🔺Putin faces revolt over blunders in Ukraine
President Putin faces a growing military insurrection over his “personal war” in Ukraine as his advisers lie to him about the campaign’s failures, a British spy chief said last night.
Sir Jeremy Fleming, the director of GCHQ, outlined how the Russian leader had “massively misjudged” the capabilities of his military, the resolve of the Ukrainian people and the strength of the West’s response to his invasion.
Putin’s errors amounted to a “strategic miscalculation”, Fleming said in a speech at the Australian National University in Canberra. Putin “overestimated” his military’s capacity to win a rapid victory and Russian soldiers are “short of weapons and morale”.
Intelligence shared with British spy agencies has pointed to Russian troops refusing to carry out orders, sabotaging their equipment and accidentally shooting down their own aircraft.
Officials in Washington said that Putin “didn’t even know his military was using and losing conscripts . . . showing a clear breakdown in the flow of accurate information”. One told CNN: “We have information that Putin felt misled by the Russian military. There is now persistent tension between Putin and the [Russian Ministry of Defence].”
John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, said: “If [Putin] is not fully informed of how poorly he’s doing, then how are his negotiators going to come up with an agreement? The other thing is, you don’t know how a leader like that is going to react to getting bad news . . . it’s disconcerting.”
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President Putin faces a growing military insurrection over his “personal war” in Ukraine as his advisers lie to him about the campaign’s failures, a British spy chief said last night.
Sir Jeremy Fleming, the director of GCHQ, outlined how the Russian leader had “massively misjudged” the capabilities of his military, the resolve of the Ukrainian people and the strength of the West’s response to his invasion.
Putin’s errors amounted to a “strategic miscalculation”, Fleming said in a speech at the Australian National University in Canberra. Putin “overestimated” his military’s capacity to win a rapid victory and Russian soldiers are “short of weapons and morale”.
Intelligence shared with British spy agencies has pointed to Russian troops refusing to carry out orders, sabotaging their equipment and accidentally shooting down their own aircraft.
Officials in Washington said that Putin “didn’t even know his military was using and losing conscripts . . . showing a clear breakdown in the flow of accurate information”. One told CNN: “We have information that Putin felt misled by the Russian military. There is now persistent tension between Putin and the [Russian Ministry of Defence].”
John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, said: “If [Putin] is not fully informed of how poorly he’s doing, then how are his negotiators going to come up with an agreement? The other thing is, you don’t know how a leader like that is going to react to getting bad news . . . it’s disconcerting.”
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Putin faces revolt over blunders in Ukraine
President Putin faces a growing military insurrection over his “personal war” in Ukraine as his advisers lie to him about the campaign’s failures, a British s
🔺Zelensky sacks two Ukrainian generals as ‘traitors’
President Zelensky has removed two top military officials who he accused of being traitors.
The Ukrainian leader, in his nightly address to the nation, described the now-former generals as “antiheroes” who had violated an oath to their country.
Zelensky, who also warned that Russia was preparing “powerful strikes” in southern Ukraine near Mariupol, did not provide details of the alleged betrayals.
In other developments:
• President Putin is “not the force he used to be”, said Ben Wallace, the UK defence secretary. “He is now in a cage of his own making”.
• The Ministry of Defence said Russia is redeploying forces from Georgia to reinforce its attack on Ukraine.
• Britain has urged Ukraine to not back down amid concerns the United States, France and Germany will push for significant concessions in peace talks.
• Discussions over bringing the war to an end are expected to resume today but there is little optimism a deal will be reached.
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President Zelensky has removed two top military officials who he accused of being traitors.
The Ukrainian leader, in his nightly address to the nation, described the now-former generals as “antiheroes” who had violated an oath to their country.
Zelensky, who also warned that Russia was preparing “powerful strikes” in southern Ukraine near Mariupol, did not provide details of the alleged betrayals.
In other developments:
• President Putin is “not the force he used to be”, said Ben Wallace, the UK defence secretary. “He is now in a cage of his own making”.
