Ambassador Neil Holland condemns Russia's air attacks this week on Kyiv and Kharkiv, as well as the spate of attacks on Ukraine over the past month. Unredacted documents on the US department of defence’s procurement database reveal plans for a “nuclear mission” that will take place “imminently” at RAF Lakenheath, where nuclear weapons were stationed during the Cold War. General Sir Patrick Sanders, the head of the British Army, went on to warn that the public would need to be called up to fight if there was war with Russia because the Army was too small. It comes as the forces struggle to retain female personnel amid a sex harassment crisis engulfing the military. The UK aspires to spend 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence, and Mr Shapps has said he would like to increase this to 3 per cent, though he failed to set a date last week for the target.
A large diversion of citizens to military duty would leave gaps in the workforce to be filled, be it guarding food warehouses or building trenches and bomb shelters. Retired members of essential professions – doctors, nurses, morticians, police – would be urged back into service. As in Ukraine, office techies could be in demand to operate drones on the front lines and to fend off cyberattacks. While climate change is often deemed a "threat multiplier", it is clear from the last week "that fossil fuels are a threat multiplier too", she said.
- The Covid lockdown, which saw fights breaking out in queues at supermarkets and garages, was a glimpse of how trouble can spark during times of nationwide panic.
- Last week Capita, the outsourcing specialist in charge of the Army’s recruitment, said soldiers who have visible tattoos, hay fever or a record of asthma should be allowed to join to solve the crisis.
- At the end of the Cold War, most of the 100-strong network of nuclear bunkers were closed, along with around 1,500 underground posts for the Royal Observer Corps, a 10,000-strong volunteer force.
- Indeed, for all the foreboding about societal collapse, facing a common threat could give Britain a new-found sense of unity – something many Ukrainians speak of.
The number of regular troops in the Army stands at 75,983, although defence sources insisted applications for the Army were at the highest they had been in six years. “Covid showed our ugly side, with people getting upset when all they were being asked to do was sit on the sofa at home,” said the former TA soldier. Indeed, for all the foreboding about societal collapse, facing a common threat could give Britain a new-found sense of unity – something many Ukrainians speak of. Just as there was the “Clap for Carers” during the pandemic, similar rituals might take place for those serving at the front. And for every shirker or draft-dodger, others might take pride in national duty, be it manning a machine gun post or cleaning the streets.
US planning to station nuclear weapons in UK amid threat from Russia – report
But all of the measures against Russia will have negative impacts for the West too. The British government is pushing for Russia to be expelled from the Swift global payment network as the UK braces for a spike in gas and oil prices following Vladimir Putin’s order for an invasion of Ukraine. Opposition leaders including Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer criticised the initial package of sanctions for being too soft. Mr Johnson promised to hit Russia with a “massive” package of sanctions designed to “hobble” the economy in Moscow. If Ukraine was part of Nato, the military alliance which is made up of 30 member states, including the US and UK, every Nato nation would have to launch an armed attack against Russia.
- It could even send troops to the three Baltic countries - Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania.
- The devastation was felt most acutely in Kharkiv, where an apartment block was hit, killing two people, and injuring 35 residents.
- Recruitment remained a challenge, he said, although applications to join were “the highest in six years”.
- Martial law - which means the military takes control temporarily - has been imposed across the whole of Ukraine and traffic jams built up as people fled the capital city of Kyiv.
But if Ukraine’s experience is anything to go by, the threat posed by a common enemy could have a unifying effect. Kyiv’s politicians used to be notoriously fractious – not least because of divisions between the pro and anti-Russian camps. Even during the London Blitz in 1941, nearly 5,000 looting cases came before the Old Bailey. If law and order really began to break down, security forces could be authorised to use lethal force against looters; neighbourhood vigilante groups might spring up. The Covid lockdown, which saw fights breaking out in queues at supermarkets and garages, was a glimpse of how trouble can spark during times of nationwide panic.
UK will not look away from Russia invasion in Ukraine - PM
Joe Biden is pressing Congress to embrace a bipartisan Senate deal to pair border enforcement measures with aid for Ukraine. Carlos Del Toro, the US navy secretary, has urged the UK to “reassess” the size of its armed forces given “the threats that exist today”. “The two leaders will reaffirm their resolute support for Ukraine’s defence of its land and its people against Russia’s war of aggression,” the White House said in a statement Saturday. Ukrainian counter-attacks were holding Russians back from taking full control of Avdiivka, the UK Ministry of Defence said in its latest intelligence report.
