Ukraine war – latest: ‘End this war of aggression,’ Blinken tells Lavrov; Hungary delays vote on Sweden and Finland joining NATO
Ukraine war – latest: ‘End this war of aggression,’ Blinken tells Lavrov; Hungary delays vote on Sweden and Finland joining NATO
US secretary of state Antony Blinken told Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov to “end the war” during a meeting in New Delhi; Hungary has further delayed a vote on ratifying Sweden and Finland’s NATO accession bids. Listen to Ukraine War Diaries while you scroll.
Russia
Ukraine
Why you can trust Sky News
Key points
US secretary of state tells Russia’s foreign minister to ‘end this war of aggression’ View post
Hungary delays vote on Sweden and Finland joining NATO View post
Russian media claims Ukrainian reconnaissance group ‘in Russian territory’ View post
‘Very suspicious’ Bryansk reports prompt false-flag fears View post- as Ukraine dismisses ‘classic provocation’ View post – but does not deny attack under way View post
Up to 20 torture centres discovered in Kherson ‘linked to Putin’s forces’ View post
Alex Rossi: Inside the battered town of Vuhledar on the frontline View post
Live reporting by Bhvishya Patel, with Deborah Haynes in Ukraine and Diana Magnay in Moscow
Sort by:
LatestSort by latest OldestSort by oldest
4h ago
17:57
Bakhmut withdrawal ‘on the table’ but reinforcements set to arrive
A Ukrainian withdrawal from Bakhmut – the focal point of the eastern front – is on the table if necessary, but reinforcements are arriving, according to a military official.
Eastern Operational Command spokesman Serhiy Cherevaty said on TV that “if a tactical action needs to be made, it will be made,” but “as long as the command sees that it makes sense to keep a certain settlement, it will be fought for”, reported Ukrainian local media Kyiv Independent and New Voice.
Reserves are set to arrive with new equipment which will make it much easier to “throw the enemy out of our land”, he said.
He added that Ukrainian soldiers in Bakhmut are “heroically defending this section of the front as they exhaust, bleed, and weaken the enemy”.
Ukrainian forces have held on in Bakhmut throughout months of relentless assaults.
The situation is said to be deteriorating and have been discussions over if and when Ukraine will pull its soldiers out.
Colonel general Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukrainian ground forces, said earlier this week that the situation around Bakhmut was “extremely tense”.
Copy link
4h ago
17:37
Western satellite images ‘sold to Russia’ – reports
Russia has used companies selling Western satellite images to attack critical infrastructure in Ukraine, reports the Kyiv Post.
Sources including a senior Ukrainian official told the newspaper that 10 entities based in the US, EU, South Korea, Israel and China had traded the information with Russia, some in breach of sanctions.
Russia was likely using proxy companies with authentic-sounding names to order photos of objects such as energy stations, one official reportedly said.
The news comes after a US official accused China’s blacklisted satellite company, Spacety, of providing aerial images to the Russian mercenary Wagner Group.
Copy link
5h ago
16:57
Has Russia launched false flag operations?
Earlier today President Vladimir Putin said Russia had been hit by what he called a terrorist attack in its southern Bryansk region bordering Ukraine.
Looking at the reports, military analyst Sean Bell said it was “not entirely clear” whether these were false flag operations being carried out by Russia.
He went on to say over the border in Ukraine, Russia was making “small advances” in Bakhmut but “at a massive cost”.
“It is worth pointing out Bakhmut isn’t military significant but it has become symbolically very important for both parties,” he said.
Copy link
6h ago
16:16
Putin signs law banning officials from using most foreign words
Vladimir Putin has signed legislation banning Kremlin officials from using most foreign words when carrying out their duties.
The Russian leader has amended a 2005 law designed to protect and support the status of Russian, according to a text posted on the government’s website.
“When using Russian as the state language of the Russian Federation, it is not allowed to use words and expressions that do not correspond to the norms of modern Russian with the exception of foreign words which do not have widely-used corresponding equivalents in Russian,” the text reads.
A list of foreign-based words that can still be used is set to be published separately, Reuters reports.
For context: Since invading Ukraine, the Kremlin has cracked down on those speaking out against the war and freedom of speech.
Last year, Russia’s communications regulator ordered media outlets to remove reports describing Moscow’s attack on Ukraine as an “assault, invasion, or declaration of war”.
Copy link
6h ago
15:57
US to announce new military aid package for Ukraine tomorrow
A new military aid package to support Ukraine will be announced by the US tomorrow, the White House has said.
Aid for Ukraine is expected to be a major topic of discussion between President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz when the two leaders meet at the White House tomorrow.
