Johnson said in a TV interview “They are trying to frame this as a conflict between Russia and the West, or Russia and NATO. That’s not what is going on.”
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The UN Secretary General visited Russia for talks on Tuesday, meeting with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin.
The visit came as Kyiv's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, made a plea for more Western weapons, and Russia's state-owned Gazprom said it would cut off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria.
Meanwhile, Russian attacks continued against targets in Ukraine, with the US defence secretary saying that he believes Ukraine can still win the fight.
Read our blog below to see how events unfolded on Tuesday 26 April:
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Live ended
Tuesday's key points:
British PM Boris Johnson has rejected a Russian allegation that NATO is fighting a 'proxy war' in Ukraine.
Russia's state-owned Gazprom says it will cut off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria because they refuse to pay in rubles.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has made a plea for more Western weapons.
President Putin says he hopes there will be a "positive result" for talks between Russia and Ukraine, citing progress at recent talks in Istanbul.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres used a visit to Moscow to call for an independent investigation into possible war crimes. Guterres said "I am concerned about the repeated reports of violations of international humanitarian and human rights law and possible war crimes."
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin says he believes Ukraine can win the war, after talks with allies in Germany.
Russia has threatened the UK with a "proportional response," following comments by the British defence secretary that it would be acceptable for Ukrainian forces to attack military targets on Russian soil.
Germany set to authorise the delivery of "Cheetah" type tanks to Ukraine , a major turning point in the cautious approach Berlin has taken to sending military supplies to Ukraine.
That's our live blog closing for Tuesday, thanks for reading today.
We're back early on Wednesday morning with the latest developments.
Boris Johnson rejects Russia's 'NATO proxy war' allegations
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says his country does not want war “to escalate beyond Ukraine’s borders,” and rejected an allegation by Moscow that the West is fighting a proxy conflict with Russia.
But Johnson said Ukrainians “are being attacked from within Russian territory” and “have a right to protect and defend themselves” by striking inside Russia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused NATO of “pouring oil on the fire” with its support for Ukraine, and said the risk of World War III should not be underestimated. Russia has singled Britain out for criticism after a UK government minister said it was legitimate for Ukraine to hit fuel depots in Russia with UK-supplied weapons.
In an interview with British station Talk TV, Johnson said “it’s very, very important that we don’t accept the way that the Russians are trying to frame what is happening in Ukraine.”
He said: “They are trying to frame this as a conflict between Russia and the West, or Russia and NATO. That’s not what is going on.”
(AP)
Russia's Gazprom stops deliveries to Poland and Bulgaria
The Bulgarian government says Russia's Gazprom will suspend its gas deliveries from Wednesday, citing Bulgarias refusal to comply with the supplier's new requirements.
Following the introduction of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin warned EU countries that their gas supply would be cut off if they did not pay in rubles.
Western countries refused to do so, saying they could continue to pay in euros or dollars.
Gazprom will also stop delivering gas to Poland from Wednesday, Polish gas company PGNiG said Tuesday evening.
"All deliveries to customers are made according to their request," assured the Polish company.
The Polish government has also said it is ready to deal with any supply disruptions from Russia, with Climate Minister Anna Moskwa writing on Twitter "there will be no shortage of gas in Polish homes."
Poland's PM Mateusz Morawiecki said gas storage facilities were 76% full and Poland was ready to "get gas from all other possible sources".
(AFP)
Zelenskyy: 'Russia put the world on brink of catastrophe' in Chernobyl
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday accused Russia of having put the world "on the brink of catastrophe" by occupying the Chernobyl power plant at the start of its invasion of Ukraine.
"The world was once again on the brink of catastrophe" Zelenskyy told reporters at a joint press conference with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA in Kyiv.
"For the Russian army the Chernobyl zone and the Chernobyl plant were like normal territory for the conduct of military operations" Zelenskyy said.
