Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Canada, where he will be guaranteed a warmer reception than he received during yesterday’s Washington visit. The Ukrainian president assured US politicians Kyiv is “winning” – but some sections of Congress are battling against more funding for the war effort.
Pic: https://www.aljazeera.com/
The three major powers have all built new facilities and dug new tunnels at their nuclear test sites, according to CNN.
Satellite images obtained by the broadcaster appear to show expansions at the nuclear sites in recent years.
No evidence suggests any are preparing for imminent nuclear tests.
The sites are in China’s western region of Xinjiang, Russia’s Arctic Ocean archipelago, and America’s Nevada desert.
The images show new tunnels, roads and storage facilities, as well as increased vehicle traffic in and out of the sites.
Jeffrey Lewis, an adjunct professor at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, there are really a lot of hints that we’re seeing that suggest Russia, China and the United States might resume nuclear testing.
Azerbaijan, which neighbours Russia, launches military action against Armenia; in a highly significant development, a grain ship has left Ukraine despite the threat of attack by Vladimir Putin’s forces; Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of genocide at the UN General Assembly.
EU to ask China to push Russia towards ‘just peace’ in Ukraine
The president of the European Council will ask China at the United Nations Security Council to do more to push Russia towards a “just peace” in Ukraine, according to his draft speech seen by Reuters.
At the Security Council meeting held during the annual UN General Assembly in New York tomorrow, Charles Michel is expected to call for “a just peace that respects the UN Charter and its core principles — the territorial integrity of a sovereign nation.”
The draft says he will then turn directly to the Chinese delegation to say: “As responsible nations, let’s join forces – to persuade Russia to end this criminal war that is hurting so many.”
China’s vice president Han Zheng is in New York for the annual gathering of world leaders and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is also expected to attend the council meeting.
China has abstained from votes by the 193-member UN General Assembly that overwhelmingly demanded Moscow withdraw its troops from Ukraine – in an apparent move to remain on the fence over the war.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin met for a rare summit on Wednesday at which they discussed military matters, the war in Ukraine and possible Russian help for the secretive state’s satellite programme.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un during a meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, September 13. Sputnik/Vladimir Smirnov Acquire Licensing Rights
Putin showed Kim around Russia’s most advanced space rocket launch site in Russia’s Far East and discussed the possibility of sending a North Korean cosmonaut into space. Kim, who arrived by train from North Korea, asked detailed questions about rockets as Putin showed him around the Vostochny Cosmodrome.
After the tour, Putin, 70, and Kim, 39, held talks for several hours with their ministers and then discussed world affairs and possible areas of cooperation one-on-one, followed by an opulent lunch of Russian “pelmeni” dumplings stuffed with Kamchatka crab and then sturgeon with mushrooms and potatoes.
Kim raised a toast with a glass of Russian wine to Putin’s health, to the victory of “great Russia” and to Korean-Russian friendship, predicting victory for Moscow in its “sacred fight” with the West in the Ukraine war.
“The Russian army and people will certainly win a great victory in the sacred struggle for the punishment of a great evil that claims hegemony and feeds an expansionist illusion,” Kim said, raising his glass.
U.S. and South Korean officials have expressed concern that Kim could provide weapons and ammunition to Russia, which has expended vast stocks in more than 18 months of war in Ukraine. Moscow and Pyongyang have denied such intentions.
Putin gave numerous hints that military cooperation was discussed but disclosed few details. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu attended the talks. The Kremlin said sensitive discussions between neighbours were a private matter.
When asked by Russian media if Moscow would help Kim build satellites, Putin said: “That’s why we came here.”
Washington warned it would implement further sanctions over any weapons transfers by either country to the other, and said Putin was “begging” Kim for help after losing tens of thousands of troops in Ukraine.
“We have taken a number of actions already to sanction entities that brokered arms sales between North Korea and Russia, and we won’t hesitate to impose additional sanctions if appropriate,” U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at a briefing.
He called it “troubling” that Russia would discuss cooperation with North Korea on programs that potentially would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres signalled Moscow had to tread carefully.
“Any form of cooperation of any country with North Korea must respect the sanctions regime that was imposed by the Security Council,” Guterres told reporters, adding that it was “extremely relevant” in the case of Russia and North Korea.
For Russia, the summit was an opportunity to needle the United States, the big power supporter of Ukraine, though it was unclear just how far Putin was prepared to go in fulfilling any North Korean wish lists for technology.
Putin said Kim now planned to visit military and civilian aviation factories in the Russian city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur and to inspect Russia’s Pacific fleet in Vladivostok.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Pyongyang for more talks next month, the Kremlin said.
Putin accepted an invition from Kim to visit North Korea in the future, the North’s state news agency KCNA reported.
‘COMRADES’
Putin and Kim called each other “comrades” at lunch and Putin repeatedly reminded Kim that it was the Soviet Union that backed North Korea – and was first to recognise it just over 75 years to the day since it was established.
Amid the Ukraine war, which has become a grinding artillery war of attrition, the United States and Kyiv’s other allies are watching to see if Kim’s visit paves the way for a supply of artillery shells to Russia.
Britain urged North Korea to end arms talks with Russia and said Kim’s visit showed how isolated Moscow has become on the world stage.
But the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, told Ukraine’s NV Radio that North Korea had already been supplying Russia with weapons for more than a month.
