🔺Europe splits over how war in Ukraine should end, poll shows
Splits between doves pushing for a quick diplomatic exit from war in Ukraine and hawks calling for Putin to be defeated threaten to tear the European Union apart this summer, a study finds today.
Most Europeans are ready to concede territorial losses for Ukraine in return for an end to the war as soon as possible, according to new opinion polling that reflects deep political divisions across Europe.
The coming days and weeks are critical for Ukraine’s future as Russia makes military gains in the Donbas and key EU countries are seeking a diplomatic end to the fighting without humiliating Moscow.
European countries have been polarised by last week’s doveish comments from President Macron that the West must “not humiliate Russia” in order to “build an exit ramp through diplomatic means” from the war.
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Splits between doves pushing for a quick diplomatic exit from war in Ukraine and hawks calling for Putin to be defeated threaten to tear the European Union apart this summer, a study finds today.
Most Europeans are ready to concede territorial losses for Ukraine in return for an end to the war as soon as possible, according to new opinion polling that reflects deep political divisions across Europe.
The coming days and weeks are critical for Ukraine’s future as Russia makes military gains in the Donbas and key EU countries are seeking a diplomatic end to the fighting without humiliating Moscow.
European countries have been polarised by last week’s doveish comments from President Macron that the West must “not humiliate Russia” in order to “build an exit ramp through diplomatic means” from the war.
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🔺US fighters ‘caught by Russia’
Two American volunteers fighting with Ukrainian forces are believed to have been captured by the Russians.
Alexander Drueke, 39, from Alabama, served with the US Army in Iraq and Andy Huynh, 27, a Californian who moved to Alabama, spent four years in the US Marines.
An unnamed colleague of the pair told The Daily Telegraph that they were part of a ten-man squad and were captured after encountering a 100-strong Russian infantry force during a battle last Thursday.
The two Americans destroyed a Russian vehicle with a rocket-propelled grenade, drawing fire from one of two Russian T-72 tanks. The Ukrainians discovered later that the Americans had disappeared. “We sent drones up and had a Ukrainian search team on the ground but we found nothing,” the source said.
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Two American volunteers fighting with Ukrainian forces are believed to have been captured by the Russians.
Alexander Drueke, 39, from Alabama, served with the US Army in Iraq and Andy Huynh, 27, a Californian who moved to Alabama, spent four years in the US Marines.
An unnamed colleague of the pair told The Daily Telegraph that they were part of a ten-man squad and were captured after encountering a 100-strong Russian infantry force during a battle last Thursday.
The two Americans destroyed a Russian vehicle with a rocket-propelled grenade, drawing fire from one of two Russian T-72 tanks. The Ukrainians discovered later that the Americans had disappeared. “We sent drones up and had a Ukrainian search team on the ground but we found nothing,” the source said.
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🔺Putin allies fight over Ukraine’s stolen grain
President Putin’s Kremlin allies are wrestling with one another for control of the lucrative grain trade in occupied Ukraine, according to an intelligence report obtained by The Times.
Analysis in the highly detailed briefing, prepared for senior Ukrainian intelligence chiefs, argues that the outcome of the power struggle will be key to determining the fate of two Britons captured by Russia while fighting for Ukraine and sentenced to death.
Based on field reports by Ukrainian agents behind enemy lines, it lays out how an isolated Putin is increasingly relying on the former Russian prime minister Sergei Kiriyenko, his deputy chief of staff, to execute his orders. Putin’s blessing has allowed the aide to take control of occupied regions and build a structure to serve his interests.
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President Putin’s Kremlin allies are wrestling with one another for control of the lucrative grain trade in occupied Ukraine, according to an intelligence report obtained by The Times.
Analysis in the highly detailed briefing, prepared for senior Ukrainian intelligence chiefs, argues that the outcome of the power struggle will be key to determining the fate of two Britons captured by Russia while fighting for Ukraine and sentenced to death.
