Vladimir Putin is not going to stop with war in Ukraine, US president Joe Biden said in France, pledging to support Europe against Russia.
Mr Biden said the whole of Europe is threatened by the Russia president, as French president Emmanuel Macron welcomed him in Paris and the two pledged solidarity on the wars raging in Europe and the Middle East.
The leaders also released a joint “roadmap” on Ukraine which included a commitment to support Kyiv’s efforts by using frozen Russian assets.
“The United States is standing strong with Ukraine. We’re standing with our allies,” Mr Biden said. “Putin is not going to stop with Ukraine…. All of Europe will be threatened. We’re not going to let that happen.”
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that the Russian army has failed in its Kharkiv offensive that began almost a month ago. He said Ukrainian forces are “restraining” their push as much as possible.
Meanwhile, Mr Putin has threatened to retaliate against Western countries that are allowing Ukraine to hit Russia with their long-range missiles.
Key Points
Putin not going to stop with Ukraine: Biden in France
Joe Biden apologises to Zelensky for delay in aid
Russia trying to ‘invoke memory of Cuban missile crisis’
France to send Mirage 2000 warplanes to Ukraine
Putin claims Russia may supply long-range weapons to enemies of West
ICYMI: Biden announces new $225m aid package for Ukraine
05:00 , Joe Middleton
Putin not going to stop with Ukraine: Biden in France
04:15 , Shweta Sharma
Joe Biden has said in France that Russian president Vladimir Putin is not going to stop with the war in Ukraine and all of Europe was threatened.
French president Emmanuel Macron welcomed his American counterpart, Mr Biden, in Paris yesterday for a state visit that included talks about the Middle East, Ukraine, and trade.
“The United States is standing strong with Ukraine. We’re standing with our allies,” Mr Biden said.
“We are standing with France,” he added.
“Putin is not going to stop with Ukraine…. All of Europe will be threatened. We’re not going to let that happen.”
The two countries will work harder to prevent a regional escalation from Israel’s war with militant group Hamas in Gaza and focus on calming tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, Mr Macron told reporters at the Elysee presidential palace, with the US president at his side.
Ukraine air defence downs 9 out of 13 Russian drones over four regions
03:00 , Joe Middleton
Ukrainian air defence and mobile drone hunters groups shot down nine out of 13 Russian drones over four regions of the country, the air force said on Saturday.
The Iranian-made Shahed drones were downed over the central Poltava region, southeastern Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, and the Kharkiv region in the northeast, the statement said. One X-59 Russian missile launched from Russia’s Kursk region was also downed.
Serhiy Lysak, Dnipropetrovsk regional governor, said the overnight drone attack damaged commercial and residential buildings and also a power line. Details of the damage in other regions were not immediately clear.
While many in the EU worry about far-right gains at the ballot box – those close to Russia crave security
02:00 , Joe Middleton
Mary Dejevsky travels to Finland, the Baltic states and Poland, where one issue stands above all others
EU voters close to Russia crave one thing above all – security
British foreign secretary falls victim to hoax video call and messages
01:00 , Joe Middleton
Foreign secretary Lord David Cameron has been the victim of hoax a video call and messages from someone claiming to be the former president of Ukraine, it has been revealed.
In order to stave off any attempts to manipulate video footage of Lord Cameron from the communications, the government has made public what happened.
A statement from the Foreign Office said a “number of text messages were exchanged followed by a brief video call between the Foreign Secretary and someone purporting to be Petro Poroshenko, former president of Ukraine”.
Mr Poroshenko served as Ukrainian president between 2014 and 2019, and has remained a prominent figure in the country since leaving office.
Lord Cameron falls victim to hoax video call and messages
Zelensky hits out at Putin’s claims about Ukraine’s presidential legitimacy
Saturday 8 June 2024 23:00 , Joe Middleton
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has hit back at Vladimir Putin for raising questions over the legitimacy of his presidency in the absence of elections in the war-torn country.
In a joint news conference with France’s President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, Mr Zelensky said: “President Zelensky’s legitimacy is recognized by the people of Ukraine only, he is elected by the people of Ukraine.”
“I am very grateful for the support. Our people are free. To be honest, that’s what we are fighting for (freedom). I am grateful for the support,” he said.
He added said Mr Putin’s legitimacy is recognized only by the Russian president himself.
“Putin elects himself. Russian people are just a decoration, they only have one actor,” Mr Zelensky said, pointing to Russia’s presidential election,
Ukraine had to undergo elections in March 2024 after Mr Zelensky’s first term ended in May. However, martial law was imposed following the Ukraine war in February 2022, banning elections during wartime.