“It was already a month and a half ago that everything was agreed and shipments began from North Korea,” he said without giving further details.
Russia has joined China in opposing new sanctions on North Korea, blocking a U.S.-led push and publicly splitting the U.N. Security Council for the first time since it started punishing Pyongyang in 2006.
Asked about military cooperation, Putin said Russia complied with international rules but that there were opportunities to explore.
The choice to meet at Vostochny Cosmodrome – a symbol of Russia’s ambitions as a space power – was notable, as North Korea has twice failed to launch reconnaissance satellites in the past four months.
After showing Kim around a building where the Angara, Russia’s new 42.7-metre space launch rocket, is assembled, Putin said Kim had shown a “great interest in rocket engineering” during the visit.
Ahead of his meeting with Putin, Kim signed the visitor book in Korean: “The glory to Russia, which gave birth to the first space conquerors, will be immortal.”
The Ukrainian president has condemned an “utterly heinous” attack on a market that killed at least 17 people, including a child. And the Romanian defence minister has said that debris found may be from a Russian drone attack.
‘This war began several centuries ago’
New Ukrainian defence minister, Rustem Umerov, has explained why he is so focused on winning the war against Russia, saying Moscow occupied his homeland of Crimea many centuries ago.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, he said: “For me, this war did not begin in 2022, and not even in 2014.
“For my family and the Crimean Tatar people, the war with Russia began several centuries ago, when Moscow first occupied my native Crimea.
“I was born after my family had been deported, and as a child lived through the hardships brought about by Russian colonialism, which attempted to make indigenous Crimean Tatar people feel as though they were aliens on their own land.
“They did not succeed back then, and they will never succeed. Our main goal today is to win the war.”
Minister @rustem_umerov: For me, this war did not begin in 2022, and not even in 2014. For my family and the Crimean Tatar people, the war with russia began several centuries ago, when moscow first occupied my native Crimea. I was born after my family had been deported, and as a… pic.twitter.com/IHoSAkf0yz
Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced he plans to replace the current defence minister with Rustem Umerov; two people are injured after Russia launched a drone attack on the Odesa region; Russia’s former president Dmitry Medvedev says efforts are under way to beef up army.
Sacked defence minister could be next UK ambassador
With rumours circulating that Oleksii Reznikov could be tipped as the next ambassador to the UK, his association with the war effort may not be over, said international correspondent John Sparks.
But the end of his career in the defence ministry has not been a “complete surprise” to people in Ukraine, given his department’s association with corruption allegations, he said.
Though he has not been implicated personally, accusations of the ministry have included weapon systems not turning up at the department, and overpayments for eggs and winter coats.
“There is talk in Kyiv that perhaps he might become the next ambassador to the UK,” said Sparks.
“This well known face will still be associated with the war effort but his career as minister of defence is now over.”
Nonetheless, Mr Reznikov has received plaudits for negotiating billions of dollars worth of Western equipment and overseeing the transition of the army from a “post-Soviet” organisation to something “far more dynamic and non-hierarchical”, Sparks said.
Watch: Ukrainian fighter pilot ‘Juice’ talks about his job hunting Russian cruise missiles
One of Ukraine’s most celebrated fighter pilots and two other airmen have been killed in a mid-air crash.
Andrii Pilshchykov won fame taking part in dogfights over Kyiv during the early phase of Russia’s invasion.
The Ukrainian military called the airmen’s deaths “painful and irreparable” losses, and paid tribute to Pilshchykov as a pilot with “mega knowledge and mega talent”.
The crash involved two L-39 training planes flying over northern Ukraine.
An investigation is under way into whether flight preparation rules were not correctly followed, resulting in Friday’s crash in Zhytomyr Oblast. The region is west of the capital, Kyiv, and hundreds of miles from the frontline.
President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the deaths in his nightly video address, saying that his country would “never forget anyone who defended the free skies of Ukraine”.
Last autumn, as Russia launched hundreds of cruise missiles and drones at Ukraine, Pilshchykov – who flew under the call-sign “Juice” – spoke to the BBC about the pressure he felt as a MiG-29 fighter pilot tasked with trying to intercept the deadly weapons before they struck.
“Intercepting the cruise missiles, your mission is to save the lives on the ground, to save the city. If you are not able, it’s a terrible feeling that somebody will die. Somebody will die in minutes and you didn’t prevent that,” he said.
He also spoke of his lifelong “dream” to join the Ukrainian air force which he saw as his “mission”.
Melaniya Podolyak, a friend of Pilshchykov, also confirmed his death, posting an image of his air force badge on social media.
The crash and deaths are a major upset for Ukraine as it prepares to receive up to 61 F-16 fighter jets from its allies, in a bid to step up its counteroffensive.
On Thursday, the Pentagon confirmed that English-language training for Ukrainians on operating F-16s would begin in Texas in September, with flight training expected to begin in October in Arizona. Meanwhile, other Western allies are preparing to start training Ukrainians later this month.
The training to fly F-16s is expected to take around five months.
The American decision earlier this year to supply F-16 jets represented an about-turn. This is because the US and its Nato allies – who had earlier ruled out the move – had feared this would lead to further escalation with nuclear-armed Russia.
