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RUSSIA could launch a massive cyber attack on Britain at any time, Priti Patel has warned.
The Home Secretary said “red lights” have been flashing over a Putin-ordered attack for some time but that new UK sanctions on Kremlin-linked individuals and banks could see that threat grow.
“Look at Salisbury, look at the cyberattacks”, she said, adding, “just look at attempts to interfere in our democracy”.
“The risk is alive. And on that basis, we are absolutely stepping up everything that we need to domestically,” the Home Secretary added.
The BBC reported that no new specific threats to the UK have been identified as a result of the Ukraine crisis, but the National Cyber Security Centre urged businesses to check their cybersecurity is up to date.
The Home Secretary’s words come as a state of emergency was declared in Ukraine amid fears Russia will invade within 24 hours.
The country’s security council this morning approved plans for emergency measures to be enacted in all areas across the country, except the separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
The state of emergency will last an initial 30 days, with the option to extend for an additional 30 if need be.
This morning UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace gave a scathing assessment of Putin’s behaviour.
“Unfortunately we’ve got a busy adversary now in Putin, who has gone full tonto. The Scots Guards kicked the backside of Tsar Nicholas I in 1853 in Crimea – we can always do it again,” he said.
Read our Russia – Ukraine live blog for the latest news…
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Priti Patel: Russia could launch cyber attack on Britain
It comes as the Home Secretary Priti Patel warned Russia could launch a massive cyber attack on Britain at any time.
She said “red lights” have been flashing over a Putin-ordered attack for some time, but new UK sanctions on Kremlin-linked individuals could drastically increase that risk.
“Look at Salisbury, look at the cyber attacks,” she said, adding: “Just look at attempts to interfere in our democracy.”
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Biden: Russia preparing full scale Ukraine invasion within 48 hours
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden’s administration has informed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Russia is preparing a full-scale invasion of his country within 48 hours.
“The President of Ukraine has been warned Russia will highly likely begin an invasion within 48 hours based on US intelligence,” a US official told Newsweek.
They went on: “Reporting from aircraft observers indicates Russia violated Ukrainian airspace earlier today, flying possible reconnaissance aircraft for a short period over Ukraine.”
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Kremlin: Rebels have asked for help to fend off ‘Ukranian aggression’
The Kremlin says rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine have asked Russia for military help to fend off Ukrainian “aggression.”
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Putin blames current crisis on NATO
In a rambling speech on Russian TV, Putin blamed NATO for the current crisis and claimed Kyiv was creating “weapons of mass destruction”.
He also painted modern Ukraine as being historically Russian and said the country had been used since the collapse of the Soviet Union by the West to contain Russia.
“We demand that those who seized power in Ukraine immediately stop hostilities, otherwise, the responsibility for the continuing bloodshed will rest entirely with the Ukrainian regime,” he thundered.
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Hungary looking to stay out of Russia/Ukraine conflict
Hungary’s prime minister said that his country would seek to stay out of the worsening conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
In a video on his Facebook page, Prime Minister Viktor Orban today said he would “do everything we can to avoid war”.
He added: “Hungary must stay out of this conflict … Because Hungarys security is the most important interest.”
Orban reiterated an earlier announcement from Hungarys defense minister that Hungarian soldiers would be deployed to the countrys border with Ukraine to prepare for the possible arrival of Ukrainian refugees. Orban is a fierce opponent of migration.
Orban went to visit Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month and lobbied for larger shipments of Russia gas.
Earlier Wednesday, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that Hungary supports Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity and would back European Union sanctions against Russia.
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Royal Navy destroyer deployment delayed by technical issues
A Royal Navy destroyer that has been tasked to deploy to the Mediterranean amid growing tensions with Russia has been delayed again, almost a week after it was initially scheduled to depart the UK.
HMS Diamond was initially due to leave its home base of Portsmouth on February 17, but its departure was first delayed due to Storm Eunice.
Then on Monday, a Ministry of Defence spokesperson confirmed the destroyer required “minor repairs” due to a defect on board.
She was then scheduled to leave Portsmouth on Wednesday morning, however remains alongside.
A Royal Navy spokesperson said on Wednesday: “Owing to a technical issue, HMS Diamond was unable to sail as planned this morning.
“The Type 45’s advanced capabilities are internationally recognised and efforts are ongoing to prepare HMS Diamond for her upcoming deployment.”
The delay to HMS Diamond leaving Portsmouth means all six of the UK’s Type 45 destroyers remain in port, with four vessels in Portsmouth and two in Birkenhead.
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‘We do need to go further’
The former UK foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, spoke to BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme this morning.
Hunt said that the British government needs to take action that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “not expecting”.
He also said: “We do need to go further, and I suspect the government wanted to. They’ve been pretty robust in what they’ve said but it’s very important to go in lockstep with our allies in a situation like this.
“But what we have to remember is that Putin has both predicted these sanctions and indeed further sanctions – and discounted them.”
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China accuses US of ‘creating fear & panic’ over Ukraine crisis
China is accusing the United States of creating fear and panic over the crisis in Ukraine.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Wednesday that China opposes new sanctions on Russia, reiterating a longstanding Chinese position.
