Top story: ‘Putin’s soldiers destroy everything’
Hello, it is Tuesday morning and time for the briefing with me, Warren Murray.
Millions of people are on the move across Ukraine in Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since the second world war. And it is only just beginning, writes Luke Harding from alongside a vast caravan of vehicles waiting to get into Poland, where a million have already arrived. “Putin’s soldiers are killing civilians and shelling cities. They destroy everything. Look at Mariupol,” says Lena, travelling in a three-car family convoy. “We heard the explosions. Seven of them. It was terrible,” she said. The number of Ukrainian refugees granted visas to come to the UK under the new family scheme has risen from about 50 to 300, the government has announced, leading Labour to criticise the “shockingly low” figure.
On the battlefront inside Ukraine it is being reported that a senior Russian officer, Maj Gen Vitaly Gerasimov, chief of staff of the 41st army, has been killed outside Kharkiv, along with other senior officers, in a significant blow to Russian morale. Ukrainian military intelligence released what it said was a conversation between two Russian FSB officers discussing Gerasimov’s death. The investigative agency Bellingcat said the call was intercepted partly because the Russians’ secure communications had failed, forcing them to use normal mobile phones.
Overnight, Moscow has stoked fears of an energy war by threatening to close Nord Stream 1, the major gas pipeline to Germany, after the US pushed its European allies to consider banning Russian oil imports. On Russian state TV, deputy PM Alexander Novak said that since Germany had halted certification of the new Nord Stream 2 joint venture, “we have every right to take a matching decision and impose an embargo on gas pumping through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline”.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has meanwhile made an impassioned address vowing to stay in Ukraine until the war is won. Zelenskiy is due to speak to British MPs by video link today. His government rejected an offer from Moscow to create “humanitarian corridors” for civilians after it emerged that most of the supposedly safe routes led directly to Russia or Belarus. Coverage of Vladimir Putin’s catastrophic war on Ukraine continues at our live blog.
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‘Halt this tax rise’ – Labour will today spring a snap vote on cancelling the increase in national insurance contributions (NICs), warning it will cost the average private sector worker £410 a year. It comes after the Office for Budget Responsibility found that in addition to the NICs rise directly levied on employees, 80% of the equivalent increase in employers’ contributions would be “passed through to workers via lower nominal wages”. There is also growing unease among Tories amid the cost of living crisis: Jacob Rees-Mogg is one of the Conservatives who have called for the rise to be delayed. The shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said: “The Conservatives are trapping us in a high-tax, low-growth cycle. They must get behind Labour’s motion tomorrow and halt this tax rise before it’s too late.”
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‘Economic warfare bill’ – Oligarchs or kleptocrats who try to sell off property in order to avoid it being listed in a new public register may be forced to declare their details upon sale, after ministers promised to toughen up the economic crime bill which was rushed through the Commons on Monday in response to Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. It targets criminals and those – such as Russian oligarchs – who might be seeking to shelter illicitly acquired money, particularly through property purchases. The former cabinet minister David Davis said it was not a “perfectly crafted bill” and was initially designed for a different purpose but had become an “economic warfare bill – a war that liberal democracies cannot afford to lose”.
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Female artists show their faces – The National Portrait Gallery has acquired five self-portraits by female artists as part of a three-year project to enhance its representation of women. The gallery, which is closed for refurbishment, said the works highlighted stories of women who have helped shape British culture. They include the first painted self-portrait by a black female artist in the gallery’s collection.
Everlyn Nicodemus’s Självporträtt, Åkersberga layers multiple faces in recognition of her roles as artist, writer, mother and wife. Rose Finn-Kelcey’s self-portrait, Preparatory Study for “Divided Self”, shows two images of herself engaging in conversation while sitting on a bench at Speaker’s Corner in London’s Hyde Park. Also represented are Chila Kumari Burman, Celia Paul and Susan Hillier. The acquisitions are part of a three-year project in partnership with the Chanel Culture Fund.
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Call for radical police overhaul – Police officers would need to hold and renew a “licence to practice” every five years and be subject to strict conditions under proposals to boost confidence in policing. An independent review chaired by Sir Michael Barber and carried out by the Police Foundation thinktank contains 56 recommendations for radical reform. There should also be national targets to improve the diversity of the police workforce, Barber says, along with the merger of back-office functions across the 43 forces of England and Wales, which Barber argues would save hundreds of millions of pounds. Police chiefs said the report was “thorough and thought-provoking”.