Russia hikes interest rates as rouble plummets amid strain of Ukraine war
The currency has lost more than a fifth of its value against the US dollar since the invasion of Ukraine began last year. Western experts say the cost of military spending and sanctions are the main reasons.
Russia’s Central Bank headquarters in Moscow
Russia’s central bank has hiked interest rates by 3.5 percentage points to 12% in an emergency move after the rouble plunged in value.
It comes after the currency fell to an almost 17-month low of 101 roubles to one US dollar on Monday – a loss of more than a third of its value since the beginning of the year.
But experts said the drastic move was unlikely to have much of an impact on Russia’s economic woes while its war in Ukraine and Western sanctions continued.
The currency did strengthen slightly on Tuesday morning following the rate announcement, but by lunchtime it had slipped to around 99 roubles to the dollar.
“As long as the war continues it just gets worse for Russia, the Russian economy and the rouble,” said Timothy Ash, a senior strategist at Bluebay Asset Management.
He added: “Hiking policy rates won’t solve anything – they might temporarily slow the pace of depreciation of the rouble at the price of slower real GDP [gross domestic product] growth – unless the core problem, the war and sanctions are resolved.”
Russia’s Central Bank made the move only hours after Vladimir Putin’s economic adviser, Maxim Oreshkin, publicly criticised the institution on Monday for the currency’s fall.
He attacked the “loose monetary policy” of officials and insisted the bank had “all the tools necessary” to stabilise the situation.
Inflation in Russia reached 7.6% over the past three months, the central bank has said.
It added that demand for goods exceeded the country’s ability to expand economic output, increasing inflation and affecting “the rouble’s exchange rate dynamics through elevated demand for imports”.
“Consequently, the pass-through of the rouble’s depreciation to prices is gaining momentum and inflation expectations are on the rise,” it said in a statement.
The Kremlin’s public criticism of the bank adds further pressure with Russia heading towards a presidential election in March 2024 as the cost of living rises.
Ukraine appears to have launched a drone attack on Moscow overnight, with Russia claiming to have downed two drones – one near a major airport, and the other near a motorway. Meanwhile, an arms dealer and a European country have agreed to send dozens of second hand tanks to Kyiv.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive tactics
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At least eight people have died and 31 injured after an “ordinary residential building” was struck by Russian missiles twice last night. Emergency responders were among the dead in Pokrovsk, in the eastern Donetsk region.
Ukrainian forces have hit critical road bridges linking occupied Crimea with parts of the Kherson region under Russian control – Sean Bell analyses what the aim is
‘A flame filled up my eyes’ – Residents describe deadly Pokrovsk attack
Hearing the first blast from inside her home, Kateryna thought she was safe from Russia’s attack on Pokrovsk – but then a second missile struck.
The 58-year-old had answered a call to tell a friend she was unharmed when she saw a building erupt into flames, and fell to the floor.
“That’s it, bang – and that’s all. A flame filled up my eyes. I fell down on the floor, on the ground. My eyes hurt a lot,” she told Reuters.
In comparison to others, she was one of the lucky ones, surviving the attack with multiple scratches around her eyes and bandages around her forehead.
At least eight people have died in the strikes and 31 have been injured, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Footage from the Ukrainian-held town in the eastern Donetsk region showed rescuers searching rubble, treating patients on the ground and an apartment building with torn down balconies.
Washington’s top general said the crash of a U.S. surveillance drone after being intercepted by Russian jets showed Moscow’s increasingly aggressive behaviour, while Russia warned Washington that flying drones near Crimea risked escalation.
[1/13] U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin attend a virtual meeting of Ukraine Defense Contact Group, at the Pentagon in Washington, U.S. March 15, 2023. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via REUTERSA day after the U.S. drone went down over the Black Sea, defence ministers and military chiefs from the U.S. and Russia held rare telephone conversations on Wednesday, with relations at their lowest point in decades over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, told his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin, that American drone flights by Crimea’s coast “were provocative in nature” and could lead to “an escalation … in the Black Sea zone,” a ministry statement said. Crimea is a peninsula that was part of Ukraine until Moscow annexed it by force in 2014.
Russia, the statement added “had no interest in such a development but will in future react in due proportion” and the two countries should “act with a maximum of responsibility”, including by having military lines of communication in a crisis.
Austin declined to offer any details of the call – including whether he criticized the Russian intercept.
But he reiterated at a news conference that the U.S. intended to continue flying where international law allowed and demanded Russian military aircraft operate in a safe and professional manner.
Austin appeared before reporters at the Pentagon alongside General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who had a separate call with Russia’s Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
TRADING ACCUSATIONS
The U.S. military has said two Russian Su-27 fighter planes approached its MQ-9 Reaper drone during a reconnaissance mission over the Black Sea’s international waters on Tuesday. The fighters harassed the drone and sprayed fuel on it before one clipped the drone’s propeller, causing it to crash into the sea.
According to Russia, there was no collision. The drone crashed after making “sharp manoeuvres”, having “deliberately and provocatively” flown close to Russian air space. Moscow had scrambled its fighters to identify it.
“There is a pattern of behaviour recently where there is a little bit more aggressive actions being conducted by the Russians,” Milley told reporters, saying it was unclear whether the Russian pilots intended to strike the drone.
Earlier, State Department spokesperson Ned Price, speaking to MSNBC, said the incident was most likely an unintentional act by Russia.
