Tag: Russia

Ukraine invasion: World powers unite to hammer Russian economy

Joint statement by the UK and other international partners on financial measures against Russia:

We, the leaders of the United Kingdom, the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and the United States condemn Putin’s war of choice and attacks on the sovereign nation and people of Ukraine.

We stand with the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people in their heroic efforts to resist Russia’s invasion. Russia’s war represents an assault on fundamental international rules and norms that have prevailed since the Second World War, which we are committed to defending. We will hold Russia to account and collectively ensure that this war is a strategic failure for Putin.

This past week, alongside our diplomatic efforts and collective work to defend our own borders and to assist the Ukrainian government and people in their fight, we, as well as our other allies and partners around the world, imposed severe measures on key Russian institutions and banks, and on the architects of this war, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.

As Russian forces unleash their assault on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, we are resolved to continue imposing costs on Russia that will further isolate Russia from the international financial system and our economies. We will implement these measures within the coming days.

Specifically, we commit to undertake the following measures:

First, we commit to ensuring that selected Russian banks are removed from the SWIFT messaging system. This will ensure that these banks are disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to operate globally.

Second, we commit to imposing restrictive measures that will prevent the Russian Central Bank from deploying its international reserves in ways that undermine the impact of our sanctions.

Third, we commit to acting against the people and entities who facilitate the war in Ukraine and the harmful activities of the Russian government. Specifically, we commit to taking measures to limit the sale of citizenship—so called golden passports—that let wealthy Russians connected to the Russian government become citizens of our countries and gain access to our financial systems.

Fourth, we commit to launching this coming week a transatlantic task force that will ensure the effective implementation of our financial sanctions by identifying and freezing the assets of sanctioned individuals and companies that exist within our jurisdictions.

As a part of this effort we are committed to employing sanctions and other financial and enforcement measures on additional Russian officials and elites close to the Russian government, as well as their families, and their enablers to identify and freeze the assets they hold in our jurisdictions.

We will also engage other governments and work to detect and disrupt the movement of ill-gotten gains, and to deny these individuals the ability to hide their assets in jurisdictions across the world.

Finally, we will step up or coordination against disinformation and other forms of hybrid warfare.

We stand with the Ukrainian people in this dark hour. Even beyond the measures we are announcing today, we are prepared to take further measures to hold Russia to account for its attack on Ukraine.

UK forces arrive to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank

Royal Navy ships, British Army troops, and Royal Air force fighters are arriving on new deployments in eastern Europe to bolster NATO’s eastern front.

HMS Trent is in the eastern Mediterranean, conducting NATO exercises with Merlin Helicopters and RAF P8 Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft. They will be shortly joined by HMS Diamond, a Type 45 destroyer, which set sail from Portsmouth on Friday.

Challenger 2 tanks and armoured vehicles of the Royal Welsh battlegroup have arrived in Estonia from Germany, with further equipment and around 1000 troops arriving over the coming days. This will lead to a doubling of the UK presence in Estonia, where the UK leads a NATO battlegroup as part of the Alliance’s enhanced Forward Presence.

RAF Typhoon fighter jets have already completed their first air policing missions across the region, with an additional four aircraft based at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. Typhoons flying from bases in Cyprus and the UK are now patrolling NATO airspace over Romania and Poland alongside NATO allies with Voyager air-to-air refuelling aircraft in support.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace MP said: “Our armed forces are once again being called upon in the service of our Nation and I salute the bravery and sense of duty shared by all our personnel who have been deployed to support NATO.

“Alongside our NATO Allies, these deployments constitute a credible deterrent to stop Russian aggression threatening the territorial sovereignty of member states.”

Yesterday, the Defence Secretary held a virtual donor conference with more than 25 countries, including the US and Canada and some countries outside NATO, coordinating their support to Ukraine.

They will continue to give humanitarian and military support, which includes ammunition and anti-tank weapons, and the UK has offered to conduct logistics operations to support the delivery of donations.

NATO Allies are united in response to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and are collectively taking a range of measures to protect their security and deter further aggression.

At a meeting of NATO Heads of State and government on Friday, all 30 member nations agreed that:

“We will make all deployments necessary to ensure strong and credible deterrence and defence across the Alliance, now and in the future. Our measures are and remain preventive, proportionate and non-escalatory.”

UKRAINE: IT’S WAR

RUSSIA LAUNCHES FULL SCALE INVASION

Russia has unleashed a military invasion of Ukraine, with reports of explosions near major cities across the country.

In a TV address to the Russian people early this morning, President Putin warned Western governments not to interfere.

Russia launched its military operation after recognising the self-proclaimed people’s republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine earlier this week. The breakaway pro-Russian regions later asked Moscow for military support, giving Putin an excuse, ifhe needed one, to escalate military operations.

In his announcement early this morning, Mr Putin said the military operation’s objective was to defend those people who had been subjected for eight years to “genocide by the Kyiv regime”.

In the TV statement Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia did not plan to occupy Ukraine, but said Moscow’s response would be “instant” if anyone tried to stop this.

