Police say death of businessman who made his fortune in oil and gas is unexplained but not suspicious
A Ukraine-born oligarch has been found dead at his home in unexplained circumstances, Surrey police have said.
Officers are treating the death of 66-year-old Mikhail Watford, who made his fortune in oil and gas after the demise of the Soviet Union, as unexplained. But they said it was not thought to be suspicious.
Continue reading...More than 1 million people have already crossed the border, with numbers set to rise as the Russian invasion intensifies. What has been the response of neighbouring countries?
What is the expected scale of the refugee crisis in Ukraine?
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could see the “largest refugee crisis this century”, the UN refugee agency has warned, with up to 4 million people fleeing the country in the coming weeks and months.
Continue reading...Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Ukraine is holding its lines of defence against the Russian onslaught. The president says 16,000 foreign troops are arriving in Ukraine to 'defend the liberty and life of us and of everyone'
Continue reading...In TV address French president warns tough economic times are ahead following Ukraine invasion
Emmanuel Macron has warned that Europe must become more independent for its own defence and to ensure energy supplies after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The French president said the conflict had “changed the era” across the continent and that he would be calling a summit of European leaders next week to discuss how to address the “unprecedented challenge” it created.
Continue reading...More than 1 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded a week ago, according to the UN, with many leaving via the borders with Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Moldova
Continue reading...Latest updates: Liz Truss says Putin must lose in Ukraine as she praises courage of Baltic states
The UK health secretary Sajid Javid has said the NHS must stop using energy supplied by the Russian-owned firm Gazprom, the PA news agency reports.
A senior government source told PA that Javid has been in talks with NHS England over ending the contracts, which are reported by Politico to have been worth 16 million in 2021.
Sajid has spoken with NHSE and been clear that trusts need to stop using Gazprom as a supplier. He has also requested a wider review of any Russian role in supply chains across the health service.
It’s clearly unsustainable for a humanitarian organisation like the NHS to have any commercial links whatsoever with Putin’s murderous regime.
It is time to sanction them all - and freeze their assets, including any property they own in the UK.
These properties should then be used to house any Ukrainian refugees, on a temporary basis, while they await permanent resettlement. Rather than languishing in hotel rooms - or worse, unsuitable barracks, we should be putting Putin’s cronies’ assets to good use.
Continue reading...Renaissance works transported for first time since the artist installed them in churches 600 years ago
A collection of bronzes sculpted by Renaissance master Donatello have been moved for the first time from the Italian churches where he installed them 600 years ago so that they can be displayed at a ground-breaking exhibition in Florence
Three of the four pieces, a relief, a statue and two bronze doors, from Siena Cathedral and San Lorenzo baptistery in Florence, are also being restored to their former glory using techniques ranging from chiselling with porcupine needles to thermographing to discover structural weaknesses.
Continue reading...The drinks giant Diageo, which makes Smirnoff vodka and Guinness, has paused exports to Russia and Ukraine. A spokesperson told Reuters:
Our priority is the safety of our people in Ukraine and the wider region.
The Institute of Directors expresses its solidarity with Ukraine and its people, who are facing intolerable suffering.
Although directors owe legal duties to the companies on whose boards they serve, they should also feel a stronger moral duty to uphold the fundamental values of freedom and democracy. We believe that it is no longer tenable for British directors to be involved in governance roles in the Russian economy. Therefore, we hope that they will now question the viability of their mandates in Russian and Belarusian companies.
Continue reading...Hamburg authorities seized the 156-metre Dilbar as yachts belonging to five other Russian billionaires headed to the non-extradition Maldives
Russia-Ukraine crisis: live news
German authorities have reportedly seized the $600m superyacht belonging to Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov in a Hamburg shipyard.
Usmanov was on a list of billionaires to face sanctions from the European Union in response to Russia’s 24 February invasion of Ukraine. It came as the French finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, said it had seized a yacht linked to Rosneft boss Igor Sechin in the Mediterranean port of La Ciotat.
Continue reading...International criminal court inquiry has been expedited by unprecedented number of countries backing move
A war crimes investigation has been launched into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine after an unprecedented number of countries backed the move and Boris Johnson called the military intervention “abhorrent”.
Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor for the international criminal court (ICC), said he would begin work “as rapidly as possible” to look for possible crimes against humanity or genocide committed in Ukraine.
Continue reading...Paralympic Committee reverses its original decision after threats of boycott over Ukraine conflict
A revolt among competing nations has forced the International Paralympic Committee to reverse its original decision and ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from this week’s Winter Games.
On Wednesday the IPC had said that Russian and Belarusian athletes would be allowed to take part in competition in Beijing, under a neutral banner and with no place on the medal table. Less than 24 hours after the announcement, however, the president of the IPC, Andrew Parsons, announced a u-turn following protests and a threat of a boycott from national participating committees (NPCs).
Continue reading...Energy and banking giants Gazprom and Sberbank plus EN+, Lukoil and Polyus among firms
The London Stock Exchange has suspended trading in 27 companies with strong links to Russia, including energy and banking giants Gazprom and Sberbank.
The LSE said it was moving to block trading in the companies, which also include EN+, Lukoil and Polyus, with immediate effect “in light of market conditions, and in order to maintain orderly markets”.
Continue reading...A week after invasion of Ukraine launched, ICC confirms it is gathering evidence of possible war crimes
Russian forces are in control of the local government building in the Black Sea port of Kherson, according to its mayor, Igor Kolykhaiev, although there are conflicting reports about the status of the strategically important city.