While battles between Ukrainian troops and Russian forces raged on in eastern Ukraine, the drone incident on Tuesday was the first known direct U.S.-Russia encounter since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine about a year ago.
Russia said the episode showed the U.S. was directly participating in the Ukraine war, something the West has taken pains to avoid.
“The Americans keep saying they’re not taking part in military operations. This is the latest confirmation that they are directly participating in these activities – in the war,” Kremlin Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said.
The United States has supported Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars in military aid but says its troops have not become directly engaged in the war, which Moscow portrays as a conflict against the combined might of the West.
Kyiv, for its part, said the drone crash showed Moscow was willing to expand the conflict zone to draw in other countries.
Reports suggest that the soldier is Tymofiy Mykolayovych Shadura, who has been missing since last month.
Ukraine has vowed to avenge the death of a soldier it said was shot by Russian troops in a video that spread on social media.
The video, which emerged online on Monday, purportedly shows the killing of an unarmed Ukrainian soldier.
In a statement last night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “the occupiers” killed “a warrior who bravely said to their faces: “Slava Ukraini!”, or “Glory to Ukraine!”
Sky News has been unable to independently verify the location and date of the footage.
But Ukraine’s 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade said the deceased was thought to be serviceman Tymofiy Mykolayovych Shadura, who has been missing since 3 February, after hostilities in the area of the city of Bakhmut.
The Ukrainian president says his advisers had unanimously agreed to press on with the fight in Bakhmut and “not to retreat” despite Russia trying to capture it for six months, targeting the city with heavy shelling in a three-sided assault.
Ukrainian servicemen fire a howitzer towards Russian troops outside the frontline city of Bakhmut
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his top military commanders have pledged to continue defending the besieged eastern city of Bakhmut in the face of intense Russian pressure.
The Ukrainian president said the generals agreed at a meeting to strengthen the defences and the top brass would “find the appropriate forces to help our guys” there.
It comes as footage circulating on social media purports to show an unarmed Ukrainian prisoner of war being shot and executed by Russian troops.
Horrific video of an unarmed Ukrainian POW executed by Russian forces merely for saying “Glory to Ukraine”. Another proof this war is genocidal. It is imperative that @KarimKhanQC launches an immediate ICC investigation into this heinous war crime. Perpetrators must face justice.
The man in a Ukrainian uniform smokes a cigarette and says “Glory to Ukraine” before a hail of bullets are fired at him.
Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, described the video as “horrific” and said that it was more proof the war was “genocidal”.
He called on the International Criminal Court to launch an immediate investigation into the alleged shooting, branding it a “war crime” and adding that its perpetrators “must face justice”.
Mr Zelenskyy said his advisers had unanimously agreed to press on with the fight in Bakhmut and “not to retreat” despite Russia trying to capture it for six months and thousands of its soldiers losing their lives in the process.
Moscow has targeted the embattled Donbas city with heavy shelling in a three-sided assault, but its forces have been unable to deliver a knockout blow which would enable them to seize it and finish off the resistance.
A few days ago, one of Mr Zelenskyy’s advisers admitted Ukrainian troops might have to retreat and fall back to nearby positions.
But on Monday, the president’s top adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said the forces had been grinding down the invaders, reinforcing their positions and training tens of thousands of military personnel for a possible counteroffensive.
The city’s importance is mostly symbolic as analysts say it is not strategically key in the war and Russia capturing it would unlikely mark a turning point. But it would mean President Vladimir Putin could deliver some good news to his people back home.
However, the Bakhmut battle has exposed Russian military shortcomings and bitter divisions.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the millionaire owner of the Wagner mercenary group which has spearheaded the Bakhmut offensive, has been at loggerheads for months with the Russian defence ministry, accusing it of deliberately depriving his men of ammunition – an allegation it rejects.
On Friday, Mr Prigozhin said his units had “practically surrounded Bakhmut”.
But in a video released on Saturday, he warned: “If Wagner retreats from Bakhmut now, the whole front will collapse. The situation will not be sweet for all military formations protecting Russian interests.”
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the millionaire owner of the Wagner mercenary group. Pic: Prigozhin Press Service/AP
And on Monday he admitted Ukraine had built up its own forces in surrounding towns and areas to try to push Wagner out of Bakhmut and that he needed help to take the city for Russia.
“I’m knocking on all doors and sounding the alarm about ammunition and reinforcements, as well as the need to cover our flanks,” Mr Prigozhin said in a statement released by his press service.
“If everyone is coordinated, without ambition, screw-ups and tantrums, and carries out this work, then we will block the armed forces of Ukraine. If not, then everyone will be screwed.”
In its latest intelligence update, the MoD said local counterattacks have hampered Russian attempts to reorganise its forces, amid fears Chernihiv could become the next Mariupol.
An armoured vehicle painted with the Z of pro-Russian troops near Mariupol in southern Ukraine
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has admitted it would be “impossible” to completely force Russian forces out of Ukraine, amid fears Vladimir Putin is seeking a Korea-style split.
The head of military intelligence in Kyiv said the Kremlin wanted to split the country like “North and South Korea”, securing itself a region controlled from Moscow after failing in its bid for a complete takeover.
Speaking hours later, Mr Zelenskyy appeared to acknowledge his government would have to concede territory.
