Ukraine-Russia war LIVE – Bloodthirsty Putin unleashes troops for Battle of Donbas as he parades captured Brits on TV
VLADIMIR Putin has unleashed bloodthirsty troops into the battle of Donbass as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia’s large-scale offensive in the eastern Donbas region is underway.
Zelensky’s chief of staff said the assault on the Donbas marked the start of the “second phase” of the war.
Explosions were heard along the entire front as Vladimir Putin launched a major new offensive to seize control of the east.
The secretary of Ukraine’s National Security Council had earlier said Moscow tried to break through defences in the Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions.
Zelensky’s comments follow warnings from other senior officials that Russia has begun its assault on the eastern region on Monday.
In a video address he said: “We can now confirm that Russian troops have begun the battle for the Donbas, which they have been preparing for a long time.
“A large part of the Russian army is now dedicated to this offensive.”
The brave Ukrainian leader refused to be cowed by the latest Russian attack, saying: “No matter how many Russian soldiers are brought here, we will fight. We will defend ourselves.”
The news comes as two British men reportedly captured by Russian forces while fighting in Ukraine have appeared on Russian state TV.
Shaun Pinner, 48, and Aiden Aslin, 28, were shown appealing to Boris Johnson in two separate videos on Monday.
They were asking to be exchanged with a pro-Russian politician held in Ukraine.
It is not clear if their pleas to the prime minister were made under duress.
Follow our Russia-Ukraine live blog below for up-to-the-minute updates…
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MSNBC’s Malcolm Nance joins war against Russia in Ukraine
MSNBC’s Malcolm Nance has left the network to fight in Ukraine’s war against Russia.
The former naval intelligence officer, 61, appeared on Joy Reid’s program The Reid Out on Monday night wearing full combat gear and carrying a firearm.
The Ukrainian and American flags could be seen on his body armor.
Nance spent time in Ukraine before Russia launched the invasion and said he had friends fearing for their survival.
Speaking from a secure location, Nance told Reid: “The more I saw of the war going on, the more I thought, I’m done talking all right? It’s time to take action here.
“I am here to help this country fight what essentially is a war of extermination.”
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In pictures: Russian shelling targets nursery near Kyiv
A local man walks past the damaged kindergarten in the village of Zalisia, near Kyiv.
Some cities and villages had recently been recaptured by the Ukrainian army from Russian forces and now people try to restore normal life there.
Russian troops entered Ukraine on 24 February resulting in fighting and destruction in the country and triggering a series of severe economic sanctions on Russia by Western countries.
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Ukraine renews plea for Mariupol humanitarian corridors
Ukraine has called on Moscow to allow the opening of a humanitarian corridor to let people safely leave the city.
There are no corridors running today after officials from both countries failed to agree a plan.
Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk also requested a second corridor from the area of the Azovstal steelworks as the industrial plant is under holdout. This would allow a safe exit route for women, children and other civilians.
Writing on Telegram, Vereshchuk warned the Russians could be found liable for war crimes if they refused to open exit routes.
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Russia launches ‘hundreds of attacks’ on Ukraine in one day
Vladimir Putin’s forces have launched hundreds of attacks on Ukraine in a single day as they seek revenge for the humiliating sinking of the Moskva warship.
The country’s Defence Ministry said it hit more than 300 military targets overnight in the first major missile strike in weeks.
Vladimir Putin‘s forces claims to have hit fuel depots, warehouses and other vital infrastructure in eastern Ukraine, killing six people.
It comes as the Kremlin rages over the embarrassing sinking of its flagship Moskva by Ukrainian troops over the weekend.
Read more here.
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Britain sending Stormer missile launchers to Ukraine
BORIS Johnson will hand Stormer armoured missile launchers to Ukraine to unleash hell on Mad Vlad Putin’s army.
Their 17 Starstreak missiles can blitz low-flying jets and helicopters.
The 13-ton, high-tech launchers can be loaded on to C-17 transport planes and flown to the war in days.
They only need a crew of three — a driver, commander and gunner.
Read more here.
