A Russian oil tank near Ukraine’s northern border has caught fire after the military brought down a Ukrainian drone trying to attack targets in the town, a local official has claimed.
Alexander Bogomaz, governor of the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine and Belarus, said that while Russian forces had used electronic warfare to down the drone, its munitions had hit the Klintsy oil depot and caused a fire. Russian news outlet Tass has since claimed the fire is 1,000 square metres, adding that four fuel tanks are burning.
Unverified footage posted on social media has shown a huge column of smoke burning in the darkness alongside what looks like storage tanks.
Earlier on Friday, the Russian Defence Ministry (MoD) said it destroyed a Ukrainian drone in the skies over the Bryansk region.
It comes a day after Russian media outlets claimed a Ukrainian drone downed in Vladimir Putin’s hometown of St Petersburg, more than 600 miles from Kyiv, had also caused a fire after hitting an oil facility.
The Russian MoD claimed all drones had been intercepted but a Ukrainian military source said there had been “confirmed hits”.
Key Points
-
Oil depot in Russia’s Bryansk region catches fire after Ukrainian drone attack – governor
-
Ukraine targets Putin’s home city in rare attack
-
EU 27 states will provide further funds to Ukraine – Von der Leyen
Zelensky: UK-Ukraine relations will stay strong even if government changes
Friday 19 January 2024 22:05 , Jane Dalton
UK-Ukraine relations will stay strong whoever sits in Downing Street, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
The Ukrainian war-time leader also joked he has had a good relationship “with all your prime ministers”.
Rishi Sunak visited Kyiv last week to unveil a new £2.5 billion military aid package and vowed to continue to stand with the country in its fight against Russia.
Mr Zelensky told Channel 4 New: “The UK has been with us from those first days until now, and I have and had that with all your prime ministers…”
“There have been a few,” the interviewer interjected.
“Some, yeah,” the Ukrainian president laughed, before continuing: “But also with intelligence, we have very good relations.”
Asked whether that will continue even if the Tory Government is replaced at the general election this year, Mr Zelensky praised the UK’s “strong institutions”.
“So people can be changed but institutionally, historically, the relations between countries we have to save,” the Ukrainian president said.
Russian prosecutors seek lengthy prison terms for suspects in cases linked to the war in Ukraine
Friday 19 January 2024 21:00 , Tom Watling
A Russian court in Siberia on Friday sentenced a man to 19 years in prison for shooting a military enlistment officer while prosecutors in St. Petersburg asked for a 28-year sentence for a woman charged in the bombing of a cafe last April that killed a prominent military blogger, reports said.
The developments underscore the authorities’ determination to harshly punish anyone who acts against President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, especially those committing acts of violence, in the run-up to the presidential election in March that the Russian president is all but certain to win.
Russian prosecutors seek lengthy prison terms for suspects in cases linked to the war in Ukraine
Germany warns Putin could launch attack on Nato in less than a decade
Friday 19 January 2024 20:00 , Tom Watling
Vladimir Putin could launch an attack on Nato in the next five to eight years, Germany’s defence minister has said – with one top officer within the alliance even calling on nations to be ready for an all-out war with Moscow within two decades.
With the Russian president’s rhetoric towards Nato nations becoming increasingly hostile, conflict could come at any time.
“We hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day … so we have to take into account that Vladimir Putin might even attack a Nato country one day,” Boris Pistorius said.
Germany warns Putin could launch attack on Nato in less than a decade
NATO to start biggest wargames in decades next week, involving around 90,000 personnel
Friday 19 January 2024 19:00 , Tom Watling
NATO will launch next week its biggest military exercises in decades with around 90,000 personnel set to take part in months-long wargames aimed at showing that the alliance can defend all of its territory up to its border with Russia, top officers said Thursday.
The exercises come as Russia’s war on Ukraine bogs down. NATO as an organization is not directly involved in the conflict, except to supply Kyiv with non-lethal support, although many member countries send weapons and ammunition individually or in groups, and provide military training.
NATO to start biggest wargames in decades next week, involving around 90,000 personnel
Ukraine targets Putin’s hometown in ‘new phase’ of drone strikes against Russia
Friday 19 January 2024 18:00 , Tom Watling
Ukraine has targeted an oil facility in the Russian city of St Petersburg, more than 500 miles from the border, in a drone attack.
A Ukrainian military source said the assaults on Vladimir Putin’s hometown were part of a “new phase” of strikes, with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky having previously pledged to hit more targets inside Russia this year, with the goal of disrupting life and increasing the pressure on Mr Putin.
Kremlin state media claimed three drones were fired toward St Petersburg in the early hours of Thursday, with the Russian ministry of defence claiming that all had been intercepted. The Ukrainian military source, however, told Reuters: “There are confirmed hits. This is a new stage of work in this region.”
Ukraine targets Putin’s hometown in ‘new phase’ of strikes against Russia
Trump just killed the Ukraine-immigration agreement
Friday 19 January 2024 17:00 , Tom Watling
Republicans in Congress simultaneously got a flashback to life under Donald Trump’s presidency and a preview of what life will be like in the future should he re-take the White House, writes Eric Garcia.