Putin’s forces killed his brother. He takes revenge using hundreds of suicide drones to blow Russian troops up
Saturday 8 June 2024 22:00 , Joe Middleton
Askold Krushelnycky visits the concealed base of the ‘Barney Unit’ in eastern Ukraine. Created by Stepan Barna in the wake of the death on the front line of his older brother Oleh, its drone operators claim to have achieved more than 100 kills
The Ukraine politician avenging his brother’s death with hi-tech ‘suicide drones’
Putin says Russia does not need to use nuclear weapons for victory in Ukraine
Saturday 8 June 2024 21:00 , Joe Middleton
Russian president Vladimir Putin said there was no need to use nuclear weapons to deliver victory for Moscow in Ukraine, the strongest signal yet from the Kremlin chief that there will not be a nuclear strike.
Mr Putin, whose forces have been making advances in eastern Ukraine in recent months, said he did not see the conditions for the use of such weapons and requested that people stop discussing the nuclear topic.
However, Mr Putin, who leads the world’s biggest nuclear power, said he did not rule out changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine, which sets out the conditions under which such weapons could be used.
He also said that if necessary Russia could test a nuclear weapon, though he saw no need to do so at the present time.
Mr Putin’s response came to a question from Sergei Karaganov, an influential Russian analyst, who asked if Mr Putin should hold a “nuclear pistol to the temple” of the West over Ukraine.
“The use is possible in an exceptional case – in the event of a threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. I don’t think that such a case has come. There is no such need,” he said at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
“But this doctrine is a living tool and we are carefully watching what is happening in the world around us and do not exclude making some changes to this doctrine. This is also related to the testing of nuclear weapons.”
Ukraine is in a race against time to steel itself for a Russian summer assault. Western help needs to speed up
Saturday 8 June 2024 20:00 , Joe Middleton
Leaders such as Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron used D-Day celebrations to underline their support for Kyiv, writes Kim Sengupta, but the West is struggling to find the production capacity for the shells and missiles the country desperately needs
Ukraine is in a race against time to steel itself for a Russian summer assault
US could deploy more nuclear weapons on its border to deter adversaries, Biden aide says
Saturday 8 June 2024 19:00 , Joe Middleton
The US may have to deploy more strategic nuclear weapons in coming years against growing threats from Russia, China and other adversaries, a senior White House aide said yesterday.
Pranay Vaddi, the top National Security Council arms control official, made his comments in a speech on “a more competitive approach” to arms control that outlined a policy shift aimed at pressing Moscow and Beijing to reverse rejections of US calls for arsenal limitation talks.
“Absent a change in adversary arsenals, we may reach a point in the coming years where an increase from current deployed numbers is required. We need to be fully prepared to execute if the president makes that decision,” he told the Arms Control Association.
“If that day comes, it will result in a determination that more nuclear weapons are required to deter our adversaries and protect the American people and our allies and partners.”
The US currently adheres to a limit of 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads under the New START treaty with Russia even though Moscow suspended it last year.
The administration remains committed to international arms control and non-proliferation regimes designed to curb the spread of nuclear weapons, Mr Vaddi said.
But, he said, Russia, China and North Korea “are all expanding and diversifying their nuclear arsenals at a breakneck pace, showing little or no interest in arms control.”
The three and Iran “are increasingly cooperating and coordinating with each other in ways that run counter to peace and stability, threaten the United States, our allies and our partners and exacerbate region tensions,” he said.
Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are sharing advanced missile and drone technology, said Mr Vaddi, citing Moscow’s use in Ukraine of Iranian drones and North Korean artillery and missiles, and Chinese support for Russia’s defense industries.
UN says Ukraine’s monthly civilian death toll rises to highest in a year
Saturday 8 June 2024 18:00 , Joe Middleton
Ukraine marked a significant increase in monthly civilian casualties in May, reaching the highest point in nearly a year, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) said today.
It said conflict-related violence killed at least 174 civilians and injured 690 in Ukraine in May, the highest number of civilian casualties since June 2023.
It noted that the main reason for the high number of civilian casualties was the use of air-dropped bombs and missiles in populated areas such as communities near the frontline and Kharkiv city.
“Over half of the casualties in May occurred in Kharkiv city and region where Russian armed forces launched a new ground offensive on May 10,” Danielle Bell, the head of HRMMU, said.
Ms Bell said that the attacks in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, have been deadly and no place in Ukraine was safe.
“The attacks on a shopping center and printing house in Kharkiv city highlight the stark vulnerability of civilians engaged in everyday activities, where even routine tasks like buying supplies to repair damaged homes can result in the loss of life and loved ones,” said Ms Bell.
ICYMI: Biden announces new $225m aid package for Ukraine
Saturday 8 June 2024 17:00 , Joe Middleton
Ukraine air defence downs 9 out of 13 Russian drones over four regions
Saturday 8 June 2024 16:00 , Joe Middleton
Ukrainian air defence and mobile drone hunters groups shot down nine out of 13 Russian drones over four regions of the country, the air force said today.
