Category Archives: Ukraine

Iran nuclear talks on hold over last-minute Russian demands

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Moscow is insisting that Washington pledge not to sanction trade between it and Tehran over Ukraine

Talks on the revival of the Iran nuclear deal have become a casualty of the war in Ukraine after an indefinite pause was announced over last-minute Russian demands.

An agreement on the nuclear deal to bring the US and Iran back into compliance would have led to a swathe of US sanctions on Iran being lifted, including Iranian crude oil exports and petrochemicals, in return for limits on Tehran’s nuclear activity.

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Russia-Ukraine war latest news: Russia may be planning to use biological weapons, US says, as Russia warns of ‘uncontrolled spread of bio agents’

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The US tells the UN that Russia has a well-documented history of using chemical and biological weapons, after Russia warned about the potential for the ‘uncontrolled spread of bio agents’

Guardian reporter Peter Beaumont brings us this morning run-down from Lviv.

Russian jets bombed cities in the west of Ukraine in the early hours of Friday morning hitting Lviv, Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk, as the Kremlin’s war continued to creep further into Ukraine.

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‘We must welcome them’: how Europe is helping Ukrainian refugees

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Unlike the UK, EU countries have offered open sanctuary to the millions fleeing Russia’s attack in biggest refugee crisis since second world war

Over the past few days, images of desperate Ukrainian families being turned away by officials have thrown the UK’s response to what has been termed the biggest refugee crisis since the second world war into stark contrast with its European neighbours.

So far the UK has refused to match the EU’s decision to offer Ukrainians open sanctuary, instead operating a limited family reunification and humanitarian sponsorship system.

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Ukraine’s Zelenskiy calls Russia ‘terrorist state’ over aid shelling as forces close in on Kyiv

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Ukraine president accuses Moscow of deliberate attack on humanitarian corridor in Mariupol as Russian forces fan out around capital and Biden prepares further trade restrictions

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has accused Russia of being a “terrorist state” after its tanks prevented a delivery of food, water and medicine to the besieged city of Mariupol, and said Moscow was capable of chemical weapon attacks.

As Russian forces appeared to be regrouping in order to encircle Kyiv and the US planned to ratchet up the economic pressure on Vladimir Putin, Zelenskiy tried to rally Ukrainians with another video address late on Thursday condemning Moscow’s relentless assault on cities.

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‘We’re ready’: UK anti-fracking activists prepare to fight resurgence plans

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Boris Johnson’s suggestion practice could re-emerge after invasion of Ukraine has rallied campaigners

Anti-fracking campaigners have vowed to give energy firms “no peace” if the government lifts the moratorium on fracking, pledging “inconvenient and noisy” protests at every site.

Steve Mason, campaign director of Frack Free United, said there was an army of retired “geri-activists” ready to lie down and face prosecution for the cause again.

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UK imposes sanctions on Roman Abramovich over ‘clear’ links to Putin

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Chelsea FC owner one of seven Russians to have assets frozen and be accused of ‘having blood on their hands’

Roman Abramovich, one of the world’s richest men, was finally subjected to sanctions by the UK government after ministers accused him of having “clear connections” to Vladimir Putin’s regime and being among a group of businessmen who had “blood on their hands”.

The owner of Chelsea FC was one of seven Russians worth up to £15bn who had their assets frozen on Thursday and were banned from travelling to Britain in a move designed to dramatically increase pressure on the Kremlin over its invasion of Ukraine.

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US Congress passes bill for $13.6bn in emergency aid to Ukraine– as it happened

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International Red Cross warning comes as UN says Mariupol maternity hospital was third of its kind destroyed since invasion; Vitali Klitschko says half of Kyiv’s population has left

The UK’s ministry of defence has also just released its latest intelligence report on the situation in Ukraine, seemingly corroborating Ukrainian authorities.

The ministry said there has been a “notable decrease in overall Russian air activity” over Ukraine in recent days, noting it is likely due to the “unexpected effectiveness and endurance” of Ukrainian air defence forces.

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UK politics live: Boris Johnson says government will keep tightening ‘economic vice around Putin regime’

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Latest updates: prime minister suggests further sanctions to come in future

Chelsea FC will still be allowed to play matches despite its owner, Roman Abramovich, being sanctioned, the government says. It explains:

Given the significant impact that today’s sanctions would have on Chelsea football club and the potential knock on effects of this, the government has this morning published a licence which authorises a number of football-related activities to continue at Chelsea. This includes permissions for the club to continue playing matches and other football related activity which will in turn protect the Premier League, the wider football pyramid, loyal fans and other clubs. This licence will only allow certain explicitly named actions to ensure the designated individual is not able to circumvent UK sanctions. The licence will be kept under constant review and we will work closely with the football authorities.

There can be no safe havens for those who have supported Putin’s vicious assault on Ukraine.

Today’s sanctions are the latest step in the UK’s unwavering support for the Ukrainian people. We will be ruthless in pursuing those who enable the killing of civilians, destruction of hospitals and illegal occupation of sovereign allies.

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US conducting ‘legal review’ of possible Russian war crimes in Ukraine – as it happened

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Maya Yang reports:

North Carolina Republican congressman Madison Cawthorn has been charged with driving with a revoked license for the second time.

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Drone footage shows ambush of Russian tanks by Ukrainian forces

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Armoured vehicles in built-up area about 22 miles from central Kyiv come under repeated attack

Dramatic drone footage emerged on Thursday of a Ukrainian ambush on a Russian armoured column just outside Brovary, an eastern suburb of Kyiv.

