King criticises Russia’s ‘indescribable aggression’ as Ukraine marks two years since invasion
The King has criticised Russia’s “indescribable aggression” and praised Ukrainians for their “true valour” on the second anniversary of the full-scale invasion.
Saturday marked two years since Vladimir Putin unleashed war on Ukraine, seeking to crush Ukrainian democracy under tank treads as his forces tried to capture Kyiv.
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In a message released by Buckingham Palace, the King said: “The determination and strength of the Ukrainian people continues to inspire, as the unprovoked attack on their land, their lives and livelihoods enters a third, tragic, year.
“Despite the tremendous hardship and pain inflicted upon them, Ukrainians continue to show the heroism with which the world associates them so closely.
“Theirs is true valour, in the face of indescribable aggression.”
The King added that he continues to be “greatly encouraged” that the UK and its allies remain committed to supporting Ukraine.
A woman visits the grave of her relative, a killed Ukrainian defender, in Lviv. Pic: Reuters
As the war enters its third year, Russian forces hold around 18% of Ukraine’s land mass and are mounting new offensives in the east, buoyed by the capture of the ruined town of Avdiivka.
In Lviv in western Ukraine, women cried as a priest led prayers in a cemetery festooned with blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags, each marking the death of a soldier.
“The boys are holding the front line. We can only imagine what effort and price is paid for every peaceful day we have,” said Evhenia Demchuk, a widow and mother-of-two.
“I want to believe it’s not all in vain. We have funerals every day,” she added. “We believe victory will be ours. It is all obtained at a very high price.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Justin Trudeau. Pic: Reuters
In the capital, Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met world leaders, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Both foreign leaders signed security agreements with Ukraine, joining Britain, Germany, France and Denmark in concluding 10-year security deals with Kyiv that are intended to shore up Ukraine’s security until it can reach its aim of becoming a member of the NATO military alliance.
Speaking on X, Mr Zelenskyy paid tribute to his people.
“I admire each one of you. I believe in each one of you.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrives at a railway station in Kyiv. Pic: Reuters
Mr Zelenskyy vowed that Ukraine would prevail and that a just peace would be secured.
“I thank all of our soldiers, our people, and everyone around the world who stands with us and the truth. Glory to Ukraine!”
In the UK, commemorations in London began with an interfaith prayer service at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in Mayfair.
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The leading Ukrainian Catholic bishop in the UK, Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski, said his compatriots are “resolved to win the war” and have experienced a “two-year unending nightmare”.
Elsewhere in the capital, large crowds gathered in Trafalgar Square to protest against President Putin’s aggression as protesters waved Ukrainian flags, chanting “Russia is a terrorist state”.
Donald Trump has agreed to send “top of the line weapons” to NATO to support Ukraine – and threatened Russia with “severe” tariffs if it doesn’t agree to end the war.
Speaking with NATO secretary general Mark Rutte during a meeting at the White House, the US president said: “We’ve made a deal today where we are going to be sending them weapons, and they’re going to be paying for them.
“This is billions of dollars worth of military equipment which is going to be purchased from the United States,” he added, “going to NATO, and that’s going to be quickly distributed to the battlefield.”
Weapons being sent include surface-to-air Patriot missile systems and batteries, which Ukraine has asked for to defend itself from Russian air strikes.
Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump also said he was “very unhappy” with Russia, and threatened “severe tariffs” of “about 100%” if there isn’t a deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days.
The White House added that the US would put “secondary sanctions” on countries that buy oil from Russia if an agreement was not reached.
It comes after weeks of frustration from Mr Trump against Vladimir Putin’s refusal to agree to an end to the conflict, with the Russian leader telling the US president he would “not back down” from Moscow’s goals in Ukraine at the start of the month.
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Trump says Putin ‘talks nice and then bombs everybody’
During the briefing on Monday, Mr Trump said he had held calls with Mr Putin where he would think “that was a nice phone call,” but then “missiles are launched into Kyiv or some other city, and that happens three or four times”.
