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Russian forces clear out abandoned military equipment after Ukrainian troops' retreat from Avdiivka
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Ukrainian forces have repelled dozens of attacks across the 600-mile frontline over the past 24 hours, Kyiv has claimed, as well as shooting down multiple fighter jets.
The Ukrainian military said there had been Russian attacks in all five regions through which the frontline bisects. The largest concentration of attacks, however, was in Donetsk Oblast, notably around the Avdiivka area where Russia has made recent advances.
“The enemy continues active offensive actions in many areas of the front line. The situation is particularly tense in the Avdiivka and Zaporizhzhia sectors," Ukrainian military chief General Oleksandr Syrskyi said on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine has withdrawn from three towns this week around Avdiivka. They withdrew from the city itself on 17 February.
It comes as Ukraine’s military has claimed it shot down three more Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers overnight and into today, the latest successes it has reported against Moscow’s air force.
“After successful combat operations against an enemy aircraft in the night on 29 February, two more Russian aircraft were destroyed: Su-34 fighter-bombers in the Avdiivka and Mariupol sectors,” Army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on the Telegram messaging app.
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Key Points Nuclear war, Nato and no mention of Navalny: Putin makes rambling state of nation address Ukraine says it has shot down three more Russian warplanes Ukraine’s First Lady meets Queen
Show latest update 2 hours ago Nuclear war, Nato and no mention of Navalny: Putin steps up threats against West in rambling speech
Vladimir Putin has spoken for more than two hours in a rambling state of the nation speech, during which he issued a series of nuclear threats against the West ahead of presidential elections in two weeks. But there was one name he would not say, Alexei Navalny, his most prominent critic.
Navalny died in an Arctic prison earlier this month. The opposition leader’s family and supporters say he was killed by Putin. Western leaders have also lined up to lay the blame at Putin’s door.
Navalny will be buried in Moscow on Friday. He was serving a decades-long prison sentence on charges that were seen as trumped up to silence him, having been seen as a threat to Putin for his ability to pull together dissent against the Kremlin.
Nuclear war, Nato and no mention of Navalny: Putin steps up threats against West The Russian leader’s more than two-hour speech to the country’s parliament involved his oft-repeated threats to use nuclear weapons against the West – this time in response to the idea of Nato troops in Ukraine
Maryam Zakir-Hussain 1 March 2024 06:30
3 hours ago David Cameron steps up pressure on Putin to free ‘heir’ to Alexei Navalny
David Cameron is to rachet up pressure on Vladimir Putin by meeting the wife of Russia’s most prominent opposition leader after Alexei Navalny for crunch Whitehall talks, The Independent can reveal.
In a marked escalation of political tensions between the UK and Russia, the foreign secretary will on Friday sit down with Evgenia Kara-Murza, whose Cambridge-educated husband, Vladimir Kara-Murza, is serving a 25-year sentence in a remote Siberian penal colony for spreading “false” information about the Russian army.
The high-level talks come as human rights figures warn the “heir to Navalny” is next on Putin’s hitlist.
David Cameron steps up pressure on Putin to free ‘heir’ to Alexei Navalny Exclusive: The Whitehall talks come as human rights figures warn British-Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza is next on Putin’s hitlist
Maryam Zakir-Hussain 1 March 2024 05:30
4 hours ago Hearses refuses to handle Navalny’s body after ‘unknown threats'
Since Putin’s biggest critic died his team have accused the Kremlin of trying to prevent him from having a public burial, his allies said.
“What a disgrace,” said Ivan Zhdanov, an exiled ally who managed Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation.
“Now the hearse drivers refuse to take Alexei from the morgue.”
Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said funeral directors had received threatening calls from “unknown people” warning them not to transport Navalny’s body anywhere, and that no one had agreed to transport his body as a result.
Barney Davis 1 March 2024 04:30
5 hours ago
Watch: Putin threatens West with nuclear weapons Vladimir Putin has threatened to use nuclear weapons on the West. In his State of the Nation Address on Thursday (29 February), the Russian President said: “They, Nato and America, are active in other parts of the world, of course, and they continue to lie there, to deceive. “They are preparing to strike our territory and, using the best possible forces, the most effective forces to do so. “They have to understand that we also have weapons, weapons that can defeat them on their own territory. “Of course, all this is very dangerous because it could actually trigger the use of nuclear weapons. Do they not understand that?”
Maryam Zakir-Hussain 1 March 2024 03:30
6 hours ago US ‘very closely’ watching Moldovan breakaway region seeking Putin’s help
The US is “very closely” watching the Moldovan region of Transnistria which is seeking Russia’s help as it looks to breakaway from the European country, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Wednesday.
“Given Russia’s increasingly aggressive role in Europe, we are watching Russia’s actions in Transnistria and the broader situation there very closely,” Mr Miller said at a press briefing, using the Moldovan name for the region.
Transnistria, Moldova’s separatist region, turned to Russia on Wednesday and asked for help to aid its economy withstand Moldovan “pressure” as hundreds of officials gathered to hold a congress meeting.
