Ukraine-Russia war: ‘US or French missiles’ took down Russian plane, says Putin
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Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of using French or American missiles to shoot down a Russian military plane that crashed on Wednesday in Russia’s Belgorod region.
Some 74 people on board the Ilyushin Il-76 plane were killed. The aircraft was allegedly carrying 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers who were en route to be swapped for Russian prisoners of war.
“The main intelligence department of the Ukrainian army knew that we were taking 65 servicemen there. They did it by mistake or thoughtlessly, but they did it,” Putin told Russian state media.
“The strike on the Il-76 was carried out by either American or French systems, the exact details will be determined in the coming days,” he said as reported on URA.
Ukraine has not confirmed or denied whether it shot down the plane and has challenged Moscow’s account.
06:02 PM GMT
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06:01 PM GMT
Today’s headlines
Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of using French or American missiles to shoot down a Russian military plane that crashed on Wednesday in Russia’s Belgorod region
Italy needs to expand its army with a reserve force, the country’s defence minister has said
Ukraine accused Russia of using prisoners of war as “human shields” as the United Nations Security Council met to discuss the downing of an Il-76 transport plane earlier this week
Viktor Orban will visit Kyiv for talks with Volodymyr Zelensky
Russia has given up on encircling Avdiivka and is preparing to take the eastern Ukrainian town at a heavy cost by fighting through it, the Institute for the Study of War said
The Kremlin denied that Vladimir Putin had signalled to Washington that Russia is ready to end the war in Ukraine
The West must do more for Ukraine because it is fighting for the “rest of us”, former Nato secretary general Lord Robertson said
Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence agency accused Russia of opposing an international investigation into the military plane which crashed in Belgorod on Wednesday
Russia’s foreign ministry accused Ukraine of shooting it down to reclaim the world’s attention
Russia claimed to have found Ukrainian IDs at the crash site
Russia’s only Black Sea oil terminal has been out of action since it was attacked by Ukrainian drones in the early hours of Thursday, it emerged
05:53 PM GMT
Woman killed and child wounded in Russian bombardment of Novohrodivka and Krasnohorivka
A 60-year-old woman was killed and an 11-year-old child was injured after Russian forces bombarded the Ukranian settlements of Novohrodivka and Krasnohorivka.
Two S-300 anti-aircraft missiles were fired at Novohrodivka on Thursday night, injuring an 11-year-old boy who had been sleeping in his room. He was wounded on his leg and taken to hospital with his parents.
Krasnohorivka was attacked with tubed artillery, killing a local resident near her home.
10 private households, two residential buildings, a shop, three garages and several civilian cars were also damaged in the attack.
05:39 PM GMT
Kremlin denies Putin put out 'feelers' about ending the Ukraine war
The Kremlin has denied that Vladimir Putin put out “feelers” to the United States about ending the war in Ukraine.
Bloomberg cited two sources close to the Kremlin who said Russia had signalled to Washington in December that it was ready for peace talks with Volodymyr Zelensky.
“No, this is a wrong report,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “It absolutely does not correspond to reality.”
The Bloomberg report claimed Putin was willing to abandon his public demands that Ukraine never joins Nato if the areas of Ukraine occupied by his army are internationally recognised as Russian territory.
Russia formally annexed Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia in September 2022 and Crimea in March 2014.
But they remain recognised internationally as rightfully Ukrainian land.
The Bloomberg report also said US officials were not aware of Putin’s supposed positions and do not believe he is seriously considering ending the war.
03:45 PM GMT
Italy needs to expand its army, says the country's defence minister
Nick Squires in Rome writes
Italy needs to expand its army with a reserve force, the country’s defence minister has said.
Guido Crosetto, a minister in the coalition government led by prime minister Giorgia Meloni, said Italy was not contemplating a return to conscription but wanted to enlarge the defence forces.
“Building an armed forces reserve, as they have in Switzerland and Israel, is my objective, although of course it would only be deployed in serious circumstances,” he told Corriere della Sera newspaper in an interview on Friday.
“We will propose a law on this in the next few weeks. The world is changing, we are fighting conventional wars as well as hybrid wars.”
His comments come as Western countries debate how to confront the prospect of Russia attacking a NATO member, should Vladimir Putin choose to expand his war against Ukraine.
