Ukraine news latest: Vladimir Putin's failing troops forced to pay for OWN armour amid Russian army's 'poor performance' | The Sun
RUSSIAN conscripts are being forced to pay for their OWN body armour to take on the battlefield, according to British intelligence.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) claims prices for equipment are soaring on Russian resale sites – with the price of combat armour tripling since April to a whopping £570 as the Ukraine war rages on.
The ministry also added that equipment provided by Putin's Government for its failing, tired soldiers would “almost certainly be lower than the already poor provision of previously deployed troops”.
A statement reads: "Many reservists are likely required to purchase their own body armour, especially the modern 6B45 vest, which is meant to be on general issue to combat units as part of the Ratnik personal equipment programme."
Meanwhile, the first Russian soldiers to take part in a new joint force with Belarusian troops have arrived in Belarus, Minsk's defence ministry said on Saturday, whose mission is "to exclusively to strengthen the protection and defence of the border".
Read our Ukraine-Russia live blog below for the latest updates…
- Joseph Gamp
Norwegian police arrest Russian for flying drone amid heightened security
Norway police arrested a Russian man at the airport in the arctic town of Tromsoe and charged him with flying a drone, they said on Saturday, marking the second such arrest in one week.
Police seized a large amount of photographic gear, including a drone and several memory cards, during Friday's arrest of the 51-year-old, who had admitted to flying a drone in Norway, police said.
Sanctions laws forbid Russian companies or citizens from operating aircraft in Norway.
"Among the seized material we have reviewed, we have seen pictures from the airport in Kirkenes and pictures of the defence forces' Bell helicopter," police prosecutor Jacob Bergh said in a statement.
The Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) has also been involved in the case, Bergh said.
Police are seeking a court order to detain the man for a four-week period, they said.
The accused told police he entered Norway via the northern border point of Storskog on Thursday and was on his way to the arctic archipelago of Svalbard.
- Joseph Gamp
German minister warns Russia could use 'people as weapons'
Germany's foreign minister warned Saturday that Russia could seek to spark division in the West through refugees, as Moscow seeks to expand its "hybrid war".
"This war is not only waged with weapons, it is also waged with energy and for that, we have found an answer. But it will also be waged with fear and division, and that is precisely what we have to prevent," said Annalena Baerbock at a congress of her Greens' party.
"In this situation it is clear what will be next — refugees and not refugees from Ukraine… but because this war is hybrid, other countries are also participating," Baerbock said, pointing to Serbia which she accused of letting in planeloads of migrants without visas.
Stressing that there cannot be a situation "where people are being used as weapons", the minister said Germany was in talks with the Czech Republic and Slovakia on the issue.
- Joseph Gamp
First Russian soldiers arrive in Belarus for joint force
The first Russian soldiers to take part in a new joint force with Belarusian troops have arrived in Belarus, Minsk's defence ministry said on Saturday.
"The first convoys of Russian servicemen from the regional force group have arrived in Belarus," the ministry said.
It added their mission was "exclusively to strengthen the protection and defence of the border".
- Joseph Gamp
Oil depot hit and on fire in Russia's Belgorodd
An oil depot in Russia's Belgorod region bordering Ukraine is on fire after being shelled on Saturday, the governor said, as strikes increases against the area.
"We're getting bombed again. One of the shells hit the oil depot in the Belgorod region," regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
He said emergency services were already on site, adding there was "no risk" of the fire spreading.
Gladkov posted a photo showing flames and plumes of black smoke rising above a building.
State-run news agency TASS cited a source in the emergency services saying the burning depot was located in the village of Razumnoye-71, near the city of Belgorod.
- Matt Snape
Sweden rejects plans to investigate Nord Stream pipeline devastation
Sweden won’t be collaborating with Denmark and Germany to establish a formal investigation team to explore what caused the ruptures of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, Al-Jazeera Online reports.
- Matt Snape
Saudi Arabia will provide $400m in humanitarian aid to Ukraine
Riyadh will give $400million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, claims state news agency SPA.
- Matt Snape
New $725m US military package for Ukraine
Ukraine will receive an additional $725million military package from the US, the White House has confirmed.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Friday that the help follows “in the wake of Russia’s brutal missile attacks on civilians across Ukraine”, and “the mounting evidence of atrocities by Russia’s forces”.
- Matt Snape
Belarusian Su-25s will carry nuclear weapons
The Belarusian Hajun project has revealed more details regarding the Belarusian Su-25 being equipped with nuclear weapons.
- Matt Snape
Russia to enable warplanes to carry nuclear weapons
The Kyiv Post confirmed that some Russian planes will carry nuclear weapons.
- Matt Snape
Musk says Ukraine’s Starlink cannot keep being funded by SpaceX
Ukraine’s Starlink cannot keep being funded by SpaceX, Elon Musk claims in his latest rift with Kyiv.
"SpaceX is not asking to recoup past expenses, but also cannot fund the existing system indefinitely," Mr Musk tweeted on Friday.
Starlink has been crucial for Ukraine's military as it battles to reclaim Ukrainian territory from Russia, and that is because of its network of satellites that provide broadband internet, the BBC reports.
- Matt Snape
Ukrainian experts tip-toe around huge Russian explosive before blowing it up
Dramatic footage reveals that Ukrainian fighters tiptoed around a 1,100-lb bomb they encountered in Kherson before blowing it up.
One of two soldiers walking around the bomb carefully approaches it before the bomb explodes.
