Ukraine’s military says Russia fired a record number of attack drones overnight, with 76 out of the total of 188 being shot down by air defences.
Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko warned of drones approaching the Ukrainian capital in multiple waves this morning, as most of the country sounded air raid alerts.
The air force said it lost track of 96 of the drones, likely due to active electronic warfare, and five drones headed towards Belarus.
This comes as Russia’s military said it had captured British national James Scott Rhys Anderson, who was fighting for a Ukrainian foreign regiment in an occupied part of Russia’s Kursk region.
It represents one of the first known cases of a Western national being captured on Russian soil while fighting for Ukraine. The 22-year-old man’s father said he feared his son would be tortured, while the UK Foreign Office confirmed it was “supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention”.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon said the US had seen no signs of North Korean troops inside Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine or that they are heading in that direction.
Key Points
BREAKING: Ukraine downs 76 out of 188 Russian drones overnight
Explosions in Kyiv as multi-wave Russian drone attacks underway
Pentagon says no signs of North Korean troops inside Ukraine
Russian troops approaching Kurakhove as they advance inside Ukraine
UK will offer ‘all the support we can’ to British national captured in Russia’s Kursk region
Russia’s Medvedev warns West over discussing nuclear weapons for Ukraine
08:24 , Tara Cobham
Senior Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev has said that if the West supplied nuclear weapons to Ukraine then Moscow could consider such a transfer to be tantamount to an attack on Russia, providing grounds for a nuclear response.
The New York Times reported last week that some unidentified Western officials had suggested that US President Joe Biden could give Ukraine nuclear weapons, though there were fears such a step would have serious implications.
“American politicians and journalists are seriously discussing the consequences of the transfer of nuclear weapons to Kyiv,” Medvedev, who served as Russia’s president from 2008 to 2012, said on Telegram on Tuesday.
Medvedev said that even the threat of such a transfer of nuclear weapons could be considered as preparation for a nuclear war against Russia.
“The actual transfer of such weapons can be equated to the fait accompli of an attack on our country,” under Russia’s newly updated nuclear doctrine, he said.
ICYMI | How Trump’s alleged assassin tapped up UK-trained Afghan commandos to fight in Ukraine
08:00 , Andy Gregory
A man charged with Donald Trump’s attempted assassination was apparently messaging British-trained Afghan commandos about recruitment to the Ukraine war just three days before he was arrested at a Florida golf course.
Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested on 15 September after allegedly aiming a powerful AK-47-style assault rifle through the bushes at Trump National Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
The 58-year-old former roofing contractor from North Carolina had become fanatical about supporting Ukraine’s right to defend itself from Russia’s invasion. He was said to have contacted the Ukraine’s International Legion with ideas that Ukrainian military personnel described as “delusional”.
In messages linked to Routh’s Whatsapp number and seen by The Independent and investigative newroom Lighthouse Reports, there are discussions with Afghan special forces about how to get to Ukraine to fight.
The extraordinary revelation highlights the desperation of these Afghan commandos who were paid for and trained by the British to fight the Taliban but were left abandoned after Kabul fell in 2021.
Holly Bancroft and May Bulman have the full report:
Revealed: How Trump’s alleged assassin tapped up UK-trained commandos for Ukraine
A Russian charged with sending video of military equipment to Ukraine gets 14 years in prison
07:45 , Arpan Rai
A Russian man was convicted and sentenced to 14 years in prison Monday after being found guilty of high treason for a video he sent to Ukraine’s security services, the latest in a series of espionage cases involving the conflict.
The Volgograd District Court said Nikita Zhuravel had been “in disagreement with the political course of the Russian Federation” and entered into correspondence with a representative from Ukraine’s security services online and carried out tasks for him. It did not give details on the tasks.
Zhuravel is already serving a 3 1/2-year sentence for burning a Quran in front of a mosque, which was handed down in February.
A Russian charged with sending video of military equipment to Ukraine gets 14 years in prison
BREAKING: Ukraine downs 76 out of 188 Russian drones overnight
07:24 , Arpan Rai
Ukraine’s military says it has shot down 76 out of total 188 Russian drones fired overnight. This is the highest number of attack drones Russia has fired at Ukraine in a single night.
The previous record came on 10 November, when Moscow launched a total of 145 drones overnight.
“During the night attack, the enemy launched a record number of ‘Shahed’ type attack UAVs and unmanned aerial vehicles of an unknown type,” the Ukrainian air force said on Telegram, adding they came from Orel, Bryansk, Kursk and Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia.
