Russia-Ukraine war latest: Putin will be defeated this year, says Zelensky on the anniversary

Ukrainepp President vowed to push for victory in 2023 as he and other Ukrainians on Friday marked the somber first anniversary of the Russian invasion that changed their lives.

As dawn broke on a day of commemoration and defiance, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted that Ukrainians had proved “invincible” in what he called “a year of pain, sorrow, faith and unity.”

“We know that 2023 will be the year of our victory!” said the tweet.

Ben Wallace, Britain’s defense secretary, said Britain will not send Typhoon jets to Ukraine in the short term.

Ukraine’s president attends a service in Kiev to honor those who have given their lives fighting for Ukraine.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said the idea that China could supply weapons to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would not help resolve the conflict, an outcome he was sure China wanted.

“It cannot help peace if China is effectively supplying the one nation that has violated international law on Ukraine’s sovereignty and caused war crimes,” Wallace told Sky News on Friday when asked about reports that China could supply arms to Russia.

“But I’m also convinced that China is quite clear that it wants this (war) to end,” he added.

In the eastern region of Luhansk, Kim Sengupta speaking to soldiers who have spent a year under intense fire fighting Russians for every inch of ground as they fight for a nation’s survival:

There is a roar of noise far away, echoing through the falling snowflakes. It fades away, leaving a moment of stillness across the frozen fields, and then the shells land—flames and ice, orange and white, bursting from the ground.

The attacks against the Ukrainian positions have started again front line in the eastern region of Luhansk, where Russian forces have made little progress. These are battles of attrition, as both sides in the conflict try to break out of a major and bloody stalemate.

Watch a live view of Independence Square in Kiev on the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

As the conflict enters its second year, there is no end in sight, with a UN vote calling for Russia to withdraw its troops and global leaders, and calling for more aid to be sent to Ukrainian troops and more sanctions against Moscow.

Memorials, candlelight vigils and other remembrances for the tens of thousands of people who have died are planned for today as the fighting continues.

Britain has imposed an export ban on any equipment found to be used by Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has announced.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said the internationally coordinated sanctions package includes aircraft parts, radio equipment and electronic components that could be used by the Russian military industrial complex.

Britain is also sanctioning senior executives at the Russian state-owned nuclear power company Rosatom, as well as executives at Russia’s two largest defense companies and four banks.

Mr Cleverly said: “Ukrainians are turning the tables on Russia but they cannot do it alone. That is why we must do more to help Ukraine win.”

“Today we sanction the elites who run Putin’s key industries and commit to banning the export to Russia of any items Russia has found used on the battlefield.”

The Russian group Wagner mercenaries has taken full control of the Ukrainian village of Berkhivka, a village on the outskirts of Bakhmut, Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Friday.

“Berkhivka is completely under our control. Units of the Wagner Private Military Company have full control over Berkhivka,” he said in a post on social media.

Berkhivka is about 3 km (1.9 miles) northwest of the suburbs of Bakhmut, a front-line town that has seen intense fighting.

Britain marked the one-year anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine by issuing more sanctions against Russia, including an export ban on any items it has used on the battlefield.

The State Department said Friday that the internationally coordinated sanctions and trade measures will target aircraft parts, radio equipment and electronic components. It will also target more managers, including those at the Rosatom nuclear power plant and defense groups.

More than 100,000 Ukrainian civilians are believed to have been killed in the year since Russia launched its brutal invasion – more than 10 times the current official death toll – according to the country’s top war crimes prosecutor.

The horrific tally illustrates the extent of the devastation in the country, which has been fighting a relentless onslaught by Vladimir Putin’s forces since their invasion on February 24 last year.

To talk to The independentprosecutor Yuriy Belousov revealed his fear of the human cost to the civilian population.