Britain’s new Defense Secretary yesterday ran to protect himself from Vladimir Putin’s missiles, on his first official visit to Ukraine.
John Healey was taken to an air raid shelter as air raid sirens sounded in Odesa.
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Negotiations continued clandestinely, with Healey telling President Volodymyr Zelensky that he would sit shoulder to shoulder as Ukraine’s staunchest friend.
On Thursday evening, Healey awaited the election results in a South Yorkshire sports hall.
Fast forward 72 hours and he was being rushed to an air raid shelter in the Black Sea city.
He was greeted by his counterpart Rustem Umerov as news of a cruise missile attack quickly spread through the room.
The pair and the Chief of the Defense Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, were rushed to the basement of a Soviet-era building that served as Umerov’s temporary headquarters.
Faded posters on the walls showed the protocol for dealing with nuclear and chemical fallout, while mismatched tables and chairs were hastily arranged in the scorching bunker.
The calm and collected Mr. Healey then insisted that negotiations continue.
Just a lock hair and a slightly damp eyebrow on the head of the usually elegant British ambassador was wrong.
Mr. Healey rolled up his shirt sleeves and continued as if it were completely normal.
This is the daily life of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians two and a half years into Putin’s war.
But it was an unusual crash course for any British politician on their second day in office.
About 35 minutes later, all was cleared and the pair returned upstairs to normal diplomatic niceties.
The bomb threat was one of many that occurred in Ukraine yesterday.
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It happened hours after Ukraine shot down 13 Shahed kamikaze drones in a nighttime raid.
A pregnant woman was seriously injured yesterday in a traffic stop near Kherson.
Port cities are always within range of Russian jets, submarines and warships – armed with long-range cruise missiles.
Healey’s predecessor, Grant Shapps, aborted a visit to Odesa in March because he feared Russian spies had their plans.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was meeting Zelensky at the time and Shapps said Putin had come “dangerously close to essentially assassinating two Western leaders”.
Healey: I will be the voice of veterans
By Harry Cole, Political Editor
SIR Keir Starmer has ruled out the independent role of Minister for Veterans at cabinet level, The Sun can reveal.
The new prime minister risked a major row with campaigners by asking Defense Secretary John Healey to take on the role of veterans’ representative.
Healey said: “What veterans need is a Secretary of Defense who is a full-fledged voice at the Cabinet table, not a back-row extra.”
He ignored the threat of a backlash by promising that people would judge him for his efforts to improve the system.
But SAS veteran and writer Andy McNab said: “Veterans need a champion. Healey will have his hands full as Secretary of Defense with everything that’s going on.”
Under Rishi Sunak, former Army officer Johnny Mercer, who lost his Plymouth seat on Thursday, held the role of Veterans Minister.
During the campaign, Sir Keir refused to sign the Help For Heroes pledge to maintain a personalized voice for ex-soldiers.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
