‘Stopgap measure’ designed to keep oil flowing into global market as Middle East crisis disrupts crude shipments
The US has temporarily allowed India to buy Russian oil currently stuck at sea in an effort to keep global supplies flowing and temper further price increases.
On Thursday the US treasury issued a 30-day waiver allowing India to buy Russian oil, having previously imposed heavy sanctions related to the war in Ukraine.
Continue reading...The Arctic Metagaz had been carrying 61,000 tonnes of liquefied natural gas when it exploded; Ukrainian drones reported to have hit southern Russia. What we know on day 1,471
Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has accused Ukraine of carrying out a attack on one of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, which exploded and sank into the Mediterranean Sea off Libya. Explosions were reported on the Arctic Metagaz, which had been carrying 61,000 tonnes of LNG, on Tuesday night when the ship was about 150 miles (240km) off the coast of Libya. Ukraine has not commented on the sinking on the ship, which had been under US and EU sanctions. Russia’s transport ministry had claimed that the Arctic Metagaz had been hit by Ukrainian drones launched from the Libyan coast.
Ukrainian drones damaged Russian civilian sites in the south-western region of Saratov, Roman Busgarin, the area’s governor said early on Thursday. Saratov airport and other airports in the southern and central regions were closed late on Wednesday and early on Thursday. Three injuries were reported.
A prolonged energy crisis caused by the widening war in the Middle East may offer the Russian war machine an economic lifeline just as it was beginning to show signs of strain over its war in Ukraine. Russia could receive a windfall if disruption in the Middle East pushes buyers towards its energy, while a possible slowdown in western arms supplies to Ukraine as the US military action in Iran continues could give Russia a further boost.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that trilateral talks with Washington and Moscow about ending Ukraine’s war in Russia would resume, once the situation in Iran and the Middle East permitted. The Ukrainian president also said that he spoke to the king of Bahrain and the crown prince of Kuwait about the conflict in the Middle East on Wednesday.
Ukraine has said it will boycott Friday’s opening ceremony of the Paralympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy, over the participation of Russian athletes. Athletes from Russia and Belarus had been banned from the 2022 Winter Paralympics over its war in Ukraine, but were allowed to compete as neutral athletes in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Poland were set to join Ukraine in its boycott on Friday.
Continue reading...The Arctic Metagaz burst into flames before sinking after what the Russian president described as a terrorist attack
Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of carrying out a terrorist attack on one of Russia’s liquefied natural gas carriers which exploded into flames and sank in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya.
The Arctic Metagaz had been sanctioned by the US and EU for being part of Moscow’s “shadow fleet” of ageing tankers that carry its oil and gas around the world, skirting Western restrictions.
Continue reading...Grenade-throwing contests replaced PE and ‘denazification’ speeches became homework. Pavel Talankin’s undercover film about his school’s indoctrination drive won a Bafta and is tipped for an Oscar, but has left him in exile
In order to watch the Oscar-nominated documentary in which many of them have starring roles, pupils at Karabash School No 1 have had to source bootlegged copies, viewing the film in private, on their phones or their laptops.
Last week’s Bafta best documentary win for Mr Nobody Against Putin has been studiously ignored by Russian state media, and the prize the film won at Sundance last year was also met with silence. Staff at the school and government officials in the Kremlin seem united in their desire to pretend that they know nothing about the film.
Continue reading...Belgian special forces boarded the Ethera, which was sailing under the flag of Guinea, on Saturday night
Belgium has seized an oil tanker believed to form part of the so-called “shadow fleet” used by Russia to circumvent western sanctions over the war in Ukraine.
Special forces assisted by French helicopters boarded the ship in a clandestine operation in the North Sea on Saturday night, Belgium’s defence minister, Theo Francken, said on Sunday.
Continue reading...Cygnet Texkimp was approved to export machines to Rydena, but ministers examining deal after Guardian highlighted founders’ links to Kremlin military supply chain
Ministers are reviewing a decision to allow a British company to export hi-tech equipment to Armenia after the Guardian uncovered links to the Russian military supply chain.