The Iranian-made Shahed drones were downed over the central Poltava region, southeastern Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, and the Kharkiv region in the northeast, the statement said. One X-59 Russian missile launched from Russia’s Kursk region was also downed.
Serhiy Lysak, Dnipropetrovsk regional governor, said the overnight drone attack damaged commercial and residential buildings and also a power line.
Details of the damage in other regions were not immediately clear.
Ukraine is in a race against time to steel itself for a Russian summer assault. Western help needs to speed up
Saturday 8 June 2024 14:59 , Alexander Butler
Ukraine is in a race against time to steel itself for a Russian summer assault
While many in the EU worry about far-right gains at the ballot box – those close to Russia crave security
Saturday 8 June 2024 13:30 , Alexander Butler
EU voters close to Russia crave one thing above all – security
Ukraine air defence downs 9 out of 13 Russian drones over four regions
Saturday 8 June 2024 12:20 , Alexander Butler
Ukrainian air defence and mobile drone hunters groups shot down nine out of 13 Russian drones over four regions of the country, the air force said on Saturday.
The Iranian-made Shahed drones were downed over the central Poltava region, southeastern Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, and the Kharkiv region in the northeast, the statement said. One X-59 Russian missile launched from Russia’s Kursk region was also downed.
Serhiy Lysak, Dnipropetrovsk regional governor, said the overnight drone attack damaged commercial and residential buildings and also a power line. Details of the damage in other regions were not immediately clear.
Putin says Russia does not need to use nuclear weapons for victory in Ukraine
Saturday 8 June 2024 08:41 , Shweta Sharma
Russian president Vladimir Putin said there was no need to use nuclear weapons to deliver victory for Moscow in Ukraine, the strongest signal yet from the Kremlin chief that there will not be a nuclear strike.
Mr Putin, whose forces have been making advances in eastern Ukraine in recent months, said he did not see the conditions for the use of such weapons and requested that people stop discussing the nuclear topic.
However, Mr Putin, who leads the world’s biggest nuclear power, said he did not rule out changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine, which sets out the conditions under which such weapons could be used.
He also said that if necessary Russia could test a nuclear weapon, though he saw no need to do so at the present time.
Mr Putin’s response came to a question from Sergei Karaganov, an influential Russian analyst, who asked if Mr Putin should hold a “nuclear pistol to the temple” of the West over Ukraine.
“The use is possible in an exceptional case – in the event of a threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. I don’t think that such a case has come. There is no such need,” he said at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
“But this doctrine is a living tool and we are carefully watching what is happening in the world around us and do not exclude making some changes to this doctrine. This is also related to the testing of nuclear weapons.”
Biden, Macron get ready for pomp-filled state visit to discuss Ukraine and Israel
Saturday 8 June 2024 08:00 , Shweta Sharma
French president Emmanuel Macron will host US president Joe Biden today for a state visit marked by pomp and a parade as well as talks on trade, Israel and Ukraine.
The two men, who share a warm relationship despite past tensions over a submarine deal with Australia, will participate in a welcoming ceremony with their wives at the iconic Arc de Triomphe and a parade down the Avenue des Champs-Elysees before holding a meeting about policy issues and then attending dinner.
Jake Sullivan said talks between the two men would touch on Russia’s war with Ukraine, Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, and policy issues ranging from climate change to artificial intelligence to supply chains.
White House spokesperson John Kirby said the countries would announce a plan to work together on maritime law enforcement and the US Coast Guard and French navy would discuss increased cooperation.
Mr Biden and Mr Macron are also expected to discuss strengthening Nato, and both have pledged their countries’ support for Ukraine, though they have not agreed yet on a plan to use frozen Russian assets to help Kyiv. A US Treasury official said on Tuesday the United States and its G7 partners were making progress on that.
Ukraine air defence downs 9 out of 13 Russian drones over four regions
Saturday 8 June 2024 07:49 , Shweta Sharma
Ukrainian air defence and mobile drone hunters groups shot down nine out of 13 Russian drones over four regions of the country, the air force said today.
The Iranian-made Shahed drones were downed over the central Poltava region, southeastern Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, and the Kharkiv region in the northeast, the statement said. One X-59 Russian missile launched from Russia’s Kursk region was also downed.
Serhiy Lysak, Dnipropetrovsk regional governor, said the overnight drone attack damaged commercial and residential buildings and also a power line.
Details of the damage in other regions were not immediately clear.
UN says Ukraine’s monthly civilian death toll rises to highest in a year
Saturday 8 June 2024 07:30 , Shweta Sharma
Ukraine marked a significant increase in monthly civilian casualties in May, reaching the highest point in nearly a year, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) said today.
It said conflict-related violence killed at least 174 civilians and injured 690 in Ukraine in May, the highest number of civilian casualties since June 2023.
