Ukraine-Russia War Latest News: Putin ally says Russia is at war with UK and US, ‘not Kyiv’

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Sirens of air strikes have sounded in Ukraine despite Russia’s call for a ceasefire

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One of Vladimir Putin’s closest allies said Russia was “not at war with Ukraine” but was fighting Britain and the United States.

“The events in Ukraine are not a clash between Moscow and Kiev – it is a military confrontation between Russia and NATO, and above all the United States and Britain,” said Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council.

The former Soviet spy also told Argumenti i Fakti that Russia is “not at war with Ukraine” because Russians “cannot hate ordinary Ukrainians”.

His comments come as Putin’s defense minister pledged on Tuesday to build a deeper arsenal of weapons, boost aviation technology to better evade air defenses and improve production of drones after a series of battlefield humiliations in Ukraine.

Elsewhere, two British citizens who were helping to evacuate civilians in Ukraine are missing in the Donetsk region.

The two missing men have been identified in The Independent as Andrew Bagshaw, 48, and Christopher Barry, 28. There has been no contact with the couple since they left Kramatorsk at 8 a.m. on Friday.

Putin ally says: View latest update 1673349560 Russia is not at war with Ukraine, but it is fighting Britain and the United States

One of Vladimir Putin’s closest allies said Russia was “not at war with Ukraine” but was fighting Britain and the United States.

“The events in Ukraine are not a clash between Moscow and Kiev – it is a military confrontation between Russia and NATO, and above all the United States and Britain,” Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, told the Argumenti i Fakti newspaper.

He added that Russia “is not at war with Ukraine” because Russians “cannot hate ordinary Ukrainians”.

His comments come as Putin’s defense minister pledged on Tuesday to build a deeper arsenal of weapons, boost aviation technology to better evade air defenses and improve production of drones after a series of battlefield humiliations in Ukraine.

Maryam Zakir Hussain, January 10, 2023 11:19

1673349322 The Kremlin says the West responded with “cynicism” to the Christmas ceasefire

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Ukraine and the West responded with “cynicism” to the 36-hour ceasefire proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin for Orthodox Christmas.

“We met with a cynical reaction from Kyiv and a number of Western leaders,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters at a daily briefing.

Russia says the truce was announced for humanitarian purposes so that Orthodox Christians can celebrate Christmas, but Ukraine says Russian forces bombed dozens of positions and settlements along the front line on Saturday, when the truce was supposed to take effect.

Maryam Zakir Hussain, January 10, 2023 11:15

1673347522 Russia appoints a new Chief of Staff of the Ground Forces

On Tuesday, the Russian news agency TASS reported, citing sources close to the Ministry of Defense, that Russia has appointed Colonel General Alexander Lapin as chief of staff of the country’s ground forces.

Maryam Zakir Hussain, January 10, 2023 10:45

Italy says “technical problems” are delaying the supply of the air defense system to Ukraine

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Tuesday that Italy intends to provide Ukraine with a missile defense system to help protect it from Russian attacks, but that it must deal with technical issues before sending it.

Tajani was speaking after Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported on Monday that a decision on the supply of new weapons to Ukraine had been delayed until next month due to political tensions, cost considerations and equipment shortages.

Two weeks ago, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Rome was considering providing air defenses after a phone call with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in which she reaffirmed her government’s “full support” for Ukraine.

Shortly thereafter, Defense Minister Guido Crocito struck a cautious tone about whether Italy would be able to supply Ukraine with air defense systems like the Franco-Italian SAMP / T.

Tajani said Italy is working with the French to resolve issues before the SAMP/T is deployed.

“There are no brakes…but it takes time because there are technical problems to operate the equipment, and the military leadership is working on it,” he told Italian radio.

Citing unidentified sources, La Repubblica reported Monday that Meloni, a staunch supporter of Kiev, is facing resistance over approving a decree to send arms to Ukraine from her right-wing allies Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi.

Both politicians have longstanding ties to Moscow.

But sources from their two political parties – Salvini’s League and Berlusconi’s Forza Italia – denied on Monday there had been any problems with the decree.

Another issue hindering the decision, La Repubblica wrote, was concern about depriving the Italian army of air defense systems, as two of the five missile batteries are already committed to Kuwait and Slovakia.

