Russia begins long-awaited push to seize eastern Ukraine … fight to the death in Mariupol … and the cost of war in Russia
Every week we wrap up the must-reads from our coverage of the Ukraine war, from news and features to analysis, visual guides and opinion.
Continue reading...Rustam Minnekayev speaks of aim for land corridor to Crimea, despite Putin’s earlier claims
A senior Russian military commander has said the goal of Russia’s new offensive is to seize control of southern Ukraine and form a land bridge to Crimea, indicating that Russia plans a permanent occupation of Ukrainian territory taken in the war.
Rustam Minnekayev, acting commander of the central military district, also told members of a defence industry forum on Friday that control over southern Ukraine would give Russia access to Transnistria, a pro-Russian breakaway region of Moldova, indicating that Russia may attack the port city of Odesa or launch an economic blockade of the area.
Continue reading...PM says he will close loopholes that allow components to be smuggled via India for use by Russian military
Boris Johnson has said he will close loopholes to ensure UK exports to India cannot end up being used in Russian weapons, as he conceded the war in Ukraine could go on until the end of next year, and Russia could win.
Speaking in Delhi at the end of a two-day visit, the UK prime minister warned that Vladimir Putin was resorting to a “grinding approach” in Ukraine; and suggested the UK would help to “backfill” countries including Poland if they provided heavy weaponry such as tanks to Kyiv.
Continue reading...Government accused of ‘shocking complacency’ over awards to seven Putin cronies
Seven Russians now under sanctions were awarded controversial “golden visas” by the UK after Vladimir Putin’s regime first invaded Ukraine in 2014, the government has admitted.
The government closed the “tier 1 investor visa” scheme in February amid the build-up of Russian forces on Ukraine’s border as it prepared to broaden its occupation beyond Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.
Continue reading...Fears grow for hundreds of civilians sheltering in plant; António Guterres to meet Putin in Moscow on Monday
Ukraine’s parliament has issued updated figures for child casualties of the war on Twitter. They say the total number of children affected by the Russian invasion is 594. There have been 208 deaths and 386 injuries among the nation’s children.
The numbers have not been independently verified, and do not include casualty or deaths in besieged areas of the country such as Mariupol.
Continue reading...Rolling coverage of business, the world economy and the financial markets
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the world economy and the financial markets.
In the UK, retail sales fell 1.4% in March, following a 0.5% drop in February, as people cut back on fuel and food spending amid soaring prices.
Good weather usually means sunnier times for retail, and firms will hope that the summer months can play a small part in stimulating waning confidence among a general public coping with the harsh realities of rising prices everywhere they turn. In reality, each day brings fresh warnings from business leaders that prices will likely continue to climb, driving consumer confidence in the wrong direction for retailers.
This seems a rather strange reaction given that nothing he said yesterday was in any way surprising. A 50 basis point rate hike is already priced in, as well as the prospect that we could well see another one soon afterwards.
We also heard from European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde yesterday as she capped off a couple of days of some rather hawkish comments from the likes of Belgium’s Pierre Wunsch, and ECB vice president Luis De Guindos who followed on from Latvia’s Martin Kazaks by arguing that a July rate rise was on the table. She didn’t come across as anywhere near as hawkish as her colleagues, pointing to the June meeting as the moment to decide on next steps, and lightly pushing back on the idea of a fixed point.
Continue reading...Mayor says corpses thrown into mass grave which appears to be visible on newly released satellite images
Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates
Russia has been hiding evidence of its “barbaric” war crimes in Mariupol by burying the bodies of civilians killed by shelling in a new mass grave, the city’s mayor said on Thursday, as a US satellite imagery company released photos that appeared to match the site.
The mayor, Vadym Boichenko, said Russian trucks had collected corpses from the streets of the port city and had transported them to the nearby village of Manhush. They were then secretly thrown into a mass grave in a field next to the settlement’s old cemetery, he said.