While Western leaders have condemned Putin’s actions, NATO will not take up arms to support the Ukranian people.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the early hours of this morning.

The Prime Minister said he was appalled by the unfolding events in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian President updated the Prime Minister on the attacks taking place, and the Prime Minister said the West would not stand by as President Putin waged his campaign against the Ukrainian people.

The Prime Minister said he hoped Ukraine could resist and that Ukraine and its people were in the thoughts of everyone in the United Kingdom people during this dark time.

The Prime Minister is currently chairing a COBRA meeting to discuss developments in Ukraine.

Further sanctions are the likely outcome, but sanctions on their own will never deter an autocrat hell bent on having his own way. While NATO wrings it’s hands, Putin will be laughing all the way to Kyiv.

PM Boris Johnson gave an address to the nation on the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Shortly after 4 o’ clock this morning I spoke to president Zelenskyy of Ukraine to offer the continued support of the UK because our worst fears have now come true and all our warnings have proved tragically accurate.

President Putin of Russia has unleashed war in our European continent. He has attacked a friendly country without any provocation and without any credible excuse

Innumerable missiles and bombs have been raining down on an entirely innocent population

A vast invasion is underway by land by sea and by air.

And this is not in the infamous phrase some faraway country of which we know little

We have Ukrainian friends in this country; neighbours, co-workers

Ukraine is a country that for decades has enjoyed freedom and democracy and the right to choose its own destiny

We – and the world – cannot allow that freedom just to be snuffed out. We cannot and will not just look away.

It is because we have been so alarmed in recent months at the Russian intimidation that the UK became one of the first countries in Europe to send defensive weaponry to help the Ukrainians

Other allies have now done the same and we will do what more we can in the days ahead

Today in concert with our allies we will agree a massive package of economic sanctions designed in time to hobble the Russian economy

And to that end we must also collectively cease the dependence on Russian oil and gas that for too long has given Putin his grip on western politics

Our mission is clear – Diplomatically, politically, economically – and eventually, militarily – this hideous and barbaric venture of Vladimir Putin must end in failure.

And so I say to the people of Russia, whose president has just authorised a tidal wave of violence against a fellow Slavic people

The parents of Russian soldiers who will lose their lives.

I cannot believe this is being done in your name or that you really want the pariah status it will bring to the Putin regime

and I say to the Ukrainians in this moment of agony

we are with you we are praying for you and your families

and we are on your side

And if the months ahead are grim, and the flame of freedom burns low

I know that it will blaze bright again in Ukraine because for all his bombs and tanks and missiles I don’t believe that the Russian dictator will ever subdue the national feeling of the Ukrainians and their passionate belief that their country should be free

and I say to the British people and all who have heard the threats from Putin against those who stand with Ukraine

we will of course do everything to keep our country safe

We are joined in our outrage by friends and allies around the world

We will work with them – for however long it takes – to ensure that the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine is restored

because this act of wanton and reckless aggression is an attack not just on Ukraine

It is an attack on democracy and freedom in East Europe and around the world

This crisis is about the right of a free, sovereign independent European people to choose their own future – and that is a right that the UK will always defend.

Ukraine crisis: We must face down the threat posed by Russia, says Truss

‘The United Kingdom is proud to be stepping up to take the lead in defence of freedom and democracy’ – Foreign Secretary Liz Truss

Moscow’s campaign against Ukraine and fellow democracies is undermining the very foundation of European security. And so, it is vital we face down the clear and present threat posed by Russia (writes Foreign Secretary LIZ TRUSS).

The Prime Minister will spearhead diplomatic efforts by talking to President Putin and travelling to the region in the coming days. Today, the UK will join talks at the UN Security Council to apply pressure on Russia to pursue the path of diplomacy. I will be flying out to Moscow within the next fortnight.

The stakes are high. Over 100,000 troops are now massed on Ukraine’s border. Russia has attacked Ukraine before, illegally annexing Crimea in 2014 and bringing war to the Donbas region, so the danger is real.

This malign activity goes beyond the borders of Ukraine. Russia is using its influence to fan the flames of discord in the Western Balkans. Russian forces are continuing to arrive in Belarus for a so-called “joint exercise” close to NATO’s borders. In recent days, Russia has intensified its brinkmanship by planning naval exercises off the Irish coast and increasing its naval presence in the Baltic Sea, prompting Sweden to send troops to reinforce one of its islands.

That is why we are reinforcing our diplomatic efforts with deterrence. We are offering NATO additional fast jets, warships and military specialists. We are doubling troop numbers to Estonia and have the HMS Prince of Wales on standby to move should tensions rise further. We are NATO’s biggest spender in Europe on defence and prepared to deploy our forces in line with that.

The United Kingdom is proud to be stepping up to take the lead in defence of freedom and democracy through credible deterrence and diplomacy. Even at the height of the Cold War, we were able to agree on the principles of a more secure Europe. Over more than four decades, we made huge advances towards a freer and safer world through agreements ranging from the 1975 Helsinki Final Act to the 1995 Dayton Agreement and the 2014 Minsk Protocol.

