Notes

Public face call-up if we go to war because Army is too small, military chief warns
Russian forces have suffered heavy personnel and armoured vehicle losses, frequently caused by Ukrainian uncrewed aerial vehicle munitions. But the official said Russia could also initiate actions against Nato members such as cyber and hybrid warfare, and even physical attacks. Balazs Orban, chief political aide to the prime minister, said Hungary sent a proposal to the EU over the weekend showing it was open to using the budget for the aid package if other "caveats" were added.

A large diversion of citizens to military duty would leave gaps in the workforce to be filled, be it guarding food warehouses or building trenches and bomb shelters. Russian president Vladimir Putin wants to assert his power over the neighbouring country of Ukraine because he believes they should both be under the same sphere of influence, as they were both part of the Soviet Union in the 20th Century. The only airlines still flying from the UK, Wizz Air and Ryanair, have suspended all flights to the country. Several other fossil fuel companies including TotalEnergies, Shell, Equinor, ExxonMobil are also ceasing ventures with Russian majors.
Providing Ukraine with access to Elon Musk's Starlink system has changed the game for its forces' ability to communicate in the field. Sources have revealed that in intercepted military communications, Russian soldiers have been frantic as soon as they realise one is nearby or above them, because it means they are likely to come under accurate fire. In the Ukraine invasion, Russia initially tried to use blitzkrieg tactics, learned from the Germans in WW2, by attempting to sweep down from the border with Belarus and take Kyiv within days, as Hitler had done in Poland in the late 1930s. "24 February showed that… Russia is now a manifest threat and will be for as long as Putin is in power and probably his successor as well. It is THE problem of European stability and security."

Potential energy disruption
The country is one of the world’s largest grain suppliers, meaning conflict is likely to cause supply problems, especially in Europe. The prime minister did confirm that 1,000 more troops would be put on alert in the UK if Russia were to invade although Downing Street is likely to follow the lead set by Nato. Nato is unwilling to send troops into Ukraine itself although the UK has supplied around 2,000 anti-tank missiles to the country. He said he was launching a “special military operation” in the east of the country. Russia has gradually built up a force of close to 190,000 troops around the Ukrainian border over the last few weeks but maintained that it had no intention to invade – until last night.

Since then, the UK government has imposed sanctions on Russian companies, banks and individuals with links to President Putin. “As well as the disruption to existing trade flows, sanctions are likely to damage British companies and banks with investments in Russia,” said the paper. Consequently, Air Vice Marshal Bell says planners need to take political and ethical landscape in which the Kremlin operates into consideration if it ever gets into a fight.
Joe Biden will host the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, at the White House on 9 February to discuss aid to Ukraine. This comes as the US president has been pressing Congress to embrace a bipartisan Senate deal to pair border enforcement measures with aid for Ukraine. Some Republicans have set a deal on border security as a condition for further Ukraine aid. Even if cyberattacks didn’t wipe out Netflix, wartime Britons would still face a life without luxuries. While the Channel has long been the country’s greatest defence, it makes it hard to import in times of war. As well as curbs on foreign consumer goods, there’d be runs on more basic products like medical kits, fuel canisters and masking tape to stop windows shattering during bombing raids.

Biden pressing Congress on Ukraine aid
Those standing against Mr Putin in the upcoming election, including anti-war candidate Boris Nadezhdin, have until Wednesday to gather the required number of supporters' signatures to back their campaigns. Moscow has claimed its forces have taken control of the village of Tabaivka in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region. Unnamed Indian government sources have suggested India wants to distance itself from Russia, according to Reuters news agency. "A frank and constructive dialogue is expected to improve relations between states," the Ukrainian president's office said on its official channel on the Telegram messaging app alongside a photo of Mr Szijjarto, Mr Kuleba and Mr Yermak. Mr Szijarto will be in the western Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak. If the US abandons the military alliance, it will fall to European countries to ensure a Ukrainian victory, Mr OBrien says.

