Eight people detained in Russia over Crimea bridge attack; Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station loses off-site power again
Continue reading...Category Archives: Ukraine
National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine announces UK tour
Biggest tour in orchestra’s history reflects boom in interest in Ukrainian culture since Russian invasion
The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (NSOU) has announced its first UK tour in more than 20 years, and the biggest in its history, to reflect venues and audiences’ newfound interest in Ukrainian culture since the Russian invasion.
During the three-week tour the orchestra will play works by Ukrainian composers such as Borys Lyatoshynsky alongside classical greats such as Finland’s Jean Sibelius and Germany’s Richard Strauss across 17 venues in October and November 2023. No Russian music will be played.
Continue reading...Elon Musk denies report he spoke to Putin about use of nuclear weapons
Tesla boss, who recently floated his own peace plan, rejects claim he talked to Russian president about the war in Ukraine
Elon Musk has denied a report that he spoke to Vladimir Putin, including about the potential for using nuclear weapons, before floating a peace plan that suggested that Ukraine cede territory to Russia.
The head of the Eurasia Group political risk consultancy, who made the original claim, had insisted that his source was Musk himself. “Elon Musk told me he had spoken with Putin and the Kremlin directly about Ukraine,” Ian Bremmer said in a tweet after Musk’s tweeted denial. “He also told me what the kremlin’s red lines were.
Continue reading...Saudi Arabia will face ‘consequences’, says Biden, amid anger at cuts in oil output
Moves by Opec+ to reduce production seen as siding with Putin over the US just as midterms loom
Joe Biden said there “will be consequences” for Saudi Arabia after its decision last week to side with Vladimir Putin and cut oil production.
“There’s going to be some consequences for what they’ve done, with Russia,” the US president said in an interview on CNN. “I’m not going to get into what I’d consider and what I have in mind. But there will be – there will be consequences.”
Continue reading...G7 leaders warn Putin over use of nuclear weapons; Zelenskiy calls for international mission along Belarus border – as it happened
Leaders warn of ‘severe consequences’; Ukrainian president accuses Russia of trying ‘to directly draw Belarus into this war’
Despite – or because of – yesterday’s missile strikes on several Ukranian cities, people in Lviv, which was among the cities targeted by Russia, went dancing last night.
Wall Street Journal correspondent Matthew Luxmoore posted the below video on Twitter late on Monday night, adding that “Ukranian songs were interspersed tonight with chants of ‘Death to Enemies!’ and ‘Putin is a dick’!’”
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war latest: what we know on day 230 of the invasion
Death toll from Monday’s strikes rises to 19 as Russian continues to attack Ukrainian cities with missiles; GCHQ boss says ‘No signs Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapon’
The death toll from Monday’s Russian missile attacks on a swathe of Ukrainian cities has risen to 19 people, with over 100 wounded, according to figures from the Ukrainian state emergency services.
Strikes continued on Tuesday. An attack on the Lviv region in western Ukraine on Tuesday left parts of the city without electricity. Governor Maksym Kozytskyi has said “At this moment, it is known about three explosions at two energy facilities in the Lviv region”. Mayor of the city, Andriy Sadovyi, appealed to residents to keep water supplies on hand ahead of expected service interruptions.
The Ladyzhyn thermal power plant (LTPP) in the Vinnytsia region was struck on Tuesday morning. Regional head Serhiy Borzov said: “An attack was launched on the LTPP. Two Shahed-136 kamikaze drones.”
There has been a lengthy air raid warning in place all morning in Kyiv, with governor Oleksiy Kuleba claiming that at least one rocket had been shot down.
Valentyn Reznichenko, the governor of Dnipro, has claimed that air defence systems had shot down four missiles over the region. Vitaliy Kim, the governor of Mykolaiv, has said that “there are still missiles in the air” and that Ukraine’s air defences continue to work.
The head of GCHQ has said the UK spy agency has not seen any indicators that Russia is preparing to use a tactical nuclear weapon in or around Ukraine despite recent bellicose statements from Vladimir Putin. Jeremy Fleming, speaking on Tuesday morning, said it was one of GCHQ’s tasks to monitor whether the Kremlin was taking any of the preliminary steps needed before a tactical weapon was being made ready.
