Ukraine war LIVE – Britain CRUSHING Putin's twisted invasion by providing 'exactly the right weapons', Zelensky declares
VOLODYMYR Zelenskyy has thanked Prime Minister Boris Johnson for "complete" understanding of Ukraine's need for more weapons.
Britain is sending the lethal weapons after a request from Ukraine for longer-range weapons to counter Russian heavy artillery, which has been used to devastating effect in the eastern Donbas region.
Speaking in his nightly video address, the hero president said: "I am grateful to Prime Minister Boris Johnson for the complete understanding of our demands and preparedness to provide Ukraine with exactly the weapons that it so needs to protect the lives of our people,"
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak also hailed Mr Johnson for being "one of the first leaders who realised the menace of Russia" and helped to "protect the free world from barbaric invasion".
He added: "The world needs such leaders. The UK is a great friend of Ukraine and a shield of the democratic world," he said.
On Monday, Ukrainian and Russian troops fought street by street for control of the industrial city of Sievierodonetsk in a pivotal battle of the Kremlin offensive in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.
Read our Ukraine war live blog below for the latest news & updates…
- Joseph Gamp
Zelensky: Russia has set sights on capture of Zaporizhzhia
Ukraine’s Voldymyr Zelensky has warned that Russian troops intend to capture the city of Zaporizhzhia.
The Ukrainian president told a news conference that peace talks with Russia stood at “level zero”.
He also added that in the meantime “the most threatening situation” has developed in the Zaporizhzhia region, parts of which have already been taken by Russia.
“The enemy wants to… occupy the city of Zaporizhzhia,” Zelensky said.
If this happens, this move would allow the Russian military to advance closer to the centre of Ukraine.
- Joseph Gamp
Spain ‘to send tanks and anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine’
Spain could soon send Leopard tanks and anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine, El Pais has reported.
Citing government sources, the Spanish newspaper has claimed that Madrid could also train the Ukrainian military on how to use the tanks.
The tanks are German-built, meaning Germany would need to approve a move to re-export them to Ukraine, according to Politico.
- Joseph Gamp
Zelensky: 75m tonnes of grain could be stuck in Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday said there could be as much as 75 million tonnes of grain stuck in Ukraine by this autumn.
Ukraine, Zelensky told a briefing in Kyiv, has been discussing with Britain and Turkey the idea of a third country’s navy guaranteeing the passage of Ukrainian grain exports through the Russia-dominated Black Sea.
The strongest guarantee of their safe passage though would be Ukrainian weaponry, he told reporters.
- Joseph Gamp
Russia warns West against long-range weapons for Ukraine
Moscow today warned that it would respond to Western supplies of long-range weapons to Ukraine by stepping up efforts to push Kyiv’s forces further from its border.
“The more long-range weapons you supply, the further we will push away from our territory” the line of Ukrainian forces, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Moscow would hit new targets if the West supplies Ukraine with long-range missiles.
Washington and London have defied Putin’s warnings against supplying Kyiv with advanced weapons, saying they would send long-range missile systems to Ukraine.
- Joseph Gamp
Ukraine ‘has enough resources’ to repel Russian attacks in Sievierodonetsk, says mayor
Ukraine has concentrated enough forces to repel Russian attacks in the frontline eastern city of Sievierodonetsk, but neither side is preparing to withdraw and street fighting rages, mayor Oleksandr Stryuk told Ukrainian television.
“(We) have focused enough forces and resources there to beat back attacks on the city,” Stryuk said.
In separate comments, Defence Ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told a briefing that Russia was not sparing troops or equipment in its push to capture Sievierodonetsk, the largest remaining Ukrainian-controlled city in Luhansk region.
- Joseph Gamp
Britain to send long-range missiles to Ukraine after Russia hits Kyiv
The UK is to send its first long-range missiles to Ukraine after Russia struck the outskirts of Kyiv for the first time since April.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said Britain will send an unspecified number of M270 launchers, which can fire precision-guided rockets up to 50 miles – a longer range than any missile technology currently in use in the war.
“The UK stands with Ukraine in this fight and is taking a leading role in supplying its heroic troops with the vital weapons they need to defend their country from unprovoked invasion,” Mr Wallace said in a statement from the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
“If the international community continues its support, I believe Ukraine can win.
“As Russia’s tactics change, so must our support to Ukraine. These highly capable multiple-launch rocket systems will enable our Ukrainian friends to better protect themselves against the brutal use of long-range artillery, which (Vladimir) Putin’s forces have used indiscriminately to flatten cities.”
Ukrainian troops will be trained in the UK to use the equipment, he added.
Boris Johnson said the systems will help Ukraine “effectively repel the continuing Russian onslaught”.
“We cannot stand by while Russian long-range artillery flattens cities and kills innocent civilians,” the Prime Minister said.
- Joseph Gamp
US orders seizure of two aircraft of Russian oligarch Abramovich
The US Justice Department ordered the seizure of two aircraft owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich today, saying they had been used in violation of sanctions on Russia imposed over its invasion of Ukraine.
The department said in court filings that the two aircraft, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner and Gulfstream G650ER executive jet, had been flown into Russian territory in earlier this year in violation of US export controls.
- Joseph Gamp
‘Ukraine not ready to export grain via Belarus’
Ukraine is not ready to agree to a plan to export its grain by rail across Belarus for shipment via the Baltic Sea to bypass Russia’s blockade of its Black Sea ports, President Volodymyr Zelensky said today.
“We are not yet ready to follow this format and help our ‘friendly’ neighbours,” Zelensky was quoted as saying by Interfax Ukraine.
Zelensky told reporters that Ukraine had discussed with Britain and Turkey the idea of a navy from a third country guaranteeing safe passage of Ukraine’s grain exports through the Black Sea.
However, he said the strongest guarantee of their safe passage would be with Ukrainian weaponry.
“Our strongest guarantee of unblocking this or that corridor from ports for the export of grain is to respond with weapons that will be located in the region,” he told reporters.
“We are working on this with specific states, with specific anti-ship systems, we are working and are gradually receiving them,” he said.
- Joseph Gamp
Families of Russia’s National Guard who died in Ukraine to get £63,000
The families of members of Russia’s National Guard who died in Ukraine and Syria will receive a one-time payment of five million rubles (£63,000), a Kremlin decree said today.
The decree signed by President Vladimir Putin said the payments would also be received by families of those who were killed during a “special military operation” in Ukraine’s breakaway regions of Donetsk and Lugansk.
In 2016, Putin created the National Guard, or Rosgvardia, to maintain public order and fight terrorism. The force reports directly to him.
Russia has been tight-lipped on the number of its soldiers and members of the National Guard killed in Ukraine and Syria.
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