Ukraine news – live: Russia failing to ‘punch through’ despite 97% of army at war

Russia has not been able to “punch through” Ukraine’s defences, despite almost all of its army deployed in the war.

It comes as the Kremlin has intensified attacks across a swathe of southern and eastern Ukraine in recent weeks, and a major new offensive has been widely anticipated.

“That has come at a huge cost to the Russian army. We now estimate 97 per cent of the Russian army, the whole Russian army, is in Ukraine,” Ben Wallace told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Meanwhile, Russia claimed on Wednesday that they made a breakthrough in the eastern front of Luhansk.

Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai said Russia was pouring heavy equipment and mobilised troops into Luhansk.

“The attacks are coming from different directions in waves,” Haidai said. But he added: “Those who spread the information that allegedly our defence forces have pulled back beyond the line of the administrative border (of Luhansk) - this does not correspond to reality.”

Key Points

• Russia failing to ‘punch through’ despite 97% of army at war

• Russia ‘held 6,000 Ukrainian children for re-education'

• Children held in camps as part of ‘large-scale systematic network’,

• Bakhmut under Russia’s ‘crazy, chaotic shelling' in new offensive – officials

• Wagner has ‘almost certainly’ made gains around Bakhmut – UK intelligence

Russia launches fresh missile strikes across Ukraine

08:40 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia battered Ukraine with multiple missile strikes on Thursday as its troops sought to advance in the east, Kyiv said, but Western allies pledged even more military aid for an intended Ukrainian spring counter-offensive.

Following a pattern of heavy aerial bombardment at times of Ukrainian battlefield or diplomatic advances, Russia launched 32 missiles in the early hours, Ukraine‘s Air Force said. Half were shot down, it added, a lower rate than normal.

Among them, air defences in the south downed eight sKalibr missiles fired from a ship in the Black Sea, Ukrainian officials said. Other missiles struck northern and western Ukraine as well as the central regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad.

Bolstered by tens of thousands of reservists, Russia has intensified ground attacks across southern and eastern Ukraine in recent weeks, and a major new offensive appears to be looming as the first anniversary of its Feb. 24 invasion nears.

“The enemy’s offensive continues in the east, (with) round-the-clock attacks,” Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said. “The situation is tense.”

When did Russia invade Ukraine?

10:05 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine has been raging for almost a year now, the conflict continuing to record devastating casualties and force the mass displacement of millions of blameless Ukrainians.

Vladimir Putin began the war by claiming Russia’s neighbour needed to be “demilitarised and de-Nazified”, a baseless pretext on which to launch a landgrab against an independent state that happens to have a Jewish president in Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ukraine has fought back courageously against Mr Putin’s warped bid to restore territory lost to Moscow with the collapse of the Soviet Union and has continued to defy the odds by defending itself against Russian onslaughts with the help of Western military aid.

Battle tanks from the US, Britain and Germany are now being supplied for the first time and Mr Zelensky toured London, Paris and Brussels in early February 2023 to request fighter jets be sent as well in order to counter the Russian aerial threat, a step the allies appear to have reservations about making.

Joe Sommerlad and Thomas Kingsley report:

When did Russia invade Ukraine?

Russia suffering ‘very serious losses'

09:50 , Katy Clifton

Ukraine's deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar has said Russia is suffering "very serious losses".

In a post on Telegram, Ms Maliar said Russia is bombarding Ukraine with "round-the-clock" missile strikes in the east.

She wrote: The enemy’s offensive continues in the east, (with) round-the-clock attacks.

“The situation is tense. Yes, it is difficult for us. But our fighters are not allowing the enemy to achieve their goals and are inflicting very serious losses.”

Russia deploys ships armed with tactical nuclear weapons for first time in 30 years, says Norway

09:36 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia has started deploying tactical nuclear weapons-armed vessels in the Baltic Sea for the first time in three decades, according to a Norwegian intelligence report.

The annual report released by the Norwegian Intelligence Service on 13 February states that the vessels belonged to Russia’s Northern Fleet, reported The New Voice of Ukraine.

The fleet’s warships regularly went to sea with nuclear weapons during the Soviet era, but this is the first time the Russian Federation has deployed them, the report stated.

“The key part of the nuclear potential is on the submarines and surface ships of the Northern Fleet,” it said.

“Tactical nuclear weapons are a particularly serious threat in several operational scenarios in which Nato countries may be involved.”

Russia deploys ships with nuclear weapons for first time in 30 years, says Norway

UN to mark Russia invasion of Ukraine anniversary by urging 'just peace'

08:03 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Marking one year since Russia invaded Ukraine, the UN General Assembly will vote next week on a draft resolution stressing “the need to reach, as soon as possible, a comprehensive, just and lasting peace” in line with the founding United Nations Charter.

It again demands Moscow withdraw its troops and calls for a halt to hostilities. The 193-member General Assembly is likely to vote next Thursday after two days of speeches by dozens of states to mark the Feb. 24 anniversary of the start of the war.

Ukraine and its supporters hope to deepen Russia‘s diplomatic isolation by seeking yes votes from nearly three-quarters of the General Assembly to match - if not better - the support received for several resolutions last year.

“We count on very broad support from the membership. What is at stake is not just the fate of Ukraine, it is the respect of the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of every state,” said European Union Ambassador Olof Skoog, who helped lead the drafting of the General Assembly resolution.

Russia‘s Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy declined to comment on the draft resolution, which member states received on Wednesday.

