Two leaders will ‘discuss UK’s long-term support to Ukraine’ and Johnson will set out new aid package, says No 10
Boris Johnson is meeting the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy during an unannounced visit to Kyiv, Ukrainian officials have said.
A picture posted on Twitter by the embassy of Ukraine to the UK showed the two leaders sitting across a table in the capital, with their respective flags in the background.
Continue reading...Zelenskiy says sanctions unveiled by west have ‘a spectacular look. But this is not enough’, as fears mount of large-scale Russian offensive
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said new sanctions by the west against Russia do not go far enough and will be seen by invading forces as a “permission to attack”, as fears of an assault on the east of the country intensify.
It comes after the US, UK and EU unveiled a raft of new sanctions targeting Russian banks and the country’s elites. The US measures include a ban on investing in Russia as well as sanctions on president Vladimir Putin’s adult daughters. The EU sanctions include a ban on coal imports and restrictions on banks.
The Pentagon said a “small number” of Ukrainian soldiers are being trained in the United States to operate the deadly Switchblade drones that Washington is supplying to Kyiv. The troops were already in the US before Russia invaded.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby offered some optimism about the Ukraine resistance. “Of course, they can win this. And if you look at what they’ve been able to do just thus far, Mr Putin has achieved exactly zero of his strategic objectives inside Ukraine,” he said.
Nato foreign ministers will meet in Brussels on Thursday for two days of talks on providing support to bring an end to the war.
US sanctions against two of Russia’s largest banks are “a direct blow to the Russian population [and] ordinary citizens”, Tass news agency cited Russia’s US ambassador as saying on Wednesday. Anatoly Antonov made his remarks after Washington hit Sberbank and Alfabank.
Continue reading...Volodymyr Zelenskiy says new sanctions on Russia ‘not enough’ to prevent more deadly attacks as citizens in the east of the country urged to flee
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the new package of western sanctions against Russia is “not enough” and without more painful measures and supply of weapons, Russia will view the actions as permission to launch a new bloody attack. In his daily address on Thursday, he called for the democratic world to reject Russian oil and completely block Russian banks from the international finance system, after the US, UK and EU unveiled new sanctions against Moscow.
US sanctions target Russian banks and elites, and include a ban on any American from investing in Russia as well as sanctions on Putin’s adult daughters. The UK is collaborating with the US on asset freezes against Russian banks and banning all new outward investment to Russia. The EU announced a wide-ranging package of sanctions, including import bans on coal and transaction bans on banks.
Nato’s foreign ministers will meet in Brussels on Thursday for two days of talks on bringing an end to the war.
Hungary’s right-wing, Putin-allied prime minister Viktor Orbán gave a press conference in which he said he had offered to broker talks with Russia. He offered to work towards a ceasefire, while stopping short of agreeing to extend EU sanctions against Russia’s oil and gas shipments.
Zelenskiy said Kremlin forces were trying to cover up evidence of atrocities. “We have information that the Russian military has changed its tactics and is trying to remove people who have been killed from streets and basements ... this is just an attempt to hide the evidence and nothing more,” he said Thursday, but did not provide evidence.
Russia’s military has now shifted its focus to the east of the Ukraine, with Ukraine authorities in Luhansk and Donetsk warning that civilians should leave as quickly as possible. It comes as western officials say Russia’s retreat from around Kyiv and the north east of the country is now “largely complete” and that it will take “at least a week” before reconstituted units could go to Donbas and perhaps longer.
Russia is hiding ‘thousands’ killed in Mariupol, Zelenskiy said. Russian forces are blocking humanitarian access to the besieged port city of Mariupol because it wants to hide evidence of “thousands” of people killed there, the president said.
More than 5,000 civilians, including 210 children, have been killed in Mariupol since the start of Russia’s invasion, the mayor of the besieged city said. Vadym Boichenko said 90% of the city’s infrastructure has been destroyed and Russian forces have targeted a hospital where 50 were burned to death. Russian attacks on the port city have obstructed access to food and supplies and Red Cross humanitarian convoy has been unsuccessful in getting in.
Ukrainian soldiers are being trained in the US to operate deadly Switchblade drones that Washington is supplying to Kyiv, the Pentagon said Wednesday. Defence department spokesman John Kirby said it was a “very small” number of Ukrainian troops who were already in the US before Russia invaded their country.
Britain is drawing up plans to send armoured vehicles to Ukraine, according to The Times. Options include sending a protected patrol vehicle, such as the Mastiff, or a vehicle like the Jackal, which can be used as a reconnaissance or long-range patrol vehicle, a ministry of defence report said.
Continue reading...Ukraine president says latest economic measures are not enough; authorities in eastern Ukraine urge civilians to leave
Zelenskiy questioned the ability of the UN Security Council to provide security, undermining the very functions for which it was created during his Tuesday night national address.
The UN Security Council exists, and security in the world doesn’t. For anyone.
This definitely means that the United Nations is currently unable to carry out the functions for which it was created. And only one state is to blame for this - Russia, which discredits the UN and all other international institutions where it still participates.
Even if we sign the most powerful agreement, we understand that in two years Russia may return. And if you and I accept this, then we act accordingly,” he said.
