Deborah Haynes
@haynesdeborah
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I am security and defence editor at Sky News - DMs open or my email is [email protected]
London
Joined October 2010
EXCLUSIVE: The government has no national plan for the defence of the UK or the mobilisation of its people and industry in a war despite renewed threats of conflict, @SkyNews has learnt. 🧵/1.
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Thank you for the lovely comments after my son’s impromptu appearance mid-live-broadcast. I can confirm that his high-stakes negotiating skills netted him two chocolate digestives.
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BREAKING: Demoralised Russian soldiers in Ukraine have accidentally shot down their own aircraft, sabotaged their own kit and refused to carry out orders, Sir Jeremy Fleming, director of the UK spy agency @GCHQ, will reveal in a speech in Australia on Thursday. 1/.
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NEW: China has recruited dozens of former British military pilots to teach the Chinese armed forces how to defeat western warplanes & helicopters in a “threat to UK interests”, officials have revealed. 1/.
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NEW: Russia is running out of weapons for its war in Ukraine and the costs to the Kremlin are “staggering” in terms of soldiers and equipment lost, UK spy chief Sir Jeremy Fleming, head of @GCHQ, will say in a speech on Tuesday. 1/.
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NEW: Rare good news from Ukraine. 4-yr-old Nikita, who has leukemia & had been sheltering in basement of Kyiv children’s hospital, is on a bus out of Ukraine with mum & sisters. Such a turn around from Monday when his mum was preparing to stay with him & send her 2 daughters away
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BREAKING: Ukrainian forces have recaptured 700+ square km of territory in south of Ukraine as well as east, where they've advanced up to 50km into Russian lines, retaking 20+ villages, a 🇺🇦general has revealed in most detailed comments yet on 🇺🇦 counter-offensive. h/t @Reuters.
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NEW: Ukraine's Armed Forces believe more than 60 Russian battalion tactical groups – the equivalent of between 30,000 to 60,000 troops - have been deployed on Ukrainian territory, according to an update on the invasion as of 8pm.It said the “enemy has an extremely low morale”.
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BREAKING: The UK said it will send 120 armoured vehicles + new anti-ship missile systems to support Ukraine's armed forces. Announcement made after talks in Kyiv between @BorisJohnson & @ZelenskyyUa. The UK PM made his first visit to Ukraine since Russia invaded.
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BREAKING: The heads of MI5 and the @FBI have used an unprecedented joint speech to warn that China is their biggest “game-changing challenge”, with the UK doubling efforts to combat Chinese "activity of concern". 1/.
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Russia is waging a "reckless campaign of sabotage" across Europe, the heads of MI6 and the CIA have warned in their first-ever joint remarks.
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BREAKING: The leaders of Turkey, Sweden & Finland have just signed a memorandum for the two Nordic states to join NATO, removing a Turkish block to the accession process, a source said. “It’s a three-way agreement on accession,” the source said. @jensstoltenberg to make statement.
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The US would be open to discuss giving its A-10 “Warthog” ground attack aircraft to Ukraine, the US Secretary of the @usairforce has indicated. Frank Kendall listed the ageing warplanes as among those the Air Force will be ditching to focus more $$ on modern programmes. 1/.
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One official said some 30 pilots - many ex-fast jet but also some helicopter pilots lured by annual salaries of around £240,000 - are currently in China training pilots in the People’s Liberation Army in what a defence analyst described as a stunning breach of security. 2/.
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NEW: The UK has offered to conduct "logistics operations" to support the delivery to the Ukrainian armed forces of much-needed military aid, such as ammunition and anti-tank weapons, that is donated by other countries, a @DefenceHQ source says.
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Russia has lost over one third of its national tank fleet in Ukraine, a western official says.
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EXCLUSIVE: Russia flew 140 million euros and a selection of captured UK and US weapons to Iran in return for dozens of deadly drones for its war in Ukraine, a security source has told @SkyNews.
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A retired senior @RoyalAirForce officer said: “Wow… that is appalling. What were they thinking?”. 3/.
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The British spy chief is set to use a rare public speech to say it increasingly looks like Russia’s President Vladimir Putin “has massively misjudged the situation” in Ukraine. 2/.
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BREAKING: Structure of #NotreDame has been saved from total destruction, a French firefighter official is quoted by @Reuters saying. But one fireman has been seriously injured in the blaze.