Based on field reports by Ukrainian agents behind enemy lines, it lays out how an isolated Putin is increasingly relying on the former Russian prime minister Sergei Kiriyenko, his deputy chief of staff, to execute his orders. Putin’s blessing has allowed the aide to take control of occupied regions and build a structure to serve his interests.
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🔺Ukraine takes first step towards EU membership
Ukraine has taken a step towards membership of the EU as the bloc granted candidate status to the eastern European country.
President Ursula von der Leyen announced the “historic” decision while wearing a blazer and shirt in the colours of the nation’s flag.
“Ukrainians are ready to die for the European perspective. We want them to live with us the European dream,” she said.
“We have one clear message. And that is, yes, Ukraine deserves European perspective. Yes, Ukraine should be welcomed as a candidate country.”
It comes after the EU faced mounting pressure to accelerate Ukraine’s application since Russia’s invasion in February. However, candidate status is only the first step in a process that can take many years or even decades.
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Ukraine has taken a step towards membership of the EU as the bloc granted candidate status to the eastern European country.
President Ursula von der Leyen announced the “historic” decision while wearing a blazer and shirt in the colours of the nation’s flag.
“Ukrainians are ready to die for the European perspective. We want them to live with us the European dream,” she said.
“We have one clear message. And that is, yes, Ukraine deserves European perspective. Yes, Ukraine should be welcomed as a candidate country.”
It comes after the EU faced mounting pressure to accelerate Ukraine’s application since Russia’s invasion in February. However, candidate status is only the first step in a process that can take many years or even decades.
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🔺‘EU membership is reward we deserve for taking on Putin’
Sitting in a plush, wood-panelled boardroom across from the golden domes of Kyiv’s 11th-century St Sophia cathedral, President Zelensky’s foreign policy chief paused to answer the phone. “The European Commission has published its recommendation,” Ihor Zhovka said, apologising. “We need to react.”
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the Commission, had just given the green light to Ukraine’s application to become a candidate for EU membership. Although only the start of a long, tortuous process, with no guarantee of success, it is a step that Ukrainians were once told would never come.
“Even several days ago this was still not decided,” Zhovka said. “It’s hugely important that today the initial point from where we are moving is now fixed.”
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Sitting in a plush, wood-panelled boardroom across from the golden domes of Kyiv’s 11th-century St Sophia cathedral, President Zelensky’s foreign policy chief paused to answer the phone. “The European Commission has published its recommendation,” Ihor Zhovka said, apologising. “We need to react.”
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the Commission, had just given the green light to Ukraine’s application to become a candidate for EU membership. Although only the start of a long, tortuous process, with no guarantee of success, it is a step that Ukrainians were once told would never come.
“Even several days ago this was still not decided,” Zhovka said. “It’s hugely important that today the initial point from where we are moving is now fixed.”
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🔺Russian tennis player avoids Wimbledon ban with change of nationality
A Russian tennis player has circumvented Wimbledon’s ban on all competitors from her country by changing her nationality to Georgian before next week’s championships.
Natela Dzalamidze, a 29-year-old doubles player ranked No 44 in the world, will compete in the women’s doubles with Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic after the sport’s authorities approved the switch in time for last week’s entry deadline. It is not known when her application was first made but insiders have told The Times that she satisfied the necessary requirements.
The All England Club announced on April 20 that all entries from Russia and Belarus would be declined this year because of the invasion of Ukraine. Its statement said that “it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players with the championships”.
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A Russian tennis player has circumvented Wimbledon’s ban on all competitors from her country by changing her nationality to Georgian before next week’s championships.
Natela Dzalamidze, a 29-year-old doubles player ranked No 44 in the world, will compete in the women’s doubles with Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic after the sport’s authorities approved the switch in time for last week’s entry deadline. It is not known when her application was first made but insiders have told The Times that she satisfied the necessary requirements.
The All England Club announced on April 20 that all entries from Russia and Belarus would be declined this year because of the invasion of Ukraine. Its statement said that “it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players with the championships”.
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🔺Villagers on front line tell of neighbours abducted at gunpoint
The call from occupied territory came through on a crackling line from an unfamiliar number. It was the first time Oksana Shurmil had heard from her brother in the village of Kozacha Lopan, Kharkiv region, since the Russians seized it four months ago.