(AFP)
Vladimir Putin 'still believes in a positive outcome' of Ukraine war
Russian President Vladimir Putin told UN chief Antonio Guterres on Tuesday that he still believed in a positive outcome to negotiations with Ukraine, despite the ongoing fighting between the two countries.
"I hope that we will reach a positive result," he said during his meeting with Guterres in the Kremlin.
He said the negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv in Istanbul at the end of March had achieved "a serious breakthrough because our Ukrainian colleagues had not linked the requirements of security, of Ukraine's international security, to some understanding of Ukraine's internationally recognised borders".
During those talks, Kyiv had proposed an international agreement establishing countries that would guarantee its security.
In exchange, Ukraine would accept a "non-nuclear" and neutral status, renounce NATO membership, and agree not to host foreign military bases on its territory -- and exclude issues about Crimea and Donbas from the negotiating table for the time being.
After those initial Istanbul talks, Moscow redeployed its troops from northern Ukraine near the capital Kyiv, to positions in the east of the country instead.
However, the negotiations were severely hampered by the discovery of numerous bodies in Ukrainian areas occupied by the Russian army before its withdrawal, notably in the town of Bucha. Ukraine accuses Moscow of killing civilians, which the Kremlin strongly denies.
Mr Putin said on Tuesday that the Russian army had "no connection" with the "provocation" in Bucha.
During his meeting with the Russian leader, Antonio Guterres reiterated his call for the UN and Moscow to work together to establish humanitarian corridors and help civilians in Ukraine.
In a statement, the UN said Vladimir Putin had agreed "in principle" to the involvement of the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross in the evacuation of civilians trapped at the Azovstal industrial site in the besieged Ukrainian port of Mariupol.
According to the source, discussions will continue between the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Russian Defence Ministry.
(AFP)
US Defence Secretary: 'Ukraine war has already weakened Russian military'
The US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin says the war in Ukraine has already weakened Russia's military capability.
Austin said after meeting allies and partners at the United States’ Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Tuesday that, since Russia began the invasion, its land forces have sustained “pretty substantial” casualties, as well as lost a lot of equipment and used a lot of precision-guided munitions.
He said that “they are, in fact, in terms of military capability, weaker than when they started, and … it’ll be harder for them to replace some of this capability as they go forward because of the sanctions and the trade restrictions that have been placed on them.”
Austin reiterated that “we would like to make sure, again, that they don’t have the same type of capability to bully their neighbors that we saw at the outset of this conflict.”
He criticised Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s warning that the threat of a nuclear conflict “should not be underestimated.”
Austin said that “it’s unhelpful and dangerous to rattle sabers and speculate about the use of nuclear weapons.”
(AP)
Ukraine 'resolutely supports' Moldova, says Ukrainian FM
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has said that it “resolutely supports Moldova’s territorial integrity," following a series of explosions in the country's Moscow-backed separatist region of Trans-Dniester.
In a statement released on Tuesday, it said: Ukraine “resolutely supports Moldova’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders and condemns attempts to draw the Trans-Dniester region of Moldova into the full-fledged war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine.
"[Ukraine] call[s] for deescalating tensions,” it added.
The ministry described Tuesday and Monday's attacks on an administrative building in Tiraspol, the centre of the separatist Trans-Dniester province of Moldova, along with explosions that hit broadcast antennas and other facilities in the region, as concerning.
Their statement follows a Russian officer’s comments about Moscow’s intention to fully take control of Ukraine’s south and build a land corridor to Trans-Dniester.
Russia allegedly turns off gas tap to Poland
Russia has reportedly halted gas supplies to Poland, as tensions between Moscow and Europe escalate, according to the Polish news website Onet.pl.
While the report cited Polish government sources and the country's national gas company PGNiG, officials are yet to confirm the news.
In a tweet, Poland's minister of climate and environment, Anna Moskwa, said the country has enough gas in storage, although she stopped short of confirming the report.
European gas prices surged as much as 17% after the report, according to Bloomberg.
