RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has told one of his soldiers wounded in Ukraine that he will “definitely” return to the front line once has recovered.
In his first meeting with troops who have fought in Ukraine, the tyrant went to a military hospital in Moscow, where bodyguards wearing white coats lurked in the corridors.
After an official told him one of the wounded soldiers was eager to meet him, he asked the man if he really intended to keep serving.
When the injured man, dressed in pyjamas, replied: “Of course I do,” Putin, deadpan then said: “You definitely will.”
The soldiers in the hospital were reportedly recovering from shrapnel and gunshot wounds but did not display any obvious injuries typical of troops injured in war zones.
In what could be said to be an awkward meeting, Putin did not ask them about their experiences on the battlefield or comment on the ongoing hostilities.
Despite this, speaking at a government meeting later on Wednesday, Putin hailed Russian troops and said: “Those people have risked their lives and health for the sake of the people and children of the Donbas and for the sake of Russia. They all are heroes.”
Read our Ukraine war blog below for the latest rolling news and updates…
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Milica Cosic
Alleged Russian war crimes from Ukraine's prosecutor general
Ukraine fears that at least 240 children have been killed and 436 injured during the Russian invasion.
Ukraine's prosecutor general also accused Russian forces of carrying out 13,983 crimes of aggression and war crimes.
The figure for child deaths stood at 259 on Wednesday but is now feared to be higher than the estimate by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
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Milica Cosic
Slovakia PM warns 'Russia will go further' if it wins war in Ukraine
Slovakia's prime minister has warned his country could be next if Russia successfully invades Ukraine.
Speaking to Sky News in Davos, Eduard Heger said: "First of all it's important that they are our neighbours and we are fully with them, that they will win and they keep their democracy and their sovereignty.
"Second they're our neighbours and it's very important that our neighbours are stable and prosperous.
"And thirdly we are next in the round. If they fail we know that Russia will go further so this is really very vital and we have to understand, especially in the European Union."
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Milica Cosic
Ukraine says Russia shells more than 40 towns in Donbas
Russian forces shelled more than 40 towns in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, forcing Ukrainians to bury civilians killed in mass graves, as Tass news agency reported some 8,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war in the provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk.
"The occupiers shelled more than 40 towns in Donetsk and Luhansk region, destroying or damaging 47 civilian sites, including 38 homes and a school. As a result of this shelling five civilians died and 12 were wounded," the Joint Task Force of Ukraine's armed forces said on Facebook.
It said 10 Russian attacks were repelled, four tanks and four drones destroyed, and 62 "enemy soldiers" killed.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office also said this morning that 11 high-rise buildings were destroyed in Sievierodonetsk, and eight in Lysychansk.
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Milica Cosic
Donbas separatist leader calls for Russia's military operation to be accelerated
The leader of Russian-backed separatists in the breakaway Donetsk region has today called for the military operation in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine to be accelerated, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.
Denis Pushilin, head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), said Kyiv had blocked water supplies to key cities in the north of the region and called for military action to be stepped up.
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Joseph Gamp
Help those fleeing conflict with The Sun’s Ukraine Fund
Many of you want to help the five million caught in the chaos — and now you can, by donating to The Sun’s Ukraine Fund.
Give as little as £3 or as much as you can afford and every penny will be donated to the Red Cross on the ground helping women, children, the old, the infirm and the wounded.
Donate here to help The Sun’s fund
Or text to 70141 from UK mobiles
£3 — text SUN£3
£5 — text SUN£5
£10 — text SUN£10Texts cost your chosen donation amount (e.g. £5) +1 standard message (we receive 100%). For full T&Cs visit redcross.org.uk/mobile
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Milica Cosic
Russia takes steps to bolster army & tighten grip on Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin issued an order today to fast track Russian citizenship for residents of parts of southern Ukraine largely held by his forces, while lawmakers in Moscow passed a bill to strengthen the stretched Russian army.
Putins decree applying to the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions could allow Russia to strengthen its hold on territory that lies between eastern Ukraine, where Moscow-backed separatists occupy some areas, and the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized in 2014.
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Joseph Gamp
Russia says it has completed demining of Azov Sea port of Mariupol
Ukraine’s defence ministry has said that Russian forces have completed removing mines in the Azov Sea port of Mariupol.
