Category Archives: Ukraine

Kosovo PM says Russia is inflaming Serbia tensions as Ukraine war falters

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Albin Kurti warns rising tensions only benefit Putin as ethnic Serbs set up road blocks in north of country

Kosovo’s prime minister, Albin Kurti, has warned of Russia inflaming tensions between his country and Serbia due to the war in Ukraine faltering, as Belgrade took its first step in deploying troops to the region.

Ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo, where they are in the majority, have had barricades set up for more than a week, preventing the free movement of the Kosovan authorities, despite US and EU calls for the illegal road blocks to be dismantled.

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Positive signals from Iran over nuclear deal put west in a tricky position

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Revival of pact could mean lifting sanctions on a country that is viciously suppressing protests and arming Russia

Wary western powers face an unlikely potential dilemma after a sudden push by Tehran to suggest that progress is being made to remove the last outstanding obstacles to a revived agreement to oversee Iran’s nuclear programme.

The unlikely prospect of Joe Biden reviving the dormant 2015 nuclear deal, potentially lifting sanctions and opening the way for Iran to make billions of dollars in oil exports, would be seen as a gross betrayal by supporters of three-month-long street protests, as well as a controversial signal to send to Ukraine about Washington’s priorities.

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Germany pauses buying Puma tanks after mass breakdown

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All 18 tanks on exercises suffer problems in blow to German contribution to January Nato force

The German government has said it will pause purchases of new Puma tanks after a mass breakdown during exercises, lamenting a “harsh setback” as Berlin seeks to overhaul its military.

The armoured infantry vehicles – which were supposed to form part of Germany’s contribution to a Nato force – suffered problems that left all 18 of those in the exercises unfit for operations.

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Canada targets Abramovich company for Ukraine sanctions seizure

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Government plans to seize US$26m from Granite Capital Holdings, owned by sanctioned former Chelsea FC owner

Canada plans to seize US$26m from a company owned by the sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, the federal government said on Monday.

The pursuit of Abramovich’s Granite Capital Holdings marks a first attempt by Ottawa to seize assets belonging to a sanctioned individual and reflects a broader strategy to punish Russia and its wealthy elite for the invasion of Ukraine.

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Sunak’s review of aid for Ukraine suggests cracks appearing in UK policy

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The PM seems undecided about delivering the big uplift in military help Kyiv needs to get ready for a possible Russian offensive

Boris Johnson’s Ukraine policy may not have always been sophisticated – “Dobryi den, everybody!” – but his enthusiasm was welcomed in Kyiv. Six months of Conservative party chaos later, his successor but one, Rishi Sunak, is yet to demonstrate he is as supportive at a time when Ukraine needs the west to dig in.

A leak at the start of the weekend said that Sunak had ordered an internal assessment of the significance of British military aid to Ukraine. Revelation of the Whitehall exercise was accompanied by a pointed briefing to the BBC, accusing the prime minister of resorting to a “Goldman Sachs dashboard” approach.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: UN chief believes war in Ukraine ‘will go on’; Putin in Belarus for talks with Lukashenko – as it happened

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Antonia Guterres does not see ‘serious’ peace talks in immediate future; Russian president visits Minsk

EU countries will need to reach a compromise on a gas price cap on Monday, and the latest proposal on the table offers a good basis to do so, Malta’s energy minister, Miriam Dalli, has said.

“What the presidency is proposing is a very good step in the right direction,” Dalli said before entering a meeting of the EU’s energy ministers.

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Rishi Sunak to meet UK troops in Estonia and attend Baltic summit

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UK prime minister joins Nordic and Baltic leaders at summit on countering Russian aggression

Rishi Sunak will meet UK troops in Estonia and Nordic and Baltic leaders at a summit on countering Russian aggression, where he will say leaders must sustain or exceed their lethal aid support to Ukraine and their political backing.

Monday’s meeting will come after the UK prime minister was reported to have unnerved some in Whitehall by asking for a “Goldman Sachs dashboard” on the progress of the war and how UK military supplies are used, according to the BBC.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: ‘fragile morale’ among Russian forces, says UK – as it happened

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British ministry of defence says Russian soldiers also troubled by lack of equipment and uncertainty over war’s objectives

The time is approaching for a negotiated peace in Ukraine to reduce the risk of another devastating world war, but dreams of breaking up Russia could unleash nuclear chaos, the veteran US diplomat Henry Kissinger said.

Kissinger, an architect of the cold war policy of detente towards the Soviet Union as secretary of state under Republican presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, has met Vladimir Putin multiple times since he first became president in 2000.

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Kyiv mayor says heating restored in capital after latest Russian strikes

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Moscow unveils plans to deploy musicians to frontline in bid to boost morale among Russian troops

Heating has been fully restored to Kyiv, the city’s mayor has said, after one of the most intense Russian bombardments of the capital last week robbed it of key civilian energy supplies and forced the national government to implement rolling blackouts.

