Notes

Ukraine: Boris Johnson warns Russian invasion would be disastrous
But far-fetched as they might sound, General Sir Patrick Sanders, the head of Britain’s army, believes it is time we dwelt on them more. As fighting intensifies, cross-Channel shipping is attacked by Russian submarines, and long-range conventional missiles strike Dover and Southampton. After an uneasy peace with Ukraine, Moscow has sent forces into the Baltics, clashing with British troops based there to protect Nato’s eastern flank. A Russian team shot and killed a brother and sister from the Khotin community of the Sumy oblast this morning, the regional military administration said.

It has cut diplomatic ties with Russia, offered weapons to anyone who wants them and declared an overnight curfew for Kyiv. Fighting could spread into Belarus where Russian forces are already stationed. They quoted the Defence Ministry in Moscow claiming that dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war had been on board the flight, on their way to a prisoner exchange. Military kit also needs boots on the ground to operate it – hence Sir Patrick’s call for a “Citizen Army” to boost the regular Armed Forces.
There are reports of attacks on Ukrainian military infrastructure across the country, and Russian convoys entering from all directions. Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has said Hungary clearly supports Sweden’s application to join the alliance. “The aircraft was flying away from Belgorod- it was supposedly carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war with just three guards. Russia mounted an impressively fast disinformation campaign off the back of the incident. “The direction of the crash indicates that the plane left Belgorod and was moving away from it,” My Belgorod reported. Seconds before impact, several objects fell from the Ilyushin, he said, citing video evidence.

Morality and reality: the key problems facing UK military recruiters
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. Retired members of essential professions – doctors, nurses, morticians, police – would be urged back into service. As in https://euronewstop.co.uk/how-did-boris-johnson-travel-to-ukraine.html , office techies could be in demand to operate drones on the front lines and to fend off cyberattacks. The conflict in Ukraine offers a glimpse of how Britain might prepare for self-defence. Checkpoints and pillboxes would be built at motorway junctions and city entrances. Public buildings and metro stations would be used as air raid shelters, while anti-aircraft guns might be hidden in parks.


Finland, Nato's newest member and a country which has an 800-mile border with Russia, has wider conscription. Refusal can mean a jail sentence, though there is the option of civilian service out of uniform too. But it boosts the strength of the professional armed forces, which is often relatively small. Conscription requires young men and women to serve for a limited time in uniform. 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. Many analysts say Beijing in particular is looking on as it formulates its own plans to reunify Taiwan with mainland China.

Sky News Services
Russia's ambitions, he said, were not just about seizing territory but "about defeating our system and way of life politically, psychologically and symbolically". He highlighted numerous threats, but there is one common thread amid all these warnings - Russia. Some autocratic leaders are looking to see how robustly the West resists attempts to undermine the territorial integrity of a sovereign nation. Many analysts fear war in Ukraine could potentially spill over into other European countries. "We will not reopen that divide by agreeing to overturn the European security order because Russia has placed a gun to Ukraine's head." But both of these demands would break key Nato principles, namely that the alliance should be open to any European country that wants to join and that all Nato members should be sovereign nations.


Now, the threat of an encounter with Russia - regarded as a military peer - is very present and it is arguable the British and other allied forces are not yet equipped for that. Mr Murayev called the claims "stupid" in an interview with Reuters news agency. Russia considers the alliance as a threat, and is demanding legal guarantees that it will not expand further east, including into Ukraine. But the US has said the issue at stake is Russian aggression, not Nato expansion.


The former Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain has long been criticised for describing Germany's attempted annexation of Czechoslovakia in 1938 as "a quarrel in a far-away country between people of whom we know nothing". Around 900 British troops are stationed in Estonia under Operation Cabrit, the UK’s contribution to Nato’s Enhanced Forward Presence in the Baltic states, which some fear could also be targeted by Mr Putin. Although the UK has no troops stationed in Ukraine, it has contributed resources to Nato’s presence in the wider region. Oil prices have also risen since the invasion, given Russia’s role as an oil producer and as a form of security for investors as the stock market slumps. War in Ukraine is almost certain to exacerbate cost-of-living problems in the UK. Wholesale gas prices soared on Thursday following the invasion, and, while the UK does not import much gas directly from Russia, British consumers will still be affected by rising worldwide gas prices.

Anton Gerashchenko, a popular blogger and adviser to the internal affairs ministry, said that Russia’s version of events was unconvincing. Around 900 British troops are stationed in Estonia under Operation Cabrit, the UK’s contribution to Nato’s Enhanced Forward Presence in the Baltic states, which some fear could also be targeted by Mr Putin. Cuts have already seen the size of the British Army fall from more than 100,000 in 2010 to around 73,000 now. EU leaders are expected to meet again on 1 February to suss out the financial package. Joe Biden will host the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, at the White House on 9 February to discuss aid to Ukraine.
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. Last month, the European Union paid the final instalment of a multibillion-euro support package to Ukraine to help keep its economy afloat. The European Commission has proposed to provide Ukraine with €50bn ($55bn), with 26 of the 27 nation bloc’s leaders endorsing this plan at a summit before that last payout. Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, is considered to be Putin’s closest ally in the EU.


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