Ukraine Russia war live news: Putin’s spokesman says British Challenger 2 tanks sent to war ‘will burn’
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Russia has warned that any Challenger 2 tanks that Britain sends to Ukraine to help the war effort “will burn”.
British prime minister Rishi Sunak confirmed the UK will provide Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine during a call with Volodymyr Zelensky over the weekend.
Responding on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said new arms supplies from countries like Britain and Poland would not change the situation on the ground.
“They are using this country as a tool to achieve their anti-Russian goals,” he added. “These tanks are burning and will burn just like the rest.”
Meanwhile, Russia and Belarus began joint air force drills today, amid fears that Moscow could use its ally to launch a new ground offensive in Ukraine.
Belarus said the drills were defensive in nature but Ukraine has recently warned of possible attacks from its northern neighbour.
Residents mourn 40 dead in ‘awful’ attack in Dnipro
Dnipro was in mourning today after the Russian attack alleged to have killed 40 civilians and left 75 wounded, including 14 children.
A serviceman in uniform laid flowers and sobbed, clutching his head in grief next to an impromptu shrine to the dead at a bus stop across the street from a gaping hole where the nine-storey apartment block had stood, Reuters reported.
“We all live in buildings like this one and we all imagine what if it happened to us. It is awful,” Polina, a 28-year-old resident of the neighbourhood told the news agency.
Russia claimed it was not to blame for the destruction in Dnipro as it was caused by Ukrainian air defences. Kyiv says the apartment building was hit by a Russian ship-to-ship missile, a type that Ukraine does not have the capability to shoot down.
Andy Gregory17 January 2023 01:19
Dnipro attack underscores need for quicker arms supplies, says Zelensky
The death toll from a Russian missile strike in city of Dnipro rose to 40 today, with dozens more missing, making it the deadliest civilian incident of Moscow’s three-month campaign of firing missiles at cities far from the frontline.
Officials expressed meagre hope of finding anyone else alive in the rubble, but president Volodymyr Zelensky said the rescue operation would go on “as long as there is even the slightest chance to save lives”.
“Dozens of people were rescued from the rubble, including six children. We are fighting for every person,” Mr Zelensky said in a televised address.
Speaking later in his nightly video address, Mr Zelensky said the Dnipro attack underscored the need to speed up decisions on arms supplies and “coordinate all the efforts of the coalition defending Ukraine and freedom”.
Andy Gregory17 January 2023 00:11
Cleverly to help persuade allies to provide Kyiv with tanks, says Kuleba
British foreign secretary James Cleverly has spoken to his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and “confirmed his readiness to work together on persuading other nations to provide Ukraine with western-type tanks”, the latter has said.
Mr Cleverly and Mr Wallace will meet allies to discuss further military support for Kyiv.
Andy Gregory16 January 2023 23:21
No 10 backs Ukraine’s effectiveness with British tanks, despite Kremlin’s threat
Downing Street has expressed confidence that Ukraine will use British tanks effectively after Russia claimed the Challenger 2s “will burn” on the battlefield, reports Sam Blewett.
No 10 said there is a “plethora of evidence” showing Volodymyr Zelensky’s troops have used UK-supplied weapons successfully and minsters fully expected them to continue.
You can read more on today’s developments here:
Andy Gregory16 January 2023 22:36
How George Orwell’s Animal Farm is helping Ukraine 76 years on
A first edition Ukrainian language copy of George Orwell’s Animal Farm is set to go on sale to raise money for a charity supporting refugees who fled the Russian invasion, reports my colleague Liam James.
The Ukrainian translation of the seminal satire of the Russian revolution was the only one to feature a foreword from Orwell – written at the behest of his publisher, who felt the author should introduce himself to the edition’s intended audience of Ukrainians displaced by the Second World War.
The 1947 copy of the book, also dubbed the “refugee camp edition”, is now set to be sold by London antique bookshop Jarndyce for £1,850 on 20 January on a first come, first serve basis.
Andy Gregory16 January 2023 21:48
Germany and Netherlands condemn Russia’s forced deportation of children
Germany and the Netherlands have condemned the deportation by Russians of thousands of Ukrainian children, calling it a deliberate policy of cruel and inhumane abductions that is tearing families apart.
