World

Draft-aged Russians have apparently begun to flee the country as it enters is biggest conscription drive since the Second World War – with plane ticket prices soaring above $5,000 (£4,443) and border crossings increasing. Vladimir Putin launched a new mobilisation campaign on Wednesday for the seven-month-old war in Ukraine that has already decimated cities, killed

The foreign secretary has called on countries to reject the “charade” of referenda to be held in Russian-controlled regions in eastern and southern Ukraine. Speaking at the United Nations Security Council, James Cleverly said Vladimir Putin plans to fix the results of votes on becoming parts of Russia. It comes as a prosecutor at the

Five Britons released from Russian detention in Ukraine after a prisoner swap have arrived back “safely” in the UK. One of the men, Shaun Pinner, has been pictured with his family after they were reunited. “If you thought COVID highlighted the importance of family, this is even bigger,” his sister, Cassandra, told Sky News. Aiden

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has demanded “just punishment” for Russia’s crime against his nation. Addressing the United Nations General Assembly by video, Mr Zelenskyy laid out a five-point plan to establish peace in the seven-month-long conflict. The non-negotiable conditions included punishment for Russian aggression, restoration of Ukraine’s security, and territorial integrity and security guarantees. Speaking

President Putin has accused the West of engaging in “nuclear blackmail” and warned he has “lots of weapons to reply” as he called up 300,000 more troops to the Ukraine war. In a rare address to the nation, he said he wasn’t bluffing and would use “all the means available to us” if Russian territory

We waited at a checkpoint near the Ukrainian’s defensive line for the southern counter-offensive. We had permission to be there, but the soldiers were unhappy, and all those permissions had to be rechecked. The Ukrainian government and military have imposed an almost complete blackout of information on the southern counter-attack that has the Russian-held city

A Ukrainian man has alleged he was tied up, beaten and shocked with an electric charge during Russia’s occupation of his village. But instead of Russian soldiers abusing him directly, Andrii Matiazh, 46, alleged it was local Ukrainian policemen who had switched allegiance. “Someone tortured me,” he said, speaking at his home in Volokhivka, which

The remains of two children are among 146 bodies exhumed at a mass burial site close to the city of Izyum in eastern Ukraine, according to an official. Many of the victims are civilians, with some feared to have been tortured while enduring a violent death, authorities said on Monday. The mass burial site containing

A Russian singer has denounced Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine and asked to be placed on her country’s foreign agents list in solidarity with her husband. Alla Pugacheva’s husband, singer and TV presenter Maxim Galkin, was added to the foreign agents register on Friday by Russia’s justice ministry. His criticism of Russia for sending troops

Taiwan has been rocked by a powerful earthquake which toppled a three-storey building, stranded around 400 tourists on a mountainside and knocked part of a passenger train off its tracks. Footage shows the moment the 6.8 magnitude quake also caused the ceiling of a sports centre to collapse while people were playing badminton. People are

A powerful  typhoon bearing down on southern japan has seen the region battered by gales and torrential rain leading to blackouts, major transport disruption and the evacuation of thousands of people. Weather forecasters have warned of strong winds and high waves “like never experienced before”, with the threat of rivers overflowing and landslides. Typhoon Nanmadol,

Thrown back by the rapid Ukrainian offensive in the Kharkiv region east of Ukraine, the Russians were going to have to dig in somewhere. And now we can begin to see where. They are certainly making a stand at Svatove, east of the Oskil River. This is really important to them because Svatove controls the

Rows of crosses lined the woodland, enveloped by the unmistakable smell of death. Each makeshift wooden marker jutted out of a mound of earth where a body was buried. Some displayed the names of the deceased, but the majority just bore numbers because the identity was unknown. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible

Vladimir Putin says Russia will do everything it can to bring the Ukraine war to an end “as soon as possible”, despite the direction of the conflict swinging against his military in recent days. Russian troops have been routed in parts of the north east with thousands of square kilometres of territory liberated by defence

A mass burial site containing around 440 graves has been found in the Ukrainian city of Izyum after it was liberated from Russian control, a top police officer has told Sky News. Serhii Bolvinov, the chief police investigator for Kharkiv region, said all the bodies would be exhumed and taken away for forensic examination as

A leaked video appears to show a close ally of President Vladimir Putin offering pardons to Russian prisoners if they fight in Ukraine – but warning they will be shot dead if they desert when they get there. In the footage, a man who is believed to be Yevgeny Prigozhin, the reported head of the

The Ukrainian soldier stooped over an ammunition box and picked up what looked like a giant, metal cork. ”Russian landmine,” he said. He walked to another discarded crate inside a large warehouse. “This is a mortar,” the serviceman, 39, said, holding up the deadly weapon, which was the shape of a stretched, grey-coloured balloon. The haul

A coalition of right wing parties have claimed victory in the Swedish elections, ousting the centre left bloc from power. Jimmie Akesson, who leads the nationalist and anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, said his party would be “a constructive and driving force” in rebuilding safety in the country, adding it was “time to put Sweden first”. The

A scrum of desperation surged around the Ukrainian relief truck in a town that was liberated from Russian control just days earlier. “Please give me an aid parcel son, I have a walking stick,” said one tiny, old woman, crushed up against the back of the vehicle as others tried to grab for help over

Ukraine’s military has a chance of removing Russian troops from all the territory they have claimed since February, a senior military analyst has told Sky News. Professor Michael Clarke said such a development would be a “huge victory” – adding that while recent gains in Kharkiv are important, retaking Kherson in the south would be