All of Ukraine 'will burn' warns Russia
Former Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said all of Ukraine 'will burn' after the West pledged to supply Kyiv with more sophisticated weapons.
The US announced on Friday it would be providing Ukraine with a $2.2 million (£1.8 million) aid package that includes rockets that would double its strike range.
The Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb would allow Ukraine's military to hit targets at twice the distance than that of the Himars rockets it currently possesses.
The implication is that Ukraine would be able to carry out deeper attacks inside Russian-held territory such as Crimea.
In an interview with the Kremlin-aligned RBC news outlet, Mr Medvedev said any further strikes would force Moscow to retaliate.
"There will be no negotiations in this case, only retaliatory strikes. The whole of Ukraine remaining under Kyiv's rule will burn,” he said while raising the spectre of nuclear strikes.
“Our response may be anything. The president of Russia made this quite clear. We do not set ourselves any limits and, depending on the nature of the threats, we are ready to use all types of weapons. In accordance with our doctrinal documents, including the Fundamentals of State Policy on Nuclear Deterrence."
His comments came on the day of another suspected brazen attack by Ukraine in Russian territory on an oil depot and factory that was being used in the reconstruction of the damaged Kerch bridge in Crimea. Russia has blamed Ukraine for the attack, which caused a huge fire, though it is not clear how it will respond.
05:52 PM
Today's top stories
That's it for today. We will be back with another live blog tomorrow.
Here's a rundown of the day's events:
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he discussed the "further expansion of capabilities" of Ukraine's military in a call with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Saturday
A major factory in Russia reported to be involved in rebuilding the Crimea bridge went up in flames in the early hours on Saturday following a suspected stealth Ukrainian missile strike across the border
The bodies of two Britons killed while trying to help people evacuate from fierce fighting in Ukraine have been recovered in a prisoner swap, Kyiv officials said on Saturday
An American medic has reportedly been killed in Ukraine while helping to evacuate civilians
A serious accident at a high-voltage substation in Ukraine's Odesa region has caused emergency power outages in the regional capital
Attorney General Merrick Garland said that he had authorised the United States to begin using seized Russian money to aid Ukraine, according to US media
05:39 PM
Sunak discusses expanding Ukraine army with Zelensky
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he discussed the "further expansion of capabilities" of Ukraine's military in a call with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Saturday.
“The leaders discussed the latest situation on the ground in Ukraine and the Prime Minister said he was focussed on ensuring the UK’s defensive military equipment reached the front line as quickly as possible," said a spokeswoman for Downing Street.
The call comes as Western nations cave into Ukrainian pressure to send heavy weapons and equipment they had previously said no to, with a major pledge of tanks.
Last week Ukrainian crews arrived to train on British Challenger 2 tanks.
"The Prime Minister said he had met Ukrainian troops training in the UK last week, and was inspired by their courage and the stories of their loved ones back home. He added that they had paid tribute to President Zelensky’s strong leadership," said the spokeswoman.
04:59 PM
In pictures: The latest scenes from the war
04:50 PM
Funeral held for Belarusian activist killed in Ukraine
A funeral for a Belarusian military volunteer and activist who died fighting on the frontlines in eastern Ukraine was held in Kyiv on Saturday.
Eduard Lobov was killed in fierce artillery battles in Vuhledar against Russian troops as part of a small but dynamic regiment of Belarusian dissidents fighting alongside the Ukrainian armed forces. His body will be taken to Warsaw for burial.
Russian troops have ramped up attacks in the east of Ukraine, particularly in the industrial towns of Bakhmut and Vuhledar. Moscow has said its main goal is to capture the eastern Donetsk province which it considers a part of Russia.
04:35 PM
500,000 households in Ukraine's Odesa without power
An accident at a electrical substation, already damaged by Russian strikes, has left half a million households without power in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa, authorities said on Saturday.
"The situation is complex, the scale of the accident is significant," Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said on messaging app Telegram. He added that the substation had been "repeatedly" damaged as a result of Russian strikes.
Odesa region governor Maksym Marchenko described the accident as "serious," adding that the energy minister and the head of state-run electricity grid operator Ukrenergo had been sent to the city.
04:11 PM
Russia has reportedly freed 116 Ukrainian prisoners
They are ours...
Ukraine returned 116 Ukrainians from Russian captivity.
Mariupol defenders, Kherson partisans and snipers from the Bakhmut direction. pic.twitter.com/3pd7IYQiK0— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) February 4, 2023
03:55 PM
Life on the front line: ‘I called Ukrainian soldiers fascists before they saved my life,’ says Russian POW
Igor Mikhailovich Trofimenko was buried in a bunker and left to freeze before Ukrainian soldiers rescued him, writes Valerie Browne
A soldier fighting for Russia under the Luhansk People's Republic found himself buried in a bunker and left to freeze to death by his Russian comrades amid fierce fighting on the front line.
After spending two-and-a-half gruelling days trapped underground, Ukrainian soldiers rescued Igor Mikhailovich Trofimenko, 49, and carried him away from the constant shelling.