• The Ministry of Defence said Russia is redeploying forces from Georgia to reinforce its attack on Ukraine.
• Britain has urged Ukraine to not back down amid concerns the United States, France and Germany will push for significant concessions in peace talks.
• Discussions over bringing the war to an end are expected to resume today but there is little optimism a deal will be reached.
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🔺The teenage conscripts bearing the brunt of the assault on Ukraine
David Arutyunyan was born in March 2003 in Kyakhta, near Russia’s border with Mongolia. He was conscripted to the army and served in Pskov, the headquarters of the elite paratroopers.
In March 2022 in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, the 18-year-old’s convoy was hit by artillery fire and he died as he pulled a wounded comrade from their armoured vehicle. Arutyunyan was hit by shrapnel as he carried his friend to safety, according to official Russian reports. He was awarded the Order of Courage posthumously.
The youngest Russian soldier to be publicly identified as having been killed in Ukraine, Arutyunyan’s death has come to symbolise President Putin’s faltering invasion and how it is founded on young, poorly trained conscripts. Growing numbers of Russian troops — both soldiers and commanders — are refusing to fight.
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David Arutyunyan was born in March 2003 in Kyakhta, near Russia’s border with Mongolia. He was conscripted to the army and served in Pskov, the headquarters of the elite paratroopers.
In March 2022 in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, the 18-year-old’s convoy was hit by artillery fire and he died as he pulled a wounded comrade from their armoured vehicle. Arutyunyan was hit by shrapnel as he carried his friend to safety, according to official Russian reports. He was awarded the Order of Courage posthumously.
The youngest Russian soldier to be publicly identified as having been killed in Ukraine, Arutyunyan’s death has come to symbolise President Putin’s faltering invasion and how it is founded on young, poorly trained conscripts. Growing numbers of Russian troops — both soldiers and commanders — are refusing to fight.
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🔺Sick Russian soldiers flee Chernobyl
Russian troops have pulled out of Chernobyl and handed control back to Ukrainian authorities after soldiers suffered acute radiation sickness from digging trenches in contaminated soil.
Energoatom, Ukraine’s state nuclear energy company, said that soldiers had received “significant doses of radiation” after they constructed trench fortifications in the Red Forest, a highly toxic area surrounding the defunct plant.
The site got its name when dozens of square miles of pine trees turned red after absorbing radiation from the 1986 explosion in a reactor, one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters.
Russian troops “panicked at the first sign of illness”, which “showed up very quickly,” and began to prepare to leave, Energatom said.
Seven busloads of Russian soldiers, believed to be suffering from the effects of acute radiation syndrome, arrived at the Belarusian Radiation Medicine Centre in Gomel, according to the Ukrainian news agency Unian.
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Russian troops have pulled out of Chernobyl and handed control back to Ukrainian authorities after soldiers suffered acute radiation sickness from digging trenches in contaminated soil.
Energoatom, Ukraine’s state nuclear energy company, said that soldiers had received “significant doses of radiation” after they constructed trench fortifications in the Red Forest, a highly toxic area surrounding the defunct plant.
The site got its name when dozens of square miles of pine trees turned red after absorbing radiation from the 1986 explosion in a reactor, one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters.
Russian troops “panicked at the first sign of illness”, which “showed up very quickly,” and began to prepare to leave, Energatom said.
Seven busloads of Russian soldiers, believed to be suffering from the effects of acute radiation syndrome, arrived at the Belarusian Radiation Medicine Centre in Gomel, according to the Ukrainian news agency Unian.
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🔺UK missile shoots down first Russian helicopter in Ukraine war
Britain’s most advanced portable missile system is thought to have shot down a Russian helicopter in its first use on the Ukrainian battlefield.
Starstreak, a high-velocity projectile that destroys targets with three kinetic darts, was filmed cutting the aircraft in two over the Luhansk region in the east of the country.
Footage of the attack shows the tungsten spears breaking the tail off the Mi-28N, after Ukrainians using British techniques opened fire.