Putin 'ordered' Bucha war crimes and 'honoured' soldiers - prosecutor
Ukraine's Prosecutor General tells Euronews that it's "time to punish" those at the top of Moscow's regime and investigators want "a verdict in a Ukrainian court".
Read more
Russia warns UK with 'proportional response' for 'provoking' Ukraine to attack
Russia's defence ministry has warned of an immediate "proportional response," if London continues its "direct provocation" of Ukraine to strike targets in Russia.
This follows a statement by the UK's armed forces minister, James Heappey, that Britain backs Ukrainian troops carrying out strikes in Russian territory.
"We would like to underline that London’s direct provocation of the Kyiv regime into such actions, if such actions are carried out, will immediately lead to our proportional response," said Russia's defence ministry.
"As we have warned, the Russian Armed Forces are in round-the-clock readiness to launch retaliatory strikes with high-precision long-range weapons at decision-making centres in Kyiv."
The ministry added that if a Russian strike was made, it would not necessarily be a problem if representatives of a certain Western country were located at those “decision-making centres” in Kyiv.
(Reuters)
Kremlin official: Ukraine could split into several parts
A senior Kremlin official says that Ukraine may split into several parts.
Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of the Russian Security Council, said in remarks published Tuesday that “the policies of the West and the Kyiv regime controlled by it would only be the breakup of Ukraine into several states.”
The statement comes as Russia says it has focused on expanding control over Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland called Donbas. Moscow-backed separatists have been battling Ukrainian troops there since 2014 when conflict erupted following Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian Crimean Peninsula.
Moscow launched military action in Ukraine on 24 February, days after recognizing the separatist regions’ independence.
Last week, a senior Russian military officer said that along with taking control over Donbas, Russia also wants to overtake southern Ukraine, saying such a move would also open a land corridor between Russia and the separatist Trans-Dniester region of Moldova.
(AP)
Russia threatens key 'decision-making centres' in Kyiv
The Russian military has warned it could strike Ukrainian “decision-making centers” in the Ukrainian capital and said wouldn’t be stopped by the possible presence of Western advisers there.
The Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday accused the UK of making statements encouraging Ukraine to use Western weapons to carry out strikes on the Russian territory, warning that if it happens the Russian military could retaliate by hitting government structures in Kyiv.
It directly pointed at UK Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey, who told Times Radio that it was “not necessarily a problem” if Ukraine British-donated weapons were used to hit sites on Russian soil.
The ministry said in a statement that “the Russian armed forces are ready to deal retaliatory strikes with long-range precision guided weapons on Kyiv centers that would make such decisions.” It noted that “the presence of citizens of one of Western countries in the Ukrainian decision-making centers won’t necessarily pose a problem for Russia in making a decision to launch retaliatory action.”
The Russian military so far has avoided striking presidential, government and military headquarters in Kyiv during its campaign in Ukraine that has entered a third month.
(AP)
Russia strikes bridge to Romania
Ukrainian officials say the Russian military has hit a strategic bridge linking the southern Odesa region with neighboring Romania.
Oleksandr Kamyshin, the head of the state-run Ukrainian Railways, said the bridge across the Dniester Estuary where the Dniester River flows into the Black Sea was damaged in Tuesday’s missile attack by Russian forces. He said there were no injuries.
The strike has cut off the railway connection to areas of the Odesa region west of the estuary and Romania.
The Russian attack follows a series of strikes on key railway facilities in Ukraine unleashed by the Russian military on Monday.
It comes after last week’s claim by a senior Russian military officer that Russia aims to take control of the entire south of Ukraine and build a land corridor to the separatist Trans-Dniester region of Moldova, where tensions have escalated in recent days.
(AP)
Zelenskyy adviser warns about Russian intentions in Transnistria
A key adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned about Russia's intentions in Transnistria, saying that they're trying to "destabilize" the breakaway region.
Transnistria is a pro-Russian enclave in eastern Moldova, sandwiched between Moldova and Ukraine. Russian troops have been stationed there since the early 1990's ostensibly as peacekeepers.
