Russia-Ukraine war: Russia launches overnight attack on Zaporizhzhia, officials say; Belarus begins air force drills with Russia – live

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Wallace welcomed the decision by the French government to send AMX 10-RC light combat tanks to Ukraine as well as the US’ new weapons package that will include about 50 Bradley fighting vehicles.

These contributions are “important in and of themselves” but they represent part of an international effort that “collectively conveys a force multiplier effect”, he said.

Wallace says:

In December, I told the House that I was developing options to respond to Russia’s continued aggression in a calibrated and determined manner.

Today, I can announce the most significant package of combat power to date to accelerate Ukrainian success. This includes a squadron of Challenge 2 tanks with armoured recovery and repair vehicles. We will donate AS-90 guns to Ukraine. This comprises a battery of eight guns of high readiness and two further batteries at varying stages of readiness.

Today’s package is an “important increase to Ukrainian capabilities”, he continues.

It means they can go from existing to expelling Russian forces from Ukrainian soil. President Putin cannot win, but he’s equally certain he can continue inflicting this wanton violence and human suffering until his forces are ejected from their defensive positions and expelled from the country.

Britain’s defence secretary, Ben Wallace, says it is “notable” that Russia is using forced labour of convicts to manufacture weaponry.

Moscow’s appointment of Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff, as its overall commander for the war in Ukraine, in the latest of several major shake-ups of Moscow’s military leadership is a “visible tip of an iceberg of factionalism within the Russian command”, Wallace tells MPs.

He says there is no loss of momentum from the international community in its support of Ukraine in 2023, he said. Wallace adds:

Quite the opposite. President Putin believed the west would get tired bored and fragment. Ukraine is continuing to fight. Far from fragmenting, the west is accelerating its efforts.

Britain will send a squadron of Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine to help push back Russia’s invasion, the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, has confirmed.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Wallace said Russia had “singularly failed to break the will of the Ukrainian people” and had “managed to lose significant numbers of generals and commanding officers”.

He said:

We now would expect a trend back towards a Russian offensive, no matter how much loss of life accompanies it.

Ukraine’s allies must “accelerate our collective efforts to dramatically, economically and militarily to keep the pressure” on Vladimir Putin, Wallace said.

Announcing what he described as “the most significant package of combat to date to accelerate Ukrainian success”, Wallace said the UK would send a squadron of Challenge 2 tanks with armoured recovery and repair vehicles.

The announcement makes the UK the first western power to supply the Ukrainians with main battle tanks, which would be used to help train Ukrainian troops, and will heap further pressure on Germany to approve a wider delivery of the vehicles this week.

In a call with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on Saturday, the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, confirmed for the first time that it was Britain’s intention to provide a small number of Challenger 2 tanks to Kyiv.

After the phone call, a spokesperson for the prime minister said the offer of Challenger 2 tanks and additional artillery systems was a sign of the UK’s “ambition to intensify our support to Ukraine”.

In response, the Kremlin said today that the Challenger 2s “will burn” on the battlefield, and claimed the supplies were an attempt to draw out the conflict.

It’s 6pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:

Russia has carried out two mass rocket strikes on Ukraine on Saturday, devastating an apartment block in the south-central city of Dnipro, where at least 40 people have died and scores were injured. Dozens are still missing, city official Gennadiy Korban wrote on Telegram on Monday. 75 people were wounded in the strike, including 14 children, he said. The victims from the attack included a 15-year-old girl, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his latest nightly address.

Russia and Belarus have begun joint air force drills this morning, triggering fears in Kyiv and the west that Moscow could use its ally to launch a new ground offensive in Ukraine. According to a statement published to the Telegram account of the Belarus ministry of defence, units from Russia’s aerospace forces arrived at the airfields of Belarus late on Sunday night. Shortly after 8am local time the ministry said the planned combat training tasks had begun.

Russia launched an attack on Ukraine’s south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia overnight, wounding civilians and destroying residential infrastructure, according to regional officials. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the office of the president of Ukraine, said “The occupiers launched a rocket attack on the regional centre. The rocket hit next to a five-story building. Five people, including two children aged nine and 15, were injured by glass fragments. The children were hospitalised.”

Ukraine’s forces have “almost certainly” maintained positions in Soledar, north of Bakhmut, according to the UK’s ministry of defence’s latest intelligence update. Over the weekend, intense fighting continued in both the Kremina and Bakhmut sectors of the Donbas front, the ministry added.

