At least 18 dead after Russian missile strikes multi-story apartment building in Odesa; Russian forces withdraw from Snake Island in Black Sea
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Russia-Ukraine war: Russia withdraws from Snake Island and says Ukraine should demine waters – live news
Russian ministry of defence says withdrawal is goodwill gesture to facilitate grain exports, and asks that Ukraine demine its coastal waters
- Ukraine say they have pushed Russian forces from Snake Island
- Putin issues warning to Finland and Sweden after joining Nato
- Nato summit venue in Madrid serves ‘Russian salad’
- At a glance: what we know on day 127 of the invasion
The UK’s foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has said that one of the reasons that Russia was able to invade Ukraine was because of underspending on defence in Europe.
Appearing on Sky News, she said:
I’ve been very clear that the entire free world, the western alliance, does need to focus more on deterrence. We need to focus more on defence. And what we know is prevention is better than cure.
The lesson that Putin learned from underspending on defence was that he could invade a sovereign nation, and we simply can’t let our guard down again, we can’t allow that to happen again.
I would say that we need a full range of capabilities to deal with the threats that we face now. Whether those are cyber threats, whether those are land-based threats, naval threats, and we have the balance right. But of course we need to continue to evolve, because we’re seeing, you know, we never expected in our lifetimes to see this kind of war on in Europe.
We’ve seen the systematic rape of women. We’ve seen the attacking of civilians, including at the shopping centre this week. And what we need to make sure is not only are the Ukrainians successful in pushing Russia out of Ukraine, but also that people are held to account for these appalling crimes that have been committed.
I’ve not met Vladimir Putin. I do not know the motivations for carrying out this appalling war. All I know is that we have to make it our absolute priority to stop this war, to push Vladimir Putin and the Russian troops out of Ukraine, otherwise we will live in a much less safe Europe.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 127 of the invasion
Nato says Moscow ‘most direct threat’ to security; Putin warns over installing military infrastructure in Finland and Sweden
Continue reading...Boris Johnson says defence spending will rise to 2.5% of GDP, after cabinet row
PM says mark will be reached by end of decade as UK needs to adapt to more dangerous world
Boris Johnson has said the UK will spend 2.5% of GDP on defence by the end of this decade, after a cabinet row over defence spending and claims the government would ditch a key manifesto commitment on the issue.
Speaking at the end of the Nato conference in Madrid, the prime minister said: “We need to invest for the long term in vital capabilities like future combat air, while simultaneously adapting to a more dangerous and more competitive world.
Continue reading...F1 seeks distance from Ecclestone after his claim he would ‘take bullet’ for Putin
Former F1 chief calls Russian president ‘first-class person’ in GMB interview and blames war on Zelenskiy
Formula One has sought to distance itself from remarks made by its former chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, who said he would “take a bullet” for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and described him as “a first-class person”.
Ecclestone, who reportedly has been friends with Putin since the introduction of the Russian Grand Prix in 2014, said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could have been avoided if the latter’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, had done more.
Continue reading...Ukraine says it has pushed Russian forces from Snake Island
Winning back vital Black Sea island could weaken any future Russia coastal land attack
Ukrainian forces say they have pushed Russian forces from Snake Island, a strategic Black Sea island off the southern coast near the city of Odesa.
Russia portrayed the pullout from Snake Island off the port city of Odesa as a “goodwill gesture.” Ukraine’s military said the Russians fled the island in two speedboats following a barrage of Ukrainian artillery and missile strikes.
Continue reading...Nato leaders voice concern about threat China poses to world order for first time
Beijing’s efforts to build up nuclear forces, hacking operations and increasingly close ties to Moscow are ‘serious challenges’, says Nato secretary general
China is not an adversary but it does represent serious challenges, Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretary general, said on Wednesday, as the alliance agreed for the first time to include threats posed by Beijing into a blueprint guiding its future strategy.
While Russia’s war against Ukraine has dominated discussions at the Nato summit, China earned a place among the western alliance’s most worrying security concerns.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war: Nato calls Moscow ‘the most direct threat to security and stability’ as it welcomes Finland and Sweden – live
Latest updates: Ukraine says at least three people killed and five wounded after eight missiles hit southern city of Mykolaiv
More on the attack in Mykolaiv, in Ukraine’s south, near the Black Sea:
Reuters is also reporting that further east, in Lysychansk in the Luhansk region, a key battleground in Russia’s assault on the industrial heartland of Donbas, the governor reported increased military action.
Continue reading...Erdoğan gains from lifting Sweden and Finland Nato veto with US fighter jet promise
Analysis: deal between Biden and Erdoğan is sealed in Madrid after Nordic countries vow to control support for Kurdish terrorism
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, immediately started to reap the rewards for lifting the block on allowing Sweden and Finland to join Nato when the Biden administration said it backed the potential sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.
Speaking at a briefing call on Wednesday, Celeste Wallander, the assistant secretary for defence for international security affairs at the Pentagon, told reporters that strong Turkish defence capabilities would reinforce Nato’s defences.
Continue reading...Ukraine announces largest exchange of prisoners of war since Russia invaded
144 Ukrainian soldiers have been released, including 95 who defended the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol
Ukraine has announced the largest exchange of prisoners of war since Russia invaded, securing the release of 144 of its soldiers, including 95 who defended the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol.
