Putin casts war as a battle for Russia's survival

Published

2 years ago

February 26, 2023

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MOSCOW President Vladimir Putin cast the confrontation with the West over the Ukraine war as an existential battle for the survival of Russia and the Russian people and said he was forced to take into account the North Atlantic Treaty Organisations (Nato) nuclear capabilities.

A year since ordering the invasion of Ukraine, Mr Putin is increasingly presenting the war as a make-or-break moment in Russian history, and saying that he believes the very future of Russia and its people are in peril.

They have one goal: to disband the former Soviet Union and its fundamental part the Russian Federation, Mr Putin told Rossiya 1 state television in an interview recorded last Wednesday but released on Sunday.

Nato and the West dismiss such a narrative, saying their objective is to help Ukraine defend itself against an unprovoked attack.

Mr Putin said the West wanted to divide up Russia and then control the worlds biggest producer of raw materials, a step, he said, that could well lead to the destruction of many of the people of Russia, including the ethnic Russian majority.

I do not even know if such an ethnic group as the Russian people will be able to survive in the form in which it exists today, Mr Putin said. He said the Wests plans had been put on paper, though he did not specify where.

The United States has denied that it wants to destroy Russia, while President Joe Biden has warned that a conflict between Russia and Nato could trigger World War III, though he has also said that Mr Putin should not remain in power.

Mr Putin said the tens of billions of dollars worth of US and European military assistance to Ukraine showed that Russia was now facing off with Nato itself the Cold War nightmare of both Soviet and Western leaders.

Ukraine says it will not rest until every last Russian soldier is ejected from Ukraine, including from Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.

Mr Putins existential framing of the war allows the 70-year-old Kremlin chief to gird the Russian people for a much deeper conflict and gives him much greater freedom in the types of weapons he could one day use.

Russias official nuclear doctrine allows for the use of nuclear weapons if they or other types of weapons of mass destruction are used against it, or if conventional weapons are used which endanger the very existence of the state.

Mr Putin has signalled he is ready to rip up the architecture of nuclear arms control including the big powers moratorium on nuclear testing unless the West backs off in Ukraine.

On Tuesday, he sought to underscore Russian resolve on Ukraine by suspending a landmark nuclear arms control treaty, announcing that new strategic systems had been put on combat duty and warning that Moscow could resume nuclear tests.

Mr Putin said Russia would resume discussions on the matter only when French and British nuclear weapons were also taken into account. More On This Topic 'People's court' calls for Putin to be charged, prosecuted Why Putin must not be allowed to succeed in his act of aggression Russia, which inherited the Soviet Unions nuclear weapons, has the worlds biggest store of nuclear warheads. It has more warheads than the US, France and Britain combined, according to the Federation of American Scientists.

In todays conditions, when all the leading Nato countries have declared their main goal as inflicting a strategic defeat on us, so that our people suffer as they say, how can we ignore their nuclear capabilities in these conditions? Mr Putin said.

He added that the biggest result of the past year was the unity of the Russian people. REUTERS

World

Two married couples found dead in British car after crash in Germany

Published

2 hours ago

August 24, 2025

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Two married couples found dead in British car after crash in Germany

Two married couples have died after a British car veered off the road and crashed in Germany, according to police.

The fatal accident happened shortly after midnight on Saturday in the trees near a highway in the Kassel district, north of Hesse in central Germany.

The 32-year-old male driver, a 31-year-old female passenger, a 32-year-old female passenger, and a 30-year-old female passenger all died at the scene, despite the efforts of German emergency services.

Sky News understands UK officials have not been contacted for assistance.

At roughly 12.30am on Saturday, the car appears to have veered off the road and crashed into nearby trees around 30m from the road, according to the Kassel police department.

One of the victim’s phones automatically alerted the emergency services to the incident, who sent an ambulance to the scene.

Soon, fire engines, ambulances, command vehicles and emergency support vehicles were all dispatched.

When emergency workers arrived, the car was lying on its side, wedged between several trees.

It wasn’t until they removed the roof that they found all four passengers.

The emergency workers who dealt with the victims were immediately supported by the specialist mental health workers at the fire station in Reinhardshagen.

“This high number of deaths is an extraordinary operation for our Reinhardshagen Volunteer Fire Department,” said a fire department spokesperson.

“For some of the emergency personnel, it is the first time they have been confronted with death in this way.

“Therefore, a great deal is being done to help us process these images. We will also discuss this among ourselves and within families, because not everyone can easily shake off what they have seen.”

An investigation into the accident is ongoing and is being conducted by the Hofgeismar police station.

US

Trump seeking to ‘manufacture a crisis’ in Chicago, says Illinois governor

Published

2 hours ago

August 24, 2025

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Trump seeking to 'manufacture a crisis' in Chicago, says Illinois governor

The governor of Illinois has accused Donald Trump of “attempting to manufacture a crisis” over reports the US president was considering deploying the military in the state.

US newspaper The Washington Post reported on Saturday that the Pentagon was drafting plans to deploy the US army in Chicago, the state capital.

It comes as part of Mr Trump’s crackdown on crime, homelessness, and illegal immigration in mainly Democrat-run cities. He recently deployed the National Guard in Washington DC.

In a statement responding to the report, governor JB Pritzker said Illinois had “received no requests or outreach from the federal government asking if we need assistance, and we have made no requests for federal intervention”.

He added: “The safety of the people of Illinois is always my top priority.

“There is no emergency that warrants the President of the United States federalising the Illinois National Guard, deploying the National Guard from other states, or sending active duty military within our own borders.”

The governor then said: “Donald Trump is attempting to manufacture a crisis, politicise Americans who serve in uniform, and continue abusing his power to distract from the pain he is causing working families.

“We will continue to follow the law, stand up for the sovereignty of our state, and protect the people of Illinois.”

Officials familiar with the proposals told the Post that several options were being weighed up by the US defence department, including mobilising thousands of National Guard troops in Chicago as early as September.

The Pentagon said it would not comment on planned operations, adding: “The department is a planning organisation and is continuously working with other agency partners on plans to protect federal assets and personnel.”

Mr Trump, however, told reporters on Friday that “Chicago is a mess,” before attacking the city’s mayor Brandon Johnson and hinting “we’ll straighten that one out probably next”.

Mr Johnson has not yet commented on Saturday’s reports, but said on Friday that the president’s approach to tackling crime has been “uncoordinated, uncalled for and unsound”.

“There are many things the federal government could do to help us reduce crime and violence in Chicago, but sending in the military is not one of them,” he added.

It comes after around 800 National Guard troops were deployed in Washington DC earlier this month, despite the US capital’s mayor revealing crime in the capital was at its “lowest level in 30 years”.

According to preliminary figures from Washington DC’s Metropolitan Police, violent crime is down 26% in 2025 – after dropping 35% in 2024 compared with 2023.

In June Mr Trump ordered 700 US Army marines and 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles in California, during protests over mass immigration raids.

The deployment came against the wishes of state governor Gavin Newsom, who said: “The federal government is sowing chaos so they can have an excuse to escalate.

“That is not the way any civilised country behaves.”

Science

Massive Fireball Streaks Across Southern Japan, Lighting Up the Night Sky

Published

2 hours ago

August 24, 2025

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On Aug. 19, residents of southern Japan witnessed a brilliant fireball streaking across the night sky, lighting up cities from Kagoshima to Osaka. The meteor appeared at 11:08 p.m. local time, glowing green-blue with flashes so bright they rivaled the moon before bursting into orange-red fragments above the Pacific Ocean. Security and dashcam cameras captured the dazz…