Category Archives: Ukraine

EU praises ‘restraint’ of Kyiv government; Blinken denounces Kremlin claims – as it happened

Posted on by

European Council urges Moscow to ‘de-escalate’ its military buildup; Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy says global security architecture is failing

The Kremlin has confirmed that Russian leader Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron will speak by phone on Sunday, the TASS news agency reported.

A second separatist leader, Leonid Pasechnik of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR), has signed a decree calling for a full military mobilisation, according to Reuters.

Continue reading...

Ukrainian military release footage showing crossing point being shelled – video

Posted on by

Ukraine’s joint command has released a video showing shelling at the Shchastia crossing point north of the rebel-held city of Luhansk on Saturday. Several puffs of smoke can be seen as missiles land at and on the road. The footage was taken at 11.30am local time. The foreign ministry in Kyiv said Russia was targeting a humanitarian convoy from the office of the United Nations commissioner for refugees, as it returned from separatist-controlled territory. The attack represented a 'gross violation' of ceasefires agreements, it said

Continue reading...

Kamala Harris warns Russia of ‘unprecedented’ sanctions if it invades Ukraine – video

Posted on by

The US vice-president, Kamala Harris, warned of ‘significant and unprecedented economic costs’ if Russia invades Ukraine. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, she said the US and its allies will levy huge economic and financial sanctions on Russia – and its allies who aid a Ukrainian invasion – if military action is taken

Continue reading...

Biden warns Russia will invade Ukraine ‘in the next few days’ – video

Posted on by

Joe Biden has said he is ‘convinced’ that Vladimir Putin has ‘made the decision’ to invade Ukraine – an invasion that might come in the next days, based on US intelligence. The US president added it was not too late to reverse that decision: ‘Russia can still choose diplomacy. It is not too late to de-escalate and return the negotiation table.’ 

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is due to address a security conference in Munich on Saturday, despite US warnings that Russia might exploit his absence to topple him before he returns to Kyiv

Continue reading...

Greta stands with Sami and Navalny on trial again: human rights this fortnight – in pictures

Posted on by

A roundup of the coverage of the struggle for human rights and freedoms, from Myanmar to Mexico

Continue reading...

Ukraine crisis brings British intelligence out of the shadows

Posted on by

Analysis: warnings of Russian invasion issued in bid to shape the narrative and win information war with Kremlin

British intelligence, so used to operating in the shadows, has been thrust into the spotlight during the Ukraine crisis, cited by Boris Johnson on Wednesday to warn that Russian troop numbers were still increasing or by the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, last month to warn of a possible coup in Kyiv.

As the crisis has intensified, the warnings have, if anything, become even less subtle. An extraordinary video released on Thursday by the Ministry of Defence, billed in capital letters as an “intelligence update”, included a Dad’s Army-style map showing a possible Russian invasion plan and other assessments aimed at the general public.

Continue reading...

Last piece of Putin’s puzzle slots into place: preparing Russians for war

Posted on by

Analysis: Just as Russian armour and helicopters are edging up the border, Russian messaging is also advancing to the brink

The omens of impending war we were warned about now seem to be lining up like the horsemen of the apocalypse.

The field hospitals have been set near the border, blood banks have reportedly been brought in. On the information war front, a dossier of alleged Ukraine war crimes circulated at the UN security council, and a video popped up purporting to show an attempted Ukrainian attack on chlorine tanks in the Donbas.

Continue reading...

Ukraine crisis: Biden ‘convinced’ Russia plans invasion but diplomacy still possible – live

Posted on by

Russian state media say a blast has occurred in Donetsk amid multiple US warnings of false flag incidents

Sam Jones here, taking over from Samantha Lock.

One of today’s main events will be the Munich security conference, where world leaders including US vice-president Kamala Harris, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, will gather to discuss the crisis.

It’s tragic and we’ll see terrible scenes unfolding. You would expect that President Putin – who obviously can’t be taken at his word – is manufacturing some sort of trigger, or is in the process of executing the final stages of his plan to go into Ukraine.

(Via Australian Associated Press)

Continue reading...

Ukraine crisis: Blinken and Lavrov agree to meeting as tensions reach ‘moment of peril’

Posted on by

Senior figures to meet next week amid US warnings that Vladimir Putin could give order to invade within days

Antony Blinken is to meet the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, next week, as the US secretary of state warned the crisis in Ukraine was a “moment of peril for the lives and safety of millions of people”.

The US state department said on Thursday night that Blinken had accepted an invitation to meet Lavrov provided there was no invasion of Ukraine. The move provides hope that diplomatic channels remained open even as US warnings of an imminent invasion grow louder.

Continue reading...

Moment of peril: Blinken says Russia readying to attack Ukraine in ‘coming days’ – video

Posted on by

US secretary of state Antony Blinken told a United Nations security council meeting on Ukraine that those assembled found themselves in a "moment of peril for the lives and safety of millions of people" as Russian continues to deny plans to invade Ukraine. Blinken said "our information indicates clearly that [Russian] forces, including ground troops, aircraft, ships, are preparing to launch an attack against Ukraine in the coming days"

Continue reading...

‘We thought the war has started,’ says resident of eastern Ukrainian city hit by shells – video

Posted on by

A resident of a city in eastern Ukraine where a kindergarten was hit by shelling from Russian-backed separatists has said that he thought the artillery barrage meant that war had started. 

'We were getting ready to go to work, we got up and just like back in 2014 and 2015 there was a huge noise, it was not far away,' Dmytro, a resident of Stanytsia Luhanska, said.

'We were all anxious and panicked because we knew, we expected some provocations exactly at this time so we thought that the war has indeed started,' he added.

