Russia recreates giant Stalin monument in Moscow metro
A replica of a monument to Joseph Stalin removed more than 50 years ago has been unveiled in a Moscow metro station in the latest move by President Putin's government to encourage the veneration of the Soviet dictator.
The original of the life-sized bas-relief was called 'the People's Gratitude to the Leader and Commander' and was unveiled at Taganskaya station in 1950, before being dismantled as part of de-Stalinisation efforts in the 1960s.
It is believed to have been destroyed along with the overwhelming majority of Stalin statues that were built during his long rule. The reconstruction of the monument at the same station in Moscow, less than two miles from Red Square, was not announced in advance.
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BBC News
22 minutes ago
- BBC News
Satellite images show Russian bombers destroyed in Ukraine attack
New satellite images and drone footage show serious damage inflicted on aircraft at several Russian airbases during Ukraine's surprise drone strike on images of two Russian airbases in north-western and central Russia, taken on Wednesday morning, show 12 aircraft damaged or drone footage, released by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on Wednesday, showed attacks on these two bases as well as two more targeted claims that it targeted 41 strategic bombers in the operation, adding that "at least" 13 were destroyed. Security officials say the shock incursion took 18 months to plan and saw many drones smuggled into Russia. Drone attacks recorded The SBU video is almost five minutes long and consists of edited footage taken by drones in the process of conducting attacks on Olenya, Ivanovo, Dyagilevo and Belaya each shot the feed cuts out before any explosion, but in some instances we see other planes on fire in the background. At no point do we see any indication of defensive measures from Russian forces, even after the attack was clearly well of the aircraft are covered in tyres - a Russian tactic said to be aimed at mitigating against drone of the aircraft are seen apparently loaded with cruise missiles and well fuelled - judging by the extent and spread of fires. This suggests they were prepared to conduct strikes. The clearest satellite imagery covers Olenya and Belaya and shows five damaged or destroyed planes at the former and seven at the latter. Olenya Olenya is a major Russian airbase in the north-west of the SBU footage shows smoke pouring from three aircraft, identified as Tu-95 strategic bombers and an approach to a fourth. Video footage also shows a drone approaching a Tu-22M strategic bomber sitting on the runway in this very same imagery from Maxar clearly shows a destroyed aircraft sitting beside a row of Tu-22M type aircraft. Manufacturing of both the Tu-95 and Tu-22 ended at the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, which will make repair difficult and replacement near in the SBU video, an AN-12 Transporter can be seen being approached. The Maxar satellite image does not show the aftermath of this, but other imagery reviewed by BBC Verify from AviVector - a satellite image analyst on X - suggests that it too was destroyed. Belaya Imagery provided by Planet Labs from this morning shows the entirety of Belaya airbase in Irkutsk Oblast, nearly 3,000km from the Ukrainian border. It shows three damaged Tu-95s and four Tu-22s and in various parts of the base. The SBU footage shows many of the same aircraft being two instances we see the drone carefully position itself on the wing of a Tu-95 - next to one of its fuel final shot of the footage shows smoke rising from numerous sites across the base. Ivanovo At Ivanovo airbase two A50-AWACS planes are seen being targeted. The aircraft serves as an early warning and control asset - or spy plane - and is identifiable by the sizeable radar system on its previously shot down two of these aircraft in January and February yet we have not seen any imagery or footage that captures any damage to these aircraft at satellite imagery from the site does show wreckage, BBC Verify has confirmed that the damage was present at the site before Sunday's attack and is likely from another incident. Dyagilevo The SBU footage from Dyagilevo in Ryazan region shows three Tu-22s being approached, but there is no clear indication of damage sustained in either the footage or available satellite reporting by Shayan Sardarizadeh What do you want BBC Verify to investigate?