"Those people [Ukrainian soldiers] we called fascists. They just dug me out at their own risk... Knowing full well they wouldn’t receive anything in return," he told Vans Without Borders (VWB).
VWB is a British humanitarian group which delivers essential food and medical supplies to civilians living near the Ukrainian front line.
03:37 PM
WHO report on Ukraine health emergency sparks US, Russia row
The United States and Russia faced off on Saturday over a World Health Organization report on the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, with Moscow saying it was politically motivated and Washington calling for it to be swiftly updated.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus's report was presented to the organisation's executive board, on which both Russia and the United States sit.
It covered events in the first nine months of 2022 and classed the situation in Ukraine as one of eight acute global health emergencies.
03:12 PM
Ukraine 'hits Russian factory making parts for Crimea bridge'
A major factory in Russia reported to be involved in rebuilding the Crimea bridge went up in flames in the early hours on Saturday following a suspected stealth Ukrainian missile strike across the border.
Local media reported that the plant in the Borisovsky district produces spare parts for bridges and was expected to help reconstruct the Kerch Strait Bridge, which was severely damaged in a Ukrainian attack last summer.
Videos posted by local residents on social media showed a blaze rising over the plant on the horizon that was visible from a few kilometres away and lit up the pre-dawn sky.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, said in a statement early on Saturday the fire caused by a Ukrainian strike had been contained and that firefighters were “doing their best to minimise the damage”.
02:51 PM
Bodies of two UK aid workers killed in Ukraine recovered
The bodies of two Britons killed while trying to help people evacuate from fierce fighting in Ukraine have been recovered in a prisoner swap, Kyiv officials said on Saturday.
Chris Parry, 28, and Andrew Bagshaw, 47, were undertaking voluntary work in Soledar, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, when their vehicle was reportedly hit by a shell.
The two were returned to Ukraine authorities as part of a wider exchange, in which Kyiv got 116 prisoners and Russia 63.
02:38 PM
American medic killed in Ukraine
An American medic has reportedly been killed in Ukraine while helping to evacuate civilians.
Pete Reed, a former marine, had been in the country just weeks when his vehicle was reportedly hit by a missile in Bakhmut on Thursday.
According to the Kyiv Independent, two other cars were also hit. It's not clear how many others were killed, but the newspaper said five in total were injured.
Reed joined Global Outreach Outdoors about month ago as its Ukrainian director. He was a former US Marine Corps rifleman and served for two deployments to Helmand Afghanistan.
02:03 PM
Cult Soviet-nostalgia band Russkaja breaks up over safety fears
Cult Austrian ska-punk band Russkaja, surfing Soviet nostalgia in Vienna for two decades, announced its break-up on Saturday over safety fears following the Ukraine war.
Russkaja includes six men and one woman and started in Vienna 18 years ago. The band enjoyed great success in the United States with its blend of "Russian Turbo Polka Metal".
"Presented as pro-Russian despite our condemnation" of the invasion of Ukraine, "our group Russkaja has become a daily target on the Internet", the seven-member band, which includes a Russian and Ukrainian, said on Facebook.
01:33 PM
Watch: A Russian TV presenter holds up North Korea as a beacon of 'independence'
Last night on Solovyov Live, presenter Sergei Mardan held North Korea up as a beacon of "independence" to which Russia could aspire, and even claimed that this was what most Russians wanted for their country
The "special military operation" must be going well! pic.twitter.com/8TySiF6lPG— Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) February 4, 2023
01:28 PM
Talks on Ukraine's membership could start this year, says Zelensky
President Volodymyr Zelensky says "it is possible" that talks on Ukraines' EU membership could start this year.
Russia has long opposed closer links between Ukraine and Western groupings like the European Union and Nato, but the bloc is where Ukraine sees its future.
Mr Zelensky made the comments following the first EU-Ukraine summit in Kyiv. He noted that the EU also formally endorsed his 10-point peace plan, marking a shift away from the more cautious approach the EU had previously adopted.
The plan includes ensuring food security, including protecting and ensuring Ukraine’s grain exports to the world’s poorest nations, and restoring security around Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia
01:00 PM
Major accident causes power outages in Ukraine's Odesa
A serious accident at a high-voltage substation in Ukraine's Odesa region has caused emergency power outages in the regional capital.
"The situation is difficult, the scale of the accident is significant, it is impossible to quickly restore power supply, in particular to critical infrastructure," said Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on Saturday.
He said the substation had previously been damaged multiple times by Russian missile strikes.
12:34 PM
Ukraine is suspected of striking an oil depot and factory in Belgorod, Russia
The Ukrainian Army has struck a giant oil depot near Belgorod, Russia.
A nearby metal factory providing material for the reconstruction of the Crimean Bridge has also caught on fire.
