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Russia hasn’t taken any of its “major objectives” in the first 24 hours of its invasion in Ukraine, U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Friday.
“In fact, it’s behind its hoped-for timetable,” he told Sky News. “They’ve lost over 450 personnel.”
He added that the Ukrainians had successfully taken back an airport that the Russian special forces (spetsnaz) had attempted to capture.
“So I think, contrary to great Russian claims and indeed President Putin‘s vision that somehow the Ukrainians would be liberated and would be flocking to his cause, he’s got that completely wrong.”
Britain’s Defense Secretary Ben Wallace delivers somber comments Tuesday as he opens a conference of defense ministers at Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire, England in on Feb. 22, 2022.
(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
UK’S BORIS JOHNSON ANNOUNCES RUSSIA SANCTIONS TO ‘SQUEEZE’ MOSCOW OUT OF GLOBAL ECONOMY
He continued, “And the Russian army has failed to deliver on day one its main objective.”
A Ukrainian Army soldier inspects fragments of a downed aircraft in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022.
(AP Photo/Vadim Zamirovsky)
On Thursday, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed sanctions on Russian banks, Putin allies and rich Russians living in London.
It was the largest package of sanctions the country has ever brought against any country, according to Reuters.
“This hideous and barbarous venture of Vladimir Putin must end in failure,” Johnson told parliament on Thursday, adding that Putin would never be able to wipe the Ukrainian blood off his hands.
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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday he had spoken to Johnson, saying sanctions must be “further strengthened.”
