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
Labour MP says he hopes Storm Shadow missiles ‘can take the fight to the Russians'
Labour MP Alex Ballinger, who previously served with the Royal Marines, said he hopes the Storm Shadow missiles can “take the fight to the Russians”.
The MP for Halesowen said it is “completely right to say that defence of the UK starts in Ukraine”, telling the Commons: “It is excellent to hear about the military support that we are providing to Ukraine, including the Storm Shadow missiles that we are hearing about in the media at the moment.
“I trained on those weapons and I hope that they can really take the fight to the Russians.”
Russian chess grandmaster rejects claims Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons is an escalation
Russian chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov has rejected suggestions that Ukraine using long-range missiles to hit targets in Russia is an escalation of the war.
Mr Kasparov said: “Russia has been bombarding Ukraine with missiles and drones every day for years. Years! Entire cities erased, tens of thousands of civilians killed.
“Don't treat it like escalation when Ukraine is allowed to strike back at military targets in the aggressor's territory.”
UK defence secretary says Britain ‘doubling down on support for Ukraine'
Addressing the Commons after a point of order was raised over reports of Storm Shadow missiles being used by Ukraine to strike Kursk, Labour’s defence secretary John Healey did not deny that the missiles had been used, saying he could not “go into any further operational details.”
But he noted: "We as a nation and government are doubling down on our support for Ukraine" and that “Ukraine’s action on the battlefield speaks for itself”.
Russian intelligence chief warns Russia will retaliate against Nato nations enabling Kyiv strikes
In an interview published on Wednesday, Russian foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin said that Moscow would retaliate against Nato countries that facilitate long-range Ukrainian missile strikes, as Kyiv used British Storm Shadow missiles in Kursk.
Sergei Lavrov, Russian foreign minister, said previously that long-range missiles to be fired into Russian territory “operated by American military experts” would be taken as a “new phase of the Western war against Russia and will react accordingly”, he said.
Full report: Ukraine fires British missiles at Russia for first time
Ukraine has fired British long-range Storm Shadow missiles into Russia territory for the first time, The Independent understands, the latest sign of a change in stance from Western countries on involvement in the conflict.
Images circulating online appear to show fragments of Storm Shadow missiles in Russia’s Kursk region – the border area into which Ukrainian forces staged a surprise assault in August, taking a swathe of territory they still hold.
Approval for use of the weapons is believed to have been given in response to the deployment of more than 10,000 North Korean troops in Kursk alongside Russian troops in what UK and US officials have warned was a major escalation of the war.
David Maddox and Alex Croft have the full report:
Now Ukraine fires British missiles at Russia for first time
Russians share photographs of exploded fragments showing markings of UK-made Storm Shadow weapons
Trump picks Matthew Whitaker as nominee for Nato ambassador
Donald Trump has chosen loyalist and former acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker as his nominee for the post of US ambassador to Nato, amid fears the US president-elect could choose to abandon the Western military alliance.
“Matt is a strong warrior and loyal Patriot, who will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended. Matt will strengthen relationships with our Nato Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability – He will put AMERICA FIRST,” Mr Trump said.
Mr Whitaker has been actively involved with the right-wing America First Policy Institute, which has been working closely with the Trump campaign to shape policy for his second term.
US expects embassy in Ukraine to reopen on Thursday, State Dept says
The United States expects its embassy in Kyiv to return to normal operations on Thursday after a security threat, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has said.
The embassy was closed on Wednesday and embassy employees were instructed to shelter in place, a day after Ukraine used American missiles to hit a target inside Russia in what Moscow described as an escalation in the war.
At least 200 jailed in Belarus over pro-Ukraine stance, warns human rights group
At least 200 Belarusians have been given prison sentences and hundreds more arrested for showing solidarity with Ukraine, human rights activists have warned, amid a sweeping crackdown by authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who is a key ally of Vladimir Putin.
At least 1,671 Belarusians have so far been detained for their anti-war stance or for expressing solidarity with Ukraine, and at least 200 of them have been given prison sentences ranging from one to 25 years on charges of “extremism” and “conspiracy against the state”, according to the group Viasna.
In addition to the arrests, convictions and prison sentences, the report alleged that people were tortured, held in inhumane conditions and given fines, with some subjected to forced psychiatric treatment.
Viasna warned that the crackdown has escalated in recent weeks, with hundreds arrested in raids targeting relatives and friends of political prisoners and participants in online chats organised by residents of apartment buildings in various cities.
At the same time, Mr Lukashenko has pardoned some political prisoners in an apparent signal that he is open for dialogue with the US and the European Union, which imposed sanctions because of his crackdowns on dissent.
Mr Lukashenko’s office announced on Wednesday that another group of 32 political prisoners have been freed, adding to the 146 who were pardoned since July. Those freed had health problems, wrote petitions for pardons and said they repented.
“There have been contradictory signals from the government, with repressions intensifying, and at the same time small numbers of little-known people granted pardon,” said Viasna’s Pavel Sapelka.
US defence secretary sets out reasoning for U-turn on anti-personnel landmines in Ukraine
Speaking to reporters during a trip to Laos, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington’s shift in policy to allow Ukraine to deploy US-supplied anti-personnel landmines follows changing tactics by the Russians.
He said Russian ground troops are leading the movement on the battlefield, rather than forces more protected in armoured carriers, so Ukraine has “a need for things that can help slow down that effort on the part of the Russians”.
Mr Austin added: “The land mines that we would look to provide them would be land mines that are not persistent, you know, we can control when they would self-activate, self-detonate and that makes it, you know, far more, safer eventually than the things that they are creating on their own.”
Anti-personnel land mines have long been criticised by charities and activists because they present a lingering threat to civilians. Non-persistent land mines generally require batteries, so over time they become unable to detonate, making them safer for innocent civilians than those that remain deadly for years.
Mr Austin noted that Ukraine is currently manufacturing its own anti-personnel land mines. The US already provides Ukraine with anti-tank land mines. Russia has routinely used land mines in the war, but those do not become inert over time.
Irish embassy staff in Ukraine told to work from home as tensions escalate
Staff at the Irish embassy in Ukraine have been told to work from home as tensions continue to escalate – after the US shut its Kyiv embassy because of a “potential significant air attack” by Russia.
Irish premier and defence minister Micheal Martin said that “for the purpose of precaution”, Ireland’s embassy staff are working from home and not in the embassy building in Kyiv.
“That follows consultations between different embassies across Ukraine at the moment, but there’s no plans of withdrawing staff from the embassy,” Mr Martin said.
“This is an abundance of caution here, but obviously the situation is escalated, and we believe Russia should stop this war. The amount of carnage in this war hasn’t got the proper headlines, but it’s absolutely unacceptable.
“I spoke to somebody who came back working with an NGO yesterday. He said to me that the level of fatalities of young soldiers on both sides is enormous, and it’s just an appalling lack of any moral compass that leaders can preside and President Putin can preside over such carnage and it should stop.”
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