US could send long-range missiles to Ukraine if funding passes – report

White House prepared to send weapons that could strike inside Crimea if Congress approves $60bn aid package

Joe Biden’s White House is prepared to send long-range tactical missiles to Ukraine if Congress approves a new funding package, according to a US media report on Monday.

Citing two unnamed officials, NBC News said that the administration was willing to send a variant of the missiles – known as Atacms (army tactical missile systems) – if a new $60bn aid package approved by the Senate, but held up for now by congressional Republicans, becomes law.

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Closure of UK family scheme for Ukrainians described as ‘cruel’ move

Government defends decision that opposition politicians say could put vulnerable people at risk

A scheme allowing Ukrainians to join family members taking sanctuary in the UK has been unexpectedly closed, in what opposition politicians described as a cruel and “below the radar” move days before the two-year anniversary of Russia’s full invasion.

The Ukraine family scheme is being shut but government officials said a separate Homes for Ukraine scheme would continue to fulfil people’s needs as a way of “simplifying” the process.

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Councils call for funding help as more Ukrainian refugees become homeless

Continuation of war has left more refugees unsettled, with councils stepping in to to relieve most cases of homelessness

Councils have called for urgent review of funding for Ukrainian refugees amid alarm that 9,000 have reported as homeless and many more are needing longer-term support – with no sign of the war ending after two years.

The government announced on Sunday that it would extend by another 18 months the three-year visas of Ukrainians who escaped the war.

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‘Europe must defend itself’: shadow of war in Ukraine looms over security conference

With ongoing US support far from guaranteed, Ukraine urges Europe to back fight against Russia, for its own sake

On the top floor of Literaturhaus in Munich, the Ukrainian veteran Yuliia Paievska was asked to speak to the elite of the transatlantic security and political establishment, including Hillary Clinton and the Estonian prime minister, Kaja Kallas, as they lunched on a three-course meal, served with military precision.

“We are the dogs of war,” Paievska said as she introduced herself, explaining how she had started out as a volunteer and then worked as the chief medic at a hospital on the frontline during the siege of Mariupol. “I had children die in my hands, civilians, elderly. I do not know how you can forgive that. Thousands of soldiers have gone through my hands, thousands of civilians, streams of blood, rivers of suffering.”

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What next for Putin? After Navalny’s death, many fear what leader will move on to

With Ukraine retreating and western sanctions having little impact, the Russian president is growing bolder and may embark on more reckless moves

Vladimir Putin smiled and looked unusually festive on Friday as he praised factory workers and joked with state reporters at an industrial plant in the Ural city of Chelyabinsk.

Putin’s confidence was unmistakable – a sign of his full belief that he would get away with the death that day of his biggest critic in jail while outlasting Ukraine on the battlefield.

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Ukraine war: Russia says it has full control over Ukrainian town of Avdiivka – as it happened

Russian troops have full control and have advanced 8.6km beyond that region of frontline, Russian news agencies say

Responding to US Republican senator JD Vance on a panel at the Munich Security Conference on Sunday, German politician Ricarda Lang pushed back at the idea of a deal with Russia.

Putin has shown over and over again – and he just showed this with the murder of Navalny on Friday – that he has no interest in peace at the moment. That he does not want peace.

So if you say we stop supporting Ukraine, stop giving weapons to them, you are not having some scenario where this leads to peace, but at the moment this leads to two scenarios: either you are prolonging this war, or you give up Ukraine and Putin wins.

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Ukrainians can extend UK visas by 18 months in new scheme

Refugees will have ‘certainty and assurance’ says Home Office, but charities say move insufficient as many face homelessness

Ukrainians who sought sanctuary in the UK after the Russian invasion will be permitted to extend their visas for an extra 18 months, the Home Office has announced.

More than 200,000 Ukrainians visa holders have arrived in the UK since March 2022, with the first visas to expire in March next year. The Home Office said that the new scheme would provide “certainty and assurance” for Ukrainians in the UK.

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Volodymyr Zelenskiy pleads for more arms as frontline Ukrainian city falls

Retreat from Avdiivka deals military blow and hands initiative to Putin as war’s second anniversary looms

Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued a desperate plea for fresh arms on Saturday as his army commanders announced that Ukrainian troops were pulling out of the key eastern city of Avdiivka, handing Moscow its first major military victory since last May, just days before the second anniversary of the Russian invasion.

Ukraine’s leader told the Munich Security Conference that the slowing of weapons supplies was having a direct impact on the frontline and was forcing Ukraine to cede territory.

