The Ukranian government has claimed that 8 Russian generals have been sacked over the slow and unsuccessful invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Armed Forces.

Oleksiy Danilov, head of Ukraine’s security council, says eight Russian commanders have been fired since the start of the conflict amid heavy losses on the battlefield.

Another report alleged that Putin is annoyed with leaders of the FSB security service for handing him intelligence suggesting that Ukraine was weak, riddled with neo-Nazi groups, and would give up easily if attacked.

Philip Ingram, a former senior British intelligence officer, told The Times that Putin is obviously ‘very angry’ and is blaming his intelligence agencies.

‘He blames them for seeding him the advice that led to the poor decision-making in Ukraine,’ he said.

That poor advice made the military to attack Ukraine less than optimally leading to Russia suffering much higher casualties than it expected in its attack – a war which has exceeded two weeks.

Danilov said Putin thought capital city Kyiv would fall within two to three days  which made him send in light forces to seize key targets during the opening days.

‘It hasn’t happened and never will,’ he said.

Danilov said ‘desperate’ Moscow has ‘now switched to a different tactic’ by changing leadership.

‘They had about 8 generals removed from their posts because they did not complete the task,’ he told state TV.

Also in the report, another theory is that the organisation did gather good intelligence but was simply too afraid to tell Putin the truth, instead doctoring their reports to appease him.

‘The problem is that it is too risky for superiors to tell Putin what he doesn’t want to hear, so they tailor their information,’ he said. 

They are now said to be making ‘apocalyptic’ forecasts about the weeks and months ahead as fighting grinds on and punitive sanctions isolate the country.

When asked how Russian politicians were reacting to the crisis, one source told Rustamova: ‘They’re carefully enunciating the word clusterf**k.

‘No one is rejoicing. Many understand that this is a mistake, but in the course of doing their duty they come up with explanations in order to somehow come to terms with it.’

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, over two million Ukrainian refugees have fled, as cities face shortages of food, water, heat, and medicine – with some having to resort to melting snow for water.

A third Russian general has allegedly been killed in Ukraine in just eight days in another devastating blow to Vladimir Putin’s savage invasion of Ukraine.

Major General Andrei Kolesnikov of the 29th Combined Arms Army became the latest high-profile casualty of the war today, Ukraine’s government announced.

Kolesnikov’s death comes four days after the killing of Major General Vitaly Gerasimov, 45, the first deputy commander of Russia’s 41st army.

The general took part in the second Chechen war, the Russian military operation in Syria, and the annexation of Crimea, winning medals from those campaigns. 

According to reports, there are believed to be 20 Russian generals taking part in the faltering invasion, which has also seen the loss of 173 tanks, 12 aircraft, and 345 troop carriers. 

Western officials said the multiple general casualties suggest they are having to move to the front because Russia’s troops are either unable to make their own decisions or are fearful of moving forward.

According to reports, Gerasimov was the son of Valery Gerasimov – the Chief of General Staff of Russia’s armed forces. 

Last week, Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky, 47, deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District, was killed. Sukhovetsky died during a special operation in Ukraine, his comrade-in-arms Sergey Chipilev wrote on social media. 

He was shot and killed by a sniper near Mariupol, which has been under a brutal siege by Russian forces for days. 

Analysts have said Russian tank commanders allowed the Ukrainians to gun down their unit by driving down the middle of a main road leading into Kyiv – and straight into a death trap.

Rob Lee, a Senior Fellow and military expert at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, commented on the ambush, saying the Russian armoured force displayed ‘very poor tactics’.

India said on Friday March 11, it accidentally fired a missile into Pakistan this week because of a “technical malfunction” during routine maintenance, giving its version of events after longtime foe Pakistan warned the incident could have “unpleasant consequences.”

“On 9 March 2022, in the course of a routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile,” India’s defense ministry said in a statement.

“It is learnt that the missile landed in an area of Pakistan. While the incident is deeply regrettable, it is also a matter of relief that there has been no loss of life due to the accident.”

