Russia attacked the central Poltava region with two ballistic missiles, and three surface-to-air missiles over the Donetsk region in the east. Russia and Ukraine have increased their air attacks on each other’s territory in recent months, targeting critical military, energy and transport infrastructure. The investigation dates back to August 2022, when officials signed a contract for artillery shells worth 1.5bn hryvnias ($39.6m) with the arms firm Lviv Arsenal, the security service said. Company employees were supposed to transfer the funds to a business registered abroad, which would then deliver the ammunition to Ukraine. But the goods were never delivered and the money was instead sent to various accounts in Ukraine and the Balkans, investigators said. President Putin never said it out loud, but high on the agenda was toppling the government of Ukraine's elected president. The enemy has designated me as target number one; my family is target number two, said Volodymyr Zelensky. Russian troops made two attempts to storm the presidential compound, according to his adviser. Madame Chair, last but not least I also wanted to highlight today the UK’s continued concern for our three OSCE colleagues of the Special Monitoring Mission detained by Russia. Dominic Waghorn, international affairs editor The BBC reports that the UK government will utilise recent legislation to impose restrictions on the people and organisations linked to Russia - as well as measures to personally target Vladimir Putin. The UK will ban hi-tech exports to Russia and sanction people and companies in the defence and energy sectors. The UK defence ministry believes that the increase in arson attacks on Russian enlistment offices “is highly likely due to a greater sense of dissatisfaction with the war amongst the Russian population”. There have been 220 attacks on Russian military enlistment offices since the start of the war in February 2022, with 113 in the last six months. UK foreign secretary Liz Truss tells the British parliament the government is “considering options for further deployments of our armed forces to reassure and protect allies on Nato’s eastern flank”. This is a grave moment for the security of Europe. Russia's unprovoked and unjustified attack on Ukraine is putting countless lives at risk, he said. A 77-year-old woman was injured and hospitalised in an attack on the city of Vovchans’k. A total of 1,000 troops are on standby to help Ukraine's neighbouring countries handle refugees fleeing Ukraine. Overnight, at least 1,000 Ukrainians arrived by train in Poland's south-eastern city of Przemysl alone. Unless Putin is doing all of this only to maximise his leverage in talks with the West. On Sunday, a US Senate foreign relations committee said it was on the verge of approving “the mother of all sanctions”. However, security services would be unlikely to publicly attribute damage to Russian attacks. Earlier this month, its civil defence minister told a defence conference there could be a war in Sweden. On 24 January Nato announced it was putting forces on standby and sending additional ships and fighter jets to Nato deployments in eastern Europe, “reinforcing Allied deterrence and defence”. A senior Western intelligence official has warned that if Russia decides to invade Ukraine, a conflict could spill over further into Europe. While Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called Russia's latest move unacceptable...unprovoked [and] unwarranted and confirmed that the breakaway regions of Ukraine will face sanctions. This will impact banks, transport, energy, oil, gas and telecommunications, reports say, along with eight wealthy Russian individuals. Putin's intent The US had promised the “mother of all sanctions”, probably targeting Russia’s banking and financial sectors, if Russia invaded Ukraine. But that imagined a blitzkrieg-style ground campaign that could take big cities like Kyiv and Kharkiv. The recognition of the territories and occupation by Russian forces is also an act of aggression but it is not the nightmare scenario. Mr Wallace also said work was under way to try to get the Swift international payment system turned off for Russia. So far, it has achieved little more than exposing the brutality and inadequacy of the Russian military. Third, he wants to show that popular revolutions such as the one that took place in Kyiv in 2014 do not succeed in the long run. This brings the United Kingdom’s total package of support to Ukraine to approximately £12 billion. Meanwhile Russia's currency, the rouble, fell to an all-time low against the dollar and the euro. Filip Pronin, governor of Poltava region, wrote on Telegram that the attack struck an industrial site in the city of Kremenchuk, sparking a fire. Moscow has claimed its forces have taken control of the village of Tabaivka in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region. Hungary has signalled it is ready to compromise on EU funding for Ukraine - after