Category Archives: Russia

Russian forces tighten hold on Kyiv in attempt to topple government

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Bombing intensifies as Volodymyr Zelenskiy warns ‘This night will be the hardest’

Russian forces have tightened their stranglehold on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and carried out amphibious assaults on the country’s Sea of Azov coast in an attempt to topple the government.

Almost exactly 30 years after the devastating siege of Sarajevo, another major European capital came under heavy bombardment with shells hitting apartment blocks, driving up the civilian death toll. The onslaught of bombing intensified on Friday night, accompanied by artillery rounds and heavy gunfire on the city’s streets.

Ukrainians prepared a last-ditch defence of their capital, with barricades, and called for civilians to arm themselves with molotov cocktails.

According to US estimates, Russia has fired 200 ballistic and cruise missiles at Ukraine, mostly hitting military targets but some landing in residential areas.

As human rights groups accused Russia of war crimes, the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court issued a reminder he has jurisdiction to investigate atrocities committed inside Ukraine.

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Fears mount for safety of Ukraine’s nuclear reactors amid Russian invasion

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Core meltdowns due to operational challenges cause concern even as direct strikes to facilities remain remote possibility

Concerns are mounting about the safety of Ukraine’s 15 nuclear reactors and the possibility of an ecological disaster in the midst of the Russian invasion.

Experts said that those reactors, at four power plants around the country, had layers of safeguards to prevent a catastrophic meltdown of their cores, but in a full scale war of the kind Vladimir Putin has unleashed, there was a heightened risk of those safety layers all failing at once.

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Putin references neo-Nazis and drug addicts in bizarre speech to Russian security council – video

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The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, on Friday briefed his country’s security council on the invasion of Ukraine. He claimed that most Ukrainian military units have been reluctant to engage with Russian forces and said the units offering resistance are mostly volunteer battalions made up of rightwing Ukrainian nationalists. He offered no evidence for his claims, which could not be independently verified

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Zelenskiy tells Ukrainians he will remain in Kyiv – video

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The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on Friday said he is remaining in Kyiv, even as Russian forces pounded the capital and other cities with airstrikes for a second day. Russian troops bore down on Ukraine’s capital, with gunfire and explosions resonating ever closer to the government quarter, in an invasion of a democratic country that has fuelled fears of wider war in Europe and triggered worldwide efforts to make Russia stop

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Ukrainian man survives after military vehicle swerves and drives over his car – video

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An armoured vehicle has been filmed crashing into and then crushing a civilian car in a Kyiv suburb. Before the incident, recorded from multiple angles, the vehicle was being driven down a main road leading through a residential area. Separate footage showed that the driver survived after local residents helped free him from the wreckage. It is not yet clear whether Russian or Ukrainian forces were driving the vehicle.

Russian forces are approaching Kyiv from the north and north-east, Ukraine's army said, with many fearing that the capital could fall on the second day of Moscow's offensive

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‘It’s not rational’: Putin’s bizarre speech wrecks his once pragmatic image

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Analysis: President makes appeal to Ukraine’s military to abandon its ‘drug-addicted, neo-Nazi’ leaders

• Russia-Ukraine crisis: live news

Looking dead-eyed into the camera on Friday, Vladimir Putin gave one of the most bizarre speeches of his 22 years as Russia’s leader, a directive that managed to sound alarming even in a week when he has ordered tanks into Ukraine and missile strikes on Kyiv.

“Once again I speak to the Ukrainian soldiers,” he said, addressing his enemy. “Do not allow neo-Nazis and Banderites to use your children, your wives and the elderly as a human shield. Take power into your own hands. It seems that it will be easier for us to come to an agreement than with this gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis.”

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Nato to deploy extra troops to alliance nations in eastern Europe

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Forces not being sent to Ukraine itself to avoid ‘existential’ war with Russia, say UK ministers

Nato will deploy significant extra troops to countries in eastern Europe which are part of the alliance, but UK ministers warned there would be no forces going to Ukraine itself to avoid an “existential” war between Russia and the west.

Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary general, chaired a virtual summit of 30 leaders on Friday, where the agreement was made to amass forces in eastern Europe.

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How can Europe wean itself off Russian gas?

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Analysis: whether tapping other suppliers or switching energy sources, there is no quick and easy option to loosen Putin’s economic grip

As Boris Johnson told parliament that Europe must wean itself off Russian gas – to loosen Vladimir Putin’s “grip on western politics” – the Nikolay Zubov tanker was making its way back from British waters to the port of Sabetta, in northern Siberia.

The 300m-long vessel had recently dropped off a consignment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the Isle of Grain terminal, in the Thames Estuary, operated by the National Grid.

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‘We are defending our country alone,’ Zelenskiy tells Ukrainians as Russia approaches Kyiv – video

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Volodymyr Zelenskiy has pressed Ukraine's allies to do more to help the country defend itself against Russian aggression. The president said western sanctions imposed on Moscow were not enough. He said: 'The most powerful forces in the world watch from afar. Have yesterday’s sanctions persuaded Russia? We see in our skies and feel on the ground that they are not enough'

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The battle for Kyiv: ‘People are grieving. This is already a tragedy’

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Residents of Ukrainian capital express shock and anger as invading Russian troops bring death and destruction

The missile left a crater two metres deep, twisted shards of metal beside a playground slide, and shattered glass below the windows of a nearby kindergarten. Dozens of homes were scorched or shredded, their inhabitants turned into some of Kyiv’s first war refugees.

In one apartment block 10 floors of kitchens, living rooms and bedrooms sat open to the skies, their balconies, doors and windows broken off or shattered into pieces by the weapon that brought the Russian invasion to this corner of the city.

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Russia is banned from Eurovision after invasion of Ukraine

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After a U-turn, organisers say Russia’s inclusion could ‘bring the competition into disrepute’

Russia will no longer be allowed to compete in this year’s Eurovision song contest, with organisers saying its inclusion could “bring the competition into disrepute”.

On Thursday, the European Broadcasting Union said Russia would still be allowed to compete, despite its invasion of Ukraine. But after pressure from broadcasters across Europe, the EBU made a U-turn, publishing a statement on Friday stating the country would no longer be allowed to take part.

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Prominent Russians join protests against Ukraine war amid 1,800 arrests

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As invasion continues, people from worlds of entertainment, business and journalism voice opposition

Prominent Russians shocked by the invasion of Ukraine have gone public with their opposition to the war, despite the professional and personal risks that come with dissent on such a sensitive issue in Russia.

More than 1,800 people were arrested at rallies across the country on Thursday night as prominent Russians from the worlds of entertainment, business and journalism have risked their livelihoods in order to speak out.

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Western powers have realised Russia is largely immune to sanctions

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Analysis: Only the financial equivalent of unleashing a nuclear arsenal will dent Russia’s foreign assets war chest

The war against Russia is one western countries want to fight with only economic sanctions, not guns.

Russia’s conflict with Ukraine, despite its long gestation and planning by Vladimir Putin and his supporters in the Kremlin, was supposed to end quickly once financial retaliation began. Yes, there would be military skirmishes on the ground, but little more than a few casualties were expected once a range of penalties began to bite.

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Ukrainian woman offers seeds to Russian soldiers so ‘sunflowers grow when they die’ – video

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A woman is being hailed on social media after she confronted a heavily armed Russian soldier and offered him sunflower seeds – so that flowers would grow if he died there on Ukraine’s soil. 'You’re occupants, you’re fascists,' she shouts, standing about a metre from the soldier. 