President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdo?an spoke by phone on Monday where they discussed the conflict in Ukraine, according to readouts of the call from both sides. The pair discussed the question of a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine, the Kremlin said, as well as the export of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports and ways to unblock fertiliser and food exports from Russia.

The UN’s nuclear watchdog is expanding its presence in Ukraine to “help prevent a nuclear accident” during the ongoing conflict, the agency’s head, Rafael Grossi, has said. Grossi is in Ukraine this week to establish the “continuous presence” of nuclear safety and security experts at all the country’s nuclear power facilities, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in its latest update on Ukraine on Friday.

Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said Ukraine could expect more deliveries of heavy weapons from western countries soon. Western allies will consider sending battle tanks to Kyiv ahead of a meeting in Ramstein in Germany on Friday, where governments are expected to announce their latest pledges of military support.

The Kremlin said the tanks Britain plans to send to Ukraine “will burn”, warning the west that supplying a new round of more advanced weapons to Ukraine would not change the course of the war.

Germany should take “decisive actions” and send “all sorts of weapons” to Ukraine to help its troops defend themselves against Russia’s invasion, Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, has said. Morawiecki, speaking in parliament, implicitly criticised the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, for his reluctance to supply Kyiv with heavier weaponry.

Germany’s defence minister, Christine Lambrecht, has announced her resignation following a series of blunders and a growing impression that she has struggled to deal with the challenges of overseeing the country’s military since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Lambrecht’s resignation comes at a crucial moment with Germany expected to deliver battle tanks to Ukraine, in a huge decision for the country as it changes the longstanding direction of its defence policy.

A Russian man who reportedly fought for the private mercenary Wagner group has crossed into Norway and requested political asylum, according to Norwegian authorities. Andrey Medvedev, who reportedly served as a high-ranking Wagner group member, has sought shelter in Norway, authorities confirmed to the Associated Press.

Tanks arguably decided the first world war, after four years of deadlock, and were indispensable throughout the second. Yet after the initial Russian invasion, one of the surprising features of the war in Ukraine is that it has not been a war of dramatic manoeuvre, but rather only modestly changing fronts.

However, with the Russians trying to fortify their positions, ahead perhaps of a renewed attack, Kyiv is under pressure to find a breakthrough this spring. With Nato unwilling to help Ukraine with combat air power, the answer, for now, lies in the heavily armoured tank – which finally, the west is prepared to provide.

Britain will send a squadron of 14 Challenger 2 tanks and Poland wants to send another 14 German-made Leopard 2s, if Berlin (as is increasingly looking likely) grants permission. It is a start, but well short of a pre-Christmas Ukrainian demand for 300 tanks and at least 600 fighting vehicles (of which about 90 have been pledged).

Only tanks have the “protection, mobility and firepower to maintain momentum even once they make contact with enemy forces in strength”, said Nick Reynolds, a land warfare expert at the Rusi thinktank. The question, however, is what number will give Kyiv chance to mount its own offensive.

Read the full analysis by Dan Sabbagh here:

President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, spoke by phone today where they discussed the conflict in Ukraine, according to both readouts of the call from both sides.

The pair discussed the question of a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine, the Kremlin said, after talks between Moscow and Kyiv’s human rights commissioners in Turkey last week.

Putin “drew attention to the destructive line of the Kyiv regime, which relies on the intensification of hostilities with the support of western sponsors, increasing the volume of transferred weapons and military equipment”, the Kremlin’s readout of the call continued.

It said the two leaders also discussed the export of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports and ways to unblock fertiliser and food exports from Russia.

They also discussed the creation of a gas hub in Turkey, as well as the normalisation of Turkish-Syrian relations, it said.

Erdo?an’s office said the Turkish president renewed his offer to help mediate an end to the conflict in Ukraine during the call.

A statement read:

During the call, President Erdo?an reiterated that Turkey is ready to undertake the task of facilitating and mediating for the establishment of a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine.

The Russian-imposed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, has posted to Telegram to say that in total the air defences of the Crimean city repulsed 10 drones from Ukraine this morning. He told residents:

The air defence and the Black Sea Fleet shot down ten out of ten [Ukrainian drones] over the sea. No objects either in the city or in the water area were damaged. Everything is calm in the city.

The claims have not been independently verified. Russia claimed to annex Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

Ukraine’s state broadcaster Suspilne has posted to its Telegram news channel to report that its correspondents say explosions have been heard in Kherson.

