Hit and myth
RUSSIA’S state machinery has spewed out a contradictory jumble of lies over the sinking of its flagship, the Moskva.
With typical mendacity, the Kremlin first tried to insist the cruiser was not sent to its watery grave by Ukrainian missiles, but as the result of a fire.
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Now one of Vladimir Putin’s ludicrous apologists tells Russian state TV the Moskva was in fact torpedoed by “Nato apparatus” — triggering “World War 3”.
Russia’s response yesterday was to pummel Kyiv, and threaten all kinds of bloodthirsty revenge for the humiliation of its single biggest loss at sea since 1905.
For all the Ukrainian heroics, Putin is digging in for a long, hideous onslaught.
The West must respond in kind.
Boris Johnson has led the way in supplying lethal aid.
Germany has to follow suit, and stop giving Putin blood-soaked billions to keep his gas taps flowing.
And docile US President Joe Biden must match his talk of Russia’s “genocide” with action and no longer balk at sending Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky all the armoury he is asking for.
With fighting in the east only set to intensify, hopes of a negotiated peace seem more distant than ever.
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Which makes it even more vital for President Zelensky and his courageous people to be reassured that the West will always stand by their side.
Fresh Prince
WE are glad it was Prince Harry who initiated this week’s meeting with his grandmother en route to his latest Invictus Games in the Netherlands.
More cynical royal-watchers may wonder if the Sussexes’ rendezvous with the Queen will merely end up as material for a podcast or tell-all interview.
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And of course, it would have been preferable if Harry and Meghan could have prioritised attending Prince Philip’s memorial service last month.
But Easter is a time for new beginnings so for Her Majesty’s sake let’s hope that’s what this is, and that Harry brings the kids next time so little Lilibet can finally meet the great-gran whose name she carries.
Pronoun police
EVER wonder why the Home Office has for so long been political kryptonite for any Cabinet minister appointed to lead it?
The latest insight into the day-to-day priorities of the department’s floundering civil servants may offer a clue.
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Staff working on immigration services have been ordered to end all emails by declaring whether they are a man, woman or non-binary — which ironically has resulted in complaints that the Home Office is breaching the Equalities Act.
Is it too much to hope they might worry less about policing pronouns — and more about processing the visas of desperate Ukrainian refugees?