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New Kharkiv shelling leaves three dead
At least three people were killed and 21 were injured in renewed Russian shelling on Ukraine’s second city of Kharkiv today, local authorities said.
The announcement came a day after strikes on the city, which lies close to the Russian border, killed five people.
“At the current time in Kharkiv, three people have unfortunately died,” regional governor Oleg Sinegubov said on Telegram.
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Ministers criticised for slow delivery of Ukraine humanitarian aid
Ministers have been criticised for the slow delivery of humanitarian aid to Ukraine following the disclosure that less than a third of the £220 million promised has so far been sent.
The chair of the Commons International Development Committee Sarah Champion said she was “shocked and disappointed” after Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said that as of the end of March, the Government was “on track” to have disbursed up to £60 million.
In a letter to the committee dated April 1, Ms Truss said: “We are scaling up at speed whilst ensuring that risks are managed appropriately and aid is targeted effectively.”
In a statement, Ms Champion said: “I am shocked and disappointed that less than £60 million of the UK’s promised £220 million humanitarian aid package for Ukraine has been delivered so far.
“On March 9, I urged the Prime Minister to make sure the UK’s pledges for Ukraine are disbursed quickly. Today, more than a month later, it is shameful that I have to repeat that urgent appeal.
“More than 12 million people in Ukraine are in need of humanitarian support, as well as four million people who have fled the country. These people need our help now – not at some vague future date.”
At a briefing on Tuesday, a UK official said about £120 million has been allocated and £60 million delivered to recipients, but said “we’d expect that to speed up now”.
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Commander of Russian Black Sea ship is killed
Putin has suffered another blow as the commander of a Russian Black Sea vessel has been killed days after the humiliating sinking of the Moskva flagship.
Captain Alexander Chirva died from wounds sustained in a battle with Ukrainian defenders, said the governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev.
Chirva was commander of the large landing ship Caesar Kunikov, which is part of the Black Sea Fleet.
Razvozhayev failed to give more details about the circumstances of the captain’s death.
There were reports that the Caesar Kunikov was hit by Ukrainian fire on March 24, but it is unclear if this was the incident which led to the captain’s death.
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Ukrainian refugee leads out Gillingham FC in front of thousands of fans
A Ukrainian refugee was treated to a football supporter’s dream day out just days after arriving in the UK as he led Gillingham out in front of thousands of fans.
Daniel Lysak, 11, fled his home near Lviv in western Ukraine with his mother, Yana, and arrived in England on Friday April 8 to their UK sponsor’s house in Folkestone, Kent.
Less than two weeks later, he led the home side out at Priestfield Stadium with captain Stuart O’Keefe ahead of their crucial League One fixture against Fleetwood Town.
Daniel’s British host and Gillingham fan Malcolm Bell said he was “incredibly proud” to watch Daniel walk out with his son Freddie.
Mr Bell said: “I’m going to use the word overwhelming, it really was.
“To see my boys there and to see Daniel there was an incredibly proud moment.
“Then as I was walking off the pitch with them, Stuart O’Keefe came up and shook my hand and looked me in the eye and said ‘have a good game’. That meant the world to me.”
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PM: Ukraine remains in a ‘perilous position’ (2/2)
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the national security official had said Russia would seek to exploit its advantage in troop numbers, but experience had shown this was “unlikely to be decisive on its own”.
The spokesman said: “There were some signs that Russia had not learned lessons from previous setbacks in northern Ukraine and there was evidence of troops being committed to the fight in a piecemeal fashion.
“Reports of poor Russian morale continue with claims of some Russian troops and even units refusing to fight”.
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PM: Ukraine remains in a ‘perilous position’ (1/2)
Ukraine remains in a “perilous” position despite recent setbacks suffered by the invading Russian forces, Boris Johnson has warned.
The Prime Minister told the weekly meeting of the Cabinet that President Vladimir Putin had been angered by the defeats inflicted on his troops but remained “determined to claim some sort of victory regardless of the human cost”.
Ministers were briefed by a senior national security official who said the next phase of the war – focusing on the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine – was likely to be “an attritional conflict” which could last “several months”.