Continue reading...Ukraine president warns citizens against handing over personal information, as satellite images of mass graves emerge near Mariupol
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Russia of planning to “falsify” an independence referendum in the partly occupied southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, telling Ukrainians there not to give personal information to occupying forces.
The warning came after Mariupol’s mayor accused Russia of hiding evidence of its “barbaric” war crimes by burying the bodies of up to 9,000 civilians in a new mass grave, allegations backed up by satellite images from US company Maxar.
Continue reading...PM’s spokesperson denies move is escalatory as UK also trains Ukrainian troops in Poland to use anti-aircraft defences
• Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates
Boris Johnson has revealed that dozens of Ukrainian soldiers are training in the UK, learning how to use 120 British armoured vehicles before returning with them to fight in the war against Russia.
British forces are also training Ukrainian counterparts in Poland on how to use anti-aircraft missiles, the prime minister said, as he outlined further details of the UK’s military aid for Kyiv’s embattled forces.
Continue reading...This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war in our new live blog
Russian forces are advancing towards Kramatorsk while Putin likely desires to demonstrate “significant successes” ahead of Victory Day celebrations, British intelligence has suggested.
Russia likely desires to demonstrate significant successes ahead of their annual 9th May Victory Day celebrations. This could affect how quickly and forcefully they attempt to conduct operations in the run-up to this date,” the UK ministry of defence said in their latest intelligence report.
Russian forces are now advancing from staging areas in the Donbas towards Kramatorsk, which continues to suffer from persistent rocket attacks.
Continue reading...Here are some more details from the defense department on the new $800m military assistance package to Ukraine:
For those keeping track on how much the US has provided Ukraine so far in military assistance:
Continue reading...Boris Johnson is in India at the start of a two-day visit, where he said he hopes to clinch a free trade deal for Britain by the end of the year.
Inflation in the eurozone has been revised slightly lower but remains at a record high as energy costs surge.
Continue reading...Billionaire oligarch steps down from Russia’s second-largest oil firm after being hit with EU and UK sanctions
The multibillionaire Russian oligarch Vagit Alekperov has stepped down as the president of the London-listed firm Lukoil after sanctions were imposed on him by the UK and EU.
In a statement to the stock market, Russia’s second-largest oil company said Alekperov, who is on good terms with Vladimir Putin, had formally notified the company of his decision to resign on Thursday.
Continue reading...Putin orders forces not to storm last stronghold in Mariupol as west warns of Russian cyber-attacks
Vladimir Putin has ordered his forces not to storm the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in the besieged city of Mariupol, after his defence minister admitted the Russian army was still fighting thousands of Ukrainian troops there.
Putin described a plan to storm the Azovstal steelworks as “impractical” and called instead for Russian troops to blockade the area “so that a fly can’t get through”.
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, has appealed for a humanitarian corridor to allow civilians and wounded soldiers to be evacuated from Azovstal.
Russian missiles and artillery struck 1,001 military targets in Ukraine overnight, including 162 firing positions, the country’s ministry of defence claimed.
The mayor of Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, has said it is under intense bombardment. Oleg Synegubov, the head of the regional state administration, said Russian forces shelled areas of Kharkiv with multiple systems. He claimed there were about 15 attacks and five civilians were injured.
Russian forces are advancing towards Kramatorsk, while Putin is likely to want to demonstrate “significant successes” before Victory Day celebrations, British intelligence has suggested.
A court in Moscow has fined Google 11m roubles (£105,000) over what it says is inaccurate data about Russian troop losses and civilian casualties in Ukraine, as well as the distribution of video clips on YouTube produced by Ukrainian groups such as the nationalist Azov battalion.
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, and Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, are both expected to meet Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in Kyiv today.
The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, has arrived in India on a diplomatic mission to convince his reluctant counterpart, Narendra Modi, to back western action against Russia, along with agreeing to a variety of other strategic trade and defence partnerships.
