Operation Spiderweb: how Ukraine's drone attack could reshape warfare
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Double blow for Ukraine as US 'won't offer security to Kyiv' as Putin holds firm on peace demands
Hopes of an end to the war in Ukraine suffered a double blow last night as the US reduced its peace force role and Russia set out demands for a truce. Firstly it emerged UK and European officials visiting the US capital have been told they must provide all the security in Ukraine if a settlement is reached. Hours later, Vladimir Putin 's mouthpieces in Moscow confirmed none of the Kremlin's peace demands have changed, despite recent high profile talks. Together these developments signalled that a settlement to the three-year conflict, which has caused hundreds of thousands of casualties, is further off. Hopes had been raised following Donald Trump 's meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska and after Western leaders went with Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House on Monday. Military planners, including from the UK, have now been warned the United States will only play a 'minimal' role in securing Ukraine after a peace deal. British officials sat down with US defence under secretary Elbridge Colby. He told UK, French, German and Finnish representatives that they will have to provide security arrangements for Ukraine without the US, according to the Politco website. A Nato diplomat told Politco: 'There's the dawning reality that this will be Europe making this happen on the ground.' Colby's meeting came as Russia denied reports it has agreed to the US providing security guarantees for Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Kremlin repeated its demands that Ukraine gives up the entirety of the Donbass region as part of any deal. Russian sources also insisted Ukraine renounces ambitions to join Nato and no Western troops should enter the country. These demands were set out in June 2024 and rejected by Kyiv. Yesterday, President Zelensky reaffirmed his refusal of Russia's offer, saying: 'If we're talking about simply withdrawing from the east, we cannot do that.' Russia fired 574 drones and 40 missiles at Ukraine in the early hours of yesterday, according to Ukrainian officials. One person died in the western city of Lviv.
ITV News
2 hours ago
- ITV News
US factory among targets hit in Russian strikes on Ukraine as Washington pushes for peace
Russian strikes on civilian areas in Ukraine's Sumy and Odesa regions overnight into Thursday have injured 15 people, including a family with three small children, according to Ukrainian authorities. Further strikes also targeted ports, and fuel and energy infrastructure, officials said. A US electronics plant near the Hungarian border was struck, according to Andy Hunder, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine. The Flex factory is one of the biggest American investments in Ukraine, Hunder told The Associated Press, adding that six workers had been injured. The latest attacks come as world leaders continue to push for a peaceful resolution to the conflict and direct negotiations between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, with a view to ending the war. Nato defence chiefs met virtually on Wednesday to discuss how this could be achieved, with Zelenskyy pointing to Wednesday's strikes as evidence of the urgency with which peace was needed. The strikes follow a summit between Putin and US President Donald Trump in Alaska last week, aimed at resolving the conflict, as well as a White House meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump, who were joined by European leaders, on Monday. Wednesday's meeting was to discuss security guarantees, seen widely as the only viable way to prevent Russian rearmament and further fighting at some point in the future. It is understood 32 defence chiefs were participating in the call, with US General Alexus Grynkewich also in attendance. Ukraine has long maintained any end to the conflict must be supported with military assurances, pointing to previous instances of Russia breaking treaties and territorial assurances. 'We need strong security guarantees to ensure a truly secure and lasting peace,' Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post on Wednesday after Russian missile and drone strikes hit six regions of Ukraine overnight. Kyiv's European allies are looking to set up an alliance that could enforce any peace agreement. A coalition of 30 countries, including European nations, Japan and Australia, and led by the UK and France, have signed up to support the initiative. British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had previously indicated he would consider sending UK troops to Ukraine as part of this force. Speaking on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump reaffirmed this commitment by the European so-called "coalition of the willing" and suggested the US would be prepared to offer assistance "by air," something he indicated for the first time in Monday's discussions. Russia has long maintained it will not countenance Nato troops operating in Ukraine, although US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff suggested the Kremlin seemed more amenable to the suggestion following Monday's meeting in Alaska. A meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy would not be the first time the leaders had spoken directly, having met in 2019 at the Paris Normandy Summit to discuss a ceasefire after Russia's occupation of Crimea. The Kremlin has yet to directly comment on any future talks between the two leaders. Speaking on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticised efforts by Europe and the US to plan for Ukrainian security guarantees without Moscow's involvement. 'We cannot agree with the fact that it is now proposed to resolve collective security issues without the Russian Federation. This will not work,' said Lavrov, according to state news agency RIA Novosti. Russia will 'ensure (its) legitimate interests firmly and harshly,' he added at a news conference in Moscow with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi. While Zelenskyy has confirmed he is ready to meet with Putin unconditionally, the Kremlin has yet to confirm Putin's commitment to do the same. French President Emmanuel Macron, who himself facilitated peace talks between the two neighbours in 2019, suggested the summit could happen in Europe and proposed the Swiss city of Geneva. Switzerland has expressed its willingness to act as host and, according to a senior official in The Hague with direct knowledge of the request, intends to ask the International Criminal Court (ICC) to exempt it from sanctions to allow Putin in for a summit. Such an exemption would be necessary due to an ICC 2023 arrest warrant on Putin for alleged involvement in the abduction of Ukrainian children. More than 100 countries are ICC signatories and have a legal obligation to arrest the Russian leader on their soil.