It said a total of 192 air targets, including four Iskander-M ballistic missiles, were fired at Ukraine overnight.
“Unfortunately, critical infrastructure objects have been hit, and private and multi-apartment buildings have been damaged in several regions due to a mass attack by UAVs,” the air force said.
Power and water cut off as Russia strikes grid at Ternopil
06:38 , Arpan Rai
Russia’s overnight air attacks have damaged the power grid in Ternopil, a major city in western Ukraine, cutting off electricity and water and disrupting heat supplies, officials said this morning.
Emergency services were working to restore water supply by early morning, Serhiy Nadal, head of the Ternopil region defence council headquarters, said on his Telegram channel, but power disruptions are set to continue for hours.
Electric buses that service the city will be replaced with regular buses and generators will help with power shortages in schools, hospitals and government institutions, he said.
The official did not provide details on the extent of the damage in the city that had a population of nearly of a quarter of a million before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The full scale of the attack was also not immediately clear.
Ternopil, some 220km (134 miles) east of Nato-member Poland, and most of Ukraine were under overnight air raid alert for hours, according to Ukraine’s air force data.
White House confirms US cleared ATACMS for Ukraine
06:07 , Arpan Rai
Senior US officials have confirmed Ukraine has received clearance from the Biden administration to launch long-range ATACMS missiles on targets in Russia.
The US has changed the guidance and allowed Kyiv to use them “to strike particular types of targets” around Kursk, said John Kirby, national security council coordinator for strategic communications at the White House.
“Right now, they are able to use ATACMS to defend themselves, you know, in an immediate-need basis. And right now, you know, understandably, that’s taking place in and around Kursk, in the Kursk Oblast. I’d let the Ukrainians speak to their use of ATACMS and their targeting procedures, and what they’re using them for and how well they’re doing,” he said, responding to a question from a reporter on the effectiveness of use of ATACMS by Ukraine.
06:00 , Andy Gregory
Volodymyr Zelensky has warned of a “severe escalation” of Moscow’s invasion, after Russia fired a new intermediate-range ballastic missile at Ukraine last week.
Initally, Ukraine suggested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) had been launched against the city of Dnipro, would be the first known use in the war of a weapon designed to avoid defences travel thousands of miles, with the potential to carry nuclear warheads.
The new missile was experimental, but not an ICBM and Russia likely possessed only a handful of them, US officials said.
My colleague Barney Davis has more details here:
What is an intercontinental ballistic missile and how many does Russia have?
UK spies ‘watching’ Russia amid cyberwarfare fears, minister to warn
05:38 , Arpan Rai
British spies will seek to counter Russian cyberwarfare with a new laboratory for artificial intelligence, with a senior government minister warning that Russia will not “think twice” about targeting the UK.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden will speak at the Nato cyber defence conference at Lancaster House on Monday night.
Vowing never to let Vladimir Putin deter the UK from supporting Ukraine, Mr McFadden will say the UK and its Nato allies are watching Moscow and combating its attacks both publicly and “behind the scenes”.
UK spies ‘watching’ Russia amid cyber warfare fears, minister to warn
Russia says it downs 39 Ukrainian drones overnight
05:22 , Arpan Rai
Russia’s air defence systems destroyed 39 Ukrainian drones overnight over seven regions, Russia’s defence ministry said this morning.
Of these, 24 drones were destroyed over the Rostov region in the southern part of Russia, the ministry said on its Telegram channel.
Russian troops approaching Kurakhove as they advance inside Ukraine
05:02 , Arpan Rai
Russian forces have been advancing in Ukraine at their fastest pace since the early months of the war and have been exploiting vulnerabilities among Kyiv’s troops, analysts said yesterday.
“Russian forces recently have been advancing at a significantly quicker rate than they did in the entirety of 2023,” analysts at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said.
The report noted recent confirmed Russian battlefield gains near Vuhledar and Velyka Novosilka, which are in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, and said Putin’s forces were moving into the strategic town of Kurakhove.
The Russian army captured almost 235sq km (91 square miles) in Ukraine over the past week, a weekly record for 2024, according to a report published by the independent Russian news group Agentstvo.
Agentstvo analysed data from Deep State, a group with close links to the Ukrainian army that studies combat footage and provides frontline maps.
“Russian forces’ advances in southeastern Ukraine are largely the result of the discovery and tactical exploitation of vulnerabilities in Ukraine’s lines,” analysts at the ISW said in their report.
