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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...Maya Yang reports:
North Carolina Republican congressman Madison Cawthorn has been charged with driving with a revoked license for the second time.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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”.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...Ukraine president calls Russian shelling maternity hospital in Mariupol the ‘ultimate evidence of genocide’
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...Analysis: Putin used the same false justification for brutal bombings in Syria, in the glare of western media
When a Russian spokesperson took to a podium in Moscow on Wednesday and warned of a “biological weapons programme” in Ukraine, fighters on another battlefield – Syria – understood what she meant.
The anti-Assad opposition groups that still held northern Syria had heard it all before. From 2015, when Russia took a prominent stake in the conflict, and throughout the gruesome years that followed, claims that they, instead of the Assad regime, had used chemical weapons were a ready-made slur that put them on notice of an imminent assault. The allegations were made by Moscow, whenever ground forces it was supporting wanted to clear a town or city. Brutal, indiscriminate bombardment followed. So did impunity.
Continue reading...Former energy minister Greg Barker went to climate talks as part of Russian Federation party
A Conservative peer attended Cop26 in Glasgow as part of Russia’s group of participants at the UN climate summit, the Guardian can reveal.
Greg Barker, a former energy minister when David Cameron was prime minister, attended the talks as part of the party of the Russian Federation, according to a list published by the UN.
Continue reading...Change would mean Ukrainians with temporary visas would be able to bring their relatives to Britain
Ministers are considering a climbdown to allow Ukrainians with temporary visas to bring relatives to the UK after Ukraine’s ambassador called for an easing of restrictions.
Amid scenes of chaos and despair at a visa application centre in Poland, government insiders said Ukrainians in the UK on work and student visas might also be allowed to bring their relatives to the UK.
Continue reading...Ukrainian president calls bombing in Mariupol ‘beyond atrocity’ and urges world to ‘stand united in condemning Russia for this crime’
The New York Times will have no reporters on the ground in Russia for the first time in a century after the news organisation joined those pulling out of the country.
Russian authorities made reporting from the country impossible when it recently criminalised the act of describing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “war” with those who commit the offence facing up to 15 years in prison.
As a result Russian media outlets have been forced to close, while global news organisations have pulled out their teams owing to the risk of arrest.
Continue reading...