PUTIN’S WARPATH – Why is Russia invading Ukraine?
– Will there be World War 3?
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23:01, 3 May 2022Updated: 23:01, 3 May 2022VLADIMIR Putin has taken “full control” of the Ukraine invasion after making “impossible demands” of his generals, it’s been reported.
According to claims, the Russian leader left his officers in “shock” by changing his strategy once again after focusing on the annexing of Eastern Ukraine.
Thwarted in his bid to seize Kyiv, the capital, Putin has shifted his focus to the Donbas, Ukraine’s industrial heartland, where Moscow-backed separatists have been battling Ukrainian forces since 2014.
Russia said it struck dozens of military targets in the region, including concentrations of troops and weapons and an ammunition depot near Chervone in the Zaporizhzhia region, west of the Donbas.
According to Express.co.uk, a senior EU source told Eurasia Group CEO Mujtaba Rahman that Putin had “now taken day-to day-control of the conflict”.
He claimed the despot was also now focusing on the central city of Kryvvi Rih – the homeland of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy – as a new target, with Russian forces thought to be just 50km away.
A social media commentator, known as UOI, wrote: “Putin is demanding that General Dvornikov take Kryvyi Rih, Zelensky’s homeland, by May 9. We are told from communication interceptions that Russian officers are simply in shock.
“They have losses of 400 soldiers a day killed and wounded, and their equipment keeps breaking down.”
Follow our Russia-Ukraine live blog below for up-to-the-minute updates…
Pope says he requested meeting with Putin as compares invasion to genocide
Pope Francis says he requested a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Ukraine, while comparing the scale of the bloodshed to Rwanda’s genocide.
In an interview in Italy’s Corriere Della Sera newspaper, the Pontiff claims he sent a message to Putin around 20 days into the conflict saying that he “was willing to go to Moscow”.
“We have not yet received a response and we are still insisting, though I fear that Putin cannot, and does not, want to have this meeting at this time,” Francis said.
“But how is it possible to not stop such brutality? Twenty-five years ago, we lived through the same thing with Rwanda,” he said.
About 800,000 people were killed between April and July 1994 as the extremist Hutu regime tried to wipe out Rwanda’s Tutsi minority, in one of the 20th century’s biggest massacres.
Russia attacking Azovstal
The Russian Defence Ministry has said that their troops started shelling the steel plant in Mariupol after Ukrainian soldiers moved into firing positions, according to the RIA news agency.
The ministry told the news agency that as the ceasefire was declared, “Azov and Ukrainian servicemen, who are stationed on the plant, took advantage of it. They came out of the basement, they took up firing positions on the territory and in the factory buildings.
“Now units of the Russian army and the Donetsk People’s Republic, using artillery and aviation, are beginning to destroy these firing positions.”
Abramovich’s staff forced to buy their own toilet paper
Sanctioned billionaire Roman Abramovich’s security guards now have to buy their own loo roll.
Free bread, milk, tea and coffee perks have also been axed as Chelsea FC’s owner struggles to pay the bills.
Cuts came after the Russian oligarch’s ex-wife had to step in pay Team Fusion’s invoices.
The company manages security in Britain for Abramovich, 55, for around £400,000 a month.
But Irina Malandina, who has five kids with her ex-hubby, is cutting back on “unnecessary financing” after he had assets frozen by the Government over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Security staff accommodation in Chelsea, West London, is being reduced from three flats to one and the 25-strong team slashed.
They must also pay for their own wifi and TV subscriptions.
Horses owned by the family at their £20million Fyning Hill mansion in West Sussex are also being sold and classic cars including a £1.2million Mercedes Gullwing put in storage.
Power outages in Lviv after strike
The city is experiencing power outages following a Russian air strike, Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovy says on Telegram.
“Two power substations were damaged as a result of the missile strike – there is no electricity in part of the city,” he says.
People have been urged to stay in bomb shelters and bunkers.
Explosions in Lviv
According to reports there have been explosions in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.
This is confirmed by the city’s mayor, Andriy Sadovyi.
WARNING – Horrifying picture shows bodies of Russian soldiers laid out in Z shape
A disturbing picture shows bodies of slaughtered Russian soldiers laid out in a Z shape as brave Ukrainian forces drive Vladimir Putin’s troops out of Kharkiv.
Streets and fields surrounding the city are reportedly littered with bodies, with journalists describing the outskirts as an “open-air morgue”.
Kharkiv has suffered constant bombardment since the war began late in February – with many of the city’s one million terrified residents fleeing to safety.
As Ukrainian and Russian fighters battle for control of slithers of land around the country’s second-biggest city, grisly images have emerged.
One horrifying image appears to show four dead soldiers arranged in a Z shape – the symbol of Russia’s bloody invasion – in a village retaken by Ukrainian forces on Kharkiv’s outskirts.