The Guardian
30 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Putin tells Trump Russia ‘will have to respond' to Ukraine drone attack
Donald Trump has spoken for more than an hour with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, but he conceded the talks would not lead 'to immediate peace' in Ukraine, and warned that Russia would respond to Ukraine's successful attacks this week on its airfields. The US president, who repeatedly claimed he could end the Ukraine war in 24 hours during his election campaign, did not attempt to discourage the Russian leader from retaliation, according to his description of the discussion on his Truth Social platform. He noted instead that Putin had offered to participate in US talks with Iran about its nuclear programme, which the Trump claimed Tehran had been 'slowwalking'. In separate remarks on Wednesday, Putin once again ruled out a comprehensive ceasefire in Ukraine, claiming that it would just give Kyiv time to regroup and rearm, while Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy described Moscow's peace proposals presented earlier this week as nothing more than an 'ultimatum'. The comments from both leaders confirmed that negotiations in Istanbul on Monday had made no headway towards a truce, but the two sides signalled progress on other issues, including the transfer of captives and bodies. Russia said it was 'working' on the return of more than 300 Ukrainian children who the Kyiv government and the international criminal court (ICC) say were abducted by invading forces. It also confirmed there would be a prisoner exchange in the coming days, and that were ongoing discussions on plans to repatriate thousands of bodies of fallen soldiers from both sides. Zelenskyy said he expected 500 PoWs to be swapped this weekend, but he said that the broader peace proposal put forward by Russia in Istanbul amounted to 'an ultimatum from the Russian side to us'. Immediately after Monday's meeting, Ukrainian officials said they needed more time to study the document handed over by the Russians, but press reports at the time said that it simply restated Russia's maximalist demand that Ukrainian forces withdraw from four regions under partial Russian occupation. Putin stated his position on Wednesday in the form of a televised virtual meeting with his aides. After being informed that Ukraine had proposed an unconditional ceasefire of 30 to 60 days, Putin asked: 'Why reward them by giving them a break from the combat, which will be used to pump the regime with western arms, to continue their forced mobilisation and to prepare different terrorist acts?' He pointed to recent Ukrainian attacks on bridges inside Russia, one of which helped cause a train crash that killed seven people. On Sunday, Ukraine also carried out a remote-controlled mass drone attack on four Russian airfields, which Kyiv claims knocked out more than a third of Moscow's heavy bombers capable of firing cruise missiles. Ukrainian officials said 41 Russian warplanes, including strategic bombers and other types of combat aircraft, were destroyed or damaged in Sunday's operation, which they claimed had taken 18 months to plan. On Wednesday, they released additional drone footage of the attack, codenamed Operation Spiderweb. Satellite photos analysed and published by the Associated Press showed aircraft wreckage and scorched areas at Belaya base, one of the four airfields targeted. It said the images showed at least three Tu-95 and four Tu-22M bombers – both capable of firing cruise missiles – had been destroyed on the runway. Other aircraft at the base appeared unscathed. In his Truth Social post, Trump said the drone attacks on Russian airfields had come up in his hour-and-15-minute conversation with Putin on Wednesday. 'We discussed the attack on Russia's docked airplanes, by Ukraine, and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides,' Trump said. 'It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace. President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields.' Trump told Putin that Ukraine did not inform him before the drone attacks, a Kremlin spokesperson said. Before the Istanbul talks, Russia stepped up its aerial attacks on cities, and pushed further into Ukraine's northern region of Sumy, seizing more than 150 sq km (58 sq miles) of the area in less than two weeks, according to Russian claims and Ukrainian open-source mapping. During his election campaign, Trump claimed more than 50 times he could end the Ukraine conflict within a day, but his comments on Wednesday did not involve any calls for restraint. Instead, he noted that Putin had offered his help in direct talks the US has been holding with Iran over its nuclear programme, which has expanded considerably since 2018, when Trump walked out of a multilateral agreement to constrain it in exchange for sanctions relief. While Putin has ruled out a comprehensive ceasefire, Russia