As fighting intensifies, cross-Channel shipping is attacked by Russian submarines, and long-range conventional missiles strike Dover and Southampton. We won't know for some time how badly Ukraine's landscape, nature and climate action will be impacted by the war. Many experts say it is too soon to tell how Russia's invasion will affect its participation in climate diplomacy and international action, such as at the next yearly United Nations climate talks, COP27, in Egypt in November. Social media users in the Belgorod region posted videos that showed a plane falling from the sky in a snowy, rural area and a huge ball of fire erupting where it allegedly hit the ground. The diminishing prospects for a deal leave congressional leaders with no clear way to approve a White House request for $110bn in emergency funding for Ukraine, Israel, immigration enforcement and national security needs. Gen Sir Richard Barrons, the former head of the British Joint Forces Command, told the committee that he doubted there were “sufficient munitions to sustain a high-intensity conflict for more than about a week”. 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. European countries have largely outsourced much of their military capacity and thinking on strategy and security to the States through NATO. Social media users in the Belgorod region posted videos that showed a plane falling from the sky in a snowy, rural area and a huge ball of fire erupting where it allegedly hit the ground. The US is planning to station nuclear weapons in the UK for the first time in 15 years amid a growing threat from Russia, according to a report. Warheads three times as strong as the Hiroshima bomb would be located at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk under the proposals, the Daily Telegraph reported. The prospect of further UK sanctions against Russia comes a day after the prime minister announced that five Russian banks had had their assets frozen and three Russian billionaires would have travel bans imposed. What's on TV tonight: Putin vs the West They said Moscow did not ask for any specific stretch of airspace to be kept safe for a certain length of time, as it has for past prisoner exchanges. “We currently don’t have evidence that there could have been that many people onboard the aircraft,” Budanov said. In a pre-dawn TV statement on Thursday, President Putin said Russia did not plan to occupy Ukraine, but demanded its soldiers lay down their weapons, before warning that Moscow's response would be instant if anyone tried to take on Russia. 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. 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. Last week, Adml Rob Bauer, a senior Nato military official, said that private citizens should prepare for all-out war with Russia in the next 20 years that would require wholesale change in their lives. The United States is planning to station nuclear weapons in the UK for the first time in 15 years as the threat from Russia increases, Pentagon documents seen by The Telegraph reveal. It came as Ukraine was hit by a wave of Russian missiles on Tuesday, in attacks that killed eight people and wounded dozens in Kyiv and Kharkiv. Another potential threat could come from anti-war politicians, whom Kremlin propagandists might seek to incite. Government activity The Army chief would not support conscription, it is understood, but believes there should be a “shift” in the mindset of regular British people, where they think more like troops, who are mentally prepared that war with Russia could happen. It comes after a senior Nato military official warned that private citizens should prepare for an all-out war with Russia in the next 20 years, which would require wholesale change in their lives. True Russian cyberwarfare capabilities have proved something of a damp squib in Ukraine. Far from crippling the entire national infrastructure, the worst they are known to have done is briefly disrupt power and mobile phone networks. That, though, is partly because Ukraine had already learnt from previous Russian cyberattacks over the past decade. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has pledged to make the findings of Moscow’s crash investigation public. He said the UK and allies will launch a massive package of sanctions to hobble Russia's economy. If Russia did decide to invade Ukraine, the senior Western intelligence official said large numbers of people would be displaced. Russia-Ukraine war: Ukraine repelling three-pronged attack on Avdiivka, says UK – as it happened A little earlier, we told you about a report in the Financial Times that the EU was proposing to sabotage Hungary's economy if Budapest blocks further aid for Ukraine this week. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he supported action the government was taking on sanctions but urged ministers to go further and faster. The amendments added requirements on ministers to explain why sanctions were a reasonable course of action and provide good reasons to those subject to them, unless there were national security exemptions. He said new UK sanctions against Russia would be announced in waves and warned it would be the largest and most severe economic sanctions package Russia had ever seen. It comes after President Putin announced a special military operation in Ukraine's Donbas region in a televised address to the Russian people earlier and said the Ukrainian people would be able to choose freely who ran the country. But as Ukraine is not a Nato member state, “the alliance will not provide military support in the form of troops”, Oliver Wright said in The Times. It came as Ukraine was hit by a wave of Russian missiles on Tuesday, in attacks that killed eight people and wounded dozens in Kyiv and Kharkiv. As well as curbs on foreign consumer goods, there’d be runs on more basic products like medical kits, fuel canisters and masking tape to stop windows shattering during bombing raids. “We have become so comfortable here in Britain that it’s hard to imagine young people fighting, and when I went to Afghanistan a decade ago, I didn’t think the youngsters of would be up to much,” he said. 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. The British public will be called up to fight if the UK goes to war because the military is too small, the head of the Army is to warn. This is because Nato uses a system of collective security, whereby its independent member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party. Ukraine has said its goal for the talks is an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian forces from the country. If war broke out in Ukraine and Russian forces occupied large swathes of the country, many civilians might flee. Nato powers are already promising to build up their own forces in the alliance's eastern flank. Oil prices have also risen since the invasion, given Russia’s role as an oil producer and as a form of security for investors as the stock market slumps. In a pre-dawn TV statement on Thursday, President Putin said Russia did not plan to occupy Ukraine, but demanded its soldiers lay down their weapons, before warning that Moscow's response would be instant if anyone tried to take on Russia. We won't know for some time how badly Ukraine's landscape, nature and climate action will be impacted by the war. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace branded Russia's actions naked aggression against a democratic country and said no one had been fooled by the Kremlin's false flags and fake narratives. All of this disruption could massively increase the price of gas in Europe and, consequently, the UK. Of course, for all the lessons that planners can learn from Ukraine, they will only be valuable if Russia continues to act in a similar way, should it ever become embroiled in a conflict with the West. General Sir Patrick Sanders warned that an increase in reserve forces alone would not be enough. 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. Over the Christmas period, Russia launched hundreds of missile and drone strikes across cities in Ukraine including Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Lviv. This culminated on 29 December, when Russian unleashed its largest aerial assault against Ukraine since the war began. https://euronewstop.co.uk/who-predicted-russia-ukraine-war.html killed at least 41 civilians, including a 15-year-old boy, wounded hundreds, and caused significant damage to civilian infrastructure, including a maternity hospital. All three armed forces are experiencing a recruitment and retention crisis, with the number of fully trained soldiers in the Army set to fall to 72,500. Ukraine has not seen attacks as heavy as this since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion. As in Ukraine, office techies could be in demand to operate drones on the front lines and to fend off cyberattacks. Here’s how the war will affect the UK, from potential military action to sanctions and gas prices. While analysts say a direct conflict between NATO and Russia is unlikely, it is possible - particularly in the Baltic states, or Finland. As fighting intensifies, cross-Channel shipping is attacked by Russian submarines, and long-range conventional missiles strike Dover and Southampton. The Russian civil aviation regulator today announced a ban on British airlines landing at Russian airports due to “the unfriendly decisions by the UK aviation authorities”, the BBC reported. Only aircraft deployed to protect energy facilities, or those carrying top Russian or foreign officials, will be allowed to fly with special permission in the designated zones, according to the Vedomosti daily newspaper. A spate of Ukraine-linked attacks on Russia's oil infrastructure have reportedly led Moscow's energy ministry to propose restricting flights over energy facilities. 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. This week, Ms Truss told MPs that a special oligarch taskforce - composed of ministers and officials from across government - will be formed to build cases against targets. 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. During his visit to Kyiv earlier this month, my Prime Minister announced a package of support and reaffirmed the close UK-Ukraine partnership. This included £2.5 billion in military support and a historic long-term security agreement. This brings the United Kingdom’s total package of support to Ukraine to approximately £12 billion.
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