She said the U.S. was fueling tensions by providing weapons to Kyiv in response to Russias large troop deployment around Ukraines borders and fears of an invasion.
China-Russia ties have grown closer under Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin at talks in Beijing earlier this month.
The two sides issued a joint statement backing Moscows opposition to a NATO expansion in former Soviet republics and buttressing Chinas claim to the self-governing island of Taiwan key foreign policy issues for Beijing and Moscow.
Hua said Beijing wants multilateral talks to ease the mounting international tension over Ukraine. She did not mention efforts by the U.S., France and others to engage Russia diplomatically.
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Ukraine coming under fire from “massive” cyberattack
Ukraine is coming under a “massive” cyberattack, a senior minister said on Wednesday, with the main websites of the government and foreign ministry refusing to open.
Deputy Prime Minister Mykailo Fyodorov said the attack began in the late afternoon and affected several banks as well as official websites, without specifying its origin.
The official site of Ukraine’s cabinet of ministers and the foreign ministry refused to open when AFP tried to access it on Wednesday.
But most of the main news sites in Ukraine were working, as well those of banks and the main public institutions.
Fyodorov said the functioning sites had managed to “switch traffic to a different provider to minimise the damage.”
The sites of several ministries and banks also went down for a few hours last week, with officials suggesting the denial-of-service (DDoS) attack was of Russian origin.
Ukraine is facing mounting fears of a Russian invasion, which have intensified after the Kremlin recognised the independence of Ukraine’s two eastern separatist region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has also approved the deployment of troops into east Ukraine, although he said Tuesday that he has not yet decided to order the move.
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Turkey does not recognise Moscow’s actions against Ukraine
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Turkey does not recognize Moscows steps taken against Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Russia has formally recognized the independence of pro-Russian separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, in a move that increased tension.
A statement from the Turkish presidents office said Erdogan renewed a call for a diplomatic resolution of the crisis in Ukraine in a telephone conversation with Putin on Wednesday.
The statement said Turkey, a member of NATO and a Black Sea neighbor of Russia, wants talks to resolve the Ukraine crisis.
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UK to send more weapons to Russia in response to ‘threatening’ Russia
Boris Johnson promised more weapons from the UK for Ukraine to defend itself against Russia as he faced criticism over the strength of the Government’s response to Vladimir Putin.
The Prime Minister said lethal defensive weapons and other aid would be sent to Ukraine in response to the “increasingly threatening behaviour” from Russia.
Mr Putin’s decision to recognise two breakaway states in eastern Ukraine and the deployment of Russian forces there led to a co-ordinated response in the form of economic sanctions from the UK, US and European Union.
The risk of a further escalation prompted the Prime Minister to agree to the new package of support for the Ukrainian military.
“This will include lethal aid in the form of defensive weapons and non-lethal aid,” he said.
Downing Street would not provide further details on the equipment being provided for “operational security reasons”.
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BREAKING – EU ‘agrees on sanctions targeting Putin cronies’
EU officials have now agreed and confirmed sanctions on Russia, according to The New York Times.
The sanctions are understood to target prominent Russian officials from Putin’s inner circle and high-profile Russians in the media.
The publication claims the exact details of the sanctions will be formally announced later today.
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It is ‘disgraceful’ Alex Salmond has RT show, agrees PM
It is a “disgrace” that former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond appears on Russian state broadcaster RT, the Prime Minister agreed today.
Raising the issue during PMQs, Liberal Democrat MP Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) said: “Let’s be quite clear about this. Is it not absolute disgrace that a privy councillor, an adviser to the Queen and a former first minister of Scotland sees fit to broadcast his half-baked views week to week on Russian television?”
Boris Johnson replied: “That was a brilliant, powerful question to which I think the whole House assented. Would it not have been more powerful if it had come from the leader of the Scottish National Party?”
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford later raised a point of order to correct the record, saying: “Twice in Prime Minister’s Questions the Prime Minister referred to Alex Salmond and talked about him being one of our own here. That is quite disgraceful. Alex Salmond has got nothing to do with the Scottish National Party.”
He added: “He is a member of another party and moreover the SNP has been quite clear that no parliamentarian is permitted to appear on RT. To be traduced in the way that we were by the Prime Minister is simply unacceptable.”
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In pictures: Russian embassy in Kyiv is emptied
Workers unload material from a diplomatic vehicle inside the compound of the Russian Embassy in Kyiv.
Moscow’s foreign ministry Sergey Lavrov announced it would evacuate diplomats from the country soon – saying this was in order to “protect their lives”.
By Wednesday afternoon, the Russian flag was no longer flying over the embassy.
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Ready for war
Russia has started evacuating diplomatic staff from all of its missions in Ukraine, TASS news agency reported, citing a representative of the Russian Embassy in Kyiv.
The embassy and the consulate general in Odessa were seen on Wednesday with Russian flags taken down.
“Several cars left the territory of the consulate in the morning,” a member of the Ukrainian National Guard who was on duty near the Russian consulate in Odessa told Reuters.
