Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign intelligence chief told the United States on Thursday that Western support for Ukraine would turn the conflict into a "second Vietnam" haunting Washington for years to come.

Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin attends a meeting of members of Security Council and the government and the heads of law enforcement agencies, outside Moscow.

Putin sent troops into Ukraine early last year, triggering a war that has killed or wounded hundreds of thousands and led to the biggest confrontation between Russia and the West in six decades.

The West has given Ukraine more than $246 billion in aid and weapons, but a Ukrainian counteroffensive has failed and Russia remains in control of just under a fifth of Ukrainian territory.

"Ukraine will turn into a 'black hole' absorbing more and more resources and people," Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), said in an article in the SVR's house journal, "The Intelligence Operative".

"Ultimately, the U.S. risks creating a 'second Vietnam' for itself, and every new American administration will have to try to deal with it."

U.S. President Joe Biden has warned that a direct NATO-Russia confrontation could trigger World War Three and repeatedly ruled out sending American soldiers to Ukraine.

The Vietnam War was in effect an East-West Cold War conflict in which the United States fought alongside the forces of South Vietnam against a north supported by the communist powers of China and the Soviet Union.

The war, in which several million were killed, ended in 1975 with victory for North Vietnam and ignominious defeat for the United States, which had lost more than 58,000 of its own combatants and kindled a powerful anti-war movement at home.

Biden pleaded with Republicans on Wednesday for a fresh infusion of military aid for Ukraine.

"If Putin takes Ukraine, he won’t stop there," Biden said, predicting that Putin would go on to attack a NATO ally.

Then, Biden added, "we’ll have something that we don't seek and that we don't have today: American troops fighting Russian troops".

Russia's Putin to run again for president in 2024.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he would run for president again in the 2024 presidential election, a move expected to keep him in power until at least 2030.

WHEN?

The election will be held over three days from March 15-17 and the winner will be inaugurated in May.

The upper house of the Russian parliament voted for the date on Thursday - essentially the start of the election campaign.

Voting will also take place in what Russia calls its new territories - parts of Ukraine now controlled by Russian forces. Ukraine says it will not rest until it has ejected every last soldier from the annexed territories. Russia says the regions are now part of Russia.

HOW MANY VOTERS?

Around 110 million people have the right to vote in Russia, though around 70-80 million people usually cast ballots.

Turnout in 2018 was 67.5%.

HOW LONG CAN A RUSSIAN PRESIDENT RULE?

Putin, who was handed the presidency by Boris Yeltsin on the last day of 1999, has already served as president for longer than any other ruler of Russia since Josef Stalin, beating even Leonid Brezhnev's 1964-82 tenure.

The 1993 Russian constitution, based loosely on France's 1958 constitution, was seen by some in the West as a development that would lead to democracy in post-Soviet Russia.

It originally specified that a president could serve for two successive terms of four years.

Amendments in 2008 extended the presidential term to six years, while amendments in 2020 effectively allowed Putin to run for a further two six-year terms after 2024.

The changes also banned ceding any territory.

PUTIN'S ELECTION RECORD

Putin used a Kremlin awards ceremony for soldiers who had fought in Ukraine to announce he would run again. Reuters reported last month that he had decided to do so. He will be assured of victory given backing from the state and its media.

After Putin was appointed as acting president by Yeltsin on the last day of 1999, he won the 2000 presidential election with 53.0% of the vote and the 2004 election with 71.3% of the vote.

In 2008, his protege Dmitry Medvedev ran for president and Putin served as prime minister before garnering 63.6% of the vote in the 2012 presidential election and 76.7% in 2018.

DEMOCRACY OR DICTATORSHIP?

The West casts Putin as a war criminal and dictator, although some Russian opinion polls show he has approval ratings of 80% - higher than before the war in Ukraine.

The Kremlin says Putin enjoys overwhelming support from the Russian people, that Russia does not want to be lectured by the West about democracy and that no politicians in the West enjoy similar levels of approval to those Putin has.

WHAT DO ELECTION MONITORS SAY?

In 2018, an OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) mission observed the election.