Separated from his sister by battle lines and a daily exchange of artillery fire, a distraught Serhii, 45, told her that the Russians had taken his wife and 11-year-old son. Buses had arrived to move the village’s women and children across the border. Telephones and passports were to be left behind.
That was two weeks ago. “He said the Russians had taken his phone away at a checkpoint and if he came to ask for it back they would shoot him,” she said. “I haven’t heard from him since.”
Serhii Shurmil’s wife and child are among at least 1,000 villagers abducted from the Kharkiv region by Russian forces, according to a tally compiled by volunteers providing humanitarian aid.
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The call from occupied territory came through on a crackling line from an unfamiliar number. It was the first time Oksana Shurmil had heard from her brother in the village of Kozacha Lopan, Kharkiv region, since the Russians seized it four months ago.
Separated from his sister by battle lines and a daily exchange of artillery fire, a distraught Serhii, 45, told her that the Russians had taken his wife and 11-year-old son. Buses had arrived to move the village’s women and children across the border. Telephones and passports were to be left behind.
That was two weeks ago. “He said the Russians had taken his phone away at a checkpoint and if he came to ask for it back they would shoot him,” she said. “I haven’t heard from him since.”
Serhii Shurmil’s wife and child are among at least 1,000 villagers abducted from the Kharkiv region by Russian forces, according to a tally compiled by volunteers providing humanitarian aid.
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🔺War in Ukraine: We’ve taken out 300 Russian troops, say Zelensky’s special forces
The first Russian to come into the crosshairs of Andrii’s sniper rifle was careless. He stood plumb in the middle of the road outside his fortified position, reaching into his pocket for a packet of cigarettes.
Lying prone in the undergrowth 300m away, Andrii aimed at his chest and squeezed the trigger of his Dragunov SVD. The man fell. Andrii rolled to the side as a hail of return fire came in his direction, then beat a hasty retreat. His spotter, Lucky, confirmed the kill.
“What did I feel at that moment? The recoil of my rifle,” he told The Times. “Maybe I’m a bad person, but I don’t feel guilty. I’m driving them from my land.”
Andrii, 26, Lucky, 21, and their intelligence scout, Turbo, 22, all Kharkiv natives, are part of an elite special operations unit of the Azov battalion.
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The first Russian to come into the crosshairs of Andrii’s sniper rifle was careless. He stood plumb in the middle of the road outside his fortified position, reaching into his pocket for a packet of cigarettes.
Lying prone in the undergrowth 300m away, Andrii aimed at his chest and squeezed the trigger of his Dragunov SVD. The man fell. Andrii rolled to the side as a hail of return fire came in his direction, then beat a hasty retreat. His spotter, Lucky, confirmed the kill.
“What did I feel at that moment? The recoil of my rifle,” he told The Times. “Maybe I’m a bad person, but I don’t feel guilty. I’m driving them from my land.”
Andrii, 26, Lucky, 21, and their intelligence scout, Turbo, 22, all Kharkiv natives, are part of an elite special operations unit of the Azov battalion.
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🔺Journalist auctions Nobel peace prize medal for $103.5m to help Ukrainian refugees
The Russian editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta has auctioned off his Nobel peace prize medal for $103.5 million in aid of Ukraine.
Dmitry Muratov has said that the proceeds from the sale, which is roughly £84.4 million, will go directly to Unicef to help children displaced by the conflict after Russia’s invasion.
Muratov was the joint winner of the peace prize last October, along with the journalist Maria Ressa of the Philippines, for “their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace”.
Both received their own medals, made of 23-carat gold. Muratov decided to auction off his medal, having already announced that he was donating the accompanying $500,000 cash award from the prize to charity. According to reports, he has kept a copy of the medal — made from chocolate.
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The Russian editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta has auctioned off his Nobel peace prize medal for $103.5 million in aid of Ukraine.