It noted that the main reason for the high number of civilian casualties was the use of air-dropped bombs and missiles in populated areas such as communities near the frontline and Kharkiv city.
“Over half of the casualties in May occurred in Kharkiv city and region where Russian armed forces launched a new ground offensive on May 10,” Danielle Bell, the head of HRMMU, said.
Ms Bell said that the attacks in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, have been deadly and no place in Ukraine was safe.
“The attacks on a shopping center and printing house in Kharkiv city highlight the stark vulnerability of civilians engaged in everyday activities, where even routine tasks like buying supplies to repair damaged homes can result in the loss of life and loved ones,” said Ms Bell.
US could deploy more nuclear weapons on its border to deter adversaries, Biden aide says
Saturday 8 June 2024 07:04 , Shweta Sharma
The US may have to deploy more strategic nuclear weapons in coming years against growing threats from Russia, China and other adversaries, a senior White House aide said yesterday.
Pranay Vaddi, the top National Security Council arms control official, made his comments in a speech on “a more competitive approach” to arms control that outlined a policy shift aimed at pressing Moscow and Beijing to reverse rejections of US calls for arsenal limitation talks.
“Absent a change in adversary arsenals, we may reach a point in the coming years where an increase from current deployed numbers is required. We need to be fully prepared to execute if the president makes that decision,” he told the Arms Control Association.
“If that day comes, it will result in a determination that more nuclear weapons are required to deter our adversaries and protect the American people and our allies and partners.”
The US currently adheres to a limit of 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads under the New START treaty with Russia even though Moscow suspended it last year.
The administration remains committed to international arms control and non-proliferation regimes designed to curb the spread of nuclear weapons, Mr Vaddi said.
But, he said, Russia, China and North Korea “are all expanding and diversifying their nuclear arsenals at a breakneck pace, showing little or no interest in arms control.”
The three and Iran “are increasingly cooperating and coordinating with each other in ways that run counter to peace and stability, threaten the United States, our allies and our partners and exacerbate region tensions,” he said.
Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are sharing advanced missile and drone technology, said Mr Vaddi, citing Moscow’s use in Ukraine of Iranian drones and North Korean artillery and missiles, and Chinese support for Russia’s defense industries.
Biden promises new $225m aide to Zelensky in Paris talks
Saturday 8 June 2024 05:30 , Shweta Sharma
US president Joe Biden announced a fresh $225m aid to Ukraine on the sidelines of his meeting with president Volodymyr Zelensky for D-Day events.
Mr Biden apologised to Mr Zelensky in what was their first first face-to-face encounter since the Ukrainian president visited Washington in December, when the two pressed Republicans to overcome opposition in their party to more support for Ukraine.
“You haven’t bowed down, you haven’t yielded at all, you continue to fight in a way that is … just remarkable,” Mr Biden told the Ukrainian leader at the start of their meeting on Friday. “We’re not going to walk away from you.”
He confirmed he was signing an additional tranche of $225m on Friday to help Ukraine reconstruct its electric grid.
“We’re still in, completely, totally,” Mr Biden said.
Mr Zelensky thanked Biden for US military, financial and humanitarian support.
“It’s very important that you stay with us. This bipartisan support with the Congress, it’s very important that in this unity, United States of America, all American people stay with Ukraine, like it was during World War Two, how United States helped to save human lives, to save Europe,” he said in English.
Zelensky hits out at Putin’s claims about Ukraine’s presidential legitimacy
Saturday 8 June 2024 05:10 , Shweta Sharma
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has hit back at Vladimir Putin for raising questions over the legitimacy of his presidency in the absence of elections in the war-torn country.
In a joint news conference with France’s President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, Mr Zelensky said: “President Zelensky’s legitimacy is recognized by the people of Ukraine only, he is elected by the people of Ukraine.”
“I am very grateful for the support. Our people are free. To be honest, that’s what we are fighting for (freedom). I am grateful for the support,” he said.
He added said Mr Putin’s legitimacy is recognized only by the Russian president himself.
“Putin elects himself. Russian people are just a decoration, they only have one actor,” Mr Zelensky said, pointing to Russia’s presidential election,
Ukraine had to undergo elections in March 2024 after Mr Zelensky’s first term ended in May. However, martial law was imposed following the Ukraine war in February 2022, banning elections during wartime.
British foreign secretary falls victim to hoax video call and messages
Saturday 8 June 2024 04:45 , Shweta Sharma
Foreign secretary Lord David Cameron has been the victim of hoax a video call and messages from someone claiming to be the former president of Ukraine, it has been revealed.
In order to stave off any attempts to manipulate video footage of Lord Cameron from the communications, the government has made public what happened.
A statement from the Foreign Office said a “number of text messages were exchanged followed by a brief video call between the Foreign Secretary and someone purporting to be Petro Poroshenko, former president of Ukraine”.