All this is being discussed at the level of advisers and leaders with France, the United States, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Poland, Italy, Israel, and there are many friends who want to join. So far, we have not received a specific list of guarantees and a list of countries that are ready to join us 100%.
We do not need to have 40 countries of the world that are ready to join and fight for Ukraine under the agreement. We need serious players who are ready for anything. We need a circle of states that are ready to provide any weapons within 24 hours. We need individual countries on which sanctions policy really depends, so that these sanctions are deeply elaborated in advance. So that in the first second when we feel the threat from the Russian Federation, these states will unite and within three days introduce everything at once, block everything.”
If we are offered to join Nato tomorrow, if they don’t play with our lives again, but seriously offer, we will join. But this will not happen, unfortunately, and did not happen.
That is why we will build those security guarantees that can protect us, protect people’s lives.”
Continue reading...Joe Biden links new measures directly to accounts of atrocities committed by Russian forces in Bucha
The US has announced a new round of sanctions targeting Russia’s top public and private banks and two daughters of Vladimir Putin, following mounting global accusations of Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
The sanctions targeted Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova, two adult daughters of Putin’s with his former wife Lyudmila Shkrebneva.
Continue reading...In Zelenskiy’s signature late-night national address he addressed Russian soldiers and military officers.
“Nowadays people are not executed,” Zelenskiy began. “But all skabeevas, evening loudmouths, frontline liars and their bosses in Moscow should remember: the end of your life will be behind bars. At best.”
Everything to punish them. This will be a joint work of our state with the European Union and international institutions, in particular with the International Criminal Court.
All crimes of the occupiers are documented. The necessary procedural basis is provided for bringing the guilty Russian military to justice for every crime they commit...
Continue reading...Zelenskiy calls for Nuremberg-style trials in address to UN security council; landmine danger in Bucha; EU proposes new sanctions
Continue reading...World leaders condemn alleged atrocities and call for independent investigations after bodies of civilians and mass graves found
Continue reading...US president says Russian president is war criminal; Ukraine’s prosecutor general says Borodyanka will be worst-hit by Russian invasion in Kyiv region
Before I hand this liveblog over to my colleague, Martin Belam, here is a quick refresher of where the situation currently stands.
In the light of heinous provocation of Ukrainian radicals in Bucha Russia requested a meeting of UN Security Council on Monday April 4.”
Russian Federation requested a meeting of the UN Security Council in connection with the provocation of the Ukrainian military and radicals in the city of Bucha.
The idea behind the next crime of the ‘Kyiv’s regime’ is the disruption of peace negotiations and the escalation of violence.”
Continue reading...Ukraine president says worse atrocities may yet be found elsewhere as satellite images show mass grave near church in Bucha
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.
Continue reading...The specter of Oscars chaos loomed over the music awards – a mega-concert which included a message of hope from the Ukrainian president
Teenage pop phenom Olivia Rodrigo and R&B duo Silk Sonic dominated the major categories, and Jon Batiste won album of the year at the 64th annual Grammys – a three-and-a-half-hour mega concert that mostly steered clear of politics or the pandemic, save for a virtual message from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy and an emotional tribute to victims of the Russian invasion.
A week after one of the most chaotic Oscars in recent memory – during which Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage – the Grammys seemed to revel in its technical proficiency and lack of controversy. “We’re gonna be listening to some music, we’re gonna be dancing, we’re gonna be singing, we’re gonna be keeping people’s names out of our mouths,” said host Trevor Noah in his opening monologue, acknowledging the elephant in the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Continue reading...Accusations of war crimes and calls for tougher sanctions feature on Monday’s front pages amid horror at civilian killings by Russian troops
Revulsion at the atrocities committed by Russian forces in the Ukrainian town of Bucha dominates today’s front pages, as politicians lined up around the world to condemn the massacre of hundreds of civilians.
The Mirror says simply “Genocide” in its headline under the bleak strapline: “Putin’s latest atrocities”. It quotes Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s use of the term but the page is given over to a heartbreaking image from Bucha, just near Ukraine’s capital, where the bodies of civilians were abandoned in the street. Hundreds of civilians have been found in mass graves, it reports, and some had been tied up.
Continue reading...Claims of war crimes in the Ukraine city mount up as residents tell of a month of fear
It was, said Taras Schevchenko, like a scene from a film.
At 6am on the morning of 24 February, from the vantage point of the kitchen window of his fifth-storey apartment overlooking Gostomel airport, on the northern outskirts of the Ukrainian town of Bucha, Schevchenko watched as about 20 Russian helicopters flew into vision, spilling paratroopers on to the tarmac below.
Continue reading...Key city east of Kyiv has been liberated, says mayor, as Zelenskiy says Russians withdrawing ‘slowly but noticeably’
A key city east of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, has been recaptured from Russian forces, Ukrainian officials have said, but retreating troops were said to be heavily mining the lost territory in their wake.
The city of Brovary was said by its mayor to have been liberated with Ukrainian forces working to drive out the last Russian troops and clear the area of “military hardware”.