The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
Army chiefs spend £120million on mobile missile launchers to bolster Britain's air defences
THE Army is buying more mobile missile launchers to bolster Britain's air defences. The £120million deal will get six Land Ceptor launchers which can each fire up to eight missiles that can targets the size of tennis balls at three times the speed of sound up to 60 miles away. 4 4 4 It comes after recent war games showed Britain would be overwhelmed by a Russian missile and drone blitz. The MoD said the Land Ceptor deal would 'bolster national security' and secure 140 jobs. It is part of a government plan to add two Sky Sabre air defence batteries to the seven already in service. Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard said it would double the number of Sky Sabre batteries available to deploy abroad. He said: 'We are equipping our armed forces with state-of-the art equipment to help keep us safe. 'Doubling our deployable Sky Sabre capability will strengthen the UK's air defences, protect UK forces abroad, and deter our adversaries.' 'Not a pretty picture' Each battery consists of three Land Ceptor launchers, a Giraffe radar that detects and tracks incoming missiles, and a command and control centre which can guide up to 24 missiles on to 24 separate targets. The Sun revealed that Russian missiles overwhelmed the UK in a war game based on attacks on Ukraine. Defence chiefs simulated the first night of the war to test the UK's air defences. Air Commodore Blythe Crawford said: 'It was not a pretty picture.' Iron Dome Explained: Inside Israel's envy-of-the-world air defence downing 96% of terror rockets The drills suggested bases would be blown to smithereens and £100 million fighter jets could get blitzed before they could hide. Air Cdre Crawford, head of the RAF's Air and Space Warfare Centre, said it showed the UK 'home base' was no longer safe. The drills used a £36 million wargaming system to test the UK's responses to 'hundreds of different types of munitions' attacking from multiple different directions. It exposed multiple vulnerabilities including a chronic shortage of airfields and a lack of hardened shelters for protect and hide jets on the ground. The government sold off scores of airfields and watered-down the RAF 's powers to commandeer civilian runways. The UK has no Iron Dome-style air defence system to protect the home nations from incoming missiles. The Armed Forces rely on RAF Typhoons, which scramble from RAF Lossiemouth, to shoot down incoming drones and cruise missiles. The only British missiles that could intercept Russian ballistic missiles are based onboard the Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyers. 4 The Sky Sabre system is for short and medium range missile defence. It is designed to intercept aircraft, helicopters and air launched missiles. Air Cdr Crawford warned in April Britain had got lax by standing at the edge of Europe and "feeling as though the rest of the continent stood between us and the enemy". He said: " Ukraine has made us all sit up.' Speaking at London 's Rusi think tank he said that for decades military planners had assumed they were 'safe to operate from the home base because most of the wars we've been fighting have been overseas'. He said: 'We need to reverse that thinking and assume that from here on, we're under threat in the home base now as well.' The drill took place on a simulator known as Gladiator after Russia launched its full scale invasion in 2022. But the results have not been revealed until now. Addressing an Air and Missile Defence Conference at London-based RUSI think tank, Air Cmdr Crawford said: "We loaded night one of Ukraine into that synthetic environment and played it out against the UK and as you can imagine it was not a pretty picture. 'It reinforced the fact that we really need to get after this.' The drills were stopped before bases were hit but it triggered an urgent review of the RAF's resilience. There is a worst case scenario where things we hold dear, parts of the UK, are within range of Russian missiles. Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston Since then Typhoon jets have practised landing on ice and motorways in Finland – as they would have to do if their bases were under attack. Sweden's Grippen fighter jet and Soviet MiG and Sukhoi jets were designed to land on motorways. They deliberately built their roads to be strong enough – and straight enough – for fighter jets to land. Speaking before the war in Ukraine, former RAF boss Mike Wigston said pilots needed to practise scrambling at zero notice to prepare for a war with Russia. He said RAF Typhoons and F-35B Lightning jets would have to land on motorways, race tracks and car parks if they held proper fleet dispersal drills for the first time since the Cold War. The plans would see squadrons scatter into 'fighting fours' to cut the risk whole fleets could be wiped out in a single strike. Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston said it was his duty to prepare for a 'worst case scenario'. Speaking in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where the US Pacific fleet was decimated by a surprise attack in 1941, he said: 'There is a worst case scenario where things we hold dear, parts of the UK, are within range of Russian missiles.' He added: 'It sounds a bit Cold Warry, but there is a pressing requirement to remember how to do it.' RAF pilots practised dispersing to Boscombe Down, in Wiltshire. The former World War Two airfield is used to test prototype aircraft but hasn't been used by an operational squadron for more than 30 years. A defence source said having more airfields made it easier to launch deception plans so that enemies are uncertain where the RAF jets are based. But they warned cost-cutting drives had hamstrung the RAF's military effectiveness.
