Group earlier said they had made peace with arrest after claiming property for Ukrainian refugees
The four protesters who occupied the home of a Russian oligarch in London’s Belgravia have ended their demonstration and have been arrested by police.
The squatters, who said they were opposed to Vladimir Putin and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and wanted to open the mansion up for Ukrainian refugees, got into the property around 1am on Monday morning.
Continue reading...Analysis: Front line will move into heart of cities unless Ukraine gets more weapons that can target Russian artillery
Burning apartment blocks across Mariupol; shattered buildings in Kharkiv. Film and photographs circulating on Monday show the brutal consequences of Russia’s onslaught in eastern Ukraine, the result of a succession of air, missile and above all artillery strikes that frequently fall on civilian targets.
Russian forces are still struggling to capture more of Ukraine’s cities – but while the defending forces are stocked with shoulder-mounted anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, they do not appear to have a counter to the indiscriminate artillery shelling from which civilians are desperate to escape.
Continue reading...Photograph shows Chelsea FC owner in VIP lounge shortly before jet linked to him took off for Istanbul
Roman Abramovich, the billionaire owner of Chelsea FC who was subjected to sanctions by the UK government last week, has been spotted at a VIP lounge at an airport in Israel.
One of seven Russians who had their assets frozen last Thursday in an attempt to ratchet up the pressure on Vladimir Putin after the invasion of Ukraine, Abramovich was seen in Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport on Monday shortly before a jet linked to him took off for Istanbul.
Continue reading...Criticism follows announcement that UK householders will have to name refugees they wish to sponsor
Michael Gove’s plan to permit UK householders to shelter Ukrainians seeking to escape the Russian war machine has been compared to a “DIY asylum scheme” after it was announced that people would have to name the refugees they wish to sponsor.
The communities secretary was criticised after setting out details of the homes for Ukraine scheme in the Commons on Monday, after complaints about the government’s slow response to the worst humanitarian disaster in Europe for decades.
Continue reading...Foreign affairs correspondent, Benjamin Hall, injured ‘while newsgathering’ and is hospitalized, says network
A Fox News journalist has been injured outside Kyiv, the network reported on Monday.
In a statement sent to its employees on Monday afternoon, Fox News said that its foreign affairs correspondent, Benjamin Hall, “was injured while newsgathering outside of Kyiv in Ukraine. We have a minimal level of details right now, but Ben is hospitalized and our teams on the ground are working to gather additional information as the situation quickly unfolds.”
Continue reading...China had denounced reports that Moscow asked for military equipment as ‘malicious disinformation’
The United States has held “intense” high-level talks with China in an effort to try to dissuade Beijing from supplying arms to Russia, at a meeting in Rome which the White House sees as critically important not just for the war in Ukraine but also for the future of the global balance of power.
Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser, met his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, for all-day talks in the Italian capital on Monday amid reports that Russia has asked China for weapons to bolster its faltering invasion of Ukraine.
Continue reading...Red Cross chief says ‘history is watching’ as UN confirms almost 3 million people have fled country
Russian forces have kept up their relentless bombardment of Ukraine’s major cities as the number of people fleeing the country neared 3 million, with the Red Cross describing conditions for those left behind as “nothing short of a nightmare”.
As Russian airstrikes and artillery fire continued to pound residential areas across the country, Ukrainian prosecutors said 90 children had now died in the conflict. The UN said it had confirmed 636 civilian deaths, but the real toll would be much higher.
Continue reading...Leaders prepare to welcome Ukraine president before Wednesday speech amid divisions over question of planes
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, will address Congress on Wednesday in what could prove his most powerful plea yet for the west to take a tougher line against Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskiy is expected to use the virtual address to urge members of the House of Representatives and Senate to intensify pressure on Joe Biden to allow the transfer of MiG-29 fighter jets from Poland.
Continue reading...Fare cut among measures Jacinda Ardern’s party has introduced to ease cost-of-living pressures
New Zealand is halving public transport fares to ease the pain of sharply rising petrol costs, as fuel oil prices soar following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, announced that the country would cut fares by 50% amid a suite of other changes to try to ease sharp increases in the cost of living. The government is also cutting petrol excise duties and road user charges by 25c a litre – changes that will come in at midnight on Monday.
Continue reading...Units will help provide power for key buildings such as hospitals, shelters and water treatment plants
Boris Johnson has announced that the government will donate more than 500 mobile generators to Ukraine to help provide power for key buildings such as hospitals, shelters and water treatment plants.