US ‘very closely’ watching Moldovan breakaway region seeking Putin’s help Moldova’s pro-European government dismissed Transnistria’s Pro-Russian event as propaganda
Maryam Zakir-Hussain 1 March 2024 02:30
7 hours ago State Dept. screens AP-PBS Ukraine war film days after 2-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion
The U.S. State Department on Tuesday hosted a screening of the award-winning Associated Press-PBS “Frontline” Ukraine war documentary “20 Days in Mariupol,” days after Ukraine marked the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Elizabeth Allen, under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, said the film not only documented the reality of the war but counters “disinformation campaigns attempting to erase Ukraine’s sovereignty, identity and culture.” She said the State Department has plans to screen it in more than 30 countries around the world.
“I just want to reiterate here my firm belief that cultural diplomacy is an essential component of our national security strategy,” Allen told those who attended Tuesday’s screening, many of them diplomats from foreign embassies in Washington.
State Dept. screens AP-PBS Ukraine war film days after 2-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion The U_S_ State Department has hosted a screening of the award-winning Associated Press-PBS “Frontline” Ukraine war documentary “20 Days in Mariupol."
Maryam Zakir-Hussain 1 March 2024 01:30
8 hours ago Europeans discuss further help to Moldova amid Russian destabilisation, says France
European states are discussing how to strengthen military support to Moldova as it faces “increasingly aggressive destabilisation” efforts by Russia, France’s deputy foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.
Christophe Lemoine said that the issue would be discussed among some European foreign and defence ministers at a meeting in Paris in the coming days that would also focus on strengthening support for Ukraine.
The meeting, which European diplomats said could take place on March 7, was planned after a conference on Ukraine earlier this week.
It aims to come up with concrete ideas on cyberdefence, weapons production, defending countries threatened by Russia, notably Moldova, protecting Ukraine‘s border with Belarus and demining operations.
“Moldova is facing increasingly aggressive destabilisation attempts,” Lemoine told reporters. “And the situation in Transdniestria is being followed with great attention here.”
Moldova’s breakaway Transdniestria region asked Russia on Wednesday to help its economy withstand Moldovan “pressure”, at a meeting of hundreds of officials dismissed by the pro-European Chisinau government as a propaganda event.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain 1 March 2024 00:30
9 hours ago Akshata Murty welcomes Ukraine’s first lady to Downing Street
Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska has been welcomed to Downing Street by Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty.
Embracing at the door to Number 10, the pair turned to the cameras, held hands and waved before entering the building.
After a private meeting, the first ladies entered the Pillared Room of Number 10 for a rendition of the Ukrainian national anthem, performed by the Royal Opera House Songs for Ukraine Chorus – a choir made up of Ukrainian singers affected by the war.
Akshata Murty welcomes Ukraine’s first lady to Downing Street After a private meeting, the first ladies entered the Pillared Room of Number 10 for a rendition of the Ukrainian national anthem.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain 29 February 2024 23:30
10 hours ago Who is Vladimir Kara-Murza? The new face of Russia’s anti-Putin resistance
After the death of Alexei Navalny, jailed British-Russian opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza has become the face of the anti-Kremlin resistance.
The 42-year-old University of Cambridge graduate was arrested in April 2022 hours after CNN broadcast an interview in which he said Russia was being run by a “regime of murderers”.
A year later, he was sentenced to 25 years in a Siberian penal colony in the Omsk region, where he now resides in a punishment cell only three metres long and one-and-a-half metres wide, nearly 6,000 miles from his wife and children living in the US.
Who is Vladimir Kara-Murza? The new face of Russia’s anti-Putin resistance Vladimir Kara-Murza is serving a 25-year sentence in a Siberian penal colony for speaking out against the war in Ukraine
Maryam Zakir-Hussain 29 February 2024 22:30
11 hours ago Akshata Murty welcomes Ukraine’s first lady to Downing Street
Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska has been welcomed to Downing Street by Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty.
Embracing at the door to Number 10, the pair turned to the cameras, held hands and waved before entering the building.
After a private meeting, the first ladies entered the Pillared Room of Number 10 for a rendition of the Ukrainian national anthem, performed by the Royal Opera House Songs for Ukraine Chorus – a choir made up of Ukrainian singers affected by the war.
Introduced by Ms Murty as a “special, special moment”, Mrs Zelenska stood with hand on heart as the pair listened to the chorus, most of whom were wearing traditional embroidered shirts called vyshyvanka.
Ukraine’s first lady had tears in her eyes as she later heard a member of the choir describe the kindness of the Royal Opera House.
(via REUTERS)
Barney Davis 29 February 2024 21:45
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1/ 1Putin’s forces pushed back in dozens of fierce battles in east Ukraine
Putin’s forces pushed back in dozens of fierce battles in east Ukraine
Ukrainian national guard soldiers simulate assault operations during tactical training at a shooting range in Kharkiv (Andrii Marienko/AP)
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