In other developments:
• President Putin was visited by a cancer surgeon 35 times in four years at his Black Sea residence, an investigation has claimed.
• China mounted a cyberattack on Ukraine’s military and nuclear facilities in the build-up to Russia’s invasion, according to intelligence documents.
• President Zelensky vowed to punish traitors within Ukraine’s security establishment as he sacked two generals.
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Britain’s most advanced portable missile system is thought to have shot down a Russian helicopter in its first use on the Ukrainian battlefield.
Starstreak, a high-velocity projectile that destroys targets with three kinetic darts, was filmed cutting the aircraft in two over the Luhansk region in the east of the country.
Footage of the attack shows the tungsten spears breaking the tail off the Mi-28N, after Ukrainians using British techniques opened fire.
In other developments:
• President Putin was visited by a cancer surgeon 35 times in four years at his Black Sea residence, an investigation has claimed.
• China mounted a cyberattack on Ukraine’s military and nuclear facilities in the build-up to Russia’s invasion, according to intelligence documents.
• President Zelensky vowed to punish traitors within Ukraine’s security establishment as he sacked two generals.
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🔺Boris Johnson eager to arm Ukraine for defence of Odesa
Britain is pushing to arm Ukraine with anti-ship missiles to sink Russian warships and relieve coastal cities being bombarded from the sea as part of a “gear change” in the West’s approach.
Boris Johnson has told ministers he wants to supply the weapons to prevent the Russians advancing on Odesa, just as British anti-tank missiles have been used to stall President Putin’s efforts to take Kyiv.
A senior government source said: “We anticipated this mass column of tanks coming across what is a very flat expanse of landscape and that Kyiv would be taken in three days. The NLAWs [next-generation light anti-tank weapons] stopped that.
“That bit of the war is not over but it’s parked. They’re now concentrating on the south. The next target is Odesa. It’s not tanks which are going to come at Odesa. It’s going to be ships. NLAWs don’t work against ships, so what does? They want the kind of stuff that can take out ships.”
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Britain is pushing to arm Ukraine with anti-ship missiles to sink Russian warships and relieve coastal cities being bombarded from the sea as part of a “gear change” in the West’s approach.
Boris Johnson has told ministers he wants to supply the weapons to prevent the Russians advancing on Odesa, just as British anti-tank missiles have been used to stall President Putin’s efforts to take Kyiv.
A senior government source said: “We anticipated this mass column of tanks coming across what is a very flat expanse of landscape and that Kyiv would be taken in three days. The NLAWs [next-generation light anti-tank weapons] stopped that.
“That bit of the war is not over but it’s parked. They’re now concentrating on the south. The next target is Odesa. It’s not tanks which are going to come at Odesa. It’s going to be ships. NLAWs don’t work against ships, so what does? They want the kind of stuff that can take out ships.”
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🔺Refugees minister promises those fleeing Ukraine won’t wait longer than two days
The refugees minister has pledged to process visas for those fleeing Ukraine within 48 hours and bring in 15,000 people a week following criticism that those seeking safety from the war in Britain have faced long delays.
Lord Harrington of Watford said he has set himself the ambitious targets after he admitted that only “hundreds” of refugees have arrived in Britain under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
When the scheme was launched on March 18, it was estimated that the Home Office would be able to process 10,000 visas in the first week. The exact number of refugees who have arrived will be published this week.
The former Conservative MP said the process had been “far too slow”. He added: “We did not have and we’ve never had a proper system of administering the mass flow of people from abroad. The asylum system, the Syrian refugee programme, and everything else was based on a much smaller volume of people.”
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The refugees minister has pledged to process visas for those fleeing Ukraine within 48 hours and bring in 15,000 people a week following criticism that those seeking safety from the war in Britain have faced long delays.
Lord Harrington of Watford said he has set himself the ambitious targets after he admitted that only “hundreds” of refugees have arrived in Britain under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
When the scheme was launched on March 18, it was estimated that the Home Office would be able to process 10,000 visas in the first week. The exact number of refugees who have arrived will be published this week.