Dmitry Muratov has said that the proceeds from the sale, which is roughly £84.4 million, will go directly to Unicef to help children displaced by the conflict after Russia’s invasion.
Muratov was the joint winner of the peace prize last October, along with the journalist Maria Ressa of the Philippines, for “their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace”.
Both received their own medals, made of 23-carat gold. Muratov decided to auction off his medal, having already announced that he was donating the accompanying $500,000 cash award from the prize to charity. According to reports, he has kept a copy of the medal — made from chocolate.
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🔺The Ukrainian babushka who sprang her orphaned grandson from Russia’s clutches
When she heard her daughter Natalia had been killed as Mariupol fell to the Russians, Olena Matvienko felt like her world had ended. Then she realised that her ten-year-old grandson, Ilya, badly wounded by the same Russian shell that had hit his mother, was alone and missing in occupied territory.
Ilya was one of thousands of Ukrainian children orphaned and taken by Russian forces since the full-scale invasion began on February 24. Hundreds of families — aunts, uncles and grandparents — have petitioned the office of the Ukrainian ombudsman for human rights for help finding them.
“The Russians are taking children without giving them the option of going to family in Ukraine,” Aksana Filipishyna, the ombudsman’s representative for children and families, told The Times. “They’re just putting them on buses. They’re stealing children on a massive scale.”
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When she heard her daughter Natalia had been killed as Mariupol fell to the Russians, Olena Matvienko felt like her world had ended. Then she realised that her ten-year-old grandson, Ilya, badly wounded by the same Russian shell that had hit his mother, was alone and missing in occupied territory.
Ilya was one of thousands of Ukrainian children orphaned and taken by Russian forces since the full-scale invasion began on February 24. Hundreds of families — aunts, uncles and grandparents — have petitioned the office of the Ukrainian ombudsman for human rights for help finding them.
“The Russians are taking children without giving them the option of going to family in Ukraine,” Aksana Filipishyna, the ombudsman’s representative for children and families, told The Times. “They’re just putting them on buses. They’re stealing children on a massive scale.”
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🔺Russia threatens Lithuania over blocking Kaliningrad
The Kremlin has threatened Lithuania with “seriously negative” consequences for blocking up to half of Russia’s goods shipments to the military exclave of Kaliningrad.
Moscow has been infuriated by Vilnius’s decision to prevent Russia using its railways to transfer sanctioned products, from coal to cigars, into the territory.
Kaliningrad, with a population of a million in an area the size of Northern Ireland, is a Russian outpost on the Baltic Sea between Poland and Lithuania. It has turned into a strategic double-edged sword for Russia, giving its armed forces a foothold in one of the most contested areas in Europe outside Ukraine that is also vulnerable to economic pressure.
Until last weekend Lithuania had allowed Russia to carry on sending goods trains across its territory even though much of the freight being subject to European Union sanctions.
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The Kremlin has threatened Lithuania with “seriously negative” consequences for blocking up to half of Russia’s goods shipments to the military exclave of Kaliningrad.
Moscow has been infuriated by Vilnius’s decision to prevent Russia using its railways to transfer sanctioned products, from coal to cigars, into the territory.
Kaliningrad, with a population of a million in an area the size of Northern Ireland, is a Russian outpost on the Baltic Sea between Poland and Lithuania. It has turned into a strategic double-edged sword for Russia, giving its armed forces a foothold in one of the most contested areas in Europe outside Ukraine that is also vulnerable to economic pressure.
Until last weekend Lithuania had allowed Russia to carry on sending goods trains across its territory even though much of the freight being subject to European Union sanctions.
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🔺Kremlin ‘rebranding’ war in Ukraine as officials banish Z symbol
The Kremlin may be planning a “rebrand” of its invasion of Ukraine after officials ordered the removal from prominent buildings of huge banners featuring the pro-war Z and V symbols.
In Moscow, inspectors told Sergei Mironov, the head of the A Fair Russia – For Truth party, to take down a banner from his office in the centre of the city, citing “numerous” complaints from members of the public.
