Category Archives: Russia

UN head says time for Russia to end ‘unwinnable’ Ukraine war

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Leaders from the bloc to meet on Thursday to discuss support above the €1.2bn emergency fund already agreed

The UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, has said it is time for Russia to end its “absurd” and “unwinnable” war in Ukraine, as the EU prepared to set up a “trust fund” aimed at helping Kyiv repel the invasion and rebuild afterwards.

Speaking to reporters at the UN’s headquarters in New York, Guterres said the war was “going nowhere, fast”. For more than two weeks, the devastated southern city of Mariupol had been encircled by Russian forces, bombed and shelled, he said.

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UK running low on anti-tank weapons, defence secretary tells Russian hoaxers

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Impostors posing as Ukrainian PM post new YouTube clip with Ben Wallace’s response to claim that arms have failed

The UK is running out of anti-tank weapons to send to Ukraine, the defence secretary appeared to tell Russian impostors posing as the Ukrainian prime minister, according to the latest video released by the pair.

Downing Street has said it believes Russian state actors were responsible for the hoax, in which an impersonator was put through for a video call with Ben Wallace about the situation in Ukraine.

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Inflation raises cost of UK government borrowing in February; crude oil up again – business live

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Analysts say chancellor has wriggle room for limited package of measures in Wednesday’s mini-budget, as US Fed chair signals more aggressive rate rises to tame inflation

Bethany Beckett, UK economist at Capital Economics, has looked at what the chancellor might do tomorrow.

Notwithstanding the deterioration in the public finances in February, large revisions to the back data mean that borrowing in 2021/22 is on track to undershoot the OBR’s October 2021 forecast by a huge £23bn.

Even so, we suspect the sharper rise in debt interest costs in February than many expected may embolden the chancellor to keep a fairly tight grip on the public finances in tomorrow’s spring statement.

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US condemns Russia’s refusal to rule out use of nuclear weapons – as it happened

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Latest updates: Ukraine president says convoy seized near Mangush in south; US embassy in Kyiv says children ‘illegally removed’ from Russian-controlled territories

The Ukrainian military claims its forces have retaken the town of Makariv, just 50km west of Kyiv.

In an update provided by the general staff of the armed forces, officials said its forces pushed Russian troops out of the town.

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Syria using maze of shell companies to avoid sanctions on Assad regime’s elite

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Exclusive: documents seen by the Guardian prove Assad minister’s boast that evading financial sanctions has ‘become a Syrian craft’

The Syrian regime is setting up shell companies in a systematic attempt to avoid sanctions, according to official documents obtained by the Guardian.

The documents, not publicly available, detail at least three companies established in Syria on the same day with the explicit purpose of operating as a shell to buy shares and manage other companies.

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Chechnya’s losses in Ukraine may be leader Ramzan Kadyrov’s undoing

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Analysis: Putin’s ally needs to show enemies at home and abroad his strength, but needs his forces intact to prop up his brutal rule

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is primarily Vladimir Putin’s war, but if there is a second man whose name and reputation will be tied to the devastation unleashed by Moscow it is Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

His fighters were part of the first wave assault on the country, and died in large numbers around the Hostomel airbase, with one key commander among those killed.

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Russia threatens to cut ties with US after Biden labels Putin a ‘war criminal’

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US ambassador in Moscow summoned for an official protest as EU ministers meet to discuss further sanctions

Russia has warned of a breach of its relations with Washington and summoned the US ambassador in Moscow for an official protest over Joe Biden’s labelling of Vladimir Putin as a war criminal, as the US president held talks with European allies on efforts to stop the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Biden talked to the leaders of the UK, France, Germany and Italy on Monday as part of his effort to maintain a unified front to Moscow, amid signs of cracks within the EU on how far to go in imposing sanctions on Russian oil and gas.

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Ukraine says it will never surrender its cities as Odesa reports airstrikes on flats

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Russia accused of striking residential areas in what would be first attack on Black Sea port

Ukraine has said it will never bow to ultimatums to surrender its cities, including devastated Mariupol, as authorities in Odesa accused Russian forces of striking residential areas in their first attack on the vital Black Sea port.

After his government rejected out of hand a 5am Monday deadline to cease fighting for Mariupol, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the country would no more give up the besieged southern city than it would Kyiv or Kharkiv.

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Russian attack on Kharkiv kills Holocaust survivor, 96

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Boris Romanchenko died after rocket hit building where he lived in Ukrainian city

A 96-year-old man who survived a string of Nazi concentration camps including Buchenwald and Bergen-Belsen has been killed by an explosion during the Russian assault on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, a spokesperson for the Buchenwald concentration camp memorial foundation has confirmed.

“We are shocked to confirm the violent death of Boris Romanchenko, whose niece informed us on Monday morning that he died last Friday after a bomb or rocket hit the multistorey building where he lived in Kharkiv and his apartment was burned out,” a spokesperson told the Guardian.

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Trolls and traffickers target Facebook group for Ukrainian refugees

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Technology firm should help spot Russian-based users, says founder of group matching up with UK hosts

• Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates

One of the largest Facebook groups matching Ukrainian refugees with UK host families has warned of the dangers of infiltration posed by Russian trolls and traffickers.

Room for Ukrainians in the UK is a Facebook group that was set up little over two weeks ago and already has 12,500 members. Most of those posting are Ukrainians in need of sponsors and British people who want to open their homes to the new arrivals.