Snapshot of latest fighting in Ukraine war

07:45 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

• Ukrainian officials said air defences in the south downed eight Kalibr missiles fired from a ship in the Black Sea, but other missiles struck northern and western Ukraine as well as the central regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovograd.

• One missile struck an industrial site in the western city of Lviv, causing a fire which was brought under control.

• The Russian Defence Ministry on Wednesday said Ukrainians forces had retreated in the face of Russian attacks in the Luhansk region, although it provided no details.

• Ukrainian forces have repelled some Russian attacks but the situation remains difficult, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office said on Wednesday.

• Russian forces have launched attacks on several settlements, including Paraskoviivka on the northern approaches to Bakhmut, and on Opytne and Klishchiivka villages on its southern approaches, Ukrainian military analysts said.

• Six Russian balloons were spotted over Kyiv and most were shot down after being engaged by air defences, the capital’s military administration said.

• Russia has lost around half its best tanks in the year since it invaded Ukraine and is struggling to replace them, a research centre said.

Russia says U.S. should prove it did not destroy Nord Stream

07:21 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The United States should try to prove it was not behind the destruction of the Nord Stream gas pipelines that connected Russia to Western Europe, the Russian embassy to the United States said on Thursday.

Moscow considers the destruction of Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines last September “an act of international terrorism” and will not allow it to be swept under the rug, the embassy said in a statement.

The embassy referred to a blog post by journalist Seymour Hersh citing an unidentified source as saying that U.S. Navy divers had destroyed the pipelines with explosives on the orders of President Joe Biden.

The White House has dismissed the allegations as “utterly false and complete fiction”.

U.S. Department of State spokesman Ned Price said on Wednesday “it is pure disinformation that the United States was behind what transpired” with Nord Stream, provoking the fresh Russian comment.

EU chief urges allies to send more tanks to Ukraine

07:00 , Sam Rkaina

On the second day of meetings between Western defence chiefs in Brussels, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged countries to join Germany in sending “as many tanks as possible, and as quickly as possible” to Ukraine.

“I know there are hundreds of tanks in EU armies; some of them need to be refurbished, but then you have to do it, and do it quickly, because in the spring it will be too late,” he said.

The US defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, said after the Brussels talks that Ukraine had a very good chance of taking and “exploiting” the initiative on the battlefield this year.

Mr Austin said that for every new system Nato provides to Kyiv, it will train troops to use it. “We’re laser-focused on making sure that we provide a capability and not just the platform,” he said.

Russia sending troops ‘en masse' to Bakhmut as grim battle rages on

06:31 , Arpan Rai

Military experts monitoring the hotspot on war – the eastern sector – in Ukraine indicate that Russia has launched a heavy military offensive on the city, making the battle difficult for Ukrainian soldiers.

Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said that the Russian forces have launched attacks on several settlements, including Paraskoviivka on the northern approaches to Bakhmut, over the past day.

“Things are very difficult for our forces there as Russian troops are being sent into the area en masse,” Mr Zhdanov said.

Russian attempts to advance on two other settlements north of Bakhmut were repelled, he added in a YouTube video.

Former commander and military analyst Maksym Zhorinsaid that the Russians were attacking Opytne and Klishchiivka, villages on the southern approaches to Bakhmut.

There was also heavy fighting in Krasna Hora, to the north of Bakhmut, where the Ukrainians had suffered losses, he added.

“The city can be supplied and the injured can be evacuated. We can maintain our defence for a long time yet,” he said.

In the latest battlefield report, top Ukrainian armed forces officials said that the Russian forces had fired on more than 15 towns and villages near Bakhmut, including the city itself.

If Russia manages to capture Bakhmut, it would have the advantage of using it as a stepping stone to advance on two bigger cities, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk further west in Donetsk, which would revive Moscow’s momentum ahead of the first anniversary of the invasion.

Russia estimated to have lost ‘almost half’ of its key battle tanks during Ukraine war

06:30 , Sam Rkaina

Russia is estimated to have lost almost half of its best tanks during its invasion of Ukraine, with Vladimir Putin’s troops stepping up attacks in the country’s eastern regions including Donetsk and Luhansk.

The assessment, from military think tank the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), suggests that Moscow’s pre-invasion fleet of modern T-72B3 and T-72B3M main battle tanks has been hit particularly hard, with a loss rate of up to 50 per cent.

The director general of the IISS, John Chipman, said that Moscow has been forced “to rely on its older stored weapons” thanks to production of the newer models being “slow”. That means falling back on its Soviet-era tanks.

“They’re producing and reactivating nowhere near enough to compensate for those loss rates. Their current armoured fleet at the front is about half the size it was at the start of the war,” said Henry Boyd, research fellow at the IISS.

The broader loss rate across all models of tank is thought to be around 40 per cent, the IISS said in its annual Military Balance report.

Ukraine to boycott OSCE meeting in Vienna if Russia attends

05:30 , Sam Rkaina

Ukraine has informed the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe that it won’t attend the next meeting of its parliamentary assembly if sanctioned Russian lawmakers are allowed to participate.

The meeting is scheduled to take place in Vienna on February 23-24, during the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In a letter obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday, the head of the Ukrainian delegation to the the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Mykyta Poturaiev, wrote, “We do not find ourselves in a position to attend the winter meeting in case of Russia’s participation.”

The letter, which was dated February 10 and addressed to Parliamentary Assembly President Margareta Cederfelt, noted that Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine was widely supported by Russian politicians, including members of the Russian delegation to the OSCE.

“We have no doubts that the Russian delegation will use the OSCE ... for justification of the aggression against my country as well as for whitewashing numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against the Ukrainian people,” Poturaiev wrote.

