-Ukraine war latest: what we know on day 154 of the invasion | Self-appointed authorities in the occupied Kherson region have closed the bridge to traffic, but said it was structurally sound and that repairs would begin shortly. Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-imposed administration, said “There are hits on the bridge, the bridge has not been destroyed. More holes have been added”. He claimed that the attack would make life slightly more difficult for the resident of Kherson, but “it will not affect the outcome of hostilities in any way.” |
2022-07-26T09:58:37Z | Russia-Ukraine war latest: what we know on day 153 of the invasion | The UK’s Ministry of Defence has issued its intelligence briefing on the situation in Ukraine for the day, in which it disputes Russia’s account of Sunday’s missile attack on Odesa, saying “The Russian MoD claimed to have hit a Ukrainian warship and a stockpile of anti-ship missiles. There is no indication that such targets were at the location the missiles hit”. Russia initially told Turkey that it was not responsible for the attack. Yesterday Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov contradicted this, and said that the attack was on military infrastructure. |
2022-05-19T17:14:05Z | Russia says 771 more Ukrainian troops ‘surrender’ at Mariupol steelworks | Russia has said a further 771 Ukrainian troops have “surrendered” at Mariupol’s besieged Azovstal steelworks, bringing the total number to 1,730 this week, while the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had started registering the Ukrainian prisoners of war who left the plant.
The Russian defence ministry said on Thursday that 80 soldiers who surrendered in the past day were being treated for injuries in hospitals in the Russian-held cities of Novoazovsk and Donetsk. Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said on Wednesday that more than 900 troops from Azovstal had been sent to a former prison colony in the town of Olenivka, but it was not immediately clear where the latest group to surrender had gone.
Ukraine has not commented on the evacuation of the soldiers since Tuesday, when its deputy defence minister said the soldiers would be swapped in a prisoner exchange, without providing further details.
It is not clear how many soldiers remain inside the plant. The deputy commander of the Azov regiment, Capt Svyatoslav Palamar, released a video on Thursday evening in which he said he had not surrendered and remained in the steel mill. “The operation is continuing. I can’t give more information now,” Palamar said. He did not say how many other fighters were with him.
Denis Pushilin, the head of the self-proclaimed republic in Donetsk, said on Thursday that more than half the Ukrainian fighters in the bunkers below the steel plant had surrendered.
Pushilin also repeated statements made earlier by Russian officials that the soldiers should be tried in court.
“Let them surrender, let them live, let them honestly face the charges for all their crimes,” Pushilin said.
The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, earlier said the combatants would be treated in line with international norms for PoWs, though several senior Russian politicians demanded they be put on trial and one even called for their execution.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has not publicly commented on the fate of the soldiers since their evacuation started on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the ICRC said it had registered “hundreds of Ukrainian prisoners of war” this week from the Azovstal plant.
“The ICRC started on Tuesday 17 May to register combatants leaving the Azovstal plant, including the wounded, at the request of the parties. The operation continued Wednesday and was still ongoing Thursday. The ICRC is not transporting PoWs to the places where they are held,” the Geneva-based humanitarian agency, which has experience in working with prisoners of war, said in a statement.
“In accordance with the mandate given to the ICRC by states under the 1949 Geneva conventions, the ICRC must have immediate access to all PoWs in all places where they are held. The ICRC must be allowed to interview prisoners of war without witnesses, and the duration and frequency of these visits should not be unduly restricted,” the agency added.
Several Russian media outlets and pro-Kremlin telegram channels reported on Thursday that some Ukrainian soldiers from the Azovstal plant had already been transported outside Donbas to Russian territories.
According to 161, a local news outlet, 89 Ukrainian soldiers had been transferred to a detainment facility in the Russian border city of Taganrog where they will face charges of extremism in a military court for fighting in the Azov regiment, one of the main forces defending the steelworks.
The Azov regiment was formed in 2014 as a volunteer militia to fight Russia-backed forces in east Ukraine, and many of its original members had far-right extremist views. Since then, the unit has been integrated into the Ukrainian national guard and the regiment now denies being fascist, racist or neo-Nazi. The Azov movement has been used as a key part of the Russian propaganda narrative to justify the war in Ukraine.
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Next week, Russia’s supreme court will hear an application to designate Ukraine’s Azov regiment as a “terrorist organisation”, opening the way for sentences of up to 20 years for those convicted of involvement.
Experts believe that a trial of the Ukrainian troops, described by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, as “heroes”, would further complicate efforts to resume the stalled peace negotiations.