More heavy explosions were reported in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and second city, Kharkiv, overnight and on Thursday morning after Russian missile strikes.
A second round of talks is reportedly set to take place today. A Russian negotiator said a ceasefire was on the agenda, but Ukraine has said Russia must stop bombing Ukrainian cities before any progress can be made.
More than one million people have fled Ukraine since Russian forces invaded the country last week, the head of the United Nations refugee agency has said.
The international criminal court (ICC) is opening an investigation into possible war crimes in Ukraine and has begun collecting evidence after 38 countries formally referred reports of atrocities, the largest referral it has ever received.
The Russian advance on Kyiv has been delayed by “staunch Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestion” and is still more than 30km from the centre of the city, Britain’s defence ministry said.
The UN nuclear watchdog has voiced concern after Russian forces claimed to have surrounded Ukraine’s biggest atomic plant and called for its workers to be left alone to do their jobs.
The strategically important Sea of Azov port city of Mariupol is reportedly surrounded by Russian troops.
Police in Moscow detained two women and five children holding a poster outside the Ukraine embassy that said “No to war”.
More than 350 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and more than 2,000 injured, according to Ukraine’s emergency service. Transport facilities, hospitals, kindergartens and homes have been destroyed, it said.
Ukraine claimed nearly 7,000 Russian troops had been killed in the first six days of Moscow’s invasion. Moscow said 498 Russian soldiers had died in Ukraine since the start of its campaign, its first statement on casualties.
The UN general assembly voted overwhelmingly to deplore Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and called for the immediate withdrawal of its forces, with 141 of the 193 member states voting for the resolution on Wednesday.
The US has accused Russia of launching a “full war on media freedom and the truth” by blocking independent news outlets and preventing Russians from hearing news of the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s central bank has imposed a 30% commission on foreign currency purchases by individuals on currency exchanges.
Russian and Belarusian athletes have been banned from the Winter Paralympic Games for their countries’ roles in the conflict, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said, in a reversal of its previous stance.
Dissident couple say their lives would be under threat if returned from Bosnia to Kuwait, as rights groups claim notice undermines refugee law
A Kuwaiti princess seeking asylum in Bosnia-Herzegovina has claimed the Kuwaiti state is using an Interpol red notice to intimidate and harass her and force the extradition of her partner, a prominent dissident blogger, back to the country.
Sheikha Moneera Fahad al-Sabah and Mesaed al-Mesaileem, said they face torture and threats to their lives if they are returned to Kuwait due to their political activism.
Continue reading...Moscow aims to take ‘full control’ of Ukraine capital by diplomatic or military means, according to France
Vladimir Putin has told Emmanuel Macron that Kyiv’s “refusal to accept Russia’s conditions” means he will continue to pursue his war in Ukraine, the Élysée Palace has said, adding: “We expect the worst is yet to come.”
As the number of refugees fleeing the conflict passed 1 million and Russian forces, backed by heavy shelling, advanced on cities and key ports in the south and east, Russia’s president said in a 90-minute call to his French counterpart he was “prepared to go all the way”, the French official said.
Continue reading...Nuclear watchdog chief pleads with invading troops to allow workers to carry on ‘providing safety and monotoring radiation’ at Zaporizhzhia
The UN nuclear watchdog has voiced concern after Russian forces claimed to have surrounded Ukraine’s biggest atomic plant, and called for its workers to be left alone to do their jobs.
Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said the Russian government had informed the agency that its troops had taken control of the area around the Zaporizhzhia plant in south-eastern Ukraine, the second biggest in Europe, housing six of the country’s 15 reactors.
Continue reading...Corruption-fighting body urges citizens to ‘continue to defend the motherland’ while easing any concerns about ‘significant changes in the property status’
It’s not often that tax can lift people’s spirits but Ukrainian authorities may have done just that, assuring citizens that any Russian military equipment they seize won’t need to be declared for tax purposes.
“Have you captured a Russian tank or armoured personnel carrier and are worried about how to declare it? Keep calm and continue to defend the motherland!” Ukraine’s National Agency for the Protection against Corruption (NAPC) said, according to the Ukraine arm of the Interfax news service.
Continue reading...Yelena Osipova, an elderly activist who is said to have survived the infamous wartime siege of Leningrad, was marched away by a group of police in St Petersburg while she protested against the war in Ukraine. Thousands of people have been defying police threats and staging protests across Russia. Authorities have a low tolerance for demonstrations and marches, and attending them can have serious consequences including fines, arrests and even imprisonment
Video shows Russian strikes hitting residential buildings in Ukraine, adding to mounting evidence of war crimes to be investigated by The Hague.
Footage of an attack on a car park in Kharkiv, described by a Bellingcat researcher as a cluster bomb strike, appears to show a residential park nearby, and similar bombs exploded along a road.
Intentionally targeting civilians or civilian buildings is considered a war crime under international humanitarian law. Russia routinely denies it engages in illegal attacks. Cluster munitions, which indiscriminately scatter small bombs over a wide area, are banned by more than 100 states. But neither Russia nor Ukraine (nor the US) have signed up to a treaty first introduced in 2008 that bans them
Analysis: From a no-fly zone to sanctions, the options that are on and off the table
Russia’s invading forces have bombed civilians in Kyiv, Kharkiv and elsewhere in Ukraine in the past 48 hours, prompting fears of rising casualties and growing questions as to whether the west could step up military, economic or other efforts to help. Here are some of the options – and the risks.
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