US secretary of state expected to announce initial package of military aid for Kyiv of up to $200m
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has arrived in Kyiv for an unannounced visit that is his first for a year to the Ukrainian capital.
He is expected to announce a new package of US assistance of $175m-$200m during the two-day visit, AP reported, with a larger package worth more than $1bn expected later this week, according to a senior state department official.
Continue reading...Tank could be one of 14 UK gave to Ukraine that Kyiv was keeping in reserve for frontline breakthrough
A battlefield video circulating on social media overnight showed the destruction of a British Challenger 2 from a mine and Russian drone in Ukraine, which would be the first time one of the tanks has been destroyed in combat.
At the beginning of the clip, filmed from a car involved in the fighting, the Challenger 2 with its distinctive gun barrel is seen shrouded in thick, grey smoke after the battlefield incident.
Continue reading...Havana says it is dismantling network seeking to recruit Cubans as mercenaries as Moscow attempts to boost its forces
Cuba has uncovered a human trafficking ring aimed at recruiting Cubans to fight as mercenaries for Russia in its war in Ukraine, its foreign ministry has said, as Moscow seeks to increase the size of its forces.
In a statement, the Cuban foreign ministry said the authorities were working to “neutralise and dismantle” the network, which it said was operating within the Caribbean island nation and in Russia.
Continue reading...Russian use of widely banned weapons accelerates casualty figures, report says; Ukraine president discusses provision of artillery shells and missiles. This live blog is closed
The Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, described Ukraine’s counteroffensive on Tuesday as completely unsuccessful.
“Ukraine’s armed forces have not achieved their goals on any front,” the defence ministry quoted Shoigu as saying.
Continue reading...Motorists could be hardest hit after Russia and Saudi Arabia extend cuts to supplies
Motorists are braced for higher pump prices after the cost of oil climbed above $90 a barrel for the first time this year as Russia and Saudi Arabia extended cuts to supplies.
Oil jumped to its highest price since last November, after the two oil-rich nations said they would prolong a plan to withhold supplies from the global market until December.
Continue reading...North Korean and Russian leaders expected to discuss military cooperation in Vladivostok
Kim Jong-un will reportedly travel to Russia this month to meet Vladimir Putin and discuss the possibility of supplying weapons to the Kremlin for the war in Ukraine.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said details of the expected meeting were still unclear, but added that it was likely to take place in the Russian port city of Vladivostok, given its proximity to North Korea.
Continue reading...Unverified image purportedly shows Surovikin with his wife for the first time since his removal as Ukraine war chief following Wagner rebellion
A photo has emerged that appears to show Russian general Sergei Surovikin, who is regarded as an ally of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner and has not been seen in public since the militia’s brief rebellion in June.
“General Sergei Surovikin is out. Alive, healthy, at home, with his family, in Moscow. Photo taken today,” Ksenia Sobchak, a Russian journalist and the daughter of Vladimir Putin’s one-time boss, said on Telegram.
Continue reading...Russian president says the Black Sea grain deal will not be restored until restrictions on the export of Russian agricultural products are lifted
The abduction of Ukrainian children and their subsequent transportation to Russia is being investigated as potential genocide by an independent international commission of inquiry on Ukraine.
Chairman Erik Møse told a press conference on Monday that the commission is trying to establish what has happened to the children once they enter occupied territory or Russia itself.
In order to find that there is such a genocidal act with respect to the transfer of children, you would have to know exactly what is happening further on in the Russian Federation.
We have limited access to this and the information we are receiving is not always the same.
We receive some information from persons who have been able to reach from Ukrainian parents who have been able to go either into the occupied territories or even into Russia to retrieve their children or grandchildren and that gives an indication.
We will pursue these investigations and see whether, as a whole, there is an intent to destroy a group and these are the strict qualifications under the genocide convention. As of now, we have no such conclusion and our work continues.
I have submitted my letter of resignation to Ruslan Stefanchuk, Chairman of the Parliament of Ukraine.
It was an honor to serve the Ukrainian people and work for the #UAarmy for the last 22 months, the toughest period of Ukraine’s modern history.
Continue reading...Turkish and Russian leaders hold talks as Moscow continues to attack Ukrainian grain-exporting ports
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has concluded face-to-face talks with Vladimir Putin by claiming a deal to export Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea could be revived.
But there was no evidence of a breakthrough as the Russian leader again accused the west of reneging on promises.