The former Conservative MP said the process had been “far too slow”. He added: “We did not have and we’ve never had a proper system of administering the mass flow of people from abroad. The asylum system, the Syrian refugee programme, and everything else was based on a much smaller volume of people.”
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🔺Russian butchery in the ‘new Srebrenica’ fuels war crimes plea
Massacres of civilians on the outskirts of Kyiv have prompted new calls for President Putin to face war crimes prosecution as Ukraine declared the killings the “new Srebrenica”.
Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, said Britain would support a war crimes investigation by the International Criminal Court. “As Russian troops are forced into retreat, we are seeing increasing evidence of appalling acts by the invading forces in towns such as Irpin and Bucha,” Truss said, referring to the towns on the outskirts of Kyiv.
“Their indiscriminate attacks against innocent civilians during Russia’s illegal and unjustified invasion of Ukraine must be investigated as war crimes.”
Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to President Zelensky, said on Sunday that scores of civilian bodies had been found on the streets of Irpin, Bucha and Hostomel after the withdrawal of Russian troops. He compared the scene to “a horror movie”.
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Massacres of civilians on the outskirts of Kyiv have prompted new calls for President Putin to face war crimes prosecution as Ukraine declared the killings the “new Srebrenica”.
Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, said Britain would support a war crimes investigation by the International Criminal Court. “As Russian troops are forced into retreat, we are seeing increasing evidence of appalling acts by the invading forces in towns such as Irpin and Bucha,” Truss said, referring to the towns on the outskirts of Kyiv.
“Their indiscriminate attacks against innocent civilians during Russia’s illegal and unjustified invasion of Ukraine must be investigated as war crimes.”
Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to President Zelensky, said on Sunday that scores of civilian bodies had been found on the streets of Irpin, Bucha and Hostomel after the withdrawal of Russian troops. He compared the scene to “a horror movie”.
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🔺Civilians ‘shot in the streets’ as Russia accused of massacre in Bucha
Russia has been accused of genocide and world leaders demanded yesterday that President Putin face tougher sanctions and a war crimes prosecution after scores of civilians were massacred on the outskirts of Kyiv.
The killings in Bucha were discovered after Russian troops were forced to retreat from their attempt to encircle the capital. Many of the victims had had their hands bound and had been shot in the head or chest.
The Times visited the sites of two execution-style mass killings in Bucha yesterday: one behind an industrial building used by Russian troops as a base, the other in the basement of a children’s dormitory where men lay dead after being shot.
Other victims were left on the street where they fell and later moved by soldiers to two hastily dug mass graves in Bucha, some in body bags and others wrapped in sheets or placed shroudless in a slit trench and covered with earth.
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Russia has been accused of genocide and world leaders demanded yesterday that President Putin face tougher sanctions and a war crimes prosecution after scores of civilians were massacred on the outskirts of Kyiv.
The killings in Bucha were discovered after Russian troops were forced to retreat from their attempt to encircle the capital. Many of the victims had had their hands bound and had been shot in the head or chest.
The Times visited the sites of two execution-style mass killings in Bucha yesterday: one behind an industrial building used by Russian troops as a base, the other in the basement of a children’s dormitory where men lay dead after being shot.
Other victims were left on the street where they fell and later moved by soldiers to two hastily dug mass graves in Bucha, some in body bags and others wrapped in sheets or placed shroudless in a slit trench and covered with earth.
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🔺Muddled Russian troops can’t do basic tasks, says former US commander
Russia’s war is being run from Moscow, ensuring that the military lack clear instructions, with troops unable to perform the “most basic tasks” in Ukraine, one of the West’s most experienced combat commanders told The Times.
General David Petraeus, who led coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, said he had been watching the war with an increasing sense of bewilderment. He predicted that Russian command and control in Ukraine would get “even more muddled as units are withdrawn from around Kyiv”.
“There certainly does not appear to be the kind of unity of command and effort that we achieved in Iraq and Afghanistan, where one commander exercised operational control over all US and coalition forces, as well as over 100,000 civilian contractors in each theatre,” he said.
