Summary
A battlefield video circulated overnight on social media appeared to show the destruction of a British Challenger 2 in Ukraine, which would be the first time one of the tanks has been destroyed in combat.
More than 900 people were killed or injured by cluster munitions in Ukraine last year amid broad Russian use of the widely banned weapons, propelling global casualty figures to record levels, according to the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC).
The Kremlin refused to confirm a possible summit between Russian president Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which US officials have said they expect.
Ukrainian lawmakers voted to restore a requirement that officials declare their assets, a measure sought by the International Monetary Fund, but included a loophole critics say dampens its effect.
Russia‘s pipeline natural gas exports to the EU may fall to 21 billion cubic metres (bcm) this year, almost two-thirds lower than last year and a more than a six-fold drop from 2021, Russian state bank Veb said in a forecast.
Cuba identified an alleged human trafficking ring aimed at recruiting its citizens to fight in Russia’s war in Ukraine, its foreign ministry has said. It was working to dismantle a “trafficking network that operates from Russia to incorporate Cuban citizens living there.”
Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, spoke of the intense toll of the war on her family as her husband, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has emerged as a “historical figure” during the 18 months of conflict so far.
A UK defence ministry source has said the destruction of a British Challenger 2 tank highlights “the quality of the kit we are giving Ukraine”.
The last time one of the heavily-armoured battle vehicles had been destroyed is thought to have been during friendly fire in Iraq in 2003, but this is understood to be the first time a Challenger 2 has been disabled by enemy action.
Footage being widely shared on social media shows one of the 14 tanks that the UK gave to Kyiv in January at the side of a road with billowing thick grey smoke and fire emerging from it. It is unclear how the tank was destroyed but it is understood that the Ukrainian crew in the tank survived the attack.
The footage appears to have been filmed from a car containing Ukrainian armed forces personnel who were looking to flee the fighting.
A defence source told PA:
This highlights the quality of the kit we are giving Ukraine. In the tanks Ukraine had at its disposal before Western support, the chances of the crew surviving unscathed were slim to zero.
Defence sources added that the war in Ukraine was the first time the Challenger 2 was being tested against modern military equipment.