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Russia-Ukraine war: US sees ‘clear evidence of war crimes’ as Boris Johnson said to be ‘desperate’ to visit Ukraine – live

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Pentagon spokesman says it will help gather evidence of crimes; while senior Conservative says UK PM has ‘real emotional connection’ to Ukrainians’ plight

Ukraine’s armed forces are reporting artillery fire in Odesa this morning.

The force published a short video purporting to show a series of explosions hitting the water along the coast.

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Kyiv says ‘no question’ of surrender in Mariupol as it defies Russia’s deadline

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Moscow offers safe passages to fighters who give in, as US says Joe Biden will visit Poland on Friday

Ukraine has defied an ultimatum by the Russian military for its forces to surrender the city of Mariupol, as shelling continued in Kyiv and US president Joe Biden announced that he would visit Ukraine’s western neighbour Poland this week.

Despite Mariupol being besieged by Russian forces for almost four weeks, the Ukrainian government in Kyiv gave short shrift to Moscow’s demand for the city’s defenders to “lay down arms” by 5am Moscow time (2amGMT) on Monday.

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Mitch McConnell: Republicans who support Putin ‘lonely voices’ in party

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Senate minority leader dodges invitation to say such Republicans should be ejected from party or face disciplinary measures

Republicans who support Vladimir Putin over the Russian invasion of Ukraine are “lonely voices” in the party, Mitch McConnell said.

But the Senate minority leader dodged an invitation to say such Republicans should be ejected from the party or at least face disciplinary measures.

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US not optimistic about Ukraine talks as Zelenskiy ups pressure on Biden

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  • Ukraine president raises specter of ‘third world war’
  • Biden to travel to Poland on Friday
  • US president pressed to increase military aid ahead of Nato visit
  • Ukraine – live coverage

Joe Biden’s ambassador to the United Nations warned on Sunday there was little immediate hope of a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine, as pressure continued to build on the US president ahead of a crucial Nato summit in Europe this week.

Biden, who faces growing dissatisfaction over his approach to the war, will travel to Brussels on Thursday and then on to Poland, it was announced on Sunday night. He will hear a proposal from Poland for Nato to send a peacekeeping force into Ukraine, something Linda Thomas-Greenfield said was unlikely.

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Ukraine: US condemns ‘unconscionable’ forced deportations of civilians from Mariupol

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Unconfirmed reports of thousands being transported to Russia emerge after Russia accused of bombing art school where residents were sheltering

Forced civilian deportations from Mariupol to Russia are “disturbing” and “unconscionable” if true, the US has said, after Ukrainian officials accused Moscow of transporting thousands of people against their will out of the devastated port city.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, America’s ambassador to the UN, said the US had not yet confirmed the allegations, made on Saturday by Mariupol city council and repeated in detail on Sunday by Ukraine’s human rights spokesperson, Lyudmyla Denisova.

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Germany agrees gas deal with Qatar to help end dependency on Russia

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Long-term contract will not immediately stop flow of money to Russia, for which German ministers have been criticised

Germany has agreed a contract with Qatar for the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) that will help the European country wean itself off its dependency on Russian energy.

But the contract is a long-term solution and will do little to slow the current flow of European money into Russian coffers, estimated to be worth $285m (£217m) a day for oil alone.

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Chinese article urging country to cut ties with Putin gets 1m views

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Essay on US site republished in China before being censored, reflecting balancing act between Russia and west

When an essay from a prominent Shanghai scholar suggested China needed to cut ties with Vladimir Putin as soon as possible over the Ukraine war, the online reaction was swift.

Despite being published late on a Friday evening in the Carter Center’s US-China Perception Monitor, Hu Wei’s essay soon gained a million views in and outside China, and was republished into Chinese blogs, non-official media sites and social media accounts.

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Marina Ovsyannikova, Russian TV protester, decries Putin propaganda

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‘I could see security dragging people away,’ says editor fined for walking into shot with sign saying ‘No War’

The Russian TV editor who interrupted a news broadcast to protest the Ukraine war said on Sunday she acted out of dissatisfaction at propaganda disseminated by Vladimir Putin’s government, and said she had turned down an offer of asylum in France despite fearing further retaliation.

Marina Ovsyannikova, who describes herself as “a patriot”, was fined 30,000 roubles ($280) by a court in Moscow last week for the “spontaneous” act of rebellion in which she appeared during the live newscast with a sign saying “No War”.

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Ukraine suspends 11 political parties with links to Russia

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Zelenskiy says parties such as Viktor Medvedchuk’s Opposition Platform for Life are ‘aimed at division or collusion’

Eleven Ukrainian political parties have been suspended because of their links with Russia, according to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The country’s national security and defence council took the decision to ban the parties from any political activity. Most of the parties affected were small, but one of them, the Opposition Platform for Life, has 44 seats in the 450-seat Ukrainian parliament.

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Russia denies ISS cosmonauts wore yellow and blue suits to support Ukraine

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Cosmonaut says colours represent his university, after earlier saying they were chosen because they had a lot of yellow material

Russia has rubbished reports suggesting its cosmonauts wore yellow suits with blue accents to show solidarity with Ukraine.

The three cosmonauts wore the suits, bearing the colours of the Ukrainian flag, when arriving at the International Space Station (ISS), leading to speculation they were a show of support for the country Russia is attacking.

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