The ministry said the government had “taken a serious view and ordered a high-level Court of Enquiry” into the incident.

Earlier on Friday,  Pakistan’s foreign office said it had summoned India’s charge d’affaires in Islamabad to lodge a protest over what it called an unprovoked violation of its airspace.

Pakistan also called for an investigation into the incident, which it said could have endangered passenger flights and civilian lives.

Pakistan warned India “to be mindful of the unpleasant consequences of such negligence and take effective measures to avoid the recurrence off such violations in future”.

Pakistani military spokesman Major-General Babar Iftikhar said in a late evening news conference on Thursday that a “high-speed flying object” crashed near its eastern city of Mian Channu and that originated from the northern Indian city of Sirsa, in Haryana state near New Delhi.

“The flight path of this object endangered many national and international passenger flights both in Indian and Pakistani airspace as well as human life and property of ground,” he said.

Iftikhar in the news conference on Thursday also called on India to share the outcome of its investigation into the incident.

A Pakistan air force official said the object travelled at an altitude of 40,000 feet, at Mach 3, and flew 77 miles in Pakistani airspace before crashing.

Russian strongman, Vladimir Putin has called for foreign volunteers to help fight against Ukrainian forces.

Speaking at a Russian security council meeting on Friday, March 11, he said those who wanted to volunteer to fight with Russia-backed forces should be allowed to.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said there were 16,000 volunteers in the Middle East ready to fight alongside Russia-backed forces and US officials believe they could include Syrians skilled in urban combat

“If you see that there are these people who want of their own accord, not for money, to come to help the people living in Donbas, then we need to give them what they want and help them get to the conflict zone,” Putin told his defence minister.

Shoigu also proposed handing over captured Western anti-tank missile systems to Russian-backed rebel fighters in the breakaway Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk in the Donbas region.

“Please do this,”  Putin said.

Responding to Putin’s claims, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a video message, said “thugs from Syria” would be coming to kill people “in a foreign land”.

Meanwhile Ukraine has had an influx of foreign fighters coming to join in the fight against Russia.

 Zelensky said recently that 16,000 foreigners had volunteered for the cause, part of what he called an “international legion”.

Putin’s televised security council meeting came as Russian forces in Ukraine began attacking new targets in different areas of the country:

An airfield and jet engine factory were targeted in Lutsk, in the north-west
Explosions also hit airfields at Ivano-Frankivsk, in the south-west, according to Russian defence officials.

In Dnipro, a major stronghold in central eastern Ukraine, one person was reported dead in air strikes.

Refugees totaling 2.5 million have now left Ukraine since the war started according to the United Nations.

Russia has reportedly offered volunteers from Syria between $200 and $300 to fight in its ongoing military onslaught in Ukraine.

Recalls that Russia military operation invaded Ukraine on Thursday February 24.

According to Syrian-based Deir Ezzor, Russia had offered money to volunteers “to go to Ukraine and operate as guards” for six months at a time.

“Deir Ezzor 24 received exclusive information that Russia had instructed to open the door for volunteering for a period of six months, to go to Ukraine and operate as guards, with salaries ranging between 200 and 300 USD, in addition to recruiting mercenaries with wide privileges,” the report said.

The Wall Street Journal cited four United States officials as saying Russia was recruiting fighters from Syria with the hope that their expertise in urban combat can help take the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

The number of Syrians recruited is uncertain as at the time of filing this report, though one official said some were already in Russia preparing.

The Journal report adds that Syrian recruitment by Russia points to a possible escalation of the war.

This development came as Ukraine appealed to foreigners who wanted to fight in its defence, with President Volodmyr Zelensky announcing the creation of the International Legion for anyone wanting to fight Russia in Ukraine.

“Anyone who wants to join the defense of Ukraine, Europe and the world can come and fight side by side with the Ukrainians against the Russian war criminals,” the statement on the presidential website said.

Ukrainian officials had revealed that 3,000 Americans had applied to fight.