Mines have been removed from the territory of the port and nearby waters, the ministry added in a statement.
Russia said it had established full control of Mariupol last week after.
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Milica Cosic
Warning Putin's attack 'is the beginning' as forces could be killing 100's a day
FOR THE first time since the invasion, the Ukrainian army is under more pressure than before.
It has been reported that Volodymyr Zelensky's troops could be fighting a losing battle in Luhansk, the northern part of Donbas region.
The Ukrainian General Staff says the Russians appear to be concentrating their forces for another push.
Ukraine's Zelensky has said the Russians could be killing up to 100 Ukrainian soldiers a day in Donbas.
And in the city, civilians with somewhere to go have left.
Lida, she was being evacuated to the relative safety of western Ukraine on a special train told BBC News: "They bombed everything, we barely escaped. Glass is smashed, everything is scattered around. And I am not able to walk at all. Disabled. That's how it is.
"Nine storey buildings, the upper floors are destroyed. All ruined.
"Putin's a scoundrel. We used to live peacefully. There was a Soviet Union and so be it. They divided Ukraine and Russia. So that's why the problems began."
Mitri, who said President Zelensky's predecessor Petro Poroshenko would have reached a ceasefire agreement by now also shrugged when asked him if he would accept a deal that allowed Russia to control all of Donbas.
He added: "I don't know. What could it change for me? The main thing is to stay alive.
"This is just the beginning, everything is still to come. If we survive, we'll see how it goes."
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Milica Cosic
Good morning, Milica Cosic with you today. I'll be bringing you the latest news and updates on the Russia-Ukraine war.
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Joseph Gamp
Everything YOU need to know about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Here are the key questions answered regarding Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.
- Why is Russia invading Ukraine?
- Will the UK go to war?
- How can I join the Ukraine foreign legion?
- What can I do to help Ukraine?
- Who is Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky?
- How much gas does the UK get from Russia?
- Is Russia a part of Nato?
- Does Russia have nuclear weapons?
- Why is Ukraine not in Nato?
- How big is the Russian army?
- What is Article 5 of the Nato treaty?
- What is the Minsk agreement?
- Which countries were in the Soviet Union?
- What does the Z mean on Russian tanks? Meaning behind symbols explained
- When will the Russia-Ukraine war end?
Putin tries soften war’s economic impact on Russia by raising minimum wage by 10%
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered the government to raise retirement pensions and the minimum wage by 10%, while stating that not all economic problems were associated with the conflict in Ukraine.
Speaking at a televised meeting of Russia’s State Council, Putin said that inflation would not exceed 15% this year.
Incredible PoV video shows Ukrainian kamikaze drone smashing into Russian tank
THIS is the remarkable moment a Russian tank erupted into a fireball after a Ukrainian kamikaze drone smashed into it while the crew reportedly tucked into a picnic.
As the war rages into its fourth month, streets in Ukraine have become a graveyard for Russian machinery – with burnt-out tanks and vehicles littering the landscape.
Fresh footage obtained from the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine today shows defenders blasting a Russian tank as fighters are said to have been sitting on top boozing.
A spokesman for the force said: “SSO operators in Ukraine have developed skills in owning another type of modern weapon.
“An example of this is another destruction of an enemy tank along with the enemy’s manpower.
“According to our soldiers, the Russian occupiers were quietly drinking alcohol at one of the positions, sitting on the armour of their tank.
“However, the usual Russian occupation was abruptly interrupted by an unexpected attack from the air.”
The force said they used a “modern kamikaze drone equipped with a powerful explosive” to target the tank.
It suffered “irreparable damage” after the deadly device “flew straight into the tank” – with the attack filmed by a camera on the “killer drone”.
The SSO – which was founded in January 2016 and is headquartered in Kyiv – did not specify where in Ukraine the strike took place.
View the video here.
Putin is a ‘madman’
Alexei Navalny the jailed Russian opposition leader has condemned President Vladimir Putin in a live court hearing.
The opposition leader called him a “madman” who started a “stupid war” in Ukraine.
Navalny said: “This war was built on lies. One madman has got his claws into Ukraine and I do not know what he wants to do with it – this crazy thief.”
Navalny was previously sentenced by a court to nine years in a strict regime colony for fraud and contempt of court.