Trump just killed the Ukraine-immigration agreement
More than 1,000 rally in Russian region in continuing protests over activist’s jailing
Friday 19 January 2024 16:00 , Tom Watling
More than 1,000 people rallied in the Russian region of Bashkortostan on Friday, continuing a series of protests triggered by the conviction and sentencing of a local activist and handing a new challenge to the Kremlin.
People gathered in the main square of Ufa, the main city of Bashkortostan, a region spread between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains, dancing and singing folk songs. Police initially didn’t intervene, but later rounded up about 10 participants as the crowd thinned in freezing temperatures, according to the independent Vyorstka and SOTAvision news outlets.
Protesters shouting “Shame!” tried to block a police bus carrying the detainees in the city of 1.1 million about 1,150 kilometers (700 miles) east of Moscow.
More than 1,000 rally in Russian region in continuing protests over activist’s jailing
US warns of Russian campaign to weaponise 2024 European elections against Ukraine
Friday 19 January 2024 15:15 , Tom Watling
Vladimir Putin is planning to wage information warfare to turn opinion in Europe against Ukraine this year as many European countries gear up for elections, a top US official said.
“Russia is hoping that the number of elections in Europe this year could change what has been a remarkable coalition and disciplined opposition to its war,” said Jamie Rubin, special envoy and coordinator for the Global Engagement Center (GEC).
The GEC is an agency of the State Department whose mission is to counter foreign state propaganda, as well as coordinating the US government’s public communications around counter-terrorism.
US warns of Russian campaign to weaponise 2024 European elections
Nato’s top officer warns of all out war with Russia
Friday 19 January 2024 14:47 , Tom Watling
Nato’s top officer has warned that the alliance must prepare for an all out war as it gets ready to launch its largest military exercise in decades.
Lieutenant Admiral Rob Bauer, Chair of the NATO Military Committee, said it was no longer a given that Europe was at peace as Vladimir Putin continued to wage war on Nato’s doorstep against a country attempting to join the alliance.
“We have to realise it’s not a given that we are at peace. And that’s why we [Nato forces] are preparing for a conflict with Russia,” he told reporters.
“But the discussion is much wider. It is also the industrial base and also the people that have to understand they play a role.”
It comes as Nato will launch its biggest military exercises in decades next week, with around 90,000 personnel set to take part in months of drills aimed at showing the alliance can defend all of its territory up to its border with Russia, top officers said.
The exercises – dubbed Steadfast Defender 24 – “will show that Nato can conduct and sustain complex multi-domain operations over several months, across thousands of kilometres, from the High North to Central and Eastern Europe, and in any condition,” the 31-nation organisation said.
Germany warns Putin could launch attack on Nato in less than a decade
Friday 19 January 2024 14:20 , Tom Watling
Vladimir Putin could launch an attack on Nato in the next five to eight years, Germany’s defence minister has said – with the warning coming in the wake of a top officer within the alliance calling on nations to be ready for an all-out war with Moscow within two decades.
With the Russian president’s increasingly hostile rhetoric towards Nato nations as his almost two-year invasion of Ukraine grinds on, and states bordering Russian on high alert, conflict could come at any time.
“We hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day… so we have to take into account that Vladimir Putin might even attack a Nato country one day,” Mr Pistorius said.
Germany warns Putin could launch attack on Nato in less than a decade
Russian prosecutor asks court to jail woman accused of killing war blogger for 28 years – RIA
Friday 19 January 2024 13:51 , Tom Watling
A Russian state prosecutor on Friday asked a court to jail Darya Trepova, a woman accused of killing a prominent military blogger by blowing him up at Ukraine‘s behest, to 28 years in jail, the RIA news agency reported.
Pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was killed by a bomb hidden in a figurine that Trepova, 26, gave him at a cafe in St Petersburg where he was giving a talk to an audience of up to 100 people in April last year.
The figurine was a crude likeness of Tatarsky, who accepted it as a gift. Witnesses told the court that he had jokingly called it “Golden Vladlen” and turned it over in his hands before it had exploded, killing him on the spot and injuring dozens.
At the last court hearing on Jan. 16, Trepova told the court that she had believed that the package she handed to him had contained a listening device, not a bomb.
Trepova said she was acting under orders from a man in Ukraine whom she knew as “Gestalt” (German for “Shape”), who had been sending her money and instructions for several months before the killing.
Russia accused Ukraine immediately after the attack of organising Tatarsky’s murder. Senior Ukrainian officials have neither claimed responsibility nor denied involvement, with presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak describing it as “internal terrorism”.
Here are some of the latest pictures from the fire at an oil facility in Russia
Friday 19 January 2024 12:36 , Tom Watling
Below are some of the latest photos from the fire resulting from a drone explosion in a Russian town near the border with Ukraine.
Ukraine needs money from the US and Europe to keep its economy running. Will the aid come?
Friday 19 January 2024 12:00 , Tom Watling
Ukraine’s hard-won economic stability is under threat again as the government faces a large budget hole and its two biggest allies and sponsors — the United States and the European Union — have so far failed to decide on extending more aid.