"After intense efforts to promote turnout, citizens voted in significant numbers. Yet restrictions on the fundamental freedoms of assembly, association and expression, as well as on candidate registration, have limited the space for political engagement and resulted in a lack of genuine competition," it said. "While candidates could generally campaign freely, the extensive and uncritical coverage of the incumbent as president in most media resulted in an uneven playing field. Overall, election day was conducted in an orderly manner despite shortcomings related to vote secrecy and transparency of counting."

Golos, an independent Russian vote-monitoring movement, has come under pressure from authorities over recent months.

Golos said such attacks, including the detention of its leader, were aimed at preventing public observation of the presidential election.

WHO ELSE WILL, OR CAN, RUN?

Putin will face little real competition.

In the 2018 vote, the man who came second, Communist strawberry tycoon Pavel Grudinin, who formerly supported Putin, won under 9 million votes, or just 11.8%. Putin won over 56 million votes, according to official results.

Russia's most famous opposition politician, Alexei Navalny, is in jail so cannot run for president. Navalny has castigated Putin's Russia as a state run by thieves and criminals. He has warned Russia's leaders will ultimately be crushed by the forces of history and burn in hell for creating a bloodbath in Ukraine.

Pro-war Russian nationalist Igor Girkin, who is in custody awaiting trial for inciting extremism, said in November that he wanted to run for president even though he understood the March election would be a "sham" with the winner already clear.

He will be behind bars, though, when the election is held.

In the 2018 election, besides Putin and Grudinin, six others ran including nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who died in 2022, Ksenia Sobchak, a socialite who is the daughter of Putin's old boss in St Petersburg; and Grigory Yavlinsky, a Russian economist turned opposition politician.

Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin suffering losses on front line as ‘11,000’ troops killed in November.

Ukrainian Ground Forces Command spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Volodymyr Fityo has said that 11,000 Russian soldiers were killed in November.

The troops were likely killed in the Kupyansk, Lyman, and Bakhmut directions, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War think tank.

The institute also said Russian forces “may be suffering losses along the entire front in Ukraine at a rate close to the rate at which Russia is currently generating new forces.”

Earlier Lord David Cameron, the UK foreign secretary, said the US not sending more war aid to Ukraine would be a “Christmas present” for Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping after US Senate Republicans opposed a multi-billion-dollar aid bill.

He urged allies to rally around Kyiv, describing the response to the conflict as “the great test for our generation”.

The US Congress failed to pass a $110bn (£88bn) package of wartime funding for Ukraine and Israel as well as other national security priorities. Republicans have suggested more money needs to be allocated to securing the US border with Mexico.

Key Points

• 11,000 Russian soldiers killed in November

• Lord Cameron says blocking Ukraine aid would be ‘Christmas present’ to Putin and Xi

• Biden says ‘if Putin takes Ukraine he won’t stop there’ after aid falters

• Ukrainian air defences down 14 of 19 missiles in Russian attack - air force

Finland refuses to extradite Russian suspect to Ukraine as ‘jails overcrowded'

21:34 , Jane Dalton

Finland will not extradite to Ukraine a Russian man suspected of terrorism in Ukraine, Finland’s supreme court has ruled, citing the risk of inhuman prison conditions in Ukraine.

Yan Petrovsky was taken into custody by Finnish authorities in August after a Ukrainian court issued an arrest warrant for him. He is suspected of participating in a terrorist organisation in Ukraine.

Social media channels linked to Russia’s Wagner Group mercenaries said in August that Petrovsky was a top fighter in Rusich, a far-right subunit affiliated to Wagner.

Rusich identified Petrovsky as a founding member and leader of the unit who has been under EU and US sanctions.

The Supreme Court cited an earlier decision by the European Court of Human Rights which found Ukrainian prisons overcrowded and materially deprived over long term, concluding extradition to Ukraine could lead to inhuman and degrading treatment for Petrovsky.

The court ordered him to be released but he was immediately taken into custody by the Finnish Border Guard.

An official in Ukraine’s General Prosecutor’s office said Kyiv would press requests for Petrovsky’s extradition. “We are continuing to seek ways of detaining and extraditing this suspect to Ukraine,” said Andriy Gulkevych, deputy head of the office’s international legal section.