According to Associated Press journalists, the dead soldiers were wearing white armbands commonly used by Russian fighters, while Russian medical kits were seen close to the bodies.
Chelsea takeover collapse fears
There are fears that the Chelsea takeover could COLLAPSE amid claims Roman Abramovich wants to recoup £1.6billion in loans.
The Russian oligarch has been sanctioned by the British government over his links with Russia amid the war on Ukraine.
The London club whittled down potential new owners down to a list of three, before one of the richest men in Britain Sir Jim Ratfcliffe threw his hat into the ring.
However, LA Dodgers boss Todd Boehly looked set to win the battle to buy the Premier League giants.
Within two hours it emerged that Boehly’s group, which includes Switzerland’s richest man, Hansjorg Wyss and has also enlisted former Chancellor George Osborne, had ALREADY been given preferred status.
The other two consortiums, one led by former Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton – backed by Lewis Hamilton and Lord Seb Coe – and the other by Boston Celtics and Atalanta part-owner Stephen Pagliuca, were informed they were effectively out of the running.
Boehly’s team, though, were told they had been granted a “period of exclusivity” to discuss the final terms and conditions of a takeover package.
But according to The Times, there could be a big spanner thrown into the works.
Abramovich is reportedly “attempting to renege on his promise to write off a £1.6 billion debt”.
This is despite the 55-year-old saying he would NOT be asking for any loans to be repaid when he put the club up for sale.
Chilling sign Russia is preparing to spark nuclear World War Three
One of Putin’s special so-called Doomsday planes for use in the event of a nuclear war with the West has been seen flying around Moscow in recent days.
A chilling video showed the Ilyushin Il-80 passing low over the outskirts of the capital.
The windowless Il-80 is one of four planes designed to act as a flying Kremlin in the sky in the event of a nuclear attack.
Putin would be able to rule Russia and issue commands to his military – including ordering nuke strikes – from the airborne command post.
Several dead in attack says Donetsk governor
Several have died in an attack in the area north of Mariupol.
The Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko has said that at least ten people are dead and 15 wounded after an attack on the Avdiivka Coke Plant.
Kyrylenko said on a social media post that workers were waiting at bus stops outside the factory after their shifts as the shelling began.
“The Russians knew exactly where they were aiming,” he added.
Boris Johnson gets standing ovation
Ukrainian MPs gave Boris Johnson a standing ovation today after he raised the roof with a Churchillian address to their Parliament.
The PM hailed the fightback against Putin’s forces as Ukraine’s “finest hour” – and said they were locked in a war of “good versus evil”.
Politicians in Kyiv flew British flags in the Verkhovna Rada as Mr Johnson spoke via video link from Downing Street.
Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko tweeted: “I have never seen this many standing ovations for a single speech. Ukraine is certainly lucky to have a friend like the UK.”
In his speech to his Ukrainian “brothers and sisters” Mr Johnson positioned Britain as their country’s most steadfast ally.
Has Vladimir Putin had surgery?
Political analyst Valery Solovei claimed that in February 2020, the Russian President underwent emergency surgery for possible abdominal cancer.
Solovei, who says he has sources close to the Kremlin, said of Putin’s illnesses: “One is of psycho-neurological nature, the other is a cancer problem.
“If anyone is interested in the exact diagnosis, I’m not a doctor, and I have no ethical right to reveal these problems.
”The second diagnosis is a lot, lot more dangerous than the first named diagnosis as Parkinson’s does not threaten physical state, but just limits public appearances.
“But there is a fatal diagnosis.
“Based on this information people will be able to make a conclusion about his life horizon, which wouldn’t even require specialist medical education.”
The Kremlin issued a firm denial of any issues with the President’s health at the time that The Sun revealed he may be suffering from Parkinsons.
Putin and Macron speak on phone
Earlier today the presidents of France and Russia took part in a phone call.
Russian state media have reported that the Kremlin has said that Vladimir Putin told his French counterpart that the West is “ignoring Ukrainian war crimes”.
The Kremlin also said that the West must stop supplying arms to Ukraine.
Putin has previously made unfounded claims that Ukraine is committing war crimes.
Russian forces have been accused of carrying out atrocities, including at Bucha.
‘Powerful assault’ under way
A Ukrainian military commander says Russian forces have launched another offensive at the Azovstal steelworks plant in Mariupol.
Sviatoslav Palamar, the deputy commander of Ukraine’s Azov military unit said in a statement on social media: “A powerful assault on the territory of the Azovstal plant is under way with support from armoured vehicles and tanks.”
He says Russian forces are attempting “to land a large number of infantry by boat”.
Moment Ukrainian drone sinks two Russian gunboats after ‘direct hit’
This is the extraordinary moment Ukraine blitzed TWO Russian Navy boats in a deadly drone attack – sending Putin’s butchers sinking to a watery grave.