Trump’s intelligence pick Tulsi Gabbard’s history with Russia is even more concerning than you think
05:00 , Andy Gregory
In the summer of 2015, three Syrian girls who had narrowly survived an airstrike some weeks earlier stood before Tulsi Gabbard with horrific burns all over their bodies. Gabbard, then a US congresswoman on a visit to the Syria-Turkey border as part of her duties for the foreign affairs committee, had a question for them.
“How do you know it was Bashar al-Assad or Russia that bombed you, and not Isis?’” she asked, according to Mouaz Moustafa, a Syrian activist who was translating her conversation with the girls.
It was a revealing insight into Gabbard’s conspiratorial views of the conflict, and it shocked Moustafa to silence. He knew, as even the young children did, that Isis did not have jets to launch airstrikes. It was such an absurd question that he chose not to translate it because he didn’t want to upset the girls, the eldest of whom was 12.
“From that point on, I’m sorry to say I was inaccurate in my translations of anything she said,” Moustafa told The Independent. “It was more like: How do I get these girls away from this devil?”
Even before Gabbard left the Democratic Party, ingratiated herself with Donald Trump and secured his nomination to become director of National Intelligence, she was known as a prolific peddler of Russian propaganda.
In almost every foreign conflict in which Russia had a hand, Gabbard backed Moscow and railed against the US. Her past promotion of Kremlin propaganda has provoked significant opposition on both sides of the aisle to her nomination.
My colleagues Richard Hall and Andrew Feinberg have more analysis here:
Tulsi Gabbard’s history with Russia is even more concerning than you think
Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko slams Joe Rogan over Russian propaganda
04:24 , Arpan Rai
Ukrainian boxing icon Wladimir Klitschko has slammed American podcast host Joe Rogan for promoting Russian propaganda.
“You talk about sending American weapons to Ukraine which you believe will lead to the Third World War. Putin’s Russia is in trouble, so Putin wants to scare you and people like you. His war was supposed to last three days. It lasted three years thanks to the heroism and sacrifice of Ukrainians,” the former heavyweight champion Klitschko said on X.
His remarks come after Rogan on Friday criticised president Joe Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to strike Russia with US-supplied long-range missiles, which he claimed will start a Third World War.
Mr Klitschko has also dared Rogan to invite him on for a chat.
Russia reportedly captures a Briton fighting for Ukraine
04:07 , Arpan Rai
Russia’s military captured a British national fighting with Ukrainian troops who have occupied part of Russia’s Kursk region, according to reports yesterday.The Briton was identified by state news agency Tass and other media as James Scott Rhys Anderson.
Tass quoted him as saying that he had served as a signalman in the British army for four years and then joined the International Legion of Ukraine, formed early on in Russia’s nearly three-year-old war against its neighbour.
His capture would mark one of the first known cases of a Western national being captured on Russian soil while fighting for Ukraine.
Who is the former British soldier captured in Russia’s Kursk region?
Moscow bans adoption of Russian children to countries that allow gender transition
04:00 , AP
Vladimir Putin has signed a bill into law banning the adoption of Russian children by citizens of countries where gender transitioning is legal.
The Kremlin leader also approved legislation that outlaws the spread of material that encourages people not to have children.
The bills, which were previously approved by both houses of Russia’s parliament, follow a series of laws that have suppressed sexual minorities and bolstered so-called traditional values.
Moscow bans adoption of Russian children to countries that allow gender transition
Pentagon says no signs of North Korean troops inside Ukraine
03:13 , Arpan Rai
The US has seen no signs of North Korean troops inside Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine or that they are heading in that direction, the Pentagon said.
Sabrina Singh, a spokesperson for the Pentagon, told a briefing that the US Department of Defense does not “have any indications that there are DPRK soldiers in Ukraine,” referring to North Korea’s official name of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“Don’t have any indications that there are DPRK soldiers in Ukraine. What we’ve said is that, you know, what we’re seeing is that they’re positioned around the Kursk region, but you know, not moving into Ukraine at the moment,” she said last night.
Europe will step up defence for Ukraine, says German minister
03:06 , Arpan Rai
Europeans will step up military support for Ukraine, Germany’s defence minister pledged after talks with his British, French, Italian and Polish counterparts on how to foster defence efforts as Donald Trump is set to return to the White House.
“Our target must be to enable Ukraine to act out of a position of strength,” Boris Pistorius told reporters in Berlin after hosting a meeting of the Group of Five leading nations in European defence.
His remarks were echoed by the Polish defence minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz who vowed to pledge more aid for Kyiv.