Russia’s foreign ministry announced an evacuation of diplomatic staff from Ukraine for what it called safety reasons on Tuesday, a day after President Vladimir Putin recognised independence of two breakaway regions in Ukraine’s east and ordered Russian troops “to keep peace” there, while massing military along Ukrainian borders.
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Nicola Sturgeon says Alex Salmond’s RT show is ‘unthinkable’
Nicola Sturgeon has blasted Alex Salmond for continuing to host a show on Kremlin-backed broadcaster Russia Today.
The former first minister launched his self-titled show on Russia Today (RT) in 2017, drawing the ire of many across Scottish political life – including his successor Ms Sturgeon.
Speaking to STV News on Wednesday, Ms Sturgeon backed calls for Ofcom to revoke the licence of RT to broadcast in the UK.
She said: “It’s a matter for Ofcom, but I do think there is now a very serious question about whether RT should continue to have a licence to broadcast here in Scotland and I would certainly encourage Ofcom to look at that very, very seriously and closely indeed.”
When asked about Mr Salmond’s show being broadcast on the network, the First Minister said: “I’m appalled at Alex Salmond’s continued involvement with RT, I don’t think it’s any secret now that I don’t think he should ever have had a television show on RT, but it is even more unthinkable now that that should continue.”
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Ukrainian PM wants guarantees from Russia
Ukraine wants security guarantees from Russia as a step towards ending the standoff between the two countries, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday in a briefing with his Polish and Lithuanian counterparts.
“I believe that Russia should be among those countries that provide clear security guarantees. I have many times suggested that the President of Russia sit down at the negotiating table and speak,” he said.
One of Europe’s worst security crises in decades was unfolding after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised two areas of eastern Ukraine as independent and ordered troops to be deployed to eastern Ukraine
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Koreans leave
The South Korean Foreign Ministry has said its diplomats will stay in Ukraine until all South Korean nationals are evacuated.
South Korea is just the latest country to urge it’s citizens to leave Ukraine as the threat of Putin launching a military invasion grows by the hour.
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Russians ‘confused’ by crisis
Russians have not met the current crisis with the same patriotic reaction as the 2014 annexation of Crimea, the BBC reports.
Writing a first person blog post from Moscow, BBC Russian correspondent Sergey Goryashko said the response at home has actually been fairly muted this time around.
“I suppose some people are still quite puzzled about what this decision to give independence to the so-called people’s republics will mean to Russia and what will happen in terms of sanctions,” he said.
Because the crisis of 2014 and 2015 was quite significant in terms of its impact on people’s wealth, and this one with even more strict and severe sanctions could be even greater,” he added.
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Second thoughts?
Russia has reacted to Germany’s cancellation of the Nord Stream 2 program by insisting they hope it is only a “temporary measure”.
In what could be interpreted as a sign Moscow is concerned about the implications of the closure, Russia’s ambassador to Germany Sergei Nechaev said he hopes “prudence and pragmatism will prevail”.
“I think that Nord Stream is necessary, more than anything, for the energy security of Europe, both the population of Germany and Europe benefit from this, as does the economy, which demands resources,” he said.
“One would like to hope that this announcement is a temporary measure and that prudence and pragmatism will prevail in the end,” he added.
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Crisis point
The ongoing crisis in Ukraine could be the world’s most “critical moment” since World War II, Nicola Sturgeon has claimed.
The Scottish First Minister warned there would be “hard lessons” for small countries if Putin were allowed to get away with his aggression towards Ukraine.
“This is a moment to stand up for independence, for sovereignty, for territorial integrity and for democracy around the world,” she said.
“This is probably the most critical moment for the world since the Second World War and time will tell whether the world stands up and defends the values and the principles that we hold dear, or allow people like Putin to ride roughshod over that,” she added.
“If somebody like Putin can get away with that kind of aggression towards an independent country, then for countries across the world – particularly smaller countries – there is a very hard lesson in that,” she went on to say.
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Putin has ‘gone full tonto’
UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace this morning gave a scathing assessment of Putin’s behaviour.
“Unfortunately we’ve got a busy adversary now in Putin, who has gone full tonto. The Scots Guards kicked the backside of Tsar Nicholas I in 1853 in Crimea – we can always do it again,” he said.
“Tsar Nicholas I made the same mistake Putin did.. no friends, no alliances.”
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Boris also declared that further military aid will be sent to Ukraine “in light of the increasingly threatening behaviour” from Russia.
The aid sent by UK to Ukraine will include defensive weapons and non-lethal aid.
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Pincer movement
Speaking at PMQs, Boris today said the fresh wave of sanctions against Russia will be in coordination with US and other allies.
He declared Russian President Putin will be “squeezed” simultaneously.
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Boris declares ‘more sanctions on Russia are coming’
Boris Johnson this lunchtime revealed that the UK will slap Russia with a whole host of fresh sanctions.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Labour leader Keir Starmer asked the PM if he isn’t going to introduce a full package sanctions now, then when?
Mr Johnson replied that it’s important to keep some sanctions in reserve for what could be a protracted crisis. “There is more to come.”
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