Ukraine-Russia war latest: British helicopters fly to 'biggest NATO exercise since Cold War' (2024)

Fashion retailer Hugo Boss is ending its presence in Russia after agreeing a deal to sell its business in the country to wholesale partner Stockmann - two years on from suspending operations there.

"As a result of the agreement, Hugo Boss will no longer be present in Russia with its own legal entity," the company said in a statement.

Along with many other retailers, Hugo Boss paused its business in Russia soon after the country's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

News agency Interfax reported Russia's government commission on foreign asset sales approved the deal, citing deputy minister of industry and trade Viktor Yevtukhov, with one of the conditions being that all jobs are preserved.

Hugo Boss did not reveal financial terms of the deal, but Russia demands foreign companies sell assets at discounts of at least 50%.

New pictures show what appears to be a huge fire at energy facilities in Yartsevo, in the Smolensk region, after a drone attack from Ukraine.

This morning, Reuters news agency reported a Ukrainian intelligence source as saying the attack was part of a campaign against Russian military infrastructure (see our 9.20am post).

The attack caused a major fire, the source added.

Pictures obtained by Reuters appears to back up that claim, with the images showing a massive fire in the distance.

Rishi Sunak and his German counterpart Olaf Scholz have agreed to support Ukraine for as long as it takes in the war against Russia, in what the British prime minister described as a dangerous moment in history.

In the past hour, the two leaders held a joint news conference, with Mr Sunak saying Germany and the UK's relationship is stronger than ever.

It comes a day after the prime minister announcedUK defence spending will rise to 2.5% of GDP by 2030 - though he stopped short today of saying NATO's defence spending target should increase to the same proportion.

"The key thing is we're united on wanting to support Ukraine for as long as it takes so that Putin is seeing that his aggression will end in failure," Mr Sunak said this afternoon in Berlin.

Sunak defends defence spending

Our military analyst Michael Clarke says it is "good news" after a "whole series" of "pretty bad news" for Ukraine.

"This is good news because on the basis of the decision the US took on Saturday and then enacted fully last night to create this big, big aid package of $61bn for Ukraine, this is Britain and Germany coming in behind that, making it clear that that doesn't mean the Europeans are going to relax or take their foot off the of the accelerator," he said.

"They are actually adding to the momentum of America's determination now to support Ukraine.

"So, this is all good for Ukraine. However, political statements are one thing, you've still got deliver on them, and Chancellor Scholz is very good at making statements... he hasn't been as good at delivering on them so far.

"And this British summit with him will, in a sense, be designed, at least on our part, to try to stiffen his resolve."

Ukraine has received a new €1.5bn (£1.29bn) package of financial support from the EU, with hopes of another €10bn later this year.

Finance minister Serhiy Marchenko said the EU, which has provided Ukraine with €31bn, has become the biggest donor of budget financing to Ukraine.

Ukraine faces a $37bn (£29.75bn) budget deficit this year and relies heavily on financial aid from its Western partners.

Kyiv uses most of its state revenues to fund defence efforts as its troops fight a larger and better equipped Russian army.

Ukraine's first deputy prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, said the government looked forward to final approval of the EU's Ukraine Facility lending program worth €50bn and hopes for three more tranches this year.

She said following final approval, Kyiv would be able to receive €1.89bn in June and two more instalments worth about €4bn in September and November.

Ukraine will have to implement a number of reforms to unlock the tranches, including measures to improve transparency, fight corruption and bring the country's legislation closer to the EU.

Some pictures have emerged from the scene of a reported Russian missile attack in Kharkiv.

Oleh Synehubov, the region's governor, said six people have been injured, with damage to three residential buildings, two offices, three non-residential buildings and a gas pipeline in the central district.

He added 568 windows and 33 cars were also damaged.

As we reported earlier, NATO is planning a training exercise on Friday in Finland, near the border with Russia - something Moscow has warned risks "possible military incidents" (see our 9.24am post).

The UK will play a part in those drills and is already sending nine British Army Apache helicopters, worth £40m each, to Finland, before despatching them for another exercise in Estonia with more aircraft.

Four Wildcat reconnaissance helicopters and two RAF Chinook support helicopters will just go to Estonia and spend a longer time there.

The training exercise with the Apache attack helicopters in Finland is called Exercise Arrow, while the one in Estonia - with all three types of helicopter - is called Exercise Swift Response.

All the activity comes under the umbrella of Exercise Steadfast Defender 24, which is testing NATO's plans for reinforcing defences in Europe against a "near-peer adversary".

Lieutenant Colonel Dave Lambert described Exercise Steadfast Defender as "the largest NATO exercise since the Cold War".

Some 20,000 British personnel are involved, among 90,000 troops from all 32 members of the alliance.

Rishi Sunak's pledge to put the UK's arms industry on a "war footing" and boost defence spending to 2.5% of GDP may ring hollow for the armed forces.

With Russia waging a full-scale war in Ukraine, it raises the question why he did not make the move sooner and aim higher, given the scale of the threat.

Areturn to 2.5% of GDPspent on defence - while welcome - would simply bring the UK back up to the level it was achieving at the end of the last Labour government.

And this is a promise to act, not a game-changing moment the armed forces will feel anytime soon.

Read the full analysis by oursecurity and defence editor Deborah Hayneshere...

More now on the Russian minister charged with bribery.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitriy Peskov dismissed media speculation around the circ*mstances of Timur Ivanov's arrest, telling reporters to focus on official information.

Asked about a report he was suspected of treason, Mr Peskov said: "There are many different interpretations around all this now.

"You need to focus on official information.

"It is necessary to focus on the information of the investigative authorities and, ultimately, on the court's decision."

Russia will expand its "buffer zone" inside Ukraine if Kyiv receives longer-range missiles from the US, the Kremlin has warned.

Citing two officials, Reuters news agency reports the US is preparing a $1bn (£800m) military aid package from the newly approved Ukraine bill.

We reported earlier this morning weapons could arrive this week (see our 7.27am post).

When asked about the possibility the package would include longer-range ATACM missiles, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia's stance on the subject - that it will be forced to expand what it calls a buffer zone in Ukraine if longer-range missiles are delivered - had not changed.

Russia is set to square off with the US at the UN later today over nuclear weapons in space, with a vote due on a resolution calling on countries to prevent a new arms race.

Some diplomats expect Russia to block the US-drafted resolution, which comes after Washington accused Moscow of developing an anti-satellite nuclear weapon to launch into space.

Russia has denied it has any such plans and Vladimir Putin has said he is against deploying nuclear weapons in space.

The draft textaffirms the obligation of states to comply with the Outer Space Treaty and calls on countries "to contribute actively to the objective of the peaceful use of outer space and of the prevention of an arms race in outer space".

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which was signed by both Russia and the US, forbids countries from placing "in orbit around the Earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction".

It will go to the 15-member UN Security Council, and needs nine states to vote for it without vetoes from Russia, the US, China, UK or France.

Russia and China are planning first to put an amendment to a vote, echoing a 2008 proposal by the pair for a treaty banning "any weapons in outer space" and threats "or use of force against outer space objects".

Deputy Russian UN ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said the text would be "unbalanced, harmful and politicised" without their amendment.

'Serious national security threat'

The head of the US House Intelligence Committee called for Joe Biden to declassify information about "a serious national security threat" in February.

That came amid fears in the US that Russia is developing a space-based nuclear weapon designed to target satellites.

The weapon is not yet operational but it could put the US's vital satellite network in danger, our US partner network NBC News reported.

American satellites transmit billions of bytes of data on an hourly basis, and serve as a crucial backbone for US civilian communications, navigation, military operations and intelligence gathering.