British-made Storm Shadow missiles have been fired into Russian territory by Ukraine for the first time, a source has told Sky News. Listen to the latest Daily podcast as you scroll.
Wednesday 20 November 2024 22:01, UK
We reported earlier that the US embassy in Kyiv would reopen tomorrow and operate as normal (see post at 6.37pm).
This is after it was closed today after receiving what it said was “specific information of a potential significant air attack”.
US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget A. Brink, has now said US citizens must “remain vigilant” and “monitor official Ukrainian sources for updates”.
She also said people should “prepare to shelter in place if an air alert is announced”.
If you’re just checking in, here is a roundup of the key developments that have taken place so far today.
Ukraine fired British Storm Shadow missiles into Russia
British-made Storm Shadow missiles were fired into Russian territory by Ukraine for the first time, a source told Sky News.
Earlier this week, news broke that the US would allow Ukraine to fire long-range ATACMS missiles against Russia.
The UK government then faced questions over whether it would do the same, and Sir Keir Starmer dodged queries on the matter during a G20 summit.
A spokesperson for the prime minister said his office would not be commenting on reports or operational matters.
Nor has Ukraine confirmed the use of the Storm Shadow missiles in Russia, but their deployment has been widely reported.
Biden approves provision of anti-personnel mines
Joe Biden approved the use of American anti-personnel landmines in Ukraine, a US official told Reuters.
The move could help slow Russian advances in the east of the country or help Ukraine defend the territory it has occupied in Kursk.
According to reports, the US expects Ukraine to use the mines in its own territory and it has committed not to use them in areas populated by civilians.
US closed Kyiv embassy after warning of ‘significant air attack’
This morning, the US temporarily closed its embassy in Kyiv after receiving what it said was “specific information of a potential significant air attack on November 20”.
Later in the evening, the state department said the embassy would reopen tomorrow and operate as normal.
Netherlands delivers last F-16 fighter jets
The Netherlands handed the final two of 18 promised F-16 fighter jets to a training facility in Romania, where Ukrainian pilots and ground staff are being taught to fly.
The Netherlands has been one of the driving forces behind an international coalition to supply Ukraine with F-16s to strengthen its air defence against the Russian invasion.
Hundreds of people in Belarus who have shown solidarity with Ukraine have been arrested in a sweeping crackdown under President Alexander Lukashenko, a report shows.
At least 1,671 Belarusians have been detained for their anti-war stance or for expressing solidarity with Ukraine, and at least 200 of them have been given prison sentences ranging from one to 25 years during the war, according to a report by the Viasna human rights centre.
In addition to the arrests, convictions and prison sentences, the report alleges that people have been tortured, held in inhumane conditions and given fines, with some subjected to forced psychiatric treatment.
For context: Belarus shares a 670-mile border with Ukraine, and the two countries have longstanding cultural and historic ties.
Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for more than 30 years, has relied on Moscow’s subsidies and support and is a close ally of Vladimir Putin.
He allowed the Kremlin to use his country’s territory to invade Ukraine in February 2022, as well as to deploy some of Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
Belarusian authorities have intensified their crackdown on dissent ahead of a presidential election in January, in which Lukashenko is seeking a seventh term.
Joe Biden is trying to get as much weaponry into Ukraine before Donald Trump returns to the White House, our US correspondent Mark Stone says.
“I think it is Trump-proofing to a certain extent – getting in as much as possible to help Ukraine before Trump finds, as he says, peace in a day,” he says.
“Everyone wants peace but the concern is what that peace looks like and whether Ukraine manages to regain territory taken from it by Russia.
“The Biden administration is trying to get as much weaponry into Ukraine now so that it can be in as strong a position as possible when the time comes for negotiation.”
Even though they won’t admit it in this current administration, “they too believe that at some point the two sides will need to sit down”, Stone notes.
“But they need Ukraine to be in a strong position.”
The risks are too great for Vladimir Putin to start a nuclear war, former defence minister Tobias Ellwood has told Sky News this evening.
Mr Ellwood said there had been a “lack of commitment” from the West to give the Ukrainians the weapons they need since the war began in 2022.
“Hesitance and delay has given the space for Russia to rearm and regroup,” he said.
“Finally we are doing this but it is very late in the day, possibly too late. I hope Germany will follow suit.”
Asked about Putin’s threats to escalate the war if Ukraine attacks Russia with Western-supplied long-range missiles, he noted it was something to be “concerned” about but also added that any escalation would put the Russian leader in a difficult place.
“Were Putin to use a nuclear weapon he would immediately alienate his two biggest security allies – India and China,” he said.
“They would distance themselves and that would affect his economy. It would also go down badly in Russia.
“There would also be retaliation by the West, particularly the US and UK.
“I have no doubt that every F-35 would then be launched to take out Russian assets in Ukraine. The consequences would be huge.
“Would Putin be willing to risk all that? I don’t think so at all.”
The Kremlin is attempting to apply “pressure” with increased strikes so “Western allies and Ukraine blink first”, a Ukrainian MP has told Sky News.
Yevheniya Kravchuk said the pressure on Kyiv “will be enormous in the coming months”, both on the battlefield but also for civilians as Russia ramps up its attacks.
“The Kremlin understands that they need to apply this pressure so that Western allies and Ukraine will blink first and fall into this emotional drain,” she said.
“But I would say we are under much better conditions right now – we produce our own weapons, we have a lot of weapons from allies and it’s not as gloomy as it was on the first day of the full scale invasion.”
Asked if Ukraine would accept a deal that involved the loss of the territory in Russian hands, she said: “I can just repeat the words of Volodymyr Zelenskyy – we understand not all Ukrainian territories that are occupied can be returned from a military point of view.
“We do not want to send our best people to fight for every inch.
“But it can be returned in a diplomatic way – if not now, then later.
“It’s one country that attacked another sovereign country and if we decide it’s okay for another country to take the land then we will have problems in other corners of the world.”
The US embassy in Kyiv will reopen tomorrow and operate as normal, the state department has said.
The embassy closed this morning after information about a “significant air attack” on Kyiv came to light (see post at 5.47am).
The decision to close came days after the Biden administration announced it would allow US-made long-range weapons to be fired into Russia.
The Italian, Spanish and Greek embassies also closed.
If there has been escalation in the war over the past couple of weeks it is from Russia, chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay says.
While Moscow may view Ukraine’s use of UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles as escalatory, Ramsay says, it only brings Kyiv to more of a level playing field.
“The Ukrainians have been after this for a very long time. They want to be able to attack bases where drones and missiles from Russia are launched from,” he says.
This includes military bases and supply routes.
While Russia may be talking about escalation, he says, “they are able to hit any city in Ukraine at any given time and have been doing so since the war started”.
“The escalatory rhetoric from Russia will continue but I have to say over the last couple of weeks if there has been escalation it is from Russia,” he adds.
“They have carried out big drone and missile attacks.
“It has been escalating and it was perhaps inevitable that this permission was going to be given first by Joe Biden and now apparently by the British government.
“It was inevitable.”
Investigations have been launched into the destruction of two fibre-optic communications cables earlier this week: one linking Finland and Germany and the other connecting Sweden and Lithuania.
Some fingers were quickly pointed at Russia, with Western nations expressing concerns about “hybrid warfare”.
Here, OSINT editor Adam Parker takes a look at the incidents’ possible links to China…
The Danish military says it is staying close to a Chinese ship in the country’s waters amid an investigation into damage caused to underwater cables in the Baltic Sea.
Sky News’ Data & Forensics unit has analysed marine tracking data that shows the Chinese ship Yi Peng 3 left the Russian port of Ust-Luga on 15 November. It passed close to both internet cables around the time each was damaged on Sunday and Monday.
The Danish navy has been following the Chinese-flagged carrier since Monday evening using at least five different patrol ships as it travelled through Denmark’s waters, according to data from MarineTraffic.
The Yi Peng 3 has now stopped in the Kattegat Sea area and is currently at anchor with a Danish navy ship anchored close by.
The Danish Armed Forces told Sky News they are “present in the area near the Chinese ship Yi Peng 3”.
Sweden is “taking a hard look” at vessel Yi Peng 3 and the role it might have played, a source familiar with the investigation told the Financial Times.
Read on here…
Millions interned in camps? Assassinations? Political imprisonments? That is what America’s leading liberal commentator Rachel Maddow – and The World podcast’s first guest – says could happen during Trump’s next stint in the White House.
Richard and Yalda also bring listeners up to date with the conflict in Ukraine and the latest developments in the Middle East, as both are just back from the region.
Click here to watch the full episode on YouTube.
To get in touch or to share questions for Engel and Hakim, email theworld@sky.uk.
Episodes of The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim are available every Wednesday on all podcast platforms.
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