Yet Russia is jeopardising this hard-won progress with its reckless behaviour and unjustified aggression. It could not be more important for Russia to engage diplomatically rather than on the battlefield.

That is why we have said many times, alongside our allies in NATO and through the G7 Presidency, that any further Russian invasion of Ukraine would be a massive strategic mistake with severe costs, including an unprecedented package of coordinated sanctions with our partners.

Our quarrel is not with the Russian people, but the policies pursued by their leaders. They repress freedom and democracy, seeking to silence courageous organisations like Andrei Sakharov’s ‘Memorial’, which has fought for decades for human rights. And now they risk landing ordinary Russians in an intractable quagmire to rival the Soviet-Afghan war and Chechnya.

There is a way out of this situation. It lies in respecting our past achievements and sticking to our longstanding commitments to respect each other’s borders. That can only start with Russia de-escalating, ending its aggressive campaign and engaging in meaningful talks.

We are serious about improving security for all. In the last week, the US and NATO have presented substantive proposals on areas for discussion that would increase transparency and reduce risk. Together, we are urging Russia to sit down for proper negotiations, based on the key principles of freedom, democracy and the rule of law. The alternative can only end in tragedy: with an incursion leading inevitably to huge suffering and severe economic consequences through sanctions.

The ball is in Russia’s court. I will continue to make the case with our allies and directly to Moscow for a diplomatic solution. But I am also ready to take the necessary steps to spell out the consequences of continued belligerence.

Ukraine has the right to determine its own future. However, President Putin made clear in his manifesto last summer – “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians” – that he believed “the true sovereignty of Ukraine is possible only in partnership with Russia”. We cannot turn a blind eye to any attempt to impose that partnership by force.

What happens in Europe matters for the world. Over 30 years ago, we joined our partners in Moscow, where we agreed that fundamental freedoms like human rights are “matters of direct and legitimate concern to all”. That same principle drives us today to stand steadfast with Ukraine in support of its future as a free democracy.

At this critical time, we are joining forces with our allies to show that there can never be rewards for aggression. By standing up for our ideas and ideals, we will together ensure the world is a freer, richer and safer place.

UK exposes series of Russian cyber attacks against Olympic Games

Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU, conducted cyber reconnaissance against officials and organisations at the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games due to take place in Tokyo this summer before they were postponed, the UK has revealed.

The targets included the Games’ organisers, logistics services and sponsors.

The attacks on the 2020 Summer Games are the latest in a campaign of Russian malicious cyber activity against the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The UK is confirming for the first time today the extent of GRU targeting of the 2018 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea.

The GRU’s cyber unit attempted to disguise itself as North Korean and Chinese hackers when it targeted the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Games.

It went on to target broadcasters, a ski resort, Olympic officials and sponsors of the games in 2018.

The GRU deployed data-deletion malware against the Winter Games IT systems and targeted devices across the Republic of Korea using VPNFilter.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) assesses that the incident was intended to sabotage the running of the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, as the malware was designed to wipe data from and disable computers and networks.

Administrators worked to isolate the malware and replace the affected computers, preventing potential disruption.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “The GRU’s actions against the Olympic and Paralympic Games are cynical and reckless. We condemn them in the strongest possible terms.

The UK will continue to work with our allies to call out and counter future malicious cyber attacks.

The UK has already acted against the GRU’s destructive cyber unit by working with international partners to impose asset freezes and travel bans against its members through the EU cyber sanctions regime.

Today (Monday 19 October), the US Department of Justice has announced criminal charges against Russian military intelligence officers working for the GRU’s destructive cyber unit – also known by the codenames Sandworm and VoodooBear – for conducting cyber attacks against the 2018 Winter Games and other cyber attacks, including the 2018 spear phishing attacks against the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL).

The UK attributed the attacks against DSTL, which followed the Salisbury poisonings, to Russia in 2018.

Bampotto at the double with World Cup predictions

North Edinburgh News’ in-house football pundit Bampotto was on the ball with his World Cup predictions. The Drylaw tipster made just three predictions – and two of the three hit the back of the net: 

BANG: France to win World Cup – GOAL!

BANG: Harry Kane to win the Golden Boot – GOAL!

BANG: England to lose in the Quarter Finals (on penalties) – HIT THE POST! England exceeded the expectations of some pundits by progressing to the semi-finals. They qualified second in the weakest group of all, which fortunately gave them the easier path for progression. They then scraped through their last sixteen game, beating combative Columbia on penalties, before defeating a pedestrian Swedish side in the quarter finals.

With expectations rising, and the pundits deliberating over who England would  to face in the Final, semi-final opponents Croatia were almost irrelevant, a minor inconvenience on England’s relentless progress to glory. Croatia were too old, too small to cope with England’s ‘golden generation’ ….

Unfortunately no-one told the ‘ageing’ Croatians, who came from a goal down send England crashing out of the World Cup …

We look forward to Bampotto’s predictions for the forthcoming league season …