Petraeus, 69, said that troops on the ground in Ukraine had to wait for their orders from the Kremlin hundreds of miles away.
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Russia’s war is being run from Moscow, ensuring that the military lack clear instructions, with troops unable to perform the “most basic tasks” in Ukraine, one of the West’s most experienced combat commanders told The Times.
General David Petraeus, who led coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, said he had been watching the war with an increasing sense of bewilderment. He predicted that Russian command and control in Ukraine would get “even more muddled as units are withdrawn from around Kyiv”.
“There certainly does not appear to be the kind of unity of command and effort that we achieved in Iraq and Afghanistan, where one commander exercised operational control over all US and coalition forces, as well as over 100,000 civilian contractors in each theatre,” he said.
Petraeus, 69, said that troops on the ground in Ukraine had to wait for their orders from the Kremlin hundreds of miles away.
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Russian soldiers’ shame as priest discovers body rigged with explosives
Archpriest Piotr Pavlenko had just finished saying prayers over the body of one of Hostomel’s fallen and returned to his church when the townspeople burst in to tell him his friend Yriy was dead.
Yriy Pzylyko, the mayor, had been delivering food and medicines to civilians stranded by fighting when their humanitarian convoy came under fire from Russian snipers hidden in a multi-storey building.
When Pavlenko went to face down the soldiers to retrieve Pzylyko’s body, they took in his vestments and cross with something close to shame. “Don’t touch the body or it will explode and you’ll blow up with it,” a soldier shouted. Pavlenko shrank back.
As the priest would discover, the soldiers who killed Pzylyko and a driver, Ivan Zoryo, neither buried their bodies nor left them in peace. Instead, they came down from their hiding place to rig the newly-dead with explosives, hoping to kill those who came to recover them.
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Archpriest Piotr Pavlenko had just finished saying prayers over the body of one of Hostomel’s fallen and returned to his church when the townspeople burst in to tell him his friend Yriy was dead.
Yriy Pzylyko, the mayor, had been delivering food and medicines to civilians stranded by fighting when their humanitarian convoy came under fire from Russian snipers hidden in a multi-storey building.
When Pavlenko went to face down the soldiers to retrieve Pzylyko’s body, they took in his vestments and cross with something close to shame. “Don’t touch the body or it will explode and you’ll blow up with it,” a soldier shouted. Pavlenko shrank back.
As the priest would discover, the soldiers who killed Pzylyko and a driver, Ivan Zoryo, neither buried their bodies nor left them in peace. Instead, they came down from their hiding place to rig the newly-dead with explosives, hoping to kill those who came to recover them.
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🔺 Satellite images show bodies in Bucha before Russian retreat
Satellite imagery showing corpses scattered along the streets of Bucha appears to have debunked Russian claims that the civilians were placed on the streets after its forces had left the Kyiv suburb.
The Russian government had sought to deny responsibility after Ukrainian forces discovered dead civilians in the streets, some with their hands bound or with gunshot wounds to the head, as they retook the town on Friday.
In a Telegram post on Sunday, the ministry of defence in Moscow suggested that the bodies had been recently placed on the streets after “all Russian units withdrew completely from Bucha” on about March 30.
However, the satellite photographs, captured by Maxar Technologies and published by The New York Times, show that at least 11 of those had been on the street since March 11, when Russia, by its own account, was in control of the area.
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Satellite imagery showing corpses scattered along the streets of Bucha appears to have debunked Russian claims that the civilians were placed on the streets after its forces had left the Kyiv suburb.
The Russian government had sought to deny responsibility after Ukrainian forces discovered dead civilians in the streets, some with their hands bound or with gunshot wounds to the head, as they retook the town on Friday.
In a Telegram post on Sunday, the ministry of defence in Moscow suggested that the bodies had been recently placed on the streets after “all Russian units withdrew completely from Bucha” on about March 30.
However, the satellite photographs, captured by Maxar Technologies and published by The New York Times, show that at least 11 of those had been on the street since March 11, when Russia, by its own account, was in control of the area.
