Putin making ‘impossible demands’ from ‘shocked’ officers & plans attack on Zelenskyy homeland

France’s Macron to speak with Russia’s Putin on phone today

French President Emmanuel Macron will speak with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin via the phone at around midday Paris time later on Tuesday, said Macron’s office.

Russian forces fired rockets at the encircled steel works in Ukraine’s Mariupol and smoke darkened the sky above the plant, where officials say 200 civilians are still trapped despite evacuations, while the EU prepared to sanction Russian oil.

Macron had last spoken to Putin on March 29.

Labour calls on Government to ‘go further on things like sanctions’

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the party supports the provision of military equipment to Ukraine, but called on the Government to “go further on things like sanctions”.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We support the provision of more military equipment to Ukraine and, whatever the ups and downs of local elections, whatever the timing of this particular announcement, I think, for all of those suffering in Ukraine, they need to see political parties in the UK standing together in support of Ukraine.

“It’s interesting it’s two days before the local elections, but when I think of the images coming out of Ukraine, bombing of maternity hospitals, I don’t think our arguments about the timing cut much ice.

“On the substance, we support the provision of military equipment and I’ve been clear on that, and we’ve had intelligence briefing from the Government and I think the in-principle position of all political parties that we stand up for Ukraine, stand with Ukraine, stand against Russian aggression is very important.

“I do want the Government to go further on things like sanctions, I think they need to go further and faster, and the refugee situation needs to be sorted out much, much more quickly, but in principle there is that unity.”

PM admits UK could have ‘acted faster’ in helping Ukrainian refugees

Boris Johnson has admitted the UK could have reacted faster in helping Ukrainian refugees.

The PM this morning said “large numbers” of those fleeing the war are now coming to Britain.

In an interview with Susanna Reid on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, He defended current efforts to take in refugees.

“Well, we have done a huge amount to help Ukrainian women and children in the area but we’re now seeing large numbers come to the UK,” he said.

“So far 86,000 visas have been issued and 27,000 are already here and I want to say ‘thank you’ – 27,000 is a lot and it’s growing fast and I want to pay tribute to all those who are helping to look after Ukrainians.

“Could we have done it faster? Yes, perhaps we could.”

Asked about the possibility of offering visa-free travel to Ukrainian refugees, Mr Johnson said: “It’s important to protect the system from those who might want to abuse it.

“It’s also important to protect the women and children from coming to somewhere where they’re not going to get the welcome that we would want, so that’s why the screening and all the work we’ve done to match up people, and the results are starting to be really excellent, you’re seeing large numbers now.”

Home Secretary could face legal action over Ukraine visa delays

Would-be sponsors under the Homes for Ukraine visa scheme are threatening the Government with legal action on behalf of hundreds of Ukrainian refugees who have spent weeks waiting to come to the UK.

A class action lawsuit is being prepared over “inordinate and unreasonable delays” in processing hundreds of visa applications made in March.

Figures shared with the PA news agency last week, compiled by would-be hosts, show there were at least 800 Ukrainian refugees still waiting for visas after applying within the first two weeks of the scheme opening.

The groups behind the action, Vigil 4 Visas and Taking Action Over the Homes for Ukraine Visa Delays, say the delays have put people in Ukraine and border countries at risk, and heaped “considerable pressure and strain” on UK hosts.

Lawyers for the groups are planning to send a pre-action protocol letter to the Home Office this week asking it to “sort out the endless muddles and tangles”.

They could then apply for a judicial review of the Government’s visa-processing policy.

Katherine Klinger, who has helped organise vigils outside the Home Office over the past week, told PA: “Perhaps the most striking thing I’ve noticed is the utter despair, shame and sense of responsibility so many hosts report.

“Hosts are in tears sometimes when they report to us what has happened in the past six weeks – dozens of emails, phone calls, letters, trips to the Home Office, MPs’ involvement etc – it’s very humbling.”

PM hails Ukraine’s ‘finest hour’ in speech to Kyiv parliament

Boris Johnson will salute the resistance of Ukrainians in the face of the brutal Russian invasion, telling them it is their country’s “finest hour” in an address to the parliament in Kyiv.