Western businesses leaving Russia due to the war may have their companies and production facilities confiscated by the Russian state, according to Moscow.

Businesses that leave the country are “basically abandoning their staff to their fate,” said former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday.

To prevent people ending up unemployed and on the streets, the Russian government is taking steps to bring about the insolvency and subsequent nationalisation of these companies, the deputy chief of the Russian Security Council said.

On the foundation of the assets left behind by “investors in panic,” new industry would have to be built. This approach is objective and fair,” said Medvedev.

Among the affected are companies from Germany, other EU countries, and the U.S.

There is no law in Russia to nationalise a company’s assets.

But calls are growing among Russian politicians for such a law in reaction to the EU sanctions and it is expected that the Russian parliament will decide on such a process soon.

Many Western companies had only reported that operations are being paused at first, without mentioning full closure or withdrawal.

“Whatever the reasons for moving away, foreign firms should understand that it will not be easy to come back to our markets,” Medvedev said.

Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, warned that a nationalisation of Western companies and seizure of their assets could have negative consequences for both sides, as Russsian companies abroad may also have their assets seized.

Proposals are also circulating for the assets of companies in Russia to be handled through fiduciary trusts.

Western officials have warned of their ‘serious concern’ that Russian President Vladimir Putin could use chemical weapons in Ukraine to commit further atrocities during the invasion.

The officials claim that an ‘utterly horrific’ attack could be launched on the capital of Kyiv to revive the Russian war effort amid logistical issues, mechanical failures, and a lack of fuel for their armoured vehicles.  

In a briefing with journalists, one Western official who spoke on on condition of anonymity said: ‘I think we’ve got good reason to be concerned about possible use of non-conventional weapons, partly because of what we’ve seen has happened in other theatres.

‘As I’ve mentioned before, for example, what we’ve seen in Syria, partly because we’ve seen a bit of setting the scene for that in the false flag claims that are coming out, and other indications as well.

‘So it’s a serious concern for us.’

UK’s Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said that the UK has already handed Kyiv 3,615 anti-tank weapons, known as NLAWs, or new light-antitank weapons.

He said a ‘small consignment’ of Javelin anti-tank missiles will follow, while ministers consider whether to send Starstreak high-velocity anti-air missiles.

But a Polish proposal to hand its MiG-29 fighter jets to a US military base in Germany, with the expectation they would be handed to Ukrainian pilots, was dismissed in Washington.

The warnings came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared a Russian missile attack had landed a ‘direct strike’ on a maternity hospital in the southern port city of Mariupol.

The hospital was decimated, with women and children feared trapped underground in what Zelensky described as ‘an atrocity’. 

Ukraine’s Foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba called it a ‘petrifying war crime’, as he pleaded for allies to supply Ukraine with aircraft.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there are ‘few things more depraved than targeting the vulnerable and defenceless, while Foreign Secretary Liz Truss described the hospital attack as ‘absolutely abhorrent’, but continued to reject Ukraine’s request for a no-fly zone to be imposed over its skies.

The husband and father of the Ukrainian woman and two children killed by mortar fire as they tried to escape shelling outside Kyiv found out about his family’s murder on Twitter.

Tatiana Perebeinis, 43, her kids Mykyta, 18; Alisa, 9; and Anatoly Berezhnyi, 26 — a church volunteer who was helping them escape — were killed by Russian forces as they ran across a damaged bridge in Irpin on Sunday, March 6.

A photo of their bodies strewn across the pavement led Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to promise he would kill “every bastard” responsible for the indiscriminate civilian slaughter.

Serhiy Perebyinis, 43, was in eastern Ukraine tending to his ailing mother at the time his family was killed.

He said he found out about their deaths on Twitter.

He broke down in tears talking about the senseless killings during an interview with The New York Times.

“I told her, ‘Forgive me that I couldn’t defend you,’ ” he said, as he recounted his conversation with his wife on Saturday night, a day before she was killed.

Tatiana

“I tried to care for one person, and it meant I cannot protect you.”

The grieving husband said his wife replied: “Don’t worry, I will get out.”