“Europe must coordinate its efforts more, it must harmonise its actions, it must aim higher, in order also to be a good partner for the United States,” he said.
“We are obliged today to say it clearly – Europe must increase its efforts when it comes to helping Ukraine but above all… when it comes to its own security. Without higher spending, without awareness in every European society of the times we are living in, everything is nothing,” he said.
The election of Mr Trump – who is sceptical of US support for Ukraine – has added pressure on Europe to step up its role in arming Kyiv should Washington, the biggest donor so far, reduce its aid.
‘Elite’ Russian units becoming ‘obsolete’ due to Putin’s strategy in Ukraine, war analysts say
03:00 , Andy Gregory
Once ‘elite’ Russian units becoming ‘obsolete’ due to Putin’s war strategy in Ukraine
Explosions in Kyiv as multi-wave Russian drone attacks underway
02:55 , Arpan Rai
Kyiv is under a sustained Russian drone attack, mayor Vitali Klitschko said early today.
“The UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) attack on the capital continues,” Mr Klitschko said on his Telegram channel. “Air defence forces are operating in different areas of the city. (Drones) are entering the capital from different directions.”
Witnesses described a series of explosions in what sounded like air defence systems in operation, reported Reuters.
Kyiv, its surrounding region and the vast majority of Ukrainian territory was under air raid alerts. In Kyiv, the air raid sirens started at around 7pm GMT.
Nobody can stop the juggernaut of war – not even Putin
02:00 , Andy Gregory
Nobody can stop the juggernaut of war – not even Putin
Listen | Starmer denies UK at war after Ukraine fires British Storm Shadow missiles into Russia
00:58 , Andy Gregory
Five injured in drone attack as humanitarian aid distributed in Mykolaiv, governor says
Monday 25 November 2024 23:59 , Andy Gregory
Five people have been injured in a Russian drone attack while humanitarian aid was being distributed in the the village of Solonchaky, the governor of Mykolaiv has said.
Humanitarian workers and local residents were among those injured, all of whom were taken to hospital, said governor Vitalli Kim.
Two men were in a serious condition, while two men and a woman were in moderate condition, the governor said.
UK targets Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ with ‘largest ever’ sanctions package
Monday 25 November 2024 23:00 , Andy Gregory
The UK has announced sanctions against 30 ships in Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” which officials say were responsible for transporting billions of pounds of oil and oil products in the last year.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said this is the largest UK package of its kind, and alleged that half of the ships transported some £3.4bn of oil and oil products in the last 12 months. Two insurance companies have also been targeted with sanctions.
The shadow fleet is made up of ships engaged in illegal operations to evade sanctions.
North Korea expands plant making missile used by Russia in Ukraine, researchers say
Monday 25 November 2024 22:17 , Andy Gregory
Satellite images show North Korea is expanding a key weapons manufacturing complex which assembles a type of short-range missile used by Russia in its war against Ukraine, researchers at a US-based think tank have said.
Sam Lair, a research associate at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, said the Ryongsong Machine Complex in Hamhung was the only plant known to produce the Hwasong-11 class of solid-fuel ballistic missiles, which Ukrainian officials say have been used by Russia in the conflict.
The satellite images, taken in early October by the commercial satellite firm Planet Labs, show what appears to be an additional assembly building under construction as well as a new housing facility, likely intended for workers, according to the analysis by researchers at CNS.
“We see this as a suggestion that they’re massively increasing, or they’re trying to significantly increase, the throughput of this factory,” Mr Lair told Reuters.
Ukraine has lost over 40% of land it seized in Kursk, senior Kyiv military source says
Monday 25 November 2024 21:46 , Andy Gregory
Ukraine has lost over 40 per cent of the territory in Russia’s Kursk region that it captured in a surprise incursion in August as Russian forces amass tens of thousands of troops and mount waves of counter-assaults, a senior Ukrainian military source has told Reuters.
The source, who is on Ukraine’s General Staff, said Russia had deployed 59,000 troops to the Kursk region since Kyiv’s forces swept in and advanced swiftly, catching Moscow unprepared.
“At most, we controlled about 1,376 square kilometres, now of course this territory is smaller. The enemy is increasing its counterattacks,” the source said.
“Now we control approximately 800 square kilometres. We will hold this territory for as long as is militarily appropriate.”
Russia removes commander in Ukraine ‘for misleading reports’
Monday 25 November 2024 21:09 , Andy Gregory
Russia has removed a senior general in Ukraine for giving misleading reports about the progress of the war as defence minister Andrei Belousov tries to clear out poor commanders, pro-Russian war bloggers and state media said.