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NEW: UK announces its "most significant package of combat power to date" for Ukraine, Defence Secretary @BWallaceMP says. This includes:.- A squadron of Challenger 2 tanks.- 8 x AS90 guns + more on various stages of readiness.- 100s more armoured vehicles, including Bulldog.
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The situation is so grave, the UK .@DefenceHQ’s Defence Intelligence service on Tuesday issued a “threat alert” to warn against such approaches. 5/.
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A senior former UK intelligence officer, reflecting on US-led withdrawal from.Afghanistan, said: “This marks the end of an era of Western liberalism & democracy that started with the fall of the Berlin Wall. It is a defeat of Western ideology. It is the biggest defeat since Suez”.
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NEW: UK confirms a “small number of soldiers” may have gone AWOL to fight in Ukraine. @BritishArmy spokesman: “We’re aware of a small number of individual soldiers who have disobeyed orders & gone absent without leave, and may have travelled to Ukraine in a personal capacity 1/.
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BREAKING: The UK will send a squadron of 14 tanks to Ukraine “in the coming weeks”. @RishiSunak’s government says it will also supply the Ukrainian armed forces with around 30 AS90s - large, self-propelled guns.
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NEW: MI6 Chief Richard Moore calls last month’s mutiny by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin “extraordinary” and pointed to how it impacted Vladimir Putin’s behaviour. The Wagner boss was “a traitor at breakfast, pardoned by supper and a few days later invited for tea”. He said it.
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Beijing is actively trying to hire many more serving and former military pilots and other specialists from across the RAF, the @RoyalNavy and the @BritishArmy as well as personnel from other western nations, the western official said. 4/.
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When I switched from newspapers to telly, I was told a lot about the importance of what’s known as a “piece to camera” (when reporter says something hopefully meaningful, while staring into lens) - and in particular a well-timed one. It’s taken 4 years & a pair of goggles but…
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This is great news for veterans. @AlistairCarns - a highly-regarded Royal Marines colonel, with 24 years of service, who received the Military Cross for actions in Afghanistan - only stepped down from a full-time military career to run as a Labour candidate. And now he's a.
I am deeply honoured to accept Prime Minister @Keir_Starmer’s offer to serve as the new Minister for Veterans Affairs in this new Labour Government under the Ministerial leadership of our Secretary of State for Defence @JohnHealey_MP. To our veterans, you have sacrificed so
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NEW: The UK is considering supplying Ukraine with British tanks for the first time to fight Russia’s invading forces, @SkyNews understands. 1/.
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The @GCHQ director will also say Wagner, the Russian private military company, is understood to be prepared to “send large numbers of personnel into Ukraine to fight alongside Russians”. They will likely be used as “cannon fodder” to try to limit Russian military losses.3/.
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Message for @realDonaldTrump from Winston Churchill’s grandson.
They died with their face to the foe and that pathetic inadequate @realDonaldTrump couldn’t even defy the weather to pay his respects to The Fallen #hesnotfittorepresenthisgreatcountry.
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BREAKING: Ukraine's top diplomat @DmytroKuleba, speaking at NATO headquarters, where NATO foreign ministers are meeting today, said there are three items on his agenda when he talks to the allies and holds bilateral meetings: "Weapons, weapons and weapons".
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China is using third-party head-hunters, including a company based in South Africa, to target personnel, the western official said. 6/.
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All British former service personnel who have accepted jobs to train Chinese military pilots “are almost certainly enhancing China's military knowledge and capability,” the official said. 8/.
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NEW: A defence minister says the UK has approached all former pilots who've been recruited to train China's armed forces to warn them against continuing such work. @JSHeappey tells @KayBurley the law will be changing to make it illegal to ignore such warnings in future.1/.
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The western official said the recruitment schemes posed “a threat to UK and western interests” and were viewed with “concern and disapproval” by the government. 7/.
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Revealing details about the state of the Russian military operation, Sir Jeremy is expected to say: “We’ve seen Russian soldiers – short of weapons and morale - refusing to carry out orders, sabotaging their own equipment and even accidentally shooting down their own aircraft".7/.
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Sir Jeremy is also set to say the risks are greater for China than Russia of the two authoritarian states being too closely aligned with each other. And he will reveal indications that Russian cyber attackers are “looking for targets” in countries opposed to Russia's war in 🇺🇦 4/.