Perebyinis said he felt it was important that footage of his wife and children’s ghastly death had enraged Ukraine leaders and pulled on the heartstrings of sympathizers across the globe.

“The whole world should know what is happening here,” he told the paper.

Tatiana, an IT worker, had been urged by her company to evacuate last month. However, she didn’t leave sooner over concerns of how to bring her mother, who has Alzheimer’s disease.

She had been taking cover in the family’s basement with her children after a shell hit their building, according to the report.

Tatiana’s son Mykyta slept all day and stayed up all night, watching over his mother and sister.

Mykyta

“My son was under a lot of stress,” Mr. Perebyinis said.

When attacks intensified, his wife decided to flee the area with her children and parents.

Alisa

On Saturday, March 5, they attempted to leave town in their minivan, but were dissuaded by a tank rolling by on the street.

On Sunday morning they drove as far as they could, but were forced to evacuate their minivan and tried to cross the damaged bridge on foot, Perebyinis told the Times.

Perebyinis had been trying to monitor his family’s location on a cellphone app. He knew something had gone wrong when the tracker showed the phone was at a Kyiv hospital, and no one was picking up his calls.

He saw a Twitter post of the scene after reading reports that a family had been killed by a mortar strike on the evacuation route.

“I recognized the luggage and that is how I knew,” he reportedly said of the blood-stained suitcases and backpacks the family was carrying. The items were photographed next to their bodies.

Perebyinis’ mother and father-in-law were behind their daughter and grandchildren and were not harmed in the attack. They were staying with a family godmother, the paper reported.

To return to Kyiv, Perebyinis flew into Russia and crossed a land border into Poland, where Russian guards eventually let him pass after threatening to arrest him, according to the article.

“My whole family died in what you call a special operation and we call a war. You can do what you want with me. I have nothing left to lose,” Perebyinis reportedly said he told them.

It was the second time the couple, who met in high school, and their children were torn by war.

The family had moved to Kyiv in 2014 after being displaced by Russia’s uprising in the eastern city of Donetsk, Perebyinis reportedly said.

“We were married for 23 years and refurbished three apartments and never argued once,” Perebyinis said of his slain wife.

US President Joe Biden has announced that the U.S. will ban imports of Russian oil, a major escalation in the international response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine..

The move came as Western-allied nations work to sever Russia from the global economy and segregate Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The United Kingdom also announced its own plans to reduce its reliance on Russian oil imports by the end of the 2022.

“Today I am announcing the United States is targeting the main artery of Russia’s economy. We’re banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy,” Biden said at the White House. “That means Russian oil will no longer be acceptable at U.S. ports and the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine.”

“This is a step we’re taking to inflict further pain on Putin,” Biden said.

The European Union earlier Tuesday morning unveiled a plan to wean itself off of Russian fossil fuels.

“We simply cannot rely on a supplier who explicitly threatens us,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a press release.

The White House said Biden will sign an executive order banning Russian oil, liquefied natural gas and coal imports to the U.S.

The ban on new Russian oil contracts “is immediate,” a senior Biden administration official told reporters later Tuesday. In Russia, oil is it’s main export and number one source of revenue.

No new contracts will be allowed, and existing contracts for Russian oil must be removed within 45 days, the official said.

In 2021, the U.S. imported about 672,000 barrels a day from Russia , despite the US being self sufficient in oil, according to figures from the Energy Information Administration.

That amount makes up roughly 8% of the total U.S. imports of oil and refined products.

Most of the US’ crude oil and petroleum imports come from Canada, Mexico and Saudi Arabia, making the U.S. far less dependent on Russian oil unlike Germany, Italy, Hungary, the UK and other European countries.
.

The news of the ban, sent oil prices soaring on Tuesday.

The price on West Texas Intermediate crude futures, contracts for April oil deliveries, hit $129.44 a barrel. That level is just below a recent high of $130.50 a barrel hit on Monday, which at the time was the highest price on oil since 2008.

