Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin’s forces fire intercontinental ballistic missile for first time, Kyiv claims
Russia claims to have shot down two British long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles
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Your support makes all the difference.Russia has fired an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time, Kyiv has claimed as two British-made Storm Shadow missiles are shot down in Russian airspace.
Russia had threatened to strike Kyiv with a “massive” new missile in retaliation for Ukraine using Western weapons.
The Russian military could be readying to launch RS-26 Rubezh missile, an intermediate ground-based missile which has not been deployed in the Ukraine war before from a site in the city of Astrakhan by the Caspian Sea, reported a Moscow-based newspaper Moskovky Komsomolets.
This comes as Russian air defences shot down two British Storm Shadow cruise missiles, Russia’s defence ministry said as momentum builds in the West’s military support for Kyiv’s war effort.
The British-made missile – which Kyiv has been lobbying to use beyond Russia’s borders for months – was fired at Russia on Wednesday, with images published by Russian military bloggers purporting to show Storm Shadow fragments in Russia’s Kursk region, beyond Ukraine’s northeastern border.
Now Ukraine fires British missiles at Russia for first time as UK ‘doubles down’ on support for Kyiv
The US is sending antipersonnel land mines to Ukraine. Here's what it means
US shuts Kyiv embassy over fears of ‘significant air attack’
What is the Storm Shadow cruise missile? Ukraine hits Russia with British weapon for first time
Zelensky visits injured Ukrainian soldiers to award them with state honours
Putin’s foreign minister’s chilling warning to West after Ukraine fired US-made missiles into Russia
Vladimir Putin’s foreign minister issued a chilling warning after Ukraine launched US-made missiles over the border on Tuesday, my colleague Holly Patrick reports.
On the sidelines of the G20 summit, Sergei Lavrov said: “If long-range missiles are going to be applied from Ukraine into Russian territory, it will also mean that they are operated by American military experts and we will be taking this as a qualitatively new phase of the Western war against Russia and will react accordingly.”
Scrapping of former Royal Navy flagships ‘shows just how tight resources are in MoD’, says analyst
The UK government’s decision to axe two former Royal Navy flagships, a frigate and 14 Chinook helicopters shows “just how tight resources must be” in the Ministry of Defence, an analyst has said.
Matthew Savill, military sciences director at RUSI, the world’s oldest defence think-tank, said: "These are mostly capabilities that are approaching retirement anyway, have been at low levels of readiness or aren’t worth further refits or investment.
“But the fact that Defence either can’t crew them, or is prepared to cut them to make very modest savings over five years in the current international environment is an indication of just how tight resources must be in the MOD right now.
“In particular, the Defence Review will be under pressure to set out the future role of the Royal Marines; how the Navy will bring into service and sustain more escorts, which are the workhorses of the fleet; and the impact upon helicopter capacity and procurement.”
Exclusive: Japan nuclear bomb survivor warns Putin he has no idea destruction they cause
A survivor of the atomic bomb attack on Japan’s Nagasaki during the Second World War has warned Vladimir Putin that he has no idea of the destruction and pain such weapons cause as he threatens the West with the prospect of nuclear war.
Terumi Tanaka, one of a diminishing number of survivors of the US attacks on Japan in 1945, said the use of nuclear weapons would spell “the end of the human race” and that leaders like Mr Putin “don’t realise the extent of the damage that can be done”.
Mr Tanaka’s warning, made during a sit-down interview with The Independent in campaign group Nihon Hidankyo’s small but bustling Tokyo office, came at a time of escalating nuclear sabre-rattling from the Russian leadership.
Mr Tanaka, 92, said civilisation as we know it faces an “imminent danger” and a nuclear war appears to be “not far away”, adding: “I’m very scared about it.”
The Independent’s Asia editor Adam Withnall has the full exclusive report:
Japan nuclear bomb survivor warns Putin he has no idea destruction they cause
Exclusive: Terumi Tanaka, co-chair of a group representing survivors of the US atomic bomb attacks in 1945 which was awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, tells Adam Withnall in Tokyo that civilisation as we know it is in imminent danger as Russia ramps up its sabre-rattling against the West over the invasion of Ukraine
Voices | Nobody can stop the juggernaut of war – not even Putin
In this opinion piece for Independent Voices, historian and author Mark Almond writes:
The announcement that the US embassy in Kyiv – and some EU embassies – are shutting for fear of Russian airstrikes adds to the mood of growing crisis over Ukraine.
If the Kremlin was to deliberately target foreign embassies in Ukraine, it would be a huge breach in the taboos protecting diplomatic installations even in wartime. Diplomatic immunity is not the only taboo that could fall.
More immediately and widely effective is Washington’s decision to send anti-personnel landmines to Ukraine to slow Russia’s slow but steady advances across the front in eastern Ukraine.