03:25 PM GMT
In pictures: Soldier makes snow angel in bomb crater
03:09 PM GMT
Ukraine invites President of China to peace talks in Switzerland
Ukraine has invited Xi Jinping to peace talks in Switzerland.
Ivor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of the Ukrainian President’s Office said: “We are definitely inviting China to participate in the summit, at the highest level, at the level of the President of the People’s Republic of China.”
02:39 PM GMT
Russia hands over 77 dead Ukrainian soldiers
Russia has handed over the bodies of 77 dead Ukrainian soldiers.
This latest repatriation of bodies appeared unrelated to the downing of the Il-76 transport plane over Belgorod.
“Preparations for the repatriation had been underway for a long time,” Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement.
It said it would now identify the remains Russia handed over.
02:30 PM GMT
We found Ukrainian IDs at crash site, claims Russia
Russia has claimed to have found Ukrainian identification papers at the site where a Russian military plane crashed in Belgorod on Wednesday.
It has accused Ukraine of shooting down the aircraft and killing the 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war and nine others who were on board.
Russia’s state investigative committee said officials had collected body parts at the site for genetic testing and claimed some bore distinctive tattoos similar to those which other interrogated Ukrainian POWs had.
Moscow has sole access to the crash site. Ukraine says a list of the 65 POWs who Russia claims were on the plane which was published by the editor-in-chief of Russia Today includes the names of men who returned in previous prisoner swaps.
02:08 PM GMT
In pictures: The frontline today
02:03 PM GMT
Ukrainian companies could soon pay for employees to avoid call-up
Ukrainian companies could soon pay for their employees to avoid being called up into the armed forces if a new parliamentary bill becomes law.
Forbes Ukraine reported that the parliament’s economic committee has been drafting a bill which in its current form would allow companies to pay a monthly fee to the government to exempt a formally employed individual from conscription.
Current rules only allow those in reserved occupations to avoid the draft.
It is hoped that the proposed measures would increase government revenues and discourage companies from employing people on casual contracts.
01:31 PM GMT
Russia ‘used plane POWs as human shields’
Ukraine has accused Russia of using prisoners of war as “human shields” as the United Nations Security Council met to discuss the downing of an Il-76 transport plane earlier this week.
Khrystyna Hayovyshyn, Ukraine’s deputy ambassador to the UN, said that, if it is confirmed that POWs were on board, the incident was “the first case of Russia using a human shield in the air to cover the transportation of missiles for their further use against peaceful Ukrainian cities”.
She added: “Ukraine was not informed about the number of vehicles, roads and means of transportation of the captives. This alone may constitute intentional actions by Russia to endanger the lives and safety of the prisoners.”
Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN, told the Security Council that Ukraine made a “premeditated” decision to shoot the aircraft down with the aim of furthering “Western geopolitical interests”.
The US said Russia was ultimately responsible because it chose to invade Ukraine.
“Russia has repeatedly attempted to shift responsibility for the tragedies of this senseless war of choice, as though it is the victim and not the aggressor,” deputy envoy Robert Wood said.
01:25 PM GMT
In pictures: Damage from Russian attacks
01:19 PM GMT
Russia's new hypersonic naval missile fails testing
Russia’s next generation Zircon hypersonic naval missile needs further testing before entering service.
The director of NPO Mashinostroyeniya, who is designing it, told the Tass news agency that “it was not a quick procedure”.
Russia says the Zircon has a range of 560 miles (900km) and can travel at several times the speed of sound.
Russia’s defence ministry said last year that one of its navy frigates had practised launching the missiles in the Atlantic and that new nuclear submarines would be equipped with them.
12:55 PM GMT
Ukraine shot down to reclaim world's attention, Russia claims
Russia’s foreign ministry has claimed that Ukraine shot down the Il-76 military transport plane on Wednesday in an attempt to reclaim the world’s “fading” attention.
“By committing such atrocities, the Kyiv regime hopes to fuel the fading interest of the world community in the Ukrainian crisis, to encourage its sponsors not only to maintain, but also to increase the volume of financial assistance and arms supplies,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
12:30 PM GMT
Ukraine accuses Russia of hiding plane crash information from Red Cross
Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence agency has accused Russia of hiding information about Wednesday’s military plane crash from the Red Cross.