Security incidents on Monday and Tuesday this week have prompted the region's president to impose "red level" anti-terrorist security measures; while the US has warned amid the war in Ukraine that Russia could launch “false-flag” attacks in nearby nations as a pretext for sending in troops.
Finland's foreign minister: 'probably no difference between Finland and Sweden on NATO'
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto says his country and Sweden both have their own internal processes when it comes to making a decision on whether to apply for NATO membership, but that it would be good if both countries submitted applications at the same time.
Speaking at a Tuesday afternoon press conference in Helsinki, Haavisto said that there was "great symbolic significance" when Finnish President Sauli Niinistö meets the King of Sweden during a state visit in May, but that "one cannot rush ahead of events, as both countries have their own internal process."
"Of course, it has a great symbolic significance when the President meets the King of Sweden," he said, referring to media reports in Sweden and Finland on Monday afternoon that the week beginning 16 May would be the likely time for the Nordic neighbours to make a joint bid for NATO membership.
Foreign minister Haavisto also said that Finland had complied with a Ukrainian request not to disclose the exact details of what military hardware was supplied in the most recent package of aid from the Finns. It has been speculated in Finland that they may have supplied Buk-M1 anti-aircraft missile systems which were acquired by the Finns from Russia in the mid-1990s but which are no longer in active use by the Finnish military.
Russia to expel Swedish diplomats
Russia has announced the expulsion of three Swedish diplomats in a tit-for-tat response to the expulsion of three of its own diplomatic staff by the government in Stockholm earlier this month, the Russian foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
In a statement, the ministry said the move was also in response to Sweden's military support for Ukraine and "the cover-up of crimes of Ukrainian nationalists against the civilian population of Donbass and Ukraine".
On 5 April Sweden announced that it was expelling three Russian diplomats, with the Swedish foreign minister, Ann Linde, saying at the time that “it is absolutely clear that they are involved in illegal espionage activities in Sweden”.
As a result, she said, they were not working in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
Responding to Tuesday's expulsions, Ann Linde wrote on Twitter that Russia's actions are "unjustified and disproportionate."
"By expelling Western diplomats, Russia is blocking its international isolation," she says.
"Sweden will respond appropriately to Russia's unwarranted actions."
Abnormal radiation levels at Chernobyl, says IAEA chief
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, has described radioactivity levels at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine as abnormal.
"The level of radioactivity is absolutely abnormal and very, very dangerous,” Grossi told reporters on a visit to the site on Tuesday.
Thousands of Russian tanks and troops rumbled into the forested Chernobyl exclusion zone in the early hours of 24 February, churning up highly contaminated soil from the site of the 1986 accident that is still the world’s worst nuclear disaster.
For more than a month, Russian soldiers bunked in the earth within sight of the massive structure built to contain radiation from the damaged Chernobyl nuclear reactor.
(AP/AFP)
Russia is "ready to cooperate" with UN, says Russian foreign minister
Russia is "ready to cooperate" with the United Nations to relieve the civilian populations in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a press conference in Moscow with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday.
"Our main goal is to protect civilian populations. We are ready to cooperate with our United Nations colleagues to alleviate the suffering of civilian populations," he said.
Guterres, meanwhile, called upon Kyiv and Moscow to work together with the UN to open humanitarian corridors for those trying to flee the fighting.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a violation of its territorial integrity, says UN Secretary General
UN Secretary General António Guterres, speaking at a news conference in Moscow with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, pushed back against Russia's characterisation of the conflict in Ukraine.
"According to the Russian Federation, what is taking place is a special military operation with the objectives that were announced," he said.
"According to the UN, in line with resolutions passed by the General Assembly, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a violation of its territorial integrity and against the charter of the United Nations."
Guterres also called for investigations into possible war crimes in Ukraine.
Turkey's Erdogan urges Putin to come to the negotiating table
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to direct talks with his Ukrainian counterpart.
The call comes in the wake of Turkish diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis over Russia's war in Ukraine, including by hosting Ukrainian and Russian negotiators for talks in Istanbul late last month.
