Notes

UK citizen army: Preparing the 'pre-war generation' for conflict
Russia’s military is likely to make a formal entrance into the territories soon. Its troops and military vehicles have secretly taken part in the fighting since 2014, but this deployment will probably be much larger. Moscow will now threaten Ukraine with a broader war if it continues to fight against the “separatists”, telling Kyiv that Russia is now obliged by treaty to defend them from attack.


Watch Boris Johnson call the Ukraine invasion "wanton and reckless aggression" by Russia. US President Joe Biden has ruled out sending troops even to shepherd American citizens out of Ukraine because he said if Russians and Americans end up fighting that would be World War III. The conflict is likely to remain confined to Ukraine and Russia in terms of actual fighting. This is a question lots of you put forward and has been tackled by our security and defence editor Deborah Haynes here... It has sent military equipment, weapons as well as ammunition as well as anti-tank drones to Ukraine, however, Germany’s has refused to send “lethal weapons” to Ukraine.

Russia and Ukraine peace talks:
Nato powers are already promising to build up their own forces in the alliance's eastern flank. 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. Nato member states have increasingly sent Ukraine air defence systems to protect its cities, as well as missile systems, artillery and drones that helped turn the tide against Russia's invasion. Russia's long-time leader was also desperate to prevent Ukraine from entering Nato's orbit, but his attempt to blame the Western defensive alliance for the war is false.

Russia has begun a large-scale military attack on Ukraine, its southern neighbour, on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russian air defence shot down a Ukrainian drone over the Bryansk oblast today, regional governor Alexander Bogomaz said on Telegram. In 1968 the Government developed an operation, codenamed Python, to disperse the key figures in groups to different parts of the country, including on yachts at sea. Russia's ambitions, he said, were not just about seizing territory but "about defeating our system and way of life politically, psychologically and symbolically". While it is possible Russia might attempt to block the meeting with a vote, it will need support from nine of the 15 members.
Many analysts say Beijing in particular is looking on as it formulates its own plans to reunify Taiwan with mainland China. The fear is that if Russia is allowed to invade Ukraine unresisted, that might act as a signal to other leaders that the days of Western powers intervening in other conflicts are over. If war broke out in Ukraine and Russian forces occupied large swathes of the country, many civilians might flee. In 1994, the UK - along with the US - signed a memorandum at an international conference in Budapest promising "to respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine". They also promised to provide assistance to Ukraine if it "should become a victim of an act of aggression".

UK citizen army: Preparing the 'pre-war generation' for conflict
It means that some of the population will have had some military training - and can then be assigned to reserve units should war break out. Talk of wider war in Europe and the potential need for mass mobilisation or a "citizen army" may sound alarming. But the head of the British Army Gen Sir Patrick Sanders is not alone in issuing a national call to prepare for a major conflict on European soil. Europe’s most divisive energy project, Nord Stream 2 bypasses the traditional gas transit nation of Ukraine by running along the bed of the Baltic Sea. On Tuesday, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, stopped the certification process for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in response to Russia’s recognition of the two self-proclaimed republics.


In the Baltic republic of Estonia, which borders Russia, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said a number of Nato allies that shared borders with Russia had agreed to launch consultations under Nato's Article 4. Under the defensive alliance's treaty, Nato can be brought together if any member fears their independence or territory is under threat. Thursday's invasion followed weeks of escalating tensions, as Russia massed troops along Ukraine's borders. In the capital Kyiv, home to almost three million people, warning sirens blared out as traffic queued to leave the city and crowds sought shelter in metro stations. "We don't understand what we should do now," one woman called Svetlana told the BBC.


A spate of Ukraine-linked attacks on Russia's oil infrastructure have reportedly led Moscow's energy ministry to propose restricting flights over energy facilities. If the US abandons the military alliance, it will fall to European countries to ensure a Ukrainian victory, Mr OBrien says. European countries have largely outsourced much of their military capacity and thinking on strategy and security to the States through NATO.


Fighting between Russian, pro-Russian and Ukrainian forces is still ongoing in the region. While both Ukraine and western countries have accused Russia of sending weapons to assist, Moscow has denied intervention. https://euronewstop.co.uk/what-is-a-vacuum-bomb-ukraine.html ’ve said that the Russians who joined the fighting volunteered to do so on their own. They’ve also criticised the US and NATO for giving Ukraine weapons, saying that it’s encouraging rebel areas. While Russia's Vladimir Putin insisted for months that there were no plans to invade Ukraine, it's the question everyone is asking as the president declared a "special military operation" in the Donbas region of the country.

Now Russia have confirmed plans to invade Ukraine, although Vladimir Putin has said he has no plans to "occupy" the country, various states have confirmed that Russia will face harsh sanctions. That was before the collapse of the Soviet Union, however, so the promise made to then Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev referred merely to East Germany in the context of a reunified Germany. While both Ukraine and western countries have accused Russia of sending weapons to assist, Moscow has denied intervention. At home, Russia's economy on the surface appears to have weathered a series of Western sanctions for now, although its budget deficit has soared and oil and gas revenue has fallen dramatically. Steven Tian, part of a team of researchers at Yale University who track what companies have done in response to the Ukraine war, told the BBC the company should be “ashamed” of continuing to invest in the country. Nebenzya says the meeting was called on “unfounded accusations” and talks about “the myth of Russian aggression”.
Mr Wallace explained that sending UK troops to fight in Ukraine - an ally of the UK but not a member of the Nato military alliance it is part of - would trigger a European war. The UK does have plans to extract the Queen, other members of the Royal Family, the Prime Minister and top officials from London in the event of a nuclear attack, and into bunkers dispersed across the country. British prime minister Boris Johnson will speak to Russian president Vladimir Putin later on Monday, as London attempts to pressure Moscow over its troop build-up on the border with Ukraine. Russian military vehicles are reported to have breached Ukraine's border in a number of places, in the north, south and east, including from Belarus. A lot of the stark warnings we are hearing from our own government should be seen in that light. Your parents are likely to pay even more for gas and electricity because of this crisis.

Mr Johnson said the UK and its allies would agree a "massive package of economic sanctions" in a bid to "hobble" the Russian economy, warning that the West would need to cease its dependence on Russian oil and gas. Filip Pronin, governor of Poltava region, wrote on Telegram that the attack struck an industrial site in the city of Kremenchuk, sparking a fire. Meanwhile Russia's currency, the rouble, fell to an all-time low against the dollar and the euro.
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