Since Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Russia has faced unprecedented international reaction, as dozens of countries slap sanctions on the Kremlin, its ultra-rich oligarchs and even Putin himself. 

Also, Russia’s currency has plummeted in value and its stock market has been closed since severe sanctions were announced by the West..

Russia wants a change of leadership in Ukraine, wants recognition of Luhansk and Donetsk occupied regions by Ukraine and wants the country not to join Transatlantic military alliance, NATO.

Foreign fighters joining the Ukrainian army to help fight Russia won’t be able to leave until the war ends.

Officials have warned members of the International Legion of Territorial Defence of Ukraine that they will be free to leave only when the state of martial law is ended.

Now would-be recruits are having second thoughts at the Polish border after being handed contracts that effectively make them conscripts, the Daily Mail can reveal.

Kyiv says more than 20,000 foreigners from 52 countries have pledged to help fight back against the Russian invaders. It is unclear how many of those have arrived in Ukraine.

But volunteers have spoken of being put off by the tough contractual terms, poor vetting procedures, and logistical problems.

The Mail spoke to four British and foreign volunteers in Poland over the past week who have now scrapped plans to join the fighting.

John, a UK veteran who fought in Afghanistan for ten years, said he backed out after learning of the conditions, including being told to surrender his passport.

‘They don’t let you see the contract until you get into Ukraine,’ he said. ‘It says very clearly until the end of martial law. How long is that?’

Stephen, who served in Northern Ireland for six years, said the onerous conditions would cause problems for the recruitment drive.

‘A lot of the boys are coming across and not signing it, even though they want to go and fight,’ he said.

A Swedish national, Tomas, said Ukrainian military officials were unclear as to when a volunteer could take leave.

‘What if something happens to my family? I will need to go,’ he said. ‘They couldn’t give those reassurances.’

Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, has publicly returned to the presidential palace in Kyiv the first time he has revealed his location since the invasion by Russia .

Since February 24, the location of Zelensky has been a tightly kept secret  and he has revealed he is the number one assassination target of the Russia regime.

Speaking to ABC news on Monday night, March 7, Zelensky, 44, warned the West that Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was just the beginning, saying he wasn’t afraid hence he returned to the presidential palace.

He warned the West that Vladimir Putin will not stop once he has conquered Ukraine, telling a U.S. television channel: ‘We will come first. You will come second. Because the more this beast will eat, he wants more, more, and more.’

 ‘The more this beast will eats, he wants more, more, and more’

Zelensky, described Ukraine as a ‘zone of freedom’ that needed to be preserved. 

‘And when the limits of rights and freedoms are being violated and stepped on, then you have to protect us,’ he said. 

He added: ‘Today, war is here. Tomorrow, it will be in Lithuania, then in Poland, then in Germany.

‘This is serious.’United States is far away, but in recent days, I do feel that United States are closer to us.’

The former actor, gave his Facebook audience a tour of the palace, joking: ‘We used to say Monday, Monday is a hard day. 

‘But it is war in our country, so every day is a hard day.’

 ‘We are all in our places working, where we should be. My team is in Kyiv with me.

‘We are all fighting, we are all contributing to our victory which will surely happen.’ 

Also, in an interview from the palace with ABC News, Zelensky once again appealed to the United States to enforce a no-fly zone. 

‘I told him (Joe Biden) that for us, the most important thing today is the security in the sky,’ Zelensky said.

‘We cannot allow Russia to be active there only, because they’re bombing us, they are shelling us, they are bombing us, they are sending missiles, helicopters, jet fighters – a lot of things.

‘But we are not doing this because we don’t have the sky.

‘We don’t control our sky.’

ABC asked if he was concerned about NATO forces shooting down Russian planes, and Zelensky replied: ‘What do you mean, to shoot down Russian planes?

‘If the missile is flying – yesterday, for example, the missile hit the university in the city of Kharkiv, and the dormitory.

‘And the same missile hit the tumor, pediatric clinic in Kyiv, so, if this missile is flying, so, are you thinking whether to shoot it down or not?

