The UK has been vocal in its support for Ukraine against Russian aggression, providing military aid and announcing sanctions on Russian banks and oligarchs. After the invasion international oil prices surged by nearly $6 per barrel to more than $100, levels not seen since 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea, and have since passed $120. Russia has denied plans for military action, but an estimated 100,000 troops have amassed on the border. He said the UK was "leading on creating a package of economic sanctions" against Russia and was supplying defensive weaponry to Ukraine. For years, since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the belief was that Western armed forces would only ever have to take part in what was known as 'expeditionary' wars. These are conflicts involving a strong military force going into a situation in which it has superiority, so it can win easily - for example the Gulf and Iraq wars and conflicts in Sierra Leone and Kosovo.
In Russia, all male citizens between the ages of 18 and 27 have to complete 12 months of military service. While the UK has left its conscription days behind, there are still a large number of nations that make it mandatory for their citizens to serve their country. Although it is unlikely that conscription will be enforced in the UK – it is possible that women could get drafted, too. Police officers, medical personnel, prison workers, students, government employees and ministers of any religion were exempt. The second conscription period happened during and after the Second World War between 1939 and 1960, with the last conscripted soldiers leaving the service in 1963. As the clouds of geopolitical tension gather over Britain and Russia, whispers of war are growing louder.
Which countries mandate compulsory military service?
According to reports, Russian missiles on Kyiv and Kharkiv killed at least 18 people and injured over one hundred. The devastation was felt most acutely in Kharkiv, where an apartment block was hit, killing two people, and injuring 35 residents. New changes meant males aged 17 to 21 were required to serve in the armed forces for 18 months and remain on the reserve list for four years.
After 2,000 anti-tank weapons were delivered last week and 30 British troops arrived to teach Ukrainian forces how to use them, the phrase "God Save the Queen" began trending on Twitter in Ukraine. Some bars and restaurants in Kyiv were offering free drinks to anyone who had a UK passport. Gen Zaluzhnyi said on Telegram that Ukraine's air force had "excellently planned and conducted" an operation in the Azov region, south-east of Ukraine. https://euronewstop.co.uk/who-is-allies-with-ukraine.html offer my condolences and that of the UK to all Ukrainians for the lives lost due to these barbaric airstrikes. These took place far away from the front lines of Russia’s war, in civilian populated areas. The intensity, regularity and indiscriminate nature of Russia’s attacks may violate international humanitarian law, is extremely concerning and must stop.
What does the Russian invasion of Ukraine mean for the UK?
Russia is the second-biggest exporter of crude oil, and the world's largest natural gas exporter, which is vital to heating homes, powering planes and filling cars with fuel. He points out that our digital networks are mainly cellular in structure, making it almost impossible to wipe them all at once. True Russian cyberwarfare capabilities have proved something of a damp squib in Ukraine.
- Before the war, it was expected that one of the first lines of attack from Russia in any conflict would be a major cyber assault, both on Russia's opposing combatant, and potentially on its allies.
- Military analysts believed that if the Soviets had become involved in a war with the West in the 1960s, '70s or '80s, they would have tried the same approach, moving their heavy armour rapidly across Europe.
- Consequently, Air Vice Marshal Bell says planners need to take political and ethical landscape in which the Kremlin operates into consideration if it ever gets into a fight.
A source told BBC political correspondent Nick Eardley the meeting was "tempestuous" and ended early after Ms Truss said the ambassador should be "ashamed" of Russia's behaviour in Ukraine, adding that the Kremlin had lied repeatedly. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss summoned Russia's ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, for the second time this week to ask him to explain the "illegal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine". Ukraine has imposed martial law across the country, meaning the military has taken control temporarily, and traffic jams have built up as people attempt to flee Kyiv. Russian military vehicles are reported to have breached Ukraine's border in a number of places, in the north, south and east, including from Belarus.
The idea is that when borrowing is more expensive, people will have less money to spend. Both countries, once dubbed "the breadbasket of Europe", export about a quarter of the world's wheat and half of its sunflower products, like seeds and oil. Meanwhile, the US is discussing a potential ban on buying Russian energy which has also fuelled price rises.
- Phillips P OBrien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews, wrote in an analysis piece that the potential return of Donald Trump to the White House could see the US "neuter" the Western military alliance.
- "The nightmare scenario would be that the states close to Russia double down on aid to Ukraine while those farther west decide to force a deal on Putin's terms. Then Europe itself could fracture," he says.
- Even with prices falling faster than expected, next winter still looks challenging – and energy is likely to remain front and centre of the political agenda well beyond that.
- He said all major Russian banks will face a full UK asset freeze, which means they will not be able to access accounts, money or property in the UK.