He said attempting to completely force Russia out “would lead to a Third World War”.
Mr Zelenskyy said he was seeking a “compromise” with Moscow over Donbas, the region which has been partly controlled by Russian-backed separatist groups since 2014.
It’s been suggested that the Kremlin wants to hold “referendums” in such areas to determine whether the people living there want to be part of Russia.
But Mr Zelenskyy wants Russian troops out of parts of the country they’ve occupied since last month’s full invasion, saying a deal is “only possible” if they are withdrawn.
Maria Avdeeva has won herself a large following on Twitter with this reporting project, providing facts and commentary in a city where half-a-million or more people have fled.
Maria Avdeeva has amassed a large following on Twitter since the war began
Is there another way to fight the Russian army, if you don’t dress in military fatigues or own a weapon?
The research director of a think tank called UA Experts thinks she has found a way, armed with a smartphone, a social media account and years of legal training.
Her name is Maria Avdeeva, and we began to listen to her reports in Kharkiv, the embattled Ukrainian city just 20 miles from the Russian border.
Kharkiv residents cover the monument to Shevchenko with sandbags to protect from Russian air strikes. I saw volunteers coming, offering to help protect the symbol of the Ukrainian nation, while Russian troops shelled the city. The historical moment of this war. pic.twitter.com/gQ9MlpAPVr
She posts daily updates from bombed-out buildings in and around the city centre, often as incoming shells and rockets echo around her.
“Hello, Maria Avdeeva from Kharkiv, Ukraine, 18th of March,” says one.
“I went out today to get some food and then the shelling started again, it started this morning and (it) went on and on, and I hid in this building which actually has been a business centre.”
In the video, Maria walks up the stairs in a 19th century building before revealing a devastated office with desks, chairs, and computers covered in dust and glass.
“I am just (struck) by what I see,” she says. “People were running out of here, leaving everything (behind). They didn’t anything with them, they left everything here.”
The West has imposed sanctions on hundreds of Russian individuals and entities after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, prompting an exodus of luxury yachts from Europe.
Authorities in Gibraltar have seized a superyacht linked to the owner of Russia’s biggest steel pipe manufacturer.
Footage showed the Axioma, believed to belong to Dmitrievich Pumpyansky, owner of steel group TMK, moored at Gibraltar and flying a Maltese flag.
Refinitiv shipping data showed the Axioma spent the past three weeks crossing the Atlantic
The West has imposed sanctions on hundreds of Russian individuals and entities after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, sparking an exodus of luxury yachts from Europe.
Steel group owner linked to superyacht
Refinitiv data shows the 72m vessel is owned by a British Virgin Islands holding company called Pyrene investments, with an article published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists as part of the Panama Papers naming Mr Pumpyansky as a beneficiary of the holding.
Forbes and specialist publication Superyacht Fan also list him as the owner of the Axioma.
The Gibraltar government said the Axioma arrived in port after asking permission to enter and “was confirmed to be the subject of an arrest action by a leading international bank in the Supreme Court of Gibraltar”.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia are pursuing their own interests, analysts say, as the US urges a united front against Russia’s Putin.
A Ukrainian service member walks in a destroyed village on the front line in the east Kyiv region of Ukraine on March 21, 2022 [File: Gleb Garanich/Reuters]With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dominating discussions around the world, the Biden administration has been promoting global unity against what it calls Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “war of choice”.
But despite those efforts, the conflict has highlighted cracks in some of the United States’ most prominent alliances in the Middle East, notably with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia.
The latest manifestation of this apparent rift came last week when the UAE hosted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad despite repeated warnings from Washington against normalising ties with the government in Damascus. It was Assad’s first visit to an Arab country since the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011, and it came weeks after the Syrian president expressed full support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Assad coming to the UAE, shortly after the Gulf Arab country voted to abstain from a UN Security Council resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine last month, tells us that the Emiratis are very serious about asserting their autonomy from the United States,” said Giorgio Cafiero, CEO of Gulf State Analytics, a Washington, DC-based geopolitical risk consultancy.
Abu Dhabi’s abstention last month from the US-backed United Nations Security Council proposal on Ukraine was followed by anonymously-sourced media reports alleging that Saudi and Emirati leaders rebuffed calls from US President Joe Biden. And last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Saudi Arabia is in talks with China to ditch the US dollar in favour of the yuan to conduct oil transactions with Beijing.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia appear to be sending a message to the US, Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a Middle East fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, told Al Jazeera: “‘We’re going to act upon our interests and not what you think our interests are.’”
It is the second day in a row that Russia says it has used the Kinzhal missile, which is capable of striking targets 1,250 miles away at a speed 10 times the speed of sound.
Damage caused to a building hit by a missile in Kyiv, as Russia says it launched a second hypersonic missile strike near Mykolaiv. Pic: Matthew Hatcher/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
Russia says it has launched a hypersonic missile attack on Ukraine for the second consecutive day, amid claims that thousands of people trapped in a besieged city have been “forcibly deported” to Russian territory.
The weapon – known as Kinzhal, meaning dagger – hit a Ukrainian fuel depot near the Black Sea port of Mykolaiv, a Russian defence ministry official said.
It is the second day in a row that Russia says it has used the missile, which is capable of striking targets 1,250 miles away at a speed 10 times the speed of sound.