One thing the US has in common with Russia – not to mention China and the world’s “pariah” regimes like Iran, or states without functioning governments like Libya – is its refusal to join the 1997 anti-personnel landmine treaty. The treaty bans their use by most of the world, including the UK and America’s European allies and even Ukraine itself.
Russia, of course, broke the taboo against aggression – in force since Nuremberg in 1945 – by invading Ukraine in the first place. But if Kyiv reneges on its treaty obligation – arguing military necessity – it will be another nail in the coffin of well-meaning attempts to limit the horrors of war.
What is the next shibboleth to fall? How long before WMD become battlefield necessities justified by the actual state of the war on the ground?
Nobody can stop the juggernaut of war – not even Putin
Forget Donald Trump’s ‘secret’ peace deal and internal Washington politics, let alone the Kremlin’s machinations – the war in Ukraine has taken on its own destructive dynamic, warns Mark Almond
Czech military to buy 14 Leopard tanks from Germany in a $167m deal
The Czech defence ministry has announced plans to buy 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks from Germany in a $167m deal, as the country seeks to modernise its military following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The ministry said it hoped the deal would be signed with Germany’s Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH by the end of the year, with the tanks to be delivered by the end of 2026.
Germany has already donated 28 Leopard 2A4 tanks to the Czechs in exchange for the weapons they gave to Ukraine. The Leopards will replace the obsolete Soviet-era T-72 tanks.
The Czech military to buy 14 Leopard tanks from Germany in a $167 million deal
The Czech Defense Ministry says it's planning to buy 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks from Germany in a deal worth about $167 million
US defends approving landmines for Kyiv after Amnesty International and Norway condemn move
Amnesty International has condemned Washington’s decision to supply Ukraine with anti-personnel mines as “reckless” and a “deeply disappointing setback”.
Norway’s foreign minister, Espen Barth Eide, called it “very problematic” because Ukraine is a signatory to an international convention opposing the use of land mines.
However, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin argued that Ukraine already makes its own ant-personnel mines, and that the US has been providing Ukraine with anti-tank mines. He said the new mines the US is giving Kyiv are not persistent, meaning troops can control when they would self-detonate.
“That makes it far more safer eventually than the things that they are creating on their own,” Mr Austin said.
The mines are are electrically fused and powered by batteries so that when the battery runs out, they won’t detonate. They can become inert in anywhere from four hours to two weeks.
Full report: UK ministers scrap warships, helicopters, and drones in £500m defence cuts
The defence secretary has announced emergency cuts to the UK military including the Royal Navy’s two amphibious assault ships, a frigate and 31 helicopters.
John Healy has blamed the disputed £22bn black hole left in the finances by the Tories. However, the Conservatives have warned that the cuts have come because Labour refuses to spend 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence.
Mr Healey told MPs that Labour had “a dire inheritance” from the Tories in defence so needed to scrap six “outdated” defence projects which will save £500m over the next five years.
“We have begun to fix the foundations going forward,” he added. “For too long our soldiers, sailors and air staff have been stuck with using outdated equipment.”
The emergency statement caught MPs by surprise on Wednesday and has left doubts over whether the UK could take back the Falklands if they were invaded again.
Our political editor David Maddox has the full report:
Ministers scrap warships, helicopters, and drones in £500m defence cuts
Defence secretary John Healey cancels six ‘outdated’ defence projects
When did Britain first send Ukraine Storm Shadow missiles?
The UK first confirmed it would supply Ukraine with Storm Shadow missiles in May last year, for use on Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine.
Then defence secretary Ben Wallace had touted that the weapons would give Ukraine the “best chance” of defending itself.
Ukraine has deployed Storm Shadow missiles on several occasions during the war. In June last year, the then-defence secretary Ben Wallace told parliament that the missiles were already having a “significant impact on the battlefield”.
Storm Shadow missiles have also been used by British and French air forces in the Gulf, Iraq and Libya.
What is the Storm Shadow cruise missile?
Storm Shadow is an Anglo-French cruise missile with a maximum range of around 155 miles (250km). The French call it Scalp.
After launch, the weapon, equipped with its navigation system, descends to a low altitude to avoid detection before locking on to its target using an infra-red seeker. On the final approach, the missile climbs to a higher altitude to maximise the chances of hitting the target.
On impact, it penetrates the target before a delayed fuse detonates the main warhead. Powered by a turbo-jet engine, the 1,300kg Storm Shadow travels at speeds of more than 600mph, is just over five metres long and has a wingspan of three metres.
My colleagues Arpan Rai and Rachel Hagan have more details in this report:
What is the Storm Shadow missile? Ukraine hits Russia with British weapon
The missile carries a range of around 155 miles and is designed to evade detection despite flying low after being launched
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