Russia suspected of disrupting signal on UK defence minister’s plane, government source says to Reuters

Russia is suspected of interfering with the satellite signal on an aircraft used by defence minister Grant Shapps during his return from Poland to the UK, according to a government source and journalists accompanying him on Thursday, as reported by Reuters. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has not yet commented on the matter, as mentioned by Reuters, but defence sources informed the Guardian that there was no threat to Shapps while on the aircraft.

As per the source and journalists, the GPS signal was disrupted for approximately 30 minutes when the plane was in close proximity to Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad. Internet connectivity on mobile phones ceased, and the aircraft was compelled to employ alternative methods to ascertain its location, they added.

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Putin announces plans to station Russian forces and ‘systems’ at the Finnish border

In a recent interview with Russia’s RIA state news agency and Rossiya-1 state television, Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed his intention to increase the presence of Russian forces along the border with Finland.

According to Reuters, Putin expressed disapproval of Finland and Sweden’s decision to join NATO.

He stated, “This is an utterly senseless move (for Finland and Sweden) in terms of safeguarding their own national interests,” further explaining:

We previously did not have troops stationed at the Finnish border, but now they will be present. There were no destructive systems in place there, but now they will be introduced.

Russian President Vladimir Putin being interviewed by Rossiya Segodnya International Media Group Director General Dmitry Kiselev. Photograph: Gavriil Grigorov/APShare

Russia disputes claims of Ukrainian infiltration

Russia’s FSB security service has refuted reports that Ukrainian armed groups successfully breached Russian territory, according to the RIA news agency.

On Tuesday, Ukraine launched attacks on various targets in Russia using 25 drones and nine rockets. Additionally, there have been reports of a fire at the NORSI oil refinery in the Nizhny Novgorod region, which emergency services are battling.

Russia’s defence ministry confirmed that it had shot down 25 Ukrainian drones in seven different regions.

In a separate development, the FSB, as reported by TASS news agency, claimed that Russian forces had killed 100 people and destroyed multiple armored vehicles while repelling incursion attempts.

The Kremlin has emphasized that the Russian military is taking all necessary measures to address Ukrainian drone and missile strikes on Russian territory and remains on high alert.

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Zelenskiy responds to pope’s suggestion of Ukraine surrendering to Russia in war

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has dismissed Pope Francis’s call for talks with Russia as “virtual mediation” from a distance. The pope had urged parties involved in Russia’s war against Ukraine to negotiate and have the courage to do so before the situation worsens. Zelenskiy did not directly refer to the pope or his remarks but stated that the pope’s ideas had no connection to the efforts made by religious figures in Ukraine to help the country. He emphasized the importance of support through prayer, discussion, and tangible actions. A Vatican spokesperson clarified that the pope was advocating for stopping the fighting through negotiation, not capitulation.

The Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, seized on the pope’s remarks, interpreting them as a call for the West to admit its mistakes and put aside its ambitions.

David Cameron says he opposes sending western troops to Ukraine, even for training missions

British foreign minister David Cameron has stated his opposition to sending western troops to Ukraine, even for training missions.

In an interview with German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung published on Saturday, Cameron explained that he believes training missions are most effective when conducted abroad. Additionally, placing foreign soldiers in Ukraine would create potential targets for Russia.

Last month, French president Emmanuel Macron expressed that the possibility of western troops being sent to Ukraine cannot be completely ruled out. The UK later confirmed that it had dispatched small units to Ukraine to assist with medical training. However, a spokesperson for prime minister Rishi Sunak clarified that the country does not foresee large-scale deployments.

On Friday, French defence minister Sebastien Lecornu stated that there are currently no plans to send combat troops, but added that Ukraine’s allies could consider specific training or de-mining missions.

Polish foreign minister Radek Sikorski remarked that the presence of NATO forces in Ukraine is not out of the realm of possibility. He commended Macron for not completely dismissing the idea, stating that it is a matter of making Russian President Vladimir Putin fearful, rather than Ukraine being afraid of Putin.

In other news:

• During an interview, Pope Francis encouraged Ukraine to have the courage to negotiate an end to the war with Russia. These comments were made prior to Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan’s recent offer to host a summit between Ukraine and Russia to end the conflict. Pope Francis urged Ukraine not to be ashamed of negotiating before the situation worsens.

• Late on Friday, Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan revealed that comprehensive talks had taken place between Turkish and US officials regarding the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as other bilateral matters. Fidan stated that they discussed ways to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, expressing the need for a dialogue to prevent further crises.

• According to Ukrainian authorities, two people, including a teenage boy, were killed in Russian artillery attacks on Saturday. The governor of Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region confirmed that a 16-year-old boy was killed and a 22-year-old man was injured.

• Ukrainian officials reported that a Russian bomb landed near a block of flats in the city of Kherson, injuring a child. A video of the destroyed building, with a large crater outside, was published. A seven-year-old boy is currently under medical supervision.

• The Russian defence ministry announced that Russian air defences had downed a Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet over Ukraine’s Donetsk region. Ukrainian authorities, however, have not reported any fighter jet losses in recent days.

• Russian authorities temporarily suspended car traffic over the Crimea Bridge on Saturday, citing the potential threat of attacks. The bridge connects mainland Russia to Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

• A Moscow court sentenced a student to 10 days in jail for renaming his wifi network with a pro-Kyiv slogan during the military offensive in Ukraine. The student, attending Moscow State University, replaced the name of his wifi router with “Slava Ukraini,” meaning “Glory to Ukraine.” The court found him guilty of a “public demonstration of Nazi symbolics… or symbols of extremist organisations.”