He suggested the meeting’s postponement “to preserve the integrity of the assembly,” which is a separate body consisting of 323 parliamentarians from the OSCE’s 57 member states,

Ukraine may not get UK fighter jets for years, says Ben Wallace

05:25 , Arpan Rai

Defence secretary Ben Wallace has said it could be years before the UK gives any fighter jets to Ukraine as he joined a Nato security conference.

The cabinet minister suggested it was likely that president Volodymyr Zelensky may even have to wait until the war with Russia was over before British aircraft was supplied.

“I don’t think it’s going to be in the next few months or even years,” he told the BBC. “These are aircraft that come with not only huge sort of capability challenges. You just can’t learn to fly in a week or two, it will take a long time.”

Saying a fleet of a fighter jets would involve “hundreds of engineers and pilots”, he added: “We’re not going to deploy, you know, 200 RAF personnel into Ukraine in the time of a war.”

Read the full story here:

Ukraine may not get UK fighter jets for years, says Ben Wallace

Russia won’t find ‘marine’ throughout country as it is losing many people – Zelensky

05:09 , Arpan Rai

Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russia is losing many people from its forces and will not be able to find a “marine” throughout the country.

“The enemy is already losing so many of its people, so many of its forces, that it will soon be difficult to find, for example, a ‘marine’ throughout Russia,” he said in his nightly address.

He added that Ukraine’s task is to “make sure that there is less and less desire there to keep Ukrainian territories under occupation”.

“The liberation of our land is the goal we are working on every day,” Mr Zelensky said.

“We have to ensure that this spring it is truly felt that Ukraine is moving towards victory. This applies to the training of our defence forces, the supply of weapons for our country and our strategic initiative in the war,” the Ukrainian president said.

He added that any attempts by Russia to “retake the initiative must be thwarted” and that he is “confident that we will do so.”

At least 6,000 Ukrainian children put through Russian re-education camps – US report

04:41 , Arpan Rai

Russia has held at least 6,000 Ukrainian children – likely many more – in “re-education” camps, according to a US-backed report.

Yale University researchers said they had identified at least 43 camps and other facilities where Ukrainian children have been held that were part of a “large-scale systematic network” operated by Moscow since its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The children included those with parents or clear familial guardianship, those Russia deemed orphans, others who were in the care of Ukrainian state institutions before the invasion and those whose custody was unclear or uncertain due to the war, it said.

Read the full story here:

6,000 Ukrainian children put through Russian re-education camps, US report says

Russian and Ukrainian football teams brawl after checking into same hotel

04:30 , Sam Rkaina

A fight broke out between Russian and Ukrainian footballers after the teams were checked into the same hotel in Turkey.

Footage shows a brawl between Russian Shinnik Yaroslavl FC players and Ukrainian FC Minaj at the Royal Seginus hotel in Antalya.

In a statement, FC Minaj said the fight occurred out due to “the disgraceful behavior of the football players of the Russian team towards the hotel employees.”

The Ukrainian side said allegations in Russian media that Minaj players forced Shinnik players to sing the Ukraine national anthem and “beat the players in the lift” was a “delusion.”

Russia claims to have pushed back Ukrainian soldiers in Luhansk

04:21 , Arpan Rai

The Russian defence ministry has claimed that its soldiers have broken through two fortified defensive lines in Ukraine’s east.

“During the offensive... the Ukrainian troops randomly retreated to a distance of up to 3 km (2 miles) from the previously occupied lines,” the ministry said on Telegram.

It added: “Even the more fortified second line of defence of the enemy could not hold the breakthrough of the Russian military.”

The ministry did not give any details on the battlefield gains.

Luhansk and Donetsk regions make up the Donbas, Ukraine’s industrial heartland, now partially occupied by Russia which wants full control.

Russia asks US to prove it did not destroy Nord Stream – report

03:43 , Arpan Rai

The Russian embassy to the US has said that officials in Washington should try to prove that it was not behind the destruction of the Nord Stream gas pipelines connecting Moscow to western Europe, reported TASS news agency today.

Moscow considers the destruction of Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines last September "an act of international terrorism" and will not allow it to be swept under the rug, the embassy said in a statement.

Russia estimated to have lost ‘almost half’ of its key battle tanks

03:32 , Arpan Rai

Russia has likely lost almost half of its best tanks during its invasion of Ukraine, with Vladimir Putin’s troops stepping up attacks in the country’s eastern regions including Donetsk and Luhansk.

Moscow’s pre-invasion fleet of modern T-72B3 and T-72B3M main battle tanks has been hit particularly hard, with a loss rate of up to 50 per cent, an assessment from military think tank the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) suggests.

The director general of the IISS, John Chipman, said that Moscow has been forced “to rely on its older stored weapons” thanks to production of the newer models being “slow”. That means falling back on its Soviet-era tanks.

Read the full story here:

Russia estimated to have lost ‘almost half’ of key battle tanks during Ukraine war

Russia deepens ties with ally Cuba

03:30 , Sam Rkaina

Russia on Wednesday gave Cuba an “emergency” donation of 25,000 tons of wheat to combat shortages on the island, a sign of deepening ties between the two long-time allies.

The Russian ambassador in Havana, Andrei Guskov, said in a brief dockside ceremony in the Cuban capital that Moscow “accompanies Cuba’s efforts in its development in areas such as industry, machinery, transportation and energy.”

The substantial donation of wheat - used to make the bread that is a basic, government-subsidised staple in Cuba - marks the latest overture between the communist-run island and Russia.

