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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Russian forces occupied Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, for just under a month. Across those 29 days in early 2022, they committed acts of barbarity, meaning that this Ukrainian town will forever be synonymous with war crimes
Read more ⬇️
More than 100 residents were buried in a mass grave outside the Orthodox Christian church. The basement of a children’s summer camp was converted into a torture chamber where women and children were systematically raped. Soldiers killed parents in front of their children
The United Nations has described it as ethnic cleansing and a crime against humanity, yet Russia claims the scene was staged by British special forces
British 16 and 17-year-olds are more patriotic than the public overall, but are indifferent about the monarchy, according to a new poll ⬇️
The second part of research for The Sunday Times found that 49% say they are proud of their national identity, while 10% say they are ashamed, a net positive score of 39. Across the population as a whole, 45% are proud while 15% are ashamed, a net score of 30
Despite their national pride, however, these teenagers are no great fans of the royal family. Almost a quarter – 27% – support abolishing the monarchy, while 24% oppose it. Meanwhile 35% say they neither support nor oppose it, and 15% say they don’t know
🔺EXCLUSIVE: Tommy Robinson charging £28 a minute as personal coach to far right.
The self-styled ‘fearless British activist’ is advising clients on issues including protesting, evading infiltration and ‘investigating’ local mosques. Read the full story below
The far-right activist Tommy Robinson is making thousands of pounds charging his followers for video consultations offering “expert advice” on anti-Islam activism
Robinson, 42, who co-founded the English Defence League (EDL), has used a personal mentoring platform to deliver more than 300 sessions in the past two months
🔺EXCLUSIVE: Memos fired off by the monarch to correct grammar and demand single flowers be moved are wrecking morale among staff who are paid as little as minimum wage ⬇️
For 45 years, Highgrove House has been the King’s private home. He still regularly spends several days a week at the house, tending to the exotic flowers and plants that are his pride and joy
In the summer of 2021, Charles quietly signed a deal to preserve his influence over the property when he became King, when they would be due to fall into his son’s hands
🔺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