UK ‘woefully’ unprepared for Chinese and Russian undersea cable sabotage, says report

CSRI finds China and Russia may be coordinating ‘grey zone’ tactics against vulnerable western infrastructure

China and Russia are stepping up sabotage operations targeting undersea cables and the UK is unprepared to meet the mounting threat, according to new analysis.

A report by the China Strategic Risks Institute (CSRI) analysed 12 incidents in which national authorities had investigated alleged undersea cable sabotage between January 2021 and April 2025. Of the 10 cases in which a suspect vessel was identified, eight were directly linked to China or Russia through flag-state registration or company ownership.

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KGB defector turned to Britain only after US rejected him several times, book reveals

Vasili Mitrokhin defected in 1992 after spending years copying top-secret documents on Soviet spies and operations

One of the most consequential Russian defectors in history was turned away several times by the US before he was eventually accepted by Britain and exfiltrated with his family from Russia, according to revelations in a new book.

Vasili Mitrokhin, a KGB archivist who spent years copying top-secret documents on some of the most sensitive Soviet spies and operations, was brought out of Russia in 1992 by MI6. His archive of copied documents was exfiltrated separately. But London got hold of his trove only after Mitrokhin gave up trying to get the US to take him seriously.

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Astronaut missions postponed amid concerns about leaks at International Space Station

Chartered spaceflight for India, Poland and Hungary’s first astronauts in decades delayed indefinitely

A chartered spaceflight for India, Poland and Hungary’s first astronauts in decades has been delayed indefinitely because of leak concerns at the International Space Station.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) said Thursday that it had postponed the Axiom Mission 4 to the ISS to monitor the cabin pressure on the Russian side of the orbiting lab before accepting visitors. Officials stressed that the seven astronauts currently at the space station are safe and that other operations up there would not be affected.

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Zelenskyy calls for ‘concrete actions’ as Russian strikes hit seven of Kyiv’s 10 districts

Ukraine president criticises lack of response from US and others after one of Moscow’s largest attacks of war on Kyiv

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has voiced his frustration with Donald Trump by calling for “concrete actions” rather than “silence” after Russia launched one of its largest attacks on Kyiv, with seven of the Ukrainian capital’s 10 districts hit overnight.

A total of 315 drones and seven missiles were launched at Ukrainian targets across the country in the early hours of Tuesday, including Odesa in the south-east. But it was the capital that was the focus of Russia’s ferocious barrage.

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EU calls for lower price cap on Russian oil in move to tighten sanctions

Other measures include greater restrictions on ‘shadow fleet’, banks and Nord Stream investment

The EU executive has called for lowering the price cap on Russian oil as it seeks to tighten energy and financial sanctions against the Kremlin’s ability to wage war.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, proposed that western countries reduce the price at which Russian oil can be sold to $45 (£30) a barrel, down from the current $60.

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Russia could be ready to attack Nato within five years, says secretary general

In speech in London Mark Rutte says he expects alliance members to agree to raise military spending to 5% of GDP

Russia could be ready to attack Nato within five years and leaders of the western alliance are expected to agree to increase military spending to 5% of GDP this month to contain the threat, the alliance’s secretary general has said.

Mark Rutte said in a speech in London on Monday that Nato needed “a quantum leap in our collective defence”, which would include significant rearmament to deter an increasingly militarised Russia.

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‘It will lift the spirits’: Kyiv to stage ‘most English of ballets’ after Russian repertoire boycott

Frederick Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée to be performed for first time, replacing classics by Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky after fundraising in London

One of the “most English of ballets” will be performed for the first time at the National Opera of Ukraine in Kyiv after a boycott of the classic Russian repertoire, including Swan Lake and the Nutcracker.

Sir Frederick Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée, a celebrated romantic comedy, will be performed to a sell-out audience on Thursday after Ukraine turned away from the works of Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and Prokofiev.

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Russian forces closing in on Sumy city three years after Ukraine forced them out of region

Independent monitors confirm Kremlin claims of new and symbolically important advances in east of Ukraine

Russian military units appear to be within 18 miles (29km) of the city of Sumy, three years after Ukraine forced them out of the northern region, while also making new and symbolically important ground in the east.

