• LIVE REPORTING

Tim Sigsworth

17 January 2024

The European Union has rebuked Germany for unilaterally pledging £6 billion ($7.6billion) in aid to Ukraine.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz made the promise on Tuesday and said the funds would go towards military and humanitarian aid.

But Thierry Breton, the EU’s internal market commissioner, condemned the move because it will not go through the bloc’s multilateral mechanisms.

“Today we see that Germany is trying to go solo, it hasn’t fooled anyone, and in particular it is trying to stop supporting the European Peace Facility,” he said.

The spat came as Emmanuel Macron announced France would sign a bilateral security agreement with Ukraine in February and supply Storm Shadow missiles and “several hundred” bombs.

Germany has repeatedly urged other European countries to step up their support for Ukraine in recent weeks.

“The planned weapons deliveries to Ukraine of most EU member states are not enough,” Mr Scholz said on January 9.

ISW: Putin may be preparing for attack on Baltics

Vladimir Putin may be preparing for an invasion of the Baltic states, according to a prominent think tank, after claiming they were expelling ethnic Russians.

The move by Latvia and other countries “directly affects” Russian security, he added, according to the  Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

In fact, Latvia has said Russian citizens needed to follow the general procedure for obtaining EU permanent residence status by November 2023.

The ISW said there were no indications of an imminent Russian attack, but added: “Putin may be setting information conditions for future aggressive Russian actions abroad under the pretext of protecting its “compatriots.”

Russia imports £2.3bn in Western components despite sanctions

Russia imported £2.3billion ($2.9billion) in components from Western companies in the first 10 months of 2023 despite sanctions.

“The products of more than 250 Western companies were found in samples of destroyed or captured Russian weapons,” the Volodymyr Zelensky’s office said in a statement.

The figures follow research by a working group led by Andriy Yermak, Mr Zelensky’s chief of staff, and Michael McFaul, the former US ambassador to Russia.

‘Unknown’ Russian partisans sabotage railways

Railway tracks in three Russian regions have been blown up by “unknown” partisans, Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) has said.

The sabotage attacks in Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod and Saratov oblasts – to the north, east and south-east of Moscow respectively – “paralysed” lines being used in military logistics.

“Unknown opponents of Putin’s regime once again burned several relay cabinets on the railway,” the HUR said.

A number of other incidents on Russia’s railways have been linked to Ukrainian intelligence in recent months.

Cameron to meet Kuleba at Davos

Lord Cameron will meet Dmytro Kuleba at Davos to re-iterate Britain’s support for Ukraine.

“In my discussion with foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, I will make clear the UK will continue to be a steadfast supporter of Ukraine, so it not only wins the war, but emerges from it as a strong, sovereign and free country,” Lord Cameron said.

“Ukraine is standing up for the rules that keep us all safe. This is why the UK has provided almost £12billion in support to Ukraine. We will stand with them for as long as it takes to achieve victory.”

Britain’s foreign secretary will also meet United States secretary of state Antony Blinken and Bill Gates.

Kremlin developing relations with North Korea in ‘sensitive areas’

Russia is developing its relations with North Korea in all areas including those which are “sensitive”, the Kremlin has said.

“The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is our very important partner, and we are focused on the further development of our relations in all areas, including in sensitive areas,” spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters..

North Korea’s foreign minister lauded its ties with Russia on Tuesday and then held rare talks in the Kremlin with Vladimir Putin.

Putin has also been invited by Kim Jong Un to visit North Korea.

West needs to be patient, says Kuleba

The West needs to be patient and maintain its support for Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba has said.

“We are fighting a powerful enemy, a very big enemy that doesn’t sleep,” the foreign minister said in an address to the World Economic Forum at Davos.

“It takes time.

“We defeated them on the land in 2022. We defeated them in the sea in 2023 and we are completely focused on defeating them in the air in 2024.

In pictures: Kharkiv missile damage

9:11AM

Protestors detained by Russian police after activist jailed

Protestors have been detained by Russian police after an activist was sentenced to four years in a penal colony.

Fail Alsynov was found guilty of inciting ethnic hatred after he was accused of insulting migrant workers in a protest speech against gold mining in Bashkorstan, a region near the Ural Mountains.

His supporters argue that the case against him is retribution for his role in protests that blocked proposals for a soda mine.

Police with riot shields were deployed after hundreds gathered to protest the sentence at the court in Baymak, a town 860 miles east of Moscow.

Mr Alsynov was the leader of Bashkort, a movement which sought to protect the region’s culture, language and ethnic identity. It was banned as an extremist organisation in 2020.

Russian air operations over Sea of Azov decrease after A-50 downed

Russian air force operations over the Sea of Azov have decreased in the days after an A-50 spy plane and Il-22 airborne command centre were shot down.

Col Yuriy Ihnat, the Ukrainian air force spokesman, said Russia’s tactical aviation presence over the region was lower “than ever before”.

He said the two aircraft enabled Russia to detect air targets at a range of 372 miles (600km) and transmit that to commanders in real time.

The attacks are not expected to reduce the intensity of Russian missile and drone strikes because these are co-ordinated on the ground.

EU ‘confident’ Ukraine aid package will be agreed in weeks

The European Union is “confident” that its £43 billion ($54 billion) aid package will be approved “within a couple of weeks”, it has been reported.

Politico cited EU sources who said Hungary is ready for a compromise after vetoing the four-year aid plan in December.

“It is highly unlikely that EU countries will take a decision that will give Hungary the opportunity to permanently blackmail,” one European diplomat stressed while adding that some concessions will be made to Viktor Orban.

The report said officials are considering including the option to revise the funding in 2025 after Hungary demanded that the aid be reviewed every year.

Ukraine attacks Belgorod

Ukraine attacked the Russian border region of Belgorod with 11 missiles and six drones overnight, Moscow’s defence ministry has said.

The ministry claimed it had shot down all of them at 3am on Wednesday morning.

Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said there were no casualties and that a number of residential buildings were damaged.

Russian missiles kill one and wound 17 in Kharkiv

A Russian S-300 missile in the centre of Kharkiv killed one and injured 17 on Tuesday night.

The attack on Ukraine’s second largest city left two women seriously injured and badly damaged at least 19 buildings.

Ukraine’s Emergency Services, writing on Telegram, said one of the missiles had hit a three-storey building that had previously housed a clinic.

Volodymyr Tymoshko, the regional police chief, told public broadcaster Suspilne that one of the missiles had hit a road.

Macron to sign security pact with Kyiv

Emmanuel Macron will sign a bilateral security pact with Ukraine during a visit to Kyiv in February.

The French president said the deal is still being finalised but aims to “continue to help Ukraine to hold the front line and protect its skies”.

Mr Macron also announced that France would deliver 40 Scalp missiles – known in Britain as the Storm Shadow – and “several hundred” bombs in the coming weeks.

Coalition to arm Ukraine with thousands of drones

A coalition of Western countries will arm Ukraine with “thousands” of drones.

Latvia is leading the effort and defence minister Andris Spruds said on Tuesday that 20 countries have now signed up.

“The main goal is to do everything possible to ensure that as many of these drones as possible are also delivered to Ukraine,” he said.

It is not clear when the drones – which have become crucial in the war in Ukraine – will be delivered.

Ukraine shoots down 19 Russian drones overnight

Ukraine shot down 19 drones launched by Russia overnight.

Three people were injured in the southern city of Odesa and 130 evacuated from their homes when debris from the Shahed UAVs damaged homes, cars and a gas pipe.

“The kamikaze drones entered at a critically low altitude from the Black Sea,” the armed forces’ southern command said in a statement.