Speaking to reporters today, White House spokesperson John Kirby did not put a price tag on the new aid package, saying more details would be released shortly.
Mr Kirby was also asked if potential sanctions against China would be a topic for both leaders and he responded: “I certainly would expect in the context of talking about what’s going on in Ukraine that the issue of a third party support to Russia could come up.”
Copy link
7h ago
15:12
In pictures: Ukrainian troops take position near Bakhmut
Ukrainian troops have been preparing to shoot at Russian positions near the city of Bakhmut, in the eastern Donetsk region.
The battle for Bakhmut has become a focal point in recent months.
Some military experts say Bakhmut is not of strategic value but others state its capture can help Russia seize Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
Copy link
7h ago
14:53
Russia has lost 150,605 troops during invasion, Ukraine claims
Ukraine has provided its latest update on the number of losses Russia has suffered since the start of the war.
It claims 150,605 Russian troops have been killed and 6,658 armoured personnel vehicles have been destroyed.
Other military equipment that has been wiped out includes 288 helicopters, 3,397 tanks and 300 aircraft.
It should be noted that Sky News has not been able to independently verify these claims.
Copy link
7h ago
14:37
US not providing Ukraine with intel on targets inside Russia – Pentagon
A Pentagon spokesman has refuted claims that the US is providing Ukraine with intelligence for targets inside Russia.
Speaking to reporters, Brigadier General Pat Ryder called the Russian accusations “nonsense”, adding the US was not at war with Russia.
“I don’t have any information in regards to whether or not the Ukrainians have conducted these type of operations, I’d refer you to them,” he said.
“I can say definitively that the notion of the US providing intelligence or information to the Ukrainians to target locations inside Russia is nonsense. We are not at war with Russia, nor do we seek war with Russia.”
Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said today that Moscow had been forced to suspend its participation in the New START nuclear arms control treaty because Washington was using it to help Ukraine attack Russian strategic sites.
In separate comments to reporters after his speech, Mr Ryabkov alleged that Ukraine would have been unable to target Russian infrastructure with drone attacks without US help.
Copy link
8h ago
14:16
‘End this war of aggression,’ Blinken tells Lavrov
We reported earlier that US secretary of state Antony Blinken spoke with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov for 10 minutes in New Delhi today.
The meeting was believed to be their first one-on-one conversation in person since before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Here is a little more on what Mr Blinken said following the meeting…
“I told the foreign minister what I and so many others said last week at the United Nations and what so many G20 foreign ministers said today – end this war of aggression,” Mr Blinken told reporters.
“Engage in meaningful diplomacy that can produce a just and durable peace.
“President Zelenskyy has prepared a 10-point plan for a just and durable peace.
“The US stands ready to support Ukraine through diplomacy to end the war on this basis.
“President Putin however has demonstrated zero interest in engaging.”
Copy link
8h ago
13:53
Any other Kremlin leader would have fired missiles at NATO, Russian pundit says
It is just as well Russia is led by such a “prudent” and “wise politician” because another leader may have fired strikes at NATO territory, Russian pundit Olga Skabeyeva has said.
Footage shared by BBC journalist Francis Scarr shows Ms Skabeyeva describe how President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is “provoking” nuclear war by organising “terrorist forays into Russian territory”.
She goes on to say: “If Russia wasn’t led by such a prudent, wise politician of such great experience but someone, let’s say, a little more hot-tempered it could be enough for strikes to be carried out on NATO territory.
“If we found out that the people who infiltrated Russian territory from Ukraine were for example dressed and booted in NATO uniforms and were carrying NATO weapons what would this mean? That it’s an act of aggression by NATO against Russia.
“As a consequence, we should strike those very centres, and we know where they are – in Poland and the UK where right now Ukrainian terrorists are being trained.
“What are they being trained for there? For conducting terrorist attacks on Russian territory.”
The Russian commentator goes on to say how Russian reacts to this is now a “very important question”.
Copy link
8h ago
13:33
Brazil’s Lula to discuss peace deal with Zelenskyy today
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will talk with Volodymyr Zelenskyy about a peace deal in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, a source at the presidential palace has said.
Mr Lula confirmed the conversation in an interview with local radio broadcaster BandNews FM, scheduled to air later today.
The latest report comes a day after China and Belarus agreed to a joint statement calling for peace in Ukraine.
China President Xi Jinping and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko sealed a series of agreements yesterday to build up an “all weather” partnership between their countries, against the background of the war in Ukraine.
Beijing has become increasingly vocal in calling for peace as the Ukraine conflict drags on, and denied it would provide arms to Moscow after US officials said China was considering doing so.