The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, said his government supports talks to resolve international disputes but reiterated China’s opposition to unilateral sanctions. China has repeatedly criticised western sanctions, including those against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, but has also been careful not to provide assistance to Moscow that could lead to sanctions being imposed on Beijing.
The “five eyes” allied countries, including the UK and US, have warned that “evolving intelligence” indicates Russia is poised to launch cyber-attacks against rivals supporting Ukraine.
Vanda Semyonovna Obiedkova, a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor, has been killed in the siege of Mariupol. She died sheltering in a freezing basement without water, in a grim echo of how she had hidden in a basement from the Nazis when she was 10 years old.
Posts casting doubt on evidence of alleged war crimes in Bucha have been shared hundreds of thousands of times on Facebook, analysis by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue has found.
Continue reading...Russian president tells forces that storming last Ukrainian stronghold in port city would be ‘impractical’
Vladimir Putin has ordered his forces not to storm the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in the besieged city of Mariupol, after his defence minister admitted that the Russian army was still fighting thousands of Ukrainian troops there.
The Russian president described a plan to storm the Azovstal steelworks as “impractical” and called instead for Russian troops to blockade the area “so that a fly can’t get through”.
Continue reading...Ultimatum by Russia to Ukrainian fighters to surrender passes before civilian buses reported to have left besieged port city
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk has announced on Telegram that a humanitarian corridor has been agreed to evacuate women, children and the elderly from the besieged southern port city of Mariupol. She posted:
Given the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Mariupol, it is in this direction that we will focus our efforts today. We managed to agree in advance on a humanitarian corridor for women, children and the elderly.
Due to the very difficult security situation, changes may occur during the corridor. So, please follow the relevant official announcements. We will do our best to make everything work properly.
Do not believe in any words from Russia. It would be good if they allowed civilians to leave the Azovstal, but they didn’t allow this for 50 days, why should they allow this now?
Continue reading...Ruling by district court judge in Florida that Covid-19 measure was illegal is opposed by 49% of Americans, poll shows
Defense secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his counterpart in China today for the first time since Austin became Pentagon chief more than a year ago, breaking a communications stalemate that had American officials concerned amid the possibility that Beijing might provide military support to Russia in its war on Ukraine, the Associated Press is reporting.
Austin had requested the telephone call with general Wei Fenghe after months of failed efforts to speak with general Xu Qiliang, the highest ranking uniformed officer in the Communist Party military structure.
Continue reading...Only handful of rebels vote against government to support Lords amendments
The actor Juliet Stevenson has made an 11th-hour plea to Conservative MPs voting on the government’s controversial immigration bill on Wednesday to “be brave and vote with your heart, not with your party membership card”.
Stevenson has urged MPs who are backing the nationality and borders bill to instead back Lords amendments in support of refugees.
Continue reading...Marine commander appeals for help as another Russian ultimatum calling for remaining troops in city to surrender expires
A Ukrainian marine commander fighting in Mariupol has said his forces are “maybe facing our last days, if not hours”, as another Russian ultimatum to the remaining Ukrainian troops in the besieged port city to surrender or die expired with no mass capitulation.
“The enemy is outnumbering us 10 to one,” Serhiy Volyna, a commander from the 36th separate marine brigade, said in a video message posted on Facebook. “We appeal and plead to all world leaders to help us. We ask them to use the procedure of extraction and take us to the territory of a third-party state.”
Continue reading...Hundreds of Australians wrote letters saying sponsorship deals with arms manufacturers are ‘degrading to the memory of our war dead’
The Australian War Memorial is pursuing a new sponsorship deal from arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin despite being inundated with letters from veterans, historians and retired staff saying such arrangements are “degrading to the memory of our war dead”.
More than 300 Australians wrote to the memorial urging it not to renew its deal with Lockheed Martin, due to the company’s involvement in nuclear weapons and surging share price following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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