Foreign secretary David Cameron makes first visit to Ukraine
The foreign secretary, David Cameron, met the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, during a trip to Kyiv, pledging continued military support and a refocus on Ukraine as conflict continues in the Middle East.
In a video posted by the Ukrainian president on X, Cameron said:
What I want to say by being here is we will continue to give you the moral support, the diplomatic support, the economic support, but above all the military support that you need, not just this year, and next year, but however long it takes.”
With mention to previous disagreements with his “friend”, the former prime minister Boris Johnson Cameron said Johnson’s support for Ukraine was the “finest thing”, adding that Thursday’s meeting was important to “make sure the attention is here”.
“Now you know the world is not focused on the situation on our battlefield in Ukraine and it’s dividing focus really doesn’t help, and we are thankful that you always supported Ukraine,” said Zelenskiy.
Cameron’s Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, said their talks “proved” the two nations are determined to work together “toward victory”.
The UK remains steadfast in providing Ukraine with weapons, increasing their co-production, and ridding the Black Sea of Russian threats,” Kuleba wrote on X.
The Ukrainian statements did not say when the talks took place. Strict security measures in place because of the war mean details of visits by foreign dignitaries are sometimes released only some time after they have happened.
Key events
The Ukrainian military shot down 16 out of 18 attack drones launched by Russia as well as one missile during overnight strikes, Kyiv’s air force said on Thursday.
Authorities also said civilian infrastructure in the eastern region of Kharkiv had been damaged by S-300 missiles, but that no deaths or injuries had been reported.
Central Asian migrants are leaving Russia because of the Ukraine war, Agence France-Presse is reporting this morning. After living and working in Russia for the last decade, Tajik construction worker Zoir Kurbanov is one of those who decided it was time to head home. Wages are falling and men face a danger of being sent by Moscow to the front.
Kurbanov got an offer for jobs on building sites in Mariupol and Donetsk – cities in occupied Ukraine. “I refused,” the 39-year-old said. He decided to take a huge pay cut and return to Tajikistan, taking up a construction job.
Russia is increasingly trying to lure central Asian migrants to work in the parts of Ukraine it occupies, or trapping them into fighting for its army. On the pretext of uncovering some kind of offence – real or fabricated – Russian authorities sometimes offer migrants a stark choice: prison or go to the front.
“The Russian police were checking me everywhere, asking if I had done my military service,” said Argen Bolgonbekov, a 29-year-old who served in the Kygryz border force.
In the end he was deported back to Kyrgyzstan for irregularities with his documents. “It’s a good thing, because over there you couldn’t walk around in peace anymore,” he said, speaking at a textile workshop in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek.
Russian lawmaker Mikhail Matveyev has even called for central Asians who have recently been granted Russian citizenship to be drafted instead of ethnic Russians. “Why are they not mobilised? Where are the Tajik battalions? There is a war going on, Russia needs soldiers. Welcome to our citizenship.”
Despite the pressure, Russia remains a priority destination for central Asian workers – they can go without a visa, speak the Russian language and earn money. Kurbanov, the Tajik construction worker, said: “If the war ends tomorrow, I’ll go back to Russia the day after.”
Finland’s coast guard said on Thursday that Russia has completed repairs of a Russian Baltic Sea telecoms cable that was damaged six weeks ago around the same time that a gas pipeline and other communications cables were broken.
“No violations of the Economic Zone Act or permit conditions were detected in the surveillance operation and the related inspections of the repair work,” the Finnish coast guard wrote on X on Thursday.
Russian forces have continued attacks in the contested town of Avdiivka in Donetsk oblast, according to the UK’s Ministry of Defence.
In the latest intelligence update on Thursday, the MoD said: “Russia is almost certainly attempting a pincer movement to encircle the town.
“Avdiivka has been fought over for nearly a decade and holds political importance to Russia given its proximity to Donetsk city … The plant dominates the main road into Avdiivka and, if Russian forces were to secure it, resupplying the town would become increasingly difficult for Ukraine.”
Foreign secretary David Cameron makes first visit to Ukraine
The foreign secretary, David Cameron, met the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, during a trip to Kyiv, pledging continued military support and a refocus on Ukraine as conflict continues in the Middle East.