In Novosibirsk, the largest city in Siberia, officials acted after a teenager successfully argued that banners hung on the outside of the mayor’s office were in violation of regulations on public advertising. A banner was also removed from the façade of a military veterans’ office in Perm, in the Urals region.
Children who decorated the windows of a cultural centre in western Russia’s Pskov region with Zs and Vs were also instructed to remove the symbols.
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The Kremlin may be planning a “rebrand” of its invasion of Ukraine after officials ordered the removal from prominent buildings of huge banners featuring the pro-war Z and V symbols.
In Moscow, inspectors told Sergei Mironov, the head of the A Fair Russia – For Truth party, to take down a banner from his office in the centre of the city, citing “numerous” complaints from members of the public.
In Novosibirsk, the largest city in Siberia, officials acted after a teenager successfully argued that banners hung on the outside of the mayor’s office were in violation of regulations on public advertising. A banner was also removed from the façade of a military veterans’ office in Perm, in the Urals region.
Children who decorated the windows of a cultural centre in western Russia’s Pskov region with Zs and Vs were also instructed to remove the symbols.
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🔺British network builds drones for Ukraine to fight Russia
Before Russian bombs started falling on his motherland, Alex Shevchenko’s plan for this year was to buy a family house, move to Kent and run his internet trading business from the English countryside.
Now Shevchenko, 41, is at the beating heart of a thousand-strong volunteer network manufacturing reconnaissance drones, developing artillery-targeting applications and supplying the Ukrainian army from Britain.
In his warehouse in Kyiv, electric drills whirr amid stacks of boxes of hazmat suits, uniforms, boots and 200 Starlink transceivers, brought from the UK in the back of pick-up trucks and driven across the continent. Engineers are crouched over circuit boards and foam wings are beginning to form at a cluster of workstations at the far end of the building.
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Before Russian bombs started falling on his motherland, Alex Shevchenko’s plan for this year was to buy a family house, move to Kent and run his internet trading business from the English countryside.
Now Shevchenko, 41, is at the beating heart of a thousand-strong volunteer network manufacturing reconnaissance drones, developing artillery-targeting applications and supplying the Ukrainian army from Britain.
In his warehouse in Kyiv, electric drills whirr amid stacks of boxes of hazmat suits, uniforms, boots and 200 Starlink transceivers, brought from the UK in the back of pick-up trucks and driven across the continent. Engineers are crouched over circuit boards and foam wings are beginning to form at a cluster of workstations at the far end of the building.
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🔺Ukraine orders troops to retreat from Severodonetsk
Ukraine’s forces have been ordered into full retreat from Severodonetsk as the city has been “nearly turned to rubble” by intense Russian shelling.
Serhiy Gaidai, the regional governor, announced the withdrawal this morning following weeks of fierce fighting in the battleground eastern city.
Capturing Severodonetsk has been a key strategic goal of Russian forces as they seek to control the Donbas area and carve out a large swathe of eastern Ukraine.
“Ukrainian armed forces will have to retreat from Severodonetsk. They have received an order to do so,” Gaidai, governor of the Luhansk region which includes the city, said on Telegram. “Remaining in positions that have been relentlessly shelled for months just doesn’t make sense.”
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Ukraine’s forces have been ordered into full retreat from Severodonetsk as the city has been “nearly turned to rubble” by intense Russian shelling.
Serhiy Gaidai, the regional governor, announced the withdrawal this morning following weeks of fierce fighting in the battleground eastern city.
Capturing Severodonetsk has been a key strategic goal of Russian forces as they seek to control the Donbas area and carve out a large swathe of eastern Ukraine.
“Ukrainian armed forces will have to retreat from Severodonetsk. They have received an order to do so,” Gaidai, governor of the Luhansk region which includes the city, said on Telegram. “Remaining in positions that have been relentlessly shelled for months just doesn’t make sense.”
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🔺We need Europe to show Putin its power — that’s all he understands
Only tougher sanctions can deter Russia and hold back a new Dark Age, Andriy Yermak writes
When Russia invaded my country, its leadership were surprised at the unity of Ukraine and its western allies. The Kremlin believed its army could march up to Kyiv in a matter of days and declare victory. The Kremlin was wrong.