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Alexei Navalny death: Biden blames Putin and ‘his thugs’ as Russians pay tribute at makeshift memorials – latest updates

US president joins world leaders in outrage at Putin critic’s death in Russian prison as EU says he was ‘slowly murdered’ by regime

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that Russia’s penitentiary service was making all checks regarding the death of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, but that he had no information about the matter, Reuters reports.

The Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has died in jail, the country’s prison service has said, in what is likely to be seen as a political assassination attributable to Vladimir Putin.

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Europe: Kamala Harris blasts ‘dangerous’ isolationism at security conference – as it happened

Vice-president tells Munich gathering that the US is committed to ‘defend democratic values at home and abroad’

Speaking in Munich today, the Nato secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, said that “if we want a lasting peace, we must continue to provide Ukraine with weapons and ammunition.”

He addressed Nato’s push to invest more in defence.

This requires expanding our transatlantic industrial base to increase deliveries to Ukraine and refill our own stocks. And shifting from slow peacetime to the high tempo of conflict – to produce more at a higher speed.

This will help Ukraine, it will make Nato stronger, and it will provide more highly–skilled manufacturing jobs, including here in Bavaria, where Patriot missiles will be built at a new facility.

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FBI informant charged with lying about Bidens’ role in Ukraine business

Alexander Smirnov falsely said executives linked to energy firm Burisma paid Joe and Hunter Biden $5m each in 2015 and 2016, prosecutors say

An FBI informant has been charged with lying to his handler about ties between Joe Biden, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company.

Alexander Smirnov falsely told FBI agents in June 2020 that executives associated with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid Hunter and Joe Biden $5m each in 2015 and 2016, prosecutors said on Thursday.

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Ukraine’s war effort already affected by block on $60bn US aid, says Nato chief

Jens Stoltenberg believes Congress will finally vote for package but meanwhile Russian forces are advancing near Avdiivka

The US failure to vote through a fresh military aid package for Ukraine is already having an impact on the battlefield, Nato’s secretary general has warned at the end of a defence ministers’ meeting.

Jens Stoltenberg said he still believed Congress would eventually approve the stalled $60bn (£50bn) package, but his cautious remarks came as Nato officials warned Russia was making “significant gains” near the frontline town of Avdiivka.

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‘A lot higher than we expected’: Russian arms production worries Europe’s war planners

Moscow has massively ramped up its industry, giving it advantages in Ukraine and leading to a redistribution of wealth

As Ukraine has scrambled to source ammunition, arms and equipment for its defence, Russia has presided over a massive ramping up of industrial production over the last two years that has outstripped what many western defence planners expected when Vladimir Putin launched his invasion.

Total defence spending has risen to an estimated 7.5% of Russia’s GDP, supply chains have been redesigned to secure many key inputs and evade sanctions, and factories producing ammunition, vehicles and equipment are running around the clock, often on mandatory 12-hour shifts with double overtime, in order to sustain the Russian war machine for the foreseeable future.

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Ukrainian forces destroy large Russian landing ship off Crimea – as it happened

Hit on Tsezar Kunikov, in waters off the occupied peninsula, hailed by Ukrainian military

The Netherlands is joining a military coalition with allies including Britain that will supply Ukraine with advanced drone technology and bolster its offensive capabilities in the war against Russia, the Dutch defence minister said.

The pledge from the Netherlands comes in addition to F-16 fighter jets, artillery, ammunition and air defence systems provided by the Dutch to Kyiv, Reuters reports.

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David Cameron to meet EU ministers to seek more help for Ukraine

Foreign secretary wants an increase in European defence output and to give profits from seized Russian assets in Europe to Kyiv

David Cameron will discuss strengthening Ukraine’s defences and finances against further Russian aggression with European partners in light of the continuing threat of the US Congress refusing to provide further financial support.

The foreign secretary is due to visit Bulgaria and Poland before meeting a host of European foreign ministers at a security conference in Munich on Friday.

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US Senate approves $95bn aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan

Pre-dawn vote comes amid growing doubts about fate of legislation in Republican-controlled House of Representatives

After weeks of setbacks and delays, the US Senate gave final approval to a $95bn wartime aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other American allies early on Tuesday morning, sending the bill to the Republican-controlled House where its fate is uncertain.

In a pre-dawn vote, the Senate passed the measure 70 to 29, easily clearing the 60-vote threshold needed to pass most legislation in the chamber. Nearly all Democrats and 22 Republicans approved the bill, which exposed deep divisions within the GOP over America’s responsibility to its allies and its role on the world stage.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Zelenskiy hails US Senate vote on Ukraine aid

Ukrainian president says bill envisaging $61bn in aid brings a 'just peace’ closer, but it still faces opposition in the Senate

The Democratic-led US Senate has voted to pass a $95.34bn aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

The bill appears to face long odds of getting to the floor in the House, where the Republican speaker, Mike Johnson, criticised it for lacking conservative provisions to stem a record flow of migrants across the US-Mexico border.

