Category Archives: Russia

Energy prices surge as Russian invasion of Ukraine stokes fears of global shortages

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European stock markets tumble as crisis fuels near-40% rise in gas price and pushes oil to $105 per barrel

Global markets were thrown into turmoil on Thursday as the arrival of war on European soil sent prices of commodities such as oil, gas and wheat surging, while stock market plunged.

The ramifications of a potentially prolonged conflict involving Europe’s primary supplier of gas sent a chill through markets, affecting prices across a phalanx of asset classes and investments.

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Boris Johnson promises massive sanctions to ‘hobble’ Russian economy

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PM says ‘we will not just look away’ and Putin’s ‘barbaric adventure’ in Ukraine must end in failure

Boris Johnson has said that “a vast invasion is under way, by land, by sea and by air” in Ukraine, as he promised to impose “massive” sanctions that would “hobble” the Russian economy.

Speaking as world leaders scrambled to respond to the attacks that began in the early hours of Thursday morning, the UK prime minister said Russia had “attacked a friendly country without any provocation and without any credible excuse”.

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‘Among the darkest hours for Europe’: EU reacts as Russia invades Ukraine – video

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The EU's foreign policy head, Josep Borrell, said as Russia launched an invasion in Ukraine on Thursday that it was 'among the darkest hours for Europe since the end of world war two'.

Russian forces have unleashed the attack on the orders of Vladimir Putin, who announced a 'special military operation' at dawn, as world leaders warned it could spark the biggest war in Europe since 1945.

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said there would be 'massive and targeted sanctions' against Russia

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Explosions hit Ukraine’s major airports as Russia begins invasion – video

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Footage shows explosions at Ukrainian airports near major cities including Kharkiv and Mariupol in the early hours of Thursday morning. Blasts from artillery rockets were filmed around 5am near Mariupol. Footage also showed smoke rising near Kharkiv military airport and a video posted on social media captured an explosion near the Ivano-Frankivsk airport in western Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a 'special military operation' at dawn. World leaders have warned the move could provoke the biggest war in Europe since the second world war

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Stay or flee? Kyiv comes to terms with disaster of Russian invasion

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Moments of normality puncture mood of shock, fear and quiet disgust in Ukraine’s capital

It began in darkness soon after 4.30am local time. There were distant explosions in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and the whine of car alarms. A nation shook itself awake. What had been foretold by western governments, by experts, and – late in the day – by the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, was actually happening. Russia was attacking and invading.

Vladimir Putin’s apparent goal: the subjugation of a nation, a culture, a people. It was unthinkable in the twenty-first century. And yet, with imperial swagger, Russian troops, tanks and planes were on the move.

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Long lines of traffic as people flee Ukraine’s capital – video

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Queues of traffic were seen on the road leading out of Kyiv as Russian forces launched an attack on Ukraine on the orders of Vladimir Putin.

Within minutes of Putin’s short televised address, at about 5am Ukrainian time, explosions were heard near major Ukrainian cities, including the capital.

Air raid sirens sounded over Kyiv and residents of Kharkiv sheltered in the metro, scenes that had not been seen in those cities since 1941

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Russia invades Ukraine as Putin launches war to ‘demilitarise’ neighbour

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Russia appears to be targeting military infrastructure in early strikes with explosions reported at airfields, military headquarters and military warehouses

Russian forces have unleashed an attack of Ukraine on the orders of Vladimir Putin, who announced a “special military operation” at dawn, amid warnings from world leaders that it could spark the biggest war in Europe since 1945.

Within minutes of Putin’s short televised address, at about 5am Ukrainian time, explosions were heard near major Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv.

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CCTV shows Russian tanks entering Ukraine from Belarus and Crimea – video

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Russian forces can be seen crossing into Ukraine across the Senkivka-Veselivka border checkpoint with Belarus in border guard CCTV and a separate video shows tanks crossing the border from occupied Crimea. 

The attack on Ukraine was on the orders of Vladimir Putin, who announced a 'special military operation' at dawn. World leaders have warned the move could provoke the biggest war in Europe since 1945

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Moment that Putin thundered to war, drowning out last entreaties for peace

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As members of UN security council poured out calls for restraint, Russian president was already launching attack on Ukraine

It will go down as one of the most surreal sessions the United Nations chamber has ever witnessed, as the very war it was supposed to prevent broke out while it was sitting.

Vladimir Putin, with brutal timing, delivered a speech announcing that Russia would start a “special military operation” in Ukraine – while an emergency session of the UN security council was under way.

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The west stood back and watched in Syria – it must not do the same in Ukraine | Hamish de Bretton-Gordon

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It’s time for the US and its allies to show their steel in the face of Putin’s aggression. We have learned that nothing else will work

The Syria crisis continues unnoticed. It holds key lessons for the west about Putin yet it has gone virtually unnoticed by the rest of the world. War crimes and crimes against humanity continue in the Russian-sponsored dictatorship, even as some misguided leaders want to usher Bashar al-Assad, the architect of these crimes, back into acceptable society.