Without pledges of support by the start of February — when EU leaders meet to decide on aid — and if no money arrives by March, that could risk the progress Ukraine has made against inflation. It has helped ordinary people keep paying rent, put food on the table and resist Russia‘s efforts to break their society’s spirit.
Ukraine needs money from the US and Europe to keep its economy running. Will the aid come?
Top NATO military officer urges allies and leaders to plan for the unexpected in Ukraine
Friday 19 January 2024 11:30 , Tom Watling
Ukraine is locked in an existential battle for its survival almost two years into its war with Russia and Western armies and political leaders must drastically change the way they help it fend off invading forces, a top NATO military officer said on Wednesday.
At a meeting of the 31-nation alliance’s top brass, the chair of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Bob Bauer, also said that behind President Vladimir Putin’s rationale for the war is a fear of democracy, in a year marked by elections around the world.
Top NATO military officer urges allies and leaders to plan for the unexpected in Ukraine
Kremlin says there is no prospect of reviving Black Sea grain deal, warns on other routes
Friday 19 January 2024 11:04 , Tom Watling
The Kremlin has said there is no prospect of reviving the Black Sea grain deal and that alternative routes for shipping Ukrainian grain carried huge risks.
The original deal, which facilitated safe grain exports from Ukraine via the Black Sea, expired last year after Moscow refused to renew it, saying its own interests had been ignored.
Trump just killed the Ukraine-immigration agreement
Friday 19 January 2024 10:30 , Tom Watling
Republicans in Congress simultaneously got a flashback to life under Donald Trump’s presidency and a preview of what life will be like in the future should he re-take the White House, writes Eric Garcia.
Trump just killed the Ukraine-immigration agreement
Nato admiral says alliance should be ready for all-out war with Russia within 20 years
Friday 19 January 2024 10:02 , Tom Watling
Nato nations must be ready for an all-out war with Russia within the next 20 years, a senior official of the alliance’s military committee warned.
Rob Bauer, a Dutch admiral, warned that a large number of civilians will have to be mobilised if a wider war breaks out in Europe and the process of recruiting much larger reserve forces should be put in place by governments now.
Adm Bauer chairs the alliance’s committee of national armed forces chiefs, and was speaking after a meeting of the committee in Brussels.
Russia’s foreign minister rejects a US proposal to resume talks on nuclear arms control
Friday 19 January 2024 09:30 , Tom Watling
Russia’s top diplomat dismissed the United States proposal to resume a dialogue on nuclear arms control, saying Thursday that it’s impossible while Washington offers military support to Ukraine.
Speaking at an annual news conference, Sergey Lavrov accused the West of fueling global security risks by encouraging Ukraine to ramp up strikes on the Russian territory and warned that Moscow will achieve its goals in the conflict regardless of Western support for Kyiv.
Russia’s foreign minister rejects a US proposal to resume talks on nuclear arms control
Russian parliament to ask French counterpart if it knew of ‘French mercenaries’ in Ukraine – official
Friday 19 January 2024 09:01 , Tom Watling
The lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, plans to formally ask France’s National Assembly if it is aware that French mercenaries have been fighting on Ukraine‘s side, Vyacheslav Volodin, the Duma’s chairman, said on Friday.
Volodin, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, made the statement after the Russian Defence Ministry said on Wednesday that its forces had killed more than 60 foreign mercenaries, mostly French citizens, in a strike on a building in Kharkiv. It did not provide evidence to back the assertion.
France rejected the allegations, saying it was helping Ukraine defend its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity but had no mercenaries in Ukraine “unlike certain others”.
“In France, the mercenary trade is forbidden by law,” Volodin wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
“It is important for us to know whether they (French lawmakers) are aware that someone, violating the law, is sending fighters to fight in Ukraine.”
The Duma would consider its address to the French parliament at the next meeting of the lower chamber of parliament which is scheduled for 23 January, he said.
Russia announced on Thursday it had summoned the French ambassador to the Foreign Ministry over the mercenary allegations.
US warns of Russian campaign to weaponise 2024 European elections against Ukraine
Friday 19 January 2024 08:23 , Tom Watling
Vladimir Putin is planning to wage information warfare to turn opinion in Europe against Ukraine this year as many European countries gear up for elections, a top US official said.
“Russia is hoping that the number of elections in Europe this year could change what has been a remarkable coalition and disciplined opposition to its war,” said Jamie Rubin, special envoy and coordinator for the Global Engagement Center (GEC).
The GEC is an agency of the State Department whose mission is to counter foreign state propaganda, as well as coordinating the US government’s public communications around counter-terrorism.
US warns of Russian campaign to weaponise 2024 European elections
North Korea envoy returns after meeting Putin in Moscow
Friday 19 January 2024 07:50 , Tom Watling
North Korea’s foreign minister returned from Russia on Friday after a rare official visit and meeting with President Vladimir Putin as part of closer cooperation that Washington said could drastically change the security threat posed by Pyongyang.
Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui and a government delegation returned home on Friday, official news agency KCNA said without elaborating on her meetings in Moscow.
Earlier this week, KCNA said Choe and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed strengthening the “strategic and tactical cooperation” and implementing the agreement between their leaders to forge closer ties when they met in September.
