Daily Express says the Russian president was speaking at the Vostochny cosmodrome in east Russia after meeting Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Browsing: Russia-Ukraine crisis
Russia-Ukraine crisis
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, marking a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014 following the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity.
The invasion triggered Europe’s largest refugee crisis since WW2, with millions leaving the country and millions more displaced.
Russia invades Ukraine 2022
In 2014, at the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war, Russia annexed Crimea and Russian-backed separatists seized part of the south-eastern Donbas region of Ukraine, sparking a regional war there.
In 2022, Russia began a large military build-up along its Ukrainian border – over 190,000 armed troops. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had continued to deny Russia was planning an invasion until shortly before the invasion.
In a broadcast shortly before the invasion, Putin espoused irredentist views, questioned Ukraine’s right to statehood and falsely claimed the country was being governed by neo-Nazis. Putin also claimed NATO constitutes a threat to Russia’s national security by expanding eastward since the early 2000s, which NATO disputed. Russia demanded NATO cease expansion and bar Ukraine from ever joining. The UK, USA and allies all accused Russia of planning to attack or invade Ukraine, Russian officials and state media continued to deny it up until 23 February 2022.
The invasion began on 24 February – Putin announced it was a “special military operation” to “demilitarise and denazify” Ukraine. Russia then started missiles and airstrikes across Ukraine as well as a large ground invasion from multiple directions.
The invasion has been widely condemned by the international community.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine hasn’t gone entirely to plan as the Russians underestimated the Ukrainian people’s will to fight for their country.
The Sun says FEARS for a hero Brit fighting on Ukraine’s front line have been mounting after his unit was forced to surrender to Russians in the besieged city of Mariupol.
The Metro says Ukrainian officials are claiming that Russia has dropped a chemical weapon on Mariupol.
The Guardian says Sweden’s ruling party has begun debating whether the country should join Nato, and neighbouring Finland expects to reach a decision within weeks.
The Guardian says Zelenskiy has voiced concerns that Russian forces are preparing “a new stage of terror” that could involve the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine.
Sky News says the UK is “working urgently” to verify details following unconfirmed reports of a Russian chemical attack in a besieged city in Ukraine.
Euronews says Sweden’s ruling Social Democrats have begun an internal debate about joining NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Metro says a Russian soldier allegedly filmed himself raping a one-year-old baby in Ukraine and shared the horrific video on social media.
The Metro says Ukraine’s prosecutor has announced 1,222 bodies have now been found in mass graves in the Kyiv region as Ukraine braces for a huge new offensive.
The Guardian says Ukraine’s economy is on course to contract by almost half this year as the Russian invasion and the impact of a “deep humanitarian crisis” takes its toll, the World Bank has said.
The Metro says intercepted radio messages show a Russian commander ordering his men to shoot at civilians in a village near Mariupol, according to Ukrainian intelligence.
The Independent says Police in Northern Ireland are to send safety equipment to Ukraine.
Sky News says a security guard at the British embassy in Berlin suspected of spying for Russia will appear in court later today.
Euronews says Ukrainian authorities urged people living in the Donbas to evacuate now, ahead of an impending Russian offensive, while there is still time.
Daily Mirror says a driver has rammed the gates of a Russian Embassy before killing himself by setting himself on fire.
Daily Express says A PRO-PUTIN TV presenter has had his luxury Lake Como house set on fire.
The Metro says Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of committing the ‘most terrible war crimes’ since World War Two including cutting out the tongues of civilians.
The Independent says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to make an historic address to the Irish Parliament later.
The Independent says Sean Penn says Ukraine “will win” the ongoing war with Russia but that the cost of victory remains unclear.
The Guardian says the United States and its allies are preparing to impose new sanctions on Moscow over civilian killings in Ukraine as the west makes a fresh attempt to cripple Vladimir Putin’s economy and war effort.
France24 says the United States and its allies on Wednesday prepared new sanctions on Moscow over civilian killings in northern Ukraine.
Bucha, a Ukrainian town, near Kyiv has been thrust into the limelight following claims that hundreds of civilians were murdered by retreating Russian soldiers.
The Butcher of Bucha – ‘evidence of genocide and horrific war crimes in Ukraine’
Satellite images show bodies in Bucha for weeks, rebutting Moscow claim
The truth about Bucha is out there, but perhaps too inconvenient to be discovered