Russia, hit by Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine, is looking to strengthen political and economic ties with other countries opposed to what it calls U.S. hegemony. Cuba has been under a U.S. economic embargo since 1962 after the Communist revolution led by Castro.

Ana Teresita Gonzalez, Cuban deputy minister of foreign trade, told Reuters on the sidelines of the ceremony that the Russians had provided Cuba with food and medicine recently, part of an “enduring relationship” between the two countries.

“The Russian government and people have been by our side in difficult times since the pandemic,” she said in a brief interview.

Wagner losing up to 80% of troops in some assault units near Bakhmut - Ukrainian official

03:26 , Arpan Rai

Russia’s mercenary group fighting in eastern Ukraine has lost up to 80 per cent of the troops in some of its units, Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Malyar said last night.

The Wagner group, which has recruited many convicted prisoners to fight in Ukraine, is seeing limited evacuation of the dead and wounded by the wider Russian forces – or not at all.

“As a result, among the personnel of the Russian occupying forces in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, there is a significant decrease in the level of trust in the decisions of the command regarding the conduct of hostilities,” the deputy defence minister said on Telegram yesterday.

She added that more and more Russian troops are learning how the commanders are “inadequately assessing the situation on the battlefield, as evidenced by the intensive use of so-called ‘death squads’ - units staffed by insufficiently trained mobilised personnel, which daily suffer heavy combat and sanitary losses.

“In particular, only one initial centre in the territory of the Rostov region sends about 500 hastily trained mobilised workers every week, most of whom undergo an accelerated training course from 14 to 21 days,” she said.

When these mobilised troops get to the units, such servicemen, “not wanting to play the role of ‘suicide squads’ resort to deliberate damage to military equipment, mainly engines, which, without firing a single shot, are sent to repair bases with full ammunition,” she said.

Stoltenberg says artillery production needs stepping up further

02:30 , Sam Rkaina

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said alliance members were continuing to produce 155mm artillery rounds.

“So yes, things are happening but we need to continue, we need to step up even more,” he told reporters after a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels.

Ukraine has received billions of dollars in military spending from Western countries. The United States has committed more than $27.4 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the conflict began in February last year.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged countries to join Germany in sending tanks.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said after the Brussels talks that Ukraine had a very good chance of taking and “exploiting” the initiative on the battlefield this year.

Austin said that for every new system NATO provides Kyiv, it will train troops on it.

Bakhmut’s capture would give Russia stepping stone

01:30 , Sam Rkaina

Russia is also waging an artillery and ground onslaught on the city of Bakhmut in Donetsk province adjacent to Luhansk.

Near Bakhmut, Russian forces fired on more than 15 towns and villages, including the city itself, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in its evening report.

They also trained tank, mortar and artillery fire on communities straddling the borders of Kharkiv and Luhansk region, it added.

Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko posted pictures and video of an apartment building littered with rubble that he said was destroyed in the city of Pokrovsk, southwest of Bakhmut, leaving three dead, 11 injured and one still in hospital in a serious condition.

Bakhmut’s capture would give Russia a stepping stone to advance on two bigger cities, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk further west in Donetsk, which would revive Moscow’s momentum ahead of the 24 February first anniversary of the invasion.

Russian balloons ‘that may have reconnaissance equipment’ shot down

00:30 , Sam Rkaina

Later on Wednesday, Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Malyar said Russian forces were mounting “round-the-clock” assaults on government positions, without specifying where.

“The situation is tense. Yes, it is difficult for us. But our fighters are not allowing the enemy to achieve their goals and are inflicting very serious losses,” Malyar wrote on Telegram.

In Kyiv, the capital’s military administration said six Russian balloons that may have contained reconnaissance equipment were shot down over the city on Wednesday after air raid sirens blared.

“The purpose of launching the balloons was possibly to detect and exhaust our air defences,” it said on the Telegram messaging app. Russia did not immediately comment.

Wednesday recap: Russia claims to broken through Ukraine eastern defence

Wednesday 15 February 2023 23:30 , Sam Rkaina

Russia said it had broken through two of Ukraine’s fortified defence lines in the east of the country, while Western countries announced more military spending on Ukraine, including artillery rounds, as Kyiv warned of continued Russian attacks.

Bolstered by tens of thousands of reservists drafted in December, Russia has intensified attacks across southern and eastern Ukraine in recent weeks, and a major new offensive is widely anticipated as the first anniversary of its invasion nears.

The Russian Defence Ministry on Wednesday said Ukrainian forces had retreated in the face of Russian operations in the Luhansk region, although it gave no details and Reuters was not able to independently verify this and other battlefield reports.

“During the offensive ... the Ukrainian troops randomly retreated to a distance of up to 2 miles from the previously occupied lines,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

“Even the more fortified second line of defence of the enemy could not hold the breakthrough of the Russian military.”

The ministry did not specify in which part of the Luhansk region the offensive took place.

Watch: Russian and Ukrainian football teams brawl after checking into same hotel

Wednesday 15 February 2023 22:30 , Emily Atkinson

At least 6,000 Ukrainian children put through Russian re-education camps, US report says

Wednesday 15 February 2023 21:45 , Emily Atkinson

Russia has held at least 6,000 Ukrainian children - likely many more - in “re-education” camps, according to a US-backed report.

Yale University researchers said they had identified at least 43 camps and other facilities where Ukrainian children have been held that were part of a “large-scale systematic network” operated by Moscow since its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The children included those with parents or clear familial guardianship, those Russia deemed orphans, others who were in the care of Ukrainian state institutions before the invasion and those whose custody was unclear or uncertain due to the war, it said.