The fire is only growing larger and larger. pic.twitter.com/0RSvaPnmOO— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) February 4, 2023
12:19 PM
Supply chains still flow to Moscow despite Western bans
The United States warned Turkey in recent days about the export to Russia of chemicals, microchips and other products that can be used in Moscow's war effort in Ukraine, and it could move to punish Turkish companies or banks contravening sanctions.
Brian Nelson, the US Treasury Department's top sanctions official, visited Turkish government and private sector officials on Thursday and Friday to urge more cooperation in disrupting the flow of such goods.
In a speech to bankers, Mr Nelson said a marked year-long rise in exports to Russia leaves Turkish entities "particularly vulnerable to reputational and sanctions risks", or lost access to G7 markets.
12:19 PM
US gives Ukraine missiles that double strike range
The United States on Friday announced a new $2.2-billion package (£1.83 billion) of arms and munitions, which the Pentagon said included a new rocket-propelled precision bomb that could nearly double Kyiv's strike range against Russian forces.
The ground-launched small-diameter bombs (GLSDB), which can fly up to 150 kilometres (93 miles), could threaten key Russian supply lines, arms depots and air bases far behind the front lines.
They potentially give Kyiv's forces the ability to strike anywhere in the Russian-occupied Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, as well as the northern part of occupied Crimea.
The GLSDB, which can fly up to 150 kilometres (93 miles), could threaten key Russian supply lines, arms depots and air bases far behind the front lines.
11:31 AM
460 children killed and 919 injured in the war so far
11:18 AM
US deliberately escalating conflict, says Russian Ambassador to US
The Russian Ambassador to the US said Washington is deliberately escalating the conflict in Ukraine by supplying Kyiv with increasingly powerful weapons, Tass news reported.
Anatoly Antonov said that following the US's announcement of a $2.2-billion package (£1.8 billion) to Ukraine "Washington sees no boundaries in seeking to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia."
"The transfer of increasingly powerful weapons to the Kiev regime is a deliberate escalation of the conflict by the United States," Mr Antonov said.
10:56 AM
Pictured: Ukrainian soldiers ride atop of a tank during drill at the border with Belarus
10:44 AM
Russian integrates occupied areas into Southern military district - latest from the Ministry of Defence
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 4 February 2023
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/D1lp6byKW9
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/uDVxOU8WiG— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) February 4, 2023
10:36 AM
Exclusive: German football coach unmasked as 'Russian double agent'
The Telegraph can reveal the identity of the man at the heart of the biggest intelligence scandal to rock Europe in decades, writes Jorg Luyken
The alleged Russian spy at the centre of the biggest European intelligence scandal in decades can today be identified as volunteer football coach Carsten Linke.
The Telegraph can reveal that Mr Linke, a 52-year-old father of two, is the alleged double agent in Germany’s foreign intelligence service (BND) arrested for treason last December.
Mr Linke was a rising star of the BND, where he oversaw units tasked with spying on foreign communications and internal security.
He is suspected of passing on top-secret intelligence to Moscow, some of which is believed to be related to Ukraine, according to Der Spiegel newspaper.
10:28 AM
Dozens of soldiers freed in Russia-Ukraine prisoner swap
Dozens of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war have returned home following a prisoner swap, officials on both sides said Saturday.
Top Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak said in a Telegram post that 116 Ukrainians were freed.
He said the released POWs include troops who held out in Mariupol during Moscow's monthslong siege that reduced the southern port city to ruins, as well as guerrilla fighters from the Kherson region and snipers captured during the ongoing fierce battles for the eastern city of Bakhmut.
10:15 AM
Portugal to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine
Portugal will send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Saturday, without specifying how many will be shipped.
Mr Costa added that Portugal is in talks with Germany to obtain parts needed for the repair of a number of inoperable Leopard tanks in Portugal's inventory of the weapon.
"We are currently working to be able to dispense some of our tanks," Mr Costa told the Lusa news agency during a trip to the Central African Republic. "I know how many tanks will be [sent to Ukraine] but that will be announced at the appropriate time."
09:59 AM
Russia's Medvedev says more US weapons supplies mean 'all of Ukraine will burn'
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said the supply of more advanced US weaponry to Ukraine will only trigger more retaliatory strikes from Russia, up to the extent of Russia's nuclear doctrine.
"All of Ukraine that remains under Kyiv's rule will burn," journalist Nadana Fridrikhson quoted him as saying.
Fridrikhson asked Medvedev, who as deputy chairman of the Security Council has become one of Russia's most hawkish pro-war figures since its invasion of Ukraine, whether the use of longer-range weapons might force Russia to negotiate with Kyiv.
09:57 AM
Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs: How they work
09:33 AM
'US allows seized Russian money to go to Ukraine aid'
Attorney General Merrick Garland said that he had authorised the United States to begin using seized Russian money to aid Ukraine, according to US media.
The announcement came during a meeting between Garland and Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin in Washington, nearly one year after Moscow's invasion of its former Soviet neighbor.
"Today, I am announcing that I have authorized the first-ever transfer of forfeited Russian assets for use in Ukraine," Mr Garland said, according to CNN.
