Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin’s forces ready for ‘large missile attack’ as US vows North Korea troop response
US secretary of state Antony Blinken warns North Korean troops deployment ‘will get a firm response’
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Your support makes all the difference.Vladimir Putin’s forces are ready to launch a massive attack on Ukraine, the head of Kyiv’s national security council has warned, as the country braces for large-scale missile attacks on civilian infrastructure.
Blasts were heard over Kyiv on Wednesday as Ukraine accused Russia of launching its first missile attack on the capital since August and urged residents to take cover as air raid sirens blared in multiple regions.
But Ukraine security chief Andrii Kovalenko warned the the attacks on Wednesday – involving cruise and ballistic missiles – were less intense than those Moscow was equipped to carry out in the future, as it continues to stockpile cruise missiles. Russia’s plans are known and understood, and Ukraine will counter, he insisted.
It came as US secretary of state Antony Blinken travelled to Brussels, meeting Nato chief Mark Rutte and Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha.
Vowing that the Biden administration will bolster Ukraine ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, Mr Blinken also warned that Russia’s deployment of North Korean troops “demands and will get a firm response”.
Biden could raise Ukraine war at White House meeting with Trump
The war in Ukraine could be on the agenda as US president Joe Biden hosts his successor-to-be Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday.
In a traditional courtesy which Mr Trump failed to extend to Mr Biden in 2020, the current president will welcome Mr Trump into the Oval Office, in a process designed to demonstrate a smooth transition between administrations – despite Trump’s team not yet having signed documents to start the handover process.
The outgoing president may urge Mr Trump to back Ukraine in its war with Russia, as Washington’s support for Kyiv hangs in the balance since Mr Trump's victory last week, with US secretary of state Antony Blinken vowing to bolster Kyiv as much as possible in the months prior to Mr Trump reassuming office.
Ukrainian drone triggers fire at oil storage depot in Russia’s Belgorod region
A Ukrainian drone attack triggered a fire in Russia’s southern Belgorod region and firefighters quickly brought the blaze under control, the regional governor said on Tuesday.
Vyacheslav Gladkov said one of the tanks at the depot had caught fire in the Starkooskolsky District near the Ukrainian border. Ten fire crews were dispatched to the site and put out the blaze.
US and Polish officials open missile defence site that Russia has long protested
US and Polish officials have inaugurated a Nato missile defence base in northern Poland, with Polish officials welcoming it as a significant security boost.
The base was originally planned under US president George Bush as a way to protect Europe from ballistic threats from Iran. Poland, however, has always seen it as a form of US protection in case of Russian aggression, anxiety over which has sharply increased since the invasion of Ukraine.
The Kremlin has long protested against the plans, and on Tuesday it denounced the base as a challenge to its own military potential that would require measures “to ensure parity”.
North Korean troop deployment in Russia ‘will get a firm response’, vows US secretary of state
The deployment of North Korean troops to help Russia in the Ukraine war “demands and will get a firm response”, US secretary of state Antony Blinken has said during a visit to Brussels.
Washington has said North Korean troops have been engaging in combat operations alongside Russian forces in Kursk, and Mr Blinken warned that the United States has concerns over what Russia may be doing to strengthen Pyongyang’s forces, including their nuclear capacity.
Russia’s military has trained the North Korean soldiers in artillery, drone skills and basic infantry operations, including trench clearing, Pentagon deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Tuesday. However, language barriers and cooperation between militaries pose significant challenges, the Pentagon said.
“At the best of times, a battlefield is confusing and complex place,” historian Mark Galeotti, author of Forged in War: A Military History of Russia, told The Independent.
“To throw in troops who are used to different equipment, speak a different language, and have no experience of the Russian way of war really is asking for trouble.”
Dr Galeotti added: “There’s talk that they have one interpreter for 30 soldiers. Given how much the war is being fought at the small unit level, that really isn’t enough.”
Putin’s forces ‘ready to launch large missile attack’ on Ukraine
Vladimir Putin’s forces are ready to launch a massive attack on Ukraine, the head of Kyiv’s national security and defence council has warned, as the country braces for large-scale missile attacks on civilian infrastructure.
Blasts were heard over Kyiv on Wednesday as Ukraine accused Russia of launching its first missile attack on the capital since August and urged residents to take cover as air raid sirens blared in multiple regions.
But Ukraine security chief Andrii Kovalenko warned the the attacks on Wednesday – involving cruise and ballistic missiles – were less intense than those Moscow was equipped to carry out in the future, as it continues to stockpile cruise missiles.
Russia’s plans are known and understood, and Ukraine will counter, Mr Kovalenko insisted.
Earlier this week, air raid sirens sounded across Ukraine as Russia launched multiple bomber jets. However, the Kyiv Independent later reported that the flights appeared to have been military exercises.
At the time, Mr Kovalenko warned: “The Russians are ready for massive strikes. There are enough missiles, they are accumulated at strategic aviation airfields and continue to accumulate.
“Aviation is also ready. Rehearsing the tactics of simulated launches by the Russians is also part of maintaining the readiness of aviation for action.”
Future of global security is being decided in Ukraine, warns Kyiv’s foreign minister
The future of transatlantic and global security is now being decided in Ukraine, the country’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha has warned.
Speaking as he met US secretary of state Antony Blinken in Brussels, Mr Sybiha warned that the war in Ukraine was at a critical moment.
“Ukraine’s defence cannot be put on hold ... We need to speed up all critical decisions,” he said.
Germans don’t need to choose between prosperity and security, insists Scholz
German chancellor Olaf Scholz has urges parties in the Bundestag to pass measures in the time left before a snap election at the end of February – insisting that Germans do not need to make a choice between security and prosperity.
Speaking to parliament, Mr Scholz said there should be agreement on increasing child benefit and tackling fiscal drag. While Europe has a responsibility towards Ukraine, that aid money should not lead to cuts in pensions or care at home, said the chancellor.
“Let us work together for the good of the country until the new election,” he said.
ICYMI: The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary
It was a month into Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian forces had withdrawn from around Kyiv and in their wake Bel Trew and her team stumbled on a body by an abandoned Russian camp.
His hands were tied. He had been burned and shot in the back. Soldiers said he was a teenager.
As Bel tried to find out who he was and what had happened, she uncovered a nightmare world: a nation struggling to find thousands of its missing and to identify its dead.
The Body in the Woods by Bel Trew is streaming now on Independent TV and on your smart TV.
The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary
It was a month into Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Russian forces had withdrawn from around Kyiv and in their wake Bel Trew and her team stumbled on a body by an abandoned Russian camp. His hands were tied. He had been burned and shot in the back. Soldiers said he was a teenager. As Bel tried to find out who he was and what had happened, she uncovered a nightmare world: a nation struggling to find thousands of its missing and to identify its dead. The Body in the Woods by Bel Trew is streaming now on Independent TV and on your smart TV.
Ukraine claims Russia suffered 1,770 casualties in past 24 hours
Ukraine claims to have inflicted another day of near-record casualties upon Vladimir Putin’s forces, after claiming two consecutive record days earlier this week.
Kyiv’s military said Russia had suffered 1,770 losses over the past 24 hours, as well as the destruction of 24 tanks, 49 armoured vehicles and 56 artillery systems.
Russia claims control of settlement in Donetsk, state media reports
Russia’s defence ministry claims its forces have taken control of the settlement of Rivnopil in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti has reported.
It was not immediately possible to verify the claim. Russia frequently asserts control over areas it is yet to seize, however Moscow’s troops have been making steady – albeit grinding – gains in Ukraine’s east in recent months, at a cost of heavy losses.
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