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🔺 Pillaging Russian troops send Ukrainian loot back home
Russian soldiers have been photographed wrapping up and sending looted e-scooters, washing machines and air conditioners to their families from a Belarusian post office.
Leaked CCTV video shows more than a dozen fighters in uniform packaging about 2,000kg worth of televisions, clothing, precious metals and other personal belongings that investigators claim were pillaged from Ukrainian homes.
There are widespread reports of invading forces stealing from occupied territories. One captured lieutenant was found to have hoarded iPhones, jewellery, watches and make-up.
Others, whose calls to their wives in Russia were intercepted by the Ukrainian intelligence officers, have been heard boasting about targeting apartments and using looted goods to pay off their mortgages.
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Russian soldiers have been photographed wrapping up and sending looted e-scooters, washing machines and air conditioners to their families from a Belarusian post office.
Leaked CCTV video shows more than a dozen fighters in uniform packaging about 2,000kg worth of televisions, clothing, precious metals and other personal belongings that investigators claim were pillaged from Ukrainian homes.
There are widespread reports of invading forces stealing from occupied territories. One captured lieutenant was found to have hoarded iPhones, jewellery, watches and make-up.
Others, whose calls to their wives in Russia were intercepted by the Ukrainian intelligence officers, have been heard boasting about targeting apartments and using looted goods to pay off their mortgages.
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🔺EU plans to seize Russian oil and gas revenues to rebuild Ukraine
The European Union is planning to seize a share of Russian energy revenues from gas and oil imports to Europe to pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Under the plan a chunk of revenues, which have totalled €19 billion since Russia invaded Ukraine, would be diverted from Russian energy companies to a special “escrow” bank account that has been set aside to be used for aid to Kyiv at a later date.
Ursula von der Leyen, the German president of the European Commission, signalled the escalation in sanctions as EU ambassadors meet today to discuss a ban on Russian coal imports and a possible timetable for a subsequent oil embargo.
“These sanctions will not be our last sanctions. Yes, we have now banned coal but now we have to look into oil. And we’ll have to look into the revenues that Russia gets from these fossil fuels,” she told the European parliament.
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The European Union is planning to seize a share of Russian energy revenues from gas and oil imports to Europe to pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Under the plan a chunk of revenues, which have totalled €19 billion since Russia invaded Ukraine, would be diverted from Russian energy companies to a special “escrow” bank account that has been set aside to be used for aid to Kyiv at a later date.
Ursula von der Leyen, the German president of the European Commission, signalled the escalation in sanctions as EU ambassadors meet today to discuss a ban on Russian coal imports and a possible timetable for a subsequent oil embargo.
“These sanctions will not be our last sanctions. Yes, we have now banned coal but now we have to look into oil. And we’ll have to look into the revenues that Russia gets from these fossil fuels,” she told the European parliament.
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🔺Russian commander ‘told soldiers to fire on Mariupol civilians’
A Russian commander ordered his soldiers to open fire and “take out” Ukrainian civilians near the besieged city of Mariupol, according to what Kyiv said was an intercepted radio conversation.
“There are two people coming out of the grove in civilian [clothes],” an unnamed Russian soldier says in an obscenity-strewn recording, which was made public by Ukraine’s SBU security service.
He also says that a vehicle has been spotted but it is unclear whether it is civilian or military. “Take them all f***ing out!” his superior screams in reply, adding that it was unimportant if there were non-combatants or not at the scene. “Off them all, f***!”
“Got it,” the soldier replies.
Judging by the soldiers’ comments, the incident is believed to have taken place in a village near Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov. The port on the Dnieper river has been under siege and near-constant bombardment by President Putin’s forces for 40 days.
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A Russian commander ordered his soldiers to open fire and “take out” Ukrainian civilians near the besieged city of Mariupol, according to what Kyiv said was an intercepted radio conversation.
“There are two people coming out of the grove in civilian [clothes],” an unnamed Russian soldier says in an obscenity-strewn recording, which was made public by Ukraine’s SBU security service.