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French security experts identify Moscow-based disinformation network

Network operating in western Europe is ‘paving way for new wave of online manipulation’ in crucial election year, French agency says

French military and cybersecurity experts say they have identified a Moscow-based network spreading propaganda and disinformation in western Europe.

France’s Viginum agency, which was set up in 2021 to detect digital interference from foreign entities aimed at influencing public opinion, says Russia is paving the way for a new wave of online manipulation in the run-up to the European elections and other crucial votes this year.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Ukrainian air defence systems destroy Russian drones and cruise missile – as it happened

Ukrainian air force says 14 out of 17 drones and one Kh-59 cruise missile destroyed after Russia launched them

German chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday said defence companies could count on his government ramping up military spending and that it would meet its commitment to spend 2% of GDP on Nato defence.

Scholz was speaking after former US president Donald Trump sparked outrage among US allies by suggesting the United States might not protect fellow Nato members who are not spending enough on defence against a potential Russian invasion.

Ukraine’s air defence systems destroyed 14 out of 17 drones that Russia launched overnight and one Kh-59 cruise missile, Ukraine’s Air Force said. The air force said on the Telegram messaging app that Russia also launched missiles from S-300 long-range surface-to-air missile systems, but it did not say how many or whether they hit any targets, Reuters reported.

Oleh Synehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region in Ukraine’s northeast, said late on Sunday that Russia attacked his region with missiles launched from the S-300 systems in Russia’s Belgorod region that borders Ukraine. He said that according to preliminary information, there were no casualties, but the facades of some non-residential buildings were damaged.

Serhiy Lisak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said late on Sunday that Russia attacked the region’s city of Pavlohrad with drones. There were no casualties, but some parts of the city lost electricity. Reuters was not able to independently verify the reports.

Russian forces in occupied Ukraine are using Starlink terminals produced by Elon Musk’s SpaceX for satellite internet in what is beginning to look like a “systemic” problem, Kyiv’s main military intelligence agency has claimed. Starlink terminals were rushed in to help Ukraine after Russia’s February 2022 invasion and have been vital to Kyiv’s battlefield communications. Starlink says it does not do business of any kind with Russia’s government or military.

Russian forces are obtaining Starlink terminals illicitly from third countries and they are increasing their use on the front line, the Ukrainian military spy agency’s spokesperson told Reuters on Monday, without explaining how he knew. Andriy Yusov, the military official, also said that work was underway to counter Russia’s use of the terminals in occupied parts of Ukraine as the full-scale war with Russia nears the two-year mark.

The Kremlin has said that Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet system was neither certified for use in, nor officially supplied to, Russia, and therefore could not be used. Ukraine, which has used Starlink for military communications throughout its conflict with Russia, said on Sunday that Russian troops were using Starlink in parts of Ukraine they control, Reuters reported.

Russia on Monday imposed sanctions on 18 British citizens for what Moscow said was demonising Russia and escalating the war in Ukraine. Russia imposed what it called personal sanctions against deputy defence minister James Cartlidge, and a number of other officials and academics including historians Orlando Figes and Norman Davies and Russia specialist James Sherr.

The US Senate on Monday will attempt to steer a $95.34 billion package containing aid for Ukraine and Israel to passage this week following months of delays, even as it lacked any guarantee that the House of Representatives will support the measure. On Sunday, the bill got a boost when the Senate voted 67-27 to move it past an important procedural hurdle. Also over the weekend, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer set a course for passage by Wednesday.

Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said on Monday that France and Poland are on the same page as regards the geopolitical situation and support for Ukraine, Reuters reported. “We want us to send a common signal that we are ready for solidarity in all the most difficult situations ... we are rebuilding the Weimar Triangle,” Tusk said during a joined press conference in Paris with president Emmanuel Macron.

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Ukraine claims Russian forces using Musk’s Starlink in occupied areas

Elon Musk and Starlink deny selling to Russia but do not address whether its soldiers might be using terminals

Russian forces in occupied Ukraine are using Starlink terminals produced by Elon Musk’s SpaceX for satellite internet in what is beginning to look like a “systemic” problem, Kyiv’s main military intelligence agency has claimed.

Starlink terminals were rushed in to help Ukraine after Russia’s February 2022 invasion and have been vital to Kyiv’s battlefield communications. Starlink says it does not do business of any kind with Russia’s government or military.

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