Copy link
9h ago
13:11
New burial site with three bodies discovered in Kyiv region
A new burial site with three bodies has been discovered in the town of Borodianka, in the Kyiv region, the area’s police chief Andrii Niebytov has said.
Speaking to reporters, Mr Niebytov said one of the victims was a 50-year-old man who was shot in a car which then was destroyed by fire.
The identities of the other civilians remain unidentified.
Mr Niebytov said a local resident found one of the men last year, shot and slumped behind the wheel of a burned car.
He found the two others in the road, also shot.
The man buried all three, then moved abroad and only reported his discovery when he returned a year later.
“Sometimes it’s very hard for them to talk about cruelty of (the) Russian army,” Mr Nebytov told reporters.
For context: Russia’s failed attempt to swiftly capture the capital left at least 1,370 dead civilians before the Ukrainian army pushed them back, according to Ukrainian officials.
The whereabouts of 278 people from the Kyiv region remain unknown and, one year later, it is getting harder to find them or their remains.
Fourteen mass graves were discovered previously and police say the remaining bodies may be in shelled and blackened buildings in towns or dense pine forests around them.
Copy link
9h ago
12:46
New team monitoring Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
A new team of monitors from the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, has taken up its post at Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station after a delay of almost a month, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has announced.
Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, with six reactors, was occupied by Russian troops early in their invasion of Ukraine last year.
With each side accusing the other of shelling it and risking a nuclear accident, IAEA monitors have been posted at the station since September.
In a statement today, Mr Grossi said their presence was “indispensable to help reduce the risk of a nuclear accident”.
“Our courageous experts – working closely with the plant’s operating staff – are providing technical advice and monitoring the situation in extremely difficult and challenging circumstances,” he added.
Copy link
9h ago
12:30
Military group fighting for Ukraine spotted near Russian border
By Jack Taylor, OSINT Producer
Videos have been posted by a unit of Russians that is part of the Ukrainian military, supposedly showing them in settlements across the border in Bryansk, Russia. But how do we know they were filmed there?
Two videos were shared by a group called the Russian Volunteer Corps, alongside claims that they had crossed into Russia to “show compatriots that there is hope, that free Russian people with weapons in their hands can fight the regime”.
Sky News cannot independently verify what the group did whilst in the area.
Vladimir Putin has claimed that a Ukrainian sabotage group had knowingly fired at civilians in the area in what he called a “terrorist act”. The Russian Volunteer Corps denied these claims in social media posts.
The unit was established in August 2022 to bring together Russians that had been fighting for Ukraine since 2014. The flag seen in both videos is their emblem.
The videos can be located to settlements very close to the border in Russia.
One video was filmed in Sushany, which is only 1.5 miles away from the Ukrainian border.
The building and surrounding features seen in the video can be matched to existing imagery from Google Maps.
Another video, originally posted to the Russian Volunteer Corps social media accounts, features a sign for a health clinic in the village of Lyubechane, which is less than a mile from the border.
Soldiers posting videos and photos outside easily identifiable buildings has been a regular occurrence during the conflict in Ukraine. This is especially common during territorial advances such as the Ukrainian counter offensives in Kharkiv and Kherson in late 2022.
This allows the positions of military units to be easily located by researchers and that information is then quickly shared online.
It is likely that this is why these videos have been taken by such recognisable buildings.
Copy link
10h ago
12:02
Air raid sirens across Ukraine
Air raid sirens have been sounding across Ukraine in the last few minutes.
In recent weeks, Russia has launched sustained strikes in several parts of the country, hitting power supplies.
The map below shows which regions of Ukraine are covered by the air raid alerts today.
Copy link
10h ago
11:47
Hungary delays vote on Sweden and Finland joining NATO
Hungary has further delayed a vote on ratifying Sweden and Finland’s NATO accession bids, according to an updated schedule published on their government website.
The delay now pushes the vote back by two weeks to the parliamentary session beginning 20 March.
Hungary remains the only NATO member country besides Turkey that has not yet approved the two Nordic countries’ bids to join the Western military alliance.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that he is in favour of the two countries joining NATO, but alleges that the governments in Stockholm and Helsinki have “spread blatant lies” about Hungary which have raised questions among lawmakers in his party on whether to approve the bids.
“It’s not right for them to ask us to take them on board while they’re spreading blatant lies about Hungary, about the rule of law in Hungary, about our democracy and about life here,” Mr Orban said in a recent radio interview.
“How can anyone want to be our ally in a military system while they’re shamelessly spreading lies about Hungary?
“So let’s stop for a friendly word and ask them how this can be.”
NATO requires unanimous approval from its existing members to admit new ones.