Ahead of winter, Russian forces advanced at the fastest rate in Ukraine since the start of the 2022 invasion, though progress was much slower in some areas – particularly around Siversk in the eastern region of Donetsk.
Russian media cited unidentified sources as saying that Colonel General Gennady Anashkin, the commander of the Southern Grouping, had been removed from his command, though there was no official confirmation.
“Only the lazy did not write about the problems there: overall, it took the system about two months to react properly,” Rybar, a pro-Russian blogger said on Telegram.
“Anashkin, was removed from office for false reports in the Seversk direction,” Rybar added.
UN chief and the Pope call for nations to end the use of antipersonnel land mines
Monday 25 November 2024 20:01 , Andy Gregory
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres, Pope Francis and others have urged nations to end the production and use of anti-personnel land mines – just days after the US announced it would supply them to Ukraine.
In a message to delegates at the fifth review of the International Mine Ban Treaty, also known as the Ottawa Convention, Mr Guterres warned some parties were falling behind in their commitments to destroy the weapons, 25 years after it came into force.
“I call on states parties to meet their obligations and ensure compliance to the convention, while addressing humanitarian and developmental impacts through financial and technical support,” Mr Guterres said at the opening of the conference in Cambodia.
“I also encourage all states that have not yet acceded to the convention to join the 164 that have done so. A world without anti-personnel mines is not just possible. It is within reach.”
The UN chief and pope call for nations to end the use of antipersonnel land mines
Britain will not be intimidated by Russian cyberthreats, minister tells Nato
Monday 25 November 2024 19:30 , Andy Gregory
Britain and its allies will not be intimidated by Russian cyberthreats into stopping supporting Ukraine, cabinet office minister Pat McFadden has told Nato, urging the military alliance to work together more closely to stay ahead in “the new AI arms race”.
Addressing a Nato Cyber Defence Conference in London, Mr McFadden warned that Nato, businesses and institutions must do “everything they can to lock their own digital doors” to protect themselves from what he called an increasingly aggressive Russia.
And he called for Ukraine’s allies to double down on their support for Kyiv against Vladimir Putin, who he said was trying “to deter our support for Ukraine with his threats”.
“We will not join those voices of weakness who want to give Putin a veto over our help for Ukraine,” Mr McFadden said.
“While no one should underestimate the Russian aggressive and reckless cyber threat to Nato, we will not be intimidated by it and we will never allow it to dictate our decisions or policies. And we will do everything we can to defend our countries against it.”
It’s not yet World War Three – but ‘World War Z’ has begun
Monday 25 November 2024 18:58 , Andy Gregory
It’s not yet World War Three – but ‘World War Z’ has begun
War with Russia won’t end quickly, says ex-Ukrainian minister
Monday 25 November 2024 18:31 , Andy Gregory
Former Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba believes that Mocow’s war with Kyiv will not end quickly even after US president-elect Donald Trump takes office next year.
“I do not expect any quick ending of the war,” Mr Kuleba told CNN.
“What I know for certain is that first: [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy will not leave under pressure,” he said. “Second, Ukraine will not agree to any quick solution. And third, most importantly, I would like to remind everyone that the key to peace lies in Moscow not in Kyiv.”
The Ukrainian president earlier this month said the war will end “faster” when Mr Trump takes over as US president.
Mr Trump had claimed repeatedly that the Ukraine-Russia war would not have started if he had been president and would settle the war in one day.
Trump’s pick for security advisor calls for end to war
Monday 25 November 2024 17:59 , Andy Gregory
Donald Trump’s top security advisor has called for an end to the escalation of the war between Ukraine and Russia, urging both nations to come to the negotiating table.
“We need to bring this to a responsible end. We need to restore deterrence, restore peace, and get ahead of this escalation ladder, rather than responding to it,” said Mike Waltz, the president-elect’s pick for national security adviser.
“President Trump has been very clear about the need to end this conflict,” he told Fox News yesterday.
“We need to be discussing who’s at that table, whether it’s an agreement, an armistice, how to get both sides to the table and then what’s the framework of a deal?”
US Air Force says drones spotted near 3 bases in England last week
Monday 25 November 2024 17:32 , Andy Gregory
The US Air Force has said that a number of small drones were detected last week around three bases in eastern England used by American forces.
The drones were spotted between Wednesday and Friday near RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall and RAF Feltwell. They were actively monitored after they were seen in the vicinity of and over the three bases, U.S. Air Forces Europe said in a statement.