More details soon …

A Russian man who reportedly fought for the private mercenary Wagner group has crossed into Norway and requested political asylum, according to Norwegian authorities.

Andrey Medvedev, who reportedly served as a high-ranking Wagner group member, has sought shelter in Norway, authorities confirmed to the Associated Press.

Police in Arctic Norway said last week that a person had illegally entered from Russia by crossing the border.

The man, identified only as a foreigner, was detained by border guards after he reportedly visited a private house in the border area and asked for help.

The case was handed to Norwegian immigration police and the man was transferred to Oslo, where he was placed in a centre for violators of migration laws. Police in Norway have declined to comment on the case.

The independent Russian news website Meduza writes that Medvedev reportedly served as the commander of the unit that included Yevgeny Nuzhin, a Wagner mercenary who was apparently executed by the group with a sledgehammer in a video that surfaced online in November.

The UK’s foreign secretary, James Cleverly, writes that he has been hit with sanctions by the Russian government.

Cleverly writes on Twitter:

I’ve been sanctioned by the Russian government. Good. If this is the price for supporting Ukrainian freedom, then I’m happy to be sanctioned #SlavaUkraini

The Shakhtar Donetsk president, Rinat Akhmetov, has donated ?20.5m of Mykhaylo Mudryk‘s Chelsea transfer fee to the Ukrainian war effort.

Chelsea beat Arsenal to the signing of Mudryk on Sunday and paraded him at Stamford Bridge, where they beat Crystal Palace 1-0 in the Premier League. Mudryk, who has agreed an eight-and-a-half-year contract, had a Ukraine flag draped over his shoulders. Chelsea have paid an initial EUR70m (?62m) for the winger with EUR30m (?26.5m) to follow in add-ons.

The money is a boost to Shakhtar, who have been displaced from their home in Donetsk, but Akhmetov – Ukraine’s richest businessman, according to Forbes – has made clear that without his country’s soldiers there would be no football. As such, he has made the financial gesture, launching the Heart of Azovstal project.

Azovstal is Akhmetov’s steel plant in Mariupol, where Ukrainian fighters defied weeks of Russian bombardment before the city fell. Azovstal has become a symbol of bravery, endurance and the indomitable spirit of the Ukrainian people.

“I want to thank the entire civilised world for helping Ukraine,” Akhmetov said.

We can only talk about Ukrainian football because of the Ukrainian army, the Ukrainian people and the tremendous support we have had during this incredibly difficult time. And the only way we can defeat the evil that has come to our homes is by working together.

Read the full story here:

The UN’s nuclear watchdog is expanding its presence in Ukraine to “help prevent a nuclear accident” during the ongoing conflict, the agency’s head, Rafael Grossi, has said.

Grossi is in Ukraine this week to establish the “continuous presence” of nuclear safety and security experts at all the country’s nuclear power facilities, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in its latest update on Ukraine on Friday.

He is expected to travel to south Ukraine and Rivne nuclear power plants (NPPs) as well as to the Chornobyl site to launch the missions consisting of two IAEA experts at each of the facilities.

The IAEA already has a permanent presence of up to four experts at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and a two-member team will also be stationed at the Khmelnytskyi nuclear plant in the coming days.

In a statement, Grossi said:

Soon the IAEA will be permanently present at all of Ukraine’s nuclear power facilities, including Chornobyl. This is an important step in our work to help Ukraine during these immensely difficult and challenging times. Our nuclear safety and security experts will monitor the situation at the plants, assess their equipment and other needs, provide technical support and advice, and report their findings to IAEA headquarters.

The Kremlin has denied that Russian missile strikes hit residential buildings in Ukraine, after local officials in Dnipro said at least 40 people were killed in Saturday’s attack on a residential block in the Ukrainian south-central city.

During a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said:

The Russian armed forces do not strike residential buildings or social infrastructure facilities. Attacks are made on military targets, either obvious or disguised.

Ukraine’s air force has said the residential block was struck by a Russian Kh-22 missile, which is known to be inaccurate and that Kyiv says it has no way of shooting down.

Here are some of the latest images we have received showing the aftermath of Russia’s missile attack on a residential block in Dnipro.

Germany should take “decisive actions” and send “all sorts of weapons” to Ukraine to help its troops defend themselves against Russia’s invasion, Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, has said.

Morawiecki, speaking in parliament, implicitly criticised the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, for his reluctance to supply Kyiv with heavier weaponry.