Mr Gulkevych said Ukraine was working towards ensuring greater success for its extradition requests, often turned down on grounds that the country could not provide suitable conditions of detention while it is at war.

Ukraine says Putin arrest warrant helped it return children

20:25 , Jane Dalton

Ukraine’s human-rights commissioner says two arrest warrants issued for Vladimir Putin and another official over the unlawful wartime deportation of children to Russia had helped to return some of them.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued warrants in March for the arrest of Putin and children’s ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova on war crimes charges related to the abduction of Ukrainian children. The Kremlin rejects the allegations.

Kyiv says it has officially confirmed the deportation of 19,546 children, and that the figure could be higher.

“In my opinion, after the two arrest warrants were issued by the International Criminal Court for Putin and Lvova-Belova, it has become easier to return children,” said Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian human-rights commissioner.

On Wednesday, eight children were brought back to Ukraine from Russia and Moscow-occupied territories, under a deal brokered by Qatar.

Mr Lubinets said Ukraine had so far managed to return 387 children from Russia and some more from Moscow-occupied territories.

Moscow says it transported thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia to protect minors abandoned in a conflict zone.

Mr Lubinets said Russia was now carrying out more deportations through ally Belarus to complicate the process of tracking and verifying the whereabouts of children.

Olympics chiefs to let Russian athletes compete as ‘neutrals'

19:40 , Jane Dalton

Ukraine’s foreign minister described as “shameful” the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the Paris Games as neutrals, and urged partners to condemn it.

Such a decision undermines Olympic principles, Dmytro Kuleba said.

Fears for jailed Alexei Navalny’s health

18:50 , Jane Dalton

Aides to jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny say they are seriously worried about his health and have been unable to contact him for three days.

Mr Navalny, 47, is imprisoned in a penal colony east of Moscow and has been sentenced to a total of more 30 years on what he says are trumped-up charges to silence his criticism of President Vladimir Putin.

His aides said his lawyers had stood all day outside the colony but been refused entry to see him, and he did not appear at scheduled judicial hearings about his case.

“We have learned that last week he had a serious health-related incident. Navalny’s life is at great risk. He is in complete isolation right now,” Maria Pevchikh, chair of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, posted on social media.

Mr Navalny’s spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said prison staff had put him on a drip last week after he suffered a dizzy spell and lay down on the floor of his cell in what she said looked like a “hunger faint”.

ICYMI: Democrats and Republicans go into overtime on Ukraine-immigration talks

18:00 , Matt Mathers

Senate Democrats and Republicans appear ready to go into overtime for negotiations on exchanging restrictions to immigration in exchange for aid to Ukraine.

Republicans have insisted on adding restrictions to legal immigration – particularly asylum and parole, wherein someone who otherwise would not be allowed into the United States is granted temporary status – in exchange for aid to Ukraine.

Erica Garcia reports:

Why so many of Nepal’s Gurkhas end up fighting for Russia in Ukraine

17:00 , Matt Mathers

Nearly 200 Nepalese nationals are serving as mercenaries in the Russian army – but it’s not only a phenomenon benefitting the Kremlin’s military recruitment, as Namita Singh explains

Read Namita’s full piece here:

Russia faces Putin’s iron grip until at least 2030 as he stands for president again

16:05 , Matt Mathers

Russia faces the prospect of Vladimir Putin extending his two-decade stranglehold on power until at least 2030, with an announcement that he will run for president again in March 2024.

The 71-year-old Russian autocrat has been in power since 1999, bar a four-year stint as prime minister under Dmitry Medvedev, during which he was widely regarded to still be at the helm of the Kremlin. Given Putin’s domination of the Russian political and media landscape – and jailing opposition figures like Alexei Navalny who could challenge him on the ballot – there is little doubt about the result when the elections take place next year.

Tom Watling reports:

ICYMI: Ukraine actor dies after battling frontline wounds for months

16:00 , Matt Mathers

Ukrainian actor Vasyl Kukharskyi died on Thursday nearly three months after suffering severe injuries on the frontline while fighting against Russia’s troops. He was 42.

“Vasily Kukharsky passed away. He never made it back to life,” announced Kyiv-based Theater on Podil in a statement on Facebook.

