Volodymyr Zelenskiy urges west to speed up its support as world leaders gather at Munich security conference
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Russia-Ukraine war: Zelenskiy says it is ‘obvious’ Putin will not stop with Ukraine; Macron calls for more military support – as it happened
Zelenskiy speaks at Munich security conference as Scholz, Macron and Kamala Harris are in Germany; French leader says Ukraine needs more support
Reuters has a quick snap that a Ukrainian official has said negotiations on extending the Black Sea corridor grain export deal will begin next week.
More details soon …
During the day, the Russian army shelled four communities of the Beryslav district. Residents’ residential buildings and outbuildings were damaged. Two people were killed in the village of Zmiivka, and one was injured in Tyahynka.
Continue reading...Zelenskiy urges west to speed up arms support to head off Russia offensive
Ukraine president tells world leaders in Munich to ‘hurry up’ before Putin gains military advantage
The west needs to speed up its support for Ukraine as Vladimir Putin will gain a military advantage unless arms deliveries arrive soon, Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said in a video address to world leaders at a security conference in Munich.
“We need to hurry up. We need speed – speed of our agreements, speed of our delivery … speed of decisions to limit Russian potential,” the Ukrainian president said. “There is no alternative to speed because it is speed that life depends on.”
Continue reading...US ranking on abuse of power index hurt by inequality and violence
Country came near median of 163 countries on Index of Impunity, higher than Hungary and Singapore
The US scores surprisingly badly in a new ranking system charting abuses of power by nation states, launched by a group co-chaired by former UK foreign secretary David Miliband.
The US comes close to the median of 163 countries ranked in the Index of Impunity, reflecting a poor record on discrimination, inequality and access to democracy. The country’s arms exports and record of violence are an even bigger negative factor.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 359 of the invasion
Zelenskiy addressed Munich security conference; Ukrainian officials says negotiations to extend grain deal will start next week
Continue reading...Moldovan MPs approve pro-western PM amid tensions over Russia
Dorin Recean takes office facing inflation at 30% and warnings of Russian plan for country’s ‘destruction’
Moldova’s parliament has approved the formation of a pro-western government led by the new prime minister, Dorin Recean, amid continuing economic turmoil and allegations of Russian meddling.
Recean, 48, was nominated by President Maia Sandu to replace Natalia Gavrilita, whose government resigned last week amid a series of crises in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war: Zelenskiy rules out giving up any territory to Putin in potential peace deal – as it happened
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A poll has revealed that one year after Russia began its war of aggression against Ukraine, 61% of Europeans believe Ukraine will be successful.
PA reports:
One year into the war in Ukraine, 61% of Europeans believe that the country will prevail. Germans, however, are not quite so optimistic, although a 55% majority believes in a Ukrainian victory. These are the findings of the EU-wide survey conducted by eupinions. It is published in cooperation with the Belgian King Baudouin Foundation.
Europeans are not only betting on victory, 68% also see the war of aggression as a matter affecting them all, because it is an attack on the whole of Europe. Most EU citizens polled also see Ukraine in a battle to defend a set of common values that are shared by all European states.
Continue reading...Wagner mercenary group will ‘decrease’ as prisoner recruitment ends, says boss
Kremlin is said to be pushing back against private army and curbing influence of Yevgeny Prighozin
The Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has admitted that his mercenary group is facing difficulties in Ukraine and will soon decrease in size, amid growing evidence that his political influence in the Kremlin is waning.
“The number of Wagner units will decrease, and we will also not be able to carry out the scope of tasks that we would like to,” Prigozhin told a group of pro-war bloggers and state journalists gathered at an army barracks in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Ukraine ‘inflicting very serious losses’ on Russian troops in the east, says Ukrainian official – as it happened
Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar says Russian attacks are constant
Nato countries should spend a minimum of 2% of their GDP on defence, said the German defence minister, Boris Pistorius, on Wednesday as Nato defence ministers gathered in Brussels.
“Just spending two percent will not be enough. It must be the basis for everything that follows. The German government is debating that right now and will soon reach an agreement,” Pistorius told the media, Reuters reports.
Continue reading...Russian army has lost up to half of key battle tanks, analysts estimate
Experts say Moscow has large number of cold-war era models in storage so can continue war in Ukraine for some time
Russia’s army is estimated to have lost nearly 40% of its prewar fleet of tanks after nine months of fighting in Ukraine, according to a count by the specialist thinktank the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS).
That rises to as much as 50% for some of the key tanks used in combat, forcing Russia to reach into its still sizeable cold war-era stocks. Ukraine’s tank numbers are estimated to have increased because of the number it has captured and supplies of Soviet-era tanks from its western allies.