‘Most aggressive phase’
Putin is ‘entering most aggressive phase’ and is trying to ‘DESTROY everything’ in the Donbas region creating an ‘extremely difficult’ situation for Ukrainian forces.
Mr Motuzyanyk said Russian forces had not given up attempts to cross the river.
Ukrainian Defence Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk has said: “Now we are observing the most active phase of the full-scale aggression which Russia unfolded against our country.
“The situation on the [eastern] front is extremely difficult, because the fate of this country is perhaps being decided [there] right now.”
‘We must avoid a bad peace for Ukraine’
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, has said Ukraine has to be able to negotiate with Russia from a position of strength.
She said in a speech in Stockholm: “We must avoid a bad peace, a badly negotiated peace for Ukraine would mean a bad peace for us all.
“It is much more dangerous giving in to Putin, than provoking him. All these seemingly small concessions to the aggressor lead to big wars. We have done this mistake already three times: Georgia, Crimea and Donbas.”
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Joseph Gamp
‘Severodonetsk being destroyed round-the-clock’
According to the local governor, Severodonetsk has been hit by several attacks by Russian forces.
Serhiy Haidai told Ukrainian TV “The city is being destroyed round-the-clock.
“They are dropping bombs from planes… using Grad and Smerch [multiple launch rocket systems], and artillery.”
He added: “Russian troops have approached close enough to shell it with mortars” and says “the situation in the city is very difficult,” and indicated that the next few days were critical.
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Joseph Gamp
Ukraine says it 'badly' needs rocket system
Ukraine's foreign minister said Wednesday his country "badly" needed multiple launch rocket systems to match Russian firepower as he pressed Western allies for heavy weapons at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alps.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he had come to Davos at a "very difficult moment on the frontline" as fighting rages in the eastern Donbas region.
"The battle for Donbas is very much like the battles of the Second World War," Kuleba told journalists following talks with a slew of government officials and business leaders.
"Some villages and towns, they do not exist anymore," he said.
"They were all turned into rubble by Russian artillery fire, by Russian multiple launch rocket systems. It's devastating."
Russia overwhelms Ukraine in a number of heavy weapons, but the biggest imbalance is with MLRS, mobile batteries of long-range rockets, he added.
Washington and European countries have poured billions of dollars' worth of arms into Ukraine to help the country's outgunned forces beat back the better-armed Russian invaders.
But Kuleba said that the MLRS "is really the weapon that we badly need.
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Joseph Gamp
Champion boxer dies defending Ukraine
A former amateur champion boxer has died aged 30 defending Ukraine against Russia.
Oleg Prudky was working for the Cherkasy Police special forces in the continued effort to fight the invaders.
Their city base was attacked on Sunday as he and three colleagues died.
Prudky was a two-time amateur champ in his homeland and was called up to Ukrainian Otamans team for the semi-pro World Series of Boxing competition – a team Vasyl Lomachenko and Oleksandr Usyk previously represented.
The Ukrainian Boxing Federation said: “We are sad to announce that the master of sports of international boxing class, champion of Ukraine Oleg Prudky, died in battles with the Russian occupiers.
“The Boxing Federation of Ukraine expresses its condolences to the boxer’s family! Eternal memory to you Olezh.”
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Joseph Gamp
Protesters speak out against Ukraine war on Cannes red carpet
Protesters speaking out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine have taken to the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival in the third such incident this week.
A group which contained Ukrainian filmmakers behind the 2022 film Butterfly Vision held up a banner which read "Russians kill Ukrainians. Do you find it offensive or disturbing to talk about this genocide?".
The participants also covered their faces with transparent squares with the crossed eye image which is used in social media when content is deemed sensitive or disturbing.
During a photocall for the film, producers Darya Bassel and Yelizaveta Smith wore t-shirts with an image of an explosion on the front with the same message as the banner on the back.
The film's Ukrainian director Maksym Nakonechnyi also wore a t-shirt that reads "Free Tayra" in reference to Ukrainian medic Julia Paevska, known as Tayra, who has reportedly been taken captive by Russian forces.
The film Butterfly Vision follows a female Ukrainian soldier who returns home from the front line after being held captive for months by Russian captors.