Considering they have been accused of using nuclear and chemical agents in the UK, it might have been assumed the Russians wouldn't follow international rules on the battlefield, but the Ukraine conflict appears to have confirmed it. He said he "strongly suspected" that the government had not "given sufficient resources" to those who were responsible for identifying sanctions targets. It comes after President Putin announced a "special military operation" in Ukraine's Donbas region in a televised address to the Russian people earlier and said the Ukrainian people would be able "to choose freely" who ran the country. The UK gets just 5-6% of its gas imports from Russia, according to analysis of government data by think tank ECIU, so supplies are not likely to be so directly affected. “The British military has a proud tradition of being a voluntary force and there is absolutely no suggestion of a return to conscription,” the MoD said, adding that £50bn was being invested in the military during the current year.
It could even send troops to the three Baltic countries - Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania. After 2,000 anti-tank weapons were delivered last week and 30 British troops arrived to teach Ukrainian forces how to use them, the phrase "God Save the Queen" began trending on Twitter in Ukraine. Some bars and restaurants in Kyiv were offering free drinks to anyone who had a UK passport.


The Russian civil aviation regulator today announced a ban on British airlines landing at Russian airports due to “the unfriendly decisions by the UK aviation authorities”, the BBC reported. “As well as the disruption to existing trade flows, sanctions are likely to damage British companies and banks with investments in Russia,” said the paper. https://euronewstop.co.uk/why-is-putin-obsessed-with-ukraine.html will also “damage economic confidence as the global economy still labours to recover from Covid-19”. Many countries have already raced to impose other sanctions on Moscow following the unprovoked attack on Ukraine.


Considering they have been accused of using nuclear and chemical agents in the UK, it might have been assumed the Russians wouldn't follow international rules on the battlefield, but the Ukraine conflict appears to have confirmed it. Consequently, Air Vice Marshal Bell says planners need to take political and ethical landscape in which the Kremlin operates into consideration if it ever gets into a fight. The success of anti-tank systems the UK and the West has given Ukraine shows that planners' decisions to commission some weapons to counter a Soviet invasion of Europe was right. NATO believed the main threat to Western Europe came from advancing Soviet tanks and developed equipment to use against them on the battlefield.


Several other fossil fuel companies including TotalEnergies, Shell, Equinor, ExxonMobil are also ceasing ventures with Russian majors. Speaking at a military conference, Sanders starkly described the British people as part of a “prewar generation” who may have to prepare themselves to fight in a war against an increasingly aggressive Russia. The chief of general staff highlighted the example of Sweden, which has just reintroduced a form of national service as it closes in on joining Nato. Moscow and Kyiv traded fresh accusations over the plane that Russia says Ukraine’s forces shot down near the rivals’ border, killing 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war. Russian forces launched eight rocket strikes on civilian infrastructure in the Donetsk and the Kherson oblasts, the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said in its morning briefing.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said the UK will launch retaliatory cyber attacks on Russia if it targets the country’s computer networks, telling the House of Commons that “offensive cyber capability” is being developed. The UK government is facing growing calls to move faster on sanctions on wealthy individuals allegedly linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The British government is pushing for Russia to be expelled from the Swift global payment network as the UK braces for a spike in gas and oil prices following Vladimir Putin’s order for an invasion of Ukraine. Since the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014, the UK has sanctioned around 183 individuals under the Russia sanctions regime. Ukraine is known as the “breadbasket of Europe” and along with Russia makes up 29% of global wheat exports, 19% of corn and 80% of sunflower oil. The US currently has warheads stationed in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey, under a Nato nuclear-sharing arrangement.
GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) urged UK businesses and organisations to “bolster their online defences”, warning that there has been a “historical pattern of cyber attacks on Ukraine with international consequences”. The government has already announced a package of sanctions against Russia, targeting Kremlin-linked billionaires, banks and companies. However, those sanctions are “now expected to be significantly expanded”, said The Times. It's promising to deploy British forces to eastern European members of the Nato military alliance if Russian troops cross Ukraine's borders. In response to Gen Sir Patrick speech the UK prime minister's spokesman said hypothetical scenarios of a future potential conflict were not helpful and ruled out any move towards a conscription model for the Army. Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, a Pentagon review of the US’s nuclear posture said it served as a “stark reminder of nuclear risk in contemporary conflict” and warned of “nuclear threats to the homeland and US allies and partners”.


Conservative backbencher Alicia Kearns tweeted on Thursday that the Government should consider cyber attacks on Russia if Mr Putin does not withdraw troops. The UK therefore faces price rises on three fronts as a result of the invasion – oil, gas and food – at a time when inflation is already high and many are facing a cost-of-living crisis. Other senior Nato military commanders have also recently been calling on the alliance to ready itself for a potential conflict. "We will not be immune and as the pre-war generation we must similarly prepare - and that is a whole-of-nation undertaking," he said.

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