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NEW: President Vladimir Putin’s has overreached himself in Ukraine and the war will ultimately lead to his downfall, Christopher Steele, the former senior British spy who wrote a dossier about Russia and Donald Trump, has said in an interview with @markaustintv 1/.
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In 5 weeks, I’ve seen Ukraine transform from a country of quiet resolve, where people lived their lives as they chose - into a warzone, where people must risk their lives fighting Russia to keep that right, one most of us take for granted. I’ve been rotated out but hope to return.
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The @GCHQ director will say Putin’s advisers are afraid to tell him the truth about what is unfolding in Ukraine, according to an advance copy of the speech, which is taking place at the Australian National University in Canberra. 5/.
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Despite the potential for harm to national security, the UK appears to have been powerless to stop the recruitment schemes or to force the former service personnel who have accepted jobs in China to return home - beyond appealing to their sense of honour and patriotism. 9/.
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NEW: Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands & the Czech Republic have today expelled a total of 43 Russian diplomats over alleged spying activities, taking to more than 100 the number of Russian officials to be kicked out of European nations this month. 1/.
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Russia’s “gains are being reversed”, Sir Jeremy will say, according to exerts of the speech. “The costs to Russia – in people and equipment are staggering. We know – and Russian commanders on the ground know – that their supplies and munitions are running out.”.3/.
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The UK spy chief will say: “Russia’s forces are exhausted. The use of prisoners to reinforce, and now the mobilisation of tens of thousands of inexperienced conscripts, speaks of a desperate situation.”.4/.
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“They know their access to modern technologies and external influences will be drastically restricted. And they are feeling the extent of the dreadful human cost of his war of choice.”.6/6.
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BREAKING (correcting previous tweet as I'd been given incorrect figure): 27 nations, including the UK, other European countries & the US, have agreed to give more weapons, medical supplies and other military aid to Ukraine as it fights a Russian invasion, @SkyNew understands. 1/.
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BREAKING: The UK assess that "approximately 15,000 Russian personnel have been killed" fighting in Ukraine so far, Defence Secretary @BWallaceMP tells MPs.
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BREAKING: Ukraine's President @ZelenskyyUa says western sanctions on Russia for its action in separatist-held eastern Ukraine must include a shutdown of the Nord Stream 2 Russian gas pipeline.
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The UK has started turning the first of around 10,000 Ukrainian recruits into frontline soldiers at four bases across England, safe from Russian missile fire, it can be revealed. 1/.
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British man Ben Nicholson confirms death of wife, son & daughter in Sri Lanka attacks. They died instantly. “I am deeply distressed at the loss of my wife & children. Anita was a wonderful, perfect wife & a brilliant, loving & inspirational mother to our 2 wonderful children”
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BREAKING: Ukraine suffered the largest denial of service cyber attack in its history this week, the country's deputy prime minister has said. h/t @Reuters.
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Sir Jeremy will add: “And the Russian population has started to understand that too. They’re seeing just how badly Putin has misjudged the situation. They’re fleeing the draft, realising they can no longer travel. 5/.
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But “what’s going on & the extent of these misjudgements must be crystal clear to the regime”.Missteps = misjudging 🇺🇦resistance; underestimating strength of western response; underplaying economic consequences; over-estimating abilities of 🇷🇺military to secure quick win. 6/.
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The official said it was not thought that anyone had breached the Official Secrets Act – which would be a criminal offence. The Ministry of Defence said it was working to make it much harder for China to poach British military talent. 10/.
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BREAKING: Ukraine's foreign minister says the fact that Russia has agreed to a meeting without preconditions or ultimatums "is already a victory"."We go there to listen to what Russia wants to say".Ukraine will tell Russia what it thinks of its action, @DmytroKuleba says.
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NEW: The @RoyalAirForce has halted flights in and out of its largest air base in the UK because the “runway has melted” in the hot weather, according to a military source. The decision to shut the runway at RAF Brize Norton was taken on Monday morning, @SkyNews understands. 1/.
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More than 450 Ukrainian soldiers have taken time out from the frontline to receive training in the UK on a range of weapons such as the multiple-launch rocket system - seen as vital in the fight against Russia, it can be revealed.