6,000 Ukrainian children put through Russian re-education camps, US report says

Ukraine launches joint artillery shell production with a Nato country

Wednesday 15 February 2023 21:00 , Emily Atkinson

Ukraine‘s state arms producer says it has launched joint production of artillery shells with a central European country in Nato, and that it plans to develop and produce other arms and military hardware with allies.

Ukroboronprom, which did not identify the Nato member state, said it had started producing 120-mm mortar rounds – ammunition that is in high demand in Ukraine as it battles Russian troops following Moscow’s invasion a year ago.

“The emergence of this shell is the first product of our joint cooperation with a country from the (Nato) alliance. It will not end with shells, we will soon show you other products produced with partner countries,” Ukroboronprom spokeswoman Natalia Sad told a news briefing.

“This is the onward movement and integration into cooperative chains with the North Atlantic alliance.”

She said she would not identify the Nato country Ukroboronprom was working for security reasons, though she confirmed it was in central Europe.

Sad said Ukroboronprom had increased production on different types of military equipment by five to eight times last year compared with 2021. Companies were working round the clock to produce ammunition and keep supplies flowing, she said.

Russia’ struggling to replace lost tanks’

Wednesday 15 February 2023 20:15 , Emily Atkinson

Russia has lost around half its best tanks in the year since it invaded Ukraine and is struggling to replace them, a leading research centre claims.

But Moscow has preserved its air force largely intact and may deploy it more actively in the next phase of the war, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said.

In its annual Military Balance report, a key reference tool for defence experts, the IISS said loss rates for some of Russia’s most modern classes of tank were as high as 50 per cent, forcing it to rely on older Soviet-era models.

“They’re producing and reactivating nowhere near enough to compensate for those loss rates. Their current armoured fleet at the front is about half the size it was at the start of the war,” Henry Boyd, research fellow at the IISS, told Reuters.

He estimated Russia’s tank losses at between 2,000 and 2,300, and Ukraine‘s at up to 700.

Russia ‘to call UN security council meeting over Nord Stream blasts'

Wednesday 15 February 2023 19:30 , Emily Atkinson

Russia will call a meeting of the UN security council on 22 February to discuss “sabotage” of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, the Russian mission to the UN has said, according to the state-run RIA news agency.

US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh wrote in a blog that an attack on the Russian-operated pipelines under the Baltic Sea was carried out last September at the direction of US President Joe Biden.

The White House has dismissed the report as “utterly false and complete fiction.”

Who are the Wagner mercenaries and why are they so involved in Ukraine?

Wednesday 15 February 2023 18:45 , Emily Atkinson

Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine have been supported on the battlefield by tens of thousands of mercenaries from a shadowy group led by a businessman and longtime affiliate of President Vladimir Putin.

The Wagner private military company, under the control of Yevgeny Prigozhin, cut its teeth in deployments to Crimea and eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region in 2014 and has since contracted troops to several conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, including the Syrian Civil War.

In Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Wagner has proved indispensable, but a power struggle between the Kremlin and the outspoken Mr Prigozhin recently led to the group having its wings clipped by Moscow.

Liam James reports:

All we know about shadowy Wagner mercenaries helping Putin wage war on Ukraine

Ukrainian defence minister Reznikov says Zelensky asked him to stay in post

Wednesday 15 February 2023 18:00 , Emily Atkinson

Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, whose political future has been the subject of intense speculation, said on Wednesday President Volodymyr Zelensky had asked him to remain in his current post.

Asked in a Reuters interview whether he expected to continue as defence minister in the months to come, he replied: “Yes, it was the decision of my president.”

Reznikov’s future was thrown into doubt in recent weeks after a senior parliamentarian from Zelensky’s party said he would be replaced. But Reznikov remained in post.

A lawyer who became defence minister only a few months before Russia launched its invasion, he has been under pressure due to a corruption scandal linked to his ministry.

Reznikov said Zelensky had asked him to remain as defence minister but also discussed a future role leading a legal battle to ensure Russian war crimes are punished. Reznikov said he hoped that role would come after the end of the war.

Russia general who led crackdown on dissent ‘kills himself’ after being fired by Putin

Wednesday 15 February 2023 17:15 , Emily Atkinson

A Russian general who led the oppression of journalists, opposition activists and protesters is claimed to have killed himself a month after he was relieved from his post by Vladimir Putin.

Major General Vladimir Makarov, aged 72, was previously the main organiser in the “hunt” for those deemed an inconvenience by the Kremlin, according to Russian journalists.

But he was reported to have been recently forced into retirement from his role as deputy head of the Main Directorate for Combating Extremism, a department established in 2008 which persecutes protesters and monitors opposition sentiment on social media.

He was found with gunshot wounds to the head at his suburban home in Golikovo, northwest of Moscow, on Monday, the state-run Tass news agency and Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper reported.

Tass cited a security source as saying that he had taken his own life.

Russia general who led dissent crackdown ‘kills himself’ after being sacked by Putin

Ukraine may not get UK fighter jets for years, says Ben Wallace

Wednesday 15 February 2023 16:25 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Defence secretary Ben Wallace has said it could be years before the UK gives any fighter jets to Ukraine as he joined a Nato security conference.

The cabinet minister suggested it was likely that president Volodymyr Zelensky may even have to wait until the war with Russia was over before British aircraft was supplied.

“I don’t think it’s going to be in the next few months or even years,” he told the BBC. “These are aircraft that come with not only huge sort of capability challenges. You just can’t learn to fly in a week or two, it will take a long time.”