Mr Poroshenko served as Ukrainian president between 2014 and 2019, and has remained a prominent figure in the country since leaving office.
Lord Cameron falls victim to hoax video call and messages
Russia-installed governor says 22 killed in Ukrainian shelling
Saturday 8 June 2024 04:07 , Shweta Sharma
The Russia-installed governor of Ukraine‘s southern region of Kherson accused Ukrainian forces of killing 22 people and wounding 15 in the shelling of the small town of Sadove.
Governor Vladimir Saldo said Ukrainian forces had deliberately struck the area a second time today, using a US-supplied HIMARS missile to inflict the largest possible number of casualties.
Leonid Pasechnik, another Russia-installed governor in Luhansk, an occupied region northeastern Ukraine, said a Ukrainian strike had killed three people and wounded 35.
Russian Defence Ministry said Ukrainian forces had used US-supplied ATACMS missiles in the attack on the city of Luhansk.
There was no comment from Ukraine on either incident.
Ukraine is in a race against time to steel itself for a Russian summer assault. Western help needs to speed up
Saturday 8 June 2024 16:36 , Joe Middleton
Leaders such as Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron used D-Day celebrations to underline their support for Kyiv, writes Kim Sengupta, but the West is struggling to find the production capacity for the shells and missiles the country desperately needs
Ukraine is in a race against time to steel itself for a Russian summer assault
Putin claims Russia may supply long-range weapons to enemies of West in retaliation for Ukraine support
Saturday 8 June 2024 02:00 , Alexander Butler
Putin claims Russia could supply long-range weapons to West’s enemies
Graffiti with images and messages referencing Ukraine appear on Paris buildings near Parliament
Saturday 8 June 2024 00:01 , Alexander Butler
Unusual spray-painted images and messages with references to Ukraine appeared on the streets of Paris on Friday as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with US president Joe Biden in the French capital.
It was unclear who sprayed the graffiti that has appeared on several buildings in central Paris near the Parliament complex and various government ministries.
Some depicted coffins with stenciled signs in French that say “A French soldier in Ukraine.” Others include a sign that says in Ukrainian “Return the elections back to Ukrainians.”
Graffiti with images and messages referencing Ukraine appear on Paris buildings near Parliament
Ukraine is in a race against time to steel itself for a Russian summer assault. Western help needs to speed up
Friday 7 June 2024 23:00 , Alexander Butler
Speaking in Normandy at the commemoration of 80th anniversary of D-Day, Joe Biden declared that the US and the West is committed to unwavering support for Ukraine against Russian aggression, and robust resistance to Vladimir Putin “a tyrant bent on domination”.
The US president went on to meet Volodymyr Zelensky in Paris to assure him that $225 million (£176m) in weapons supply is on its way.
It was their first meeting since December when the Ukrainian leader visited Washington during a Congressional impasse over a $60 billion arms package for Kyiv.
The bill in Congress, held up at the time by Republican opposition, has been passed, easing trepidation that Ukraine would face defeat this year without that lifeline.
Importantly, the Biden administration, after prolonged hesitation, has belatedly allowed Ukraine to use American weapons, chiefly ATACAMs missiles, to strike targets inside Russia — as long as its not in Moscow and the Kremlin.
Read more here:
Ukraine is in a race against time to steel itself for a Russian summer assault
Putin’s forces killed his brother. He takes revenge using hundreds of suicide drones to blow Russian troops up
Friday 7 June 2024 22:00 , Alexander Butler
The Ukraine politician avenging his brother’s death with hi-tech ‘suicide drones’
Why African nations are turning to Russia
Friday 7 June 2024 21:00 , Alexander Butler
Russia‘s top diplomat pledged help and military assistance while on a whirlwind tour of several countries in Africa‘s sub-Saharan region of Sahel this week, as Moscow seeks to grow its influence in the restive, mineral-rich section of the continent.
Russia is emerging as the security partner of choice for a growing number of African governments in the region, displacing traditional allies like France and the United States.
Sergey Lavrov, who has made several trips to Africa in recent years, this week stopped in Guinea, the Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso and Chad.
Why African nations are turning to Russia
‘There is more to do’ to avoid repeat of Second World War, warns army chief
Friday 7 June 2024 19:00 , Alexander Butler
There is “every possibility” that a conflict on the scale of the Second World War could embroil Europe in the coming years, the outgoing head of the British army has claimed.
General Sir Patrick Sanders, 58, who will step down in the coming days after two years in post, issued the comments in Portsmouth at an event to commemorate the D-Day operation of 6 June 1944.
Having recently returned from a visit to British troops in Poland, Gen Sanders heralded the progression of the British army but added that there was “more to do” and urged the military to ramp up its readiness for war.