Cygnet Texkimp, based in Cheshire, was weeks away from exporting two machines that produce carbon fibre “prepreg”, a lightweight material that can be used in a range of civil and military applications.
Continue reading...US threats to seize Greenland have created ‘new international fault lines’ that can be used to spread disinformation, Danish intelligence agencies say
Denmark’s intelligence services have warned that a foreign power may try to sway the general election on 24 March, saying the main threat was from Russia over support for Ukraine but also citing the chaos caused by US efforts to seize Greenland.
The PET police intelligence service and FE military intelligence said in a joint statement the election campaign could be marked by disinformation and cyberattacks “to sow division, influence the public debate or to target candidates, parties or specific political programmes”.
Continue reading...Foreign minister says 272 Ghanaians are thought to have been drawn into battle since 2022, after he visited Kyiv
At least 55 Ghanaians have been killed in Russia’s war with Ukraine after being “lured into battle”, Ghana’s foreign minister has said after a visit to Kyiv in which officials raised the issue of Russian recruitment of African people.
Reports of African men being attracted to Russia by promises of jobs and ending up on Ukraine’s frontlines have become more frequent in recent months, creating tensions between Moscow and some of the countries involved.
Continue reading...I looked back to discover the untold story of how western intelligence was misread, even in Kyiv. The conclusion offers a stark warning for the future
Tuesday marked the fourth anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and at this time of year it’s hard not to recall memories of the morning of 24 February 2022, when the fate of Ukraine and the history of Europe were irrevocably changed by the decision of the man in the Kremlin.
Around 9pm the evening before, I had received a message from a colleague at another news outlet. It was an unequivocal warning from an intelligence source that the war would start that night. We discussed it among the Guardian’s Ukraine reporting team and international editors. My colleague Emma Graham-Harrison, who was on an overnight train from Kyiv towards the frontline city of Mariupol, decided she would get off halfway, in the middle of the night, and beg a spot on the first train heading back to Kyiv. It turned out to be a wise move: Mariupol was soon under siege and the scene of much of the worst carnage of the war. Emma remained in Kyiv, part of our team covering the initial Russian attack on the capital.
Continue reading...Italian government urges IPC to reconsider its stance
Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under flags
Italy, the Winter Olympic hosts, has called for a reversal of the decision to let 10 Russian and Belarusian athletes compete with national flags and anthems at next month’s Paralympic Games.
The foreign minister Antonio Tajani and sports minister Andrea Abodi urged the International Paralympic Committee to reconsider its stance due to Russia’s four-year-old invasion of Ukraine, saying it contradicted the Olympic spirit.
Continue reading...Leader vows to repay the ‘young martyrs’ who died as North Korea intensifies propaganda glorifying troops deployed to fight for Russia
North Korea has said it completed a new housing district in Pyongyang for families of North Korean soldiers killed while fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, the latest effort by leader Kim Jong-un to honour the war dead.
State media photos showed Kim walking through the new street – called Saeppyol Street – and visiting the homes of some of the families with his increasingly prominent daughter, believed to be named Kim Ju-ae, as he pledged to repay the “young martyrs” who “sacrificed all to their motherland”.
Continue reading...Russian president accuses European powers of preventing peace in Ukraine as he meets with Witkoff and Kushner
Vladimir Putin has accused European powers of preventing peace in Ukraine and threatened that Russia was ready for war as Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, arrived for talks at the Kremlin on Tuesday evening.
Moments before the closed-door meeting with Witkoff and Kushner, Putin made a series of hard-edged remarks. Speaking to reporters, he accused European governments of sabotaging the peace process and said that “European demands” on ending the war in Ukraine were “not acceptable to Russia”.
Continue reading...Talks come after Witkoff led US discussions with Ukraine at weekend amid European concerns that Kyiv will be pressured to make concessions to Moscow
Finland and Sweden have announced increased collaboration between the neighbouring Nordic countries including on defence, civil preparedness and cyber security.
In a joint statement, the Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, and his Finnish counterpart, Petteri Orpo, said they would be deepening bilateral cooperation in response to “Russia’s offensive war against Ukraine and increasing geopolitical and economic challenges”.