In a speech by video link to the Verkhovna Rada on Tuesday, the Prime Minister will echo the words of Winston Churchill as he sets out a new £300 million package of support for the Ukrainian military.

Downing Street said it will include electronic warfare equipment, a counter battery radar system, GPS jamming equipment and thousands of night vision devices, as Russia’s offensive in the Donbas region continues.

It follows Mr Johnson’s unannounced visit to the Ukrainian capital last month, in a show of support and solidarity with president Volodymyr Zelensky.

“When my country faced the threat of invasion during the Second World War, our Parliament, like yours, continued to meet throughout the conflict, and the British people showed such unity and resolve that we remember our time of greatest peril as our finest hour,” Mr Johnson is expected to say.

“This is Ukraine’s finest hour, an epic chapter in your national story that will be remembered and recounted for generations to come.

“Your children and grandchildren will say that Ukrainians taught the world that the brute force of an aggressor counts for nothing against the moral force of a people determined to be free.”

‘Ukrainians believe Russia must be now beaten’ in combat says UK ambassador

Ukraine are past the point of negotiations with Russia as they approach the “63rd day of a three-day invasion”, according to the country’s ambassador to the UK.

Vadym Prystaiko told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “When we had the chance to negotiate with them and come to some form of neutral points, neutrality itself as a political surrogate factor was considered.

“Now, these negotiations have stalled, for obvious reasons after the atrocities in Bucha. Many Ukrainians can’t even imagine how we could sit at the table of negotiations with these people now.

“The reasonable politicians will remind us that actually we have to sit at the table, because all the worst wars ended up in forms of negotiations. But, frankly speaking, many Ukrainians believe that we have to defeat them physically now.

“Maybe that’s better for Russians. Maybe they will be able to see that this regime is bringing them down along with the whole of Russia.”

According to the UN more than 3,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed

According to the UN’s human rights office the death toll of civilians in Ukraine has exceeded 3,000 people as of Monday.

Since the start of the Russian invasion on 24 February, the UN has recorded 3,153 civilian deaths in Ukraine, but it estimates the real toll is likely to be “considerably higher”.

Mystery First Lady

Putin is widely rumoured to be dating a glamorous gymnastics champion  Alina Kabaeva.

The Olympic gold medal winner and TV favourite has not had any other suitors since 2008 despite being one of Russia’s most eligible women.

She was first romantically linked with Putin a decade ago.

The Kremlin has denied she is his secret First Lady but rumours have persisted including claims she gave birth to at least one child.

One popular Russian newspaper called her the “First Lady, but in the shadows”.

In September 2017 she was pictured with what looked like a wedding ring during an event in Italy. 

Bomb from Ukrainian drone flies through sunroof of Russian soldiers’ vehicle 

Dramatic footage shows the moment a bomb from a Ukrainian drone flies through the sunroof of a Russian vehicle sending soldiers running for their lives.

In the clip, the bomb can be seen in the air, plummeting towards the target and falling directly into the vehicle.

It then explodes, sending smoke up the sky as terrified Russian troops are fleeing the scene.

It is unclear where the attack took place.

The video was shared on Twitter by government advisor Anton Gerashchenko who said the hit was executed by soldiers from Ukraine’s 92nd brigade.

Future of ISS hangs in the balance

Russia could pull out of the ISS within 12 months throwing future space missions into disarray.

After weeks of threats, Putin’s space chief said the country will quit the space station for good.

Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin blamed the move on mounting sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

He pledged to give US counterparts Nasa a year’s notice.

It’s unclear how partners will be able to continue without Russia’s involvement.

Nasa has long relied on Roscosmos to blast its astronauts into space, though it will soon shift towards Elon Musk’s SpaceX for that.

Russia also looks after engines that control the station’s orbit and location.

“The decision has been taken already, we’re not obliged to talk about it publicly,” he told Russian media.

“I can say this only — in accordance with our obligations, we’ll inform our partners about the end of our work on the ISS with a year’s notice.”

Russia confirms launch of TOP-SECRET military spacecraft

Russia has launched a new military spacecraft designated Kosmos 2555 into orbit around the Earth.

Using Russia’s new Angara 1.2 rocket, the payload was launched into orbit on April 29 by Kremlin officials.