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Otherwise known as: Defence Editor of The Times, Defence and Security Editor of The Mail and Foreign Affairs Editor of Sky News. #everydaysexism
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BREAKING: @ChiefMI6 Richard Moore says he believes Russia is “about to run out of steam” in Ukraine. He tells @AspenSecurity the Russians will “hope to pause in some way” and says the Ukrainians will “strike back”.
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For those in UK, US, EU who look at Ukraine crisis & take comfort in fact it’s not happening in their back yard - don’t be fooled. If Russia invades in defiance of warnings, it’s a direct challenge to a world order that’s seen Western democracies, rules & ideas dominate since WW2.
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BREAKING: UK has supplied Ukraine with 3,615 NLAW anti-tank weapons & rising, will shortly start delivery of a "small consignment" of anti-tank Javelin missiles & is exploring gifting 🇺🇦 anti-aircraft missiles, Defence Secretary @BWallaceMP tells MPs.
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“It's not training Chinese pilots on Western jets. It's taking Western pilots of great experience to help develop Chinese military air force tactics and capabilities,” the official said. 13/.
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BREAKING: UK @BorisJohnson orders everyone in UK to stay at home or face police action including fines amid #COVID19 crisis. Exceptions:.- Shopping for basic necessities.- One form of exercise a day.- Any medical need.- Travelling to & from work for those who still need to work.
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NEW: Campaigners @ByDonkeys are plastering European Commission building in Brussels tonight with images of tweets from UK politicians like @Nigel_Farage & slogans in protest against #Brexit ahead of #Brexit summit tomorrow
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EXCLUSIVE: @SkyNews is 1st to film UK #MLRS firing at Russian targets in Ukraine. A commander says around 30% of successes by 🇺🇦 in counter-offensive in east were thanks to 🇬🇧 + 🇩🇪 rocket launchers. w/ @AndrewTravel_UA @sophiacmcbride @marchofer @artlysak.
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China is seeking pilots with experience of flying British & other NATO warplanes, including the Typhoon & Tornado fighter jets and the Harrier jump jet – which used to operate off UK carriers, to teach its pilots how best to counter their capabilities, the official said. 12/.
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BREAKING: UK armed forces minister @JSHeappey says he does not recognise reports that Ukrainian southern coastal city of Melitopol has fallen to Russian forces. He says Russian invasion plan is running “nowhere near” to schedule.
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The spike in recruitment has been identified since around the end of 2019 at the start of the COVID lockdown. Officials were unable to say immediately what the total number was of former British military personnel who had ever been hired to work for the Chinese. 11/.
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NEW: The UK has been "scouring the earth" for 152mm artillery ammunition - the ammunition Ukraine's military needs for their existing guns to combat Russia, defence minister @JSHeappey tells @SkyNews.
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Estonia has accused Russia of violating its airspace for the first time by helicopter, in a highly provocative move ahead of a key #NATO summit. The Baltic state, a NATO member, also said ongoing Russian military exercises are simulating missile strikes against its country daily.
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“It's really the Chinese having an understanding of what the latest generation of tactics and approaches and capabilities would be were the Chinese military to get into situations coming up against those types of assets.”. 14/.
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What a scoop by @MoS_Politics: Liz Truss’s personal phone was hacked by agents suspected of links to Russia. “They gained access to top-secret details of negotiations … as well as private messages she exchanged with her close friend @KwasiKwarteng”.
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GCHQ did not offer any further details, such as how many aircraft and whether it includes fast jets and attack helicopters. But the information is understood to be based on intelligence. 8/.
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More from the @GCHQ director on Wagner: “They are looking at relocating forces from other conflicts and recruiting new fighters to bolster numbers. These soldiers are likely to be used as cannon fodder to try to limit Russian military losses.”.10/.
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In his closed-door speech, the spy chief will touch on the role of mercenaries and foreign fighters to augment the Russian side. “Recently, we have seen that Wagner looks to be taking it up a gear,” he will say. 9/.
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BREAKING: UK is putting its defence industry on a "war-footing" - investing ÂŁ10 billion to ramp up production- as part of a plan to increase defence spending by 2.5% by 2030, Prime Minister @RishiSunak has declared. This is a really big deal.
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UPDATE: A former interpreter with UK forces who was with his wife, 3-month-old baby girl & 3-yr-old son desperately waiting for an evacuation flight said the explosions were near them. His family is safe but he said: “It was like doomsday, injured people everywhere”.
