Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said Europe acted “a little too late” to stop Russia from invading Ukraine, claiming countries should have sanctioned Moscow and blocked the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline earlier.
Speaking in a video posted on Facebook, Mr Zelensky said he was “grateful” the sanctions had been imposed, but they could have been preventative if applied sooner.
“You applied sanctions. We are grateful. These are powerful steps but it was a little late,” he said.
“If it had been preventative, Russia would not have gone to war.
“You blocked Nord Stream 2. We are grateful to you. And rightly so. But it was also a little late. Because if it had been in time, Russia would not have created a gas crisis. At least there was a chance.”
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07:37 AM
Chemical weapons by Russia should be ‘met in kind’, Labour says
Labour’s shadow foreign secretary has doubled down on comments from the US president about any use of chemical weapons by Russia, saying this would be an escalation and should be “met in kind”.
David Lammy told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Absolutely it’s the case that the use of chemical weapons would be an escalation and it should be met in kind.”
He added: “It’s important not to speculate about that escalation and what the response would be.
“I don’t want to signal that to Vladimir Putin but I think that it’s right that the scenario that is now going on both in the White House and in the Ministry of Defence is prepared for that act.”
07:36 AM
UK to double its troops in Eastern Europe as Nato strengthens defences
Britain will double its troops in Eastern Europe and send a new deployment to Bulgaria, after Nato leaders on Thursday agreed to strengthen the alliance’s eastern flank against Russian aggression.
The alliance signed off on the formation of four new battlegroups of between 1,000 and 1,500 troops, up to 6,000 soldiers, at an emergency summit in Brussels on the war in Ukraine.
They will join the 40,000 troops under its direct command in Europe, which was already nearly 10 times the number it had a few months ago before Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
“We’re bolstering our support for the Nato countries on the front line by sending a new deployment of UK troops to Bulgaria on top of doubling our troops both in Poland and in Estonia,” Boris Johnson said.
“This is just the beginning. We must support a free and democratic Ukraine in the long term,” the Prime Minister added.
07:17 AM
Russia fires missiles at Ukraine military unit
Russian forces fired two missiles late on Thursday at a Ukrainian military unit on the outskirts of Dnipro, the fourth-largest city in the country, regional emergency services said.
The strikes destroyed buildings and set off two fires, it said, while the number of those killed and wounded was still being established.
Dnipro is west of the regions along the Russian border that have been controlled by Russian-backed separatists since 2014.
06:58 AM
Ukrainian forces are re-occupying towns: MoD
The UK’s Ministry of Defence says Ukraine has re-occupied towns and defensive positions up to 35 kilometres east of Kyiv:
06:05 AM
‘Whole cities, villages turned to ashes’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has provided an update on some of the horrors that have unfolded amid Russia’s relentless invasion of Ukraine.
In his speech on Friday, the President said Russian missiles and tanks had already destroyed more than 230 schools and 155 kindergartens, and killed 128 children.
“Whole cities, villages. Just to ashes. Nothing remains,” he said.
05:47 AM
West denounces Russian ‘barbarism’ as Ukrainians seek shelter
Western leaders have denounced Moscow’s invasion of its neighbour as “barbarism” as thousands in besieged cities sheltered underground from Russian bombardment.
At an unprecedented triple summit in Brussels, the transatlantic alliance Nato, G7 rich nations and European leaders piled on military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, said Vladimir Putin had “already crossed the red line into barbarism”.
US President Joe Biden said of the Russian president: “The single most important thing is for us to stay unified and the world continue to focus on what a brute this guy is and all the innocent people’s lives that are being lost and ruined.”
Responding to Thursday’s show of unity in Brussels, Moscow said the West had itself to blame for the war by arming the “Kyiv regime”.
05:32 AM
Moscow accused of forcibly removing hundreds of thousands of civilians
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have been taken against their will into Russia as Moscow pressures Kyiv to give up.
Ukraine’s ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova said 402,000 people, including 84,000 children, had been forcibly removed from shattered Ukrainian cities.
Some civilians may be used as “hostages” in a push to make Kyiv surrender.
05:10 AM
Western sanctions won’t sway Kremlin, Russian ex-president says
Russian ex-president and deputy head of security council Dmitry Medvedev said it was “foolish” to believe that Western sanctions issued against Russian businesses could have any effect on the Moscow government.
Mr Medvedev on Friday told Russia’s RIA news agency the sanctions would only bring Russian society together, rather than cause widespread discontent with authorities.
“Let us ask ourselves: can any of these major businessmen have even the tiniest quantum of influence of the position of the country’s leadership?” Mr Medvedev said.
“I openly tell you: no, no way.”
The West has not hesitated to slap an array of sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, as the Kremlin refuses to back down.
04:09 AM
‘We are getting closer to victory’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of hope and determination in his night-time video address to the nation late on Thursday.
“It is already night. But we are working,” he said in a quiet voice.