The incidents come at a time of global concern over the prospect of a wider war, with more than 100,000 Russian troops near the Ukrainian frontier. Moscow denies it is planning an invasion and has said this week it is pulling back some troops, though western countries say they are not convinced it is

Shelling by Russian-backed separatists raises tensions in east Ukraine

Russia and Ukraine crisis latest news: live updates as US warns of Russian invasion

Continue reading...

Britain steps up Ukraine warnings despite assurance from Moscow

Posted on by

Analysis: evidence contrasts with statements from Russia that troops are being sent back to barracks

Britain believes that nearly half of Russian forces that have massed near Ukraine are now within 30 miles of the border, in contrast to statements from Moscow that its forces were being sent back to barracks.

Reinforcements from 14 battalions were in the process of arriving, officials added, while highlighting a pontoon bridge that had been briefly set up in Belarus in the past few days as an example of unusual military activity.

Continue reading...

Boris Johnson says kindergarten attack in Donbas was ‘false-flag operation’ – video

Posted on by

The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, has said that an attack on a kindergarten in Ukraine was a 'false-flag operation' by Russia designed to discredit the Ukrainians.

'The picture is continuing to be very grim,' Johnson told reporters during a visit to RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, when asked about the latest intelligence on Ukraine.

'A kindergarten was shelled in what we are taking to be, what we know was, a false-flag operation designed to discredit the Ukrainians, designed to create a pretext, a spurious provocation for Russian action.

'We fear very much that that is a thing we will see more of over the next few days,' Johnson added

Russia and Ukraine crisis latest news: live updates as US warns of Russian invasion

Continue reading...

Ukraine: Russian military buildup shows ‘no signs of slowing’, says Truss – video

Posted on by

The UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has said there are no signs that Russia's military buildup on the Ukraine border is slowing down.

Speaking in Kyiv, Truss said the UK stood 'shoulder to shoulder' with Ukraine in the face of the threat

Russia and Ukraine crisis latest news: live updates as US warns of Russian invasion

Continue reading...

Nursery hit by shelling after Russian-backed separatists open fire in east Ukraine – video

Posted on by

Fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine rose after Russian-backed separatists opened fire across the line of control with Ukrainian forces, hitting a nursery school and injuring three people.

According to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe there were multiple shelling incidents on Thursday morning across the frontline in the Donbas region. 

The nursery attack took place in the city of Stanytsia Luhanska with video showing debris and masonry strewn over a play area

Continue reading...

Ukraine crisis: Nato fears Russia trying to stage pretext for attack after reports of multiple shelling incidents – live

Posted on by

‘No certainty about Russia’s intentions’, warns Nato, after Ukraine government source says shelling ‘looks like provocation’

Some more detail has emerged regarding the denial from Ukrainian government forces over accusations of having targeted separatist positions in the country’s east. Ukraine says its troops were fired upon but did not retaliate.

A duty press officer of the Ukrainian Joint Forces Operation told Reuters by telephone:

Despite the fact that our positions were fired on with prohibited weapons, including 122mm artillery, Ukrainian troops did not open fire in response.

Continue reading...

Russia still sending troops to Ukraine border, say UK ministers – video

Posted on by

Russia’s claim to be withdrawing troops from the border with Ukraine does not appear to be the case on the ground, a UK defence minister has said.

Armed forces minister James Heappey said Moscow was continuing to deploy thousands more soldiers to the region and building bridges across rivers that could be used as part of a military incursion into Ukraine.

Despite brief hopes of a respite in tensions after Vladimir Putin’s announcement on Tuesday that there would be a 'partial' drawdown of forces, some Nato countries remained sceptical about how many of the roughly 130,000 troops had really been withdrawn. It is important Russia understands that Nato is completely united on the issue, added the UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace

Continue reading...

Ukraine crisis: Nato considering new battlegroups in eastern Europe after ‘no sign’ of Russian de-escalation – live

Posted on by

Nato secretary general sees ‘no sign of de-escalation on the ground’ and says organisation is developing options for bolstering eastern flank

Britain’s defence secretary has said Russia should be judged by its actions when it comes to de-escalating tension at the Ukraine border, adding he has not seen evidence of a withdrawal of troops.

Speaking in Brussels ahead of a meeting of Nato defence ministers, Ben Wallace told Sky News on Wednesday morning:

We’ll take Russia at its word, but we will judge them on their actions.

Until we see a proper de-escalation, we should all be cautious about the direction of travel from the Kremlin.”

Continue reading...

‘It’s not too late’: Nato defence leaders call on Russia to continue diplomatic efforts – video

Posted on by

Nato secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, has said he sees no signs of de-escalation on the ground from Russia's military, while urging Russia to 'step back from the brink of war'. He also reiterated that Nato action was defensive and 'not a threat to Russia'.

Nato defence ministers are in Brussels for two days to discuss Russia military build-up on the Ukrainian border 

Continue reading...

Russian pledge of troop withdrawals met with widespread scepticism

Posted on by

Analysis: Experts have little faith in announcement and say there are no signs of de-escalation on Ukraine’s borders

A video of a handful of screeching tanks and lumbering armoured vehicles mounting a transport train in Crimea accompanied the Russian defence ministry’s trumpeted announcement that some of the forces that have been encircling Ukraine will “head for their garrisons”.

Such evidence is clearly far too tentative to amount to anything definitive, however. The movement of Russian forces towards Ukraine has been patiently documented by a group of open source intelligence analysts, relying on public domain information, including satellite imagery and a large supply of on the ground videos.

Continue reading...