Russia-Ukraine war: Putin to make shock G20 speech today amid Avdiivka setback – live

The Kremlin said on Monday that President Vladimir Putin will set out Russia’s view of what it sees as the “deeply unstable world situation” when he addresses an upcoming virtual G20 summit.

Russian state TV presenter Pavel Zarubin said on his Telegram channel on Sunday that it would be the “first event in a long time” including both Putin and Western leaders.

According to the state RIA news agency, the G20 virtual summit will be held on Wednesday.

Separately, RIA reported that Putin will also take part via video link in a discussion on Tuesday about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at a summit of the BRICS bloc of nations.

Russian anti-aircraft units destroyed three Ukrainian drones over the Crimean peninsula, the Russian defence ministry said.

“An attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack with aircraft-type UAVs on objects on the territory of the Russian Federation was prevented,” the defence ministry said.

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Ukraine says it will not rest until every last Russian soldier is ejected from its territory. Russia says Crimea is now part of Russia.

“Three Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed over the territory of the Republic of Crimea by air defences,” the ministry added.

The Kremlin has declined to comment on a suggestion by White House spokesman John Kirby that Iran may be considering providing Russia with ballistic missiles for use in Ukraine.

“We are developing relations with Iran, including in the field of military-technical cooperation, but we do not comment on this information,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a regular news briefing.

Kirby said the United States would monitor the situation between Iran and Russia, and take appropriate action as needed.

Ukrainian air defences shot down all 14 Shahed drones launched by Russian forces in an overnight attack, the air force said on Wednesday.

The air force said in a statement the attack on Ukraine’s central, southeastern, and western regions lasted from 8pm on Tuesday until 3am on Wednesday. There were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage.

The air force also said that the Russian military launched an X-22 missile in Zaporizhzhia region in the southeast but the missile failed to reach its target, falling into a field.

Ukrainian and Russian forces have continued to conduct offensive operations in eastern and southern Ukraine despite rainy and snowy weather conditions, a war monitoring think tank said.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that Ukrainian Kherson Oblast Military Administration Advisor Serhiy Khlan stated on Monday that the Russian shelling of the west (right) bank of Kherson Oblast had decreased due to poor weather conditions.

Ukrainian 14th Mechanized Brigade Spokesperson Nadiya Zamryha also said on Tuesday that Russian forces continue to conduct assaults in the Kupyansk direction despite the snow and frost.

Zamryha added that the number of Russian attacks will likely decrease due to weather conditions but that Russian forces will not stop offensive operations completely.

Vladimir Putin has scaled back his assault on Avdiivka, said Kyiv’s military officials who also warned that the attacks have not fully stopped yet.

Mr Putin is pouring in fewer troops and equipment in an attempt to seize the battered but strategic Ukrainian stronghold in the Donetsk oblast that has largely been occupied by Russia.

“Russian occupying forces have reduced the number of ground and air attacks, though they still violate the rules of war by shooting at medical teams and evacuation vehicles,” said Ukrainian military spokesperson Oleksandr Shtupun.

Avdiivka, that has a vast coking plant, has seen fierce fighting and is now down to just 1,500 residents compared to its pre-war population of about 32,000.

“The invaders are not abandoning their plans to surround Avdiivka. Eight attacks were repelled today,” the spokesperson said.

Vladimir Putin has scaled back his assault on Avdiivka, said Kyiv’s military officials who also warned that the attacks have not fully stopped yet, reports my colleague Arpan Rai.

Mr Putin is pouring in fewer troops and equipment in an attempt to seize the battered but strategic Ukrainian stronghold in the Donetsk oblast that has largely been occupied by Russia.

“Russian occupying forces have reduced the number of ground and air attacks, though they still violate the rules of war by shooting at medical teams and evacuation vehicles,” said Ukrainian military spokesperson Oleksandr Shtupun.

Avdiivka, that has a vast coking plant, has seen fierce fighting and is now down to just 1,500 residents compared to its pre-war population of about 32,000.

“The invaders are not abandoning their plans to surround Avdiivka. Eight attacks were repelled today,” the spokesperson said.

A Ukrainian sniper claims to have broken the world record by killing a Russian soldier almost 2.5 miles away, with a custom rifle called ‘Lord of the Horizon’.

The previous record was held by a Canadian special operations sniper at a distance of 2.2 miles in Iraq in 2017.

Read the full article here

Poland is set to receive more than 5 billion euros ($5.5 billion) in EU funds after the European Commission gave a positive assessment Tuesday of the country’s revised recovery plan that includes green reforms and investments.

The 5.1 billion euros pre-financing is part of the bloc’s REPowerEU program aimed at helping the 27 EU nations recover from the energy crisis that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, and reduce their dependance to Russian fossil fuels.

The announcement came a month after an election in Poland secured a parliamentary majority to pro-EU parties aligned with Donald Tusk.

The Queen has commended journalists “risking their lives” reporting from the Middle East and Ukraine, as she celebrated the 135th anniversary of the Foreign Press Association (FPA) at its annual awards ceremony.

Camilla was made an honorary member of the FPA at the Sheraton Grand Park Lane hotel in Piccadilly, west London, “following in the footsteps” of the King, who has also received honorary life membership.

The FPA in London is the oldest and largest association of foreign correspondents in the world, founded in 1888 by foreign journalists who came to London to cover the case of Jack the Ripper.