The Observer – ‘Ukraine pleads for more arms as Russia seizes front line city’ 

The Observer reports on Ukraine’s withdrawal from the frontline city of Avdiivka and its plea to the West for more military supplies for its defence against the Russian invasion.

“Putin must be shown he can’t kill with impunity,” reads the headline of its editorial. The paper calls for the West to break off diplomatic relations with Moscow. “Expel its lying, scheming diplomats” it says, and “send them all packing”.

The paper says the withdrawal has handed Russia “its first major military victory since last May” and notes that it comes just days before the second anniversary of the Russian invasion. It quotes Zelensky, who has also been in Munich, telling leaders that the “artificial deficit of weapons” in Ukraine was having a direct impact on the frontline. Republicans in the US Congress are currently refusing to pass a $60bn package of air to Ukraine until more steps are taken to secure the US-Mexico border.