If "Ukraine falls" then Moldova is "the next country in line", Germany's foreign minister has warned. Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he spent yesterday discussing the "Ukrainian Victory Plan" and added it is "90% ready".
Tuesday 17 September 2024 15:20, UK
That's it for our live updates today. We'll be back soon with more updates on the Ukraine war.
Volunteers have been pictured evacuating civilians from the town of Kurakhove in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
Russia is thought to have the objective of capturing the whole of the Donetsk region.
Russian casualties now more than 610,000, MoD saysRussia is likely to have suffered more than 610,000 casualties since the war in Ukraine began - both killed and wounded - the UK's Ministry of Defence has said.
Tactics based on "mass infantry waves" have required Moscow to "continuously replenish frontline forces with a constant stream of new recruits", the MoD added.
It is likely that recruitment rates this year have declined compared to 2023, the MoD said in its latest intelligence update.
That has led Russia to "increase sign-on bonuses in August 2024".
The MoD added: "Estimates suggest military personnel payments amounted to around 8% of federal spending in the year to June 2024."
West in competition to 'spank' RT, media network tells Sky NewsAs we have been reporting, Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has said it is banning Russian state media networks from its platforms.
It claims they have used deceptive tactics to carry out covert influencing operations online.
Sky News asked RT for a response and got an interesting reply.
The RT press office wrote: "It's cute how there's a competition in the West [over] who can try to spank RT the hardest, in order to make themselves look better."
The email went on: "Meta/Facebook already blocked RT in Europe two years ago [and] now they're censoring information flow to the rest of the world.
"Don't worry - where they close a door, and then a window, our 'partisans' (or in your parlance, guerrilla fighters) will find the cracks to crawl through - as by your own admission we are apt at doing.
"RT Press Office"
Moldova 'next in line', Germany warnsIf "Ukraine falls" then Moldova is "the next country in line", Germany's foreign minister has warned.
Annalena Baerbock has been discussing the security situation with various counterparts at a conference in the Moldovan capital of Chisinau.
"Everything that we do to support Ukraine also means fostering stabilisation with regards to Moldova," Ms Baerbock said.
"It is clear what the greatest concern of the people here is: that if Ukraine falls, Moldova is the next country in line."
Maia Sandu, the president of Moldova, said the war in Ukraine has caused severe financial damage.
"Russia's war against Ukraine, which we condemned from the very first day, has caused enormous damage to our economy," Ms Sandu said.
"The uncertainty caused by the war continues to seriously hinder our economic development and will continue to hinder it as long as the war lasts."
Russian army to become 'second largest in world'Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian army to expand by 180,000 troops, the Kremlin has said.
That will mean it comprises 1.5 million active servicemen, becoming second in size only to the Chinese army.
Such an increase would also mean Russia overtaking the United States and India, according to data from a military think tank, the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
"This is due to the number of threats that exist to our country along the perimeter of our borders," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"It is caused by the extremely hostile environment on our western borders and instability on our eastern borders.
"This demands appropriate measures to be taken."
It is the third time Vladimir Putin has expanded the Russian army since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Zelenskyy preparing to present 'Ukrainian Victory Plan' to alliesVolodymyr Zelenskyy has said he spent yesterday discussing the "Ukrainian Victory Plan".
There are several points to it, the Ukrainian president added: military, political, diplomatic, and economic.
Various "necessary steps" have been "clearly defined" and will give Kyiv the "strongest possible positions to bring about peace—a real and just peace", Mr Zelenskyy said on X.
Sounding confident, he continued: "There is nothing impossible in this plan. Over 90% of it is already laid out."
He concluded: "Next week, we will present our Victory Plan to our allies. I am grateful to everyone in the world who stands with Ukraine and helps us defend life."
Missile restrictions must be lifted, Estonian president saysUkraine must be allowed to fire Western missiles without restrictions, the president of Estonia has said.
Alar Karis also said "all red lines" need to be crossed and Russia must be forced out of Ukraine.
Peace can only be achieved on Ukrainian terms, he told the Kyiv Independent.
Mr Karis, whose country borders Russia, said: "We are in a very simple position: we should lift the restrictions on the use of weapons that Ukraine gets from the Western world so we can target drones where they start [on Russian territory].
"When this happens, the drones never reach Ukraine, Latvia, or any other country."
Whether to allow Ukraine to fire long-range Western missiles into Russia has been high on the international agenda recently.
Sir Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister, was expected to discuss such a move when he met Joe Biden at the White House on Friday.
The meeting ended without any pledge being made.
Ukraine has long argued it should be allowed to use weapons that can strike deep inside Russian territory.
Kremlin says Meta 'discrediting itself' by banning Russian state mediaThe Kremlin has said that Facebook owner Meta is "discrediting itself" by banning some Russian state media networks from its platforms.
"Such selective actions against Russian media are unacceptable," said spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
"This complicates prospects for normalising our relations with Meta."
As we reported earlier (8.50am post) Meta claims the networks have used deceptive tactics to carry out covert influencing operations online.
Moscow described Meta as an "extremist" organisation in 2022 and blocked Instagram and Facebook.
It was objecting to changes in Meta's hate speech policy, intended to allow users to express anger over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Jailed anti-war journalist starts hunger strikeMaria Ponomarenko, a journalist from Siberia who was jailed after criticising the Russian bombing of a Ukrainian city, has started a hunger strike, her publication has said.
The 46-year-old was detained less than two months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in 2022 - after accusing the Russian air force of bombing a theatre in Mariupol.
Last February, she was found guilty of spreading false information about the Russian military by a court in her hometown of Barnaul in western Siberia.
Ms Ponomarenko is one of four journalists from online outlet RusNews - which publishes only in Russian and has little audience abroad - who are behind bars.
RusNews said Ms Ponomarenko had declared a hunger strike but declined to comment further.
Yulia Galyamina, a former Moscow city councillor, said Ms Ponomarenko had been placed in an isolation cell after prison officials allegedly falsified inspection reports against her.
That prompted her to declare a hunger strike at a court hearing on Monday.
"Masha is in a very bad condition," Ms Galyamina said, using an affectionate form of her first name.
"She cried a lot [in court] due to a feeling of powerlessness."
More than 20,000 people have been arrested across Russia for speaking out against the war, according to rights monitor OVD-Info.
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