War-in-Ukraine-Latest-News--Updates-a

The town is sometimes described as the gateway to the city of Donetsk, which has been occupied by Russia and its proxy forces since 2014. Taking Avdiivka - which lies close by - would allow Russia to push the front line back, making it harder for the Ukrainian forces to retake the territory. Only aircraft deployed to protect energy facilities, or those carrying top Russian or foreign officials, will be allowed to fly with special permission in the designated zones, according to the Vedomosti daily newspaper.

• Historically, Russia and countries that are a part of Nato have not always got on.









• Ukraine's armed forces have been fighting against the Russian military for a year now, and countries around the the world have been supporting Ukraine by supplying weapons and armed vehicles, such as tanks, to defend themselves.









• As the brutal war in Ukraine continues, many people inside Russia are hearing and seeing a very different narrative, one where words such as war or invasion do not exist.









• So at a recent gathering in Vilnius, a slogan on stage called on those abroad to "be brave, like Ukraine", but the mood was subdued with a hint of helplessness.









• After eight years of fighting a Russian-backed breakaway insurgency in the east of their country they are now watching it being shelled, bombed and rocketed by their giant nuclear-armed neighbour.

The ISW does note that Russia's advances might be the result of Ukrainian forces withdrawing to "more defensible positions" near Robotyne. When Ukraine retook Robotyne in August it was hoped that its forces would be able to cut the land corridor to Crimea, making Moscow's supply lines more complicated. The attack on the Slavneft-YANOS refinery caused no fire or casualties, governor Mikhail Yevrayev said.

What has been the impact of the Ukraine war on the rest of the world?

You can be horrified by what Russia has done and is doing—as of course I am—and, at the same time, be concerned about dehumanizing a whole group of people in response. But, at the same time, I can understand why this might seem like sophistry to Ukrainians who have lost their homes, their friends, and seen their fellow Ukrainians tortured and murdered. Mr Navalny's team have been trying to undermine support for the war via YouTube. "No-one attacked Russia, no-one needed these separations and these deaths," Mr Volkov wrote on Twitter. "It's strange to ban people for being Russian, whether or not they support Putin's regime," argues Anastasia Shevchenko, an activist who spent two years under house arrest for protesting against the Russian president. This week Lithuania - together with Latvia, Estonia and Poland - banned all Russian tourists, arguing they should not be enjoying democracy and freedom in Europe while their government attacks those very values in Ukraine.

• Ukraine has continued ground operations on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River with heavy battles reported to be ongoing in the area around the village of Krynky, about 30km (19 miles) from the city of Kherson.









• Mr Gudkov left Moscow well before the war, saying he was warned to go - or go to jail.









• In a panel I moderated, the Ukrainian historian and author Olena Stiazhkina began her remarks by expressing her gratitude to the Ukrainian armed forces for their defense of the homeland.









• A senior European Union official has denied that member states are discussing financial coercion to force Hungary to agree on financing for Ukraine.









• "We need independent media to stop the war and then try and improve life in Russia at least to a degree."

That scenario, of a Russian military incursion into a Nato country, almost unthinkable until recently, is when Nato and Russia could indeed be at war with each other. Nato is certainly taking no chances and has put over 100 warplanes on full alert. https://bagge-albrechtsen.mdwrite.net/russias-wanton-destruction-against-ukraine-must-be-stopped-uk-statement-to-the-osce-1707857040 was one of the first countries to send reinforcements - to a grateful Estonia, where Kusti Salm is nevertheless realistic about what they can achieve. Despite desperate pleas from Kyiv for the West to come to its aid, Nato has categorically ruled out sending troops to Ukraine. "We need to give them weapons like Javelin anti-tank missiles, anti-aircraft missiles, ammunition and protective equipment. Every Nato nation should be helping them," he says. Resistance has already begun, with a nationwide call-up of men of fighting age and 18,000 automatic weapons being handed out to the citizens of Kyiv, in addition to the uniformed army and reserves who are already putting up stiff resistance.

Historically, Russia and countries that are a part of Nato have not always got on. Many people in Ukraine want the country to join Nato to avoid being dominated by Russia. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) is a military alliance of countries which includes the US and the UK. It is estimated the UK has spent £2.3bn on military assistance, making the country the second biggest military donor behind the US.