We can rest assured that the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, unlike Assad, is not welcoming Putin with open arms. But in responding to the Ukraine emergency, there are lessons the west can and should learn from the situation in Syria.

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon is a chemical weapons expert, fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge and an adviser to the Union of Syrian Medical Charities

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‘Their golden hour’: Donetsk and Luhansk leaders revel in rising profile

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Ukraine crisis has thrust Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik into centre of events, amid claim they are puppets of Putin

For many Russians, it was an unfamiliar sight to see the faces of the two leaders of the pro-Kremlin proxy states in eastern Ukraine pop up on their television screens last Friday, announcing the mass evacuation of Donbas citizens to Russia.

Since then, however, Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik, heads of the self-proclaimed republics in Luhansk and Donetsk, have seen their political profiles rocket, culminating on Monday with the two leaders asking the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to recognise their “republics”.

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Biden imposes sanctions on company behind Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline– live

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House speaker Nancy Pelosi is now holding a press conference on Capitol Hill, after attending the Munich Security Conference last week.

Pelosi attacked Russian President Vladimir Putin for recognizing the two self-proclaimed republics in east Ukraine and ordering troops into the region, repeatedly describing him as a “tyrant”.

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Ukraine crisis live: self-proclaimed republics of Luhansk and Donetsk ask Russia for military aid

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Experts see move from Russian-controlled territories as final pretext for full invasion

Russia’s ambassador to the United States has hit back at the imposition of sanctions imposed by US president Joe Biden, suggesting the move would hurt global financial and energy markets as well as ordinary citizens.

According to a recent post on the Russian embassy Facebook page early Wednesday, ambassador Anatoly Antonov said:

Sanctions will not solve anything regarding Russia. It’s hard to imagine that anyone in Washington is counting on Russia to review its foreign policy course under threat of restrictions.

I don’t remember a single day when our country lived without any restrictions from the Western world. We learned how to work in such conditions. And not only survive, but also develop our state.

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Ukraine declares state of emergency and urges citizens to leave Russia

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Kyiv mobilises reserves and advises estimated 3 million people to depart in latest sign it believes Putin plans to invade

Ukraine has declared a state of emergency, mobilised reserves and told nearly 3 million of its citizens to leave Russia, as the US warned that Vladimir Putin had assembled almost 100% of the forces needed to launch a large-scale invasion of the country.

As Russian diplomats evacuated their embassy in the capital, the Ukrainian government said a massive cyber-attack had targeted ministries and banks on Wednesday. Officials have warned that Russia could use elements of hybrid warfare to sow confusion before launching an all-out military assault.

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Why a swift economic victory against Russia looks unlikely

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Analysis: country has positioned itself to blunt western sanctions and has a few retaliatory ones of its own

Be ready for a long haul. That was the subtext of Boris Johnson’s message to MPs as he committed to toughening up sanctions against Russia.

The warning to prepare for a “protracted struggle” was both timely and appropriate. There will be no quick knockout blow because Vladimir Putin has had time to prepare and is well dug-in.

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Business brisk at Kyiv gun shops as Ukrainians rush to buy arms

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Threat of invasion, and draft law giving Ukrainians permission to carry firearms, leads to long queues inside weapons stores

Ukrainians are buying guns, ammunition and sniper rifles ahead of a possible Russian invasion, with long queues inside weapons stores on Wednesday.

With a state of emergency set to be unveiled, the country’s parliament approved a draft law that gives Ukrainians permission to carry firearms. Previously they were forbidden from leaving home with lethal weapons.

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Europe could see out winter on gas reserves if Russian imports stop, says German analysis

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Economic institute says current levels of gas enough for six weeks if mild temperatures continue

Europe could heat its citizens’ homes and power its industry on existing gas reserves for the remaining months of a relatively mild winter even if the standoff with Moscow over Ukraine were to escalate to a total stop on Russian gas imports, a leading German economic institute has said.

Unusually low gas reserves have raised alarm among several European governments in recent months, with storage tanks across the continent on average at only 31% capacity at the start of this week – roughly half as full as in 2020.

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UK ‘out in front’ in imposing sanctions on Russia, says Boris Johnson – video

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The British prime minister has claimed the UK  is 'out in front' in terms of sanctions against Russia as the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, pushed him for further measures during PMQs.

Boris Johnson said 275 people were subject to sanctions and bank assets were frozen. Only three individuals have been added to the list since the Ukraine crisis escalated at the beginning of the week, but Johnson added: 'There is more to come.'

The UK is expected to provide further military support to Ukraine, including lethal and non-lethal aid

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The Ukraine-Russia crisis explained: a complete visual guide

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Tensions have escalated sharply after Vladimir Putin ordered troops into east Ukraine. What might happen next?

Vladimir Putin has said Russia will recognise the territorial claims of its two proxy states in east Ukraine, and has ordered his forces into Russian-controlled territory, in a sharp escalation of already high tensions.

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