Putin says Russia is having a ‘complicated time’
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Vladimir Putin is “running a meat grinder for an army,” the UK defence secretary has said as he suggested the war could “last another year”.
When asked whether we could see the conflict between Ukraine and Russia still going in another 12 months, Ben Wallace said: “I think we will.
Putin says Russia is having a ‘complicated time’
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Vladimir Putin is “running a meat grinder for an army,” the UK defence secretary has said as he suggested the war could “last another year”.
When asked whether we could see the conflict between Ukraine and Russia still going in another 12 months, Ben Wallace said: “I think we will.
“I think Russia has shown a complete disregard, not only for the lives of the people of Ukraine, but for its own soldiers.”
He told LBC that over 188,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or injured as a result of “catastrophic miscalculation and aggression by President Putin”.
“When someone has crossed the line and thinks it is OK to do that to your own people, running effectively a meat grinder for an army, I think he is not going to stop,” he added.
Meanwhile, UK intelligence said that Russian forces are possibly preparing for another offensive around the town of Vuhledar in the eastern Donbas region, with the town experiencing heavy shelling.
War could last another year as Putin ‘running a meat grinder for an army,’ Ben Wallace says
The conflict in Ukraine could last another year, the Defence Secretary has suggested.
Ben Wallace, asked whether we could see the war between Ukraine and Russia still going in another 12 months, told LBC: “I think we will.
“I think Russia has shown a complete disregard, not only for the lives of the people of Ukraine, but for its own soldiers.
“We are sitting here 12 months in and 188,000, actually more now, Russian soldiers are dead or injured as a result of this catastrophic miscalculation and aggression by President Putin.
“When someone has crossed the line and thinks it is OK to do that to your own people, running effectively a meat grinder for an army, I think he is not going to stop.”
‘Me and Jack Nicholson were put in a convoy to meet Putin’: Sean Penn on his Zelensky film and the future of Ukraine
The actor and director talks to Geoffrey Macnab about the war in Ukraine and how the US lost its way under Trump:
Sean Penn once met Vladimir Putin. Back in 2001, when he and Jack Nicholson went to the Moscow Film Festival for the Russian premiere of Penn’s film, The Pledge, the president turned up to meet them. Even then, more than 20 years before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Penn had a very bad feeling about the politician he now calls a “creepy little bully”.
During their time in Russia, Penn and Nicholson were driven to the dacha (or country house) belonging to Oscar-winning Russian filmmaker and Putin cheerleader, Nikita Mikhalkov.
The actor and director talks to Geoffrey Macnab about the war in Ukraine and how the US lost its way under Trump
Moldova dismisses Russian report of Ukraine plot over Transdniestria
Moldova dismissed an accusation by Russia‘s defence ministry on Thursday that Ukraine planned to invade the breakaway Moldovan region of Transdniestria after staging a false flag operation, and called for calm.
The Russian news agency RIA said Ukraine, which borders Moldova, planned to stage an attack by purportedly Russian forces from Transdniestria as a pretext for the invasion. Russia keeps troops in the breakaway region.
The TASS news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin as saying separately that the West had instructed Moldova’s government in Chisinau to stop all interaction with Transdniestria’s Moscow-backed authorities.
The Moldovan government issued a statement on the Telegram messaging app saying state authorities “do not confirm” the Russian defence ministry’s allegations.
“We call for calm and for information to be received (by the public) from official and credible sources of the Republic of Moldova,” it said. “Our institutions cooperate with foreign partners and in the case of threats to the country, the public will be promptly informed.”
Moldova’s foreign minister told Reuters on Wednesday that the tiny former Soviet republic, which also borders NATO member Romania, was prepared for a “full spectrum of threats” from Russia.
“Our institutions have planned for responses along the full spectrum of threats,” he said. “Of course we have limited means, but at the same time we are not alone in this.”