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‘Misguided quixotism’ – Libby Purves, the former Radio 4 presenter, has criticised the BBC for editing out racially insensitive and politically incorrect jokes from archived shows like Dad’s Army, Steptoe and Son and I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again. Purves said in Radio Times that she had “joined the outcry” at the editing, and that while she was sure it was well intentioned there was “no obvious end to such misguided quixotism”.
“Why would a world that anxiously preserves the jejune wall-scrawls of Banksy be so cavalier with its grandparents’ record? It can’t affect us now. It’s actually refreshing to be made to cringe: it shows how far we have come.” Purves has previously railed against wokeism, often called “cancel culture”, one of the many fronts to the so-called culture wars.
Today in Focus podcast: Forced out of Ukraine
A million and a half people have been forced to escape their homes in Ukraine. Annie Kelly and Lorenzo Tondo explain what this growing refugee crisis looks like. Plus, a couple who fled for Hungary share their journey.
Lunchtime read: The gas-powered kingmaker
Oligarch Dmitry Firtash is wanted by the FBI for bribery. Nonetheless, here is how the UK welcomed Putin’s man in Ukraine.
Sport
Frank Lampard blamed individual errors rather than tactical disarray or poor attitude for Everton’s 5-0 thrashing by Tottenham after another miserable away performance from a side that last celebrated a league victory outside Goodison Park in August. Joe Root has admitted his England team have a point to prove in the Caribbean and reiterated his own belief at being the right man to lead in a Test series that could decide his fate as captain.
Eddie Jones has billed Ireland as favourites for Saturday’s Six Nations showdown at Twickenham, pointing to how they are the most “cohesive” team in the world and highlighting how England’s player release agreement differs from their rivals. Nottingham Forest will host Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals after a 2-1 victory over Huddersfield with Sam Surridge and Ryan Yates completing their comeback win. Shane Warne achieved greatness, writes Jonathan Liew, but never pretended to be perfect, and perhaps we all loved him a little bit more because of that. And three Guardian writers have won British Sports Journalism Awards at Monday’s ceremony.
Business
Shares have fallen in Asia-Pacific trading after Wall Street logged its biggest drop in more than a year with markets jolted by another surge in oil prices. Benchmarks declined in Tokyo, Sydney, Hong Kong, Seoul and Shanghai following a 3% tumble for the S&P 500. The FTSE is showing a drop of 100 points, according to futures trading ahead of the open, while the pound is worth $1.312 and €1.207 at time of writing.
The papers
“Kyiv rejects Putin offer to let people flee into Russia” – the Guardian’s front-page lead today. Also on page one: “Cultural ties fray as fear and outrage grip Odesa” – Shaun Walker writes from the city: “Nobody can quite believe that Vladimir Putin would launch an assault on a place bound to Russia by family, literary and cultural ties, a place of almost mythical resonance for many Russians.” “Pull your finger out” – the Metro amplifies calls by the ex-head of the army, Lord Dannatt, to speed up help for Ukrainian refugees (he actually said “extract the digit”, as the body copy reports). The i puts it in less colourful terms: “UK urged to help refugees”.
“Shredded faces chart Putin’s strategy better than any map” – the Times’ splash is accompanied by a photograph of Yelena, 55, one of those maimed in Russian attacks on Kharkiv. “Please help us” – the Mirror features two little boys waiting in Calais for the UK to let them in. Its splash is “McShame”, about “burger giants and others” from the west still trading in Russia. The Telegraph has “Putin sets out his key demands to halt invasion” – they include Ukraine giving up Crimea and two separatist states, and changing its constitution to rule out EU or Nato membership.
“Let it go!” – what the Sun is saying to Putin as it tells the story of a brave little Frozen fan sheltering in a Kyiv bunker. “New dash for gas to break Putin’s grip” – the Mail has the PM’s pledge to suck more out of the North Sea. The Financial Times says “Markets rattled by push for Russian crude ban as refugee crisis mounts”.
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