Service members of pro-Russian troops drive an armoured vehicle in Mariupol
In separate attacks, an art school where 400 people were taking refuge in Mariupol was destroyed and authorities in Kharkiv said at least five civilians – including a nine-year-old boy – had been killed by Russian shelling.
People are feared trapped under the rubble of the school building in Mariupol, the city’s council said, but there was no immediate information on the number of casualties.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the siege of Mariupol – where hundreds of thousands of people are trapped and facing relentless bombardment – is “a terror that will be remembered for centuries to come”.
It is the second day in a row that Russia says it has used the Kinzhal missile, which is capable of striking targets 1,250 miles away at a speed 10 times the speed of sound.
Damage caused to a building hit by a missile in Kyiv, as Russia says it launched a second hypersonic missile strike near Mykolaiv. Pic: Matthew Hatcher/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
Russia says it has launched a hypersonic missile attack on Ukraine for the second consecutive day, amid claims that thousands of people trapped in a besieged city have been “forcibly deported” to Russian territory.
The weapon – known as Kinzhal, meaning dagger – hit a Ukrainian fuel depot near the Black Sea port of Mykolaiv, a Russian defence ministry official said.
It is the second day in a row that Russia says it has used the missile, which is capable of striking targets 1,250 miles away at a speed 10 times the speed of sound.
In separate attacks, an art school where 400 people were taking refuge in Mariupol was destroyed and authorities in Kharkiv said at least five civilians – including a nine-year-old boy – had been killed by Russian shelling.
People are feared trapped under the rubble of the school building in Mariupol, the city’s council said, but there was no immediate information on the number of casualties.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the siege of Mariupol – where hundreds of thousands of people are trapped and facing relentless bombardment – is “a terror that will be remembered for centuries to come”.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden spoke on Friday for about two hours in a virtual meeting called to address the conflict in Ukraine, with Xi appealing for negotiations to bring the crisis to a halt and Biden stressing that consequences await Beijing for any support it provides to Moscow.
“The Ukraine crisis is something we don’t want to see,” Xi said, according to a government readout. “Events once again show that state-to-state relations cannot go to the stage of confrontation, conflict and confrontation are not in the interests of anyone.”
“As permanent members of the UN Security Council and the world’s two largest economies, we must not only lead the development of China-US relations on the right track, but also shoulder our due international responsibilities and make efforts for world peace and tranquillity,” the readout said.
Calling the exchange “constructive”, Beijing said the two sides agreed “to follow up in a timely manner, take practical actions, strive for the return of China-US relations to the track of stable development, and make their own efforts to properly resolve the Ukraine crisis”.
The Chinese government account added that the US and Nato “should also conduct dialogue with Russia to solve the crux of the Ukraine crisis”.
The US embassy in Kyiv says it is “considering all available options to ensure accountability for any atrocity crimes in Ukraine”.
People are buried under rubble after a theatre in Mariupol – where hundreds of people are reported to have been sheltering – was bombed by Russian forces, local officials have said.
The city council said the number of casualties was not yet known, but Sky News has verified footage from the attack as showing the Donetsk Regional Drama Theatre.
A satellite image shows the theatre before the attack – with the word ‘children’ written in Russian in giant letters at both ends of the building. (pic Maxar)
A statement from Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said: “The bomb strike demolished the central part of the theatre building, causing large numbers of people to be buried under the debris.
“The assessment of the exact number of persons affected is currently impossible due to ongoing shelling.
“By delivering a purposeful bomb attack to the place of mass gathering of civilians Russia has committed another war crime.”
A satellite image taken by Maxar Technologies shows the theatre on 14 March before the attack.
Spelt out on the ground is the Russian word for “children”, which shows how it was clearly identified for days that people were sheltering in it.
However, the RIA news agency, reported Russia’s Defence Ministry has denied it carried out the attack, instead
accusing the Azov Battalion, a far-right Ukrainian militia, of blowing it up.
It did not give evidence to back up the claim.
Earlier, Russian forces shot and killed 10 people queuing for bread in Chernihiv, northern Ukraine, the US embassy in Kyiv has said.
Pierre Zakrzewski had been travelling in a vehicle near Kyiv with correspondent Benjamin Hall, who was injured, and Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra Kuvshinova, who was also killed.
A Fox News cameraman and a Ukrainian journalist have been killed by an “artillery shelling by Russian troops” while reporting on the war in Ukraine.
Pierre Zakrzewski was working with correspondent Benjamin Hall when their vehicle was hit in the north-eastern part of the village of Gorenka, near Kyiv.
Fox News announced the attack and Mr Hall’s injury on Monday by saying the reporter “was injured while newsgathering outside of Kyiv in Ukraine”.
Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra Kuvshinova was also reported to be killed in the attack.
Fox News presenter Bill Hemmer said: “Pierre Zakrzewski was an absolute legend at this network and his loss is devastating.
“He has been with us for years, covering wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. Our CEO Susanne Scott noted a few moments ago that Pierre jumped in to help out with all sorts of roles in the field – photographer and engineer and editor and producer and he did it all under immense pressure and with tremendous skill.”
Russia’s foreign ministry said Tuesday that US President Joe Biden and a dozen other top officials had been banned from entering the country in a reciprocal response to US sanctions.