‘I think there is no any other answer, but to – yes, yes, they need to be shot down.

‘You have to preserve lives.’

He added that he was confident U.S. forces were up to the challenge. 

‘I’m sure that the brave American soldiers who would be shooting it down knowing that it is flying towards the students, I’m sure that they had no doubt in doing so,’ Zelensky said.

The U.S. and its NATO allies have so far sent 17,000 anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, as part of a $350 million aid package agreed on February 26 – day two of the conflict. 

Yet Zelensky said more could be done. 

‘I’m sure that the president can do more. I’m sure he can,’ he said.

‘And I would like to believe that – that he’s capable of doing that.’

When asked if Putin himself was a war criminal, Zelensky said;

‘I think that all people who came to our land, all people who gave those orders, all soldiers who were shooting, they’re all war criminals,’ he replied.  

‘I think he is capable of stopping the war that he started.

‘And even if he doesn’t think that he was the one who started, he should know one important thing, a thing that cannot deny, that stopping the war is what he’s capable of.’

The United States and its allies in NATO are rushing to send badly needed weapons to the Ukranian military, amid growing concern that Russia may try and cut off the weapons pipeline by bombing truckloads of military assistance being sent to Ukraine to aid in the ongoing war with Russia.

Images of NATO aircraft unloading near the border with Ukraine were shared on social media on Monday.
 

Despite the White House approving a $350 million package of military support and the US with it’s allied supplying 17,000 anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, senior US officials speaking to ABC news say Russia may attack one of those supply chains in Poland before it gets to Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin could potentially use air power to stop the flow, ABC reported.

The supply lines could be attacked from a distance, officials believe.

Last week Friday, a US defense official told reporters the weapons were getting into Ukraine through ‘multiple venues’ .

‘There are multiple venues through which the support is getting to the Ukrainians on the ground,’ they said, according to The Hill.

‘I really don’t want to get more specific than that. We want to be able to continue to help the Ukrainians as much and for as long as we can, so we’re going to be very careful about how we talk about how that support is getting into their hands.’

Russia recently warned the West against helping Ukraine’- saying it’ll see any assistance to Ukraine as a declaration of war.

Video of a Russian fighter being blown out of the sky by Ukrainian forces has been shared online. 

The country which has been in a bloody conflict with Russia for 11 days now has also claimed that it has destroyed 285 Russian tanks and 88 jets.

Despite initial concerns Ukraine would quickly fall to Russia, power is instead said to be draining from the Kremlin as the botched invasion drags on.

The clip painting a picture of Putin’s failures appears to show a Russian Su-25 fighter jet being destroyed as it soared over Kharkiv. The plane transforms into a fireball as it plummets to the ground, much to the delight of Ukrainians watching below.

Regional governor of Kharkiv, Oleg Synegubov, said his city’s Air Defence Forces subdued the target with two surface-to-air missiles. The aircraft can be seen erupting over Ukraine’s second city as people cheer before crashing to the ground and exploding again upon impact.

Synegubov said the jet was part of a legion of Russian aircraft that had been conducting regular bombing campaigns over the city.

Other video taken from a different angle from a security camera also shows the plane being shot down in a blazing ball of fire.

And a third video shows the plane crashing to the ground and lighting up the night sky, filmed from the window of someone’s home.

Just yesterday footage emerged of Russian pilots pleading for their lives as they were captured by soldiers and civilians.

Pictures show the burning wrecks of Russian aircraft and the terrified faces of Putin’s men as they were detained after ejecting from their planes.

Footage shared online saw the airmen tied up with their hands behind their backs – some bloody after their desperate escapes, while explaining they were simply “following orders”.

Ukraine today claimed they have killed 11,000 Russian troops since the invasion began. With 11 days having passed since the initial attack, that means that Putin has lost approximately 1,000 men every single day.

They also say they have taken out 44 planes, 48 helicopters, 285 tanks, 109 artillery pieces and 985 armored personnel carriers. 