The UK government has set up a new Ukraine electricity network support taskforce, including many of the leading power suppliers. They will provide the generators from their stocks, with many expected to be delivered via neighbouring countries. In total, they should provide enough power for 20,000 homes or equivalent buildings.
Continue reading...Amid reports that Russia has requested military help in Ukraine, Jake Sullivan is due to meet China’s top diplomat in Rome on Monday
Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who is due to meet China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, in Rome on Monday, warned on Sunday that Beijing will “absolutely” face consequences if it helps Moscow evade sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine.
The White House national security council declined to comment, however, on reports that Russia has asked China for military equipment since its invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.
Continue reading...Rob Portman of Ohio urges US and Nato as US intelligence community says creating no-fly zone risks escalation of conflict
A senior Republican senator on Sunday urged the US and Nato to “close the skies” over Ukraine, hours after a logistics hub and training base for foreign fighters 11 miles from the Polish border was struck by Russian forces, killing 35.
“The message coming loud and clear is close the skies,” said Rob Portman, a senator from Ohio on a visit to Poland. “Because the skies are where the bombs are coming, whether it’s the missile attacks or the airplane attacks or with artillery.”
Continue reading...Analysis: proximity to Nato border may appear unnerving but steps have been taken to reinforce air defences
Russia’s deadly multiple missile strike on Ukraine’s military base in Yavoriv, less than 15 miles from the border with Poland, was clearly designed to send a message.
Not only can Russian forces strike the western limits of Ukraine, killing at least 35 people near where western arms will be crossing into the country, but the Kremlin does not care if US or other volunteer fighters were training there.
Continue reading...Witnesses describe soldiers shooting people dead in the street and confiscating phones and laptops
Russian soldiers have shot people dead in the street as they took over Ukrainian villages, according to fleeing residents.
Soldiers shot randomly at buildings, threw grenades down roads and went from house to house confiscating phones and laptops, witnesses said.
Continue reading...Award-winning journalist and a colleague, who survived, were fired on near checkpoint in Irpin
Brent Renaud, an award-winning US film-maker whose work has appeared in the New York Times and other outlets, has been killed reportedly by Russian forces in the flashpoint town of Irpin, outside Kyiv. A US photographer, Juan Arredondo, was wounded.
Renaud, 51, was hit in the neck and died after coming under Russian fire while working on Sunday, according to local police officials, however, that could not be independently verified.
Continue reading...Call from Ukrainian president comes after death toll from Russian rocket attack on military base at Yavoriv rises to at least 35 people
Russian forces may have also hit an airbase in Ivano-Frankivsk early on Sunday morning, according to the city’s mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv.
“According to preliminary information, this morning’s explosions were from an attack at the airport,” Martsinkiv said, urging those who live close to the airport to relocate in a Facebook post about 7.30 local time.
Continue reading...An airport building is turned into one-stop shop for life essentials and legal support
“Thank you very much Ireland,” said Kate Kolva, waving a little blue and yellow flag in the arrivals hall at Dublin Airport.
As she waited to collect her best friend’s mother, Ukrainians with no family connections with the country were all too easy to identify.
Continue reading...Bombing close to Lviv follows Kremlin warning that supply lines were ‘legitimate targets’; town of Volnovakha ‘ceases to exist’ after bombardment
Russia has escalated its war in Ukraine with a strike on a major military base in western Ukraine, reportedly killing 20 people, only hours after the Kremlin warned that western supply lines into the embattled country were “legitimate targets”.
Two large explosions were seen on Sunday at the base in Yavoriv, a garrison city 12km (7.5 miles) from the Polish border. The rocket attack took place at 5.45am.
Continue reading...Cross-party group expresses unease about the fund’s stake in HSBC, which has held shares in Moscow’s oil and gas giants
Trustees of the pension fund for members of parliament have agreed to sell all investments linked to Russia after a cross-party group of more than 60 MPs raised concerns about connections to Russian oil and gas companies.
The trustees met last Thursday, having received the MPs’ letter, and agreed to act immediately to ensure the fund was cleansed of both direct and indirect Russian interests.
Continue reading...Families torn apart as younger Russians opposing war in Ukraine fall out with older relatives reliant on diet of state propaganda
On day three of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Victoria Gogh realised her mother was slipping away from her.
“I noticed on the phone that mum was starting to parrot the government’s narrative about this war – that this was all the fault of Nato, that Russia had no choice but to defend itself,” said Gogh, 28, a fashion consultant originally from a small town in Siberia who moved to Moscow.
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