Full report:

Finland’s supreme court blocks extradition of Russian terrorism suspect to Ukraine

15:21 , Matt Mathers

Finland will not extradite to Ukraine a Russian man suspected of terrorism in Ukraine, Finland’s supreme court ruled on Friday, citing the risk of inhuman prison conditions in Ukraine.

Russian national Yan Petrovsky was taken into custody by Finnish authorities in August after a Ukrainian court issued an arrest warrant for the man who is suspected of participating in a terrorist organisation in Ukraine, Finnish court documents seen by Reuters showed.

Social media channels linked to Russia’s Wagner Group mercenaries said in August that Petrovsky was a top fighter in Rusich, a far-right subunit affiliated to Wagner.

Rusich identified Petrovsky as a founding member and leader of the unit who has been under European Union and United States sanctions since last year.

In Finland, Petrovsky has used the name Voislav Torden, court documents showed.

"The Supreme Court has stated in its opinion today that the extradition request regarding Torden cannot be agreed to," the court said in its decision.

Putin announces he will seek another term next year

14:19 , Matt Mathers

Vladimir Putin has moved to prolong his repressive and unyielding grip on Russia for another six years, state media said, announcing his candidacy in the 2024 presidential election that he is all but certain to win.

Mr Putin still commands wide support after nearly a quarter-century in power, despite starting an immensely costly war in Ukraine that has taken thousands of his countrymen’s lives, provoked repeated attacks inside Russia - including one on the Kremlin itself - and corroded its aura of invincibility.

A short-lived rebellion in June by mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin raised speculation that Mr Putin could be losing his grip or that it would mar his strongman image.

But he has emerged with no permanent scars, and Mr Prigozhin’s death in a mysterious plane crash two months later reinforced the view that Mr Putin was in absolute control.

Mr Putin announced his decision to run in the March 17 presidential election after a Kremlin award ceremony, when war veterans and others pleaded with him to seek re-election.

"I won’t hide it from you - I had various thoughts about it over time, but now, you’re right, it’s necessary to make a decision," Mr Putin said in a video released by the Kremlin after the event.

"I will run for president of the Russian Federation."

Ukraine’s parliament approves minorities bill, seen as key for EU talks

13:15 , Matt Mathers

The Ukrainian parliament on Friday approved three bills necessary to start European Union accession talks, including one on national minorities’ rights, a critical demand from Hungary which opposes Ukraine’s EU bid, officials said.

Lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said on Telegram messenger that members of parliament voted in the final reading for the bill regarding minorities’ rights, taking into consideration the expert assessment of the European Council.

Budapest has clashed with Kyiv over what it says are curbs on the rights ethnic Hungarians in west Ukraine, in particular regarding education.

The other two bills adopted concern staff increases in the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and additional power for the National Agency on Corruption Prevention on assets checks.

"Just now Ukrainian parliament passed three out of four laws by constitutional majority identified by the European Commission as leftovers in the EU Enlargement report," Deputy prime minister Olha Stefanishyna said on X.

She added that a fourth requirement - a law on lobbying - was approved by the cabinet on Tuesday.

Post-summit news conferences highlight the divide between China and the EU

12:30 , Matt Mathers

From trade to human rights, the leaders of China and the European Union differed on a wide range of issues at a summit this week in the Chinese capital.

China, which sees Europe as an important export market, raised concerns about trade protectionism and “de-risking,” the EU initiative to reduce its reliance on any one country — such as China — for vital raw materials and products.

Full report:

Ukrainian troops train in Poland for harsh winter warfare

11:34 , Matt Mathers

In a snow-covered field in western Poland, Ukrainian soldiers are being trained in trench warfare, just days before being sent to the front in what has become a grinding war of attrition against Russia.

Media organisations were invited this week to watch the training, which was conducted by soldiers from Poland, France and Belgium, in Wedrzyn, around 40 kilometres from the German border.

"Most of the people have actually no military experience and they are taught how to execute some basic tactics," said one Ukrainian soldier. "We are taught how to use weapons in urban areas and in trenches."