She later discovers that she is pregnant after being raped by her warden.
The protest was staged on Wednesday ahead of the film's screening at the annual festival in the south of France.
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Joseph Gamp
Products to rocket in price as blockade is stopping access to Ukrainian ports
Staple food products are set to increase in price as Russian navy blockades are preventing commercial shipping to Ukrainian ports, the Ministry of Defence has said.
Since the start of the war, prices have already jumped up for some vital food supplies as a result of a Ukrainian grains not being able to be exported.
Calls have been made for the international community to help, with Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK stating that the international community has a responsibility to reopen Ukraine’s grain exports.
So far, the UK and allies have said there are “no current plans” for Royal Navy warships to help break Russia’s blockade.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Ministry of Defence said: “There has been no significant merchant shipping activity in or out of Odessa since the start of the war. Russia’s subsequent naval blockade of key Black Sea ports has deterred the commercial shipping industry from operating in the area.
“Ukraine’s overland export mechanisms are highly unlikely to substitute for the shortfall in shipping capacity caused by the Russian blockade. As a result, significant supplies of Ukrainian grain remain in storage unable to be exported.
“Fighting has already placed indirect pressure on global grain prices. While the threat of Russia’s naval blockade continues to deter access by commercial shipping to Ukrainian ports, the resulting supply shortfalls will further increase the price of many staple products.”
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Joseph Gamp
US slams Russia's citizenship plan in Ukraine
The United States on Wednesday denounced a Russian plan to fast-track citizenship in areas of Ukraine as a new effort to subdue people under its control.
State Department spokesman Ned Price voiced concern that the plan was part of "Russia's attempt to subjugate the people of Ukraine — to impose their will by force."
"That is something that we would forcefully reject," Price told reporters.
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Joseph Gamp
Putin's Ukraine food blockade risks global starvation
Vladimir Putin risks starving people around the world if he continues to blockade Ukrainian food exports, the UK Government has warned.
Defence minister Jeremy Quin told MPs there is a "significant risk to starvation on a global basis" due to Russia's actions, and the UK is trying to assist efforts to free vital food supplies.
Liam Fox, Conservative former defence secretary, accused the Russian president of echoing the tactics of Joseph Stalin by using famine as a "weapon of war".
Britain has said it has "no current plans" for Royal Navy warships to help break the Black Sea blockade but several MPs pressed the Government to coordinate action.
Conservative former minister Andrew Murrison told a Commons debate: "The blockade of Odesa is of extreme seriousness.
"Unless those silos are emptied in the next few weeks, there'll be nowhere for the harvest to go and tens of thousands of people in some of the most vulnerable countries throughout the world will starve – with all the geopolitical consequences that will bring.
"That means, does it not, that we need to lift that blockade in Odesa as a matter of urgency. What are we doing to provide, for example, Harpoon missiles to ensure that the ships that are currently blockading Odesa are dealt with and we can clean up the Black Sea so that mines are not posing a threat?"
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Joseph Gamp
Putin tries soften war's economic impact on Russia by raising minimum wage by 10%
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered the government to raise retirement pensions and the minimum wage by 10%, while stating that not all economic problems were associated with the conflict in Ukraine.
Speaking at a televised meeting of Russia's State Council, Putin said that inflation would not exceed 15% this year.
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Joseph Gamp
Russia passport plan 'flagrant violation' of Ukraine sovereignty, say Kyiv
Moscow's plan to make it easier for Ukrainians living in Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine to receive Russian citizenship violates international law, Kyiv said Wednesday, accusing the Kremlin of "criminal" behaviour.
"The illegal issuing of passports… is a flagrant violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as norms and principles of international humanitarian law," the Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement.
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Joseph Gamp
Defence minister claims Russia 'cannot win' war amid UK military support for Ukraine
Defence minister Jeremy Quin reiterated that Russia "cannot win" and restated the military support given to Ukraine.
He told MPs: "So far, we've delivered in excess of 6,500 anti-tank missiles, many of which have been used successfully to repel columns of tanks, as well as eight air defence systems – including Brimstone and Starstreak missiles, the fastest in the world at some 2,000 miles an hour."
Mr Quin highlighted the delivery of Wolfhound armoured vehicles and Stormer vehicles fitted with Starstreak launchers.
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