“The country must move toward peace, move forward. With every day of our defence, we are getting closer to the peace that we need so much. We are getting closer to victory.
“We can’t stop even for a minute. For every minute determines our fate, our future, whether we will live.”
He reported on his conversations earlier in the day with leaders of Nato and European Union countries gathered in Brussels, and their promises of even more sanctions on Russia.
“We need to look for peace,” Mr Zelensky said. “Russia also needs to look for peace.”
03:20 AM
‘We will find every Russian soldier who commits war crimes’
Russia’s shelling has been relentless but its armoured columns have barely moved in weeks, stalled near the capital Kyiv.
Ukraine says Russian forces have taken heavy casualties and are low on supplies, and US officials told Reuters that Russia is suffering failure rates as high as 60pc for some of its precision-guided missiles.
With stocks of precision-guided munitions running low, Russian forces were more likely to rely on unguided bombs and artillery, Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Colin Kahl said.
The United States accused Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine, allegations Russia denies.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Russian forces had tortured Ukrainian prisoners.
“We will find every Russian soldier who commits war crimes, along with their accomplices … do not think that your surnames are unknown to us. No one will be able to escape punishment,” Ms Vereshchuk said.
02:58 AM
Fears Ukrainian refugees will be ‘hostages’
Ukraine has accused Moscow of forcibly taking hundreds of thousands of civilians from shattered Ukrainian cities to Russia, where some may be used as “hostages” to pressure Kyiv to give up.
Lyudmyla Denisova, Ukraine’s ombudsperson, said 402,000 people, including 84,000 children, had been taken to Russia.
The Kremlin gave nearly identical numbers for those who have been relocated, but said they wanted to go to Russia.
Ukraine’s rebel-controlled eastern regions are predominantly Russian-speaking, and many people there have supported close ties to Moscow.
02:18 AM
‘Real’ threat of chemical weapons
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says there is a “real” threat that Moscow will use chemical weapons in Ukraine, accusing Russia of having already used phosphorus bombs against civilians in the country.
The governor of the Lugansk region says phosphorus bombs were used in one village hit in overnight strikes on eastern Ukraine that killed at least four people, including two children.
Britain’s ITV network broadcast footage of phosphorus bombs dropping overnight on the flashpoint town of Irpin near Kyiv.
02:02 AM
Brexit and Ukrainian resistance are not the same, says Boris
Boris Johnson has said he “totally agrees” that Brexit and the Ukrainian resistance to the Russian invasion are not the same.
The Prime Minister has come under criticism for comments where he appeared to compare the UK voting to leave the EU, with the Ukrainian fight against Russia.
Speaking at the Conservative Party spring forum at the weekend, he said it was the “instinct of the people of this country, like the people of Ukraine, to choose freedom”, with the Brexit vote a “famous recent example”.
But speaking to BBC’s Newsnight programme on Thursday, he said: “That was not an analogy that I was making. I’m afraid that was wildly misconstrued.
“I said, I think in the same passage, that there’s been nothing like what we’re seeing in Ukraine since 1945 and it is a horror, and it can’t be compared to anything since 1945.”
01:38 AM
Nato would respond ‘in kind’ if Putin resorted to chemicals
Western leaders spent Thursday crafting the next steps to counter Russia’s month-old invasion – and huddling over how they might respond should Vladimir Putin deploy chemical, biological or even a nuclear weapon.
Joe Biden warned that a chemical attack by Russia “would trigger a response in kind”.
“You’re asking whether Nato would cross. We’d make that decision at the time,” Mr Biden said.
However, a White House official said later that did not imply any shift in the United States’ position against direct military action in Ukraine.
Mr Biden and Nato allies have stressed that the US and Nato would not put troops on the ground in Ukraine.
Joe Biden: We will respond in kind if Vladimir Putin uses chemical weapons in Ukraine
01:35 AM
US will welcome Ukraine’s refugees
Joe Biden announced the US would welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees.
The President said many probably would prefer to stay closer to home.
The US will provide an additional $1 billion in food, medicine, water and other supplies.
01:32 AM
Biden promises more aid is on its way to Ukraine
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US President Joe Biden and Western allies pledged new sanctions and humanitarian aid on Thursday in response to Vladimir Putin’s assault on Ukraine, but their offers fell short of the more robust military assistance that President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded for in a pair of live-video appearances.
Mr Zelensky, while thankful for the newly promised help, made clear to the Western allies he needed far more than they are currently willing to give.
“One per cent of all your planes, one per cent of all your tanks,” Mr Zelensky asked members of the Nato alliance.
“We can’t just buy those. When we will have all this, it will give us, just like you, 100pc security.”
Mr Biden said more aid was on its way. But the Western leaders were treading carefully so as not to further escalate the conflict beyond the borders of Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron said: “Nato has made a choice to support Ukraine in this war without going to war with Russia.
“Therefore we have decided to intensify our ongoing work to prevent any escalation and to get organised in case there is an escalation.”