Choe’s visit was the latest in a series of high-level exchanges since last year amid growing criticism of Pyongyang’s role in the Ukraine war by allegedly shipping artillery and missiles to Russia.
Both North Korea and Russia deny the accusation and also the charge that Pyongyang was receiving advanced technology for developing strategic military capability from Moscow in return.
Recent exchange between North Korea and Russia is “an unprecedented level of cooperation in the military sphere,” White House senior director for arms control Pranay Vaddi said on Thursday.
“I think the nature of North Korea as a threat in the region could drastically change over the coming decade as a result of this cooperation,” Mr Vaddi said.
Oil depot in Russia’s Bryansk region catches fire after Ukrainian drone attack – governor
Friday 19 January 2024 07:21 , Tom Watling
Oil tanks at a storage facility in the town of Klintsy in Russia’s Bryansk region caught fire after the military brought down a Ukrainian drone trying to attack targets in the town, Alexander Bogomaz, the regional governor, has said.
According to preliminary information, nobody had been hurt in the incident, Bogomaz said, adding that the fire was being put out by firefighting teams.
“An aeroplane-style drone was brought down by the defence ministry using radio-electronic means. When the aerial target was destroyed, its munitions were dropped on the territory of the Klintsy oil depot,” Bogomaz wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Unverified footage (posted below) showed a fire burning in the darkness alongwise what looked like storage tanks.
Earlier on Friday, the Russian Defence Ministry had said it had destroyed a Ukrainian drone in the skies over the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine.
Russian oil storage facilities in Klintsy, Bryansk region, were attacked by Ukrainian drones.
(52.7365241, 32.2380006) pic.twitter.com/VI92gaNJka— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) January 19, 2024
US sanctions a United Arab Emirates shipping firm for allegedly violating Russian oil price cap
Friday 19 January 2024 06:30 , Barney Davis
The U.S. on Thursday hit a United Arab Emirates shipping firm with sanctions after it transported Russian crude oil above the $60 per barrel price cap.
This is Treasury’s first oil price cap enforcement action of 2024 — imposed on Hennesea Holdings Limited and its 18 vessels that the U.S. Treasury now considers blocked property. U.S. firms and people can no longer conduct business with them.
“Today’s actions once again demonstrate that anyone who violates the price cap will face the consequences,” said Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo. “No one should doubt our coalition’s commitment to stopping those who help the Kremlin.”
US sanctions a United Arab Emirates shipping firm for allegedly violating Russian oil price cap
Russia’s intense attacks on Ukraine has sharply increased civilian casualties in December, UN says
Friday 19 January 2024 05:49 , Barney Davis
Russia’s intense missile and drone attacks across Ukraine in recent weeks sharply increased civilian casualties in December with over 100 killed and nearly 500 injured, the United Nations said in a new report Tuesday.
The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said there was a 26.5% increase in civilian casualties last month – from 468 in November to 592 in December. With some reports still pending verification, it said, the increase was likely higher.
Russia’s intense attacks on Ukraine has sharply increased civilian casualties in December, UN says
Brit fighter returns to frontline after dodging Russian death penalty threat
Friday 19 January 2024 04:32 , Barney Davis
A British prisoner has re-appeared back on the frontline after being handed a death sentence by Russian authorities as a POW.
British fighter Aiden Aslin was captured by Russian-backed separatists while defending the city of Mariupol.
Aslin was beaten, stabbed and forced to sing the Russian national anthem while held in detention. On 9 June 2022, he was sentenced to death by the separatists for “mercenary activities” — despite being members of the Ukrainian military, which should have afforded him protection from prosecution under the Geneva Conventions.
The pair were released in a prisoner exchange brokered by Saudi Arabia.
Russia preparing to ban Britain from fishing for cod and haddock in Barents Sea
Friday 19 January 2024 03:38 , Barney Davis
Russia is preparing legislation to ban British fishermen from the Barents Sea, one of the biggest fisheries for cod and haddock in the world, according to a major Russian newspaper.
Vladimir Putin’s government is in favour of draft legislation submitted by the agriculture ministry that would see Russia pulling out of a Soviet-era fishing agreement that allowed British vessels to operate in the sea, according to Izvestiya.
The 1956 fisheries agreement came as part of concerted diplomatic efforts to ease post-war tensions with the West, and allowed British vessels to fish for seafood along the coast of the Russian Kola Peninsula, east of Cape Kanin Nos, off Kolguev Island and the small islands in the Barents Sea.
Russia preparing to ban Britain from fishing for cod and haddock in Barents Sea
Parts of Crimea under blackout
Friday 19 January 2024 01:00 , Barney Davis
Parts of Crimea, annexed by Russian troops in 2014, were left without electricity on the evening of 18 January, Reuters has reported. Later, the Russian Energy Ministry said power was restored.
According to the occupation authorities, the blackout was caused by an emergency shutdown of a power plant in Balaklava, which resulted from an interruption of its gas supply. However, what caused the malfunction was not clear.
Since Russia annexed the peninsula, Crimea has served as one of the largest Russian military bases used by the occupiers to strike peaceful Ukrainian cities and villages.