Saying a fleet of a fighter jets would involve “hundreds of engineers and pilots”, he added: “We’re not going to deploy, you know, 200 RAF personnel into Ukraine in the time of a war.”

Ukraine may not get UK fighter jets for years, says Ben Wallace

Kyiv says it shot down Russian balloons over Ukraine's capital

Wednesday 15 February 2023 15:56 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Six Russian balloons were spotted over Kyiv and most were shot down after being engaged by air defences, the Ukrainian capital’s military administration said on Wednesday.

It said the balloons may have been carrying corner reflectors and reconnaissance equipment but did not specify when they flew over the capital, although air alerts were issued in Kyiv on Wednesday.

“According to information that is now being clarified, these were balloons that move in the air under the propulsion of wind,” the military administration wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

“The purpose of launching the balloons was possibly to detect and exhaust our air defences.”

Shortly before the announcement, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February last year, could be using balloons in a new drive to preserve its stocks of reconnaissance drones.

“Reconnaissance drones like the Orlan-10 are now being used more sparingly (by Russia), and they thought ‘Why don’t we use these balloons?’ So they are using them,” Ihnat told Ukrainian television.

He later confirmed that air raid sirens had blared in the capital on Wednesday because of balloons flying overhead.

Russia did not immediately comment on the reports of balloons over Kyiv.

Russia failing to ‘punch through’ despite 97% of army at war

Wednesday 15 February 2023 15:20 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia has not been able to “punch through” Ukraine’s defences, despite almost all of its army deployed in the war, the UK defence secretary has said.

It comes as the Kremlin has intensified attacks across a swathe of southern and eastern Ukraine in recent weeks, and a major new offensive has been widely anticipated.

“That has come at a huge cost to the Russian army. We now estimate 97 per cent of the Russian army, the whole Russian army, is in Ukraine,” Ben Wallace told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Russian general who led oppression of journalists is claimed to have killed himself

Wednesday 15 February 2023 14:22 , Lucy Skoulding

A Russian general who led the oppression of journalists, opposition activists and protesters is claimed to have killed himself a month after he was relieved from his post by Vladimir Putin.

Major General Vladimir Makarov, aged 72, was previously the main organiser in the “hunt” for those deemed an inconvenience by the Kremlin, according to Russian journalists.

But he was reported to have been recently forced into retirement from his role as deputy head of the Main Directorate for Combating Extremism, a department established in 2008 which persecutes protesters and monitors opposition sentiment on social media.

Read the full story by Independent reporter Andy Gregory.

Ukraine defence minister confident West will send jets

Wednesday 15 February 2023 13:15 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Wednesday he was “absolutely” confident Western countries will supply fighter jets to Kyiv to help fight Russia‘s invasion even though some have been cool on the idea so far.

In an interview with Reuters in Brussels, Reznikov noted that Ukraine‘s allies had already ended up providing a range of Western weapons systems after initially saying they would not do so. “Impossible became possible,” he said.

He said fighter jets were needed as part of a broader system of air defences to protect Ukraine from Russian attacks.

“We vitally need aircraft as a platform to defend our sky. We have to dominate in our Ukrainian sky. It will protect our civil population, first of all, and certainly our armed forces.”

In recent weeks, U.S. President Joe Biden Washington said Washington would not supply F-16 jets to Ukraine and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also ruled out sending fighter aircraft.

Other countries, such as Poland, have signalled they are open to the idea but would only act with broad Western support. Britain has said it will provide training for Ukrainian fighter pilots but not yet whether it would supply jets.

Some Western officials have also noted it would likely take many months to provide fighter jets and train Ukrainian pilots to use them. Others have also expressed concerns that supplying Western jets could be a dangerous escalation in the war.

Speaking the day after meeting in Brussels with NATO defence ministers and a coalition of more than 50 countries supporting Kyiv, Reznikov said fighter jets were “on the table” and allies were assessing which model would be best for Ukraine.

“We have to choose the best solution,” he said, citing U.S. F-16 jets and Swedish Gripen aircraft as leading options.

Ukraine defends Luhansk region as Russia brings in troops - governor

Wednesday 15 February 2023 12:57 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia is pouring heavy equipment and mobilised troops into the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine but Ukrainian forces are still defending the region, regional governor Serhiy Haidai said on Wednesday.

Russia said earlier on Wednesday that its troops had broken through two fortified lines of Ukrainian defences on the eastern front. Russia‘s Defence Ministry said Ukrainian forces had retreated in the face of Russian attacks in Luhansk but did not say in which part of the region.

“There is a lot of shelling, the aviation is already connected. The attacks are coming from different directions in waves,” Haidai said. “We see that they are transferring mobilised people (to the front), we also see that there is more (heavy) equipment.”

But he added: “Those who spread the information that allegedly our defence forces have pulled back beyond the line of the administrative border (of Luhansk) -- this does not correspond to reality.”

NATO countries increasing production of 155 mm artillery rounds

Wednesday 15 February 2023 12:26 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The head of NATO said on Wednesday that NATO countries are increasing the production of 155 mm artillery rounds and needed to ramp up that production even further to help Ukraine against Russia.

“Artillery shells 155 are increasing,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters.

“So yes, things are happening but we need to continue, we need to step up even more. This is now becoming a grinding war of attrition and a war of attrition is a war of logistics,” he added.

Ukraine war has exposed Europe’s vulnerability, says Wallace

Wednesday 15 February 2023 10:40 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The war in Ukraine has exposed the vulnerability of Europe’s defences in the face of an aggressor, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace warned.

Mr Wallace said forces across the continent were paying the price for years of “hollowing out” that has seen ammunition stocks depleted, readiness levels reduced and essential maintenance neglected.