The training was conducted by the Combined Arms Training Command, which was established as part of the European Union’s efforts to aid Ukraine’s military. Exercises have been held in 24 out of the bloc’s 27 member states.

"We will keep adapting because the situation on the battlefield is changing every day," said Lieutenant General Michiel van der Laan, Director General European Union Military Staff.

Russian missiles kill one, wound four in air strike on Ukraine - Kyiv

11:00 , Matt Mathers

Russian warplanes fired 19 long-range missiles at targets in Ukraine on Friday morning, killing one civilian in a central region, wounding four more and damaging an industrial facility, Kyiv officials said. The strike was the first big salvo of missiles Russia has fired at targets, including the Ukrainian capital, in weeks. Russia has mainly been using drones for its overnight attacks in recent weeks.

"Unfortunately, one person is dead. Preliminarily, four people are wounded. They are all in hospital. Two people are in severe condition," Dnipropetrovsk’s regional governor Serhiy Lysak said on the Telegram messaging app. Air defences shot down 14 incoming missiles over the region outside Kyiv and the central region of Dnipropetrovsk, air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said in televised comments.

The strike damaged an unnamed industrial facility and more than a dozen homes in the towns of Pavlohrad and Ternivka and the village of Yuryivska, Lysak said.

Russia used seven Tu-95 bombers to launch missiles at different regions across the country, the air force said in a statement. Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said the Ukrainian capital had been targeted in the attack but that all the missiles were downed by air defences as they approached. Missile debris damaged privately-held homes in several settlements in Kyiv region, smashing windows and destroying some walls, governor Ruslan Kravchenko said.

Air alerts were announced at about 0700 a.m. (0500 GMT) and lasted for over 2 hours. Officials reported an earlier overnight missile attack that struck the northeastern Kharkiv region.Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said rescuers and police were clearing rubble after the attack damaged a five-story residential building, at least seven residential homes and 20 cars.

Russia used US celebrity Cameo videos to spread propaganda, says report

10:30 , Matt Mathers

Russia tricked American celebrities into providing video messages that were later edited to discredit Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, according to a new report from Microsoft.

Celebrities such as Lord of the Rings actor Elijah Wood were paid to record a message on Cameo for someone named “Vladimir”, asking them to find help for alcohol and substance abuse.

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar reports:

Ukrainian air defences down 14 of 19 missiles in Russian attack - air force

09:30 , Matt Mathers

Ukrainian air defences shot down 14 out of 19 missiles fired by Russia during a morning air strike on Friday, Ukraine’s air force spokesman said.

The missiles were shot down in the region outside Kyiv and the central region of Dnipropetrovsk, the military official, Yuryi Ihnat, said on television.

11,000 Russian soldiers killed in November

08:58 , Matt Mathers

Ukrainian Ground Forces Command spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Volodymyr Fityo has said that 11,000 Russian soldiers were killed in November.

The troops were presumably killed in the Kupyansk, Lyman, and Bakhmut directions, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War.

The institute also said Russian forces “may be suffering losses along the entire front in Ukraine at a rate close to the rate at which Russia is currently generating new forces.”

Russian missile attack kills one civilian in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region

07:14 , Matt Mathers

A Russian missile attack killed one civilian and injured four others in Ukraine’s central region of Dnipropetrovsk on Friday, the region’s governor, Serhiy Lysak, said.

"Unfortunately, one person is dead. Preliminarily, four people are wounded. They are all in hospital. Two people are in severe condition," Lysak said on the Telegram messaging app.

Blocking Ukraine aid would be ‘Christmas present’ to Putin and Xi, Cameron says

07:06 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Blocking a package of support for Ukraine would be a “Christmas present” for Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, Lord David Cameron has warned after Senate Republicans opposed a multi-billion-dollar aid bill.

The Foreign Secretary urged allies to rally around Kyiv, describing the response to the conflict as “the great test for our generation” as he delivered a speech at the Aspen security conference in Washington DC on Thursday.

The US Congress failed to pass a $110bn (£88bn) package of wartime funding for Ukraine and Israel as well as other national security priorities.

More here.

UN: Russia intensifies attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities, worsening humanitarian conditions

07:04 , Maira Butt

Intensifying Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities are worsening humanitarian conditions across the war-torn country, where heavy snow and freezing temperatures have already arrived, U.N. officials said Wednesday.

Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenca told the UN Security Council that Russia’s continuing daily attacks on Ukraine’s critical civilian infrastructure have resulted in civilian casualties, and Moscow recently escalated its barrages in populated areas including the capital, Kyiv.

“All attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure must stop immediately,” he said. “They are prohibited under international humanitarian law and are simply unacceptable.”

Why so many of Nepal’s Gurkhas end up fighting for Russia in Ukraine

06:50 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

A few months ago, a Ukrainian official posted a video of a man who had been captured while fighting for Russia. The man was neither trained by Russia nor a resident of that country, and he had no direct stake in the Ukraine war. Yet he had flown over 4,000km to serve in “one of the Russian Airborne Forces brigade”, the video said.

Belonging to the landlocked Himalayan state of Nepal, which has a growing population and rising unemployment, Bibek Khatri admits to joining the Russian forces solely for the money.

He blames his decision on financial woes back home, according to a clip posted by Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the minister of internal affairs in Ukraine.

“My family is in trouble. My mother doesn’t work, we need money. So, I went for it (joining the Russian Army),” Khatri says in the video. He says his friends suggested that he join up as a mercenary. “I wanted to return to my mom as a successful man. So, I joined.”

Khatri is not the only one being drawn by lucrative offers from Moscow. Nearly 200 Nepalese nationals are believed to be serving in the Russian army as mercenaries.

Namita Singh has more.

Ukraine claims assassination of ‘traitor’ ex-MP who fled to Russia

06:02 , Maira Butt

Tom Watling reports:

A pro-Russian Ukrainian politician who fled to Moscow after Vladimir Putin’s invasion has been shot dead, with Ukraine’s security service said to be behind the assassination.

Illia Kyva, 46, a former member of Ukraine’s parliament, was shot in a park in Odintsovo region, southwest of Moscow, according to Russian investigators.

A Ukrainian source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the SBU security service was responsible.

Andriy Yusov, spokesperson for Ukraine’s GUR, another intelligence agency, said on Ukrainian television Kyva was “finished” but did not say who was behind his death.

Another source with knowledge of the killing told the Financial Times that Kyva had been killed with a “small arms” weapon.

Slovakia warned by US on plan to scrap corruption prosecutor

05:10 , Maira Butt

The United States on joined the European Commission on Thursday in urging Slovakia not to rush into plans to scrap a special prosecutor’s office focused on corruption, saying the change and other reforms “require a thorough and sound analysis”.

Slovakia’s new government led by populist Robert Fico approved a plan on Wednesday to end the special prosecutor’s office, using a fast-track procedure that could be completed in weeks.

Fico, who has already battled with some leading media outlets and stopped Slovak military aid to Ukraine, has accused the institution of violating human rights and said it must be disbanded.

“We support the European Commission’s recommendation not to advance the intended amendments nor resort to a fast-track procedure without proper and thorough consultation with stakeholders at the national and European level,” the US embassy said in a statement on its website.

Mariupol Reborn: One year on from regeneration scheme in Ukrainian seaside city where thousands were killed

04:14 , Maira Butt

A major project to rebuild Ukraine‘s famous seaside city of Mariupol has made progress one year on.

Tens of thousands of Mariupol residents were killed in the six weeks after the full-scale invasion in February 2022 as a direct consequence of Russian aggression. Hundreds of thousands of Mariupol residents have been displaced.

Vadym Boychenko, the mayor of Mariupol, said: “People are our greatest assets. Lost lives are our greatest pain. Mariupol’s struggle will go down in history as an example of extraordinary heroism.

“They deserve the best home to return to and our goal is to create that. We know the government of Ukraine and our military will return Mariupol to Ukrainians. And when that happens, we will be ready to start work on Day One.”

The Fast Recovery Plan will get the city running, prioritizing housing and utilities. Russian forces are alleged to have destroyed 90% of the city’s infrastructure, half the apartment buildings, 15 hospitals, 63 schools and 40,000 houses have been damaged.

In pictures: The latest in Ukraine

03:03 , Maira Butt

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