Crimea suffers blackout in areas under Russian control
Friday 19 January 2024 00:08 , Barney Davis
Parts of Crimea, annexed by Russian troops in 2014, were left without electricity on the evening of 18 January, Reuters has reported.
Reports say the blackout was caused by an emergency shutdown of a power plant in Balaklava, which resulted from an interruption of its gas supply.
The cause of the interruption is not clear later, the Russian Energy Ministry said power was restored.
Since Russia annexed the peninsula, Crimea has served as one of the largest Russian military bases used by the occupiers to strike peaceful Ukrainian cities and villages.
Family want son’s death in Ukraine to be recognised as war crime
Thursday 18 January 2024 23:00 , Barney Davis
New Zealand aid worker Andrew Bagshaw was killed in the Soledar region of Ukraine a year ago as he helped evacuate civilians from the Ukraine conflict.
Post-mortem reports found that Andrew Bagshaw was killed by gunshot wounds to the head and other parts of the body – rather than the official explanation of their death, which was that their vehicle was hit by artillery fire.
Coroner Darren Salter, at the Oxfordshire’s Coroners Court, cited some evidence that the Wagner group – a Russian-state funded private military company – was involved in the killing.
“The next step is getting it recognised as a war crime,” Bagshaw told Morning Report.
“The important thing now is that we need to get actual evidence.”
Putin’s move threatens Fish and Chips
Thursday 18 January 2024 22:07 , Barney Davis
As much as 40% of the cod and haddock eaten in the UK comes from Russian territory in the Barents sea, north of Russia and Norway and south of the Arctic.
Andrew Crook, president of the UK’s National Federation of Fish Friers, said the war in Ukraine had already made things difficult for businesses that rely on fish for the past two years.
The UK and Russia have a decades-long agreement that allows British ships to fish but the Russian agriculture ministry has drafted a bill that would see the deal – originally agreed in 1956 – torn up, Russian media have reported.
Zelensky grateful for countries stopping Russia from getting around sanctions
Thursday 18 January 2024 21:01 , Barney Davis
In a video address on Thursday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said all Russian missiles have dozens of critical components produced abroad, and many of them are made by companies from the free world.
“We continue our communication with partners on sanctions against Russia – their full effect. All of our diplomatic representatives must step up their efforts to ensure that our partners respond more actively to every instance of Russia’s circumvention of sanctions.”
The president stated that Oleksandr Lytvynenko, Head of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service, released a report on this subject today that set out clear facts.
“So blocking the ways Russia circumvents sanctions is literally blocking terror. I am grateful to all partners who understand this and to everyone in the world who helps us in this work,” Zelensky said.
Russia bans ‘Glory to Ukraine’ slogan
Thursday 18 January 2024 20:34 , Barney Davis
The Russian Ministry of Justice included the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and its slogan “Glory to Ukraine – glory to heroes,”.
The Russian Ministry of Justice writes that they also banned the emblem of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists “in the form of a stylized golden trident, the middle element of which is made in the form of a sharp sword”, and “a black equilateral triangle facing up”.
The ban on the demonstration of those symbols is explained by the fact that the OUN, the Ukrainian People’s Revolutionary Army, the UPA and the Ukrainian People’s Self-Defence were included in the list of Nazi organisations.
Fines of up to RUB 2,000 (approx. US$23) or administrative detention for up to 15 days are imposed for “propaganda or public demonstration” of these organisations’ symbols.
Ukraine working ‘intensively’ to restore air travel
Thursday 18 January 2024 19:10 , Barney Davis
Ukraine is working “intensively” with partners to restore air travel suspended for nearly two years, with the main focus on Boryspil International Airport outside the capital Kyiv, a presidential official said on Thursday.
Ukraine’s airspace was abruptly closed by Russia’s invasion in February 2022 due to the security risk for civil aviation and anyone visiting has to make their way by road or rail from a neighbouring country.
Kyiv sees a restoration of air travel as a goal towards victory for the economy.
“I don’t want to create over-expectations … but I can tell you we are working very intensively to recover the air connection in Ukraine,” Rostyslav Shurma, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said during a panel discussion in Davos.
US wary Russia will meddle with elections
Thursday 18 January 2024 18:37 , Barney Davis
The United States believes Russia will conduct “information operations” aimed at turning opinion in Europe against Ukraine as countries across the continent go to the polls this year, the head of the State Department’s office for disinformation said on Thursday.
Dozens of countries worldwide will elect new leaders in 2024, including votes in Britain, Austria and Georgia, as well as European parliament elections in June.
Jamie Rubin, special envoy and coordinator for the Global Engagement Center (GEC), told reporters that U.S. adversary Russia, as well as China, was working around the world to pass off state propaganda as independent journalism by hiding its true source.
Rubin did not cite specific countries where he has concerns, but said the main threats this year were in Europe, which initially united in opposition to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and has provided Ukraine with military and other aid.
“Russia is hoping that the number of elections in Europe this year could change what has been a remarkable coalition and disciplined opposition to its war,” said Rubin.