He said:

I call for decisive actions by the German government. For all sorts of weapons to be delivered. The battle for freedom and our future is raging as we speak … Tanks must not be left in storehouses, but placed in their hands.

A Swedish prosecutor has said there will be no formal investigation into a demonstration last week in Stockholm in which a puppet of Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, was hung from its feet, according to a report.

Images of the hanged effigy near the Swedish capital’s city hall were published by a pro-Kurdish group, the Rojava Committee of Sweden, who compared the Turkish leader to Italy’s fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, who was hung upside down after his execution in the final days of the second world war.

Sweden’s prime minister condemned the demonstration and said it was a sabotage of Sweden’s bid to join Nato.

Turkey summoned Sweden’s ambassador, Staffan Herrstrom, on Thursday and demanded that those responsible for the demonstration be prosecuted.

But a Swedish prosecutor, Lucas Eriksson, told the Aftonbladet newspaper:

I received the case as defamation, but did not think it could amount to defamation. Therefore, I decided not to initiate a preliminary investigation.

In a historic decision in May, Sweden and Finland announced they wished to join the Nato military alliance, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

While 28 out of 30 Nato members have ratified their bids, Hungary and Turkey have not, with the latter likely to prove the biggest hurdle. Ankara has so far refused to ratify the applications unless the two countries do more to clamp down on Kurdish groups it regards as terrorists.

The number of people killed in Saturday’s Russian missile attack on a residential block in Ukraine’s south-central city of Dnipro has risen to 40, according to a local official.

Dozens are still missing, Gennadiy Korban wrote on Telegram. 75 people were wounded in the strike, including 14 children, he said.

The victims from the attack included a 15-year-old girl, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his latest nightly address.

Rescue efforts are still under way.

Russia and Belarus have begun joint air force drills this morning, triggering fears in Kyiv and the west that Moscow could use its ally to launch a new ground offensive in Ukraine. According to a statement published to the Telegram account of the Belarus ministry of defence, units from Russia’s aerospace forces arrived at the airfields of Belarus late on Sunday night. Shortly after 8am local time the ministry said the planned combat training tasks had begun.

Viacheslav Chaus, the Chernihiv governor, has warned residents that there is likely to be an increase in air raid warnings as a result of the exercises. Belarus has described the drills as purely defensive. The country was used as a base for Russian troops to launch their failed assault on Kyiv in February 2022,

Russia launched an attack on Ukraine’s south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia overnight, wounding civilians and destroying residential infrastructure, according to regional officials. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the office of president of Ukraine, said “The occupiers launched a rocket attack on the regional centre. The rocket hit next to a five-story building. Five people, including two children aged nine and 15, were injured by glass fragments. The children were hospitalised.”

Air defences in Sevastopol in Crimea have been active against Ukrainian drones, according to the Russian-imposed regional governor in the area which Russia annexed in 2014.

As of Sunday, Ukraine’s forces have “almost certainly” maintained positions in Soledar, north of Bakhmut, according to the UK ministry of defence. Over the weekend, intense fighting continued in both the Kremina and Bakhmut sectors of the Donbas front, the ministry added.

The number of people killed in a Russian missile attack on a residential block in Dnipro has risen to 37, the state broadcaster Suspilne reported Ukrainian officials had confirmed to it. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a Sunday latest address that the victims included a 15-year-old girl. At least 73 people were wounded and 39 people had been rescued as of Sunday afternoon. The city government in Dnipro said 43 people were still reported missing. “The chances of saving people now are minimal,” Dnipro’s mayor, Borys Filatov, told Reuters. I think the number of dead will be in the dozens.”

Claiming responsibility for the missile strikes across Ukraine, Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday that it achieved its goal. A ministry statement posted on Telegram said: “All designated targets have been hit. The goal of the attack has been achieved.” However, it did not mention the attack on the Dnipro residential building.

President Vladimir Putin has told Russian state television that what he calls the “special military operation” in Ukraine has gained positive momentum. “The dynamic is positive,” he told Rossiya 1 state television. “Everything is developing within the framework of the plan of the ministry of defence and the general staff.”

German defence minister Christine Lambrecht on Monday announced ger resignation. Her decision to step down comes as Germany is under pressure to approve an increase in international military support for Kyiv, and Germany’s defence capabilities have been called into question after several Puma infantry tanks were put out of service during a recent military drill.

That is it from me, Martin Belam, for now. I will be back later on. L?onie Chao-Fong will be with you for the next few hours to continue our live coverage.