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Leaders in West ‘must realise their responsibility to humanity’, claims Duma speaker Viacheslav Volodin
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A close ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin has claimed that Washington and Brussels are “leading the world to a terrible war” with plans to send more weapons to Ukraine.
Adding to this week’s nuclear threats from ex-president Dmitry Medvedev, Duma speaker Viacheslav Volodin warned that Western plans to arm Kyiv with more powerful weapons “will lead to a global catastrophe” – describing arguments against using nuclear weapons “in local conflicts” as “untenable”.
“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,” claimed the ex-deputy PM.
Leaders in Washington, France, Berlin and other European parliaments “must realise their responsibility to humanity”, Mr Volodin claimed.
Following recent announcements on Patriot missile defence systems, Kyiv has urged its allies to “think faster”, as pressure piles on Germany to decide on whether to allow Nato partners to arm Kyiv with its main battle tank, the Leopard 2.
A close ally of Vladimir Putin has threatened that Western arms deliveries to Ukraine “will lead to a global catastrophe”, claiming that arguments against using weapons of mass destruction “in local conflicts” are untenable.
Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, formerly a deputy prime minister and head of Mr Putin’s presidential administration, warned that US and Nato support of Ukraine was 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 said on Telegram.
“Arguments that the nuclear powers have not previously used weapons of mass destruction in local conflicts are untenable. Because these states did not face a situation where there was a threat to the security of their citizens and the territorial integrity of the country.”
“Deliveries of offensive weapons to the Kyiv regime will lead to a global catastrophe,” he added, claiming that politicians in the US, France, Germany and elsewhere in Europe “must realise their responsibility to humanity”.
Western allies pledged billions of pounds’ worth of weapons for Ukraine last week, although they failed to persuade Germany to lift a veto on providing Leopard 2 battle tanks, which are held by an array of Nato nations but whose transfer to Ukraine requires Berlin’s approval.
Hawkish ex-Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said earlier this week that Western discussions about arming Ukraine “left no doubt that our enemies will try to exhaust or better destroy us”, adding that “they have enough weapons” to achieve that purpose.
Mr Medvedev warned that Russia could seek to form a military alliance with foes of the United States. Russia has defence cooperation with Iran and Venezuela, an existing military alliance with Belarus and strong ties with North Korea. Since invading Ukraine, Russia also has increased both the scope and the number of its joint military drills with China.
“In case of a protracted conflict, a new military alliance will emerge that will include the nations that are fed up with the Americans and a pack of their castrated dogs,” said Mr Medvedev, who was president between 2008 and 2012.
A day earlier, he had written: “The defeat of a nuclear power in a conventional war may trigger a nuclear war … Nuclear powers have never lost major conflicts on which their fate depends.”
Russia’s defence ministry has claimed for a second straight day that its troops are improving their positions in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region.
“During offensive operations in the direction of Zaporizhzhia, units of the Eastern Military District took up more advantageous ground and positions,” the defence ministry said.
It claimed to have inflicted casualties and destroyed equipment including Ukrainian fighting vehicles, howitzers and two US-made HIMARS rockets.
Ukraine said yesterday that Russia’s claims of progress in Zaporizhzhia are exaggerated. Neither side has claimed major movements on the southern front since November, when Russia pulled out of the city of Kherson.
Boris Johnson, who is on a visit to Ukraine, has said he was invited by president Volodymyr Zelensky.
In a statement, the former prime minister said: “It is a privilege to visit Ukraine at the invitation of President Zelensky. 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.”
Rishi Sunak is “supportive” of his predecessor’s visit to Ukraine, Downing Street has indicated – despite Boris Johnson’s trip undoubtedly being viewed by some as a move to undermine the PM’s authority and bolster his own legacy.
Mr Sunak’s press secretary said he is “always supportive of all colleagues showing that the UK is behind Ukraine and will continue to support them”.
Our political correspondent Adam Forrest reports:
Boris Johnson has once again visited Ukraine despite warnings from senior military figures that he should stay away and stop “looking for publicity”.
The former PM was seen on the outskirts of Kyiv on Sunday, as he comes under pressure over claims that the BBC chairman helped arrange talks which led to his £800,000 line of credit while at No 10.
Former Army chief Lord Dannett had previously told The Independent that Mr Johnson was a “loose cannon” whose plan could upstage Rishi Sunak, while ex-First Sea Lord warned the former PM against “looking for publicity”.
But Mr Johnson said he was invited by president Volodymyr Zelensky to visit the country once again – as he urged western leaders to give Ukraine “all the tools they need”.
Former PM had been warned to stop ‘looking for publicity’
The Ukrainian defence of Bakhmut is “likely a strategically sound effort” even in spite of its costs, analysts have suggested.
In its latest daily update on Russia’s offensive, the US-based Institute for the Study of War said: “While the costs associated with Ukraine’s continued defense of Bakhmut are significant and likely include opportunity costs related to potential Ukrainian counter-offensive operations elsewhere, Ukraine would also have paid a significant price for allowing Russian troops to take Bakhmut easily.
“Bakhmut itself is not operationally or strategically significant but had Russian troops taken it relatively rapidly and cheaply they could have hoped to expand operations in ways that could have forced Ukraine to construct hasty defensive positions in less favorable terrain.
“One must also not dismiss the seemingly ‘political’ calculus of committing to the defence of Bakhmut lightly – Russian forces occupy more than 100,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory including multiple Ukrainian cities and are inflicting atrocities on Ukrainian civilians in occupied areas.
“It is not unreasonable for political and military leaders to weigh these factors in determining whether to hold or cede particular population concentrations.”
An aide to Volodymyr Zelensky has hit out at threats by a key ally of Vladimir Putin, Vyacheslav Volodin, that by providing Kyiv with more powerful weaponry Western powers are risking “global catastrophe” (see post at 9:52am).
Mykhailo Podolyak hit out at the suggestion that, while Russia has been bombing Ukraine for 11 months, killing civilians en masse, “the world must not resist and silently put up with it”.
Russian forces have launched an offensive in the Zaporizhzhia region in southeast Ukraine as Kyiv condemns the failure of its allies to supply main battle tanks.
Moscow said it had launched “offensive operations” in the region on Saturday and claimed to control “more advantageous lines and positions”.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence also confirmed that both Ukraine and Russia had “massed significant forces” in the area and exchanged artillery fire and skirmishes.
Shelling attacks overnight in the Zaporizhzhia oblast targeted 21 cities and towns across the region. Governor Oleksandr Starukh reported that one woman was killed in the attacks and two other civilians injured.
Fighting has intensified in southern Ukraine after weeks of protracted conflict
Britain still wants to see Ukraine equipped with Leopard 2 tanks, the foreign secretary has said – as Germany faces pressure to allow the vehicles to be sent to Kyiv.
“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,” James Cleverly told Sky News.
“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, Mr 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.”
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Ukrainian servicemen fire a shell from a 2A65 Msta-B howitzer towards Russian troops on the frontline in Zaporizhzhia
REUTERS
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