- He highlighted the threat from Russia and pointed to steps being taken by other European nations to put their populations on a "war footing".
- “Wheat prices went up £15 a tonne” in the hours after Putin gave the order for an invasion, the broadcaster said, while “soybeans hit their highest prices since 2012” and “corn jumped to an eight-month peak”.
- Meanwhile, Indian thinktank Observer Research Foundation's Russia expert, Nandan Unnikrishnan, said India was unlikely to sign "any major military deal" with Russia because it would cross a red line with the US.
While the official said it was hard to say these were all strategically related, it showed that there was an issue on Eastern Europe's eastern flank. "Added to that are the recent border crisis involving thousands of migrants in Belarus, as well as Russia's backing of separatists in the Caucasus and elsewhere," he said. https://euronewstop.co.uk/what-has-the-uk-sent-to-ukraine.html have also pointed to an increase in Russia's social media "disinformation". Western intelligence estimates that Russia already has up to 100,000 troops positioned near to the border with Ukraine, along with tanks and artillery. Ukraine uses German-made Gepard anti-aircraft guns to tackle incoming drones, while Soviet-era Buk systems are used against cruise missiles and US-made Patriots against hypersonic Kinzhal missiles.
That means using different kinds of missiles - hypersonic, cruise, and ballistic - but also firing these missiles along different routes. These weapons can change direction in the air over Ukraine, causing further headaches for air defence. "They're always trying to find a better way to break our air defence systems and make their attack more efficient," Oleksandr Musiyenko at Ukraine's Center for Military Legal Research told the BBC. Ukraine has not seen attacks as heavy as this since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion. It follows a series of similar drone raids on Russian energy infrastructure in recent weeks, some of which have disrupted fuel production.
Mr Johnson said the UK and its allies would agree a "massive package of economic sanctions" in a bid to "hobble" the Russian economy, warning that the West would need to cease its dependence on Russian oil and gas. Earlier today, a Russian official said air defences had thwarted a drone attack on the Slavneft-YANOS oil refinery in the city of Yaroslavl. Madame Chair, as we approach the third year since Russia’s full-scale invasion, the UK’s support will not falter.
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. So far, that has yet to happen, with relatively few reported cyber attacks linked to Russia in the last few months. But Air Vice Marshal Bell, who previously headed a strategic combat review for the RAF, says the reasons for this are not clear. Assuming both sides weren't annihilated by nuclear weapons, they assumed a Soviet invasion would lead to a war in western Europe, and trained and equipped UK forces would need to counter that threat. 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.
- At least 32 people have died in Ukraine's capital in that time, 30 of them in one attack - on 29 December, when Russia launched one of the largest ever aerial attacks of this war.
- Lord Pannick said the amendments required ministers to be satisfied that the sanctions imposed were "appropriate".
- The Prime Minister called Russia’s attack a “massive invasion”, and accused President Putin of having “attacked a friendly country without any provocation and without any credible excuses”.
He said this was the "minimum requirement of the rule of law" and he could not see how it could "impede proper government action". Lord Pannick said the amendments required ministers to be satisfied that the sanctions imposed were "appropriate". Russia has seen more success in eastern Ukraine, by pounding their opposing forces and holding them back with an onslaught. Unfortunately for the Russians, it was clear they hadn't planned sufficiently well to undertake an effective invasion, and the forces operating their equipment were not well enough trained to adapt when things went wrong.
The rest is made up of imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) transported to the UK by sea from countries such as Qatar and the US. The price of British gas for next-day delivery shot up by 40 per cent, to £280 per therm. The Foreign Office said that the banks being targeted had bankrolled the Russian occupation of Crimea from 2014. The individuals concerned are Gennady Timchenko, Boris Rotenberg, and Igor Rotenberg, all oligarchs who Mr Johnson described as “cronies” of the Russian president.
Russia wants assurances that Ukraine will never be allowed to join Nato; that Nato members will have no permanent forces or infrastructure based in Ukraine; and for a halt to military exercises near Russia's border. President Biden's virtual meeting with President Putin earlier this week was a start and will be followed up by more talks with other Nato members. Analysis published in Le Monde quotes Ukrainian officials who said Russia still has in its stockpile around 1,000 ballistic or cruise missiles, and is able to make around 100 more per month - such as Kalibrs and Kh-101s.