Mr Johnson – who stressed the need to step up international support to Ukraine – is due to discuss the latest situation in a conference call with US President Joe Biden and European and Canadian leaders on Tuesday.
In his nightly address on Monday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian troops had begun the battle for Donbas – which is part-held by pro-Moscow separatists – for which they had been preparing “for a long time”.
“A very large part of the entire Russian army is now focused on this offensive,” he said.
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Russia to expel 36 European diplomats
Russia said on Tuesday it was expelling 36 diplomats from two European countries in retaliation for similar measures taken against Moscow’s foreign envoys over the Kremlin’s military operation in Ukraine.
The Russian foreign ministry said it had declared 21 diplomats from Belgium and 15 from the Netherlands “persona non grata”, giving them two weeks to leave.
Moscow also summoned Luxembourg’s envoy, warning him that Russia may decide to take reciprocal measures for the tiny European state’s expulsion of Moscow’s ambassador.
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Will Russia use nuclear weapons?
It is not known whether Russia will use nuclear weapons although the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has claimed that Russia will not.
Asked about the issue in an interview with TV channel India Today, Lavrov says: “Conventional weapons only.”
Lavrov also says, with Russia’s offensive now focused on Ukraine’s east, the war is entering a new phase.
He said: “The operation in the east of Ukraine is aimed, as was announced from the very beginning, to fully liberate the [self-proclaimed] Donetsk and Luhansk republics. And this operation will continue.”
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Update from the Ministry of Defence
The Ministry of Defence have constructed a map to show the latest Defence Intelligence update of the situation within Ukraine.
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Royal Navy’s new £1bn submarine
The Royal Navy’s new £1billion submarine was pictured being loaded with deadly Tomahawk cruise missiles amid Vladimir Putin’s sinister threats to the West.
HMS Audacious – armed with rockets that can strike targets 745 miles away – docked in Gibraltar in what appeared to be show of strength.
The new vessel was first launched in 2017 and is said to carry 38 weapons in six 21 inch torpedoes with state of the art fibre optic control technology to match.
The Sun previously reported that more than 39,000 acoustic tiles mask the vessel’s sonar signature, meaning she slips through the seas with less noise than a baby dolphin.
The 7,400-to BAE Systems-built sub is the fourth of seven Astute class submarines and can circumnavigate the entire globe without surfacing.
And it’s recent sighting off the Iberian coast is expected to be a tell-tale sign that the UK, and its Nato allies, are bolstering its flanks amid fears that the war in Ukraine could spiral into a wider conflict.
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Putin ally found shot dead alongside wife and 13-year-old daughter
THE bodies of a top Russian banker and his family have been discovered at his apartment in Moscow, not long after the bank was slapped with Western sanctions.
Vladislav Avayev, 51, was found dead along with his wife Yelena, 47, and his 13-year-old daughter Maria at their home in the Russian capital.
Avayev was formerly the vice-president of Gazprombank, Russia’s third-largest bank and one of the main channels for payments for Russian oil and gas.
It has been hit with sanctions by a number of western countries in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including by the UK last month.
Russian state media agency TASS reported on Monday that the bodies of three people, including a girl, were discovered in an apartment building on Universitetsky Prospekt, a leafy street in southwest Moscow.
Police spokeswoman Yulia Ivanova told TASS that the bodies were discovered by Avayev’s eldest daughter Anastasia, 26, after they heard that neither the family driver nor nanny could get through on the phone.
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‘Russia’s new offensive will fail’
Talking about the new offensive from the Ukrainian point of view, an aide to Zelenskiy says Russia’s action in the east will fail.
He said it’s because Moscow’s forces lack the strength to break through Ukrainian defences.
Quoted by Reuters, presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said: “The battle for Donbas, which was announced and apparently began yesterday, is under way and is going very cautiously.
“The battle will not go in Russia’s favour.”
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Hundreds of Bucha massacre victims buried in mass grave
Harrowing images show corpses being buried in a mass grave after hundreds of innocent civilians were massacred in the Ukrainian city of Bucha.
Workers can be seen digging plots and erecting crucifixes on the site as distraught family members said goodbye to their loved ones more than a fortnight after the ruthless killings took place.