‘There is more to do’ to avoid repeat of WWII, warns army chief
At D-Day ceremony, American veteran hugs Ukraine’s Zelenskyy and calls him a savior
Friday 7 June 2024 18:00 , Alexander Butler
An American veteran and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared an emotional moment at a ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion to liberate France in World War II, each praising the other as a hero.
Retired Staff Sgt. Melvin Hurwitz, 99, and other veterans were introduced to the foreign dignitaries remembering the landings in Normandy on Thursday.
When he met Zelenskyy, Hurwitz kissed the Ukrainian leader’s hand and pulled him in for an extended hug, exclaiming: “Oh, you’re the savior of the people!”
At D-Day ceremony, American veteran hugs Ukraine’s Zelenskyy and calls him a savior
Inside the escape from a Ukraine border village as Putin’s forces closed in: ‘Mummy, when will this war end?’
Friday 7 June 2024 17:00 , Alexander Butler
Nine-year-old Sasha rushed down to the basement as Russian-launched drones buzzed in the sky above him. He was terrified, shivering as he desperately tried to block out the noise of the “Shaheds”, the Iranian-designed drones that have become a deadly feature of Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
The boy was living with his mother and five siblings in the village of Zakharivka, just a few miles from the Russian forces advancing across the border into Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region. The region has been the scene of intense fighting for weeks.
This was five days after the Russian attack had started in the middle of May. Poor defensive fortifications and severed communication lines, the result of Russian signal jammers, had caught Ukraine’s forces off guard. Moscow’s troops had then pushed rapidly across the border.
Read more here:
Inside the escape from a Ukraine border village as Putin’s forces closed in
Biden announces $225m arms package for Ukraine as he meets with Zelensky in France
Friday 7 June 2024 16:02 , Alexander Butler
The US will soon dispatch an arms and aid package to Ukraine amounting to $225million as Kyiv works to repel renewed Russian attacks, President Joe Biden said on Friday.
Biden announced the new tranche of defense assistance in Paris during a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, a day after the Ukrainian president joined the US president and other world leaders for ceremonies commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
In remarks at the American cemetery in Normandy during the ceremony, Biden had described Ukraine’s fight against Russia as a modern-day analog of the war against Hitler and Nazism while stressing the importance of beating back isolationist sentiment, providing an implicit contrast with his predecessor and likely 2024 election opponent, former president Donald Trump.
Read more here:
Biden announces $225m arms package for Ukraine as he meets with Zelensky in France
Zimbabwe’s Mnangagwa tells Putin that Russia is a reliable ally
Friday 7 June 2024 15:08 , Alexander Butler
Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa said Russia was a consistent ally of his country, and criticised the West for imposing a global order which he said had marginalised the Global South.
Mnangagwa was speaking at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum on a stage with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who Mr Mnangagwa called “my dear brother”.
Inside the escape from a Ukraine border village as Putin’s forces closed in: ‘Mummy, when will this war end?’
Friday 7 June 2024 14:48 , Alexander Butler
Inside the escape from a Ukraine border village as Putin’s forces closed in
Watch: Zelensky’s heartbreaking exchange with D-Day veteran
Friday 7 June 2024 14:15 , Alexander Butler
Ukraine has right to strike ‘legitimate targets in Russia’, NATO chief says
Friday 7 June 2024 14:00 , Alexander Butler
Ukraine has the right to attack legitimate military targets in Russia, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said.
“Ukraine has the right to self defence,” Mr Stoltenberg said during a news conference with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson at a military base near Stockholm.
He added: “The right to self defence also includes the right to hit legitimate, military targets on the territory of the attacking party, the aggressor – in this case Russia.”
EU ‘supports starting accession talks’, Ukrainian PM says
Friday 7 June 2024 13:00 , Alexander Butler
The European Commission supports starting EU accession talks with Ukraine, the country’s prime minister has said.
Denys Shmyhal said the commission had confirmed in a report that Kyiv had fulfilled the remaining steps required to start negotiations.
“Now we expect our European partners to take the next step – to start negotiations on European Union membership this month,” Mr Shmyhal said on Telegram.
Germany needs 75,000 extra troops as NATO braces for Russia threat
Friday 7 June 2024 12:30 , Alexander Butler
Germany will need at least 75,000 additional troops to fulfil its Nato commitments as the alliance adapts its defence planning to face what it sees as an increasingly hostile Russia, Spiegel magazine reported on Friday.
At their Vilnius summit last year, Nato leaders signed off on the first major defence plans since the end of the Cold War, detailing how the alliance would respond to a Russian attack.
The move signified a fundamental shift – Nato had seen no need to draw up such plans for decades, as it fought smaller wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and felt certain post-Soviet Russia no longer posed an existential threat.
Nato and national military planners have been busy translating the plans into concrete requirements, identifying shortages of troops, weapons and other equipment needed to defend against a Russian attack that could, according to the German military’s top brass, come as early as 2029.