He also says that a vehicle has been spotted but it is unclear whether it is civilian or military. “Take them all f***ing out!” his superior screams in reply, adding that it was unimportant if there were non-combatants or not at the scene. “Off them all, f***!”
“Got it,” the soldier replies.
Judging by the soldiers’ comments, the incident is believed to have taken place in a village near Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov. The port on the Dnieper river has been under siege and near-constant bombardment by President Putin’s forces for 40 days.
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🔺Rusich’s neo-Nazi mercenaries head for Kharkiv
A band of neo-Nazi Russian mercenaries led by a commander who boasted of cutting the ears off enemy corpses has been deployed in eastern Ukraine before an expected assault.
Fighters for Rusich, a force affiliated with the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group, were photographed near the Russian-Ukrainian border on Wednesday, crossing into the Kharkiv region near the village of Pletenivka in Z-marked vehicles.
The village is roughly 40 miles from Kharkiv, the second city, where Ukrainian defence officials expect a renewed assault by Russian forces in the coming days.
Rusich, founded in St Petersburg in 2014 by Aleksei Milchakov and Yan Petrovsky, is thought to consist of a few hundred mercenaries whose insignia is the valknut, an old Norse symbol appropriated by white supremacists.
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A band of neo-Nazi Russian mercenaries led by a commander who boasted of cutting the ears off enemy corpses has been deployed in eastern Ukraine before an expected assault.
Fighters for Rusich, a force affiliated with the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group, were photographed near the Russian-Ukrainian border on Wednesday, crossing into the Kharkiv region near the village of Pletenivka in Z-marked vehicles.
The village is roughly 40 miles from Kharkiv, the second city, where Ukrainian defence officials expect a renewed assault by Russian forces in the coming days.
Rusich, founded in St Petersburg in 2014 by Aleksei Milchakov and Yan Petrovsky, is thought to consist of a few hundred mercenaries whose insignia is the valknut, an old Norse symbol appropriated by white supremacists.
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🔺Dozens killed as Russia targets railway station in eastern Ukraine
At least 35 people are reported to have died and 100 injured as Russian missiles hit a crowded railway station being used to evacuate civilians in eastern Ukraine.
Thousands of people were at the railway station in Kramatorsk when it was hit by two Russian rockets this morning, the region’s governor said, adding that women and children were among the dead.
Details of trains leaving the city were being posted by Ukrainian authorities who suggested that the railway station had been targeted deliberately.
A message written in Russian on the side of the missile’s booster rocket, as shown in photographs, appeared to read: “For children.”
In other developments:
• Australia is sending 20 of its Bushmaster armoured personnel carriers to Kyiv and the vehicles have the words “United with Ukraine” stencilled on the side.
• Microsoft said it disrupted a Russian-linked hacking group that was targeting Ukrainian media organisations.
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At least 35 people are reported to have died and 100 injured as Russian missiles hit a crowded railway station being used to evacuate civilians in eastern Ukraine.
Thousands of people were at the railway station in Kramatorsk when it was hit by two Russian rockets this morning, the region’s governor said, adding that women and children were among the dead.
Details of trains leaving the city were being posted by Ukrainian authorities who suggested that the railway station had been targeted deliberately.
A message written in Russian on the side of the missile’s booster rocket, as shown in photographs, appeared to read: “For children.”
In other developments:
• Australia is sending 20 of its Bushmaster armoured personnel carriers to Kyiv and the vehicles have the words “United with Ukraine” stencilled on the side.
• Microsoft said it disrupted a Russian-linked hacking group that was targeting Ukrainian media organisations.
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🔺’The Russians are determined to kill our civilians and children too — they booby trap teddy bears’
They even booby-trapped the teddy bears,” says Oleksandr Yatsyna, trying to maintain his composure as he waits to go into the operating theatre in Kyiv.
“First we had the catastrophic injuries from the bombs, then the shooting, next the mines scattered along the roads but worst of all are the stuffed toys filled with explosives. They are targeting families. Be in no doubt, the Russians are determined to kill our civilians and children too.”