Astonishing footage shows what is understood to be Turkish made Bayraktar TB2 drones unleashing hell on two fast-attack boats in the Black Sea.
The infrared video – released by the Ukrainian armed forces – shows one of the Raptor-class craft floating off the coast of the war ravaged country.
But moments later, it is pounded in a direct strike from the sky, sending an enormous fireball into the air as it’s blown to smithereens
While another clip appears to show a boat accelerating shortly before it’s annihilated in a direct strike – obliterating the entire vessel in a hellish inferno.
The Russian craft is obliterated by the lethal Bayraktar TB2 drone strike Credit: Cover Images
India’s PM calls for ceasefire
Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister, has called for a ceasefire in Ukraine and is urging Kyiv and Moscow to engage in peace talks.
The PM is currently visiting Copenhagen to meet his Danish counterpart.
He says India wants “an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and for the adoption of dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the problem”.
More evacuees arrive in Zaporizhzhia
According to reports more evacuees from the Azovstal steelworks have arrived in Zaporizhzhia.
Some 156 evacuees have arrived, many of them women and children, after they were rescued on Sunday.
Russia attacking Azovstal
The Russian Defence Ministry has said that their troops started shelling the steel plant in Mariupol after Ukrainian soldiers moved into firing positions, according to the RIA news agency.
The ministry told the news agency that as the ceasefire was declared, “Azov and Ukrainian servicemen, who are stationed on the plant, took advantage of it. They came out of the basement, they took up firing positions on the territory and in the factory buildings.
“Now units of the Russian army and the Donetsk People’s Republic, using artillery and aviation, are beginning to destroy these firing positions.”
Pope says he requested meeting with Putin as compares invasion to genocide
Pope Francis says he requested a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Ukraine, while comparing the scale of the bloodshed to Rwanda’s genocide.
In an interview in Italy’s Corriere Della Sera newspaper, the Pontiff claims he sent a message to Putin around 20 days into the conflict saying that he “was willing to go to Moscow”.
“We have not yet received a response and we are still insisting, though I fear that Putin cannot, and does not, want to have this meeting at this time,” Francis said.
“But how is it possible to not stop such brutality? Twenty-five years ago, we lived through the same thing with Rwanda,” he said.
About 800,000 people were killed between April and July 1994 as the extremist Hutu regime tried to wipe out Rwanda’s Tutsi minority, in one of the 20th century’s biggest massacres.
Putin signs decree on retaliatory sanctions against West
Russian Vladimir Putin has signed a decree on retaliatory economic sanctions in response to the “unfriendly actions of certain foreign states and international organisations”, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
According to the decree, Russia will forbid the export of products and raw materials to people and entities that it has sanctioned.
The decree also prohibits transactions with foreign individuals and companies hit by Russia’s retaliatory sanctions and permits Russian counterparties not to fulfill obligations towards them.
PM says threats against British diplomats in Ukraine ‘beyond the pale’
The Prime Minister this morning told Good Morning Britain that any threat or attack on British diplomats in Ukraine is “totally beyond the pale” and there is “no justification for it”.
He said the UK has “led the world in helping the Ukrainians to protect themselves against wanton aggression, barbaric aggression”.
He later added that the UK has also “marshalled the world in delivering a very tough package of economic sanctions”.
Pictured: Boris Johnson addresses Ukraine parliament from Downing Street
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claps during a session of a parliament.
The picture below shows Boris Johnson addressing Ukrainian lawmakers via videolink, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv.
It comes after the PM recently met the Ukrainian PM in person during a visit to Kyiv.
MoD: Russia has failed to ‘dominate’ in Ukraine
The Ministry of Defence said that despite Moscow’s huge increase in military spending in recent years, strategic and execution failures have resulted in a failure to “dominate” Ukraine.
In its latest intelligence update, the department said: “Russia’s military is now significantly weaker, both materially and conceptually, as a result of its invasion of Ukraine.
“Recovery from this will be exacerbated by sanctions.
“This will have a lasting impact on Russia’s ability to deploy conventional military force.”
UK ‘needs to do all it can’ to help Ukrainians, says trade secretary
International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said the UK needs to do “all it can” to help support the Ukrainians in light of the Government’s £300 million package of defensive military aid for Ukraine.
Asked why the Government is sending the money to Kyiv while increasing national insurance, she told LBC: “Because we need to do all that we can to support them in their fight to ensure that this illegal war of Putin’s fails.
“If we don’t stand up for democracy and freedom, there is nothing … but it’s about freedom.
“The Prime Minister, being the leader of one of the great democratic nations of our world, is determined both to speak out and call others to help, but also to help in practical ways.
“I think all of us are wanting to see him do that and championing the work that’s been done to support them.”
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.”