The Air Force didn’t identify who was behind the incursions, but said base officials determined there was no impact on residents or critical infrastructure.
US Air Force says drones spotted near 3 bases in England last week
James Scott Rhys Anderson: Who is ex-British soldier captured in Russia’s Kursk region?
Monday 25 November 2024 17:07 , Andy Gregory
James Scott Rhys Anderson, who says he is a former British soldier, has been captured in Russia’s Kursk region while fighting for Ukraine, according to Russian state media.
The 22-year-old man’s father told the Daily Mail he feared his son would be tortured, while the UK Foreign Office confirmed it was “supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention”.
His capture would mark one of the first known cases of a Western national being captured on Russian soil while fighting for Ukraine.
So, who is Mr Anderson, and how did this man come to be captured by Russian forces?
Who is the former British soldier captured in Russia’s Kursk region?
Turkey’s Erdogan and Nato chief discuss ways to end Ukraine war, Ankara says
Monday 25 November 2024 16:44 , Andy Gregory
Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan and Nato chief Mark Rutte discussed possible ways to end Russia’s war in Ukraine during talks in Ankara on Monday, the Turkish presidency has said.
“During the meeting, what can be done to end the Ukraine-Russia war and the massacre in Palestine were discussed,” the presidency said on X.
Watch: Ukrainian boxer Klitschko accuses Joe Rogan of pushing Russian propaganda
Monday 25 November 2024 16:25 , Andy Gregory
Russia progressing in Donetsk ‘significantly faster’ than in whole of last year, analysts say
Monday 25 November 2024 15:57 , Andy Gregory
On the battlefield, Ukrainian forces are straining to hold back Russian offensives in the eastern Donetsk region.
Russian forces recently have gained ground at “a significantly quicker rate” than they did in the whole of last year, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War think-tank.
The Russians have detected and are exploiting weaknesses in the Ukrainian defenses, the think-tank said.
Russian charged with sending video of military equipment to Ukraine jailed for 14 years
Monday 25 November 2024 15:34 , Andy Gregory
A Russian man has been sentenced to 14 years in prison after being found guilty of high treason for a video he allegedly sent to Ukraine’s security services showing russian military equipment.
The Volgograd District Court said Nikita Zhuravel had been “in disagreement with the political course of the Russian Federation” and entered into correspondence with a representative from Ukraine’s security services online and carried out tasks for him. It did not give details on the tasks.
Mr Zhuravel is already serving a 42-month sentence for burning a Quran in front of a mosque, which was handed down in February.
Prosecutors said he filmed a trainload of military equipment and warplanes in 2023 and sent the video to a representative of Ukraine’s security agency.
But rights activists say Zhuravel is a political prisoner who was beaten while in custody, by the 15-year-old son of Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed strongman leader of the Muslim-majority region of Chechnya. The warlord posted the video on social media and praised his son, causing public outrage.
Treason and espionage cases have skyrocketed after Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022, with cases targeting a wide range of suspects, from Kremlin critics and independent journalists to scientists.
Putin showing ‘no sign of wanting to negotiate’, says Lammy
Monday 25 November 2024 14:56 , Andy Gregory
Speaking at the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Italy, foreign secretary David Lammy told reporters he was “announcing the biggest sanctions package of the Russian shadow fleet” and warned that Vladimir Putin was showing “no signs at all” of wanting to negotiate over Ukraine.
“We are supporting them by £3bn a year every year for as long as it lasts to support them militarily, and of course with both economic and humanitarian aid we continue to support Ukraine,” said Mr Lammy.
“It’s hugely important at this G7 that all colleagues across the G7 continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it lasts and we are confident that Ukraine can have the funds and the military equipment and kit to get through 2025.
“Our assessment is that Putin shows no signs at all of wanting a negotiation. We have to ensure that Ukrainians are equipped for the fight.”
Germany’s Olaf Scholz makes Ukraine support a key plank of election campaign
Monday 25 November 2024 14:30 , Andy Gregory
Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz has said supporting Ukraine will be a key plank of his re-election campaign after his party named him as their lead candidate for February’s vote.
Popular defence Minister Boris Pistorius ruled himself out of the running last Thursday, putting an end to weeks of speculation over whether he should lead the centre-left SPD into the election instead of Scholz.
The party executive committee of the centre-left SPD unanimously voted for Scholz as chancellor candidate, allowing him to run for a second term despite overseeing the collapse of his three-way coalition earlier this month.
