Ukraine-Russia warfare newest: UK responds to Moscow’s ‘absurd’ declare Kyiv constructing nuclear weapon with Europe
The British government has rubbished Russia’s claim that Ukraine is trying to obtain a nuclear weapon with British and French help.
Russia‘s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), without providing evidence, claimed that Ukraine’s nuclear allies in Europe were preparing to provide Ukraine with nuclear parts and technology.
A British government spokesperson shot back on Tuesday, saying: “This is a clear attempt by Vladimir Putin to distract from his heinous actions in Ukraine. There is no truth to this.
“You’ll have seen the PM’s words this morning paying tribute to the incredible resilience of the Ukrainians … We will continue with our efforts to secure a just and lasting peace.”
Ukraine also dismissed Russian claims as “absurd”, as it marked four years since the full-scale Russian invasion.
“Russian officials, known for their impressive record of lies, are once again trying to fabricate the old ‘dirty bomb’ nonsense,” said Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesperson for the Ukrainian foreign ministry.
“For the record: Ukraine has already denied such absurd Russian claims many times before, and we officially deny them again now,” Tykhyi said. “We urge the international community to reject and condemn Russia’s dirty information bombs.”
UK has much to learn from Ukraine, says British ambassador
Reflecting on the fourth anniversary of the war, the British Ambassador to Ukraine said the UK has much to learn from Kyiv’s resilience.
Neil Crompton said in a statement on Tuesday that the war is “the issue of our lifetime”, describing it as “existential, in that the outcome will shape the future of Europe”.
“I can’t but marvel at the fortitude Ukrainians have shown,” he added. “Back in 2022, analysts predicted Kyiv would be captured within days.
“Who can forget President Zelenskyy’s immortal line’“I don’t need a ride. I need ammunition,’ when offered the chance to be evacuated?
“Four years on, the Ukrainians are still fighting, having revolutionised warfare through innovative use of drones and technology to bridge the numerical advantages Russia enjoys. The UK and NATO have much to learn from them.”
Recap: Another round of talks expected tomorrow
US and Ukrainian officials are expected to hold another round of talks in Geneva on Thursday, Trump envoy Steve Witkoff announced yesterday.
He said that he and Trump’s son in law, Jared Kushner, would travel to Geneva tomorrow to hold talks with Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s lead negotiator, and separately with Iran.
Witkoff said he spoke with Umerov over the phone to seek permission for the meeting from Zelensky.
He said he and Umerov talk on an almost daily basis.
How have the frontlines changed in four years of war?
Ukraine’s front line today is “not like a coherent line, where there’s like a clear control, with two trench lines with a little bit of no man’s land in between,” military analyst Emil Kastehelmi told The Independent as the war entered its fifth year.
“Drones have made it so that front lines are blurry and troops may be intermingled in a certain area of presence.”
This “drone-dominated battlefield” has “demechanised” the front lines, making huge advances difficult. The threat from the sky has made tanks unviable, leading Russia to fall back on trying to overwhelm Ukraine with infantry-heavy tactics.
Even with plans to increase the size of the army to 1.5 million people, this has come at a huge cost for Russia.
On the fourth anniversary of the war, The Independent looked at how technology and tactics have changed the frontlines:
Ukraine says it will never agree to territorial concessions to Russia
Ukraine will never agree to concede territory, as being forcibly asked by Russia, in concessions during peace talks, the Ukrainian deputy foreign minister Mariana Betsa said at a UN security council meeting today.
“We will never recognise the occupation and will never accept territorial concessions. We will never compromise our freedom,” she said.
The Ukrainian official added that Russia and its accomplices will not stop. “Moscow feels a sense of impunity, as it has not yet faced proper consequences for its crimes,” she said.
The official emphasised Moscow’s totalitarian goals towards Ukraine which require a complete takeover of the war-hit nation’s territory and how it continues to use negotiations as a cover for its war.
“The Kremlin’s position remains unchanged. It wants Ukraine to withdraw from our own sovereign territory to ensure that Russia can occupy it. And this is not a matter of negotiating red lines. Sovereignty and territorial integrity is a key founding principle of the UN charter,” Betsa said.