“We do believe that the Russians will conduct information operations throughout Europe to try to change opinion on Ukraine during this election season,” he added.
France denies Russian claim of mercenaries in Ukraine
Thursday 18 January 2024 18:05 , Barney Davis
“France helps Ukraine with supplies of military material and military training, in full compliance with international law, in order to help Ukraine in its fight to defend its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity,” France’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs said on Thursday.
“France has no mercenaries, neither in Ukraine nor elsewhere, unlike certain others,” it added.
It came after Russia summoned French ambassador Pierre Levy, to its foreign ministry in Moscow regarding alleged French mercenaries, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
33,000 Ukrainian soldiers have now been trained via the UK-led Operation Interflex.
Thursday 18 January 2024 17:24 , Barney Davis
Recruits taking part in Operation Interflex undergo an intense five-week programme learning the international laws of armed conflict, trench warfare, urban fighting, weapons handling and firing, medical training and dealing with explosives.
The courses, which are being held at sites across the UK, will harness the Ukrainians’ “offensive spirit” and give them the skills to fight effectively and survive despite coming in with little or no experience, a senior officer said.
NATO is launching its largest exercise since the Cold War
Thursday 18 January 2024 17:17 , Barney Davis
Some 90,000 troops are due to join the Steadfast Defender 2024 drills that will run through May, the alliance’s top commander Chris Cavoli said on Thursday.
More than 50 ships from aircraft carriers to destroyers will take part, as well as more than 80 fighter jets, helicopters and drones and at least 1,100 combat vehicles including 133 tanks and 533 infantry fighting vehicles, NATO said.
Cavoli said the drills would rehearse NATO’s execution of its regional plans, the first defence plans the alliance has drawn up in decades, detailing how it would respond to a Russian attack.
NATO did not mention Russia by name in its announcement. But its top strategic document identifies Russia as the most significant and direct threat to NATO members’ security.
Ukraine targets Putin’s hometown in ‘new phase’ of drone strikes against Russia
Thursday 18 January 2024 16:33 , Barney Davis
Ukraine has targeted an oil facility in the Russian city of St Petersburg, more than 500 miles from the border, in a drone attack.
A Ukrainian military source said the assaults on Vladimir Putin’s hometown were part of a “new phase” of strikes, with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky having previously pledged to hit more targets inside Russia this year, with the goal of disrupting life and increasing the pressure on Mr Putin.
Kremlin state media claimed three drones were fired toward St Petersburg in the early hours of Thursday, with the Russian ministry of defence claiming that all had been intercepted. The Ukrainian military source, however, told Reuters: “There are confirmed hits. This is a new stage of work in this region.”
Tom Watling reports:
Ukraine targets Putin’s hometown in ‘new phase’ of strikes against Russia
Germany to develop short-range air defence system to replace retired Gepard tanks
Thursday 18 January 2024 16:15 , Tom Watling
Germany will order the development of a short-range air defence system for some 1.3 billion euros ($1.4 billion) to plug a gap in its defences that became apparent after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and replace its long-retired Gepard tanks among other equipment.
The German budget committee on Thursday approved the deal with a consortium consisting of Rheinmetall, Diehl and Hensoldt despite a five-fold price hike criticised by the federal court of auditors, several participants told Reuters.
Short-range air defence systems are meant to protect troops on the tactical level, for example during deployment operations or while they are on the move, against missile and drone attacks as well as low-flying aircraft.
The companies’ main task will be to develop an air defence system for short ranges starting from three kilometres and very short ranges below that where the threat is posed mainly by small drones.
The very short-range system is likely to be based on Rheinmetall’s Skyranger 30, a 30mm canon mounted on the Boxer APC, with the vehicles still to be procured. Targets beyond three kilometres are meant to be tackled by Diehl’s IRIS-T SLS system.
In the past, Germany had mainly relied on the Gepard anti-aircraft tank for very short-range air defence of up to three kilometres, a weapon that since has become famous in the war in Ukraine. Berlin retired its Gepards in 2010 to save money.
The companies’ second job will be to enable the linking-up of this system with Diehl’s IRIS-T SLM medium-range air defences which Berlin has already ordered, to build a broader, multi-layered protective umbrella.
Hensoldt will supply the radars for the system which is expected to be ready from 2026 or 2027.
Russia summons French ambassador after report of mercenaries in Ukraine – TASS
Thursday 18 January 2024 15:47 , Tom Watling
Russia summoned the French ambassador to the foreign ministry on Thursday, a day after Moscow said its forces had killed French mercenaries in Ukraine.
Russia said on Wednesday its forces had carried out a precision strike a day earlier on a building housing “foreign fighters” in Ukraine‘s second city Kharkiv.
“In connection with the destruction by the Russian armed forces of a temporary deployment point of foreign fighters in Kharkiv, among whom were several dozen Frenchmen, the French ambassador has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry,” state-run TASS news agency quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying.
France has denied claims made earlier by Russia that there were French mercenaries in Ukraine, as it responded to a statement made earlier this week by Russia’s defence ministry that Russia had killed French mercenaries in Kharkiv.