Andriy Yusov, its spokesman, said Russia had not disclosed any information about the condition of the prisoners of war.
“Such information should be public and passed on, in particular by Russia, to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which should verify the health, conditions and location of prisoners of war,” he said.
“As far as we know, no such information has been passed to the Red Cross.”
12:07 PM GMT
Ukrainian lions arrive at France wildlife park
A trio of lions have arrived at a wildlife park in France after being transported from Ukraine.
The two-year-olds – male Atlas and lionesses Luladja and Queen – were driven across Europe for 90 hours to the Auxois sanctuary in Burgundy.
They were transported by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), an American charity which has rescued 13 big cats from Ukraine since the war began.
In Ukraine, many big cats are not kept in the large outdoor enclosures they need.
11:55 AM GMT
Sweden will join Nato by March, Stoltenberg predicts
Jens Stoltenberg has predicted that Sweden will be ready to join Nato by March.
“Sweden’s entry into NATO will make the whole alliance stronger,” Nato’s secretary general said.
“The message I have received from Budapest is that the parliament will reconvene at the end of February, so we have to wait for that. But I’m absolutely confident, and I count on Hungary.”
Turkey’s parliament voted to ratify Sweden’s application to join the alliance on Tuesday and Viktor Orban has urged Hungary’s parliament to do the same.
The two countries are the only Nato members yet to ratify Sweden’s application.
11:16 AM GMT
Russia's only Black Sea oil terminal shut after Ukraine drone strike
Russia’s only Black Sea oil terminal has been out of action since it was attacked by Ukrainian drones in the early hours of Thursday.
The Tuapse oil refinery has halted its output after a fire started by the strike caused extensive damage, two industry sources told Reuters.
It is owned by Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil producer, which has not commented.
11:02 AM GMT
Russia opposed to international investigation into Il-76, Ukraine alleges
Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency has said Russia “rejects” an international investigation into the downing of the Il-76 transport plane.
“Concerning specific causes of the plane’s crash, the request to create an international commission is logical and well-founded,” spokesman Andrei Yusov said.
“At the moment, as we hear, Russia rejects the possibility of such a commission.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that an international investigation requested by Volodymyr Zelensky was “absolutely needed”.
10:36 AM GMT
West must do more for Ukraine, says ex-Nato chief
The West must do more for Ukraine because it is fighting for the “rest of us”, former Nato secretary general Lord Robertson has said.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has completely tipped up the order that we’ve grown used to,” he told Sky News.
“If he gets away with swallowing up a country of 44million people, right in the very heart of Europe, will he really stop?”
He added: “So they’re fighting for us and that’s why I believe that we need to be ramping up the production of weapons and ammunition in this country in order to make sure that they get the equipment that they require at this time.
“They’re fighting for us and that’s why we need to do more.”
10:16 AM GMT
Kremlin denies report Putin wants end to Ukraine war
The Kremlin has officially denied a Bloomberg report which cited sources close to the Kremlin who said Vladimir Putin was “putting out feelers” to the United States for peace talks over the war in Ukraine.
“No, this is a wrong report,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “It absolutely does not correspond to reality.”
09:59 AM GMT
Pictured: Gershkovich in court
09:40 AM GMT
MoD: Girkin's imprisonment part of Putin crackdown on nationalist critics
The imprisonment of Igor Girkin for inciting extremism is part of a broader crackdown by Vladimir Putin on Russian nationalist critics, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.
In its latest defence intelligence briefing, the MoD said Russia’s president has grown more sensitive to critics of the war in Ukraine since Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mutiny in June 2023.
“Following the mutiny it is highly likely that the Kremlin became more sensitive to criticism of its conduct of the ‘special military operation’ from hard-line nationalists as they are one of the few credible alternatives to Putin’s leadership,” it said.
“Girkin’s sentencing is part of a broader crackdown on those critical of the Kremlin and the war in Ukraine, reflecting the more authoritarian nature of life in Putin’s Russia.”
09:15 AM GMT
Pictured: New Russian drone
09:03 AM GMT
Russia 'signals to US that it wants to end war in Ukraine'
Russia has signalled to the United States that it is ready to end the war in Ukraine, it has been reported.