The partly British-trained surgeon is at the forefront of Ukraine’s medical response to President Putin’s invasion. Yatsyna, 39, sleeps and eats in the hospital to remain near his patients, listening to their horror stories each night on his rounds and absorbing their trauma.
“They want to terrify us with their barbarity but they don’t understand the more they try to frighten the people the braver they become.”
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They even booby-trapped the teddy bears,” says Oleksandr Yatsyna, trying to maintain his composure as he waits to go into the operating theatre in Kyiv.
“First we had the catastrophic injuries from the bombs, then the shooting, next the mines scattered along the roads but worst of all are the stuffed toys filled with explosives. They are targeting families. Be in no doubt, the Russians are determined to kill our civilians and children too.”
The partly British-trained surgeon is at the forefront of Ukraine’s medical response to President Putin’s invasion. Yatsyna, 39, sleeps and eats in the hospital to remain near his patients, listening to their horror stories each night on his rounds and absorbing their trauma.
“They want to terrify us with their barbarity but they don’t understand the more they try to frighten the people the braver they become.”
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🔺Single British men offer beds to female refugees
Ukrainian refugees using Facebook groups to seek a safe home in the UK are being put at risk of sexual exploitation, a Times investigation reveals.
Within minutes of posting a message on the largest Facebook group for UK hosts, an undercover Times reporter posing as Natalya, 22, from Kyiv was bombarded with inappropriate and sexually suggestive messages from men seeking relationships.
Some men lied about having several bedrooms in their one-bed homes while another proposed sharing a bed, writing: “I have a large bed. We could sleep together.” Another sent a voice note that said: “I am ready to help you and maybe you can help me also.”
Natalya posted that she was searching for a safe home and sponsorship on several Facebook groups, including UK Accommodation for Ukrainian refugees, which has 50,000 members.
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Ukrainian refugees using Facebook groups to seek a safe home in the UK are being put at risk of sexual exploitation, a Times investigation reveals.
Within minutes of posting a message on the largest Facebook group for UK hosts, an undercover Times reporter posing as Natalya, 22, from Kyiv was bombarded with inappropriate and sexually suggestive messages from men seeking relationships.
Some men lied about having several bedrooms in their one-bed homes while another proposed sharing a bed, writing: “I have a large bed. We could sleep together.” Another sent a voice note that said: “I am ready to help you and maybe you can help me also.”
Natalya posted that she was searching for a safe home and sponsorship on several Facebook groups, including UK Accommodation for Ukrainian refugees, which has 50,000 members.
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🔺Boris Johnson promises Zelensky more missiles and cash after clandestine trip to Kyiv
Boris Johnson secretly travelled to meet President Zelensky in Kyiv, where he promised new lethal aid for Ukraine including armoured vehicles and anti-ship missiles.
The prime minister left the UK on Friday evening with a small delegation of officials. He travelled through Europe before arriving at the Polish border yesterday morning.
He was then escorted onwards to the Ukrainian capital, where he began his visit by holding a one-to-one meeting with Zelensky.
It is the first time that Johnson has travelled to Ukraine since the invasion began on February 24 and came the day after Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, visited the Ukrainian president.
After Johnson’s visit, Downing Street announced that he had set out new military assistance of 120 armoured vehicles and new anti-ship missile systems to help defend key coastal ports.
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Boris Johnson secretly travelled to meet President Zelensky in Kyiv, where he promised new lethal aid for Ukraine including armoured vehicles and anti-ship missiles.
The prime minister left the UK on Friday evening with a small delegation of officials. He travelled through Europe before arriving at the Polish border yesterday morning.
He was then escorted onwards to the Ukrainian capital, where he began his visit by holding a one-to-one meeting with Zelensky.
It is the first time that Johnson has travelled to Ukraine since the invasion began on February 24 and came the day after Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, visited the Ukrainian president.
After Johnson’s visit, Downing Street announced that he had set out new military assistance of 120 armoured vehicles and new anti-ship missile systems to help defend key coastal ports.
READ MORE
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