Bellingcat, the specialist open source investigator, said it had geolocated the video, to a lightly inhabited area on the E95 road about 35km (22 miles) from the centre of Kyiv, a direct route to the east of the capital where Russian forces have been trying to mass.

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US inflation rises to new 40-year high of 7.9%; Abramovich sanctioned by UK – as it happened

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Rishi Sunak is also facing intense pressure from Conservative colleagues to take action in this month’s spring statement to alleviate the cost of living crisis, which has been dramatically exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, write our political editor Heather Stewart and political correspondent Peter Walker.

Asked about the impact of sanctions on Russia for consumers at home, the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, told MPs on Wednesday he believed the public was “willing to endure hardships” in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.

The crisis is likely to have a negative impact on investment intentions of UK firms following Brexit and Covid. This is the worst timing possible, as business investment intentions were high coming into 2022. So the Government must move now to stimulate business investment to maintain UK growth, thereby demonstrating true independence from Russia.

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Ukraine says talks in Turkey with Russia fail to make progress towards ceasefire

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As first high-level diplomatic meeting between combatants continues, EU leaders prepare to meet at Versailles

High-level talks between Russia and Ukraine ended without a ceasefire, as violence continued across the country, with conditions in the besieged city of Mariupol described as “dire and desperate” as residents run out of food.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said there had been no progress to achieving a ceasefire in talks in Turkey with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in the first high-level meeting between the two countries since the Moscow-ordered invasion of its neighbour two weeks ago.

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British troops who leave to fight in Ukraine will face court martial, says PM

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Boris Johnson repeats warnings by ministers and chief of defence staff that joining resistance against Russian invasion is illegal

British soldiers who travel to Ukraine to fight can expect to be court-martialled, Boris Johnson has said, adding that civilians should also avoid going there to fight.

When asked about reports that a 19-year-old from Warrington with no military experience had travelled to the country to join efforts against the Russian invasion, the prime minister said that while he could comprehend why people wanted to help, they should remain in the UK.

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‘No one really believed it would happen’: first Jewish Ukrainian refugees arrive in Israel

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Influx of 100,000 refugees from the war zone expected as members of the diaspora exercise the country’s law of return

A red carpet, applause and dozens of blue and white flags were waiting for the first Jewish Ukrainian refugees to arrive in Israel as part of a huge rescue operation triggered by Moscow’s invasion.

About 400 people on four flights from Poland, Moldova and Romania landed in Tel Aviv on Sunday, among them 100 children who had been living in a Jewish orphanage in the northern city of Zhytomyr. Most of the new arrivals were visibly relieved to have reached safety; as is tradition, several people touched and kissed the ground after disembarking.

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Narendra Modi walks diplomacy tightrope with Vladimir Putin on Ukraine

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Analysis: Indian PM is reliant on Putin’s nation for arms and is conscious of shifting relations between Russia and its foe, China

As the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, picked up the phone to Vladimir Putin this week – the latest in several phone calls between the two leaders since Russia invaded Ukraine – he put forward a suggestion.

Modi’s push, according to an Indian government statement, was that Putin should have a “direct conversation” with the Ukrainian prime minister, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in order to “greatly assist ongoing peace efforts”.

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Mariupol bombing: before and after satellite images show destruction in Ukraine city

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More than 1,000 people have been killed by Russian shelling, says mayor, amid outcry over attacks on residential areas and maternity hospital

The scale of the destruction in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol at the hands of Russian forces has emerged in new satellite images that show devastated residential building, blasted parklands and smouldering grocery stores.

Shown alongside images from before the invasion, the pictures paint a bleak picture of the damage done so far to the besieged city, which Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy described as “ultimate evidence that genocide of Ukrainians is happening” in the wake of the shelling of a maternity hospital.

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Lithuania names road leading to Russian embassy ‘Ukrainian Heroes’ Street’

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Move comes after neighbouring Latvia changed the Russian embassy’s address to ‘Independent Ukraine Street’

The Lithuanian capital Vilnius has given the Russian embassy a new address on “Ukrainian Heroes’ Street” to protest Moscow’s invasion of its pro-western neighbour.

“From today, the business card of every employee of the Russian embassy will be decorated with a note honouring Ukraine’s fighting, and everyone will have to think about the atrocities of the Russian regime against the peaceful Ukrainian nation when writing this street name,” Vilnius mayor Remigijus Simasius claimed in a statement.

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Britain and US fear Russia could be setting stage to use chemical weapons

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White House press secretary Jen Psaki says false Russian claims about alleged US chemical weapons in Ukraine may be pretext

Britain and the US fear Russia could be setting the stage to use a chemical weapon in Ukraine after Kremlin officials alleged without firm evidence that the US had been supporting a bioweapons programme in the country.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Wednesday that Russia had been making “false claims about alleged US biological weapons labs and chemical weapons development in Ukraine”, and added that the allegations had been echoed in Beijing.

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Putin will lead Russia to strategic defeat in Ukraine, says Blinken

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US secretary of state says Russian leader’s ‘clear plan to brutalise Ukraine’ will end in failure

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has said Vladimir Putin will fail in his effort to subjugate Ukraine, and will instead lead Russia into a “strategic defeat” that is already unfolding.

Blinken was talking at a press conference with the UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, at which both pledged to keep up security and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

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