“France helps Ukraine with supplies of military material and military training, in full compliance with international law, in order to help Ukraine in its fight to defend its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity,” said the French foreign ministry.
“France has no mercenaries, neither in Ukraine nor elsewhere, unlike certain others,” it added.
Russia’s foreign minister rejects a US proposal to resume talks on nuclear arms control
Thursday 18 January 2024 15:17 , Tom Watling
Russia’s top diplomat dismissed the United States proposal to resume a dialogue on nuclear arms control, saying Thursday that it’s impossible while Washington offers military support to Ukraine.
Speaking at an annual news conference, Sergey Lavrov accused the West of fueling global security risks by encouraging Ukraine to ramp up strikes on the Russian territory and warned that Moscow will achieve its goals in the conflict regardless of Western support for Kyiv.
Commenting on a U.S. proposal to resume contacts in the sphere of nuclear arms control, Lavrov said that Moscow has rejected the offer. He said that for such talks to be held, Washington first needs to revise its current policy toward Russia.
Russia’s foreign minister rejects a US proposal to resume talks on nuclear arms control
Top NATO military official: recent Russia attacks in Ukraine not militarily effective
Thursday 18 January 2024 14:44 , Tom Watling
Russia’s recent attacks in Ukraine are not militarily effective, said the chief of NATO’s Military Committee, Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer, on Thursday.
“While Russia’s most recent attacks are devastating, they are not militarily effective,” said Bauer.
Russian prosecutor seeks long jail term for nationalist Putin critic Girkin
Thursday 18 January 2024 13:51 , Tom Watling
A Russian state prosecutor asked a Moscow court on Thursday to jail prominent nationalist Igor Girkin, who accuses President Vladimir Putin and the army top brass of not pursuing the Ukraine war effectively enough, for nearly five years.
State prosecutors accuse Girkin, who is regarded in the West as a war criminal over the 2014 shooting down of a passenger plane over eastern Ukraine, of inciting extremism, something he denies.
His case is being closely watched as an indication of how far the Kremlin will tolerate aggressive criticism of its war effort in Ukraine, something it calls a “special military operation”.
The Moscow court hearing his case said in a statement on Thursday that the state prosecutor had asked that Girkin be jailed for four years and 11 months in a prison colony and handed a three-year ban on using the internet.
A verdict in the case is expected on 25 January.
Girkin, 53, who had publicly entertained ideas about running against Putin in an upcoming presidential election, was remanded in custody in July last year.
NATO accession looks to be ‘not a priority’ for Sweden, Hungary says
Thursday 18 January 2024 13:05 , Tom Watling
Sweden has not done anything to boost confidence in its suitability for NATO membership, and has given the impression that joining the alliance is not a priority for the country, an aide to Hungary’s prime minister has said.
Sweden applied to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in May 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but the accession process, which requires the approval of all existing members, has been held up by Turkey and Hungary.
Ratification has been stranded in the Hungarian parliament for more than a year, with Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s ruling nationalists saying there is no threat to Sweden’s security and citing what they call undue Swedish allegations that they have eroded democracy in Hungary.
Sweden was “not taking any steps to strengthen trust in order for our relationship to become one of allies and friends”, Gergely Gulyas, Orban’s chief of staff, told a briefing.
“This relationship is one of allies legally right now, but it cannot be considered friendly, thus I need to conclude that it is not a priority for Sweden to join NATO quickly at all today.”
Gulyas suggested that Sweden’s foreign minister or prime minister should “get in touch and ask what concerns the Hungarian parliament has” about Sweden’s NATO accession.
Replying to a reporter’s question, he said Hungary wanted to avoid being the last country to ratify Sweden’s NATO accession, but “we will probably not manage to do so without Sweden’s help. Why should it be important to me if it is not important to Sweden?”
Orban’s government, which has maintained warm ties with Moscow despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has repeatedly promised that it will not be the last to ratify the Nordic country’s bid.
Hungary’s parliament, currently on a winter break, will resume its work some time around mid-February.
The Turkish parliament’s general assembly may debate Sweden’s NATO membership bid in the coming weeks, the ruling AK Party’s parliamentary group chairman said last week.
Russia’s intense attacks on Ukraine has sharply increased civilian casualties in December, UN says
Thursday 18 January 2024 12:35 , Tom Watling
Russia’s intense missile and drone attacks across Ukraine in recent weeks sharply increased civilian casualties in December with over 100 killed and nearly 500 injured, the United Nations said in a new report Tuesday.
The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said there was a 26.5% increase in civilian casualties last month – from 468 in November to 592 in December. With some reports still pending verification, it said, the increase was likely higher.
Danielle Bell who heads the U.N.’s monitoring mission. said: “Civilian casualties had been steadily decreasing in 2023 but the wave of attacks i n late December and early January violently interrupted that trend.”
Russia’s intense attacks on Ukraine has sharply increased civilian casualties in December, UN says
Ukraine diplomat says talks underway on UN-brokered grain deal
Thursday 18 January 2024 12:05 , Tom Watling
Ukraine‘s ambassador to Turkey has said that “certain negotiations” were underway regarding a United Nations-brokered grain export initiative which was shut down in the summer of 2023.