Maryam Zakir Hussain, January 10, 2023 10:15

Patrushev, a Putin ally, says Russia is now fighting NATO in Ukraine

One of President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies said on Tuesday that Russia is now fighting the US-led NATO military coalition in Ukraine, and that the West is trying to tear Russia apart and eventually erase it from the world’s political map.

“The events in Ukraine are not a clash between Moscow and Kiev – it is a military confrontation between Russia and NATO, and above all the United States and Britain,” said the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev.

Patrushev told Argumenti i Fakti that “Westerners’ plans are to continue to dismember Russia, and eventually to erase it from the political map of the world.”

Patrushev, a former Soviet spy who has known Putin since the 1970s, is a hardline ally and is seen as one of the few people able to influence the Russian president.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 triggered one of Europe’s deadliest conflicts since World War II and the largest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

Maryam Zakir Hussein, January 10, 2023 09:45

A Russian warship conducts maneuvers in the Norwegian Sea

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that a Russian warship armed with hypersonic cruise weapons had conducted exercises in the Norwegian Sea.

The “crew of the frigate” Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov “conducted air defense exercises in the Norwegian Sea,” the ministry said.

“The crew … conducted an exercise to repel simulated enemy air attack means in the Norwegian Sea.”

Last week, President Vladimir Putin sent the frigate into the Atlantic Ocean armed with a new generation of hypersonic cruise missiles, signaling to the West that Russia would not back down from the war in Ukraine.

The frigate is armed with Zircon missiles, which Russia says travel at nine times the speed of sound and have a range of more than 1,000 km (620 miles).

Russia sees the weapons as a way to penetrate the increasingly sophisticated US missile defenses, which Putin has warned could one day shoot down Russian nuclear missiles.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev

The United States warned last week that hypersonic missiles will soon approach NATO shores.

Maryam Zakir Hussain, January 10, 2023 09:15

Two British nationals have disappeared in Ukraine after helping to evacuate civilians

Two British citizens helping to evacuate civilians in Ukraine are missing in the Donetsk region.

The two men, aged 28 and 48, were last seen on January 6 heading to the town of Solidar, where fighting has been particularly intense in recent days. There has been no contact with the pair since they left Kramatorsk at 8 a.m. on Friday.

The two missing men have been identified to The Independent as Andrew Bagshaw, 48, and Christopher Barry, 28.

A Ukrainian friend and former roommate of Mr. Barry’s in eastern Ukraine said the couple got a call to help evacuate civilians on Friday.

Reporting by Bill Trew and Emily Atkinson:

Maryam Zakir Hussein, January 10, 2023 08:45

Thousands of Ukrainian refugees live in hotels as councils struggle to deal with rising rates of homelessness

Thousands of Ukrainian refugees are being housed in hotels as councils struggle to cope with the growing number made homeless.

Almost 3,000 Ukrainian families have presented themselves as homeless to English councils since the end of February 2022.

With private rent becoming ‘anything but impossible’ and social housing limited availability, many councils have had no choice but to put them into temporary housing when their houses collapse in Ukraine or look after a family.

The councils said the “growing number” of Ukrainians who came forward as homeless was putting pressure on local services.

Social affairs correspondent Holly Bancroft reports:

Maryam Zakir Hussein, January 10, 2023 08:18

Russia’s Gazprom intends to ship 35 million cubic meters of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Tuesday

Russia’s Gazprom said it would ship 35.5 million cubic meters of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Tuesday, a volume broadly in line with those of recent days.

(AP)

Maryam Zakir Hussain, January 10, 2023 07:50

1673334900 The United States says Iran may be “contributing” to war crimes in Ukraine

The Biden administration said Monday that Iran’s sale of deadly drones to Russia for use in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine means the country may be “contributing to large-scale war crimes.”

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan leveled the accusation at Iran on Monday while speaking to reporters accompanying President Joe Biden on a trip to Mexico. While it does not indicate a shift in policy, the accusation marks some of the harshest US statements against Iran since it began providing weapons to Russia in support of its nearly year-old war in Ukraine. It comes as American and European partners look to ostracize both countries in the court of public opinion, as they face challenges in halting arms transfers that Russia is increasingly dependent on.

Sullivan said that Iran has chosen “to go down a path in which its weapons are used to kill civilians in Ukraine and try to plunge cities into cold and darkness, which in our view puts Iran in a place where it could be contributing to large-scale war crimes.”

Eleanor Noyce Jan 10, 2023 07:15

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