Russia is recruiting for its new 44th Army Corps in an attempt to expand its armed forces but may have to send it to Ukraine to sustain operations, the U.K. Defense Ministry said on March 26.
The U.K. has announced a further 60 million pounds ($75.5 million) in military aid for Ukraine that will provide new surveillance drones and air defense systems, the U.K. Defense Ministry said on March 22.
According to the U.K. Defense Ministry's report, the cohort completed basic training and will move to advanced flying training provided by the French Air Force before learning to fly F-16 fighter jets.
U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps' scheduled visit to Odesa was canceled after U.K. intelligence officials informed him that Moscow was aware of his travel plans.
"Russia has no legitimate basis to hold elections on the sovereign Ukrainian territory of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Crimea. These areas are a part of Ukraine," the U.K. Foreign Office said on X.
Russia is believed to have jammed the satellite signal of a Royal Air Force aircraft used to transport U.K. Defence Minister Grant Shapps, a government source and journalists travelling with Shapps told Reuters on March 14.
Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said she was open to a deal in which London supplies Ukraine with additional Storm Shadow missiles in exchange for Germany backfilling British long-range missile stocks.
According to U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron, deploying foreign soldiers in Ukraine would create additional "targets" for Russia.
U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said on March 8 that the U.K. has "stepped up to do more than ever" and pushed for other Western allies to do the same.
The embassy did not specify what kind of threats they referred to, or who might be behind them. The U.K.'s Embassy in Russia also repeated the advisory issued by the U.S.
The U.K. will allocate 325 million pounds ($416 million) to purchase over 10,000 "cutting-edge" drones for Ukraine, the U.K. Defense Ministry announced on March 7.
Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the former commander-in-chief, has been approved by President Volodymyr Zelensky to be the next Ukrainian ambassador to the U.K., Ukraine's Foreign Ministry announced on March 7.
Key developments on March 6: * Russia attacks Odesa during visit of Greek PM with Zelensky, 5 killed * Cameron: London ready to loan Ukraine all frozen Russian assets in UK * Military intelligence: Attack on Russian Sergey Kotov vessel injures at least 27 * Kursk Oblast mining plant damaged in drone strike, Russia
The assets will be used as a surety for the payment of the reparations, U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron said.
Russia has likely stopped flying its A-50 early warning and control planes in support of operations in Ukraine after the downing of the second aircraft, the U.K. Defense Ministry said in its March 2 report.
The U.K. government has discreetly urged Berlin to supply Taurus long-range missiles to Ukraine, as Germany refuses to approve this critical capability, Bloomberg reported on March 1, citing undisclosed sources.
British MP Tobias Ellwood accused German Chancellor Olaf Scholz of a "flagrant abuse of intelligence" when he mentioned to journalists that the British and French support Ukraine with missile guidance, the Telegraph reported on Feb. 28.
Russian troops are likely looking for the right moment to benefit from "fewer, well-defended positions and urban areas from which Ukrainian forces can defend," the U.K. Defense Ministry reported in its Feb. 29 intelligence update.
Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 37, is the latest in a group of Bulgarian citizens suspected of espionage for Russia in the U.K.
U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron recently declared, "Ukraine’s security is our security.” As the front line between Russia and Ukraine becomes ever more static, Russia will continue to seek out ways to disrupt Ukraine’s flow of military aid and harm its partners. As one of the leading
King Charles III issued a statement in support of Ukraine to mark the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion, saying Ukraine is facing "indescribable aggression."
"Ukrainians are bravely defending their land against Russia’s brutal invasion, but the past two years of war have had a tragic impact on millions of people across Ukraine. Families have been separated, towns and villages decimated, and vital civilian infrastructure destroyed," said U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron in a written statement.
The U.S. and the U.K. are endorsing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to become the next NATO Secretary General, according to media reports on Feb. 22, which cited officials in Washington D.C. and London.
The missiles, which cost roughly 100,000 pounds ($126,000) apiece, can be air or ground-launched. They are laser-guided and are considered to be highly accurate, with particular effectiveness against moving targets such as tanks.
The package targets more than 50 individuals and companies that help support Russia's war machine by providing military equipment and revenue for the Russian state.
The U.K.'s sanctions will specifically target six individuals "responsible for the custody" of Navalny, ban them from traveling to the U.K., and have their assets frozen.
"Attempts to restore Russia's 1991 borders will lead only to one thing - a global war with Western countries with the use of our entire strategic (nuclear) arsenal against Kyiv, Berlin, London, and Washington. And against all other beautiful historic places that have long been included in the flight targets of our nuclear triad," Medvedev said in a reference to the triad of intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and strategic bombers with nuclear weapons.
Over 200,000 Ukrainians have migrated to the U.K. since March 2022, with the first visas set to expire in March 2025.
"We are forced to state that Russophobically charged British representatives do not shy away trying to discredit the constitutional system and socio-political processes in our country," Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The previous arrangement, which removed levies on all U.K.-Ukraine trade, was due to expire in March 2024 after being introduced in 2022 following Russia's attack on Ukraine. All tariffs on goods imported from Ukraine were reduced to zero, and all quotas were removed under the free trade agreement.
U.K. generals have criticized the hollowing out of the country's military in recent decades, pointing to a decrease of almost 30,000 service members from the standing army, including reservists, to a current total of 73,000 soldiers.
The sale of Chelsea FC generated 2.5 million pounds ($3.2 billion), which Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich said he would donate to Ukraine.
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