The launch took place at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the town of Mirny, which is predominantly known for its diamond mines.

Kremlin officials said in a statement: “From the State Test Cosmodrome of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (Plesetsk Cosmodrome) in the Arkhangelsk Region, the combat crew of the Space Forces of the Aerospace Forces [VKS] successfully launched an Angara-1.2 light-class launch vehicle with a spacecraft in the interests of the Russian Ministry of Defence.

“The launch of the carrier rocket and the launch of the spacecraft into the calculated orbit took place in the normal mode.

“Two minutes after the launch, the Angara-1.2 launch vehicle was accepted for escort by ground controls of the Titov Main Test and Space Systems Control Centre.”

Germany minister makes oil claims

Economy Minister Robert Habeck earlier said that Germany is not ready to ban gas but would be able to deal with a ban on Russian oil by the end of the year.

“We have managed to reach a situation where Germany is able to bear an oil embargo,” Habeck told a news conference. But he warned this didn’t mean there would be no consequences.

Talks over how the EU can wean itself off Russian energy supplies have been taking place in Brussels.

Earlier member states remained divided on a Russian energy embargo.

Russian TV threatens nuclear annihilation of UK

Russian state TV has threatened to drown the UK under a radioactive tsunami in a bizarre new propaganda video.

In the chilling broadcast the presenter also showed how the Kremlin’s latest world-ending Satan 2 nuclear missile could also annihilate Britain.

The warning comes as the Kremlin raised the prospect of devastating military strikes on Britain over its deal to supply weapons to Ukraine.

Pro-Putin TV pundits previously threated the use of the world ending RS-28 Sarmat missile – gleefully spouting its ability to wipe England from the map.

And now raising further plans for all-out war, brazen host Dmitry Kiselyov heralded Russia’s second option to “plunge Britain into the depths of the sea” with its “underwater robotic drone Poseidon”.

In a chilling graphic he warned the missile would raise a giant tsunami wave up to 1,640ft high.

He later predicted the surging water – reaching almost halfway up Scafell Pike in the English Lake District – would contain “high doses of radiation” turning what is left of Britain into a “radioactive desert”.

Two hero Brits told they could face the death penalty

Two hero Brits have been told they could face the death penalty by a Russian prosecutor after they were captured and paraded on TV.

The prosecutor of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic smirked as he told a TV crew that Brit fighter Shaun Pinner, 48, and 28-year-old Aiden Aslin could be executed. 

Andrei Spivak said the men – who were caught trying to defend Mariupol in mid-April – were being charged with “crimes against civilians of the Donetsk People’s Republic.”

“The maximum punishment for these crimes is the death penalty,” the prosecutor said.

Aiden was heard saying he understood the accusations against him but fiercely denied killing civilians.

It’s highly unlikely the charges could have been brought without the Kremlin’s approval.

Is Vladimir Putin ill?

Photos of Vladimir Putin have appeared to show him with a bloated face.

The images were released before Russia was slammed for bombing the Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial in Kyiv.

Fiona Hill, the British former senior White House expert on Russia, told Politico: “Putin’s not looking so great, he’s been rather puffy-faced.

Hill added that it is known that the 69-year-old has back issues but it could be “something worse”.

She said: “It could be that he’s taking high doses of steroids, or there may be something else.”

On April 30, reports from a Kremlin insider claimed that Putin “will be undergoing medical procedures.”

The source confirmed that a date is yet to be confirmed as “doctors insist that he needs an operation.”

Un says more than 5.5 million people have fled Ukraine

More than 5.5 million people have fled Ukraine since the war began on Feb. 24, the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported today.

The statistics are compiled from a variety of sources, mainly data provided by authorities from official border crossing points, the UNHCR said. 

Putin is suffering from early stage Dementia says former KGB agent

VLADIMIR Putin is likely to be suffering from Parkinson’s and early stage Dementia while his paranoia and fear over traitors is driving him insane, a former KGB agent has said.

The Russian tyrant’s health has long been the source of speculation, with Western intelligence suggesting he has serious health issues.

Despite Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov insisting Putin’s health is “excellent”, his recent public appearances following the shambolic Ukraine invasion have sparked rumours about his physical state.