The Ukrainian armed forces and its people have defended our lands with an extraordinary courage about which historians, when they have time, will write tales of heroism to awe future generations. And Russia will have been alarmed at the support provided by our friends. Our western allies saw that this terrible conflict represented a turning point in history.
We stand at a fork in the road. Down one path lies the sunlit uplands once described by Sir Winston Churchill. Down the other path lies the abyss of a new Dark Age, where corruption, authoritarianism and terror has been allowed to succeed.
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Only tougher sanctions can deter Russia and hold back a new Dark Age, Andriy Yermak writes
When Russia invaded my country, its leadership were surprised at the unity of Ukraine and its western allies. The Kremlin believed its army could march up to Kyiv in a matter of days and declare victory. The Kremlin was wrong.
The Ukrainian armed forces and its people have defended our lands with an extraordinary courage about which historians, when they have time, will write tales of heroism to awe future generations. And Russia will have been alarmed at the support provided by our friends. Our western allies saw that this terrible conflict represented a turning point in history.
We stand at a fork in the road. Down one path lies the sunlit uplands once described by Sir Winston Churchill. Down the other path lies the abyss of a new Dark Age, where corruption, authoritarianism and terror has been allowed to succeed.
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www.thetimes.co.uk
We need Europe to show Putin its power — that’s all he understands
Only tougher sanctions can deter Russia and hold back a new Dark Age, Andriy Yermak writes
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🔺‘Shaman’ special forces take the fight across the border into Russia
Rotor blades clattered in the night sky as the helicopters streaked low over the Russian border. On board, the men of the Shaman battalion, an elite Ukrainian special forces unit, prepared to disembark deep behind enemy lines.
Their mission, to destroy infrastructure vital to the Kremlin’s war effort, was one of several covert raids inside Russia, The Times has been told by two of the operators who took part and an intelligence officer; the first time Ukrainian special forces have acknowledged taking the fight into Russian territory.
The exact targets are classified but the teams’ forays across the border help to explain how Russian oil refineries, ammunition depots and communications networks have been mysteriously sabotaged.
Sergeants “Handsome” and “Twenty Two”, both aged 25, have been fighting President Putin’s forces since his hybrid invasion of Ukraine in 2014.
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Rotor blades clattered in the night sky as the helicopters streaked low over the Russian border. On board, the men of the Shaman battalion, an elite Ukrainian special forces unit, prepared to disembark deep behind enemy lines.
Their mission, to destroy infrastructure vital to the Kremlin’s war effort, was one of several covert raids inside Russia, The Times has been told by two of the operators who took part and an intelligence officer; the first time Ukrainian special forces have acknowledged taking the fight into Russian territory.
The exact targets are classified but the teams’ forays across the border help to explain how Russian oil refineries, ammunition depots and communications networks have been mysteriously sabotaged.
Sergeants “Handsome” and “Twenty Two”, both aged 25, have been fighting President Putin’s forces since his hybrid invasion of Ukraine in 2014.
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🔺Ukraine war is a 1937 moment, says new army chief General Sir Patrick Sanders
British troops of all ranks must be prepared to “fight and win” to prevent the spread of war in Europe, the new head of the army is due to say today.
In his first speech since becoming chief of the general staff this month, General Sir Patrick Sanders orders the army to “get ready and train hard” as he warns he has never seen such a clear threat to peace and democracy as President Putin.
Declaring that “this is our 1937 moment”, he orders the army to focus on urban warfare and on how to operate alongside planes and helicopters as the service rebuilds its depleted stockpiles of weapons and ammunition.
His warning, in an address to the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) think tank in London, comes after he wrote to all troops under his command telling them they must prepare “to fight in Europe once again”.
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British troops of all ranks must be prepared to “fight and win” to prevent the spread of war in Europe, the new head of the army is due to say today.
In his first speech since becoming chief of the general staff this month, General Sir Patrick Sanders orders the army to “get ready and train hard” as he warns he has never seen such a clear threat to peace and democracy as President Putin.