has suggested two- to three-day local truces on different parts of the frontline, to allow the opposing armies to collect their dead, a proposal Moscow says Kyiv has rejected. However, both sides showed on Wednesday they were ready to continue with the exchange of PoWs, the bodies of dead soldiers, and to offer some cooperation on Kyiv's priority, the return of Ukrainian children. In the televised government meeting on Wednesday, the chief Russian negotiator in Istanbul, Vladimir Medinsky, said Russia was 'working' on the return of Ukrainian children, noting that Kyiv had presented a list of 339 of them. Russia has claimed Ukrainian children were taken to Russia for their safety, while Kyiv insisted they had been abducted. The Ukrainian view was underpinned by the ICC, which issued arrest warrants in March 2023 for Putin and his 'commissioner for children's rights', Maria Lvova-Belova, for their role in the 'unlawful deportation' of the Ukrainian children. After the Istanbul meeting, Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian delegation had handed the Russians a list of nearly 400 names of abducted Ukrainian children, but claimed that Russia had only offered to resolve the cases of 10 of them. After Monday's talks, Turkey's leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, announced that he wanted to host a Putin-Zelenskyy summit also involving Trump. Zelenskyy has been challenging his Russian counterpart to meet him face to face for some months. 'We are ready for such a meeting any day,' the Ukrainian leader said on Wednesday, adding that it was 'pointless' to hold further talks with the midlevel Russian delegates Putin has sent to the talks – who Zelenskyy has previously dismissed as 'empty heads' – since they were not empowered to agree a ceasefire. Putin maintained his opposition to a personal meeting with Zelenskyy however, on the grounds of the recent attacks on railways in the Kursk and Bryansk border regions, which he described as 'terrorist acts'. 'How can any such [summit] meetings be conducted in such circumstances? What shall we talk about?' Putin asked in his video call with his officials. Since Trump's return to the White House in January, European capitals have sought to take more of a leading role in bolstering Ukraine's defence, and on Wednesday, a series of military industrial support measures were announced at a meeting of the 52-country strong Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Nato headquarters in Brussels, chaired jointly by the UK and Germany.
Scotsman
an hour ago
- Scotsman
SNP minister confirms U-turn on Scottish violence reduction unit
SNP justice secretary Angela Constance has confirmed the U-turn. Sign up to our Politics newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... SNP ministers have announced a U-turn on their decision to cut funding for a specialist centre aimed at tackling violent crime. Justice Secretary Angela Constance announced on Thursday funding for the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit (SVRU) would rise by 4 per cent on past levels to £1.217 million. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Knife crime rates in Edinburgh and Glasgow are on the rise. | Adobe The announcement came after The Scotsman last week exclusively revealed Scotland's national centre of expertise on violence would be hit by a budget cut of 3 per cent, in a decision that had been branded 'dangerous and irresponsible'. The SVRU had been allocated just £1,135,000 for 2025/26 - a budget cut of £35,500 - before the reversal in the Scottish Government's position. The decision follows the deaths of teenagers Amen Teklay and Kayden Moy, who both died after allegedly being stabbed in separate incidents this year. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ms Constance said the increase in funding showed the Government's 'continued commitment' to tackling the problem of violent crime. Justice secretary Angela Constance. Picture: Lisa Ferguson Originally established in 2005 in the Strathclyde Police area, the SVRU became a national initiative the following year, with its work focusing on treating violence as a public health issue. Ms Constance said of the unit: 'They take a long-term approach to violence reduction through prevention work and working to identify, understand and address the underlying causes of violence. 'To show our continued commitment to this issue, I have announced an additional £82,000 to £1.217 million to support the work they do this year.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ms Constance stressed the Government's approach to tackling youth violence 'is focused on education programmes' coupled with 'effective punishment for offences, appropriate police powers and sustained school and community engagement with young people'. She also insisted: 'We have made it quite clear that no-one should every carry any weapon including knives at any time, anywhere.'
