[News] Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin more confident than ever after inauguration speech; plot to 'kill Zelenskyy' stopped

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Analysis: Putin painted as modern-day Tsar - and seems more confident than ever By Ivor Bennett, Moscow correspondent Held inside the throne room of the Tsars, the ceremony felt almost like a coronation rather than an inauguration. And that was part of the point. The symbolism was key. Andreyevsky Hall, where Vladimir Putin took the oath of office, is dripping with gold.I think this was an attempt to paint him as a modern-day Tsar, who is the rightful ruler of Russia. The other aim was to add the stamp of electoral legitimacy to his leadership, and his policies. The Kremlin’s chief spokesman Dmitry Peskov told me beforehand that this was just part of the "democratic" political process (see our 13.35 post). The speech was typical Putin - talking up Russia's greatness, blaming the West for Moscow's isolation and doubling down on his current path of conflict abroad and a crackdown at home. He said he ranks the safety of the Russian people "above all else". Translation - we're in this for the long haul. But whose fault is Russia’s status as a global pariah? Not ours, he said. This was all part of the Kremlin's narrative to portray the West as the aggressor, and Russia as the victim.What might concern people both at home and abroad was the tone of the speech. For example, he gave a thinly veiled warning that protest will not be tolerated, saying it’s important "not to forget the tragic price of internal turmoil", adding that Russia must be "absolutely resistant" to it. And the last line: "We will overcome all obstacles and bring all our plans to life." Vladimir Putin seems more confident than ever.Europe needs 'big money' to defend itself against world powers, Polish PM says Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said Europe needs to spend "big money" in order to prevent other powers in the world from "raising a hand against it". Speaking at a conference in the Polish city of Katowice, Mr Tusk called on European countries to take joint action to increase spending on defence by at least €100bn (£85bn). "Europe must be prepared in the next dozen or so months and the entire next five years for a situation in which no power in the world will dare raise a hand against it," he said. "Big money will move the war away from Europe's borders for a long time, perhaps permanently." He also repeated the idea of building a common European air defence system - saying Europe has "more initiatives than real actions". Due to the war in Ukraine, Poland is strengthening its defence capabilities, allocating over 4% of its GDP. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, agreed Europe must spend more on defence and declared that if she remains in office for another term she will propose new defence projects.Russian national sanctioned over role in prolific ramsomware group A Russian national has been sanctioned in the UK, US and Australia for his alleged role as the creator of the most prolific ramsomware group in the world. The sanctions target Dmitry Khoroshev who has been identified as one of the leaders of LockBit, the ransomware group responsible for extorting over $1bn from thousands of victims globally. In the US, Khoroshev has been charged with 26 counts of allegedly developing and administering a malicious cyber scheme. The UK's foreign office said the LockBit group was behind attacks on over 200 UK businesses and major public server providers and 25% of all global ransomware attacks.

https://news.sky.com/story/russia-ukraine-war-latest-putin-sky-news-live-blog-12541713