In his coronation speech, Scholz spelled out the key points for his election campaign: ensuring peace by cautiously supporting Ukraine against Russia’s full-scale invasion, reviving the ailing economy and taming the cost of living crisis.
Mr Scholz, the least popular chancellor since reunification in 1990, has an uphill battle ahead of him. His SPD is currently polling in third place, with a survey by INSA putting the party on 14 per cent, behind the opposition conservatives on 32 per cent and far-right Alternative for Germany on 19.
UK spies ‘watching’ Russia amid cyber warfare fears, minister to warn
Monday 25 November 2024 14:11 , Andy Gregory
British spies will seek to counter Russian cyber warfare with a new laboratory for artificial intelligence, a minister will announce, warning Russia will not “think twice” about targeting the UK.
Vowing never to let Vladimir Putin deter the UK from supporting Ukraine, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden will say the UK and its Nato allies are “watching” Moscow and combatting its attacks both publicly and “behind the scenes”.
In a major speech on Monday, Mr McFadden will warn that Britain “learned long ago” not to appease dictators and that Mr Putin “will not be successful” in attempting to weaken backing for Ukraine.
And the minister, responsible for UK national security, will announce a new Laboratory for AI Security Research (LAISR) aimed at helping the UK stay ahead in “the new AI arms race”.
Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell reports:
UK spies ‘watching’ Russia amid cyber warfare fears, minister to warn
At least 23 people injured in Kharkiv
Monday 25 November 2024 13:16 , Andy Gregory
Kharkiv authorities have revised the casualty toll following Russia’s missile attack in the northeastern city.
At least 23 people are now reported to have been injured, with the attack having damaged more than 40 buildings on Monday morning, the regional governor and national police said.
At least 10 people were also injured in a missile attack on the southern city of Odesa, where residential buildings were also damaged, Ukraine’s interior ministry said.
At least 10 people were injured in the missile strike on Odesa (Oleksandr Gimanov/AFP via Getty Images)
Russia claims to have shot down eight ballistic missiles fired by Ukraine
Monday 25 November 2024 13:10 , Andy Gregory
Russia claims to have shot down eight ballistic missiles allegedly fired overnight by Ukraine.
“Russian air defence forces shot down eight ballistic missiles, as well as six guided US-made JDAM bombs and 45 aircraft-type drones in the past 24 hours,” Russia’s defence ministry was quoted as saying by state news.
While the veracity of the claims were unclear, Ukraine’s military said on Monday it had attacked an oil depot in Russia’s western Kaluga region, along with targets in Bryansk and Kursk.
Russia ‘will weigh deploying short and medium-range missiles in Asia’ if US does the same
Monday 25 November 2024 12:44 , Andy Gregory
Russia will consider deploying short and intermediate-range missiles in Asia if the United States deploys such missiles to the same region, deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov has been quoted as saying by state news.
Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday that Tokyo and Washington were aiming to put together a joint military plan for a possible Taiwan emergency, which would include the US deploying missiles to the Nansei Islands in Japan’s southwestern Kagoshima and Okinawa prefectures, and to the Philippines.
UK will offer ‘all the support we can’ to British national captured in Russia’s Kursk region
Monday 25 November 2024 12:32 , Andy Gregory
Britain’s foreign secretary David Lammy has said that “we will do all we can” to offer support to a British man who reportedly captured by Russian forces while fighting for Ukraine.
Mr Lammy was asked about the reports regarding the man who identified himself as James Scott Rhys Anderson and said he was a former British Army soldier in footage that was widely circulated on Sunday.
Speaking in Italy, Mr Lammy told reporters: “I have been updated about that development in the last couple of days and of course we will do all we can to offer this UK national all the support we can.”
War crimes investigator probes site of Kharkiv missile attack
Monday 25 November 2024 12:01 , Andy Gregory
A Ukrainian war crimes investigator was pictured photographing the site of the Russian missile attack on Kharkiv which left 10 people injured, the Associated Press reports.
(Sergey Bobok/AFP via Getty Images)
Russia’s army bigger than two years ago but quality has decreased, says top Nato official
Monday 25 November 2024 11:46 , Andy Gregory
Russia’s land forces are now larger than when Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022 but their quality has decreased, a top Nato military official has said.
“The quality of those forces has gone down,” Nato’s highest-ranking military officer Admiral Rob Bauer said, pointing to the state of the force’s equipment and the level of training of its soldiers.