He said that at a time that the world was becoming “much more dangerous and unstable” it underlined the need for a long-term increase in the defence budget.

Mr Wallace, who is in Brussels for a meeting of Nato defence ministers, said the problems facing the UK were not unique to Britain.

“Ukraine has exposed across Europe – including in France and in Germany and other nations – our own vulnerabilities,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“Our ammo stocks, our readiness levels, our ability to meet Russia or any other enemy that chooses to play or attack us at what we call ‘below threshold’, before formal armed conflict.

“It has been well known for decades that where the armed forces have had to save money on things like its readiness or its infrastructure, the places that got unfunded were the unsexy parts of defence.

“Maintenance, ship lifts, all sorts of things that you and I don’t think are that exciting but are nevertheless really, really important.”

Tank delivery for Ukraine came a bit late, German vice chancellor says

Wednesday 15 February 2023 10:23 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The delivery of German-made Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine came “a bit too late”, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said, since time was running short ahead of an expected Russian offensive.

“With the decision to send the tanks we are doing what we can,” he told newspaper Die Zeit in comments published on Wednesday. “A bit too late, but it’s done... Everyone is expecting a terrible Russian offensive... Time is pressing.”

He added that Germany was not up for a debate on sending warplanes, which Ukraine says it needs in its war against Russian invaders. Germany does not own any of the U.S. F-16 warplanes that are most often mentioned in this context.

Russia: new foreign policy to focus on ending Western 'monopoly'

Wednesday 15 February 2023 10:04 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that Moscow would focus on ending what he called a Western “monopoly” over global affairs as part of a new foreign policy.

“Our renewed foreign policy concept will focus on the need to end the monopoly of the West on shaping the framework of international life,” Lavrov said.

Ukraine says it has repelled Russian attacks in Luhansk region

Wednesday 15 February 2023 09:37 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ukrainian forces have repelled some Russian attacks in the eastern region of Luhansk but the situation there remains difficult, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office said on Wednesday.

Russia said earlier on Wednesday that its troops had broken through two fortified lines of Ukrainian defences on the eastern front. The Russian Defence Ministry said Ukrainian forces had retreated in the face of Russian attacks in the Luhansk region.

Zelenskiy’s office made no mention of any retreats but said: “The situation in the region remains difficult.”

Russia claims breakthrough in Luhansk region

Wednesday 15 February 2023 09:20 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia has claimed they made a breakthrough in the eastern front of Luhansk as intense fighting continued overnight.

The Russian defence ministry said the Ukrainians had retreated in the face of Russian attacks, allowing its own troops to break through two fortified lines of defence.

“During the offensive ... the Ukrainian troops randomly retreated to a distance of up to 3 km (1.9 miles) from the previously occupied lines,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

“Even the more fortified second line of defence of the enemy could not hold the breakthrough of the Russian military.”

However, no further details were provided and Reuters was not able to independently verify the battlefield report.

It comes as the Kremlin has intensified attacks across a swathe of southern and eastern Ukraine in recent weeks, and a major new offensive has been widely anticipated.

EU to sanction Iran entities involved in Russian war in Ukraine - Von der Leyen

Wednesday 15 February 2023 08:49 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday the EU will propose sanctions targeting for the first time Iranian economic operators involved in the Russian war in Ukraine.

“For the first time we are also proposing to sanction Iranian entities including those linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard,” Von der Leyen told European lawmakers in Strasbourg.

Von der Leyen said the 10th package of sanctions, worth a total of 11 billion euros ($11.79 billion), would target new trade bans and technology export controls, including drones, helicopters and missiles.

British national killed in Ukraine, government says

Wednesday 15 February 2023 08:34 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

A British national has died in Ukraine, the government said.

The identity of the individual is not yet known, but their family has been informed.

The dead person is a man, according to the BBC, which would make them at least the eighth British male to die in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began last February.

The Foreign Office has not confirmed any further details but a spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of a British national who died in Ukraine, and are in contact with the local authorities.”

It comes after the government announced that a national one-minute silence will be held to mark the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine next week.

British national dies in Ukraine, Foreign Office says

Russian leaders 'likely aware' of 'critical weakness' in industrial output

Wednesday 15 February 2023 08:17 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Senior Russian leaders are “likely aware” that the state’s military-industrial output is becoming a critical weakness, particularly in light of the strategic and operational miscalculations made during the invasion of Ukraine, the ministry of defence has said in its latest update.

The MoD said production levels are “almost certainly falling short” of Moscow’s demands “to resource the ongoing Ukraine campaign and also to restore its longer-term defence requirements.”

Deputy security council chairman Dmitry Medvedev called for an increase in Russian tank production earlier, while visiting the Omsk Transport Machine Construction plant on 9 February, it said.

This follows several public comments by president Vladimir Putin urging the defence industry to better support the “special military operation”.

No sign that Putin is preparing for peace in Ukraine, Nato secretary general says

Wednesday 15 February 2023 08:00 , Stuti Mishra

UK’s commitment to Nato ‘is enduring'

Wednesday 15 February 2023 07:45 , Stuti Mishra

The Ministry of Defence has posted a series of tweets about defence minister Ben Wallace’s meeting with Nato on Tuesday.

The MoD states: “The UK’s commitment to #NATO is enduring and we remain one of NATO’s highest spending members.