But ex-Russian spy Boris Karpichkov, 62, said even members of Putin’s inner circle would not be told about the state of his health in order to protect his “strongman” image.

The Russian defector, who now lives in the UK, said paranoid Putin views everyone as a “traitor” – and his health was an “especially sensitive issue” .

The former double agent told The Sun Online: “He is – or at least acts – insane and obsessed by paranoia ideas.

“He sees literally everyone, including those inside the Russian security services and even inside his close inner circle, to be ‘traitors’.

“He is so suspicious and so obsessed with his paranoia ideas that he can be now compared with Stalin tyrant.”

Jill Biden to travel to Eastern Europe to meet displaced Ukrainians

US First Lady Jill Biden will visit Romania and Slovakia this week to meet with displaced Ukrainian parents and children, aid workers, US service members and embassy personnel, her office said Monday.

Romania and Slovakia have taken in hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of their country.

In Slovakia on Sunday, celebrated as Mother’s Day in the United States, Biden will travel to the city of Kosice and village of Vysne Nemecke to meet with refugees, aid workers and the Slovakians who are supporting them.

“On Mother’s Day, she will meet with Ukrainian mothers and children who have been forced to flee their home country because of Putin’s war,” Biden’s office said.

The first lady’s visit is the latest show of US support for Ukraine and the countries assisting it.

Her trip follows a trip to Kyiv by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who met with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday.

During her May 5-9 travels, Biden will visit US service members in Romania on Friday before heading to Bucharest.

Russian teams BANNED from Champions and Europa Leagues

Russian sides have been banned from European competitions next season… in a boost to Scottish teams.

The ejection of Russian clubs is one of a number of penalties placed on the country by Uefa following the invasion of Ukraine.

Replacing Russia’s automatic spot in the Champions League group stage will be the Scottish Premiership title winner.

Celtic effectively need just three points from their remaining three games to claim the league title, as well as a group stage place.

Rangers would join their bitter rivals in the group stage should they win the Europa League.

Even if they fail to triumph in the competition, however, they will be guaranteed Europa League group stage football at a minimum.

‘Hundreds still trapped in Mariupol’

Hundreds of people remain trapped in a steel plant in the city of Mariupol.

Efforts to evacuate more civilians have been met with delays and it is not clear what is causing the hold-up.

Denys Shlega, a commander at the plant, said hundreds of people were still at the plant.

He also said Russian forces had resumed heavy shelling of the area.

Rafa Nadal slammed by Ukrainian tennis legend

Rafael Nadal has been slammed by retired Ukrainian tennis star Sergiy Stakhovsky, who is fighting in the war for supporting the banned Russian athletes.

As a result of Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine, Russians and Belarusians players cannot play in the UK this summer as they are barred from Wimbledon and other LTA tournaments.

Speaking on Sunday at the Madrid Open, Nadal said the ban was “very unfair” and it was “not their fault what’s happening in this moment with the war.”

These comments angered former player Stakhovsky, who returned to his home city of Kiev and joined the Ukraine’s military reserves.

Stakhovsky, 36, tweeted Nadal directly and said: “Rafa, we competed together.

“We’ve played each other on Tour. Please tell me how it is fair that Ukrainian players cannot return home?”

EU sends gas warning

The EU’s Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson has warned “any state could be next” following Bulgaria and Poland’s gas supply suspension.

Simson was speaking after a meeting of EU energy ministers, who were discussing how the EU should respond to Gazprom’s announcement.

The energy commissioner says while there is no immediate threat to European gas supplies, the uncertainty of the situation remains.

Gas storage currently stands at 32% of EU capacity and is rising, Simson says.

According to the UN more than 3,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed

According to the UN’s human rights office the death toll of civilians in Ukraine has exceeded 3,000 people as of Monday.

Since the start of the Russian invasion on 24 February, the UN has recorded 3,153 civilian deaths in Ukraine, but it estimates the real toll is likely to be “considerably higher”.

Odesa has been hit in another missile strike

According to reports, a loud explosion was heard in the city of Odesa this evening followed by a plume of smoke.

The press centre for the Security and Defense Forces of the South has said that Russian troops launched the strike on what they described as urban infrastructure.

They have also said that one religious building was damaged.