Public face call-up if we go to war because Army is too small, military chief warns

The US navy secretary, Carlos Del Toro, then urged Britain to “reassess” the size of its armed forces. On Friday, No 10 defended the Government’s military spending, pointing out that “the UK is the second biggest defence spender in Nato and the largest in Europe”. Meanwhile, the US is struggling to pass a $100 billion military aid package for Ukraine amid Republican opposition, with defence sources warning that if Donald Trump wins the presidential race, it will hand Russia victory.

• Writing on Twitter, he added the US and its allies and partners would impose "severe sanctions on Russia" and continue to provide support to Ukraine and its people.
• This was in return for Ukraine giving up its massive arsenal of nuclear weapons, a legacy of its membership of the Soviet Union.
• On Wednesday, the UK announced a package of sanctions against Russia as part of a co-ordinated Western response to the crisis.
• Local authorities in Belgorod, which borders Ukraine, said the crash killed all 74 people on board, including six crew members and three Russian servicemen.
• The UK's Ministry of Defence said Russian forces based in Belarus were advancing towards Ukraine's capital Kyiv.
• According to reports, Russian missiles on Kyiv and Kharkiv killed at least 18 people and injured over one hundred.

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who has been serving prison time since 2021 after leading street protests and starting a nationwide opposition movement, was recently moved to a penal colony in Russia's far north. Meanwhile, Indian thinktank Observer Research Foundation's Russia expert, Nandan Unnikrishnan, said India was unlikely to sign "any major military deal" with Russia because it would cross a red line with the US. "The nightmare scenario would be that the states close to Russia double down on aid to Ukraine while those farther west decide to force a deal on Putin's terms. Then Europe itself could fracture," he says. However, he warned of "chaos" if European states do not show enough unity and determination. He says Europe is rich enough to do so if it has the political will, pointing to a recent report from the Estonian Ministry of Defence suggesting that committing 0.25% of GDP annually towards Ukraine would provide "more than sufficient resources".

What sanctions will the UK impose on Russia?

Despite warnings from the US and its Nato allies that any invasion by Russia of Ukraine would have "severe economic consequences," Moscow's military build-up on the border continues. Since its illegal and unprovoked attack, over 300,000 Russian personnel have been killed or wounded. Media organisations have been shut down, and many journalists are now in Russian prisons. But this was followed up with missile attacks, using different kinds of weapons in a bid to overwhelm and break through the city's defences. At least 32 people have died in Ukraine's capital in that time, 30 of them in one attack - on 29 December, when Russia launched one of the largest ever aerial attacks of this war.

• The US navy secretary, Carlos Del Toro, then urged Britain to “reassess” the size of its armed forces.
• Russia has seen more success in eastern Ukraine, by pounding their opposing forces and holding them back with an onslaught.
• With an election looming, the military is hoping politicians make further pledges over defence spending.
• EU leaders are expected to meet again on 1 February to suss out the financial package.

Around 350 Royal Marines from 45 Commando were sent to Poland this week – taking the total numbers of military personnel there up to 500 – as the two countries continue to work together to try and de-escalate the tensions around Ukraine. When that failed, No.10 sanctioned five Russian banks and three “hit net wealth” individuals. The Russian president said his goal was the “demilitarisation” of Ukraine, warning that if the West were to interfere they would endure “consequences they had never seen”.  https://euronewstop.co.uk/what-does-slava-ukraine-mean.html  sent in “peacekeeping troops” to two separatist regions of Ukraine on Monday – prompting the West to issue a string of sanctions against Russia – but went even further early Thursday morning when he declared war on Ukraine. He highlighted the threat from Russia and pointed to steps being taken by other European nations to put their populations on a "war footing". The US currently has warheads stationed in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey, under a Nato nuclear-sharing arrangement.

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Nato has a strong partnership with Ukraine (even though the country is not an official member) so it’s not surprising prime minister Boris Johnson has also joined in with Western allies in calling for an immediate de-escalation from Putin. He has not been the only one to criticise cuts, with former CGS General Lord Dannatt saying the UK risked a repeat of the 1930s unless it invested more in its armed forces last week. The MP said that might be because the prime minister when growing up had not experienced the existential threat posed by the old Soviet Union during the Cold War era.

All of this disruption could massively increase the price  of gas in Europe and, consequently, the UK. Europe itself could restrict future gas flows by abandoning the Nord Stream 2 pipeline which would run under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany. Western powers are acutely aware this crisis is being closely watched by the rest of the world. Some migrants might stay in neighbouring Poland and eastern European countries, but some might head further west and eventually end up in the UK.