Continue reading...Loopholes are used to obscure ownership of two-thirds of English and Welsh properties held by foreign shell companies
More than two-thirds of English and Welsh properties held by foreign shell companies do not report the identity of their owners, according to analysis that found significant flaws in laws meant to prevent oligarchs from hiding their wealth.
The UK government hurriedly introduced a register of overseas entities in August 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February that year, in an attempt to “flush out corrupt elites laundering money through UK property”. However, critics said there were severe flaws in the rules from the start.
Continue reading...Phone call between leaders of Ukraine and France comes on eve of summit between Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over Black Sea grain deal
The prosecutor general’s office reported that Russian forces shelled the city of Seredyna-Buda in Sumy, northern Ukraine, on Saturday, killing one person and injuring three others, the Kyiv Independent reports.
These claims have not yet been independently verified.
Russian terrorists continue to attack port infrastructure in the hope of provoking a food crisis and famine in the world.
Continue reading...Ukrainian forces breach Russia’s first defensive line in south, says general; Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky detained on suspicion of fraud
Continue reading...In an exclusive interview, a leading Ukrainian general says his forces have made a vital breakthrough near Zaporizhzhia
Ukrainian forces have decisively breached Russia’s first defensive line near Zaporizhzhia after weeks of painstaking mine clearance, and expect faster gains as they press the weaker second line, the general leading the southern counteroffensive has said.
Brig Gen Oleksandr Tarnavskiy estimated Russia had devoted 60% of its time and resources into building the first defensive line and only 20% each into the second and third lines because Moscow had not expected Ukrainian forces to get through.
Continue reading...Foundation backtracks on earlier announcement that representatives from Russia, Belarus and Iran would be invited
The Nobel Foundation has reversed its decision to invite ambassadors from Russia and Belarus to this year’s Nobel awards ceremony in Stockholm after the invitation sparked anger.
In 2022, the Nobel Foundation, which organises the annual Nobel prize ceremony and banquet in Stockholm, decided not to invite the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors to the awards event because of the war in Ukraine.
Continue reading...Update from UK Ministry of Defence comes as Kyiv claims some small gains in the south
Russian bloggers have been cashing in on their social media coverage of the Ukraine war with paid ads in their feeds worth more than a month’s average wage.
The BBC reports that pro-war influencers known in Russia as “Z-bloggers” share ads, mostly on Telegram – the platform du jour in Russia after the banning of Instagram, Twitter and Facebook – on everything from cryptocurrency to fashion.
The Ministry of Defence often listens to us, and we have a direct channel to privately communicate information to them. It’s all behind the scenes, and I do that.
Continue reading...White House spokesman John Kirby also said reports quoting anonymous US officials criticising Ukrainian effort were ‘not helpful’
Ukraine has made “notable progress” in its southern offensive over the past 72 hours, a top US security official has said, as Kyiv said its troops had broken through Russia’s first line of defences in several places.
In Washington, White House national security council spokesman John Kirby said the US had “noted over the last 72 hours or so some notable progress by Ukrainian armed forces ... in that southern line of advance coming out of the Zaporizhzhia area”.
Continue reading...Russia destroys boat trying to attack Crimea bridge, Moscow claims; US poised to send Kyiv munitions containing depleted uranium, reports say
Continue reading...Editor of Novaya Gazeta accused of using foreign platforms to spread ‘opinions aimed at forming a negative attitude towards Russia’
Russia has added respected journalist and Nobel prize co-recipient Dmitry Muratov to its list of foreign agents, a label authorities commonly use to stifle critics.
The move targeting the editor of Russia’s top independent publication, Novaya Gazeta, is part of a wider crackdown on respected civil society institutions that has accelerated with Moscow’s assault on Ukraine.
Continue reading...The Nobel Foundation said invitations for the 2023 events were extended to all countries with diplomatic missions in Sweden and Norway
There cannot be “sustainable peace” in Ukraine unless the country regains control of Crimea, Donbas and other territories occupied by Russia, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said at the European House Ambrosetti business forum in Italy on Friday.
Russia has previously said it is open to peace talks with Kyiv but insists on its claim to four Ukrainian provinces it said it annexed last year and fully or partly controls, as well as Crimea that it annexed in 2014 – a condition Kyiv will not accept.
Continue reading...Manufacturer of much of the western equipment used against Russian invasion says it aims to produce artillery
The British defence company BAE Systems is setting up a local entity in Ukraine and has signed deals with its government to help ramp up its supply of weapons and equipment.
BAE said it would work directly with Kyiv to explore potential partners for a plan to ultimately produce 105mm light artillery guns in Ukraine and to better understand Ukraine’s requirements.
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