Bloomberg cited two sources close to the Kremlin who said Russia had made the signals through unofficial channels via an unnamed intermediary in December.
The sources said Vladimir Putin may consider abandoning his demands that Ukraine remains neutral and does not join Nato if it hands over the occupied territories of Crimea, Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia.
Bloomberg reported that US officials were not aware of those proposals and see no signs that Putin is serious about ending the war.
08:50 AM GMT
ISW: Russia gives up on encircling Avdiivka
Russia has given up on encircling Avdiivka and is preparing to take the eastern Ukrainian town at a heavy cost by fighting through it, the Institute for the Study of War has said.
The ISW said the tempo of Russian attacks on the flanks of the town were “far below” previous levels and it was instead trying to take to defeat Ukrainian troops defending it by taking them on “block by block”.
“Russian forces may seek to replicate attritional light infantry frontal assaults to make tactical gains by brute force, as Russian forces did during the Battle of Bakhmut after breaching Bakhmut’s city limits,” it said.
Ukraine’s Maj Maxim Morozov said on Thursday that Russia has amassed 40,000 men near the town in preparation for a major assault.
08:39 AM GMT
Overnight Russian attacks injure seven and damage nursery and school
Overnight Russian missile attacks on two Ukrainian cities left seven people injured and damaged a nursery and a school.
Oleksandr Prokudin, military governor of Kherson, said two S-300 missiles fired at Kherson city damaged a nursery and injured a 54-year-old women in her own home.
Dmytro Filashkin, military governor of Donetsk, said six people were wounded including two children when Russia attacked Myrnohrad, a small city north west of Donetsk city.
An administrative building, apartment blocks, a school and 29 cars were also damaged in the missile attack, he said.
08:01 AM GMT
Pictured: British APC repaired in Ukraine
07:40 AM GMT
Kremlin stops giving pardons for convicts fighting in Ukraine
The Kremlin has stopped handing out pardons to convicts who fight in Ukraine, a think tank has said.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Russia ceased recruitment into its convict Storm-Z units in August and starting sending convicts into Storm-V units.
Contracts for service in the Storm-V units are indefinite until the end of the war and do not include the promise of a pardon, it said.
“The loss of convict recruits to attritional assaults in Ukraine and the relatively short terms of their service contracts may have prompted the Kremlin to enact more restrictive terms of service in order to retain more convict recruits at the front in Ukraine,” the ISW said.
“The contract terms for service in new ‘Storm-V’ units are far less attractive and may dampen efforts to recruit convicts, although Russian officials have routinely used coercive measures to force convicts to sign contracts.”
07:34 AM GMT
Gershkovich's detention extended
A Moscow court has extended the pre-trial detention of Evan Gershkovich until March 30.
The American journalist was arrested on March 29 last year in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on espionage charges that carry up to 20 years in prison.
He and his newspaper, the Wall Street Journal, have vigorously denied the accusations.
Stuart Wilson, the American consul general in Moscow, attended the hearing which took place behind closed doors because authorities say details of the case are classified.
Mr Gershkovich is the first foreign reporter to face the charges since the fall of the Soviet Union.
07:28 AM GMT
Orban to visit Kyiv
Viktor Orban will visit Kyiv for talks with Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Hungarian prime minister was invited in December by Mr Zelensky and Kyiv now says it is now organising the visit.
Mr Orban has previously expressed scepticism towards the West’s support for Ukraine and vetoed a £43billion ($54billion) European Union military aid package for Kyiv in December.
But he is set to make his first visit to Ukraine in 14 years as hopes grow that he will drop his opposition to new EU support for Kyiv.
Olha Stefanishyna, a Ukrainian deputy prime minister, said foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba would meet his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto on Monday in Uzhhorod, western Ukraine, in preparation for the Zelensky-Orban summit.
07:23 AM GMT
Sanctions-busting Russia imported $1bn of Western microchips in 2023
Russia imported more than £790million ($1billion) worth of Western-made microchips in 2023 despite sanctions against the imports.
Bloomberg said the chips were imported by Russia through third party countries including China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
It said its report was based on classified Russian customs data – which Moscow stopped publishing shortly after invading Ukraine in February 2022.
The West has levied sanctions stopping Russia directly importing the microchips, which are used in drones and other military technologies.