The Russian presidential aide Sergey Kiriyenko said on Thursday that Putin personally decided that his country would “take oversight” of the two breakaway territories that make up the Donbas, which Moscow has already recognised as independent. It was another sign that the Kremlin was looking to further annex Ukranian territory, after previously hinting that it was open to annexing seized Ukranian territories, including the southern port cities of Kherson and Mariupol.
Such moves would further complicate any peace negotiations with Ukraine. Zelenskiy has repeatedly stated that the war with Russia would end only when Ukraine reclaimed everything that Russia had taken from it since the start of the war in late February.
Moscow also said on Thursday that it would open access to Ukraine’s Black Sea ports if the west reviewed the sanctions it had imposed on the country. Ukraine, one of the world’s biggest grain producers, has been unable to export its goods through ports since Russia sent troops into Ukraine, causing a spike in food prices and fears of a global food crisis. |
2022-07-04T14:09:57Z | Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 131 of the invasion | The president of Belarus and Vladimir Putin’s closest ally has said his ex-Soviet state stands fully behind Russia, adding that the country’s “have practically a unified army”. Alexander Lukashenko said he had thrown his weight behind Putin’s campaign against Ukraine “from the very first day” in late February. “We are being criticised for being the only country in the world to support Russia in its fight against nazism,” a video on the state BelTA news agency showed Lukashenko telling a gathering. “We will remain together with fraternal Russia.” |
2022-06-11T12:01:17Z | Zelenskiy ‘didn’t want to hear’ warnings of Russia invasion, says Biden | Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, “didn’t want to hear” warnings of the Russian invasion, according to the US president, Joe Biden.
Speaking at a fundraising reception in Los Angeles on Friday, Biden said “there was no doubt” Vladimir Putin had been planning to “go in”.
“Nothing like this has happened since World War Two,” he told donors. “I know a lot of people thought I was maybe exaggerating.
“But I knew we had data to sustain [Putin] was going to go in, off the border. There was no doubt … and Zelenskiy didn’t want to hear it.”
Biden was talking about his work to rally and solidify support for Ukraine as the war continues into its fourth month.
However, despite the west’s ongoing support for Ukraine and Zelenskiy, a former head of the British army accused leaders of lacking a long-term strategy in the conflict.
Gen Lord Richards said the British government had adopted a “let’s see how it goes strategy” and was failing to show “decisiveness”.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, he said: “There is, at best, what might be termed incremental strategy with again no early and decisive synchronisation of ends, ways and means. It is a ‘let’s see how it goes strategy’, in other words not really strategy at all.
“There is still little idea in London, Washington or elsewhere how ‘we’ want the war to pan out, or what sort of Russia we are seeking to shape, especially on the vital long-term issue of relations with China.”
He said leaders ought to be considering if there was an opportunity to “persuade a weakened Russia to align with the west” rather than be drawn into China’s influence.
“Britain remains one of the world’s leading economies and military powers even if it is a decidedly regional strategic power these days,” he added.
“Strategy is about choices and the more choices one needs to make to balance the ends, ways and means when pursuing the national interest, the more informed they need to be.”
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Zelenskiy said on Saturday that Ukraine was on course to win the grinding war with Russia, as fighting becomes focused on a key city in the east.
Russian forces have been trying to seize Sievierodonetsk in an eastern advance, turning it into one of the bloodiest battles of the conflict to date.
“We are definitely going to prevail in this war that Russia has started,” Zelenskiy told a conference in Singapore by video link. “It is on the battlefields in Ukraine that the future rules of this world are being decided.”
But neither side’s forces have so far been able to steal a march despite ferocious street fighting, which has seen much of the city reduced to rubble, the Reuters news agency reported.
Britain’s defence ministry said on Saturday that Russian forces had not made advances into the south of the city as of Friday.
“Intense street-to-street fighting is ongoing and both sides are likely suffering high numbers of casualties,” the ministry said in an intelligence update posted on Twitter.
Addressing the Shangri-La Dialogue event from a secret location in Kyiv, Zelenskiy said it was crucial that the nations sending aid did not let up.
“If … due to Russian blockades we are unable to export our foodstuffs, the world will face an acute and severe food crisis and famine in many countries in Asia and Africa,” he said.
He said that Russia is blocking ports in the Black Sea and Azov Sea, preventing Ukraine from exporting food to the rest of the world.
It comes as the governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Haidai, said Russians were in control of most of the city, after days of grinding advances and slow retreats by both sides in a conflict that one Ukrainian military official said had become “an artillery war”.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Mariupol said sanitation systems were broken and corpses were rotting in the streets of the southern city decimated by Russian bombardment.
The office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general said on Telegram that at least 287 children had died in the war so far, after it said it had learned about the deaths of 24 more children in Mariupol. |