“I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy,” he added.
Earlier this year, Mr Trump told Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy “you’re gambling with World War Three” in a fiery White House meeting, and suggested Ukraine started the war against Russia as he sought to negotiate an end to the conflict.
After Mr Trump’s briefing, Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev said on Telegram: “If this is all that Trump had in mind to say about Ukraine today, then all the steam has gone out.”
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Meanwhile, Mr Zelenskyy met with US special envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv, where they “discussed the path to peace” by “strengthening Ukraine’s air defence, joint production, and procurement of defence weapons in collaboration with Europe”.
He thanked both the envoy for the visit and Mr Trump “for the important signals of support and the positive decisions for both our countries”.
At least 30 people have been killed in the Syrian city of Sweida in clashes between local military groups and tribes, according to Syria’s interior ministry.
Officials say initial figures suggest around 100 people have also been injured in the city, where the Druze faith is one of the major religious groups.
The interior ministry said its forces will directly intervene to resolve the conflict, which the Reuters news agency said involved fighting between Druze gunmen and Bedouin Sunni tribes.
It marks the latest episode of sectarian violence in Syria, where fears among minority groups have increased since Islamist-led rebels toppled President Bashar al Assad in December, installing their own government and security forces.
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In March, Sky’s Stuart Ramsay described escalating violence within Syria
The violence reportedly erupted after a wave of kidnappings, including the abduction of a Druze merchant on Friday on the highway linking Damascus to Sweida.
Last April, Sunni militia clashed with armed Druze residents of Jaramana, southeast of Damascus, and fighting later spread to another district near the capital.
But this is the first time the fighting has been reported inside the city of Sweida itself, the provincial capital of the mostly Druze province.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reports the fighting was centred in the Maqwas neighbourhood east of Sweida and villages on the western and northern outskirts of the city.
It adds that Syria’s Ministry of Defence has deployed military convoys to the area.
Western nations, including the US and UK, have been increasingly moving towards normalising relations with Syria.
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UK aims to build relationship with Syria
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Concerns among minority groups have intensified following the killing of hundreds of Alawites in March, in apparent retaliation for an earlier attack carried out by Assad loyalists.
That was the deadliest sectarian flare-up in years in Syria, where a 14-year civil war ended with Assad fleeing to Russia after his government was overthrown by rebel forces.
The city of Sweida is in southern Syria, about 24 miles (38km) north of the border with Jordan.
The man convicted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher has been charged with sexual assault against an ex-girlfriend.
Rudy Guede, 38, was the only person who was definitively convicted of the murder of 21-year-old Ms Kercher in Perugia, Italy, back in 2007.
He will be standing trial again in November after an ex-girlfriend filed a police report in the summer of 2023 accusing Guede of mistreatment, personal injury and sexual violence.
Guede, from the Ivory Coast, was released from prison for the murder of Leeds University student Ms Kercher in 2021, after having served about 13 years of a 16-year sentence.
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Since last year – when this investigation was still ongoing – Guede has been under a “special surveillance” regime, Sky News understands, meaning he was banned from having any contact with the woman behind the sexual assault allegations, including via social media, and had to inform police any time he left his city of residence, Viterbo, as ruled by a Rome court.
Guede has been serving a restraining order and fitted with an electronic ankle tag.
The Kercher murder case, in the university city of Perugia, was the subject of international attention.
Ms Kercher, a 21-year-old British exchange student, was found murdered in the flat she shared with her American roommate, Amanda Knox.
The Briton’s throat had been cut and she had been stabbed 47 times.
(L-R) Raffaele Sollecito, Meredith Kercher and Amanda Knox. File pic: AP
Ms Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were placed under suspicion.
Both were initially convicted of murder, but Italy’s highest court overturned their convictions, acquitting them in 2015.
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