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Ukraine is running so low on ammunition that it will run out of air defence missiles to defend its cities by the end of the month, according to reports. Supplies of missiles defending cities such as Odesa – where 20 people were killed on Friday – are dwindling fast, according to Ukrainian sources quoted by The Washington Post. That means that instead of trying to shoot down four out of five Russian missiles as it does now, Ukraine will soon have to ration its air defence systems to shooting down just one in five. This will have a “significant effect...

Vladimir Putin staged a lavish Orthodox Christmas Eve dinner for children of soldiers killed in Ukraine as he attempted to present himself as a caring leader by ordering officials to do more for the country’s troops. (snip) The Russian leader vowed to back those “with arms in hands” as he hosted Saturday evening’s heavily choreographed event at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence on the outskirts of Moscow. It came as festivities were cancelled in the border region of Belgorod amid continued Ukrainian attacks that have left dozens dead over the past week. “Many of our men, our courageous, heroic men, the soldiers...

Ukraine faces defeat as early as next summer if American and Nato military aid dries up, a senior US official has warned.Vladimir Putin’s chances of victory have been buoyed by war fatigue and blocks on funding in both America and the EU.“There is no guarantee of success with us, but they are certain to fail without us,” a senior US military source told CNN.Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s prime minister, last week blocked a £43 billion EU aid package for Ukraine.Austria had also threatened to block the bill until Kyiv toned down criticism of an Austrian bank still working in Russia. Western...

Mothers and wives of mobilized men in Russia have called Vladimir Putin a liar and launched a campaign to get their sons and husbands back from the front line in Ukraine. A group calling itself The Way Home has built support in 29 cities across Russia since it was established three months ago and has now published a manifesto, accusing the Kremlin of betrayal.

Ukraine fired 15 cruise missiles at a Russian shipyard in occupied Crimea, hitting a warship in an attack that could further undermine Moscow’s offensive capabilities.French-supplied SCALP missiles struck the Russian vessel stationed at the Zalyv dockyard in the port city of Kerch on Saturday, Lt Gen Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of Ukraine’s air force said.The warship was armed with Kalibr cruise missiles that have frequently been used by Russia to strike targets inside Ukraine, he added.“I confirm,” Gen Oleshchuk said on Sunday morning after posting a message the evening before which said the Ukrainian attack had probably hit its target.Ukrainian...

Volodymyr Zelensky has sacked his wartime minister of defence and replaced him with a trusted political ally who took part in failed peace talks last year with Russia.The dismissal of Oleksii Reznikov, who has headed Ukraine’s defence ministry since Russia invaded in February 2022, needs to be approved by the Ukrainian parliament.“I believe that the Ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society at large,” Mr Zelensky said.The 57-year-old Mr Reznikov became one of the most high-profile Ukrainians of the war, representing Ukraine at Nato meetings and dozens of bilateral talks to secure...

With her wavy blonde hair, Russian Orthodox priest husband and 23 children - including one from Mariupol - Maria Lvova-Belova is a Kremlin pin-up. Her social media profile paints a picture of a woman in love with the concept of traditional Russia and is filled with photographs of herself staring into the camera with doe-eyed sincerity. For Lent in February, Ms Lvova-Belova, 38, posed inside a Russian Orthodox church wearing a traditional headscarf. “I would like to ask you, dear ones, for forgiveness, from those I have offended voluntarily or involuntarily. I was led into temptation!” she wrote. When Vladimir...

An entire battalion of Russian mobilised men was wiped out within days of being sent to the frontline in Ukraine, survivors have told Russian opposition media. The soldiers had been ordered to the frontline in Luhansk, Donbas, and then told to dig trenches, the Verstka news agency said in an unverified report. “We had three shovels per battalion and there were no provisions at all. We dug in as best we could and in the morning the shelling started from artillery and helicopters. We were simply shot,” Agafonov, the alleged unit survivor, said. “When it all started the officers simply...

Ukraine has recaptured its first village in Luhansk, a region that Russian forces took five months to bomb into submission and conquer. Belogorovka is the latest prize for Ukraine’s continuing counter-offensive pushing Russia away from the second city of Kharkiv. The village lies only a dozen or so miles from the towns of Lysychansk and Severdonestsk, key regional economic centres in the wider Donbas region that the Kremlin has promised to defend at all costs. The village also lies 45 miles east of the Oskil River, where Russian forces fled after a Ukrainian offensive around Kharkiv recaptured an area the...