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A Russian war propagandist who called for the destruction of Ukraine was killed in a bomb attack in St Petersburg. Video shows the moment pro-Putin cheerleader Vladlen Tatarsky, whose real name is Maxim Fomin, was handed a statuette of himself by an unnamed woman that was believed to have contained the explosive just minutes before he was blown to bits at the political event in the cafe. -snip- It is not known if the woman who handed him the statue, which Russian media said was a gold-coloured likeness of Tatarskiy and contained 200g of TNT, was aware of its contents.

Ukrainian forces in Severodonetsk have been ordered to withdraw, according to the top regional official.The city is the focus of Russia's invasion as it tries to take control of large parts of eastern Ukraine."Remaining in positions that have been relentlessly shelled for months just doesn't make sense," Luhansk regional head Serhiy Haidai said.Russian forces have nearly encircled Severodonetsk in recent days, and are now targeting its twin city Lysychansk."They have received orders to retreat to new positions... and from there continue their operations," Mr Haidai told Ukrainian television on Friday morning.

Henry Kissinger, the 99-year old former secretary of state, suggested that Ukraine would likely have to give up some territory in a negotiated settlement, though he added that “ideally the dividing line should be a return to the status quo” before the invasion, which included the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the seizure of parts of the Donbas. “Pursuing the war beyond that point would not be about the freedom of Ukraine, but a new war against Russia itself,’’ Mr. Kissinger concluded. Almost immediately, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine accused Mr. Kissinger of appeasement, retorting angrily that “I...

Has land for peace ever worked — even lately? We’ll get to that in a moment, but first let’s look at a critical moment in the Russian offensive in Donbas. If Putin wants to force a face-saving settlement, he needs to win a decisive battle to secure an area that he, um, largely controlled by proxy before the invasion. Reuters casts the ongoing battle on the Siverskiy Donets river as Putin’s last, best hope to get out with some claim of victory:The decisive battles of the war’s latest phase are still raging further south, where Moscow is attempting to seize...