“At the moment, the Russians are not the same threat as in February 2022, so we have a bit of time to prepare ourselves,” he said, adding that this meant ramping up investments into the defence industry.
Pictures show aftermath of Kharkiv missile attack
Monday 25 November 2024 11:27 , Andy Gregory
Photographs have emerged showing the aftermath of a Russian missile attack on Kharkiv, as at least 10 people were injured.
Local residents walk among debris in the courtyard of a residential building following a missile attack in Kharkiv (Sergey Bobok/AFP via Getty Images)
(Sergey Bobok/AFP via Getty Images)
Kremlin claims it ‘is not familiar’ with shock Romanian presidential frontrunner’s views on Russia
Monday 25 November 2024 11:12 , Andy Gregory
The Kremlin has claimed not to be particularly familiar with the views on Russia of Calin Georgescu, the far-right Romanian presidential candidate who has emerged as the shock winner in the first round of the country’s elections.
The success of Mr Georgescu, a little-known independent candidate who has claimed that Romania’s best chance lies with “Russian wisdom” and who won 22.9 per cent of the first round vote, has surprised both pollsters and commentators alike.
Given his anti-Nato stance, one political commentator told Reuters that Russian meddling could not be ruled out. “Based on Georgescu’s stance towards Ukraine and the discrepancy between opinion surveys and the actual result, we cannot rule [that] out,” said Sergiu Miscoiu, a political scientist at Babes-Bolyai University.
But asked on Monday for the Kremlin’s take on Mr Georgescu and his electoral prospects ahead of the second round of voting on 8 December, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “I would not make any predictions yet.
“We probably cannot say that we are that familiar with the world view of this candidate as far as relations with our country are concerned. For now, we understand very clearly the current leadership of Romania, which is not a friendly country to us. We will of course watch how the electoral processes develop and who wins.”
Calin Georgescu, running as an independent candidate for president, speaks to media after registering his bid in the country’s presidential elections (AP Photo/Alexandru Dobre)
Ukraine says it struck oil depot in Russia’s western Kaluga region
Monday 25 November 2024 10:32 , Andy Gregory
The Ukrainian military has said it had struck an oil depot overnight in a reported drone attack in Russia’s western Kaluga region, whose capital lies just 100 miles southwest of Moscow.
The military also said it had struck “a number of important targets” overnight in Russia’s Bryansk and Kursk regions, which are adjacent to Ukraine.
Unverified footage appearing to show the aftermath was shared online, including by a Ukrainian ministerial adviser.
Romania in shock after far-right populist enters presidential election’s runoff with most votes
Monday 25 November 2024 10:21 , Andy Gregory
Romania’s political landscape is reeling after an obscure far-right populist secured the first round in its presidential election, beating the incumbent prime minister and threatening Romania’s pro-Ukraine stance.
Calin Georgescu, a hard-right critic of Nato who ran independently, will face off against reformist Elena Lasconi in a runoff in two weeks, after securing 22.95 per cent of the vote to her 19.17 per cent.
Ms Lasconi beat incument premier Marcel Ciolacu of the Social Democratic Party, marking the first time in Romania’s 35-year post-communist history for the party not to have a candidate in the second round of a presidential race.
Romania in shock after far-right populist enters presidential election’s runoff with most votes
Ukraine’s air force says it downed 71 drones during mass overnight attack by Russia
Monday 25 November 2024 09:48 , Andy Gregory
Ukraine’s air force claims to have shot down 71 out of 145 drones launched by Russia overnight, in what would mark one of the largest such attacks of the war so far.
The air force said that it had lost track of 71 more drones likely due to active electronic warfare, with one drone heading towards Belarus.
The latest attack would be on a par with a drone attack earlier this month described as Russia’s largest of the war so far by Kyiv, which also saw Russia use 145 drones to attack Ukraine, a significant number of which will be decoys and others Iranian-made Shahed attack drones.
Kremlin says Trump’s team talks of peace unlike Biden administration
Monday 25 November 2024 09:23 , Andy Gregory
The Kremlin has said that US president-elect Donald Trump’s circle speaks of peace in Ukraine, while the current Biden Administration – which supports Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion – does not.
Repeating rhetoric regularly deployed by Russia throughout its war on Ukraine, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claimed on Monday that Vladimir Putin had repeatedly said that Moscow was ready for dialogue over Ukraine.
Mr Trump is “very concerned” about an escalation in fighting between Russia and Ukraine, Trump’s pick for national security adviser, Mike Waltz, told Fox News on Sunday, saying the war must be brought “to a responsible end”.