Top story: Alarm as troops occupy nuclear plant
Hello, Warren Murray with you again. Here are the stories that matter most.
The Black Sea port of Kherson has become the first major Ukrainian target to fall under de facto control of Russia forces, based on statements by its mayor, who said residents should obey a curfew imposed by the “armed visitors”. Igor Kolykhaiev said he had made “no promises” to the Russians and he was “only interested in the normal life of our city! I just asked [them] not to shoot people”. The UN high commissioner for refugees said a million people had fled Ukraine “in just seven days”.
Russian forces are understood to have surrounded Ukraine’s biggest atomic plant. Zaporizhzhia houses six of the country’s 15 reactors. Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), called for the plant’s workers to be left alone to do their jobs. Russian artillery and missiles have continued to bombard other major cities including the capital, Kyiv, and the second-biggest city, Kharkiv, where a Ukrainian member of the European monitoring mission was killed in the bombing. Fierce fighting is believed to have taken place in the port of Mariupol in the south-east, where Ukrainian forces were reportedly surrounded by the Russian-aligned forces.
The UK and 37 other countries have formally referred reports of atrocities committed in Ukraine to the international criminal court (ICC) – the largest such referral in the court’s history. An emergency session of the UN general assembly has voted overwhelmingly to deplore Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and called for the immediate withdrawal of its forces: 141 voted for the resolution, 35 abstained, and five – Russia, Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea – voted against. The civilian tally in Ukraine is feared to be much higher than the hundreds estimated by the UN. Ukraine’s government has said nearly 6,000 Russian troops have been killed; the Kremlin put the figure at 498.
In Russia, police arrests of anti-war protesters have included terrified children and an elderly woman said to have survived the siege of Leningrad.
Russian oligarchs have been squeezed further as German authorities reportedly seized the $600m superyacht belonging to Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov in a Hamburg shipyard. It came after Roman Abramovich put English football club Chelsea up for sale, nearly 20 years after he took control. Oligarchs under sanctions have been linked by the Guardian to almost £200m of property in London and the home counties.
Keep checking our live blog for further developments.
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Tube strike – No tube services will operate across London today, it is expected, as London Underground workers strike for the second time this week. Transport for London (TfL) said people should work from home, or walk or cycle, otherwise expect crowding and delay on other trains or buses. The 24-hour strike, which started at midnight, follows a similar walkout on Tuesday by members of the RMT union in a dispute over jobs and pensions.
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‘Intervene early’ – Sarah Everard’s murder a year ago revolutionised how the British public understand male violence against women, according to research for the charity Rosa. The first major survey of women’s groups in the UK since the 33-year-old’s murder by serving police officer Wayne Couzens also worryingly reveals the majority of charities believe the risk to women and girls has increased over the last year. A pending report by the IOPC watchdog is expected to find the Metropolitan police made errors after receiving claims that Wayne Couzens indecently exposed himself days before the murder.
The IOPC is also investigating Kent police over an incident six years earlier that may have involved Couzens. Sandra Laville writes this morning that as government advertising puts a spotlight on male violence against women and girls, there is still a need to tackle underlying causes “by challenging the normalisation of pornography, by intervening early to address the attitudes of boys and young men, and by pursuing a zero-tolerance approach in schools to misogyny”.
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McDonnell, Abbott skip rally – Labour backbenchers including John McDonnell and Diane Abbott pulled out of attending a Stop the War rally in London on Wednesday amid pressure from Keir Starmer over the group’s stance on Ukraine. The Labour leader told his party’s MPs on Monday there was “no place” in the party for anyone drawing a “false equivalence” between the actions of Nato and those of Moscow. Labour sources have suggested backbenchers criticising Nato or the western alliance could be suspended. McDonnell told the website LabourList: “People are dying on the streets of Ukrainian cities. This is not the time to be distracted by political arguments here … So I won’t feed into that distraction by going tonight.”