Russian airstrikes are also believed to have killed hundreds, maybe thousands of civilians across Ukraine.

China on Monday March 7, reiterated its position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, calling for all parties involved to engage in dialogue.

China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi said China’s “rock-solid” friendship with Russia and said the prospects for cooperation between the two countries are very broad.

At a press conference explaining Beijing’s position on the conflict, Wang said the causes of the “Ukraine situation” were “complex” and had not happened overnight.

“Solving complex problems requires calmness and rationality, rather than adding fuel to the fire and intensifying contradictions,” he said.

Wang called on both sides to settle disputes by peaceful means, through dialogue and negotiation, and “respect and protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries.”

“We must accommodate the legitimate security concerns of the parties involved,” he said.

The countries involved should keep in mind the “long-term peace and stability of the region and put in place a balanced, effective, and sustainable European security architecture,” Wang said.

Wang said Russia was Beijing’s “most important strategic partner” and their bilateral relations were “conducive to world peace, stability, and development.”

“No matter how sinister the international situation is, both China and Russia will maintain their strategic determination and continuously push forward the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination in the new era,” he said.

According to customs data revealed on Monday, Chinese trade with Russia saw a surge in the run-up to the war in Ukraine.

Exports to Russia rose 41% in January and February compared to the same period in the previous year.

This was the fastest rate among China’s major trading partners in the first two months of the year, outpacing trade with the European Union and the United States.

Ukrainian forces have recaptured the eastern city of Chuhuiv, defence officials have announced.

The General Staff said the defending forces had seized the city from the Russians and inflicted heavy losses on Putin’s men in both personnel and equipment.

Two high-ranking Russian commanders were killed in the battle.

The strategic city of 31,000 people is located 23 miles from Kharkiv, the second biggest city in Ukraine which has been subjected to intense bombardment. 

The General Staff said on Facebook: ‘In the course of hostilities, the city of Chuhuiv was liberated. 

‘The occupiers suffered heavy losses in personnel and equipment. 

‘Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Safronov, Commander of the 61st Separate Marine Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces, and Lieutenant Colonel Denis Glebov, Deputy Commander of the 11th Separate Airborne Assault Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces, were killed.’ 

The city had suffered intense shelling since the start of the war, and was the site of an airstrike which severely wounded a woman, 52, who has since become one of the defining images of the war

Despite the heavy bombardment, Ukraine have now been able to hold off Russia and even launch counterattacks to regain the city.  

It comes as cities were hit by fresh bombardments this morning with Vladimir Putin’s invasion entering its twelfth day.

Volodymyr Zelensky vowed that ‘God will not forgive’ and Ukraine ‘will not forget’ the slaughter of civilians by Russian, saying a ‘day of judgement’ is coming for them. 

Zelensky, in a late-night address to his countrymen on the Orthodox Christian holiday of ‘Forgiveness Sunday’, recalled how a family of four were among eight civilians killed by Russian mortars while trying to flee the city of Irpin – near Kyiv – earlier in the day. 

‘We will not forgive. We will not forget,’ he told listeners. ‘We cannot forgive the hundreds upon hundreds of victims. Nor the thousands upon thousands who have suffered,’ he added. ‘God will not forgive. Not today. Not tomorrow. Never.’

A top Royal Navy admiral has said Vladimir Putin is “a man in a hurry” and added that his mooted terminal illness is the reason behind his hasty invasion of Ukraine.

Retired Rear Admiral Chris Parry hosted an online debate with schoolchildren in Portsmouth, Hampshire on Friday evening, when he made the ominous comments, as reported by The News.

“He has been using these very long tables to interview people,” Falklands veteran Rear Adm Parry said. “I think his immune system might be suppressed at the moment. So he is a man in a hurry.”

The news follows intelligence reports from the Pentagon that suggested the Russian leader is dying from bowel cancer.

It is believed his “puffy face” is a sign he is taking chemotherapy drugs or steroids.

His unsmiling expression shows he is in constant pain, US sources say.