'Take these seeds and put them in your pockets so at least sunflowers will grow when you all lie down here'

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Russian soldiers captured on CCTV disabling surveillance cameras – video

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Russia continued to press its invasion of Ukraine to the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv, on Friday, with troops and tanks moving in from three sides. Ground forces coming from Crimea were caught on CCTV cameras as they advanced toward Kherson to the north-west. The footage shows troops stopping and climbing up the masts to point the cameras downwards

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Fighting reaches Kyiv suburbs as Russian invasion of Ukraine intensifies

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Air raid sirens wail over capital and heavy gunfire and explosions heard in residential district

Fighting has reached the suburbs and historic centre of Kyiv after a night of Russian missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital, as Moscow indicated it was ready to talk and Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy pleaded for international help.

Russian forces advanced to the outskirts of the capital from three sides on Friday while Ukrainian soldiers established defensive positions at key bridges and patrolled in armoured vehicles down the city’s streets watched by anxious residents.

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Russia-Ukraine latest news: multiple explosions heard in Kyiv after Zelenskiy warns tonight will be ‘the hardest’

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Reports say artillery rounds and large blasts were heard in Ukrainian capital; Russia vetoes UN resolution deploring invasion of Ukraine

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has asked eastern European Nato members for defence assistance.

Zelenskiy spoke with Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda on Friday to seek defence assistance from eastern European members of Nato and help in bringing Russia to the negotiating table.

We need effective international assistance. Discussed this with Andrzej Duda. Appealed to the Bucharest Nine for defence aid, sanctions, pressure on the aggressor. Together we have to put Russia at the negotiating table. We need anti-war coalition.”

Last time our capital experienced anything like this was in 1941 when it was attacked by Nazi Germany.

Ukraine defeated that evil and will defeat this one. Stop Putin. Isolate Russia. Severe all ties. Kick Russia out of everywhere.”

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UK politics live: sending Nato forces to Ukraine would risk leading to ‘existential’ threat, says minister

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Latest updates: armed forces minister tells Commons Nato and UK forces must not play active role; 1,000 troops on standby to help with refugee response

Culture secretary Nadine Dorries welcomed Uefa’s decision to strip St Petersburg of the Champions League final over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

She said:

I welcome Uefa’s decisive action to strip St Petersburg of staging this year’s Champions League Final.

Russia must not be allowed to exploit sporting and cultural events on the world stage to legitimise its unprovoked, premeditated and needless attack against a sovereign democratic state.

I appreciate there is an urgent question on Ukraine later on, but I wonder if the government has given any indication about whether they are going to make a statement about our relations with China, given that China has done nothing to condemn the Ukrainian incursion, and whether the government will also make a statement about what is happening in the Balkans where I understand that missiles are arriving in Serbia ready to destabilise the Dayton Agreement and create a new crisis there.

I have been given no notification that anything is forthcoming. What I would say is that we do have the urgent question and I am sure that he may be able to press the minister if he were able to catch my eye.

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EU, US, UK and Canada announce sanctions targeting Vladimir Putin and Sergei Lavrov

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Move is largely symbolic but part of attempt to highlight resolve to stand up to Russia over Ukraine

The EU, the US, the UK and Canada have moved to freeze foreign-held assets of Vladimir Putin and his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, after Europe was accused by Ukraine’s president of failing to act hard and fast enough against Russian aggression.

The initiative is largely symbolic, as the Russian president is unlikely to have identifiable personal wealth abroad, but the move followed recognition that appeals for action from Volodymyr Zelenskiy had to be heard.

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The fight for Kyiv: Russian forces enter Ukrainian capital

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Tense atmosphere in city threatened from north-west and east in what appears to be a lightning attack

Russian forces have entered Kyiv and were threatening the Ukrainian capital from the north-west and east in a lightning attack apparently aimed at seizing the city.

The defence ministry in Moscow claimed its forces had taken control of the strategic Hostomel airfield to the north-west after a day of fighting, while Russian tanks were filmed by locals in the Obolon suburb about six miles north of the city centre in the morning.

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