Fleming is expected to say in a rare public speech delivered later on Tuesday that Putin is making strategic errors due to unconstrained power. “Far from the inevitable Russian military victory that their propaganda machine spouted, it’s clear that Ukraine’s courageous action on the battlefield and in cyberspace is turning the tide,” Fleming will say. “With little effective internal challenge, Putin’s decision-making has proved flawed”
Continue reading...No signs Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapon, says GCHQ boss
UK spy chief says Kremlin does not appear to be engaged in preliminary steps despite Putin’s threats
The head of GCHQ has said the UK spy agency has not seen any indicators that Russia is preparing to use a tactical nuclear weapon in or around Ukraine despite recent bellicose statements from Vladimir Putin.
Jeremy Fleming, speaking on Tuesday morning, said it was one of GCHQ’s tasks to monitor whether the Kremlin was taking any of the preliminary steps needed before a tactical weapon was being made ready.
Continue reading...Tuesday briefing: After Russia retaliates, what might happen next?
In today’s newsletter: Russia responded to an attack on a military supply line with a devastating blitz on civilian targets. Peter Beaumont speaks from Kyiv about defiance, destruction and what to expect
- Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First Edition
Good morning. On Saturday, Vladimir Putin called a blast at a vital bridge linking Russia and Crimea an “act of terror” carried out by “Ukrainian secret services”; yesterday, the Kremlin took horrifying revenge. The missile and kamikaze drone attacks on Ukrainian cities and key civilian infrastructure were roundly condemned as war crimes; they hit a playground and a tourist bridge, power plants and waterworks. Today, Volodymyr Zelenskiy will tell a virtual G7 summit: “We are dealing with terrorists. They have two targets: energy infrastructure and people.”
If Putin is seeking retribution, he does not appear to be satisfied yet. There were reports of 15 more Russian rockets fired on the city of Zaporizhzhia overnight; Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emine Dzheppar, said they targeted residential buildings and “an educational institution”. There were also reports that a power plant in the southwestern city of Vinnytsia has been shelled. And this morning, air raid sirens are going off in Kyiv again.
Economy | Kwasi Kwarteng will need to find £60bn of savings by 2026 to fill the gap left by tax cuts, new analysis by the Institute of Fiscal Studies suggests. Meanwhile, Liz Truss overruled Kwarteng’s top appointment at the Treasury and handed the role to a veteran Treasury official.
UK news | A nurse poisoned two newborn babies and was the “constant malevolent” presence on a hospital neonatal unit when other infants died or unexpectedly collapsed, a court has been told. Lucy Letby, 32, is accused of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder another 10 between June 2015 and June 2016.
Scotland | Nicola Sturgeon has told the Scottish National party’s annual conference that “we are the independence generation”. Her speech came as the UK supreme court prepared to hear arguments on Tuesday on whether Holyrood can set up an independence referendum without Westminster’s approval.
Iran | The UK has announced sanctions against Iran’s morality police as well as its national chief and the head of its Tehran division, in response to the violent suppression of recent protests over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in their custody.
Labour | The former shadow minister Sam Tarry has been deselected as an MP after a bitter row in the Ilford South constituency. Tarry, who helped organise Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership campaign, was defeated by local council leader Jas Athwal, a close ally of neighbouring MP and shadow cabinet minister Wes Streeting.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war live: US and UN condemn brutality and escalation after deadly wave of missile strikes across Ukraine
Biden deplores Putin’s ‘utter brutality’ while Guterres ‘deeply shocked’ by Russia’s most widespread air strikes since start of invasion
Meanwhile, a series of images shared by Zaporizhzhia’s administrative head Anatoly Kurtev shows the aftermath of the overnight missile attack.
A series of blasts have rocked Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv, according to local media reports and regional officials.
Continue reading...GCHQ head: Putin making strategic errors due to unconstrained power
British spy agency director to say in rare public address that Ukraine is ‘turning the tide’ against Russia
Vladimir Putin has made strategic errors in his pursuit of the war in Ukraine partly because there are so few restraints on his leadership, the head of the British spy agency GCHQ will say in a speech on Tuesday.
Russia’s soldiers are running out of supplies and munitions and initial gains made by Moscow are being reversed, Jeremy Fleming is expected to add in a rare public address.
