Putin’s spokesman says British Challenger tanks sent to war ‘will burn’ – follow live

The director of the Central Intelligence Agency traveled to Kyiv before the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine to inform Volodymyr Zelensky about Russian plans to assassinate him, my colleague reports. Andrew Feinberg,

In a forthcoming book, author Chris Whipple reports that at the same time Mr. Zelensky was publicly dismissing warnings from US officials that Moscow would soon launch its own land offensive, he received calls from CIA director Bill Burns about a threat to his life. Secret information was being received. ,

Dnieper was in mourning today after a Russian attack reportedly killed 40 civilians and wounded 75, including 14 children.

Reuters reported that a serviceman in uniform laid flowers and cried, clutching his head in grief, from an empty lot at a bus stop across the street from where the nine-story apartment block stood.

“We all live in buildings like this and we all imagine what would happen if this happened to us. It’s terrible,” 28-year-old Polina, a resident of the neighbourhood, told the news agency.

Russia claimed that it was not to blame for the destruction in Dnipro as it was caused by Ukrainian air defences. Kyiv says the apartment building was targeted by a Russian ship-to-ship missile, a type of missile that Ukraine does not have the ability to shoot.

The death toll from a Russian missile attack on the city of Dnipro rose to 40 today, with dozens missing, the deadliest civilian incident in Moscow’s three-month campaign to fire missiles at towns far from the border.

Officials gave little hope of finding anyone else alive in the rubble, but President Volodymyr Zelensky said rescue operations would continue “as long as there is even the slightest chance of saving lives”.

“Dozens of people, including six children, were rescued from the rubble. We’re fighting for every person,” Mr. Zelensky said in a televised address.

Speaking later in his nightly video address, Mr Zelensky said the Dnipro attack underscored the need to speed up decisions on arms supplies and “coordinate all efforts of the coalition defending Ukraine and its freedom”.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has spoken to his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and “confirmed his readiness to work together on persuading other countries to provide Western-type tanks to Ukraine”, the latter has said.

Mr Cleverly and Mr Wallace will meet with allies to discuss further military support for Kyiv.

Downing Street expresses confidence Ukraine will effectively use British tanks after Russia claims Challenger 2s will “burn up” on the battlefield, reports Sam Blewett,

Number 10 said there is “pile of evidence” which shows Volodymyr Zelensky’s troops have successfully used UK-supplied weapons and the Minsters sincerely expect they will continue.

You can read more about today’s events here:

First edition of the Ukrainian language copy of George Orwell Animal Farm is set to go on sale to raise money for a charity supporting refugees fleeing the Russian invasion, my colleague reports liam james,

The Ukrainian translation of the seminal satire of the Russian Revolution was the only one to feature a foreword from Orwell—written at the behest of its publisher, who felt the author had to introduce himself to the edition’s target audience of Ukrainians displaced by World War II. needed. ,

A 1947 copy of the book, also known as the “refugee camp edition”, is now due to be sold on a first come, first served basis by London antique bookshop Jarndis on 20 January for £1,850.

Germany and the Netherlands have condemned the deportation of thousands of Ukrainian children by Russians, calling it a deliberate policy of cruel and inhumane abductions that is tearing families apart.

“Russia must account for the whereabouts of these children,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Bierbock said at a joint press conference with her Dutch colleague Wopke Hoekstra in The Hague, according to the Associated Press.

“Their parents, families, carers should no longer be in uncertainty and fear. These children live with their families in Ukraine. These children did not voluntarily come out of the house. These children have been kidnapped.”

Ms Bierbock said German and Dutch ministers would work closely with organizations including the United Nations and the International Criminal Court on the issue.

“This deliberate Russian policy is tearing families apart and harming children,” Mr Hoekstra said. “It’s cruel and it’s inhumane. And let me be clear, children abducted by Russia must be returned to their countries as soon as possible.

Kyiv’s mayor has warned that Ukraine’s infrastructure could collapse at any moment as sporadic missile attacks from Russia as well as freezing winter temperatures have strained local authorities.

Vitali Klitschko and his brother Vladimir told Reuters that Ukraine’s Western allies must speed up the delivery of air defense systems capable of shooting down Russian missiles.

“We don’t talk about collapse, but it could happen … any moment [because] Russian rockets could destroy our critical infrastructure in Kyiv.

“It is very cold in Ukraine right now so it is almost impossible to live without electricity and heating. The situation is serious. We are fighting to survive,” he said on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.

Belarus’ exiled opposition leader has said she does not think Russia will launch an invasion of Ukraine from her country after the two nations began military exercises – but warned Moscow could launch more missile strikes from its ally’s territory.

Moscow and Minsk began joint military drills on Monday, sparking fears in Kyiv and the West that Moscow could use its ally to launch a new ground offensive in Ukraine.

Svetlana Tsikhanskaya told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos that she believes the threat to scare Belarusians about the possibility of war and President Alexander Lukashenko to avoid conflict Everything is practiced for the purpose of doing.

“The second objective is to intimidate Ukrainians, to distract them and to divert the attention of our troops from the eastern part of the country to the northern borders,” said Ms. Tsikanuskaya, who fled Belarus after the presidential election in 2020.

Britain’s surgeon general will visit Ukraine, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has said, to provide Ukrainian troops with mental health support to help counter a huge rise in suicides by former Tory leader Sir Ian Duncan Smith after a call.

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Wallace replied that the most senior uniformed medical officer in the British Armed Forces would soon visit Ukraine “to see what else we can do to help those individuals who are particularly acute”. suffer from mental health challenges”.

He added: “It is easy to forget that there are so many Ukrainians suffering after the conflict through suicide or indeed just ordinary individuals.

“The tragedy is in 10 months – people really get little immunity from what they see on TV and social media from violence and destruction of a staggering scale.”