A Russian whistleblower has described the war as a “total failure” that could be compared only to the collapse of Nazi Germany thetimes.co.uk/article/this-w…
A report thought to be by an analyst in the FSB, the successor agency to the KGB, said that the Russian dead could already number 10,000. The Russian defence ministry has acknowledged the deaths of only 498 of its soldiers in Ukraine
The report said the FSB was being blamed for the failure of the invasion but had been given no warning of it and was unprepared to deal with the effects of sanctions.
The whistleblower added that no one knew the true death toll because “we have lost contact with major divisions”
“[We are] acting intuitively, on emotion... our stakes will have to be raised ever higher with the hope that something might come through for us.
“By and large, though, Russia has no way out. There are no options for a possible victory, only defeat” thetimes.co.uk/article/putins…
The letter said that Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader and an ally of Putin, was on the verge of outright conflict with the Russians after his “hit squad”, sent to kill President Zelensky, was destroyed by Ukrainian forces thetimes.co.uk/article/zelens…
Even if Zelensky were killed, the report said, Russia would have no hope of occupying Ukraine.
“Even with minimum resistance from the Ukrainians we’d need over 500,000 people, not including supply and logistics workers” thetimes.co.uk/article/how-do…
The analyst said that the SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service, was trying to “dig up dirt” to claim that Ukraine had built nuclear weapons, a pretext for a pre-emptive strike thetimes.co.uk/article/how-li…
The 2,000-word document was published by Vladimir Osechkin, a Russian human rights activist who runs the anti-corruption website Gulagu.net
Christo Grozev, an expert on the Russian security services, said he had shown the letter to two FSB officers, both of whom had had “no doubt it was written by a colleague”
Elsewhere in the letter the author wrote: “Our position is like Germany in 1943-44 — but that’s our starting position” thetimes.co.uk/article/this-w…
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🔺EXCLUSIVE: Zia Yusuf is returning to Reform UK just 48 hours after resigning as the party’s chairman and will take up a new role following peace talks with Nigel Farage
In an interview with The Sunday Times, the 38-year-old businessman said his decision to quit was a “mistake”, the result of “exhaustion” and working for 11 months “without a day off”
He was speaking alongside Farage, who said Yusuf will now effectively be doing “four jobs”, although his formal title has not been decided
🔺 EXCLUSIVE: A Liberal Democrat MP has been refused entry to Hong Kong to visit her newborn grandson
Wera Hobhouse, 65, flew to the Chinese region — a British territory until 1997 — on Thursday but was held at airport security, questioned and put on the first flight home five hours later
She had her passport confiscated, was asked about her job and purpose of her trip, had her luggage searched and swabbed, and was then escorted to the boarding gate by four immigration officers
Russia attacked Ukraine with 145 drones and six long-range missiles overnight, including attacks on energy infrastructure, despite President Putin claiming he had ordered an end to strikes on the Ukrainian power grid
Ukraine has an undeniable right to defend itself on its own and supported by partners, President Stubb of Finland said today after meeting with President Zelensky in Helsinki
📸KIMMO BRANDT/EPA
Zelensky said he will talk to Trump today, the first time they have spoken directly since the bust-up between the two in the Oval Office last month.
Zelensky said he expects to hear details from the US president regarding his two-hour phone call with Putin yesterday
Lucy Powell, the Leader of the Commons, said that an Elections Bill — which would include lowering the voting age — could come in the next parliamentary session
In its manifesto Labour committed to giving “16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote in all elections”, but the pledge was not included in the government’s first King’s speech, setting out its priorities for its first parliamentary session
On the eve of election day, the polls had predicted the closest race in modern times. Instead, it was a rout
With Donald Trump poised to sweep Kamala Harris in all seven swing states, the pollsters — despite spending an estimated half a billion dollars on surveying the nation — underestimated the president-elect’s support for the third election in a row