“The UK and our @NATO Allies are focused on our unwavering support for Ukraine. Defence Secretary @BWallaceMP met his French and Romanian counterparts @SebLecornu @RomaniaNATO in Brussels for meetings to discuss ongoing military cooperation. “

'Extraordinary' Russian parliament session to focus on 'adoption of laws for integration of four regions'

Wednesday 15 February 2023 07:30 , Stuti Mishra

More information coming on the “extraordinary” meetings Russia’s lower and upper chambers will be holding on 22 February from RIA Novosti as a senior lawmaker is quoted saying it would focus on the adoption of laws on the integration of four regions into the Russian Federation.

Last year Moscow moved to annex the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions in Ukraine in a move condemned by most countries of the United Nations as illegal.RIA quoted a source as saying that the State Duma, the lower chamber, will gather in the morning on 22 February while the Federation Council’s session will start at 12pm GMT.

President Vladimir Putin will deliver his annual address to the federal assembly - a joint meeting of Russia’s two houses of parliament - on 21 February.

Russia calls its invasion of Ukraine last February a “special military operation” to eliminate security threats. Kyiv and its allies call Russia’s actions an unprovoked land grab.

Sunak set to join world leaders for Munich conference

Wednesday 15 February 2023 07:30 , Stuti Mishra

Rishi Sunak will join other world leaders in Munich this weekend for a conference on international security.

The gathering comes days after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky toured London, Paris and Brussels as part of efforts to convince allies to arm Kyiv with fighter planes.

Downing Street confirmed that the prime minister will travel to Germany for the conference, which was held last year in the days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Russian banks and invasion leaders in focus as EU debates new sanctions

Wednesday 15 February 2023 07:00 , Stuti Mishra

Representatives of the 27 European Union countries will meet in Brussels today to discuss a new batch of sanctions against Russia, with politicians, military leaders and four more Russian banks expected to be targeted.

Any new measures, which the bloc is expected to agree to mark the anniversary of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, would require the unanimous backing of all EU member states.

"We will impose sanctions on a number of politicians and military leaders," said European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen after a summit last week with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

"We will target [Russian president Vladimir] Putin's propagandists because their lies are poisoning the public space in Russia and abroad.

"The package will include additional export bans worth more than 10 billion euros. This will further starve Russia's military machine and continue to shake the foundation of its economy," she said.

US officials point to Russia using Iranian drones in Ukraine

Wednesday 15 February 2023 06:50 , Stuti Mishra

American defence officials on Tuesday sought to dispel any doubt that Iran is supplying drones for Russia’s war in Ukraine, releasing photos and analysis of unmanned aircraft deployed in the conflict to demonstrate Tehran’s involvement.

During a briefing in London, analysts from the US Defense Intelligence Agency displayed photos of drones that attacked Ukraine alongside images of those previously traced to Iran.

A comparison of design details such as tail fins, nose cones and landing gear shows that the weapons used in Ukraine are “indistinguishable” from Shahed-131 and -136 attack drones and Mohajer 6 unmanned aerial vehicles used in the Middle East.

The effort to “show the homework’’ is intended to help persuade governments or international agencies of Tehran’s involvement. Iran has said it supplied a “small number” of drones to Russia before the invasion of Ukraine but has denied providing any more since troops crossed the border last February.

The evidence proves otherwise, an official from the Defence Intelligence Agency said while speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

“Iran is a partner in the conflict with Russia,’’ the official said.

Romania, Moldova both report strange objects in their skies amid tensions with Russia

Wednesday 15 February 2023 06:40 , Stuti Mishra

Romania briefly scrambled military jets and neighbouring Moldova temporarily closed its air space after authorities in both countries reported mysterious weather balloon-like objects traversing their skies.

The incidents occurred at around midday local time and briefly raised concerns in the two Eastern European countries, both which border Ukraine and have been affected by Russia's war.

Romania's defence ministry said it deployed two jets that are under Nato command to its southeastern skies to seek an aerial object it described as being small with "characteristics similar to a weather balloon."

It had been detected initially by radar systems in Romanian airspace at an altitude of about 36,000 feet.

The incident in Moldova triggered widespread travel disruption and brief panic when authorities temporarily closed the country's airspace over what they later described as an object "similar to a weather balloon" spotted near the northern border with Ukraine.

Scores of flights in the country of about 2.6 million people, one of Europe's poorest, were cancelled or rescheduled. Some were diverted to Romania.

It was unclear whether the two incidents were related, and neither country said where they believed the objects had come from.

This comes after Moldovan president Maia Sandu accused Russia of plotting to overthrow her country's government and derail it from its EU accession path, an allegation Russia has dismissed as "absolutely unfounded and unsubstantiated."

Fans banned from Europa Conference League match amid Moldovan fears of Russian coup

Wednesday 15 February 2023 06:30 , Stuti Mishra

Partizan Belgrade fans have been banned from travelling to watch their side play Sheriff Tiraspol as tensions escalate in Moldova amid fears Russia may be planning a coup.Partizan and Sheriff are due to meet in the first leg of their Europa Conference League knockout play-off tie on Thursday in a match that will now be played behind closed doors.The president of Moldova, Maia Sandu, said on Monday that she feared Russia were preparing an attempt to overthrow her government.

Read more:

Fans banned from Europa Conference League match amid Moldovan fears of Russian coup

Russian parliament to hold extraordinary meeting next week

Wednesday 15 February 2023 06:10 , Stuti Mishra

The lower and upper chambers of Russia's parliament will hold an extraordinary meeting on 22 February, RIA Novosti news agency reported early morning, citing a source.

The meeting will be held two days after the Russia-Ukraine war completes one year, a military operation Vladimir Putin began expecting a quick win.

Not much is known about the agenda of the meeting yet.