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Two Ukrainian women have spoken about being raped in a neighbour’s house by two Russian soldiers. One of the women returned to the site with a team of prosecutors. She hopes to encourage other rape survivors in 🇺🇦 to talk about what 🇷🇺 forces did to them.
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NEW: The UK is significantly expanding a training programme in Britain to turn potentially tens of thousands of Ukrainian citizens into frontline soldiers to fight Russia ⬇️.
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BREAKING: NATO will boost its forces on high readiness to "well over 300,000", the head of the alliance @jensstoltenberg says. This will be part of the "biggest overhaul" of NATO's defence since the Cold War, he tells a briefing. It will be agreed at a summit this week.
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BREAKING: Dutch-led team investigating downing of flight MH17 release recorded conversations they say took place between "top Russian officials" and Ukraine rebels on secure means of communication "about administrative, financial and military business".
The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) releases a new witness appeal in the criminal investigation into the downing of flight MH17. See: #MH17.
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UPDATE: The speech by @GCHQ Director Sir Jeremy Fleming at the Australian National University is now starting. Here is the full text, including the line about how Putin's advisers are too scared to tell him the truth about how badly things are going⬇️.
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NEW: @BorisJohnson was the first foreign leader who Ukrainian President @ZelenskyyUa called after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in the early hours of 24 February. Asked why he got the 1st call, top 🇺🇦official @OleksiyDanilov said: “They are friends. Britain is our friend".
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NEW: Based on "information available", the command of a unit of Belarusian paratroopers has received an order to cross the border into Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian update on Russia’s invasion. A combat order would be made after the crossing, it said, without giving dates 1/.
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This is important: Poland's PM suggests a decision to give Ukraine fighter planes (to man its own no-fly zone against Russia) should be a NATO one. He says it's why Poland is ready to move its MiG-29 jets to a US base in Germany "but we're not ready to make any moves on our own".
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NEW: Slovakia is ready to discuss transferring its 11 MIG-29s to Ukraine, defence minister says. @JaroNad says the jets will be grounded by end of August. Czech & Polish jets will start protecting 🇸🇰 air space. But Slovakia would need a plan with allies to fill any capability gap.
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BREAKING: Estonia's President - who is visiting Ukraine's President in Kyiv - says a "threat to Ukraine is a threat to the security of Europe". Alar Karis says the door must stay open for Ukraine to join NATO and the European Union. "You belong in Europe".
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First images from the UK of its attack against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Four Typhoon jets - supported by a Voyager refuelling aircraft - dropped Paveway bombs on 2 military facilities used by Houthis to launch drone and missile strikes
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EXCLUSIVE - UK identifies 1,000s of suspected robotic accounts, part of “extensive” Russia disinformation operation after #Skripal attack. This is ongoing, Kremlin-backed hybrid warfare against UK. #informationwarfare .
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A veteran UK official once told me (as I was despairing at western complacency in face of Russia threat): The thing about the West is it's become a sleeping giant, but when existentially challenged this giant would awake. Maybe that's what's happening in wake of Ukraine invasion.
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A mass burial site containing around 440 graves has been found in the Ukrainian city of Izyum after it was liberated from Russian control, a top police investigator has told @SkyNews .
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BREAKING: UK defence source confirms there were two explosions outside Kabul airport. One explosion occurred by Barons Hotel, followed by small arms fire, then a second explosion occurred by Abbey Gate. No UK military casualties, according to initial assessment.
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EXCLUSIVE: NATO has decided to halve the size of Russia’s mission to the alliance in response to suspected malign Russian activities, including killings & espionage. 8 diplomats, thought to be undeclared intelligence officers, will be asked to leave & 2 other positions scrapped.
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NEW: An imposter posing as Ukraine’s prime minister tricked his way onto a video call with Britain’s defence secretary in a suspected Russian ploy. @BWallaceMP ordered an immediate inquiry into the security breach that saw him engage with the fraud for about 10 minutes 1/.
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BREAKING: Russia out numbers Ukraine in artillery fire by 20 to 1 in some parts of the warzone, the UK Defence Secretary @BWallaceMP has said. But he said allies are starting to give Ukraine the long-range artillery and rocket systems that will enable Ukrainian forces to win.
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