00Surgeons from city train medics in Ukraine, published at 06:00Surgeons from city train medics in Ukraine

There are some prominent Russians who are willing to speak out against the invasion of Ukraine. Elena Kovalskaya, formerly the artistic director of the state-owned Meyerhold Theatre and Cultural Center, resigned from her role last week in protest. There has been a raft of sanctions imposed on Russia and on Russian citizens in the past week in response to President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Western powers are unwilling to send troops to fight in the conflict but have sought to make the Kremlin’s actions unsustainable with tough economic punishments.

It is this that makes the anti-war protests against the invasion of Ukraine so telling. Russia's invasion plan has not gone entirely to plan - Britain's Defence Intelligence says hundreds of Russian troops have been killed and resistance is stiff - but it is progressing. Russia's forces outnumber Ukraine's by more than three-to-one, and there are questions about the quality of Ukraine's military leadership and how long its forces can hold out. 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. And what I'm really torn up about is that there are hundreds of phenomenal Russian journalists who are working so hard to tell Russians the truth about their own country. These are people who made very small salaries when they could have made much more by going over to the Kremlin side.

"The regional war in the Middle East, with its epicentre in Gaza, is unlikely to escalate into a World War. Currently it's not a flashpoint between the major world powers. "Certainly, the time we are living in is enormously dangerous. And the killing of three US troops in Jordan has increased the likelihood for the crisis in the Middle East deepening considerably. The head of the British Army said UK citizens should be "trained and equipped" to fight in a potential war with Russia, describing those living today as the "pre-war generation". Last week, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps warned the world could be engulfed by wars involving China, Russia, North Korea and Iran in the next five years, and said we are moving "from a post-war to pre-war world". The defence secretary has warned we are moving to a "pre-war world", top military brass are talking about conscription and tensions in the Middle East show no signs of abating. While dissenting voices to Putin’s invasion are minimised in Russia, the scale and the intensity of the feeling of support for Ukraine means that the opposition cannot be entirely silenced by the Kremlin.

It is firmly controlled by the Kremlin and pumps out relentless war propaganda. Ukrainians are said to shell their own cities, and Russian troops are presented as liberators. An authoritarian streak runs through Putin’s two decades in control of Russia and his government takes any opportunity it has to crush opposition and gag dissenters.

• But clashes have also been taking place around Kyiv and the Black Sea port cities of Odesa and Mariupol.









• Within weeks of the war breaking out, a scheme was launched called Homes for Ukraine, matching Ukrainians with families in the UK who were able to offer shelter and accommodation.









• "It is this disconnect of world view, combined with the willingness to use force, that makes the situation in eastern Europe so very dangerous.









• Russia's invasion plan has not gone entirely to plan - Britain's Defence Intelligence says hundreds of Russian troops have been killed and resistance is stiff - but it is progressing.









• An unspoiled and peaceful part of the city, for me it embodies Russia's complex present and past.









• It follows a series of similar drone raids on Russian energy infrastructure in recent weeks, some of which have disrupted fuel production.

Eastern European countries, who fear they may be next in Putin's sights, are watching nervously for any Russian manoeuvres close to their borders. Kusti Salm, the permanent secretary at Estonia's Ministry of Defence, is one of those pushing for more military assistance to Ukraine. "But it might not destroy the Ukrainian government - provided it has made plans to set up a new government HQ, most likely in the western part of the country." Within weeks of the war breaking out, a scheme was launched called Homes for Ukraine, matching Ukrainians with families in the UK who were able to offer shelter and accommodation. But there was criticism that current rules and systems were too complicated and too strict. Mr Biden said that the US would be giving a new military aid package to Ukraine, worth $500m (around £415 million).

There are, however, Russian independent media who still defy government restrictions. For example, Novaya Gazeta blurred out the anti-war poster held up by a protester who interrupted a live news bulletin on Russian state TV. "Nothing is inevitable, but the Ukraine invasion in particular has shown that Russia sees war as an instrument of policy, as a tool to change the world order in its favour, and not simply as a means of defence. "In one sense the situation now is far more perilous than it was in 1914 and 1939 because the major powers all have nuclear weapons. "Washington's impulse after the Hamas attack was to provide Israel with unequivocal support but also to do everything it could to contain the fires that atrocity started - what we are now seeing are the limitations of that policy.

There are reports of attacks on Ukrainian military infrastructure across the country, and Russian convoys entering from all directions. You can argue that it isn’t realistic or human to force all Russians into a black-and-white response—either oppose the war or you are complicit. People have young children to look after, cancer and other illnesses to manage, aging parents to care for. It’s easy to imagine that they feel they can’t—or don’t want to—get arrested for opposing a distant war because of these kinds of responsibilities, even if it is being waged in their name.