Putin’s special envoy calls for Starmer to resign
Vladimir Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev called for prime minister Keir Starmer to resign in a social media post that claimed the UK is supplying Ukraine with nuclear weapons.
“Starmer needs to resign before trying to cover up his shame by provoking a nuclear war,” Dmitriev said in a post on X.
The prime minister’s spokesperson said there was no truth to the comments.
Zelensky: Only by visiting Ukraine can Trump understand who must be pressured
In his address earlier today to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Volodymyr Zelensky called for Donald Trump to visit Ukraine.
“Only by coming to Ukraine, and seeing with one’s own eyes our life and our struggle, feeling our people and the enormity of this pain – only then can one understand what this war is really about. And because of whom. Who the aggressor is here and who must be pressured,” the Ukrainian president said in the address, as he stressed the importance of a visit by Trump.
He said Ukraine is defending life, adding that it is “not a street fight” but an “attack by a sick state on a sovereign one”.
Zelensky added: “Putin is this war. He is the cause of its beginning and the obstacle to its end. And it is Russia that must be put in its place. So that there can be real peace.”
Trump’s former Ukraine envoy condemns US abstention on UN resolution: ‘Not a business deal’
US president Donald Trump’s former special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, who left his role last month has bashed the administration for not backing the UN resolution on peace in Ukraine.
“A UN vote on a lasting peace in Ukraine and we abstained. Go figure. The Russian Federation was against the proclamation. Is not four years of war enough? Is not missing children, shelling of cities and the killing of innocents enough? It is not a business deal-it is war,” he said in a post on X.
US abstains from UN ceasefire resolution on Ukraine, blames China instead
Tammy Bruce, the US deputy UN envoy, explained the US abstention, saying that while Washington welcomed the call for an immediate ceasefire, the resolution included language likely to distract from ongoing negotiations, “rather than support discussion of the full range of diplomatic avenues that may pave the way to that durable peace”.
The 15-member UN Security Council has been deadlocked throughout the war and unable to take action on Ukraine because Russia holds a veto.
The council session saw a clash between the US and China over Washington’s charge that Beijing’s imports of Russian oil and Chinese sales of materials with military uses to Russia have helped sustain Moscow’s operations in Ukraine.
“China remains a decisive enabler of Russia’s war machine,” Bruce told the council.
“If China truly wants peace, it should immediately end exports of dual-use goods and stop purchasing Russian oil.”
Fu Cong, China’s UN ambassador, responded by accusing the US of fabricating “all sorts of excuses and lies” about China intended “to create division and conflict.”
Washington, he said, should “stop shifting blame and creating conflicts and wars around the world”.
Children in Ukraine have spent six months under air raid sirens since start of war, analysis finds
Children in Ukraine have now endured an average of around 4,000 hours of air raid alarms, equalling more than five and a half months of constant alerts since Vladimir Putin’s forces began their full-scale invasion in February 2022, according to Save the Children’s analysis of official alert data on sirens.
“It is constant emotional strain. Adults feel it, but children feel it more deeply. The nervous system is exhausted,” said Veronika, the mother of an eight-year-old, Anastasiia. “When children hear an explosion, they worry, they get nervous.”
South Africa says 11 of 17 men lured to fight for Russia will return home soon
South Africa’s government has said that 11 of a group of 17 men who were lured into fighting for Russia in Ukraine were set to return home soon, after an initial four landed back in the country last week.
A further two remained in Russia, with one in a hospital in Moscow, president Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement.
Ramaphosa raised the fate of the 17 men, who sent distress calls to the South African government in November after getting trapped in Ukraine’s Donbas region, in a phone call with Russian president Vladimir Putin this month.
Reports of African men being lured into Russia with promises of jobs and ending up on Ukraine’s front line have become more frequent in recent months, creating tensions between Moscow and some of the countries involved.
A Kenyan intelligence report presented to lawmakers last week estimated that more than 1,000 Kenyans had been recruited to fight on Russia’s side in the war in Ukraine. Kenya’s foreign minister has said he plans to visit Russia to address the issue.
Source: independent.co.uk