Good morning and welcome to our Ukraine live blog where we will be keeping you up to date with the most recent developments.

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Ukrainian forces face challenges in defending Mariinka

Under the cover of night, Sasha and his team embark on a mission to locate and confront the enemy in the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariinka, which has been occupied by Russia since December. Equipped with a large drone, they navigate through a desolate landscape of fields and dilapidated houses towards the glittering lights of Donetsk. The drone carries a formidable arsenal of six grenades.

Known by his call sign “Tourist,” Sasha has successfully targeted and destroyed over 100 pieces of Russian military equipment, including tanks, armored vehicles, self-propelled guns, and hidden ammunition depots. Russian howitzers are another prime target. Recently, his special operations unit thwarted a massive attack by discovering seven Russian tanks gathered for a dawn assault and disabling two of them.

Despite these achievements, Ukrainian forces are facing an uphill battle in holding back the Russian incursion in and around Mariinka and throughout the Donbas region. After two years of intense warfare and a failed counteroffensive last summer, Moscow is steadily advancing. The city of Avdiivka, located next to Donetsk and controlled by the Kremlin since 2014, has fallen into Russian hands. And with each passing day, Russian reinforcements are claiming more territory, one devastated village at a time.

Sasha confessed, “The Russians have superior firepower, including tanks, artillery, manpower, and aircraft. We are severely outnumbered, and they have extensively prepared for this war, whereas we were caught off guard. Our survival is contingent on the West stepping up and providing us with additional weapons.”

To read the full story, click here.

The team prepares the drone before training outside the frontline city of Kurakhove Photograph: Alessio Mamo/The GuardianShare

Russian missiles hit close to Zelenskiy and the Greek prime minister’s location

A fatal missile strike carried out by Russia near the Ukrainian city of Odesa seemed to have landed near President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who described the moment of the attack as “intense”.

The assault on the port infrastructure on Wednesday caused the deaths of five people and left an unspecified number wounded, according to the Ukrainian navy.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visit the seaport in Odesa on Wednesday. Photograph: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters

“We heard the sound of sirens and explosions that took place near us,” said Mitsotakis, who was in talks with Zelenskiy. “We did not have time to reach a shelter. It was a very intense experience,” added Mitsotakis through an interpreter in Odesa.

Ukraine retaliated with its own attacks on Russian positions, including the apparent killing of a Russian election official with a car bomb and a drone strike on a metal plant.

As Moscow’s troops advance on the frontlines and Kyiv faces a shortage of manpower and weapons, both Russia and Ukraine have intensified their aerial attacks.

Spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk confirmed that the strike in Odesa occurred while the Greek delegation was visiting the port with Zelenskiy.

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Russia refuses to acknowledge the arrest warrants issued by the international criminal court (ICC) for two Russian commanders, according to a statement from the Kremlin on Wednesday.

The Kremlin stated that Russia is not a signatory to the Rome Statute which established the ICC and argued that the court proceedings are closed, as reported by Reuters.

For suspected war crimes in Ukraine, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Sergei Kobylash and Viktor Sokolov, citing reasonable grounds to believe that the two individuals were responsible for “missile strikes carried out by the forces under their command against the Ukrainian electric infrastructure from at least 10 October 2022 until at least 9 March 2023”.

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Ukraine claims it has sunk another Russian warship in Black Sea

Earlier we reported Ukraine’s claim that it has sunk another Russian warship in the Black Sea using hi-tech sea drones as Kyiv’s forces continue to take aim at targets deep behind the war’s frontline. Russian authorities did not confirm the claim.

The Ukrainian military intelligence agency said a special operations unit destroyed the large patrol ship Sergey Kotov overnight with Magura V5 uncrewed vessels that are designed and built in Ukraine and laden with explosives, AP reports.

The patrol ship, which Ukraine said was hit near the Kerch Strait, reportedly can carry cruise missiles and about 60 crew. The Ukrainian claim could not immediately be independently verified.

Kyiv’s forces are struggling to keep the better-provisioned Russian army at bay at some points along the largely static 1,500-kilometer (930-mile) frontline, but are also taking aim at targets deep beyond the battlefield.

Last month, Ukraine claimed it twice sank Russian warships using drones. On Feb. 1, it claimed to have sunk the Russian missile-armed corvette Ivanovets, and on Feb. 14 it said it destroyed the Caesar Kunikov landing ship. Russian officials did not confirm those claims.

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Newly enlarged Nato begins large-scale military drills in northern Europe

Nato will begin large-scale military drills on Monday – which will last nearly two weeks – to defend its newly expanded Nordic territory.

More than 20,000 soldiers from 14 countries will take part in the Norweigan-led Nordic Response 24 exercises in the northern regions of Finland, Norway and Sweden, with the participation of Finland as a Nato member for the first time.

The other participating nations in the exercise that runs through to 15 March reportedly include: Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the US.

“The exercise will demonstrate Nato’s operating capability, cohesion, and will to defend all of the Alliance’s area,” the Finnish military said in a statement.

“As Steadfast Defender 24 will be the most substantial training exercise of Nato in decades, its preparations and those of Nordic Response 24 have been underway now for a number of years already.”

Relations between Moscow and Helsinki deteriorated after Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, prompting Finland to drop decades of military non-alignment and join the western military alliance Nato in April 2023.

Russia, with which Finland shares an 830-mile (1,340km) border, swiftly warned of “countermeasures”.

With its bid now ratified by all Nato members, neighbouring Sweden is now finalising formalities to enter the military alliance as its 32nd member – most likely in March.

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