Continue reading...Kevin McCarthy claimed Trump had no idea his supporters carried out Capitol attack – as it happened
Top Republican House made claim in meeting with police officers despite ex-president having urged supporters to ‘fight like hell’
Republicans looking to win in the upcoming midterms have campaigned on high inflation and rising crime. But over the weekend, Alabama’s Republican senator Tommy Tuberville resorted to another tactic: racism.
“They want crime. They want crime because they want to take over what you got. They want to control what you have. They want reparations because they think the people that do the crime are owed that. Bullshit!” Tuberville declared in a speech on Saturday.
Continue reading...Ukraine to demand step-change in western aid after Russian missile blitz
Kyiv presses military and diplomatic wishlist as French president sees ‘profound change in nature of this war’
Volodymyr Zelenskiy will address G7 leaders on Tuesday to demand a significant increase in their military and diplomatic support after the biggest Russian missile attack on Ukrainian cities since the start of the war.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, described the attack, in which cruise missiles and armed drones rained down on parks, playgrounds, power stations and other civilian targets, as “a profound change in the nature of this war”.
Continue reading...‘This only unites us’: defiance as deadly strikes bring war back to Kyiv
Series of missiles shatter several months of calm but normal life quickly returns amid the destruction
Shevchenko Park in central Kyiv is a tranquil public garden, where the trees are turning golden against the city’s blue, autumnal skies. Presiding over the park is a statue of Taras Shevchenko, Ukraine’s national poet, persecuted by the Russians in the 19th century for writing in Ukrainian.
But on Monday that sense of calm was violently shattered when a series of missiles hit the city centre. War had returned to what had been, for several months, a mostly peaceful – if anxious – city.
Continue reading...Russian pop star who criticised Ukraine war says she is in Israel
Alla Pugacheva, whose husband has been declared a ‘foreign agent’, denounced invasion three weeks ago
The Russian pop singer Alla Pugacheva has said she is in Israel, three weeks after she publicly criticised Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine when Moscow declared her husband a “foreign agent”.
“I thank my multimillion army of fans for their love and support, for the ability to distinguish truth from lies,” the 73-year-old, known as the “queen of Soviet pop music”, said in an Instagram post on Monday.
Continue reading...UK’s lost leadership role hurts Somalia’s fight against famine, says drought envoy
Britain is no longer the key humanitarian player and ‘great ally’ it once was, says envoy trying to get support for Somalia’s drought
The UK has lost its leadership role in the world and is letting down its allies, a senior official in the Somali government has said.
Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame, the presidential envoy for Somalia’s drought response, said Britain used to be second only to the US as a key player in international forums and advocacy, but has since slipped, saying that countries such as Somalia were being left without support to face “the new climate reality”.
Continue reading...Vladimir Putin calls blast on Crimea-Russia bridge an ‘act of terror’
Russian president claims Ukrainian special forces behind explosion on Kerch bridge
Vladimir Putin has blamed Ukraine directly for the blast at a vital bridge linking Russia and Crimea, describing the weekend attack as “act of terror” carried out by “Ukrainian secret services” amid growing expectation that the Kremlin plans an imminent and harsh escalation of its war.
“There is no doubt. This is an act of terrorism aimed at destroying critically important civilian infrastructure,” the Russian president said in a video released on Sunday night on the Kremlin’s Telegram channel about the explosion on the Kerch bridge, which occurred on Saturday.
Continue reading...Pentagon spokesperson tamps down concerns over nuclear ‘Armageddon’
John Kirby says Biden’s warning about threat of a nuclear attack from Russia were not based on specific new information
The US military’s top spokesperson tamped down concerns of an imminent nuclear threat from Russia, days after Joe Biden warned of a potential nuclear “Armageddon”.
Speaking at a Democratic fundraiser this week, Biden talked bluntly about the threat of a nuclear attack from Russia. “We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis,” the president said. He added that Russian leader Vladimir Putin was “not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons because his military is, you might say, significantly underperforming” after invading Ukraine earlier this year.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war live: Putin calls Crimea bridge attack an ‘act of terrorism’ — as it happened
Russian president blames Ukrainian special services for ‘destroying critically important civilian infrastructure’
Ukraine’s ministry of defence has posted pictures of the missile strike on the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia.
