An ally of President Vladimir Putin has warned that delivering weapons to Kyiv which threaten Russia will lead to a global catastrophe; UK’s MoD says Moscow will struggle to staff planned armed forces expansion. Listen to the latest episode of Ukraine War Diaries as you scroll.
Rishi Sunak is “supportive” of Boris Johnson’s visit to Ukraine, Downing Street has said.
The Prime Minister’s press secretary said he is “always supportive of all colleagues showing that the UK is behind Ukraine and will continue to support them”.
The MP and ex-prime minister has now released a statement explaining his visit to the war-torn country.
He says: “It is a privilege to visit Ukraine at the invitation of President Zelenskyy. The suffering of the people of Ukraine has gone on for too long. The only way to end this war is for Ukraine to win – and to win as fast as possible.
“This is the moment to double down, and to give the Ukrainians all the tools they need to finish the job. The sooner Putin fails, the better for Ukraine and for the whole world.”
A spokesperson said they would not comment on any specifics of the trip for security reasons and said Mr Johnson fully supports UK government policy on Ukraine, including the recent decision to send Challenger tanks.
Boris Johnson has been spotted in Ukraine this morning, visiting Borodianka, Bucha and the other suburbs of Kyiv.
Pictures shared on social media of the former PM in the country.
It comes days after he was awarded an honorary ‘citizen of Kyiv’ medal during a meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said Germany would continue to support Ukraine, speaking days after Western allies dampened Ukraine’s hopes for a rapid shipment of battle tanks.
“We will continue to support Ukraine – for as long and as comprehensively as necessary. Together, as Europeans – in defence of our European peace project,” Scholz said in Paris at an event to celebrate friendship between Germany and France.
France and Germany are seeking to overcome differences laid bare by Russia’s war in Ukraine and shore up their alliance with a day of ceremonies and talks on Europe’s security, energy and other challenges.
The UK still supports an international deal that would provide Ukraine with German-made tanks, the foreign minister has said this morning.
Western allies pledged billions of dollars in weapons for Ukraine last week, although they failed to persuade Germany to lift a veto on providing Leopard battle tanks, which are held by an array of NATO nations but whose supply to Ukraine would require Berlin’s approval.
“Of course, I would like to see the Ukrainians equipped with things like the Leopard 2 as well as the artillery systems that have been provided by us and by others,” Cleverly said in an interview with Sky News this morning.
“I will keep having those conversations with our NATO allies and friends, to facilitate the donation of the best military equipment to Ukraine to help them defend themselves against this brutal invasion.”
Asked whether Germany was doing enough to help Ukraine, Cleverly said he wanted to see “everybody going as far as they can, but each country will support Ukraine in a way that is most
appropriate to them.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urged allies at a meeting on Friday to do more to support Ukraine. But no decision on supplying Leopards was reached, officials said, although pledges were given for large amounts of other weapons.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrat party is traditionally sceptical of military involvements and wary of further escalation in the conflict in Ukraine.
Two people have been hospitalised after being “blown up” by an unknown explosive device in northeast Ukraine, the head of the Kharkiv region has said.
In a daily update, Oleg Sinegubov said emergency services managed to defuse 14 explosive devices in the town of Kamianka, in Izyum, which is a region in the Kharkiv district, on Saturday.
But he added that a 49-year-old and a 50-year-old were injured by a mine and have been “hospitalised in a moderate condition”.
“On the line of contact, our defenders firmly hold their positions and destroy the occupiers,” he continued.
“We believe in the Armed Forces and work for victory.”
Western weapons deliveries to Ukraine that threaten Russian territories will lead to a “global catastrophe”, a close ally of Vladimir Putin has warned.
Vyacheslav Volodin said such action would also make arguments against using weapons of mass destruction untenable.
In a post on the messaging app Telegram, the speaker of the Duma – Russia’s lower house of parliament – warned that the United States and NATO’s support of Ukraine is leading the world to a “terrible war”.
“If Washington and NATO countries supply weapons that will be used to strike civilian cities and attempt to seize our territories, as they threaten, this will lead to retaliatory measures using more powerful weapons,” Mr Volodin wrote.
“Arguments that the nuclear powers have not previously used weapons of mass destruction in local conflicts are untenable.”
He added that this was because the US and NATO “did not face a situation where there was a threat to the security of their citizens and the territorial integrity of the country”.
Western allies pledged billions of dollars in weapons for Ukraine last week, although they failed to persuade Germany to lift a veto on providing German-made Leopard battle tanks.
The tanks are held by an array of NATO nations, but in order to transfer them to Ukraine, the countries need Berlin’s approval.
Ukraine’s railway system has evacuated four million people since the start of the war.
It has been a critical lifeline, transporting emergency supplies and aid – a backbone for a country at war.
Instead of a steady stream of shouty train announcements, the platforms where thousands of evacuated Ukrainian women and children passed through now permeate with the sound of pop tunes.
So how do they keep running?
Our news correspondent in Ukraine, Yousra Elbagir has met the head of Ukraine railways Oleksandr Kamyshin to find out the answer.
Russia has announced plans for “major changes” to the structure of the armed forces in the next three years, but it will “highly likely struggle” to staff the expansion, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.
In its latest intelligence update, the MoD said the plans include an increase to 1.5 million personnel – an 11% rise on top of a previously unveiled expansion to 1.35 million.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu also “announced the re-establishment of Moscow and Leningrad military districts, a partial return to the Soviet era organisation of forces in Western Russia”, the MoD added.
“Shoigu’s plans signal that the Russian leadership highly likely assesses that an enhanced conventional military threat will endure for many years beyond the current Ukraine war,” it continued.
“However, Russia will highly likely struggle to staff and equip the planned expansion.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fought back tears as he met with the families of those killed in a helicopter crash in a Kyiv suburb earlier this week.
At the sombre service in Kyiv, Mr Zelenskyy and his wife, first lady Olena Zelenska, laid flowers on seven coffins draped in the blue and yellow flag of Ukraine and spoke with family members.
The helicopter carrying interior minister Denys Monastyrskyi and the rest of his ministry’s leadership crashed near a nursery school building in the residential suburb of Brovary on Wednesday.
About a dozen people died in the disaster – including a child on the ground – which dealt yet another blow to a nation already grieving tens of thousands of civilians and military personnel killed in the war with Russia.
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