In the headlines
Russian paratroopers have launched a fierce assault on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Putin’s army has “orders to erase us all”, says President Volodymyr Zelensky. But the 40-mile convoy of tanks and artillery heading towards Kyiv has stalled. “Not only are they running out of gas,” says a US defence official, “they’re running out of food.” Ukrainian security chiefs say they have foiled an assassination attempt against Zelensky by elite Chechen commandos. Russian intelligence agents who disapprove of the war tipped off Zelensky’s team about the attack, say officials, and the would-be killers were “eliminated”. Boris Johnson has rejected calls for a no-fly zone above Ukraine, saying it is “not on the agenda of any Nato country”. Quite right, says Iain Martin in Reaction. Enforcing a no-fly zone would involve us shooting down Russian aircraft – a recipe for “nuclear war”.