Ukraine Russia war latest: Kyiv troops withdraw from villages

A UK MP says Vladimir Putin is “now more powerful than Stalin” and “Europe is at war”.

Speaking during an urgent question on the UK’s aid to Ukraine in the House of Commons, Tobias Ellwood said it was “very clear” that the Ukraine war would “move out further”.

“Putin is now more powerful than Stalin, trying to emulate what Stalin did in eastern Europe.

“Can we agree that Europe is at war? This affects us, this affects our economy and security.”

Russia has shown a repeated “inability” to protect its high-value aircraft and Ukraine’s defences “continue to pose a threat”, the UK defence ministry has said.

It referenced the downing of two Russian A-50 aircraft by Ukraine in as many months – specialist spy planes which are estimated to cost nearly £300m each.

The MoD pointed out that there was a “remote” chance that an A-50 shot down four days ago was hit by Russia itself.

The head of the UK armed forces has insisted “Britain is secure” and “we are not on the cusp of war with Russia”.

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin used a public speech today to stress that “we are not about to be invaded” and no one in the Ministry of Defence is talking about conscription.

“Britain is safe. We are safe because we are part of NATO… and also because we are a responsible nuclear power,” he said.

Russia’s information war will peak in the “coming weeks”, the Ukrainian intelligence department has warned.

Late last year, Ukraine reported Moscow had launched the Maidan-3 special operation which aimed to spread anti-Ukrainian messages online.

In a Telegram post today, it said the plan had cost $1.5bn and was “the most expensive action of the Russian special services in history”.

“During the coming weeks, the enemy will make every effort to spread narratives destructive to global security and attempts to incite conflicts – both inside Ukraine and in other parts of the world, where there is effective support of Ukraine,” it said.

Ukraine has approved the new head of a state watchdog responsible for crafting anti-corruption policy, officials said.

Fighting graft is a top priority for Ukraine as it seeks membership in the European Union, and authorities have stepped up their crackdown during the war with Russia.

Viktor Pavluschyk, a former investigator, will serve a four-year term heading the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) after winning an internationally supervised recruitment competition.

NACP formulates Ukraine’s anti-corruption agenda and monitors public servants for illicit gains, working closely with Kyiv’s anti-graft law enforcement agencies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in Saudi Arabia on a working visit on Tuesday to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to a statement posted on his Telegram account.

Zelenskiy wrote that the primary topics of discussion would be Kyiv’s Peace Formula framework for ending Russia’s invasion, as well as the return of captives and deported people.

The Saudi state news agency confirmed in a statement that Zelenskiy had arrived in the kingdom.