Finland has confirmed it will apply to join NATO despite Russia’s president warning it would be a “mistake” to do so. Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto said joining the military alliance will “maximise” his country’s security following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A formal membership application is expected to be submitted to NATO headquarters in Brussels next
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Pointing to a grubby, grey sofa in the corner of a small room in her neighbour’s house, the Ukrainian mother said that was where a teenage Russian soldier raped her. It happened during an evening of terror, cruelty and murder in a rural village outside Kyiv. Vika, 42, said she decided to speak about the
Ukraine has won the Eurovision Song Contest in a huge show of support from the rest of the continent following Russia’s invasion of the country. Performing their folk-rap song Stefania, Kalush Orchestra stormed up the leader board, beating off strong competition from the UK and Italy. The group were out on the streets fighting off
The West has declared a “total hybrid war” against Russia and it is hard to predict how long it will last, Moscow’s foreign minister has said. Sergei Lavrov said the consequences of the war in Ukraine will be felt around the world. But speaking about sanctions on Russia, he warned: “Western politicians should understand their
Ukraine’s head of military intelligence says the war with Russia is going so well, that it will reach a turning point by mid-August and be over by the end of the year. It is the most precise and optimistic prediction by a senior Ukrainian official so far. In an exclusive interview with Sky News, Major
Russian forces are conducting “highly risky’ manoeuvres which suggest their military leaders are under pressure to make progress in their operations in eastern Ukraine, according to UK intelligence, after a battalion was wiped out trying to cross a river. Footage released by Ukrainian forces appeared to show several burnt out military vehicles and segments of
Russia will have to bolster its defences on the border if Finland joins NATO, its ambassador to the EU has warned. Speaking to Sky News’ Beth Rigby, Vladimir Chizhov said it would “necessitate certain military technical measures, like improving or raising the degree of defence preparations along the Finnish border”. Finland’s leaders earlier said it
Finland has announced it wants to join NATO as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues. President Sauli Niinisto said the country, which shares an 810-mile border and a difficult past with Russia, must apply for membership to the organisation “without delay”. In a joint statement with the country’s prime minister Sanna Marin, they added: “We
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “opened a new chapter” in post-Cold War history, said Boris Johnson as he agreed defence pacts with Sweden and Finland. The prime minister visited Stockholm and Helsinki to sign the agreements, which say the UK will come to the aid of Sweden and Finland if they are attacked, and vice-versa if
As Russian troops continue their pounding of the Azovstal steel works in Mariupol, a photo-journalist has revealed the grim extent of the suffering inside. In a series of stark pictures, a photographer with the press office of the Azov Special Forces Regiment of the Ukrainian National Guard has unveiled the horror of the dimly-lit, makeshift
The Russian offensive in the breakaway Donbas region of eastern Ukraine is “building” and is expected to peak in the next two to three weeks, according to Sky’s defence analyst Michael Clarke. He also said what happens between now and the end of this month will determine how much room for manoeuvre President Vladimir Putin
US President Joe Biden says he fears Vladimir Putin does not have a way out of the Ukraine war. Speaking in Washington DC on Monday, Biden described the Russian president as “a very calculating man” but without an exit strategy and admitted “I’m trying to figure out what we do about that”. He said Putin
Russia’s ambassador to Poland had red paint thrown in his face by protesters opposed to the war in Ukraine. Sergey Andreev’s face was covered with the substance as he arrived to pay his respects at a Warsaw cemetery to Red Army soldiers who died during the Second World War. He had been due to lay
Vladimir Putin says Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine was a pre-emptive move to ward off aggression, accusing the West of “preparing for the invasion of our land, including Crimea”. The Russian president was leading anniversary celebrations in Moscow of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. Victory Day in Russia – an annual
Daughters of a British aid worker captured in Ukraine have told Sky News they are “preparing for the worst”. Speaking exclusively to Sky News, Courtney Coman, 17, and her sister Chelsea, 20, say they do not believe their father will be “coming home any time soon”, after being accused of being a “mercenary” by the
Sixty people are feared dead under rubble after a Russian bomb hit a school in eastern Ukraine. About 90 people were sheltering in the building when the bomb struck, causing a fire to engulf it on Saturday, the governor of the Luhansk region said. Two people have been confirmed dead and 60 others are “likely
A further £1.3bn in military support will be provide by the UK to Ukrainian forces as they fight against Russia’s invasion. The escalation of British assistance for Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s forces is the highest rate of UK military spending on a conflict since the height of the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. The £1.3bn, drawn from
New satellite images of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol show how the site has been the target of extensive shelling over the course of the war. The images, which were released by satellite imaging company Planet, show what the site looked like on eight separate dates, beginning on 10 March. One of the images appears
A war zone is no place for the vulnerable, no place for the sick. We’re visiting the cancer ward of a Ukrainian children’s hospital, where doctors know this and are planning an evacuation operation that is as delicate as it is tough. They hope to organise a medical convoy that will take some of the
The Russian assault on the last defenders at Mariupol’s steelworks will continue to hold back its plans to control the Donbas region, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. It is estimated around 2,000 Ukrainian fighters are underneath the Azovstal plant – the last pocket of resistance in a city almost completely destroyed. A few