Joe Biden apologises to Zelensky for delay in aid
Friday 7 June 2024 12:19 , Alexander Butler
US president Joe Biden has apologised for a month-long delay in approving weapons for Ukraine and told Zelensky “we’re still in.”
Speaking in Paris, where they both attended ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, Biden apologized to the Ukrainian people for the weeks of not knowing if more assistance would come while conservative Republicans in Congress held up a $61 billion military aid package for Ukraine for six months.
Still, the Democratic president insisted that the American people were standing by Ukraine for the long haul. “We’re still in. Completely. Thoroughly,” he said.
Trump claims nuclear war is a greater threat to the world than climate crisis
Friday 7 June 2024 12:00 , Alexander Butler
Donald Trump has downplayed the threat of the climate crisis in his latest interview with Fox News, insisting that international unrestand the danger of nuclear war are of far greater concern, declaring: “The only global warming that matters to me is nuclear global warming.”
The Republican presidential candidate and convicted felon sat down with the conservative network’s anchor Sean Hannity to lambast Joe Biden for emphasising environmentalism over the threat of nuclear war.
“I love this country. I don’t want to see this country get into a nuclear war and be so badly damaged. What we say won’t matter. This won’t matter.
This place won’t matter, nothing will matter because practically nothing is going to be here anymore,” Trump told Hannity, outlining his nightmarish vision of man-made apocalypse.
Trump claims nuclear war is a greater threat to the world than climate crisis
French citizen arrested in Moscow on charges of collecting military data
Friday 7 June 2024 11:30 , Alexander Butler
French citizen arrested in Moscow on charges of collecting military data
Watch live: Zelensky inspects French military equipment after Macron promises warplanes to Ukraine
Friday 7 June 2024 11:00 , Alexander Butler
Live: Zelensky inspects French military equipment after Macron promises warplanes
Inside the escape from a Ukraine border village as Putin’s forces closed in: ‘Mummy, when will this war end?’
Friday 7 June 2024 10:25 , Alexander Butler
Nine-year-old Sasha rushed down to the basement as Russian-launched drones buzzed in the sky above him. He was terrified, shivering as he desperately tried to block out the noise of the “Shaheds”, the Iranian-designed drones that have become a deadly feature of Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
The boy was living with his mother and five siblings in the village of Zakharivka, just a few miles from the Russian forces advancing across the border into Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region. The region has been the scene of intense fighting for weeks.
This was five days after the Russian attack had started in the middle of May. Poor defensive fortifications and severed communication lines, the result of Russian signal jammers, had caught Ukraine’s forces off guard. Moscow’s troops had then pushed rapidly across the border.
Read more by Tom Watling here:
Inside the escape from a Ukraine border village as Putin’s forces closed in
Russia trying to ‘invoke memory of Cuban missile crisis’
Friday 7 June 2024 09:29 , Alexander Butler
Russian naval vessels that will be making port in Cuba next week is an attempt to invoke the historical memory of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, according to a leading thinktank.
The Cuban ministry of the revolutionary armed forces announced yesterday that four Russian northern fleet vessels would make an official visit to the port of Havana between 12-17 June.
The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said the move was “likely part of a larger effort to invoke the historical memory of the Cuban missile crisis as part of Russia’s reflexive control campaign to encourage US self-deterrence”.
Moscow accuses Ukraine of using US rockets to shell civilian targets inside Russia
Friday 7 June 2024 08:48 , Alexander Butler
The Russian foreign ministry accused Ukraine of using US- supplied HIMARS rockets to shell civilian targets in Russia’s Belgorod region and of being responsible for the deaths of women and children.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova set out the allegation at a news conference held on the sidelines of an economic forum in St Petersburg.
She said fragments of the HIMARs rockets would serve as proof of what had happened.
Russia detains French NGO worker in Moscow on spying charges
Friday 7 June 2024 08:40 , Alexander Butler
Russia has arrested a French NGO worker on suspicion of spying on its military, a move that is likely to further strain already frought relations with Paris.
The Russian authorities claimed, without providing evidence, that the Frenchman was involved in the “targeted collection of information in the field of military-technical activities of the Russian Federation”.
They have launched a criminal case against him for allegedly violating the country’s law requiring any person receiving foreign support to register as a “foreign agent”.
Russia detains French NGO worker in Moscow on spying charges
Ukraine military downs nearly 50 drones
Friday 7 June 2024 08:15 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Ukrainian forces drowned 48 drones and five cruise missiles overnight, the military said in its morning update today.
The drones were launched from occupied Crimea, the Russian town of Yeysk and Primorsko-Akhtarsk, located on the coast of the Azov Sea, it added.
Russia reportedly flew Tu-95MS bomber planes to launch Kh-101 cruise missiles from Saratov Oblast.