Funerals were conducted by Andriy Holovin, the priest of the Church of St Andrew Pervozvannoho All Saints, as ceremonies were held on behalf of the dead.
Hancrafted objects were placed on each of the marked gravestones after authorities tragically confirmed that more than 300 had been killed.
Priest Andriy previously said the bodies had been moved to the site after reporting that the rotten corpses were being feasted upon by dogs in apocalyptic scenes.
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‘Huge boost to Ukraine’
Boris Johnson will hand Stormer armoured missile launchers to Ukraine to unleash hell on Mad Vlad Putin’s army.
Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British troops in Afghanistan, said: “The Stormer/Starstreak combination will be a huge boost to Ukraine’s fighting capability.
“It is an extremely effective, highly mobile combat vehicle that will do severe damage to any attempts at low-level attack by Putin’s air force.”
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Street battles taking place in Kreminna
According to reports street battles are taking place in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kreminna.
Ukraine says Putin’s forces have seized control of Kreminna, which is in the Luhansk region.
Serhiy Haidai, the regional administrator, says four civilians in the town have died.
He tells Ukrainian TV that heavy artillery fire left seven residential buildings in flames and targeted a sports complex where the nation’s Olympic team trains.
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1,260 targets hit overnight Russian Defence Ministry claim
The Russian Defence Ministry says missile and artillery forces struck 1,260 targets in Ukraine overnight.
It says “high-precision air-based missiles” hit 13 Ukrainian positions in parts of the Donbas, including the key town of Slovyansk.
It also says other air strikes “hit 60 military assets of Ukraine”.
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Who is Malcolm Nance?
Malcom Nance is an American author and media pundit, specialising in topics of terrorism, intelligence, insurgency and torture.
The MSNBC foreign policy analyst frequently discusses the history, personalities and organisation of jihadi radicalisation, including al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS), Southwest Asian and African terror groups, as well as counterinsurgency and asymmetric warfare.
In 2014, Nance founded and became the executive director of the think tank, Terror Asymmetrics Project on Strategy, Tactics and Radical Ideologies (TAPSTRI).
His expertise in terrorism and warfare stems from his time he served in the U.S. Navy.
Between 1981 and 2001, Nance received several military decorations as a U.S. Navy specialist.
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MSNBC’s Malcolm Nance joins war against Russia in Ukraine
MSNBC’s Malcolm Nance has left the network to fight in Ukraine’s war against Russia.
The former naval intelligence officer, 61, appeared on Joy Reid’s program The Reid Out on Monday night wearing full combat gear and carrying a firearm.
The Ukrainian and American flags could be seen on his body armor.
Nance spent time in Ukraine before Russia launched the invasion and said he had friends fearing for their survival.
Speaking from a secure location, Nance told Reid: “The more I saw of the war going on, the more I thought, I’m done talking all right? It’s time to take action here.
“I am here to help this country fight what essentially is a war of extermination.”
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‘Final Ukrainian holdout in Mariupol stormed’
Special forces are now storming Mariupol’s Azovstal iron and steel works plant a Russian-backed separatist official in the eastern Donbas region says.
This is where the final Ukrainian troop holdouts are sheltering.
Eduard Basurin, who represents the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, tells Russia 24 TV channel that specially selected “assault groups” are being helped by Russian aviation and artillery.
Basurin also denies reports by Ukrainian officials that many civilians, including children, are hiding at Azovstal.
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Boy, three, wounded in Russian shelling
A THREE-year-old was among those wounded after a Russian missile strike hit the city of Lviv on Monday – which killed seven and injured 10 others.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi posted a video on Twitter showing Artem — who he said traveled hundreds of miles to Lviv with his mother to flee Russian bombings in Kharkiv — receiving medical attention on his hand.
Doctors could be seen in the video operating on the youngster’s left hand and then wrapping it with tape as a few people watched by his side.
Iuliia Mendel, a former spokesperson of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Twitter that Artem lost part of his finger in the attack.
On Monday morning, Ukrainian authorities said three Russian missiles struck military infrastructure in Lviv, and a fourth hit a tire fitting shop in the city.