The Turkish presidency said in a statement Tuesday that Erdogan proposed taking the “Istanbul process to the level of leaders, a crucial threshold in the Russia-Ukraine negotiations.” It sought to continue the “positive progress of the Istanbul talks” toward peace.
Talks stalled after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian troops of committing war crimes. Putin later said peace efforts were at a dead end.
Ankara, which maintains close ties to both Kyiv and Moscow, has presented itself as a neutral broker in a bid to end the fighting.
(AP)
UN chief pleads for Ukraine ceasefire 'as soon as possible'
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pleaded on Tuesday for a ceasefire in Ukraine "as soon as possible," during his first trip to Moscow since the start of the Russian offensive.
"What interests us a lot is to find the means to create the conditions for an effective dialogue, to create the conditions for a ceasefire as soon as possible", said Guterres ahead of talks with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
It is possible to have a "serious dialogue on how to best work to minimize the suffering of people", he said, adding that the situation in Ukraine is "complex, with different interpretations of what is happening there."
Lavrov said the pair would discuss “the situation around Ukraine that acts as a catalyst for a great number of problems which had piled up over recent decades in the Euro-Atlantic region.”
Guterres will be received by Russian President Vladimir Putin, after his meeting with Lavrov.
(AP/AFP)
Ukraine allies will 'keep moving heaven and earth', says US defence secretary
US defence secretary Lloyd Austin has pledged that Ukraine’s allies will “keep moving heaven and earth” to help Kyiv defend itself against Russia.
He made the comment at a NATO-EU meeting on Tuesday between more than 40 countries in Germany on arming Ukraine.
“This gathering reflects the galvanised world," said Austin.
Since Russia’s invasion in February, more than 30 allies and partners joining the US in sending military aid to Ukraine, committing around $5 billion worth of equipment.
Addressing Ukraine, he added: “We know, and you should know, that all of us have your back and that’s why we’re here today -- to strengthen the arsenal of Ukrainian democracy.”
(AFP)
Ukraine can 'win', says US defence secretary at NATO-EU talks
US defence secretary has kicked off NATO-EU talks in Germany, saying "Ukraine clearly believes that it can win, and so does everyone."
Sixth package of EU sanctions on Russia expected 'very soon', says EU energy chief
A sixth package of European Union sanctions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine is expected "very soon", the bloc's energy policy chief said on Tuesday.
The exact date of the package is not yet confirmed, and as with the previous rounds of EU sanctions it would need approval from EU countries, EU energy commissioner Kadri Simson told a news conference in Warsaw.
(Reuters)
German tanks could be heading to Ukraine
Germany will authorise the delivery to Ukraine of "Cheetah" type tanks, a government source announced on Tuesday, according to AFP, which would constitute a major turning point in the so far cautious approach Berlin has taken to sending military supplies to Ukraine.
The details and number of tanks, which are specialised in anti-aircraft defence, will be revealed during the meeting of representatives from more than 40 countries being held today in Germany, the news agency reports.
Meanwhile, AP reports that Germany has cleared the delivery of Gepard anti-aircraft guns to Ukraine. This is according to the text of remarks given by German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht at a US-hosted meeting being held today at the United States’ Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
UN asks for $2.25 billion in humanitarian aid for Ukraine, double previous sum
The United Nations on Tuesday doubled its emergency appeal for humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
This came on the same day that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, as part of a renewed attempt to broker a ceasefire or end the two-month conflict in Ukraine.
“More than $2.25 billion is now required to meet the needs in Ukraine, more than double the amount requested ($1.1 billion) when we launched the appeal on March 1, days after the start of the war. The appeal has also been extended from three to six months," the agency said.
Meanwhile, the UN said it now expects Ukrainian refugees numbers to reach 8.3 million, up from around 5 million today.
Two more explosions in Transnistria
Police in the Moldovan separatist region of Transnistria have confirmed two more explosions on Tuesday, this time at a radio facility close to Ukrainian border, knocking two powerful antennas out of service, AP reports.