In a video posted by the Ukrainian president on X, Cameron said:
What I want to say by being here is we will continue to give you the moral support, the diplomatic support, the economic support, but above all the military support that you need, not just this year, and next year, but however long it takes.”
With mention to previous disagreements with his “friend”, the former prime minister Boris Johnson Cameron said Johnson’s support for Ukraine was the “finest thing”, adding that Thursday’s meeting was important to “make sure the attention is here”.
“Now you know the world is not focused on the situation on our battlefield in Ukraine and it’s dividing focus really doesn’t help, and we are thankful that you always supported Ukraine,” said Zelenskiy.
Cameron’s Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, said their talks “proved” the two nations are determined to work together “toward victory”.
The UK remains steadfast in providing Ukraine with weapons, increasing their co-production, and ridding the Black Sea of Russian threats,” Kuleba wrote on X.
The Ukrainian statements did not say when the talks took place. Strict security measures in place because of the war mean details of visits by foreign dignitaries are sometimes released only some time after they have happened.
Summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the Russian war against Ukraine. First things first, here in brief are some of the main developments:
-
Ukraine’s military has described as “fairly fluid” the situation on the Russian-held side of the Dnipro River at Kherson. It comes after Russia admitted for the first time that Ukrainian troops have been able to cross over to the left (eastern) bank and establish themselves.
-
Natalia Humeniuk from the Ukrainian southern command said: “The pushback from our side is taking place on a line from three to eight kilometres along the entire bank from the water’s edge. For now, we will ask for informational silence … which would allow us to report later on great successes.”
-
Ukrainian military expert Oleksandr Kovalenko told media outlet RBK Ukraine that the growing area of contested control on the eastern bank “significantly reduces the mobility and capability of the Russian occupiers”.
-
A report in the Wall Street Journal said Ukrainian marines were reinforcing positions in three villages on the eastern bank of the Dnipro, including emplacing armoured Humvees and at least one infantry fighting vehicle, and had cut off one road that Russians used to resupply troops in the area.
-
A Russian artist who replaced supermarket price tags with messages calling for an end to Moscow’s war in Ukraine is expected to learn her fate in court on Thursday with a state prosecutor asking for her to be jailed for eight years. Amnesty International has declared Alexandra Skochilenko, 33, “a prisoner of conscience”.
-
The Czech Republic has frozen property owned by Russia on Czech soil, it was announced. Jan Lipavský, the Czech foreign minister, said: “At my suggestion, the government today approved the freezing of Russian state assets in the Czech Republic. The commercial activities from which Russia finances the murder of Ukrainians ends here.”
-
Russia said that Ukrainian accession to the US-led Nato military alliance would be unacceptable, according to Reuters. “Whether in parts or in any form, Ukraine’s accession to Nato is unacceptable for Russia,” Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry, told reporters.
-
A Russian missile killed two emergency workers in southern Ukraine as they put out a fire from an attack only minutes earlier, Ukrainian officials said. At least seven other people were injured in the strikes in the Zaporizhzhia region, in which Russian forces fired three missiles in about half an hour, according to the regional governor, Yuriy Malashko.
-
The EU has proposed banning the export of machine tools and machinery parts that Russia uses to make weapons targeting Ukraine, documents seen by Bloomberg reveal. The proposal is contained in the EU’s 12th sanctions package, which also includes a ban on diamonds, the outlet reported.
-
Ukraine’s state railway said it had restricted grain deliveries to Odesa, one of the country’s key Black Sea ports, because of repairs.
-
Nato has announced it will buy six Boeing aircraft to replace its ageing fleet of Awacs surveillance planes, bolstering the alliance’s capabilities to track the threat from Russia, AFP reported.
-
Hungary has sought a review of the EU’s policy towards Ukraine, disagreeing with Germany, Lithuania, Finland and Ireland, who backed bringing Kyiv closer to the bloc more quickly and granting it more aid.
-
Pope Francis has called on the faithful to pray regularly for peace in Ukraine, the Middle East, Sudan and all other war-torn places.
-
Vladimir Putin is likely to announce his presidential candidacy before the end of 2023, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said.
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