Biden draws comparison between World War II and Ukraine
Friday 7 June 2024 08:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
US president Joe Biden yesterday drew parallels between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and World War II throughout his speech commemorating the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in France.
Mr Biden warned “the autocrats of the world are watching closely to see what happens in Ukraine”.The president vowed that the US would “not walk away” from the conflict, claiming “if we do, Ukraine will be subjugated, and it will not end there”.
“Ukraine’s neighbours will be threatened, all of Europe will be threatened.”
Zelensky meets Biden and Macron in France
Friday 7 June 2024 07:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Biden calls Putin a ‘dictator’
Friday 7 June 2024 07:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
US president Joe Biden said his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin is “not a decent man” but “a dictator” amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“He’s a dictator, and he’s struggling to make sure he holds his country together while still keeping this assault going,” Mr Biden told ABC World News during his trip to France to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.
When asked about the US administration’s decision to authorise Ukraine to use American weapons to strike inside Russia, Mr Biden said the weapons were authorised to be used “in proximity to the border”.
“We’re not authorising strikes 200 miles into Russia, and we’re not authorising strikes on Moscow, on the Kremlin.”
“We’re not talking about giving them weapons to strike Moscow, to strike the Kremlin, to strike against — just across the border, where they’re receiving significant fire from conventional weapons used by the Russians to go into Ukraine to kill Ukrainians.”
France to send Mirage 2000 warplanes to Ukraine
Friday 7 June 2024 06:24 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
President Emmanuel Macron said France plans to provide Mirage 2000 warplanes to Ukraine and train Ukrainian pilots this summer.
Mr Macron did not specify how many single-engine jet fighters would be provided, by when or under what financial terms.
He said France had proposed to train 4,500 Ukrainian soldiers but did not clarify where the soldiers would be trained.
He made the announcement on the occasion of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to France as part of D-Day anniversary celebrations.
Mr Zelensky earlier in September said he had struck an agreement on training Ukraine pilots in France in conversation with Macron.
The head of the Ukrainian Air Force said in January that French Mirage aircraft may reinforce the Ukrainian air force.
US to send new $225m military aid package to Ukraine
Friday 7 June 2024 06:15 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
The US will send about $225m in military aid to Ukraine, US officials said Thursday, in a new package that includes ammunition Kyiv’s forces could use to strike threats inside Russia to defend the city of Kharkiv from a heavy Russian assault.
The officials said the aid includes munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, as well as mortar systems and an array of artillery rounds. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss aid not yet publicly announced.
Under a new US directive, Ukraine can use such weapons to strike across the border into Russia if forces there are attacking or preparing to attack.
That change, however, does not alter US policy that directs Ukraine not to use American-provided ATACMS or long-range missiles and other munitions to strike offensively inside Russia, according to US officials.
More here.
US to send new $225 million military aid package to Ukraine, officials say.
Russian warships headed to Caribbean for drills as tensions rise
Friday 7 June 2024 05:45 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
The US has tracked Russian warships and aircraft that are expected to arrive in the Caribbean for a military exercise in the coming weeks.
The ships also are expected possibly to make port calls in Venezuela and Cuba, as Russia establishes a Western Hemisphere military presence that the senior Biden administration officials said was notable but not concerning.
The exercise will involve a “handful” of Russian ships and support vessels, the two officials said.
It’s not the first time Russia has sent its ships to the Caribbean.
This exercise, however, is taking place as Russian president Vladimir Putin has suggested that Moscow could take “asymmetrical steps” elsewhere in the world in response to president Joe Biden‘s decision to allow Ukraine to use US-provided weapons to strike inside Russia to protect Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.
More here.
Russian warships headed to Caribbean for drills as tensions rise
Russia detains French man for ‘espionage’
Friday 7 June 2024 05:14 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
The authorities in Russia have arrested a French NGO worker on suspicion of allegedly gathering information about the activities of Vladimir Putin’s military.
A criminal case has been launched against the Frenchman for allegedly violating Russia’s law that requires a person receiving foreign support to register as a “foreign agent”.
Moscow said the man, who it did not name, was involved in the “targeted collection of information in the field of military [and] military-technical activities of the Russian Federation”.
“Such information, if obtained by foreign sources, may be used against the security of the state,” it added.
The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue told AFP it was trying to secure the release of a member of its team, identifying him as Laurent Vinatier.
The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue is a Geneva-based non-profit that works to prevent and resolve armed conflicts through mediation and discreet diplomacy, according to its website.
“We are aware that Laurent Vinatier, an adviser at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, has been detained in Russia,” it said in a statement. “We are working to get more details of the circumstances and to secure Laurent’s release.”
EMEA Tribune is not involved in this news article, it is taken from our partners and or from the News Agencies. Copyright and Credit go to the News Agencies, email news@emeatribune.com Follow our WhatsApp verified Channel
