Ukraine-Russia war – live: Kyiv’s military wants 500,000 troops and says Putin’s forces hit by ‘mouse fever’

Following the army’s request for a further 500,000 troops to be mobilised, Ukrainians have expressed mixed feelings.

Anton Hrushetskyi, executive director of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, said closed polling data showed more than 65% of Ukrainians would strongly support or rather support a significant further mobilisation.

But he told Reuters the figure could be skewed by people wanting to give a “socially desirable” response in wartime.

Rafael, a 40-year-old sculptor who declined to give his surname, said forcibly conducting a large-scale mobilisation could badly affect morale on the front lines.

“People’s motivation is dying. If some are forced to fight against their will, our army won’t be as (motivated) to fight,” he said.

Tetiana, a 37-year-old office worker, said a more important matter than manpower was securing more military and financial assistance from abroad.

“I think (mobilising people) won’t be enough (to win the war). We need the support of the West, the United States. Our soldiers will not suffice,” she said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced the army’s proposal on Tuesday but said he had not yet decided whether to back it.

Such a move would be intended to help replenish exhausted Ukrainian forces nearly two years of Russia’s full-scale invasion, but could risk a backlash from those who oppose it.

Ukrainian generals are looking to mobilise up to half a million new soldiers to push back Putin’s invading army, president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Mr Zelensky said he was yet to make a final decision on the military’s request as it was a question of “fairness and money” as well as Ukraine’s defence capability.

It comes amid fears Russia could grind down Kyiv’s army with its huge population and resources as western military aid to Ukraine faces US and EU deadlock.

But how many troops does Ukraine have and how does this compare to the US and British Army?

Read the full article below:

Former TV journalist Yekaterina Duntsova has put her name forward to stand in the Russian presidential election next year.

Current President Vladimir Putin is expected to win the March 2024 elections by a landslide.

Duntsova, 40, has previously called for an end to the conflict in Ukraine and the release of political prisoners including opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

She submitted documents to officials at the Central Electoral Commission to formally enter the election on Wednesday.

Putin, 71, has been in power as president or prime minister since 1999 and is seeking another six-year term.

With Navalny serving prison sentences totalling more than 30 years and other leading Kremlin critics either behind bars or outside the country because of the risk of arrest, there is no established opposition figure to challenge him.

Navalny’s supporters call the election a sham, saying the Kremlin controls who can run and can easily manipulate the vote if needed with the help of an opaque electronic voting system.

The Kremlin says Putin will win because he enjoys overwhelming public support, with opinion poll ratings of around 80%.

In her interview with Reuters, Duntsova avoided using the word “war” to describe the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which Putin calls a “special military operation”, and acknowledged she was afraid.

“Any sane person taking this step would be afraid - but fear must not win,” she said.

Ukrainian forces have shifted to a more defensive posture in recent weeks, Britain’s Ministry of Defence says.

In their latest intelligence update, the UK added that the move follows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s calls, from late November 2023, for faster fortification in key sectors.

“In recent weeks, Ukraine has mobilised a concerted effort to improve field fortifications as its forces pivot to a more defensive posture along much of the front line,” the MoD update reads on X.

It adds: “In one part of the project, Ukraine has worked to improve defences along its border with Belarus with dragon’s teeth, razor wire, and anti-tank ditches as of mid-December 2023.”

The US have imposed a harsher price cap on Russian oil in an effort to make it harder for Russian exporters to bypass the cap, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

“These changes will further complicate efforts by Russian exporters to circumvent the price cap while deceiving Coalition service providers, and further raise costs for any Russian exporters that need premier services but are unwilling to sell oil under the cap,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.

It comes after the US Senate said they would not be able to pass a bill on additional funding for Ukraine before their Christmas break despite warnings from the White House that funding would run out.

Ukrainian intelligence has suggested that Russian frontline troops are suffering from an outbreak of so-called mouse fever.

Also known as Rat-bite fever, it is a rare infection caused by the bacterium Streptobacillus moniliformis.

According to the UK government, it has a worldwide distribution and is carried in the upper respiratory tract of apparently healthy rats and mice. Transmission is said to occur from either a rat-bite or scratch when handling infected rats, or from direct contact with their urine.

The government website adds: “Rat-bite fever usually develops within 7 days of the bite, and begins abruptly with fever and chills, followed by severe muscle and joint pain, headache and nausea.”

A poll has found that the vast majority of Ukrainians would not support the sacking of the head of the armed forces Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, despite his criticism of President Zelensky.

A poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) showed that only 2% of Ukrainians would actively support Zelensky removing Zaluzhnyi from his post, while 72% would view such a move “negatively”.

Despite attempts to demonstrate unity during the war with Russia, signs of friction between Zaluzhnyi and President Zelensky have been evident for weeks, spurring domestic media speculation that the army chief could be fired.

Zaluzhnyi oversaw the major 2023 counteroffensive that failed to retake swathes of Russian-occupied land, but he is very popular with many Ukrainians after beating back Russian forces from swathes of land last year.

The tensions between the men burst into the open in November after Zaluzhnyi was quoted as saying the war had reached a stalemate and this week, he criticised Zelensky’s decision to fire regional military recruitment officers amid a crackdown on corruption this summer.

Mr Zelensky dismissed the rumours of a feud between the pair at a press conference yesterday and said they had a good working relationship.

Ukrainian intelligence has claimed that Russian frontline troops have been severely impacted by an outbreak of mouse fever.

The disease can cause horrifying symptoms including bleeding from the eyes, vomiting and severe headaches.

Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate said that the outbreak is dampening morale of Putin’s troops as they are not receiving adequate medical treatment to deal with the illness.

“Dissatisfaction is growing in the units of the Russian occupation army due to inadequate provision of winter items and a complete lack of medical assistance,” they reported on Telegram.

“Thus, an outbreak of the so-called “mouse fever” was recorded in many units of the Russian invaders in the Kupyansk direction.”

A Russian court fined Alphabet’s Google on Wednesday 4.6 billion roubles ($50.84 million) for failing to delete so-called "fake" information about the conflict in Ukraine, the TASS news agency reported.

Russia has been at loggerheads with foreign technology companies over content, censorship, data and local representation in a simmering dispute that intensified after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The eastern European state that accounts for just 2 per cent of the entire EU population has derailed a vital aid package to Ukraine – and now threatens to derail Kyiv’s future as a member. With Putin’s fortunes rising, it is time to suspend Hungary from the bloc’s foreign policy decision-making, writes Bill Browder

Read Bill’s full piece here: