Healey refuses to clarify how many British troops could be sent to Ukraine
UK defence secretary John Healey has refused to clarify how many British troops could be sent to Ukraine to support peacekeeping operations.
The UK and France committed to deploy forces in the war-town country in the event of a peace deal with Russia, in a joint declaration signed on 6 January.
Mr Healey was asked by shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge to confirm the number of troops pledged by the UK, but said he was “simply not” going to get into the details of the deployment, which he said would only “make Putin wiser”.
Defence Secretary John Healey said the UK was determined to ‘stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies’ to ‘stamp out any resurgence’ of the terrorist movement (PA) (PA Wire)
Alex Croft8 January 2026 11:05
Putin calls Ukraine invasion his ‘holy mission’ in bizarre Christmas addressPutin calls Ukraine invasion his ‘holy mission’ in bizarre Christmas address
Alex Croft8 January 2026 10:38
Ukrainian authorities race to restore power
A race to restore power is underway in Ukraine on Thursday after Russian strikes plunged two southeastern regions into near-total blackout overnight, forcing critical infrastructure to rely on reserves.
Moscow has intensified its attacks on Ukraine’s energy system as Ukrainian forces fend off Russian advances on the battlefield and Kyiv faces U.S. pressure to secure a peace deal.
Ukrainian deputy prime minister Oleksiy Kuleba said repairs were still ongoing to return heat and water supplies to more than 1 million consumers in the industrialised region of Dnipropetrovsk.
The energy ministry said nearly 800,000 consumers in the region remained without electricity early on Thursday but that power had been restored to the other affected region, Zaporizhzhia.
Zaporizhzhia governor Ivan Fedorov said it was the first time in “recent years” that his region had faced a total blackout, but that officials had been quick to respond.
“A difficult night for the region. But ‘light’ always wins,” he wrote on Telegram on Thursday.
Alex Croft8 January 2026 10:10
Putin branded the ‘Anti-Christ’ by church leaders after claiming Ukraine war is ‘holy mission’
Putin called Russian soldiers “warriors” who were acting “as if at the Lord’s behest” in a speech marking Orthodox Christmas on Wednesday.
Despite appearing to position himself as a saviour using messianic messaging, Putin is “more like the Anti-Christ”, according to Father Myroslav Pushkaruk, a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
“Trying to do this with power and violence, which is not about love, not about Christian values is more like the Anti-Christ in the Christian world,” the Rector at the Paris of the Protection of the Holy Mother of God in central London told The Independent.
Alex Croft8 January 2026 09:43
Zelensky seeks Trump meeting as he hails ‘productive’ US work
Volodymyr Zelensky is seeking a meeting with Donald Trump as he hails the White House for its “productive” work.
Kyiv is under US pressure to secure peace but wants security guarantees from allies and is pushing back on Russian demands to cede its eastern Donetsk region and give up control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Speaking to reporters over WhatsApp on Wednesday, Mr Zelensky said he wanted another meeting with Trump soon to gauge his openness to a Ukrainian proposal that Washington ensure security for Kyiv for more than 15 years in the event of a ceasefire.
He also urged Trump to step up pressure on Russia, which has been cool on the US-backed peace push and is pressing on with its massive air attacks on Ukrainian cities and the country’s energy grid.
“The Americans, in my view, are being productive right now; we have good results… They need to put pressure on Russia. They have the tools, and they know how to use them,” Mr Zelensky said.
(Getty Images)
Alex Croft8 January 2026 09:15
MPs to get vote on deploying UK peace-keeping troops to Ukraine – ICYMIMPs to get vote on deploying UK peace-keeping troops to Ukraine
Alex Croft8 January 2026 08:46
Russia fires nearly 100 drones at Ukraine overnight
Russia fired nearly 100 drones at Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force has reported.
“Early reports show that as of 08:00, air defence units had shot down or jammed 70 enemy Shahed and Gerbera loitering munitions as well as drones of other types over the country’s east and south,” it said in a statement, confirming that 97 drones attacked Ukraine.
“Strikes by 27 attack UAVs had been recorded at 13 locations and the fall of downed drones (debris) at one location.”
Alex Croft8 January 2026 08:29
800,000 without power in Dnipropetrovsk after Russian attack
We’ve just received an update from Ukraine’s energy ministry, following a huge overnight attack which has cut off electricity to huge swathes of eastern Ukraine.
The ministry has said that nearly 800,000 consumers were without power in the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region after Russian strikes on energy infrastructure.
In a statement, it added that eight mines in the region had faced blackouts but that workers had been evacuated.
Alex Croft8 January 2026 08:16
In pictures: Ukrainian military carries out exercises in Zaporizhzhia
Russia controls large parts of the Zaporizhzhia region (65th Mechanized Brigade of Ukrai)
Ukrainian military carries out exercises in Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday, which has been the subject of heavy attack in the past day (REUTERS)
The exercises came before the Russian army carried out nearly 700 attacks on Zaporizhzhia in just one day, according to the region’s military administration (REUTERS)
Alex Croft8 January 2026 07:52
At least three killed and two injured in attack on Ukraine’s southern regions
At least three people have been killed in Russian attacks on the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, Ukrainian authorities have said.
Seven were also injured in the attacks, which came during a large overnight air attack. The Zaporizhzhia military administration said Russia had conducted 698 attacks against 30 settlements over the past day, including 11 air strikes and 412 drone attacks of various types.
Russian forces targeted critical and social infrastructure alongside residential areas, they said according to Ukrainska Pravda.
Alex Croft8 January 2026 07:38