Continue reading...Iran becoming global drone producer on back of Ukraine war, says US
Officials share declassified intelligence as US seeks wider support for sanctions against Tehran
Iran is emerging as a global leader in the production of cheap and lethal drones, according to US officials, who say Tehran is using the war in Ukraine as a shop window for its technologies.
Analysts at the Defense Intelligence Agency outlined how Iran had turned from being a regional drone player in the Middle East to becoming Moscow’s most significant military backer in the war.
Continue reading...Ukrainians blow up bridge in Bakhmut amid reports Russia closing in
Kyiv denies retreat imminent as Kremlin throws troops at capturing city before one-year anniversary of war
Ukrainian forces have reportedly blown up a bridge near the eastern city of Bakhmut, in a sign they may be planning to retreat from the area, which would give Russia a significant, symbolic boost ahead of the first anniversary of the war.
Troops blew up the bridge on Monday, according to a local Donetsk region news site. Ukraine denies it intends to leave Bakhmut, despite six months of heavy fighting and reportedly dwindling stockpiles.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war: Putin has already lost ‘strategically, operationally and tactically’, says US general – as it happened
This live blog has now closed, you can read more about the Russia-Ukraine war here
An air alert has been declared across several southern areas of Ukraine including Mykolaiv, Kherson and Odesa.
Earlier, Volodymyr Litinov, head of the Beryslav district administration in the Kherson region reported on Telegram that Russian shelling in the previous 24 hours had damaged “the hospital building, residential buildings and farm buildings” in the area, but that “fortunately, there were no civilian casualties.”
This is Martin Belam in London taking over the live blog.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war: Nato seeing start of new Russian offensive already, says Stoltenberg
As it happened: Nato secretary general said Putin sending thousands more troops and accepting big losses to pile pressure on Ukrainians
Reuters reports that an unverified video is being circulated on social media which appears to show the murder with a sledgehammer of a former Russian mercenary who fled the Wagner mercenary group while fighting in Ukraine, in a clip similar to that which showed the killing of Yevgeny Nuzhin in November last year.
In the video published by the Grey Zone Telegram channel, which is linked to Wagner, a man identifies himself as Dmitry Yakushchenko, 44. In the clip the agency reports that facing the camera in a seated position, Yakushchenko appears to recite his name and year of birth.
Continue reading...Moldova president accuses Russia of plotting to oust pro-EU government
Maia Sandu says plan revealed by Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been confirmed
Moldova’s president has accused Russia of plotting to overthrow the country’s pro-EU government through violent actions disguised as opposition protest.
Maia Sandu said authorities had confirmed an alleged Russian plot to destabilise her country that Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, had revealed last week.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 354 of the invasion
Polish president casts doubt on supplying fighter jets to Ukraine; UK MoD says Russian casualty rate may be at highest since invasion
Continue reading...Wagner head warns it could take two years to achieve Moscow’s objectives – as it happened
Yevgeny Prigozhin says Moscow’s stated aim of capturing eastern regions unlikely to happen in 2023. This blog is now closed
Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, who headed the country’s negotiating team in the early phases of the conflict, has said “talks are out of the question”.
Podolyak posted to Twitter that Moscow was refusing to withdraw from occupied Ukrainian territories and to admit to “crimes”.
Continue reading...Russia’s plans to seize eastern Ukraine could take two years, says Wagner boss
Yevgeny Prigozhin’s comments suggest Moscow is preparing for a long conflict, as Volodymyr Zelenskiy renews appeal for fighter jets
The boss of the Russian mercenary Wagner group said it could take Russia two years to seize the entire east of Ukraine in a rare interview that suggests at least some key figures in Moscow are gearing up for a protracted conflict.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has emerged from the shadows to become a high-profile figure since the start of the war, suggested Russia’s focus was now on capturing the rest of the Donbas region it has not occupied since the start of the war nearly a year ago.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 353 of the invasion
Wave of Russian missiles hit power facilities across Ukraine, causing blackouts across the country
Continue reading...Crackdown on ‘birth tourism’ as pregnant Russians flock to Argentina
South American country has seen rise since Ukraine invasion in Russian women arriving to have children and thus gain citizenship
Immigration authorities in Argentina are cracking down on Russian women who since the invasion of Ukraine have started travelling to Buenos Aires to give birth in order to gain Argentinian citizenship for their children.
The director of Argentina’s immigration office, Florencia Carignano, said on Friday that a judicial investigation has been launched into what she described as a lucrative business that promises Argentinian passports for the Russian parents.
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