US President Joe Biden speaks at an event in Washington on Monday. Photo: Reuters
The measure, which also applies to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, “is the consequence of the extremely Russophobic policy pursued by the current US administration”, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
In response to Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine, the United States banned Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as well as adopting sanctions that have largely cut Russia off financially from the rest of the world.
Russia also put on its stop list Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns and White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
Also on the list are Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh, US Agency for International Development chief Samantha Power, Deputy Treasury Secretary Adewale Adeyemo, and US Export-Import Bank chief Reta Jo Lewis.
Talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives have become “more constructive”, although Mr Zelenskyy’s senior adviser described the discussions as a “difficult and viscous process”.
Around 20,000 people have fled Mariupol in what is believed to be the biggest evacuation yet from the besieged port city.
Around 570 of some 4,000 vehicles that left the city have reached Zaporizhzhia which is 160 miles (260km) northwest while others will spend the night in various towns along the way.
And while talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives have become “more constructive”, the bombardment of Kyiv has been stepped up, with attacks on apartments and a subway station.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s senior adviser described the talks as a “very difficult and viscous negotiation process”.
“There are fundamental contradictions. But there is certainly room for compromise. During the break, work in subgroups will be continued,” he added.
With the number of people driven from the country by the war eclipsing three million, large explosions thundered across the capital before dawn from what Ukrainian authorities said were artillery strikes.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko has brought in a curfew until 7am on Thursday (5am GMT).
People will only be able to move around the city with “special permission” except to “go to bomb shelters”, the mayor said.
The United States told European Union officials that China had expressed willingness to provide Russia with the military support it requested for its attack on Ukraine, according to a source familiar with the exchange.
A residential building in Kyiv is seen on Monday after being charred and damaged by Russian shelling. Photo: EPA-EFE
The source confirmed that the EU had been tipped off to China’s position but said the US had yet to share the underlying intelligence, so Brussels “does not have proof” of the claims.
The Financial Times first reported on Sunday that Russia had asked China for military assistance. On Monday, the newspaper reported that Beijing had “signalled its willingness” to help, though it was not clear whether China had already started providing support or if it was willing to do so in the future.
The initial reports were denied by both the Chinese and Russian governments. The Chinese Mission to the EU did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Boris Johnson’s call comes ahead of his expected trip to Saudi Arabia, which the PM reportedly hopes will help persuade the kingdom to boost its own production of oil and gas.
The PM insisted the West ‘cannot go on like this’
Boris Johnson has called on Western nations to “take back control” of their energy supplies and end an “addiction” to Russian oil and gas that has left them subject to “blackmail” by Vladimir Putin.
In an article for the Daily Telegraph, the prime minister insisted the West “cannot go on like this” and remain “economically dependent” on Russian resources following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Johnson’s call comes ahead of his expected trip to Saudi Arabia, which the PM reportedly hopes will help persuade the kingdom to boost its own production of oil and gas.
This would allow the West to wean itself off Russian supplies.
In his newspaper article, Mr Johnson acknowledged “a terrible mistake” was made following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, when Western countries “decided we could somehow go back to normal”.
“Economic relations did not just resume – they intensified, with the West taking more Russian gas than ever before, becoming more dependent on the goodwill of Putin and more exposed to the vagaries of the global gas and oil price,” he wrote.
“And so when he finally came to launch his vicious war in Ukraine, he knew the world would find it very hard to punish him. He knew that he had created an addiction.”
The PM added that as the Russian assault on Ukraine continues, “the cost of oil and gas rises still further, meaning less money in your pocket and more in Putin’s.
During the live broadcast, the woman walked behind the presenter with a placard denouncing the invasion of Ukraine. In English, it read: “No war. Russians against war.” And in Russian it said: “NO WAR. Stop the war. Don’t believe propaganda. They are lying to you here.”
Marina Ovsyannikova said she had been working for the ‘Kremlin’s propaganda and I’m very ashamed of it’
An anti-war protester has interrupted the main news programme on Russia’s foremost state TV station, holding a sign which told viewers: “They are lying to you.”
During the live broadcast on Channel One, the woman, who is thought to have worked for the company for years, walked on to the set behind the presenter with a placard denouncing the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
In English, it read: “No war. Russians against war.”
And in Russian it said: “NO WAR. Stop the war. Don’t believe propaganda. They are lying to you here.”
While she stood behind the host who continued to read from her autocue, the demonstrator – who has been named as Marina Ovsyannikova – could be heard saying: “Stop the war! No war! Stop the war! No war!”
She could still be heard after the broadcast was switched to alternative output.
Kira Yarmysh, a spokeswoman for jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, posted footage of the incident on Twitter with the caption: “Wow, that girl is cool.”
The woman was named by OVD-Info, an independent protest-monitoring group, and by the head of the Agora human rights group, as Ms Ovsyannikova, an employee of the channel.
The protester, who says her father is Ukrainian and her mother Russian, also released a video of herself before her demonstration, in which she blamed President Vladimir Putin for the war.
Ukraine-Russia war: Seven civilians, including a child, died when Russia shelled a convoy of refugees and forced them to return to the village of Peremoha, 20km (12 miles) northeast of Kyiv.
