Ukraine-Russia battle newest: UK responds to Moscow’s ‘absurd’ declare Kyiv constructing nuclear weapon with Europe | EUROtoday

South Africa’s authorities has stated that 11 of a bunch of 17 males who have been lured into combating for Russia in Ukraine have been set to return house quickly, after an preliminary 4 landed again within the nation final week.

An extra two remained in Russia, with one in a hospital in Moscow, president Cyril Ramaphosa’s workplace stated in an announcement.

Ramaphosa raised the destiny of the 17 males, who despatched misery calls to the South African authorities in November after getting trapped in Ukraine’s Donbas area, in a telephone name with Russian president Vladimir Putin this month.

Reports of African males being lured into Russia with guarantees of jobs and ending up on Ukraine’s entrance line have turn into extra frequent in latest months, creating tensions between Moscow and a number of the nations concerned.

A Kenyan intelligence report introduced to lawmakers final week estimated that greater than 1,000 Kenyans had been recruited to combat on Russia’s aspect within the battle in Ukraine. Kenya’s overseas minister has stated he plans to go to Russia to handle the problem.

The authorities introduced on Tuesday that Transneft, one of many world’s largest pipeline corporations answerable for transporting over 80 per cent of Russia’s crude exports, was particularly focused to additional diminish Moscow’s vitality revenues.

“The UK has today taken decisive action to disrupt the critical financing, military equipment and revenue streams that sustain Russia’s aggression,” overseas minister Yvette Cooper stated in an announcement.

Andrei Lankov, a outstanding Russian scholar on North Korea who teaches at a Seoul college, was detained in Latvia whereas delivering a lecture, Russian media reported.

Lankov confirmed to a number of information businesses that he was detained by Latvian police simply minutes earlier than delivering a lecture on North Korea and positioned on a blacklist by the nation’s authorities.

Lankov stated law enforcement officials took him to an immigration workplace after which positioned him in a automobile that took him to the border with Estonia. He was ultimately expelled from the nation.

At round 11pm Moscow time, Lankov stated that he was nonetheless being held, including that legal professionals have been engaged on his case and buddies have been serving to with logistics.

“About thirty minutes before the event, police and immigration came and told me that the foreign ministry of Latvia included me on its list of undesirable people,” he informed NK News.

The British govermment has dismissed Russian claims on plans to offer Ukraine with nuclear weapons as an try to distract by Vladimir Putin.

“This is a clear attempt by Vladimir Putin to distract from his heinous actions in Ukraine. There is no truth to this. You’ll have seen the PM’s words this morning paying tribute to the incredible resilience of the Ukrainians… We will continue with our efforts to secure a just and lasting peace,” the prime minister’s spokesperson stated.

The assertion comes as Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), accused Britain and France of making ready to secretly provide Ukraine with nuclear weapons components and expertise, with out offering proof.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has threatened Russia might use nuclear arms in opposition to the UK, Ukraine and France “if necessary”.

The Ukrainian authorities obtained a proper, official message from the US State Department lately after assaults by Ukraine on the Russian port of Novorossiysk affected US pursuits in Kazakhstan, Ukraine’s ambassador to the US, Olha Stefanishyna, stated on Tuesday.

Most of Kazakhstan’s oil is shipped to Novorossiysk for export.

Stefanishyna, talking on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, declined to offer particulars in regards to the State Department’s demarche.

She added that it centered on strikes affecting US pursuits, not halting assaults on Russian vitality infrastructure.

“We have heard from the Department of State that we should refrain from… attacking American interests,” Stefanishyna informed reporters.

“This reach-out was not related to encouraging Ukraine from refraining to attack Russian military and energy infrastructure. It was related to the very fact that American economic interest was affected there,” the official said.

She said the incident made clear that Ukraine had failed to establish similarly close economic ties with the US in the decades since its independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and she was determined to change that.

Donald Trump has said his administration is working very hard to end the war in Ukraine which he claimed is killing at least 25,000 people every month.

“And we’re working very hard to end the ninth war, the killing and slaughter between Russia and Ukraine were 25,000. Soldiers are dying each and every month. Think of that,” he stated, addressing the US lawmakers in his State of the Union speech at this time.

“25,000 soldiers are dying a month, a war which would have never happened if I were president, would have never happened,” Trump stated.

Democratic and Republican US senators have launched a decision supporting Ukraine because it battles Russian invaders, hours earlier than president Donald Trump was attributable to make his nationally televised State of the Union handle to the nation.

The decision was led by Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Thom Tillis, who’re co-chairs of the Senate Nato Observer Group. It had at the least 26 different co-sponsors, evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, representing greater than 1 / 4 of the Senate.

Provisions within the measure embody encouragement of sturdy cooperation amongst Nato allies and a name for any negotiated settlement to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and “include Ukraine as the central party to discussions regarding its future”.

Members of Congress, including some of Trump’s fellow Republicans as well as Democrats, have urged him to do more to help Zelensky’s government, including sending all of the financial and military aid they have authorized over the past several years.

“Congress should proceed to help Ukraine and place actual stress on the Kremlin. That stress should embody sanctions in opposition to Russia’s shadow fleet to chop off Putin’s means to fund the battle and should be executed along side our allies,” Shaheen said in a statement, referring to Russian president Vladimir Putin’s attempts to evade sanctions on oil shipments.

UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said the war there remained “as a stain on our collective conscience” and reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire.

In remarks for a session of the United Nations Security Council to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Guterres commended the efforts of the United States and others to end the war, but said concrete measures were needed to de-escalate and create space for diplomacy.

“We have witnessed the cascading penalties of this blatant violation of worldwide legislation,” he said, referring to the Russian invasion.

He said more than 15,000 civilians had been killed in Ukraine since the start of the war and over 41,000 hurt. Among those killed or hurt were 3,200 children.

Guterres’ remarks were read on his behalf by Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN under-secretary-general for peacebuilding.

Guterres warned that the fighting posed direct risks to the safe and secure operation of Ukraine’s nuclear sites, and added: “This unconscionable recreation of nuclear roulette should stop instantly.”

Vladimir Putin’s forces can sustain the war in Ukraine throughout this year even if the country faces economic and manpower pressures, a military think tank has said.

There is “little indication” that “Russia’s ability to continue its war against Ukraine for a fifth year is diminished”, Bastian Giegerich, the director general of the International Institute for Strategic Studies said as the war completed four years.

According to the IISS, the Kremlin has spent at least $186bn (£138bn) on defence in 2025, more than twice the proportion spent by the US and about three times the spending of the UK.

This also marks a three per cent increase in real terms, estimated to be 7.3 per cent of its GDP, the think tank said. Russia’s military spending has “doubled in real terms since 2021”, said Fenella McGerty, a defence finance expert at the IISS.

The increased military budget allows Russia to spend more heavily on military equipment and recruitment to sustain relentless ground and air attacks against Ukraine in the immediate future, she said.