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GMP must do better – Greater Manchester police (GMP) continue to investigate crime poorly 14 months after being placed into special measures; still take too long to answer both 999 and non-emergency calls; and remain short of personnel, according to an inspection report. Only 8.5% of crimes recorded in Greater Manchester in the year ending 31 March 2021 resulted in action being taken, compared with a 14.4% average across England and Wales. Only West Midlands police fare worse. GMP’s deputy chief constable, Terry Woods, insisted the force had improved, with response times to the most serious incidents down from 21 minutes to an average of 17 minutes. “Whilst this is still above our overall target of 15 minutes, we are already seeing five of our districts reduce their response times below this.”
Today in Focus podcast: A volunteer fighter in Ukraine
Volodymyr Ksienich, 22, has returned to Ukraine to join the defence of Kyiv. He tells Michael Safi how his life changed forever after last week’s Russian invasion.
Lunchtime read: The long hunt for my mystery illness
“One evening I fell sick. I had a fever, I didn’t sleep. Nevertheless, the following morning I felt fine, and went to work. But that evening the fever came back, this time worse … Dr C placed a stethoscope on my back in order to listen to my lungs. He cleared his throat and composed himself. ‘Did you have any plans today, Mr Rees?’ He instructed me to go to A&E. They would X-ray me today. Dr C followed me out into the stairwell and called out: ‘You will go straight there, won’t you?’”
Sport
Thomas Tuchel has insisted he is not afraid of change as he reflected on Roman Abramovich’s decision to sell up after 19 years at Chelsea and also on the impact of the turmoil on his players. As uncertainty swirled around at the club, Romelu Lukaku scored the winner as the Blues twice came from behind to win 3-2 at Luton in the fifth round of the FA Cup. At Anfield, Takumi Minamino scored twice in the first half to put Liverpool in control as they beat Norwich 2-1, while Southampton beat West Ham 3-1 to reach the quarter-finals for the second successive year. In the Women’s Super League, Arsenal moved five points clear of the title holders, Chelsea, with a dominant 4-0 defeat of Reading.
Rory McIlroy says golf will welcome Phil Mickelson back when he returns from a break after losing sponsors over his comments about a Saudi Arabia-backed breakaway tour. The International Paralympic Committee is to allow Russian athletes to compete at the Winter Games this week, despite a global outcry after the invasion of Ukraine. Max Verstappen has signed a new deal with Red Bull that is set to land him one of the biggest paydays in Formula One history. And Eddie Jones has made eight changes to his 25-man squad and has dispensed with more than 200 England Test caps for next week’s Six Nations game against Ireland.
Business
The global economic fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine continued to mount, as the price of Brent crude oil added another 3.4% to climb to $116.80. With the cost of commodities such as aluminium, iron ore, copper and wheat also on an upward curve, economists are concerned about the threat of rampant inflation and recession. The FTSE100 looks like opening flat, while the pound is on $1.341 and €1.207.
The papers
Our Guardian front-page lead today is “Russia wants to ‘erase’ us, warns Ukraine’s president”. The Telegraph has “First city falls to Russians” referring to Kherson. “Putin lays waste to cities” says the Times.
“Welcome to hell” – the i looks at the humanitarian disaster that is the war in Ukraine, using a picture of a woman holding a newborn in bleak surroundings. The Mirror has a wider shot of a similar scene with a man cradling a baby born in a bomb shelter – the paper says “For his sake, for his future, STOP”. The Metro calls it “Their finest hour” as “A week on from Russia’s invasion, Ukraine still stands”.
“Russians batter Ukrainian cities” says the Financial Times, while the Express says “Even Putin’s soldiers don’t want war” – a Russian taken prisoner by the Ukrainians is shown distraught and clutching a mobile phone. The paper says “they had no idea they were being sent to invade ‘brother nation’ Ukraine”. The Daily Mail has “Camilla’s anguished tears for Ukraine” after the Duchess of Cornwall met with expatriates in London. The Sun says “Clear offski” as Roman Abramovich moves to sell Chelsea.
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