Western officials say possible Anglo-French force would also not rely on US systems or technology such as Starlink

British troops and their European allies would be allowed to fire back if attacked by Russians when potentially stationed as peacekeepers in Ukraine after a ceasefire, western officials said.

The Anglo-French led stabilisation force would also not rely on US systems or technology, such as Elon Musk’s Starlink, and is expected to be almost exclusively European if deployed.

In 2021, the young soldier took her life after being sexually assaulted by a sergeant major, then sent thousands of messages by her line manager. She was just 19. Five years on, Leighann McCready is still searching for answers

When Leighann McCready phoned her 19-year-old daughter, Jaysley Beck, on 15 December 2021, she got no reply, but brushed away her worries. “Jays always, always answered her phone, but it was early, eight in the morning,” she says. Beck, an army soldier in the Royal Artillery, had been at a party the night before at her Wiltshire barracks. She was probably asleep.

It was a busy time, the Christmas countdown. Soon, Beck was expected to be back home in Cumbria, where her parents – McCready and Anthony Beck – own a village pub. McCready had already bought matching Christmas pyjamas for Beck and her older sister Emilli to wear on the day.

Two women, now in their 50s, say MoD refuses to take responsibility for abuse they suffered as children

Anne and Jane* were 10 years old when a member of staff connected with their British military school in Bünde, Germany is alleged to have singled them out and sexually abused them.

Now in their 50s, the women say he coerced them into keeping silent, and for decades they had only discussed their experiences with one another. “He said if we ever told anybody, then our fathers would lose their jobs and they would be kicked out of the army,” Jane said. “Being two young 10-year-old girls who basically followed their fathers around the world, their jobs were our lives.”