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Vladimir Putin will address both houses of Russia’s parliament this morning ahead of the presidential election in mid-March.
His speech, likely to include his propagandistic narrative on the war in Ukraine, will be broadcast across at least 20 cinemas in Russia to a wider audience. It is expected to last more than an hour.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the speech could be considered Putin’s election programme.
Putin’s victory in the election is certain, affording him his fifth term in office and setting him up to rule Russia for the rest of his life. He is now the longest standing Russian leader since Joseph Stalin.
It comes as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was accused of leaking sensitive information about British involvement in Ukraine.
Tobias Ellwood, the former chairman of the Commons defence committee, accused Mr Scholz of “a flagrant abuse of intelligence deliberately designed to distract from Germany’s reluctance to arm Ukraine”.
His comments were in response to remarks by Mr Scholz in which he said that German soldiers could not follow the lead of their British and French allies in “the way of target control and accompanying target control”.
Ukraine repels Russian attacks but situation is difficult, top general says
Ukrainian forces have pushed back Russian troops from the village of Orlivka, west of Avdiivka, but the situation on the eastern front remains difficult, Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi has admitted
Orlivka is less than 2 kilometres northwest of Lastochkyne, which was recently occupied by Russian forces.
Russian forces last week captured the strategic eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka after a months-long assault and are pressing on several other areas along the front line, Ukrainian authorities say.
Ukraine‘s military said this week it had withdrawn from two more villages near Avdiivka, losing more territory as support from its Western allies runs short.
“The enemy continues active offensive actions in many areas of the front line. The situation is particularly tense in the Avdiivka and Zaporizhzhia sectors,” Gen Syrskyi said on the Telegram messaging app.
He said Russian assault units were trying to break through the Ukrainian defences and capture the settlements of Tonenke, Orlivka, Semenivka, Berdychi and Krasnohorivka.
Syrskyi, who visited troops on the eastern front, said some commanders had revealed certain shortcomings in their “situational awareness and assessment of the enemy”, which directly affected the sustainability of defence in certain areas.
“I took all measures to remedy the situation on the ground, with the allocation of additional ammunition and material resources, as well as the necessary reserves,” Syrskyi said.
The Ukrainian military and President Volodymyr Zelensky have repeatedly said that troops are lacking military equipment and ammunition needed to repel Russian attacks because of a shortage of military aid from Western allies.
Ukraine’s military chief Oleksandr Syrskyi visits positions near the frontline in eastern Ukraine
Germany accused of ‘flagrant abuse of intelligence’ for revealing British help in Ukraine
On Monday, he said that German soldiers could not follow the lead of their British and French allies in “the way of target control and accompanying target control”.
Ukraine downs Russian fighter jet, Kyiv claims
Ukraine has downed another Russian fighter jet, the head of the Ukrainian Air Force has claimed.
“Today, February 29, is a date that occurs once every four years, but it is already a familiar day for Russians with the loss of another plane,” said Mykola Oleshchuk.
He said Ukraine shot down a Su-34 fighter jet in the eastern direction, without providing further details.
At least half a dozen Su-43s have been shot down in the past fortnight, according to claims made by Mr Oleshchuk.
David Cameron steps up pressure on Putin to free ‘heir’ to Alexei Navalny
David Cameron is to rachet up pressure on Vladimir Putin by meeting the wife of Russia’s most prominent opposition leader after Alexei Navalny for crunch Whitehall talks, The Independent can reveal.
In a marked escalation of political tensions between the UK and Russia, the foreign secretary will on Friday sit down with Evgenia Kara-Murza, whose Cambridge-educated husband, Vladimir Kara-Murza, is serving a 25-year sentence in a remote Siberian penal colony for spreading “false” information about the Russian army.
The high-level talks come as human rights figures warn the “heir to Navalny” is next on Putin’s hitlist.
Putin allies tell Macron: Any French troops you send to Ukraine will suffer fate of Napoleon's army
Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament and a close Putin ally, said Macron appeared to see himself as Napoleon and warned him against following in the footsteps of the French emperor.
“To maintain his personal power, Macron could not think of anything better than to ignite a third world war. His initiatives are becoming dangerous for the citizens of France,” Volodin said on his official social media feed.
“Before making such statements, it would be right for Macron to remember how it ended for Napoleon and his soldiers, more than 600,000 of whom were left lying in the damp earth.”
Napoleon’s 1812 invasion of Russia made rapid progress initially and captured Moscow. But Russian tactics forced his Grande Armee into a long retreat and hundreds of thousands of his men died as a result of disease, starvation and cold.
French President Emmanuel Macron attends a press conference at the end of the meeting in support of Ukraine
A Russian court sentences the co-chair of a Nobel-winning rights group to 30 months in prison
A Moscow court on sentenced a veteran human rights advocate who spoke out against the war in Ukraine to two years and six months in prison. He was taken directly into custody from the courtroom.
Oleg Orlov, 70, was convicted of “repeatedly discrediting” the Russian army in an article he wrote denouncing the invasion of Ukraine. He has rejected the case against him as politically motivated.
The prosecution demanded that he be sentenced to two years and 11 months in prison.
Navalny to be buried in Moscow on Friday amid protests
Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny’s funeral will be held in Moscow on Friday, his wife Yulia announced, but she said she was unsure if it would pass off peacefully and that plans for a civil memorial service had been blocked.
Navalny’s allies accused the Kremlin of thwarting their attempts to organise a separate civil memorial service in a hall which could have accommodated more people, and of blocking plans to bury Navalny a day earlier. The Kremlin has said it has nothing to do with such arrangements.
“Two people - Vladimir Putin and (Moscow Mayor) Sergei Sobyanin - are to blame for the fact that we have no place for a civil memorial service and farewell to Alexei,” Yulia, his wife, wrote on X.
“People in the Kremlin killed him, then mocked Alexei’s body, then mocked his mother, now they are mocking his memory.”
The Kremlin denies any involvement in Navalny’s Feb. 16 death at age 47 in an Arctic penal colony and his death certificate - according to his supporters - says he died of natural causes.
Is it ethical to use Russia’s frozen assets to help Ukraine war effort?
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen underscored the urgency of moving forward together with Western allies to unlock the value of frozen Russian sovereign assets to help Ukraine, but said the U.S. had no “preferred strategy” for how to do so.
Yellen, speaking at a news conference ahead of meetings with her G7 and G20 counterparts, said the U.S. and its allies were evaluating different options for some $285 billion in Russian assets immobilized in 2022 and the associated risks.
G7 leaders have asked for solutions to be presented in June.
Yellen acknowledged there were risks involved, but downplayed concerns raised by some in Europe that confiscating Russian assets would undermine the role of the U.S. dollar, euro or Japanese yen as important global reserve currencies.
“I believe the G7 should work together to explore the number of approaches that have been suggested for unlocking their economic values. One would be, of course, seizing the assets themselves, but there are other ideas, such as using them as collateral to borrow from global markets,” Yellen said.
Here’s what to know about Sweden’s bumpy road toward Nato
Erdogan calls for ‘just and lasting solution’ to war in Ukraine
Turkey supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, stands for a just and lasting solution to the war in Ukraine, and is ready to host “peace talks” between Russia and Ukraine again.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
“Türkiye’s support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity is well known to all. We are also making every effort to protect the rights and interests of our Crimean Tatar compatriots,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
According to him, diplomacy and dialogue should be given a chance for a “just and lasting solution” to the war in Ukraine, which began in February 2022.
“I’m of the opinion that joint efforts should be initiated, at least on determining general parameters of peace,” he added.
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2024-02-29 03:50:00Z
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