The tweet adds that if Ukrainian military forces “had modern anti-missile systems, we could have prevented such tragedies”.
Zaporozhye again. Again merciless strikes on civilians. In residential buildings, just in the middle of the night. There are already 12 dead. 49 injured in hospital, 6 of them children.
The absolute meanness of all. Absolute evil.
Continue reading...Russian divers to inspect Crimea bridge as governor warns of ‘desire to seek revenge’
Experts to assess extent of damage as limited traffic appears to resume on key bridge and Vladimir Putin orders extra security for infrastructure
Russian divers are to examine the extent of the damage caused by a powerful blast on Russia’s road-and-rail bridge to Crimea, a hated symbol of Russian occupation and key logistics link for Russian troops in southern Ukraine.
Russian news agencies quoted the deputy prime minister, Marat Khusnullin, as saying the divers would start work on Sunday at 6am (0300 GMT), with a more detailed survey above the waterline expected to be complete by the end of the day.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war latest: what we know on day 228 of the invasion
Vladimir Putin orders extra security around Kerch bridge in Crimea as limited traffic starts to resume
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, will hold a meeting of his security council on Monday, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, has said. It comes after an explosion on Saturday caused the collapse of part of a bridge linking the Crimean peninsula with Russia.
Ukrainian authorities have revised the death toll from the Russian shelling of Zaporizhzhia down from 17 to at least 12. The blasts blew out windows in adjacent buildings and left at least one high-rise apartment building partially collapsed. In the immediate aftermath of the strikes, the city council said 17 were killed but later revised that down to 12. The city council secretary, Anatoliy Kurtev, said rockets struck the city overnight, and that at least 20 private homes and 50 apartment buildings were damaged. At least 40 people were admitted to hospital and dozens more were being treated for moderate to light injuries, Kurtev posted on his Telegram channel.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has vowed that those who ordered and issued the “merciless” strikes in Zaporizhzhia will be held responsible. In a post on his Facebook page, he said the attack was “evil” and that everyone involved in the incident “will be held accountable”.
The blasts that killed at least 12 people in Zaporizhzhia came from six missiles launched in Russian-occupied areas of the wider region, the Ukrainian air force has said. The Zaporizhzhia region is one of four Russia claimed as its own this month, but the regional capital remains under Ukrainian control.
Reuters reports that the White House said it would continue to arm Ukraine but declined direct comment on an explosion that damaged Russia’s road-and-rail bridge to Crimea. National security spokesman John Kirby told ABC’s This Week programme: “We don’t really have anything more to add to the reports about the explosion on the bridge. What I can tell you is that Mr Putin started this war, and Mr Putin could end it today, simply by moving his troops out of the country.”
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is being accompanied by the destruction and pillaging of historical sites and treasures on an industrial scale, Ukrainian authorities said. In an interview with the Associated Press, Ukraine’s culture minister, Oleksandr Tkachenko, alleged that Russian soldiers helped themselves to artefacts in almost 40 Ukrainian museums. The looting and destruction of cultural sites has caused losses estimated in the hundreds of millions of euros, the minister added.
Ukraine has recaptured more than 1,170 sq km (450 sq miles) of land in its southern Kherson region since launching the start of its counterassault against Russia in late August, a military spokesperson said. Ukraine achieved success with its offensive in the north-east, but its drive in the south to wipe out a Russian foothold on the west bank of the vast Dnieper River has taken longer, Reuters reports. Southern military command spokesperson Natalia Humeniuk said that Ukraine was making progress on the Kherson front, but that a lot needed to be done to secure newly recaptured territories.
The damage from Saturday’s explosion on the Kerch bridge in Crimea could have a “significant” impact on Russia’s “already strained ability to sustain its forces” in southern Ukraine, the latest UK intelligence update says. The Ministry of Defence said the blast “will likely touch President Putin closely” for reasons including that it came hours after his 70th birthday, he personally sponsored and opened the bridge, and its construction contractor was a childhood friend. The ministry said the bridge’s rail crossing had played a key role in moving heavy military vehicles to the southern front during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Continue reading...