“Russia must account for the whereabouts of these children,” German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said at a joint press conference with her Dutch colleague Wopke Hoekstra in The Hague, according to the Associated Press.
“Their parents, families, caregivers must no longer be in uncertainty and fear. These children have their homes with their families in Ukraine. These children did not leave their homes voluntarily. These children have been abducted.”
Ms Baerbock said that German and Dutch ministers would work together with organisations including the United Nations and International Criminal Court on the issue.
“This deliberate Russian policy is tearing families apart and traumatising children,” said Mr Hoekstra. “It is cruel and it is inhumane. And let me be clear that children abducted by Russia must be returned to their own country as soon as possible.”
Andy Gregory16 January 2023 21:04
Ukraine’s infrastructure could collapse ‘at any second’, warns Kyiv mayor
Ukraine’s infrastructure could collapse at any second as Russia’s sporadic missile attacks along with freezing winter temperatures put local authorities under increasing strain, Kyiv’s mayor has warned.
Vitali Klitschko and his brother Vladimir told Reuters that Ukraine’s Western allies had to speed up deliveries of air defence systems capable of downing Russian missiles.
“We don’t talk about the collapse, but it can happen … at any second [because] Russian rockets can destroy our critical infrastructure in Kyiv,” Vitali said, adding that there was currently a 30 per cent deficit in energy in the capital.
“It’s pretty cold in Ukraine right now so living without electricity and heating is almost impossible. The situation is critical. We are fighting to survive,” he said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos.
Reuters16 January 2023 20:29
Russia will not launch land offensive from Belarus, says Tsikhanouskaya
Belarus’s exiled opposition leader has said she does not think Russia will launch an offensive on Ukraine from her country after the two nations began military drills – but warned Moscow could launch more missiles strikes from its ally’s territory.
Moscow and Minsk started joint military exercises on Monday, triggering fears in Kyiv and the West that Moscow could use its ally to launch a new ground offensive in Ukraine.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos that she believed the drills aimed to scare the Belarus people about the possibility of war and make president Alexander Lukashenko appear to be doing everything to avoid conflict.
“The other purpose is to threaten the Ukrainians, distract them and turn the attention of their troops from the eastern part of the country to the northern borders,” said Ms Tsikhanouskaya, who fled Belarus after a presidential election in 2020.
Andy Gregory16 January 2023 20:01
UK’s surgeon general to visit Ukraine, says Ben Wallace
The UK’s surgeon general will visit Ukraine, defence secretary Ben Wallace has said, after a call from former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith to provide Ukrainian troops with mental health support to help counter a large rise in suicides.
Speaking in the Commons, Mr Wallace replied that the most senior uniformed medical officer in the British armed forces would visit Ukraine soon “to see what more we can do to help those individuals especially suffering from the acute mental health challenges they have”.
He added: “It is easy to forget that there are lots of Ukrainians suffering either post-conflict through the suicide or indeed just ordinary individuals.
“The tragedy is 10 months in – people get slightly immune to what they see on the telly and social media from what is really violence and destruction of a staggering scale.”
Andy Gregory16 January 2023 19:32
Kyiv’s forces need more mental health support amid huge rise in troop suicides, MPs told
Ukraine’s armed forces need more mental health support, ministers have been told after hearing claims that an “astonishing” number of soldiers have died by suicide after their experiences on the battlefield.
Former Tory party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith told the Commons that the UK and US should provide mental health support for Ukraine’s armed forces due to the two countries’ experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Sir Iain told the Commons that he had recently visited Ukraine while working with a charity, and heard calls for donations of more armoured ambulances and paramedics.
He also told the Commons: “The third area they were keen on – and this is something that is shocking – is that the number of Ukrainian military committing suicide now as a result of battlefield stress is astonishing, they desperately need help.
“They did ask that the US and the UK – who have experience in Afghanistan, Iraq, etc – could help by sending some people over to help train in those mental health practices.”
Andy Gregory16 January 2023 19:01