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| Grant Shapps abandoned Ukraine trip over security threat - MoD | Grant Shapps abandoned Ukraine trip over security threat - MoD |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Grant Shapps made his second visit to Ukraine as defence secretary last week | Grant Shapps made his second visit to Ukraine as defence secretary last week |
| Grant Shapps aborted a trip to southern Ukraine last week for "security reasons", the UK defence ministry said. | Grant Shapps aborted a trip to southern Ukraine last week for "security reasons", the UK defence ministry said. |
| The defence secretary had to scrap his visit to Odesa last week after UK intelligence reportedly warned Russia had become aware of his travel plans. | The defence secretary had to scrap his visit to Odesa last week after UK intelligence reportedly warned Russia had become aware of his travel plans. |
| Mr Shapps was due to travel to Odesa a day after a missile hit the city while the Ukrainian president and the Greek prime minister were visiting. | Mr Shapps was due to travel to Odesa a day after a missile hit the city while the Ukrainian president and the Greek prime minister were visiting. |
| Five people were killed in the strike, Ukrainian authorities said. | |
| Mr Shapps had travelled on an overnight train from Poland to Ukraine, accompanied by chief of the defence staff, Adm Sir Tony Radakin, and a small team of British officials. The aim of their journey was to meet Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and senior members of his wartime administration. | |
| But having arrived in Kyiv on 7 March, Mr Shapps's onward journey to Odesa was cancelled abruptly at the last minute, following fears surrounding his safety. | |
| According to the Sunday Times, which had a reporter travelling with his delegation, the trip was called off after an intelligence update revealed the Kremlin's knowledge of it. | |
| It added that the strike in Odesa the previous day raised the threat level to Mr Shapps's safety from substantial to critical. | |
| "Putin has shown himself to be reckless, ruthless and careless," Mr Shapps told the newspaper. | |
| "The fact that he came perilously close to essentially assassinating two western leaders, it doesn't matter whether that is deliberate or accidental. | "The fact that he came perilously close to essentially assassinating two western leaders, it doesn't matter whether that is deliberate or accidental. |
| "What the hell is he doing, and why the heck would the West allow him to do that kind of thing?" | "What the hell is he doing, and why the heck would the West allow him to do that kind of thing?" |
| A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: "On a recent trip to Ukraine, the defence secretary did not make a planned visit to Odesa for security reasons. | |
| "The UK continues to provide strong support for Ukraine and the defence secretary's visit and engagements only underscored the importance of this support in the face of Putin's aggression." | |
| Earlier this week it emerged that an RAF plane carrying Mr Shapps between the UK and Poland had its GPS signal jammed while flying close to Russian territory. | Earlier this week it emerged that an RAF plane carrying Mr Shapps between the UK and Poland had its GPS signal jammed while flying close to Russian territory. |
| Related Topics | Related Topics |
| War in Ukraine | War in Ukraine |
| Greece | Greece |
| Grant Shapps | Grant Shapps |
| Ukraine | Ukraine |