UK citizen army: Preparing the 'pre-war generation' for conflict

The UK Government has no active system in place to provide the public with early warning of a nuclear attack, i revealed this week. The Ukrainian armed forces said they had shot down five Russian planes and a helicopter - which Russia denies - and inflicted casualties on invading troops. There have also been reports of troops landing by sea at the Black Sea port cities of Mariupol and Odesa in the south. A lot of the stark warnings we are hearing from our own government should be seen in that light.

Earlier today, a Russian official said air defences had thwarted a drone attack on the Slavneft-YANOS oil refinery in the city of Yaroslavl. Given how the Ukraine conflict is going, such an eventuality cannot be ruled out. Russia has gathered up to 190,000 troops along the Ukrainian border and is positioned to launch an attack that could threaten the capital, Kyiv, and sweep across much of the country. An offensive of that size has not been seen in Europe since the second world war. Russia could also justify a further invasion of Ukraine by recognising the territorial claims of the two separatist governments. They include the large city of Mariupol, which is on the other side of the frontlines.

Two years on from Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and this war benefits no one: UK statement at the UN Security Council

As well as curbs on foreign consumer goods, there’d be runs on more basic products like medical kits, fuel canisters and masking tape to stop windows shattering during bombing raids. After an uneasy peace with Ukraine, Moscow has sent forces into the Baltics, clashing with British troops based there to protect Nato’s eastern flank. In the Baltic republic of Estonia, which borders Russia, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said a number of Nato allies that shared borders with Russia had agreed to launch consultations under Nato's Article 4. Under the defensive alliance's treaty, Nato can be brought together if any member fears their independence or territory is under threat. Russian tanks were later seen on the outskirts of Kharkiv, a city of 1.4 million people.

To train and equip that larger army would inevitably require more money. The government says it wants to spend 2.5% of national income on defence - but has still not said when. Yet the Army is already looking at how it might create a citizens' army. One Whitehall source told the Times that the training of Ukrainian civilians on UK soil could act as a rehearsal for rapid Army expansion.

Ukraine crisis: What’s at stake for the UK?

But the goods were never delivered and the money was instead sent to various accounts in Ukraine and the Balkans, investigators said. Hungary has signalled it is ready to compromise on EU funding for Ukraine - after Brussels reportedly prepared to sabotage its economy if it did not comply. Meanwhile, Moscow has claimed its forces have taken control of the village of Tabaivka in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region. I offer my condolences and that of the UK to all Ukrainians for the lives lost due to these barbaric airstrikes. These took place far away from the front lines of Russia’s war, in civilian populated areas. The intensity, regularity and indiscriminate nature of Russia’s attacks may violate international humanitarian law, is extremely concerning and must stop.

Russian troops launched a rocket attack on a residential area in the city of Myrnograd at about 1.30am, injuring a 15-year-old boy and a 35-year-old man in their own homes. A 30-year-old resident of a neighbouring house sustained a brain injury. Three civilians, including a teenage boy, were wounded in an overnight Russian strike in the Donetsk oblast, according to the office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general. Russian forces struck the settlement of Mykhailivka in the Berislav district eight times, with one shell hitting the yard of a residential building.

This is why the UK will continue to replenish Ukraine’s air defences, to help it shield its civilians from these brutal attacks. This is why we have signed a new long term agreement on security cooperation, and announced £2.5bn more in military aid, and £18 million more in humanitarian aid for Ukraine. Russian forces launched three missiles, eight drone strikes and 82 shellings on Ukrainian troops and civilian infrastructure over the past day, the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said in its morning briefing. According to reports, Russian missiles on Kyiv and Kharkiv killed at least 18 people and injured over one hundred.

• “Our discussions were clear that a Russian invasion of Ukraine would be a strategic mistake, violating the most basic freedoms and sovereignty.
• The primary aim would be the rapid capitulation of Ukraine’s government in Kyiv and the “neutralisation” of its elected leaders.
• Russian forces struck the settlement of Mykhailivka in the Berislav district eight times, with one shell hitting the yard of a residential building.
• Analysts say Russia could opt for a more limited, less risky offensive to grab extra territory in eastern Ukraine and the Donbas, while asserting the independence of pro-Moscow breakaway republics there, as in Georgia in 2008.