This work is done with a clear focus on interoperability and being able to act jointly in the face of external threats.
Since last year, Sweden has also assumed the role of the framework nation for Nato’s forward-looking ground force FLF Finland [Nato’s forward land forces], a step in our joint commitment to security in the region.
Continue reading...Suspects arrested after tipoff over accusation that 17 South Africans were tricked on to frontlines of the conflict
Five South Africans have appeared in court on charges relating to recruitment and fighting for Russia in its war with Ukraine, amid allegations that 17 South Africans had been tricked on to the frontlines of the conflict.
A female suspect was arrested on Thursday on her return to South Africa at OR Tambo international airport outside Johannesburg, police said. Three suspects were arrested at the airport on Friday and another on Saturday.
Continue reading...Marco Rubio, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner expected to meet Kyiv delegation, after another weekend of deadly Russian attacks in Ukraine
Ukrainian negotiators are preparing to meet US officials in Florida to thrash out details of Washington’s proposed framework to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, as Kyiv faces pressure on military and political fronts.
The secretary of state, Marco Rubio, the special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, are expected to sit down with a Ukrainian delegation on Sunday before planned US talks this week in Moscow with Vladimir Putin.
Continue reading...Kyiv tries to pile pressure on Russia with attack on empty vessels on way to load up with oil for foreign markets
Ukrainian naval drones hit two tankers operating under sanctions in the Black Sea as they headed to a Russian port to load up with oil destined for foreign markets, an official said on Saturday, as Kyiv tries to pile pressure on Russia’s vast oil industry.
The two oil tankers, identified as the Kairos and Virat, were empty and sailing to Novorossiysk, a major Russian Black Sea oil terminal, the official at the security service of Ukraine told Reuters.
Continue reading...Missile and drone attacks come amid Moscow’s campaign to break Ukrainian civil resistance by attacking energy grid
Two people were killed and 37 were injured by a Russian drone and missile attack on the Ukrainian capital that cut power to the western half of the city, leaving at least 500,000 residents without electricity.
Nearly 600 drones and 36 rockets were fired into the country in an attack that its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said highlighted Ukraine’s need for western help with air defence, as well as other financial and political support.
Continue reading...Washington’s Putin-appeasing plan for peace in Ukraine has failed, but many heard death knell sounded for European reliance on US protection
Kaja Kallas, the European Union foreign policy chief, asked her officials this week to dig up the number of times Russia had – in its various guises – invaded other states in the 20th and 21st centuries. The answer that came back was 19 states, on 33 occasions. Kallas, the former Estonian prime minister, was not just indulging in some form of historical mathematics. She was seeking to make a point that lies at the heart of the dispute between the US and Europe over Ukraine’s future, a dispute that has again revealed the chasm across the Atlantic about the true nature of the Russian regime.
Kallas reads history books as a leisure activity and – drawing on her own country’s history of Soviet occupation – has long maintained that the Soviet Union fell, but its imperialism never did. “Russia has never truly had to come to terms with its brutal past or bear the consequences of its actions,” she has said, arguing that the nature of the Russian regime means “rewarding aggression will bring more war, not less”: Putin will come back for more.
Continue reading...David Coburn, who was leader of Ukip in Scotland, denies involvement after Nathan Gill jailed for taking bribes
A former leading member of the group of MEPs headed by Nigel Farage has denied taking money as part of a campaign to promote Russian interests.
David Coburn, who was leader of Ukip in Scotland for four years, was responding after the jailing of his former colleague, Nathan Gill, on charges of being bribed by an alleged pro-Russian asset.
Continue reading...Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla quits as MP after being accused of recruiting 17 men who are trapped in war-torn Ukraine
A daughter of the former South African president Jacob Zuma has resigned as an MP, after being accused of tricking 17 South African men into fighting for Russia in Ukraine by telling them they were travelling to Russia to train as bodyguards for the Zumas’ uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party.
Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, 43, the most visible and active in politics of her siblings, volunteered to resign and step back from public roles while cooperating with a police investigation and working to bring the men home, the MK chair, Nkosinathi Nhleko, said at a press conference in Durban.
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