Category Archives: Europe

‘We’ll make it work’: the Ukrainian families benefiting from UK community-led scheme

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Iryna, Vladysav and their three children are among those taking advantage of new, ‘streamlined’ service offered by Communities for Ukraine

They looked pale and exhausted as they waited for their cases – containing the few possessions they were able to pack into their car when they fled their home in Ukraine – at Luton irport’s baggage reclaim.

But the smiles of relief beamed out when the family – mum, dad and three children – stepped into arrivals hall to be greeted by a welcome banner, goody bags and the warm hugs of their host, retired teacher Cora Hall, who has opened up her Staffordshire home as part of a new refugee sponsorship programme.

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Ukrainian forces reach Russian border – as it happened

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Finland and Sweden confirm intention to join Nato, prompted by Russian invasion of Ukraine

Croatia’s foreign minister has said talks between Turkey and Finland and Sweden over its concerns regarding the latter two nations’ wish to join Nato were on the right track after all three met, Reuters reports.

Gordan Grlić-Radman said:

Discussions are on a good track and we hope we will have a good outcome today to show solidarity and speak with one voice.

Shot after shot pounded into the Russian missile battery hidden by the lighthouse on Snake Island, a Black Sea rock 22 miles (35km) from the Ukrainian coast. The edited video, released by the Ukrainian military, showed the strike and its aftermath – all taken from a Turkish-designed Bayraktar TB2 drone.

Until then, evidence of the TB2 – a remotely piloted killer drone with a range of up to 190 miles – had largely disappeared from the conflict. The assumption was that the two dozen or so that Ukraine had bought from Turkey had been shot down and Ankara, not wanting to upset Russia, had declined to supply more.

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Ireland says UK risks sending message it will break treaties in Brexit row

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Foreign minister criticises ‘sabre-rattling’ from UK amid signs British rhetoric is softening over Northern Ireland protocol

Plans to shred parts of the Northern Ireland protocol “would send headlines around the world” that the UK is prepared to break treaties, Ireland’s foreign minister has said, as a British cabinet minister insisted the UK did not intend to break the law.

The business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, said the UK had “the right to act in a sovereign way” and to “reopen or re-examine the protocol” but denied the actions would constitute a breach of international law.

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Finland formally confirms intention to join Nato

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Nordic country that shares 800-mile border with Russia looks to end decades of non-alignment

Finland has formally confirmed it intends to join Nato, abandoning decades of military non-alignment in a historic policy shift triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The president and the government’s foreign policy committee have agreed that after consulting parliament, Finland will apply for Nato membership,” president, Sauli Niinistö, told a press conference. “A protected Finland is being born as part of a stable, strong and responsible Nordic region.”

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The Northern Ireland protocol is said to be a blight on regional economy. That’s just not true

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After an initial shock to businesses, manufacturing jobs are growing four times faster here than the UK average

Whenever Boris Johnson’s government wades into battle over the Northern Ireland protocol, it wields one assertion like a broadsword: that the protocol is ruining the region’s economy. Checks on goods entering Northern Ireland are disrupting trade, increasing prices and bankrupting businesses, and the damage will worsen unless the protocol is changed, goes the argument.

The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a rightwing thinktank, joined the fray last week with a report that estimated the annual cost of the agreement at £850m.

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‘War-enabling, not war-winning’: how are drones affecting the Ukraine war?

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Analysis: Ukraine is enjoying a lot of propaganda success with its Turkish-designed TB2s, as Russia plays catchup

Shot after shot pounded into the Russian missile battery hidden by the lighthouse on Snake Island, a Black Sea rock 22 miles (35km) from the Ukrainian coast. The edited video, released by the Ukrainian military, showed the strike and its aftermath – all taken from a Turkish-designed Bayraktar TB2 drone.

Until then, evidence of the TB2 – a remotely piloted killer drone with a range of up to 190 miles – had largely disappeared from the conflict. The assumption was that the two dozen or so that Ukraine had bought from Turkey had been shot down and Ankara, not wanting to upset Russia, had declined to supply more.

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‘I’m too old for this’: the harrowing flight from Donetsk’s perilous border towns

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Urged to evacuate, vulnerable residents are being carried to safety in makeshift volunteer convoys

It was Nina’s 88th birthday, and she marked it by leaving behind everything she had known. Volunteers, not particularly young or fit themselves, carried her down three flights of stairs from her flat, past the irises about to bloom in her neighbour’s patch of garden.

Apartment buildings hid the ruins of the local school, destroyed last week by a Russian missile, but the war intruded on the yard anyway, the regular thump of distant artillery echoing through the sunny afternoon.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Ukrainian general predicts when war will end; US senators visit Zelenskiy in Kyiv – live

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Head of military intelligence for Ukraine says August will be turning point in conflict; Republican senators travel to Kyiv to show support for Ukraine

In case you’d missed it, Italy is set to host the Grand Final of the Eurovision song contest later on Saturday – and Ukraine is the favourite to win.

Kalush Orchestra, a band that blends traditional folk and hip-hop, is competing in the event with the song Stefania, which has become an anthem at home, the Guardian’s Rome correspondent Angela Giuffrida reported earlier this week.

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Moscow set to call referendum on Mariupol joining Russia, says Ukraine

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Kremlin poised to hold referendum in ruined city in bid to secure grip on the region

Moscow is preparing to hold a referendum in Mariupol on whether the city will join Russia, Ukrainian officials have claimed, following the announcement of a similar poll in Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia.

Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the port city’s mayor, who is operating in exile, said sources among those remaining among its ruins believed a vote on its future was in the making, even as residents were going without food and water.

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Judgment day for ‘narcissistic’ Greek pilot who killed British wife Caroline Crouch

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Babis Anagnostopoulos spent 10 chilling hours in an Athens courts calmly describing the murder of his wife

Last week, Greek helicopter pilot Babis Anagnostopoulos stood in the dock of an Athens court and related the circumstances that led him to suffocate his British wife. Over the course of 10 hours he barely paused. Coolly and calmly, from 10am to 8pm, he addressed the tribunal.

He recalled the dream life he had shared with the woman whom he would go on to asphyxiate; his decision to choke her beloved puppy, Roxy, hanging the pet dog from the banister of the couple’s maisonette; his love for his baby daughter, whom he would place next to her dead mother’s body; and his determination in a moment “of chaos” to cover up the killing as a robbery gone terribly wrong.

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The Russian bank, the Bruce Willis ad and the $900m sanctions battle

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Ministers warned that millions owed after alleged fraud by ex bosses of National Bank Trust could help fund Putin’s war effort

In one of Russia’s most high-profile marketing campaigns, film star Bruce Willis appeared in cinematic advertisements with a car chase and a rooftop rescue, ending with the slogan, “Trust is just like me, but a bank.”

The campaign for National Bank Trust in 2011 – which included cardboard cutouts of Willis popping up in 400 branches across Russia – was credited with raising the bank’s profile and boosting business.

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Russia’s Black Sea blockade pushing millions towards famine, G7 says

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Foreign ministers call for action to allow export of Ukrainian grain, as Kyiv claims Russian withdrawal from second-largest city

Millions of people will starve to death unless Russia allows the export of Ukrainian grain from blockaded ports, foreign ministers from the G7 have said.

As Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, warned that Vladimir Putin was intransigent during their bilateral call on Friday, the ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and US condemned Moscow for stoking a food crisis.

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Ukraine refugees staying with UK hosts not cleared by criminal record checks

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Concerns grow for safety of those heading to Britain as government scrambles to fix flaws in housing scheme

• Russia-Ukraine war: latest developments

Ukrainians fleeing the war are being housed with UK hosts who have not had a criminal record check, in the latest concern to blight the government’s response to the refugee crisis.

Under increasing pressure to iron out flaws in its schemes, government sources told the Observer they were creating a “rematching” service to house Ukrainians with people willing to help.

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West must not lift sanctions on Maduro, says Venezuelan opposition

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Helping president would hand victory to autocratic alliance led by Russia, warns deputy foreign minister

The west must not backslide into aiding the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, or it will hand victory to an autocratic alliance led by Vladimir Putin and weaken the democratic cause in Europe and Venezuela, the country’s deputy foreign minister, Isadora Zubillaga, has warned.

A delegation of Venezuelan opposition politicians have been touring Europe in an attempt to reassure the west that despite recent divisions and setbacks, they have a viable strategy to secure new presidential elections.

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US defence chief urges Ukraine ceasefire in call with Russian counterpart – as it happened

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Psaki’s final White House briefing continues.

“I promised myself I wouldn’t get emotional,” she says. She succeeds.

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Breakaway region of Georgia to hold referendum on joining Russia

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South Ossetia, focal point of Russia-Georgia war of 2008, will decide whether to subsume itself into larger neighbour in July

Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia will hold a referendum on joining Russia on 17 July, the region’s leader announced on Friday.

“Anatoly Bibilov signed a decree on holding a referendum in the Republic of South Ossetia,” his office said in a statement, citing his people’s “historic aspiration” to join Russia.

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Ukraine has repelled Russia’s attempt to cross Donbas river, UK confirms

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Russia incurred heavy losses during Siverskyi Donets River attempt, according to defence intelligence

Ukrainians have repelled multiple attempts by the Russians to cross a strategically significant river in the Donbas, inflicting heavy losses in the process, according to local officials and British intelligence.

Serhiy Haidai, the governor of the Luhansk region, said Russian forces had been repulsed three times as they tried to cross the Siverskyi Donets River, 12 miles (20km) west of Severodonetsk, losing armour and bridging equipment.

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Trial by fire: Ukraine war becomes gruelling artillery duel

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As troops in mazes of trenches pound each other with shells, the terror of war draws closer to the city of Sloviansk

The call came at about midday on Wednesday. There had been “chemical poisoning” after a blast and patients needed collecting.

Fears of a Russian chemical weapons attack have haunted Ukraine almost since the war began, and as the volunteer medics in Sloviansk pulled on the ageing gas masks and plastic overalls that were their only protection, they wondered if this was it.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Ukrainian forces continue Kharkiv pushback; Moscow to cut electricity supply to Finland after Nato decision – live

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US think tank says Ukrainian forces have ‘likely won the battle of Kharkiv’; electricity supplier RAO Nordic says decision to suspend Finnish supply is ‘exceptional’

Here are some of the latest images we have been sent over the newswires showing the impact of the conflict in Ukraine and beyond.

British foreign secretary Liz Truss said it was vital to keep up the pressure on Russia by supplying more weapons to Ukraine and imposing further sanctions.

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