The images were obtained from the Rear Admiral of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade Mykhailo Bilynskyi.
Read more here.
- Matt Snape
Putin’s secret police grabbing civilians and dragging them to front line
Army recruits are being grabbed off Russia’s streets to fight the Ukraine war, as Putin desperately needs new conscripts to fight his failed Ukraine invasion.
Draft dodgers are being hunted by “conscript-catchers”, and flights are being grounded to a halt to haul off the co-pilot.
“They are acting like dog catchers,” said one resident.
Read more here.
- Matt Snape
Putin admits destroyed Crimea bridge could take EIGHT months to fix
Devastated Vladimir Putin has been forced to admit a damaged Crimean bridge, which was destroyed last week, could take eight months to fix.
The news comes as Ukrainian forces have liberated up to 600 towns in a humiliating blow to Putin’s invasion plans.
Read more here.
Photo credit: Associated Press. - Matt Snape
Ukraine frees over 600 towns from Russian occupation in a month
600 Ukrainian towns have been liberated from Russian occupiers as a result of their successful counter-offensive.
75 of those towns are in the strategic region of Kherson.
The Donetsk region has seen 43 towns freed, and another seven were liberated in Luhansk.
Read more here.
- Matt Snape
Putin admits failures in Ukraine
Devastated Vladimir Putin admitted failures in Ukraine on Friday.
Due to Russia’s low numbers of missiles, Moscow is eager to return to the negotiating table as soldiers flee Ukraine.
Putin confessed it was “impossible” to hold the line in Ukraine without thousands of new conscripts.
Read more here.
- Matt Snape
Putin’s warns direct confrontation with Nato troops would lead to a ‘global catastrophe’
Failing Vladimir Putin threated a “global catastrophe” as his allies warned the West not to “push him into a corner” following his failures in Ukraine.
In a disturbing threat to Nato, he warned: "The introduction of troops into a direct confrontation with the Russian army is a very dangerous step that could lead to a global catastrophe.
"I hope that those who speak of this have enough sense not to take such steps."
Read more here.
- Henry Moore
A NATO clash with Russia would lead to ‘global catastrophe‘, Putin warns
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has warned that a military clash between his troops and NATO would lead to “global catastrophe.”
“I hope that those who are saying this are smart enough not to take such steps,” Reuters reports that Putin said.
This comes after Russian missiles hit a Ukrainian city just 40 miles from the NATO border in Poland.
- Henry Moore
Mobilisation to conclude in 2 weeks, Putin reports
Putin’s policy of partial mobilisation will conclude in two weeks, the Russian dictator has confirmed.
“Mobilization is ending. I assume in two weeks all mobilizing measures will be over,” he said Friday.
Putin announced this deeply unpopular policy only weeks ago, sparking a mass exodus in Russia as men across the country attempted to flee conscription.
- Henry Moore
No more ‘massive strikes’ against Ukraine ‘for now’, Putin says
Putin has said Russia’s goal is not to “destroy” Ukraine, following a series of missile strikes targeted at civilian centres this week.
“There is no need now for massive strikes. There are other tasks. For now. And then it will be clear,” he told reporters.
“We do not set ourselves the task of destroying Ukraine.”
- Henry Moore
Reports claim Russian submarine spotted off French coast
Reports claimed that a Russian submarine was spotted off the coast of France yesterday.
Reuters, citing BFM TV, said the vessel was seen near Britanny.
The submarine was reportedly escorted by the French navy.
- Henry Moore
Ukraine says it liberated more than 600 settlements in past month
Ukraine’s armed forces have liberated more than 600 settlements from the Russian occupation in the past month, including 75 in the highly strategic Kherson region, Ukraine’s Ministry for Reintegration of the Temporary Occupied Territories said.
Some 502 settlements have been liberated in the northeast Kharkiv region where Ukrainian forces last month advanced deep into Russian lines, the ministry said late on Thursday.
The ministry said 43 settlements were liberated in the Donetsk region and seven in the Luhansk region.
“The area of liberated Ukrainian territories has increased significantly,” the ministry said in a statement on its website.
- Henry Moore
In pictures: Zelensky honours Ukraine’s Defenders Day
Yesterday morning, President Zelensky laid a wreath in honour of all the Ukrainian soldiers who have lost their lives resisting Putin’s brutal invasion.
The country honoured Defenders Day on Friday, a tribute to all those in the Ukrainian armed forces.
The steadfast leader also met with injured troops.
- Henry Moore
A visual update on the situation in Ukraine
The British Ministry of Defence has shared another update on the situation in Ukraine.
Zelensky’s troops have continued their offensive in Kherson, winning back large swathes of land in recent weeks.
- Henry Moore
Putin has no regrets, reports claim
According to Reuters, Putin said he has no regrets in a conference yesterday afternoon.
“No. I want to make it clear: what is happening today is unpleasant, to put it mildly, but we would have got the same thing a little later, only in worse conditions for us, that’s that. So we are acting correctly and in a timely manner,” the dictator reportedly said.
During his speech, Mr Putin also warned of “global catastrophe” if his army were to clash with NATO.
- Henry Moore
Ben Wallace hails Ukrainain bravery
The Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has hailed Ukraine’s “heroism through the hardest trial” as the country honours Defenders Day.
Mr Wallace also reiterated Britain’s support for Ukraine’s struggle.
He said: “The international community stand in solidarity with Ukraine as we pay tribute to the ultimate sacrifice paid by so many.”
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