Defence fears if Trump wins

“We have become so comfortable here in Britain that it’s hard to imagine young people fighting, and when I went to Afghanistan a decade ago, I didn’t think the youngsters of would be up to much,” he said. The logistics of training a “Citizen Army” are also formidable, according to one former Territorial Army (TA) soldier. “If you are talking about mass mobilisation to defend the homeland, that is hundreds of thousands of people,” he said. Military kit also needs boots on the ground to operate it – hence Sir Patrick’s call for a “Citizen Army” to boost the regular Armed Forces. According to a 2022 YouGov poll, only one in five Britons would volunteer for service in the event of an invasion.

• Foreign Office minister James Cleverly warned Mr Putin's comments in recent days suggested he wanted to create "a wider Russian empire in all but name".
• He said the security situation in Europe was without precedent since the fall of the Iron Curtain.
• The UK is providing additional military support to eastern Nato member states and will support Ukrainians in their defence of their homeland, he added.
• But Labour has accused the government of being too slow to target others as Russia's invasion of Ukraine escalates.
• We remain deeply humbled by the bravery and the resilience of the Ukrainian people and their determination to win.
• Retired members of essential professions – doctors, nurses, morticians, police – would be urged back into service.

Around 900 British troops are stationed in Estonia under Operation Cabrit, the UK’s contribution to Nato’s Enhanced Forward Presence in the Baltic states, which some fear could also be targeted by Mr Putin. The FCDO itself has a small presence in the country in the form of the British embassy, which has relocated to Lviv near the Polish border, nearly 300 miles west of the capital, Kyiv. Up to 5,000 British citizens were estimated to be living in Ukraine before the crisis. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has since advised all UK citizens to leave the country, but it is not known how many remain and the FCDO has declined to comment on numbers. This could include sanctions on more oligarchs – for instance, Chelsea FC owner and ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Roman Abramovich – or larger banks such as Sberbank or VTB, which has already been sanctioned by the US and EU.

Mr Johnson was among leaders of the G7 group of wealthy nations who met to discuss the situation. Earlier, the prime minister said on Twitter that the invasion was a "catastrophe for our continent". The prime minister also sought to reassure the British public, pledging to do "everything to keep our country safe" and work with allies "for however long it takes" to restore Ukraine's sovereignty and independence. But the senior Western intelligence official warned that "military options are highly likely on the table in the Kremlin" if Russia's demands are not satisfied. A senior Western intelligence official has warned that if Russia decides to invade Ukraine, a conflict could spill over further into Europe.

• Meanwhile, Moscow has claimed its forces have taken control of the village of Tabaivka in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region.
• Cabinet tensions over defence spending have emerged as Penny Mordaunt, the former secretary of state, warned Mr Shapps earlier this week that Britain’s national interests were at risk unless the Royal Navy kept pace with hostile nations.
• The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has pledged to make the findings of Moscow’s crash investigation public.
• He highlighted steps being taken in countries like Sweden and Finland - where the threat of Russia looms closer - to put their nations more on a war footing.
• And in a globalised world, many industries that are key in wartime rely on imports.

"We could have a very large number of refugees, deaths could reasonably be expected to be high as would destruction within Ukraine," he said. Meanwhile, other Western defence sources have expressed concern about an increase in signals intelligence and "chatter" being monitored which could signal Russia's preparedness to invade. The intelligence official described the build-up as a "slow drip" and a "slow ratcheting up of pressure". The admiral described Russia's military build-up on its border with Ukraine as "deeply worrying". Russia continues to impede access for humanitarian organisations to the millions of people in need.

Ukraine had feared ahead of the winter that Russia was stockpiling weapons for large-scale attacks. Since launching its invasion Russia has never stopped attacking Ukraine by the air, but this latest series of strikes marks a deadly escalation. Russia's Vladimir Putin vowed to increase attacks on Ukraine - now Kyiv is realising what he meant. A source familiar with the situation said the drone fell at about  7am local time but had not affected fuel output. The Russian president has intensified a crackdown on opposition since the start of his invasion of Ukraine, and this has ramped up further as the elections have approached.

Since the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014, the UK has sanctioned around 183 individuals under the Russia sanctions regime. In fact Johnson emphasised that this problem affects the whole of the continent, by describing Russia’s intimidation tactics as Europe’s “biggest security crisis” for decades. Ukraine wants the opposite – it aspires to be part of the EU and Nato (the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) rather than under Russia’s control and so is firmly resisting Putin’s threats. Russian president Vladimir Putin wants to assert his power over the neighbouring country of Ukraine because he believes they should both be under the same sphere of influence, as they were both part of the Soviet Union in the 20th Century.