Continue reading...Move would be highest-profile visit of a world figure since Vladimir Putin began invasion of Ukraine
Pope Francis has said he is considering visiting the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in what would be the most high-profile visit of a world figure since Russia invaded the country.
The head of the Catholic church was invited by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, along with Ukrainian religious leaders on 8 March.
Continue reading...Mayor’s aide says city remains closed for anyone trying to enter and ‘very dangerous’ for those trying to leave
An aide to the mayor of Mariupol has said the besieged southern Ukrainian city remains closed for anyone trying to enter and is “very dangerous” for anyone trying to leave.
Petro Andryushchenko said Russian forces had since Thursday been preventing even the smallest amount of humanitarian supplies reaching trapped residents, making clear a planned “humanitarian corridor” had not been opened.
Continue reading...Volodymyr Zelenskiy says fierce resistance has pressured Russian forces in Kyiv but Ukraine is preparing for strikes in other regions
Russia is building up its forces in eastern Ukraine in readiness for a new wave of attacks in the breakaway Donbas region, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said, as another attempt was being made to rescue trapped civilians and deliver aid to besieged Mariupol.
In an early morning video address, the Ukrainian president said Russia’s drawdown announcement had been forced upon the Kremlin by the fierce resistance of Ukraine’s armed forces.
The Biden administration is considering a plan to release approximately 1 million barrels of oil a day from US reserves for several months, in order to combat rising fuel prices exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, according to Bloomberg.
Germany has triggered the first stage of plans to ration power if the standoff with Russia over gas supplies and sanctions is not resolved. Moscow is demanding payment for energy be made in roubles, but this could undercut western sanctions on Russia and countries are under pressure not to go along with the Kremlin’s plan.
The Russian rouble has recovered to its pre-war value despite western sanctions on the country’s exports and financial systems. The currency was trading at 75.5 to $1 on Thursday morning, compared with almost 140 at the beginning of March when it crashed with the onset of sanctions.
Zelenskiy addressed the Australian parliament on Thursday.
Global restrictions on exports of industrial components to Russia have hit car and tank production. A carmaker has shut down and tank production has halted, according to the US. Baikal Electronics, a Russian semiconductor company and computer manufacturer, has been cut off from integrated circuits to support its surveillance, servers, and other domestic communications equipment.
Liz Truss, Britain’s foreign secretary, is due to land in India on Thursday to urge Narendra Modi’s government to reduce its strategic dependency on Russia. Her arrival coincides with that of her sparring partner Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, who will be making his first visit since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Major jewellers including American brand Tiffany & Co; Swiss watch and jewellery-maker Chopard; Signet, the largest retailer of diamond jewellery; and Pandora, the world’s largest jeweller, have released statements saying they will stop buying diamonds of Russian origin.
The UK has announced new laws targeting the access of Russian oligarchs to “UK aviation and maritime technical services”, according to the Foreign Office.
Continue reading...Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Australian contribution to become more critical as Scott Morrison pledges extra $25m in military assistance to Ukraine; Sydney rainfall tops record set in 1956; flood and hazardous surf warnings across NSW; nation records 32 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed
Parliament has passed legislation that can stop deadly mitochondrial disease in babies, using a partial DNA donation. It passed in the Senate scramble last night. Here’s the background:
Communities in the northern rivers region of NSW are going to get some reprieve from the rain today as the east coast low drifts away from the coast.
Ukrainian president’s address to federal parliament came after Scott Morrison called Vladimir Putin a ‘war criminal’ in strongest condemnation yet
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has told the Australian parliament that his country is “undefeatable” against Russia as long as it can count on the support of the global community.
In a virtual speech to MPs and senators in Canberra, the Ukrainian president requested Australia send Bushmaster armoured vehicles to assist in the fight against Russia, saying they would “do much more for our common freedom and security than staying parked on your land”.
Continue reading...Concern Putin might be using peace talks to play for time as Russian negotiators say troop withdrawals not a ceasefire
Vladimir Putin’s main spokesman has said that sanctions on trade and oligarchs were akin to “total war” against Russia, and that the west has pushed the Kremlin “into the corner” with Nato expansion, as officials prepare for the resumption of peace talks with Ukraine on Tuesday.
Dmitry Peskov said in an interview on American television PBS that the punitive sanctions levelled against Russia were “quite unfriendly” and made the country feel as it were at war with the US and its western allies.
Unfortunately, those conditions, they are quite unfriendly. And they are enemy, enemy-like for us. We entered the phase, the phase of a total war. And we in Russia, we will feel ourselves amongst war, because Western European countries, United States, Canada, Australia, they actually — they actually — they are leading war against us in trade, in economy, in seizing our properties, in seizing our funds, in blocking our financial relations.
And we have to adapt ourselves to new reality. You have to understand Russia. You have to understand Russia.”
For a couple of decades, we were telling the collective west that we are afraid of your Nato’s moving eastwards. We too are afraid of Nato getting closer to our borders with its military infrastructure. Please take care of that. Don’t push us into the corner. No.
Now we said, listen, guys, we are not happy with this coup in Ukraine. And you have guarantees by Poland, by France and by Germany. You would probably remember the document with the signatures of the relevant foreign ministers. No reaction.
Continue reading...