A fire burns at an apartment building after it was hit by the shelling of a residential district in Mariupol, Ukraine.(AP)
Mariupol, the Ukrainian port city, continued to endure one of the Russian war’s worst strikes with the latter’s forces shelling its downtown as residents hid in an iconic mosque and elsewhere to avoid the explosions.
More than 1,500 people have died in Mariupol during the siege, according to the mayor’s office, and the shelling has even interrupted efforts to bury the dead in mass graves.
Relentless barrages have thwarted repeated attempts to bring food, water and medicine into the city of 4,30,000 and to evacuate its stranded civilians.
Russian forces attacked a humanitarian convoy that was trying to reach Mariupol and blocked another, a Ukrainian official said. Ukraine’s military said Russian forces captured Mariupol’s eastern outskirts, tightening their siege of the strategic port.
A court has ruled that the cartoon character’s trademarks can be used by Russian businesses without punishment – and there are fears that brands belonging to other Western companies could be stolen, too.
A court has ruled that the cartoon character’s trademarks can be used by Russian businesses without punishment. Pic: Entertainment One
Russia has targeted Peppa Pig in retaliation for the economic sanctions that have been imposed following the invasion of Ukraine.
A court has ruled that the cartoon character’s trademarks can be used by Russian businesses without punishment.
Entertainment One – which owns the rights to the popular children’s series – had taken legal action against a Russian entrepreneur who had drawn his own versions of Peppa Pig.
The company had asked for 40,000 roubles (£400) in compensation last September, and the currency’s collapse means this would now be worth just £320.
But a judge dismissed the case, and mentioned “unfriendly actions of the United States of America and affiliated foreign countries” in their ruling.
The Russian government has also issued a decree that allows patented inventions and industrial designs from “unfriendly countries” to be used without permission or compensation.
This list of unfriendly countries includes the UK, the US, the EU, Australia, Ukraine, Japan and 16 other nations.
A number of major brands have severed business ties with Russia – with Apple halting product sales in the country, IKEA closing its stores, and Disney cancelling movie releases.
Russian-born writer Arch Hades tells Sky News the bombardment of Ukraine is “abhorrent” and insists most Russians oppose “Putin’s war”.
A Russian-born poet and Instagram favourite who fled the country after her father was murdered has called for Vladimir Putin to be arrested and tried for war crimes.
Arch Hades, a pseudonym she uses for security reasons, told Sky News the bombardment of Ukraine was “abhorrent” and insisted most Russians oppose “Putin’s war”.
The 29-year-old, whose poetry has seen her amass more than one million Instagram followers, moved to London as a child after her father was “gunned down in an alley” in St Petersburg, she said.
Her father, who she asked not to be named to protect her surviving relatives, was a businessman who embraced “democracy and liberalism”, which the Putin regime “despised”, she added.
She has now voiced fears that Russians have been “sealed in a cage” with Mr Putin as the country becomes increasingly isolated, and he will “take out his wrath on them” if he loses the war in Ukraine.
Hades told Sky News: “I hope to see Putin in The Hague. I hope to see him tried for war crimes.
“I’m afraid that when Putin doesn’t get his way, he doubles down and he might escalate his aggression.
“I really fear for the Ukrainian people. This is survival for them.
“I’m a pacifist but I know if the Ukrainians put down their weapons, there will be no more Ukraine.
“If Putin does take over, I’m afraid he won’t stop there.”
New satellite imagery has shown what appears to be Russian forces firing artillery from a village 17 miles northwest of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, as well as damage to Hostomel Airport.
New satellite images show homes on fire as Russian troops advance closer to Kyiv, with long lines of cars trying to flee the Ukrainian capital.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has also warned that “staunch resistance” from Ukraine means Russian tactical aircraft are relying on unguided “dumb” munitions.
“Such weapons are relatively inaccurate and indiscriminate and their use significantly increases the likelihood of civilian casualties,” a defence intelligence update released on Friday night said.
The satellite images from Maxar appear to suggest that Russian military units are “actively firing artillery towards residential areas” – and in one photograph, a bright muzzle flash can be seen from an artillery gun.
Widespread damage and impact craters have been seen in Moschun, a town northwest of Kyiv, and fires are continuing to burn at Hostamel Airport, which is also known as Antonov Airport.
The prime minister and the Ukrainian president have been having almost daily phone calls in which Boris Johnson has had to say he cannot support a NATO no-fly zone.
Boris Johnson says it has been “deeply upsetting” and “absolutely agonising” to refuse President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
The prime minister, speaking to Sky News’ Beth Rigby Interviews programme, said the pair have had some “very frank conversations” but the UK and NATO cannot cross that line.
On Wednesday, Mr Zelenskyy told Sky News’ special correspondent Alex Crawford, in Kyiv, that Western countries were being indecisive on the issue of “closing the skies” against what he called “the Nazis”.
The Ukrainian president had said: “If you are united against the Nazis and this terror, you have to close. Don’t wait for me ask you several times, a million times. Close the sky.
“Close the sky and stop the bombing.”
He also made the plea during a historic live video address to MPs in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
But the UK, the US and NATO have continually rejected Mr Zelenskyy’s calls for a no-fly zone over Ukraine as they say it would mean having to shoot down Russian planes, which would likely start another world war.
Mr Johnson and the Ukrainian leader have been having almost daily conversations in the 15 days since Russia invaded.