“This is the largest exchange since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion,” said Ukrainian military intelligence in a Telegram message on Wednesday. “Of the 144 freed, 95 are Azovstal defenders.”
Continue reading...Russia condemns Nato’s invitation to Finland and Sweden
Foreign ministry accuses Nato of ‘focusing on efforts to destabilise Russian society’
Russian officials have reacted angrily to Nato’s offer of membership to Finland and Sweden, calling it a “destabilising” effort that will increase tensions in the region.
“We condemn the irresponsible course of the North Atlantic Alliance that is ruining the European architecture, or what’s left of it,” Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Ukraine: counting the cost of a long war – podcast
President Zelenskiy has urged G7 leaders to urgently send more heavy weapons to Ukraine to bring the war to an end before winter. But, as Dan Sabbagh reports, there is no clear resolution in sight
World leaders are gathering in Madrid today for the Nato conference, and one issue will loom above all else: the war in Ukraine. The conflict has been described as the biggest security challenge to the west since 9/11 and, alongside practical considerations of military aid, leaders are desperate to project an image of unity.
The Guardian’s Dan Sabbagh, who is in Madrid for the conference, has just returned from eastern Ukraine, where he witnessed the relentless shelling of Ukrainian troops. He talks to Michael Safi about a frontline that has come to resemble the battlefields of the first world war.
Continue reading...Wimbledon relaxes strict all-white rule so players can show support for Ukraine
The tournament is understood to have made a rare exception to its dress code, with some players wearing ribbons in solidarity
Wimbledon is abandoning its strict all-white rule for players who want to show solidarity with Ukraine after Russia’s invasion, it is understood.
Poland’s Iga Świątek, the women’s world No 1, wore a blue and yellow ribbon on her cap today in a sign of unity with Ukraine. The Ukrainian players Lesia Tsurenko and Anhelina Kalinina are also expected to wear ribbons when they come up against each other on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Turkey lifts objections to Finland and Sweden’s Nato bid
Ankara had previously blocked the Nordic countries from joining the alliance over concerns about arms exports and terrorism
A last minute agreement has been reached between Turkey, Finland and Sweden to allow the two Nordic countries to become Nato members on the eve of the military alliance’s summit in Madrid.
Nato said a trilateral deal had been reached at a meeting between Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President Sauli Niinistö of Finland and the Swedish prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, in the Spanish capital.
Continue reading...UK calls for extra vigilance on China ahead of Nato summit
Boris Johnson and Liz Truss among those saying Ukraine war highlights potential Chinese threat to Taiwan
Boris Johnson and his ministers are going into the Nato summit with fresh warnings that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has shown the need for extra vigilance and caution over potential Chinese action against Taiwan.
Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, who is joining the prime minister at the Nato gathering in Madrid, was most explicit, calling for faster action to help Taiwan with defensive weapons, a key requirement for Ukraine since the invasion.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war: At least two killed after Russian shelling in Donetsk – as it happened
This live blog is now closed, we will be returning in a few hours to bring you all the latest developments.
- ‘There could be children’: Kremenchuk search continues
- Aftermath of shopping centre attack in Ukraine – in pictures
- Response to Russia’s war in Ukraine dominates G7 summit
- At a glance: what we know on day 125 of the invasion
The Ukrainian authorities of Mariupol have posted a message from the city’s mayor, Vadym Boychenko, expressing concern for the fate of the elderly in the city under the occupying forces of Russia. It quotes him saying:
People of respectable age were taken care of in Mariupol. They created conditions for them to meet a decent old age. But the Russian occupiers took it away from them. Instead, they are forced to somehow survive without quality medical care, without medication and care. Most of them are children of World War II, for whom the Russian occupiers repeated what the whole world says “never again.” Staying in the city is dangerous for their health, because they will be the first to suffer from infectious outbreaks.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson seeks to defuse row over abandoning defence spending pledge
PM insists manifesto promise of above-inflation increase will be kept despite Downing Street ‘reality check’ briefing
Boris Johnson faces a potential rift with senior ministers and generals at the start of a vital Nato summit in Madrid, after Downing Street indicated it would ditch a key manifesto commitment on defence spending.
In a chaotic sequence of events, a senior government source said there needed to be “a reality check” on the pledge to increase the defence budget each year by 0.5% above inflation, only for Johnson to try to argue it would be achieved.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 125 of the invasion
Russia’s attack on a shopping centre in Kremenchuk met with global outrage as officials confirm at least 18 killed in the strike
Continue reading...World leaders condemn Russian attack on Ukraine shopping centre
G7 leaders say missile strike on mall in Kremenchuk was a war crime, as rescue efforts continue
World leaders have denounced Russia’s deadly strike on a shopping centre in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk as “abominable” and a war crime.
The search for survivors continues after the missile strike on a mall that had more than 1,000 people in it at the time, according to Ukraine’s president, Volodoymyr Zelenskiy.
Continue reading...At least 16 dead as Russian missile hits shopping centre in Ukraine
Scores of people injured and at least 40 feared missing after strike in central city of Kremenchuk
A Russian missile hit a crowded shopping centre in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk on Monday, killing and injuring scores of people, the Ukrainian authorities said.
Ukraine’s president, Volodoymyr Zelenskiy, said more than 1,000 people were inside the building at the time of the strike. Images from the scene showed giant plumes of black smoke and flames, with emergency crews rushing in to search for victims and put out fires.
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