Live blog: Russia to debate seizing property of army critics – top lawmaker

Saturday, January 20, 2024

0958 GMT — Russia will consider passing a bill next week that would confiscate the money, property and valuables of anyone convicted of spreading "fakes" about its army, the country's top lawmaker said.

The bill, which according to state media has the support of all major parliamentary factions, will be introduced to Russia's lower house State Duma on Monday, speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said.

"Anyone who tries to destroy Russia and betray her should receive the punishment they deserve, and compensate for the damage to the country with their property," he wrote on Telegram.

The measure, he said, aims to punish "scoundrels" who "pour mud on our country, soldiers and officers serving in the special military operation."

The charge of spreading "false information" about the army already carries a maximum jail sentence of up to 15 years, and has been used by authorities to stifle any form of dissent.

Under the law, information about the offensive in Ukraine that does not come from an official government source can be deemed "false" and its dissemination liable to prosecution.

More updates 👇

0313 GMT — Amidst sanctions, China finds its largest oil supplier in Russia

Russia leapfrogged Saudi Arabia to become China's top crude oil supplier in 2023, as the world's biggest crude importer defied Western sanctions to purchase vast quantities of discounted oil for its processing plants.

Russia shipped a record 107.02 million metric tonnes of crude oil to China last year, equivalent to 2.14 million barrels per day, the Chinese customs data showed, far more than other major oil exporters such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Imports from Saudi Arabia, previously China's largest supplier, fell 1.8 percent to 85.96 million tonnes, as the Middle East oil giant lost market share to cheaper Russian crude.

0058 GMT — Zelenskyy invites Trump to Kiev, if he can 'stop the war during 24 hours'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has invited former US president Donald Trump to visit Kiev, following his assertion that the former president could stop the Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours if re-elected.

The comments were made during a sit-down interview with British broadcaster Channel 4 News' presenter Matt Frei, as part of a special programme.

"Donald Trump, I invite you to Ukraine, to Kiev. So, if you can stop the war during 24 hours I think it will be enough to come," Zelenskyy said, adding that when he sits with US congressmen "in any case, mostly — 99.9 percent — they are on my side to my face."

2214 GMT — Mines 'back in place' at Ukraine nuclear power plant

Land mines have once again surrounded the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, which is in Russian hands, the UN nuclear watchdog said.

"Mines along the perimetre of the ZNPP (Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant)... are now back in place," said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in a statement.

The mines, previously identified by agency experts on site, had been removed in November, but are now back, which is "inconsistent with the IAEA safety standards," the statement added.

2230 GMT — UK Labour's foreign policy pitch maintains strong support for Ukraine

Britain's opposition Labour Party signalled it would continue the current government's strong support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia if it came to power, with its foreign policy spokesperson warning the rest of Europe against complacency.

In a speech on Saturday, Labour's Foreign Policy Chief David Lammy will reiterate Labour's desire for a new British-EU security pact, and will say that if Labour came to power, he would visit Kiev in the first 100 days in the office "to demonstrate Labour's long-term commitment to stop Vladimir Putin and begin work on a pathway towards Ukraine's NATO membership."

"We in Europe risk taking our eye off the ball," Lammy will say, according to extracts of the speech, which added he would label Putin a "ringleader of a new form of fascism."

2140 GMT — Russia says army repels Ukrainian counterattacks near Kupyansk

Russia's Battlegroup West has repelled four counterattacks by Ukrainian assault teams near the Kupyansk sector of the line of engagement in the special military operation zone, Battlegroup Spokesperson Sergey Zybinsky told TASS news agency.

"In a joint operation with artillery and army aviation, motor rifle units of the battlegroup repelled four counterattacks by assault teams of [Ukraine's] 115th mechanised brigade and 103rd territorial defence brigade, reinforced with armoured vehicles, near Tabayevka, Krakhmalnoye and Sinkovka," Zybinsky specified.

According to him, the enemy lost "roughly 30 personnel and three pickup trucks." In addition, a Russian Msta-S self-propelled howitzer crew struck a temporary deployment point of Ukraine's 41st mechanised brigade.

For our live updates from Friday (January 19), click here.