The incident occurred in the small town of Maiac roughly 12 kilometres west of the border, according to the region’s Interior Ministry. It comes a day after several explosions, believed to be caused by rocket-propelled grenades, were reported to have hit the Ministry of State Security in the city of Tiraspol, the region’s capital. No one was hurt in the explosions, officials said.
Transnistria, a contested area of about 470,000 people, has been under the control of separatist authorities since a brief 1992 war with Moldova, with Russia basing about 1,500 troops there nominally as peacekeepers.
Last week a senior Russian military official, Rustam Minnekayev, said that Russian forces aim to take full control of southern Ukraine, adding that such a move would open the way to Transnistria.
Russia claims to have hit 87 military facilities overnight, killing 'about 500 enemy personnel'
According to the Russian Defence Ministry, overnight four Ukrainian military facilities, including two ammunition depots, were hit by high-precision air-based missiles.
The Russian military also hit 87 military facilities, the ministry claimed in its latest operational briefing posted on Telegram, resulting in about 500 casualties and the destruction of 59 armoured vehicles, artillery mounts and vehicles.
Two Buk-M1 and Osa AKM anti-aircraft missile system launchers were also destroyed near Veseloe and Prishib, and 13 unmanned drones shot down.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Four die in Russian shelling, including two children
Four people died and nine more were wounded on Monday in the Russian shelling of the Donetsk region, the region’s governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said Tuesday.
Two of the victims were children: a 9-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy, Kyrylenko said in the messaging app Telegram.
Governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Haidai, said the Russians have shelled civilians 17 times over the past 24 hours, with the cities of Popasna, Lysychansk and Girske suffering the most.
“Popasna withstood four powerful artillery attacks, and Lysychansk withstood two. There is damage to two houses in Lysychansk, two in Popasna, at least one in Girske. We are checking the information about the victims,” Haidai said Tuesday on Telegram.
Rocket strikes were also reported in the Zaporizhzhia region Tuesday morning by local officials.
(AP)
Ukraine repelled six attacks in the last 24 hours, says Ukraine military
Ukrainian forces have repelled six attacks in the past 24 hours in the two regions that comprise the Donbas, Ukraine’s industrial heartland, the General Staff said in its Tuesday morning update.
The Ukrainian army has destroyed four Russian tanks, five artillery systems, 13 units of armoured vehicles, 15 units of motor vehicles, two tankers and one anti-aircraft gun, the update said.
Ukraine’s General Staff says Russian forces continue offensive operations in the country’s east in an effort to take full control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and establish a land corridor to Crimea.
Fighting continues around the cities of Rubizhne and Popasna in the Luhansk region, the update said. The Russian forces also continue to shell Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, and to block Ukrainian units in the area of Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol — the last remaining stronghold of the Ukrainian forces in the besieged port city.
In the area of Velyka Oleksandrivka, a village in the Kherson region largely controlled by the Russians, Ukrainian forces destroyed an ammunition depot and “eliminated” more than 70 Russian troops, the General Staff said.
(AP)
Britain removes tariffs for Ukrainian goods
Meanwhile, all tariffs on goods coming to Britain from Ukraine under an existing free trade deal will be axed to help the Ukrainian economy, the British government announced on Monday.
London said tariffs would be reduced to zero and all quotas removed following a direct request from Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, reports Reuters. The average tariff on Ukrainian imports is currently about 22%.
“We stand unwaveringly with Ukraine in this ongoing fight and will work to ensure Ukraine survives and thrives as a free and sovereign nation,” said British International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan.
At the same time, reports Reuters, the British government said it would also impose further export bans on products to Russia, including cash, maritime goods and technology, and energy-related goods. Last week, it ramped up sanctions on luxury goods including caviar, silver and diamonds.
Russia takes city of Kreminna, according to UK defence ministry
The British Defence Ministry says Russian forces have taken the Ukrainian city of Kreminna.
Street-to-street fighting had been going on for days in the city in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, with civilian evacuations there made impossible by the war.
In a tweet early Tuesday, the British military said: “The city of Kreminna has reportedly fallen and heavy fighting is reported south of Izium as Russian forces attempt to advance towards the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk from the north and east.”
There was no immediate response from the Ukrainian government. Russia claimed days earlier to have taken the city.
Kreminna is 575 kilometres southeast of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
(AP)
Russia loses last hope to scare the world off supporting Ukraine, says Ukraine's top diplomat
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba pushed back on Twitter on Monday night to comments made by his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in which the Russian accused NATO of engaging in a proxy war in Ukraine, while also raising the spectre of a nuclear confrontation.
Kuleba wrote: "Russia loses last hope to scare the world off supporting Ukraine. Thus the talk of a ‘real’ danger of WWIII. This only means Moscow senses defeat in Ukraine. Therefore, the world must double down on supporting Ukraine so that we prevail and safeguard European and global security."
Representatives from more than 40 countries to meet in Germany today for Ukraine-related defence talks, US officials
On Tuesday, Ramstein Air Base in Germany will play host to a gathering of more than 40 countries, led by the United States, writes Reuters.
US Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said a key goal of the talks was to synchronise and coordinate mounting security assistance to Kyiv that includes heavy weaponry, like howitzer artillery, as well armed drones and ammunition.
This follows a trip to Kyiv on Sunday by US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in which they pledged additional support to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's war effort, including $300 million in foreign military financing and a $165 million sale of ammunition.
Speaking to reporters after his trip to Ukraine, Austin said: "They can win if they have the right equipment, the right support."
Russia struck five railway stations in central and western Ukraine on Monday
Russia struck five railway stations with precision missiles in central and western Ukraine on Monday, in the space of just one hour, in a move likely aimed at disrupting reinforcements heading to eastern Ukraine and Western aid shipments, according to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War.
Explosions in Russian-backed Moldovan breakaway region
In Transnistria, a breakaway region of Moldova that sits along the Ukrainian border, several explosions believed caused by rocket-propelled grenades hit the territory's Ministry of State Security on Monday evening. There was no immediate claim of responsibility or reports of injuries, writes AP.
Transnistria is a strip of land with about 470,000 people and about 1,500 Russian troops based there.
Moldova's Foreign Ministry said “the aim of today’s incident is to create pretexts for straining the security situation in the Transnistrian region." The U.S. warned previously that Russia may launch “false-flag” attacks against its own side to create a pretext for invading other nations.
Last week, Rustam Minnekayev, a Russian military commander, said the Kremlin wanted full control of southern Ukraine, which he said would open the way to Transnistria.
Threat of a nuclear conflict 'should not be underestimated,' says Russia's top diplomat
Russia unleashed a string of attacks Monday against rail and fuel installations deep inside Ukraine, far from the front lines of Moscow’s new eastern offensive, as Russia’s top diplomat warned against provoking World War III and said the threat of a nuclear conflict “should not be underestimated.”
The US, meanwhile, moved to rush more weaponry to Ukraine and said the assistance from the Western allies is making a difference in the two month-old war.
“Russia is failing. Ukraine is succeeding,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared, a day after he and the US secretary of defence made a bold visit to Kyiv to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said weapons supplied by Western countries “will be a legitimate target," adding that Russian forces had already targeted weapons warehouses in western Ukraine.
“Everyone is reciting incantations that in no case can we allow World War III,” Lavrov said in a wide-ranging interview on Russian television. He accused Ukrainian leaders of provoking Russia by asking NATO to become involved in the conflict.
By providing weapons, NATO forces are “pouring oil on the fire,” he said, according to a transcript on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website.
Regarding the possibility of a nuclear confrontation, Lavrov said: “I would not want to see these risks artificially inflated now, when the risks are rather significant.”
“The danger is serious," he said. "It is real. It should not be underestimated.”
(AP)