“Unfortunately, this grain initiative is not functioning at the moment, although certain negotiations are ongoing to find a format for possible assistance from international partners to Ukraine,” Vasyl Bodnar told a online briefing.
Ukraine needs money from the US and Europe to keep its economy running. Will the aid come?
Thursday 18 January 2024 11:37 , Tom Watling
Ukraine’s hard-won economic stability is under threat again as the government faces a large budget hole and its two biggest allies and sponsors — the United States and the European Union — have so far failed to decide on extending more aid.
Without pledges of support by the start of February — when EU leaders meet to decide on aid — and if no money arrives by March, that could risk the progress Ukraine has made against inflation. It has helped ordinary people keep paying rent, put food on the table and resist Russia‘s efforts to break their society’s spirit.
Ukraine needs money from the US and Europe to keep its economy running. Will the aid come?
France ramps up weapons production for Ukraine and says Russia is scrutinizing the West’s mettle
Thursday 18 January 2024 11:10 , Tom Watling
French manufacturers have reduced the manufacturing times for some of the weapons systems they supply to Ukraine by half or more, as France increasingly switches away from its previous policy of dipping into its own military stocks to support the war effort against Russia‘s invasion, France’s defense minister said in an interview published Thursday.
“The logic of ceding materiel taken from the armies’ stocks is reaching its end,” the minister, Sébastien Lecornu, said in the interview with Le Parisien. “From now on, the solution is to directly connect French defense industries with the Ukrainian army.”
France ramps up weapons production for Ukraine and says Russia is scrutinizing the West’s mettle
Cyberattack on Ukraine’s Kyivstar will cost parent Veon almost £79m in sales
Thursday 18 January 2024 10:46 , Tom Watling
Veon, the parent company of Ukraine‘s largest mobile operator Kyivstar, will take a hit of around 3.6 billion hryvnias ($95 million) in revenue in 2024 due to a massive cyberattack in December, the Dutch telecoms group has estimated.
The estimated lost revenue is associated with measures Kyivstar has taken to compensate customers for inconveniences caused by the disruptions, Veon said.
The cyberattack was the largest since Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022, knocking out services including mobile phone, damaging IT infrastructure in several regions, and putting people at risk of not receiving air raid alerts.
VEON said it does not expect a material financial impact for its consolidated results for the year ended Dec 31. 2023, and instead will push the costs to the current year.
“Kyivstar plans to continue its remediation and compensation efforts in the coming months. The costs or loss of revenue of any other such remediation measures is uncertain and cannot be reasonably estimated at this time,” Veon said in a statement.
Ukraine military source claims drone hit St Petersburg oil facility
Thursday 18 January 2024 10:22 , Tom Watling
A Ukrainian attack on Vladimir Putin’s home city overnight, the first of its kind, successfuly hit its target, a Ukrainian military source has claimed.
A Russian-appointed official in occupied southeastern Ukraine said earlier that Ukraine had tried and failed to target a Russian Baltic Sea oil terminal with a drone overnight.
Speaking to Reuters, the source said: “There are confirmed hits. This is a new stage of work in this region.”
Russia preparing to ban Britain from fishing for cod and haddock in Barents Sea
Thursday 18 January 2024 09:35 , Tom Watling
Russia is preparing legislation to ban British fishermen from the Barents Sea, one of the biggest fisheries for cod and haddock in the world, according to a major Russian newspaper.
Vladimir Putin’s government is in favour of draft legislation submitted by the agriculture ministry that would see Russia pulling out of a Soviet-era fishing agreement that allowed British vessels to operate in the sea, according to Izvestiya.
Russia preparing to ban Britain from fishing for cod and haddock in Barents Sea
Russia says Ukraine-UK security deal won’t stop it achieving goals
Thursday 18 January 2024 09:03 , Tom Watling
Russia is not against a security agreement between Britain and Ukraine, but will continue to strive to achieve the goals of its “special military operation” in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.
He was referring to an agreement signed during a visit to Kyiv last week by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the agreement included help with weapons, intelligence, and cyber know-how for Ukraine, as well as sanctions and other punitive actions against Russia.
Former Nato chief ‘sceptical’ about US aid for Ukraine continuing under Trump
Thursday 18 January 2024 08:40 , Tom Watling
A former Nato secretary general has said he was “sceptical” about the US continuing to provide military aid for Ukraine if Donald Trump was re-elected as president.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen told PBS Newshour on Wednesday that it was detrimental for America’s national security interests for Russia to win the war against Ukraine. “We cannot allow (Vladimir) Putin any success in Ukraine.”
He was asked about US aid for Ukraine that has been held up by Congress, as Republicans seek to force the Democrats into passing tougher immigration controls.
Former Nato chief ‘sceptical’ about US aid for Ukraine continuing under Trump
Hungary says it is far from agreement with EU on Ukraine aid
Thursday 18 January 2024 07:56 , Tom Watling
Hungary is far from reaching an agreement with the European Union on aid for Ukraine, the Hungarian prime minister’s Chief of Staff Gergely Gulyas has said.
The country’s prime minister Viktor Orban has continually blocked further aid to Ukraine.