Turkey and Hungary are the only nations in the 30-member military alliance that have not formally endorsed Sweden and Finland’s accession.
Copy link
10h ago
11:36
Blinken and Lavrov meet for first time since Ukraine war
Washington’s support for Ukraine will not waver, US secretary of state Antony Blinken has said.
During a brief encounter with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in New Delhi today, Mr Blinken urged Russia to reverse its decision on the New START nuclear treaty, a senior US official said.
He also told the Kremlin official that Washington was prepared to support Ukraine to defend itself for as long as it takes.
The two spoke for less than 10 minutes in what is believed to be their first one-on-one conversation in person since before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We always remain hopeful that the Russians will reverse their decision and be prepared to engage in a diplomatic process that can lead to a just and durable peace, but I wouldn’t say that coming out of this encounter there was any expectation that things will change in the near term,” the US official said.
Mr Blinken, the official added, wanted to “disabuse the Russians of any notion that our support (for Ukraine) might be wavering or the support from our allies and partners might be wavering”.
“We must continue to call on Russia to end its war of aggression and withdraw from Ukraine for the sake of international peace and economic stability,” Mr Blinken said in remarks released after his address at the closed-door meeting.
“Unfortunately, this meeting has again been marred by Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war against Ukraine.”
For context: The exchange came at the end of the day-long G20 meeting in India which was overshadowed by the Ukraine war.
The US and its European allies urged the Group of 20 (G20) nations to keep up pressure on Moscow to end the conflict, now in its second year.
Russia hit back, accusing the West of turning work on the G20 agenda into a “farce” and said Western delegations wanted to shift responsibility for their economic failures onto Moscow.
Copy link
11h ago
10:54
Bodies of three men exhumed from new burial site found near Kyiv
A new burial site containing the bodies of three men killed in the early days of the war has been discovered a short distance from Kyiv.
The site was found in Borodianka, some 34 miles northwest of the capital, today.
Three men who were buried there are the latest civilians confirmed to have died when Russian forces advanced on Kyiv last spring.
Ukrainian officials say Vladimir Putin’s failed plan to quickly capture the city left more than 1,300 residents dead before Ukraine’s forces pushed them back to the border.
One year on, 278 people from the Kyiv region are still missing.
Before today’s discovery, 14 mass graves containing victims of early war attacks had been found.
Copy link
12h ago
10:23
Serbian president ‘reconsidering close ties with Russia’
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is reportedly facing “difficult choices” as he reconsiders his country’s close ties with Moscow.
Politico reports Mr Vucic is unhappy with Russia’s recent campaign to recruit fighters for the mercenary Wagner Group from his country.
He has condemned the group and said he would arrest all Serbians who had fought for Wagner in Ukraine.
Mr Vucic has so far sat on the fence when it comes to the conflict – pursuing his country’s bid to join the EU while refusing to impose strict sanctions on Russia.
But he warned his country must make “difficult choices” soon, Politico said.
The Serbian president in February approved a plan to stabilise its relationship with Kosovo.
For context: Serbia refused to recognise Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence – a refusal shared by Vladimir Putin’s Russia, which has repeatedly expressed support for Serbia.
The Institute for the Study of War says the reconsideration by Aleksandar Vucic of his relationship with Russia is a demonstration of “the international economic and informational costs imposed on Putin by his invasion of Ukraine”.
The ISW said a Russian milblogger amplified the Politico article, criticising their president for turning the country into a “pariah state” from which even “traditional fraternal states distance themselves”.
Copy link
12h ago
09:46
Bryansk border infiltration ‘likely not a false flag’ – report
The leader of a group of Russian soldiers fighting for Ukraine has claimed responsibility for the reported “saboteur” operation in Russia’s Bryansk region today.
Denis Kapustin, an infamous neo-Nazi who leads the Russian Volunteer Corps, has “bragged” about his unit’s “incursion” in Bryansk, Bellingcat’s Michael Colborne says.
In a Twitter thread, the journalist and researcher from the investigative outlet says the operation was “something Ukraine’s military intelligence very likely signed off on”.
He concludes: “So how does this all help Ukraine? It doesn’t. What did this ‘op’ achieve? A combat unit led by an infamous (alleged) criminal neo-Nazi who’s banned from most of Europe, doing PR-focused things that could give Putin even more (BS) rhetorical justification for Russian attacks?”
Earlier, Russian news agencies reported that a group of Ukrainian operatives had infiltrated the Bryansk border and carried out attacks in the area.
Suspicion that the reports were part of a Russian false-flag information operation came after Ukrainian public figures and media correspondents cast doubt on the claims.