Second, he thinks that a western-leaning Ukraine is dangerous for Russia. He has called the possibility of Nato membership for Ukraine a “red line” for the Kremlin. Third, he wants to show that popular revolutions such as the one that  took place in Kyiv in 2014 do not succeed in the long run. Even during the London Blitz in 1941, nearly 5,000 looting cases came before the Old Bailey.

• Exploiting its overwhelming superiority in land, sea and air forces, Russia is expected to attack simultaneously on several fronts, from the north-east, the Donbas and Crimea.
• This included £2.5 billion in military support and a historic long-term security agreement.
• Nato is also working with Ukraine to modernise its armed forces and said it will help Ukraine defend against cyber attacks as well as supply it with secure communications equipment for the military.
• Several neighbouring countries have begun preparations to take in a large number of refugees.
• Phillips P OBrien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews, wrote in an analysis piece that the potential return of Donald Trump to the White House could see the US "neuter" the Western military alliance.

To help us improve GOV.UK, we’d like to know more about your visit today. Don’t worry we won’t send you spam or share your email address with anyone. The UK government is providing a range of economic, humanitarian and defensive military assistance to Ukraine, and is imposing additional sanctions on Russia and Belarus. Further east in Kramatorsk, in the eastern Donetsk region, the BBC's Eastern European Correspondent Sarah Rainsford said people did not expect such a full-on assault. Much of the fighting appears to be centred around the east of the country. But clashes have also been taking place around Kyiv and the Black Sea port cities of Odesa and Mariupol.

My colleague Luke Harding in Kyiv is reporting that five people who allegedly tried to steal nearly $40m (£31m) that was supposed to be used to buy shells for the Ukrainian military have been  arrested. The funds have since been seized and will be returned to the country’s defence budget, Ukraine’s prosecutor general said. Some of those accused of perpetrating the attacks have been charged with terrorism and treason. “There is no excuse for continuing to fund Putin’s war machine … and [there] has been more than enough time to allow for companies to exit in an orderly way,” he said. Unnamed Indian government sources have suggested India wants to distance itself from Russia, according to Reuters news agency.

The UK and our allies condemn the Russian government’s unprovoked and premeditated invasion of Ukraine. The UK stands with Ukraine, its democratically-elected government and its brave people at this awful time. If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at Tanks and troops have poured into Ukraine at points along its eastern, southern and northern borders, Ukraine says. One ex senior minister suggested to me that there was a generational divide between those who had lived with the threat of the Cold War era, and those who had not. The former minister, currently a serving Conservative MP, pointed out that the prime minister grew up without that existential threat.

• US officials believe the Kremlin has drafted a list of public figures earmarked for arrest or assassination.
• Peter Szijjarto has arrived in Ukraine for talks with senior officials today.
• Only aircraft deployed to protect energy facilities, or those carrying top Russian or foreign officials, will be allowed to fly with special permission in the designated zones, according to the Vedomosti daily newspaper.
• The UK and our allies condemn the Russian government’s unprovoked and premeditated invasion of Ukraine.
• He urged Ukrainian soldiers in the combat zone to lay down their weapons and go home, but said clashes were inevitable and "only a question of time".
• But European nations closer to Russian borders appear to be taking it more seriously.

Russia's defence ministry has denied attacking Ukrainian cities - saying it was targeting military infrastructure, air defence and air forces with "high-precision weapons". The security service said it had arrested two senior officials from the ministry of defence who allegedly conspired with the chief executive of a little-known arms firm, Lviv Arsenal, over a contract for 100,000 mortar shells. There have been 220 attacks on Russian military enlistment offices since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, the UK defence ministry said in its daily intelligence briefing.  https://euronewstop.co.uk/what-weapons-has-france-sent-to-ukraine.html , a senior consulting fellow in the Russia and Eurasia programme at Chatham House, said it is possible that Russia has already sabotaged UK infrastructure at sea. However, security services would be unlikely to publicly attribute damage to Russian attacks. The UK defence ministry believes that the increase in arson attacks on Russian enlistment offices “is highly likely due to a greater sense of dissatisfaction with the war amongst the Russian population”.