Declaring that “this is our 1937 moment”, he orders the army to focus on urban warfare and on how to operate alongside planes and helicopters as the service rebuilds its depleted stockpiles of weapons and ammunition.
His warning, in an address to the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) think tank in London, comes after he wrote to all troops under his command telling them they must prepare “to fight in Europe once again”.
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🔺World must stop ‘insane Russian terrorists’, says Zelensky after strike on shoppers
President Zelensky said Russia must be recognised as a “state sponsor of terrorism” after a missile strike on a crowded shopping centre killed at least 20 people and was condemned as a war crime by world leaders.
The Ukrainian leader accused President Putin’s forces of carrying out “calculated strikes” at non-military targets, while Boris Johnson denounced the attack as “barbaric”.
“Only totally insane terrorists, who should have no place on Earth, can strike missiles at civilian objects,” Zelensky said on his Telegram channel. “The world can and therefore must stop Russian terror”.
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President Zelensky said Russia must be recognised as a “state sponsor of terrorism” after a missile strike on a crowded shopping centre killed at least 20 people and was condemned as a war crime by world leaders.
The Ukrainian leader accused President Putin’s forces of carrying out “calculated strikes” at non-military targets, while Boris Johnson denounced the attack as “barbaric”.
“Only totally insane terrorists, who should have no place on Earth, can strike missiles at civilian objects,” Zelensky said on his Telegram channel. “The world can and therefore must stop Russian terror”.
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🔺Russian forces could regenerate to win in Ukraine, warns British army chief
Russia will most likely emerge from the war in Ukraine as an “even greater threat” to European security, the new head of the army has said.
General Sir Patrick Sanders, who has been in post less than two weeks, said Russia’s resilience meant it could suffer the loss of any number of campaigns, battles and engagements but then “regenerate and still ultimately prevail”.
He said that given President Putin’s ambition to restore the lands of “historic Russia”, any respite would be “temporary and the threat would become even more acute” after Russia replenishes its capabilities after defeats in Ukraine.
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Russia will most likely emerge from the war in Ukraine as an “even greater threat” to European security, the new head of the army has said.
General Sir Patrick Sanders, who has been in post less than two weeks, said Russia’s resilience meant it could suffer the loss of any number of campaigns, battles and engagements but then “regenerate and still ultimately prevail”.
He said that given President Putin’s ambition to restore the lands of “historic Russia”, any respite would be “temporary and the threat would become even more acute” after Russia replenishes its capabilities after defeats in Ukraine.
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🔺Putin is a lunatic with small man syndrome, says Ben Wallace
President Putin has small man syndrome and a macho view of the world, the defence secretary has said.
Ben Wallace described Putin as a lunatic and dismissed suggestions that Russia was winning the war in Ukraine. He was responding to a claim by Boris Johnson that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if Putin were a woman, accusing him of “toxic masculinity”.
Wallace told LBC radio: “You rarely hear the phrase small woman syndrome, you always hear small man syndrome. I think he’s certainly got it in spades.”
However, he cast doubt on the theory that women were unlikely to be warmongers, citing Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry. “She’s like a comedy turn. She does her statement every week, threatening to nuke everyone or doing something or another. She’s definitely a woman . . . She’s a lunatic like [Putin] is, so I’ll leave it at that,” he said.
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President Putin has small man syndrome and a macho view of the world, the defence secretary has said.
Ben Wallace described Putin as a lunatic and dismissed suggestions that Russia was winning the war in Ukraine. He was responding to a claim by Boris Johnson that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if Putin were a woman, accusing him of “toxic masculinity”.
Wallace told LBC radio: “You rarely hear the phrase small woman syndrome, you always hear small man syndrome. I think he’s certainly got it in spades.”
However, he cast doubt on the theory that women were unlikely to be warmongers, citing Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry. “She’s like a comedy turn. She does her statement every week, threatening to nuke everyone or doing something or another. She’s definitely a woman . . . She’s a lunatic like [Putin] is, so I’ll leave it at that,” he said.
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