Ukraine on alert as Putin launches wave of missile strikes countrywide – live

Russian operatives have been pictured wearing uniform patches bearing the name of a Soviet counter-intelligence agency set up by Joseph Stalin during the Second World War, Britain’s Ministry of Defence has said.

“In late 2023, Russian politicians claimed that the Soviet counter-intelligence (CI) organisation ’Smersh’ was being re-established. In early January 2024, an open-source image showed operatives apparently wearing Smersh uniform patches,” the ministry said.

“An abbreviation of the Russian phrase for ‘death to spies’, Joseph Stalin established the original organisation which existed from 1941-1946. In the West, it became known via its fictionalised portrayal in Ian Fleming’s James Bond books.

“It is unclear whether the new name indicates any substantive new capabilities or role for Russia’s CI function, or whether it is merely a re-badging. However, it provides another example of how the Russian authorities consciously couch the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the spirit of the Second World War, and their strong focus on the supposed infiltration of external threats into the country.”

At least two people have been killed in Russian missile strikes on Ukraine.

A shopping centre and more than two dozen private buildings were damaged in the south central city of Kryvyi Rih, governor Serhiy Lysak said, adding: “The mad enemy once again struck civilians … Directed missiles at people.”

A 62-year-old was killed outside the city, he said.

Four people were wounded in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, where governor Yuriy Malashko reported five explosions and said residential areas had been hit.

Officials in the western Khmelnytskyi region reported at least six blasts there, but gave no immediate details of damages. A senior presidential adviser said one person had been killed.

Vladimir Putin has continued to court Russian servicemen and their families ahead of the presidential elections in March, meeting with family members of Russian servicemen who died in Ukraine at his residence in Novo-Ogaryovo to celebrate Orthodox Christmas.

Mr Putin is likely using these recurring, publicised meetings as part of his election campaign, as Russian servicemen and their family members’ public support for him is vital for the Kremlin’s ability to present the Russian population as largely in support of the war in Ukraine, according to the Institute for Study of War think-tank.

The Kremlin appears to have chosen the families that attended Mr Putin’s meeting carefully, likely to minimise the risk that they might say or ask inconvenient things, the US-based think-tank said.

Investigative Russian website Agentstvo stated on Sunday that the relatives of five deceased Russian servicemen attended the meeting, many of whom have ties to the Russian government and military.

The UK is to launch a £300m drive to push Vladimir Putin further out of the global energy market through an investment in hi-tech nuclear fuel.

Ministers will vow to end what they say is Russia’s reign as the only commercial producer of a type of enriched uranium needed for the next generation of reactors.

The government says the plans will help build new supplies of affordable and clean domestic power. It will involve a £300m investment in high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU).

The programme will provide jobs and investment in the northwest of England, as part of plans to deliver a quarter of the UK’s electricity needs through nuclear power by 2050.

“Britain gave the world its first operational nuclear power plant, and now we will be the first nation in Europe outside of Russia to produce advanced nuclear fuel,” said energy secretary Claire Coutinho.

“This will be critical for energy security at home and abroad and builds on Britain’s historic competitive advantages.”

Our Whitehall and politics editor Kate Devlin has the full report:

Russia has launched a large-scale missile attack across Ukraine this morning, hitting residential and industrial facilities and injuring several people, Ukraine’s officials said.

All of Ukraine was under air raid alerts from around 6am local time, with Ukraine’s Air Force saying the country was under several waves of cruise missile threat and in some regions ballistic missiles.

“The enemy is viciously attacking peaceful cities,” Oleksandr Vilkul, mayor of the southern Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, said. The targets of the Russian attack and the full scale of the strikes was not immediately clear.

Anatoliy Kurtiev, secretary of the southeastern Zaporizhzhia city council, said that a missile attack on the city resulted in injuries, but he did not provide further detail.

At least one woman was injured in an attack on Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on the Telegram messaging app. He said industrial facilities were hit, resulting in a fire.

Five blasts were heard in the city of Zaporizhzhia, regional governor Yuriy Malashko said, and at least two people were injured, adding that missiles hit residential areas.

Ukraine’s military officials in other cities, including Dnipropetrovsk and Khmelnytskyi have also said their cities were under a “massive missile attack” by Russia.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he held a lengthy meeting on Sunday on Ukraine’s plans in relations with the EU and NATO this upcoming year.

The President of Ukraine said: “Our priorities are clear: fully implement the decision to open Ukraine’s EU accession talks, prepare the negotiation framework, and develop a system of relations and communication with NATO members that will allow every state and every leader to recognize that NATO will become much stronger with Ukraine as its part.”

The UK is to launch a £300m drive to push Vladimir Putin further out of the global energy market through an investment in hi-tech nuclear fuel.

Ministers will vow to end what they say is Russia’s reign as the only commercial producer of a type of enriched uranium needed for the next generation of reactors.

Russia’s attack on Ukraine can be defeated, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday, while adding that the situation on the battlefield at this time remains relatively stable.

“Even Russia can be brought back within the framework of international law. Its aggression can be defeated,” Zelenskiy told a conference in Sweden via video link.

A Russian missile strike in eastern Ukraine has killed 11 people, including five children, according to Ukrainian officials.

The eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk and nearby villages in Donetsk Oblast were hit with a barrage of S-300 missiles, destroying at least six houses, the head of Ukraine’s military administration for the region Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram.

Vishwam Sankaran reports:

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he hosted Japanese Foreign Minister Yōko Kamikawa in Kyiv on Sunday.

The Ukrainian President said: “Japan is a very important and powerful partner of ours. I am grateful for the level of cooperation we achieved – a true strategic partnership.

“I thank Japan for all the valuable assistance to our country, including security assistance, strong leadership within the G7 and in the international arena, and financial, economic, and humanitarian aid. Japan has also provided a large energy assistance package.

“Today, we discussed our further cooperation, including the Ukraine Recovery Conference in February, as well as the next joint security steps, joint work on the Peace Formula, and the strengthening of sanctions against Russia.

“I am confident that this year will be meaningful for our bilateral relations.”