Vitali Klitschko said on Sunday morning the capital was successfully “restoring all services after the latest shelling” and that “in particular, the capital’s heating supply system is fully restored. All sources of heat supply work normally.”

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‘Our weapons are computers’: Ukrainian coders aim to gain battlefield edge

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Delta software developed to help collect and disseminate information about enemy’s movements

In a nondescript office building on the outskirts of Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian soldiers have been honing what they believed will be a decisive weapon in their effort to repel the Russian invasion.

Inside, the weapon glows from a dozen computer screens – a constantly updated portrayal of the evolving battlefield to the south. With one click on a menu, the map is populated with hordes of orange diamonds, showing Russian deployments. They reveal where tanks and artillery have been hidden, and intimate details of the units and the soldiers in them, gleaned from social media. Choosing another option from the menu lights up red arrows across the southern Zaporizhzhia region, showing the progression of Russian columns. Zooming in shows satellite imagery of the terrain in sharp detail.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Kyiv ‘preparing’ for Russia to invade from north, says commander – as it happened

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Military commander predicts ‘possible offensive from Belarus at the end of February’, as air raid sirens reported in several regions including Kyiv, Lviv, Mykolaiv and Volyn

Rockets launched by Ukrainian forces killed three civilians in the Russian-occupied town of Shchastia in Ukraine’s southern Luhansk province, according to pro-Moscow officials.

In a statement on Telegram, Russian-installed Luhansk officials claimed US-made Himars rockets had wounded five others, and destroyed four houses.

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Ally of Wagner Group boss hurt in ‘assassination attempt’ in central Africa

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Dmitry Sytii under US sanctions for links to mercenary group founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is close to Vladimir Putin

A Russian businessman believed to be a close ally of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner Group founder, has been taken to hospital in Central African Republic (CAR) after an “assassination attempt”, the RIA Novosti news agency has reported, citing the local Russian embassy.

Dmitry Sytii, who officially works as head of the “Russian House” culture centre in CAR’s capital, Bangui, had sanctions imposed on him by the US in September 2020 for his alleged links to Wagner Group, a private military group that has deployed more than 1,000 fighters in the unstable country to fight rebels.

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Police chief fired grenade launcher given as gift by Ukraine, Polish media reports

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Prosecutors investigating after Jarosław Szymczyk injured in blast at police headquarters in Warsaw

Polish prosecutors are investigating a “violent release of energy” at the national police headquarters amid media reports that the chief of police fired a grenade launcher in his office.

Poland’s interior ministry said on Thursday that Jarosław Szymczyk, the police commander in chief, was injured and taken to hospital when a present he received during a visit to Ukraine exploded at police headquarters in Warsaw.

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Kharkiv left without power, heating and water after new wave of Russian missile strikes across country – as it happened

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‘Colossal’ damage in Ukraine’s second largest city, mayor says, after Russian missile strikes lead to power emergency.

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“Do not ignore air raid alerts, remain in shelters,” Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Ukraine’s president’s office wrote a few moments ago on Telegram messaging app.

Putin will visit Belarus on Monday, AFP is reporting, citing the Minsk presidential press service. Putin’s visit comes as the UK warns that Belarus is reportedly holding “readiness exercises”. Russia has also deployed extra units of mobilised reservists to Belarus.

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Russia carries out more mass strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure

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Power outages reported after barrage of rockets fired at several regions in second such attack in days

A second wave of mass strikes in days has been launched by Russia across Ukraine, with 76 rockets fired at several regions on Friday morning in what appeared to be a continuation of the Kremlin’s attempt to destroy Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Ukraine’s state energy company Ukrenergo said energy consumption had fallen by 50% as a result of the attacks and that it would take longer to restore the electricity supply than after previous attacks. Russia had hit thermal power plants, hydroelectric plants and substations of main networks, Ukrenergo said.

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Ukraine army chief warns Moscow preparing for new Kyiv attack as Putin seeks new economic ties – as it happened

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Valeriy Zaluzhny warns Putin’s forces regrouping before renewed attack in 2023; Russia looking to overcome impact of sanctions. This live blog is closed

European Union member states failed to agree on a ninth package of Russia sanctions in talks late on Wednesday, diplomats said as EU leaders gathered in Brussels on Thursday for their last summit of the year.

Countries moved closer to a deal in Wednesday’s negotiations but Poland and some other countries still have objections, one EU diplomat told Reuters, adding a new draft was expected to be circulated on Thursday evening.

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Poland’s police chief wounded after gift from Ukraine official explodes

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Warsaw seeking explanation from Kyiv after Jarosław Szymczyk taken to hospital with minor injuries

Poland’s police chief, Jarosław Szymczyk, has been taken to hospital with minor injuries after a gift he received from a senior Ukrainian official exploded, the interior ministry said on Thursday.

“Yesterday at 7.50am there was an explosion in a room next to the office of the police chief,” a statement said. “One of the presents the police chief received during his working visit to Ukraine on December 11 and 12 exploded.”

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