The UK stands with Ukraine, its democratically-elected government and its brave people at this awful time. The UK government is providing a range of economic, humanitarian and defensive military assistance to Ukraine, and is imposing additional sanctions on Russia and Belarus. One ex senior minister suggested to me that there was a generational divide between those who had lived with the threat of the Cold War era, and those who had not. The former minister, currently a serving Conservative MP, pointed out that the prime minister grew up without that existential threat. There is a sense in the upper echelons of the British military that many politicians and most of the public have not grasped the threat they see. It is the duty of the military to analyse that threat, and they still might be proved wrong.
- Russian military vehicles are reported to have breached Ukraine's border in a number of places, in the north, south and east, including from Belarus.
- A number of European countries also rehearse for civil emergencies - with exercises that involve ordinary citizens as well as the military.
- Ukraine has changed its strategy towards “active defence” in recent weeks after its much-vaunted summer counter-offensive failed to achieve major gains.
- Russia’s invasion caused international stock markets to drop dramatically, with the FTSE 100 in London falling by 3.2 per cent.
Russian forces struck the settlement of Maly Burluk on 17 January with an aerial bomb, Synegubov said. If the deal collapses, it could leave congressional leaders with no clear path to approving tens of billions of dollars for Ukraine. They said Moscow did not ask for any specific stretch of airspace to be kept safe for a certain length of time, as it has for past prisoner exchanges. Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been highly critical of the EU's financial and military aid for Ukraine and has maintained close ties with Russia. A spate of Ukraine-linked attacks on Russia's oil infrastructure have reportedly led Moscow's energy ministry to propose restricting flights over energy facilities. Meanwhile, Indian thinktank Observer Research Foundation's Russia expert, Nandan Unnikrishnan, said India was unlikely to sign "any major military deal" with Russia because it would cross a red line with the US.
Biden pressing Congress on Ukraine aid
Grant Shapps, the defence secretary, this month repeated that the UK wants to increase defence spending from 2.1% of GDP to 2.5% in the future. With an election looming, the military is hoping politicians make further pledges over defence spending. Labour has avoided making any firm spending commitments, but has criticised cuts to the size of the army and promised to launch a defence review if elected. “The British military has a proud tradition of being a voluntary force and there is absolutely no suggestion of a return to conscription,” the MoD said, adding that £50bn was being invested in the military during the current year. In his speech, Sanders said the cold war peace dividend was over, noting that “over the last 30 years, the army has been halved in size; in the last 12 years, we’ve absorbed a 28% reduction”. Recruitment remained a challenge, he said, although applications to join were “the highest in six years”.
- Up to 5,000 British citizens were estimated to be living in Ukraine before the crisis.
- The rest is made up of imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) transported to the UK by sea from countries such as Qatar and the US.
- Officials said there had been no specific threats to British diplomats but about half of the staff working in Kyiv will return to the UK.
Nato is unwilling to send troops into Ukraine itself although the UK has supplied around 2,000 anti-tank missiles to the country. Putin already sent in “peacekeeping troops” to two separatist regions of Ukraine on Monday – prompting the West to issue a string of sanctions against Russia – but went even further early Thursday morning when he declared war on Ukraine. Opposition leaders including Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer criticised the initial package of sanctions for being too soft.
What happens if Russia invades Ukraine? How the UK and Nato would respond if Putin launches an invasion
The temporary “Nightingale” hospitals built to deal with Covid would be reopened – and the makeshift mortuaries nearby. Kyiv has not denied the claims outright, but officials have appeared to question whether its POWs were on board. Turkey’s parliament ratified Sweden’s Nato membership on Tuesday after more than a year of delays that upset western efforts to show resolve over Russia’s war in Ukraine. The US did not green light the transaction until Turkey’s instruments of ratification of Sweden’s membership had arrived in Washington, a US official said, highlighting the highly sensitive nature of the negotiations, AFP reports.
But later on Thursday President Zelensky said Ukraine had suffered losses and a lot of aircraft and armoured vehicles had been destroyed. There have also been reports of troops landing by sea at the Black Sea port cities of Mariupol and Odesa in the south. BBC correspondents heard loud bangs in the capital Kyiv, as well as Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. He urged Ukrainian soldiers in the combat zone to lay down their weapons and go home, but said clashes were inevitable and "only a question of time". Russia did not want to occupy Ukraine, he said, but would demilitarise and "de-Nazify" the country. In recent days, some Russians opposed to what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine have queued up in the cold to offer their signatures in his support.
For generations Britain has taken peace for granted. But a belligerent Putin could change all that
A Ukrainian presidential adviser said that more than 40 soldiers had died and dozens more were wounded, but this has not been independently confirmed. Martial law - which means the military takes control temporarily - has been imposed across the whole of Ukraine and traffic jams built up as people fled the capital city of Kyiv. Ukraine has imposed martial law across the country, meaning the military has taken control temporarily, and traffic jams have built up as people attempt to flee Kyiv. The UK's Ministry of Defence said Russian forces based in Belarus were advancing towards Ukraine's capital Kyiv. Russian military vehicles are reported to have breached Ukraine's border in a number of places, in the north, south and east, including from Belarus. He said the UK and allies will launch a "massive package" of sanctions to "hobble" Russia's economy.
Russia says Ukrainian prisoners of war were onboard the Russian military plane that crashed on Wednesday morning, the AP reports. He said his family earned £76,000 in 2022 and called for public officials to disclose their incomes as part of transparency efforts. Mikhail Yevrayev said there was no fire, no casualties and anti-air defences had shot the drone down. Regional governor Mikhail Yevrayev said there was no fire, no casualties and anti-air defences had shot the drone down.
- Russia’s actions have drawn widespread condemnation from the West, including from Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who addressed the UK with a televised statement on Thursday.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen accused Mr Putin of "bringing war back to Europe" and warned a raft of "massive" sanctions would be proposed later aimed at Russia's economic base and its "capacity to modernise".
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pleaded with Western nations for these types of missiles for months - but the requests have been denied, especially by the US.
- Tanks and troops have poured into Ukraine at points along its eastern, southern and northern borders, Ukraine says.