Brussels reportedly prepared to sabotage its economy if it did not comply. Meanwhile, Moscow has claimed its forces have taken control of the village of Tabaivka in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region. Since then more than 14,000 people have died in the east in a conflict between the rebels and Ukrainian forces. A shaky ceasefire had held but there has been a surge in violations in recent days. How will the war end? Intelligence sources claim their aim is to lay the groundwork for sabotage against rival countries, including the UK, ensuring Russia is well positioned to inflict strategic blows in future conflicts. As the war approaches its second anniversary, severe weapons shortages and worrying signs of waning Western support are undermining Ukraine’s war effort. This may lead Putin to conclude that he can still emerge victorious in his confrontation with the West, which is bound to encourage further provocations in future. Vladimir Putin’s decision to launch his “special military operation” against Ukraine was motivated by a belief that the West would not mount any meaningful opposition. The war that erupted in eastern Ukraine in 2014 has already left 14,000 dead and an estimated 1.4 million displaced. Meanwhile, other Western defence sources have expressed concern about an increase in signals intelligence and chatter being monitored which could signal Russia's preparedness to invade. The intelligence official described the build-up as a slow drip and a slow ratcheting up of pressure. He said there will likely be an initial phase where Russian and Ukrainian troops are fighting on the ground in Donbas and potentially around Kyiv but Russia will take control of the air very quickly. Prof Chalmers said he did not think the UK would send over large equipment as Russia's superior force would destroy it quickly and Ukrainian forces would need training on how to use and maintain it. Both the US and the UK are also helping Ukraine manage Russian cyber attacks, which could lead to many Ukrainian deaths if key infrastructure is taken over by Moscow. But it boosts the strength of the professional armed forces, which is often relatively small. Russia has begun a large-scale military attack on Ukraine, its southern neighbour, on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin. While it is possible Russia might attempt to block the meeting with a vote, it will need support from nine of the 15 members. Steven Tian, part of a team of researchers at Yale University who track what companies have done in response to the Ukraine war, told the BBC the company should be “ashamed” of continuing to invest in the country. At home, Russia's economy on the surface appears to have weathered a series of Western sanctions for now, although its budget deficit has soared and oil and gas revenue has fallen dramatically. China is looking for a role in securing a political settlement, but its position is probably too close to Russia to be considered an honest broker. The UN human rights commissioner says at least 8,006 civilians have died and 13,287 have been wounded in 12 months of war, but the true number is likely to be substantially higher. Russia's warnings to the West against arming Ukraine have gone unheeded, with Western assurances of support for as long as it takes and pledges that Nato will never be divided. A war of attrition is now taking place along an active front line of 850km (530 miles) and Russian victories are small and rare. On Sunday, UK foreign minister Liz Truss said legislation to allow Britain to hit banks, energy companies and “oligarchs close to the Kremlin” would be introduced by the government this week. Superior US Himars missiles helped turn the course of the war and German Leopard 2 tanks are promised, even if Western fighter jets are not. Unfortunately, the attacks on Tuesday morning were just the latest of a series of acts of wanton destruction by Russia in Ukraine since we last gathered for a Permanent Council in December. Madame Chair, last but not least I also wanted to highlight today the UK’s continued concern for our three OSCE colleagues of the Special Monitoring Mission detained by Russia. Forced into further retreats from Kharkiv in the north-east and Kherson in the south, that aim remains unchanged, but it has shown little success in achieving it. Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyansky has been no less assertive, calling the meeting a “clear PR stunt shameful for the reputation of UN security council”. On Sunday, a US Senate foreign relations committee said it was on the verge of approving “the mother of all sanctions”. https://euronewstop.co.uk/what-did-liz-truss-have-to-say-about-ukraine.html , who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the individuals “play a role in government decision-making or are at a minimum complicit in the Kremlin’s destabilising behaviour”.
https://euronewstop.co.uk/what-did-liz-truss-have-to-say-about-ukraine.html