This could have made him more aggressive or he may be attacking Ukraine as he knows he is dying and wants to leave a legacy.

An ex-military intelligence officer now working at the Pentagon said analysts have been studying Putin, 69, and believe he is gravely ill.

The source said: “In the past we have seen him smile, but in 2022 there are few pictures of him looking happy.

“His look suggests he is in pain and our people suggest his angry look is most likely as a result of him being in agony.

“Our people are confident he is ill – he is concerned about Covid as he keeps his staff at a distance.”

Rear Adm Parry also described how the war began and warned of how far president Putin might take it.

“What I think will happen is he will occupy Ukraine to the east of the Dnieper [river], he will totally occupy this region known as “New Russia” across the bottom of the country, cutting Ukraine off from the Black Sea, and he will leave that rump of the north-west, to the west of Kyiv to it’s own devices as long as it stays neutral.”

Authorities in India are imposing internet blackouts to prevent cheating during school exams.

Officials have said they are using the internet jammers near schools to stop questions from being leaked on WhatsApp as the exam starts in the country.  

Online blackouts will be imposed in certain areas, according to the West Bengal state government.

They will especially be imposed near exam centres. The blackout is being implemented to prevent more screenshots of exam papers surfacing on social media sites, according to The Times.   

India’s equivalent of GCSEs are Board Secondary School Examinations and they started on Monday. The exams are sat by around two million 15 and 16-year-old pupils every year. 

Despite phones and electronic devices being banned, there have been cheating scandals in the past.  

Police stations and secure government exam centres often store exam papers beforehand. But before the coronavirus pandemic and two years in a row, papers were leaked in West Bengal and other states such as Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.  

Fears grew that there were corrupt police officers and officials leaking the exam papers. 

The country has also put other measures in place to stop students from cheating. Students are not allowed to go to the toilet in the first hour and 15 minutes of an exam.

This is in case of cheat sheets being hidden in the toilets. Also, many exam centres will have CCTV. 

Authorities also confirmed that they are putting specialist teams in place to stop students travelling to exams being delayed by elephants on the road.

At this time of year, many elephants migrate to areas with more water.

Forestry Departments are deploying the teams to minimise disruption for students coming to school exams. 

One West Bengal forest department official told The Calcutta Telegraph: ‘The challenge is that elephants sometimes stand on roads for a long time. In those cases a student may get late in reaching his or her exam centre. So, we have to keep a close watch on the roads in elephant zones.

A leader of a rebel military group blamed for brutal war crimes since its formation in 2014, has been shot dead in Ukraine

Russian warlord Vladimir Zhoga, who headed the Neo-Nazi ‘Sparta Battalion’, was killed in Volnovakha, Ukraine, following the eleventh day of Russia’s invasion as Putin’s troops fail to make big wins.

Zhoga’s kill was yesterday confirmed in a Telegram channel post from Denis Pushilin, head of the breakaway DPR. 

He wrote: ‘Today in Volnovakha, the commander of a separate reconnaissance battalion ‘Sparta’ of the Guard, Colonel Vladimir Zhoga, call sign Vokha, died heroically.

‘He was mortally wounded while ensuring the exit of civilians.

”Sparta’ covered the evacuation of civilians, mostly women and children. The Nazis opened fire on them…

‘I have signed a decree on conferring the title of Hero of the Donetsk People’s Republic on Vladimir Artemovich Zhoga posthumously.

‘He died a heroic death, just a little short of victory. But his feat brought it closer.

‘I express my sincere condolences to family and friends.

‘Rest in peace, Brother!’

Zhoga became the group’s leader in 2016 after his predecessor Arsen Pavlov died following an IED explosion in the lift of his apartment.

Pavlov was accused of several war crimes, and in 2015 the Kyiv Post shared audio of him, in a phone call with the news outlet, saying he shot ’15 prisoners dead’. 

‘I don’t give a f**** about what I am accused of, believe it or not,’ he added. ‘I shot 15 prisoners dead. I don’t give a f****. No comment. I kill if I want to. I don’t if I don’t.’