World

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said, from tomorrow, countries buying gas from Russia must pay in roubles or their contracts will not be honoured. In a televised statement on Thursday, Mr Putin said he had signed a decree to that effect, adding that the switch to roubles was designed to “strengthen our sovereignty”. He said:

Demoralised Russian soldiers in Ukraine have accidentally shot down their own aircraft, sabotaged their own kit, and refused to carry out orders, a British spy chief will reveal. Sir Jeremy Fleming, the head of GCHQ, is set to use a rare public speech to say it increasingly looks like Russia’s President Vladimir Putin “has massively

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed scepticism about peace talks with Russia, saying signals it will pull back troops from some areas “do not drown out the ruptures of Russian shells”. It comes as Russia started withdrawing some forces from around Kyiv, according to CNN. In a new video – the first time he has

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Russia’s signals it will pull back troops from some areas “do not drown out the ruptures of Russian shells”. In a new video – the first time he has spoken about the peace talks that ended with a hint of some possible progress ahead – he said that only

Ukrainian soldiers have described the dangers of using a mobile phone at the frontline in the conflict with Russian backed-separatists in recent years. “When you hear a drone, you have about five seconds to leave your position and run. The rocket will fly in that fast.” New evidence suggests the mobile networks are now being weaponised

Ukrainian troops are regaining territory around the capital and pushing back Russian forces, the country’s president has said. Speaking in his latest evening message, Volodymyr Zelenskyy heralded the “liberation” of Irpin, a key town on the northwest fringe of Kyiv. The president said that, despite the gains, Russian troops still control north of Kyiv and

A US official has cast doubt on claims that sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian peace negotiators were victims of a poisoning earlier this month. Three men including Mr Abramovich suffered symptoms including red eyes, constant and painful tearing and peeling skin on their hands and faces, a source confirmed to Sky News. Mr

The Ukrainian city of Mariupol is on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe with 160,000 civilians trapped, its mayor has said. Vadym Boychenko said the southern port city must be entirely evacuated and that 26 buses were waiting to begin transporting people away from the area. But he said Russian forces had not agreed to

The near silence and utter wasteland left behind by this Russian invasion is crushingly complete and takes your breath away. The cultural centre of Byshiv village is levelled. There’s a small pile of Ukrainian poetry books which someone has stacked together. Macron warns Biden over regime change confusion – live updates on Ukraine This was

The battlefield in northern Ukraine remains “largely static” but Russian troops are concentrating efforts on the “encirclement” of Ukrainian forces in the east, the Ministry of Defence has said. In its latest intelligence update, the MoD said local counterattacks have hampered Russian attempts to reorganise its forces. It said: “Russian forces appear to be concentrating

Russia claims it has launched missile strikes on a Ukrainian military infrastructure from the Black Sea in the northwestern city of Zhytomyr – around 96 miles from the capital of Kyiv. A crew of a small missile ship off the Black Sea Fleet launched four Kalibr cruise missiles at military facilities belonging to the Ukrainian

It’s taken ten days for the world to learn if anyone survived the bombing of a theatre in Mariupol. Images filmed from inside the building show people covered in dust, clearly in shock, but alive. Only now have those mobile phone pictures made it to the outside world. On 16 March a theatre sheltering more

Those who’ve made it out alive from the city of Chernihiv in north Ukraine call it “hell” – and fear it’s fast turning into another Mariupol by the advancing Russian troops. We witnessed Chernihiv being brutally cut off – from all humanitarian aid and from the outside world. The city has been bombarded for weeks

It is an unremarkable spot, a large car park in front of a Ukrainian supermarket called Epicentre. Yet it means a lot to the people of Mariupol. In fact, it’s a beacon of light in the spring sunshine, marking the end of a horrific ordeal for tens of thousands of people. “Not just a parking

A summit of NATO leaders in Brussels was meant as a show of unity against Russian President Vladimir Putin and of unwavering support for Ukraine. But the 30-member alliance is performing a hugely difficult balancing act in an evolving response to Russia‘s war with its neighbour. Allies needed to help the Ukrainian armed forces defend

Britain and its Western allies will increase the economic pressure on Russia and are looking to see if more can be done to “shorten” the war in Ukraine such as preventing President Vladimir Putin from accessing his gold reserves, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said. Speaking ahead of a NATO meeting in Brussels, he said

One of two black boxes from the China Eastern plane which crashed on Monday has been found in a severely damaged condition, investigators have said. The recorder is so damaged that they are not able to tell whether it is the flight data recorder or the cockpit voice recorder. Flight MU5735, a Boeing 737-800 carrying

Some 100,000 people are stuck in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol with no food or water, Ukraine’s president has said. In a speech overnight, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: “As of today, there are about 100,000 people in the city, in inhumane conditions, in a complete blockade. “No food, no water, no medicine. “Under constant shelling, under

Russian forces attempting to encircle Kyiv have partially occupied three north-western suburbs, as Ukrainian forces continued to defend the besieged city of Mariupol. The Ukrainian army said in the early hours of Tuesday that it had forced Russian troops out of Makariv – a strategically important Kyiv suburb – after a fierce battle, retaking control

The streets and thoroughfares of Kharkiv have been abandoned by the majority of those who resided in Ukraine’s second-largest city. Under near-constant shellfire, at least half a million have fled the community with their prized possessions stashed in a bag. Thousands of cars have been discarded in the streets that surround the central station. Those