Independent monitors confirmed Kremlin claims to have retaken the village of Loknia, which had been liberated along with the rest of the Sumy region during Ukraine’s 2022 spring counteroffensive.

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Neo-Nazi group ‘actively seeking to grow in US’ with planned paramilitary training event

The Base is emerging from shadows and ramping up its ranks as White House turns blind eye to the far right

An international neo-Nazi terrorist organization is boldly continuing to build in the US and planning a new paramilitary training event without fear of local authorities or the FBI, which once dismantled it in a nationwide effort.

The Base, founded in 2018 by a former Pentagon contractor living in Russia and now suspected of Kremlin-sponsored espionage, once boasted close to 50 stateside members before the bureau made more than a dozen arrests in a years-long counter-terrorism operation.

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Russia is at war with Britain and US is no longer a reliable ally, UK adviser says

Government defence expert Fiona Hill warns UK to respond to threats by becoming more cohesive and resilient

Russia is at war with Britain, the US is no longer a reliable ally and the UK has to respond by becoming more cohesive and more resilient, according to one of the three authors of the strategic defence review.

Fiona Hill, from County Durham, became the White House’s chief Russia adviser during Donald Trump’s first term and contributed to the British government’s strategy. She made the remarks in an interview with the Guardian.

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Russia bombards Kyiv after Putin vows revenge for Operation Spiderweb

Three emergency workers killed and 20 people wounded as missiles and drones strike Ukrainian capital

Russia launched an intense missile and drone barrage at Kyiv overnight after Vladimir Putin vowed to respond to Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb attack on some of the Kremlin’s nuclear-capable bombers.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia had launched more than 400 drones and more than 40 missiles at Ukraine, as he urged allies to build pressure on the Kremlin to end its war. Four people were killed, including three emergency workers in Kyiv.

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Russia attacks Ukraine with missiles and drones – as it happened

This blog is now closed

We’re about to wrap up this live coverage for now – thanks for reading. Here’s a recap of what happened this morning.

Russia attacked Ukraine with Russian ballistic missiles and drones during a nighttime attack early on Friday, wounding at least three people, officials said.

Multiple explosions were heard in Kyiv, the capital, and falling debris triggered fires across several districts as air defence systems tried to intercept incoming targets, said the Kyiv city administration’s head, Tymur Tkachenko.

Authorities reported damage in several districts and rescue workers were responding at multiple locations. Officials urged residents to seek shelter.

The attacks came after Russia accused Kyiv of state terrorism over its drone operation striking Russian heavy bomber planes at air bases in Siberia and the far north at the weekend and said it would respond as and when its military saw fit.

In Friday’s Russian attacks a fire broke out in a 16-story residential building in Kyiv’s Solomyanskyi district and emergency services evacuated three people from the apartment. Rescue operations were continuing. Another fire broke out in a metal warehouse.

A Shahed drone exploded near an apartment building in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region, shattering windows and doors, the regional military administration chief said. Explosions from ballistic missiles were also recorded on the city’s outskirts, Dmytro Bryzhynskyi added.

US president Donald Trump said that during a call with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday he urged the Russian president to refrain from retaliating but fully expected Moscow to strike back over Ukraine’s assault on Russian heavy bomber planes.

The UN nuclear safety watchdog’s team at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine heard repeated rounds of gunfire that appeared to be aimed at drones reportedly attacking the site’s training centre, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Thursday. There were no immediate reports of damage to the centre, it said.

German chancellor Friedrich Merz urged Trump in an Oval Office meeting to increase pressure on Russia to end the war.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un vowed to “unconditionally support” Russia in the war at a meeting with top Russian security official Sergei Shoigu, Pyongyang state media reported.
With agencies

How and when our military deems it appropriate.

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Kremlin and Trump aides raise nuclear war fears after Ukraine drone strike

Vladimir Putin has warned Russia will respond to Kyiv’s attacks on nuclear-capable aircraft at airfields

As Vladimir Putin pledges to retaliate against Ukraine for last weekend’s unprecedented drone attack, Kremlin advisers and figures around Donald Trump have told the US president that the risk of a nuclear confrontation is growing, in an attempt to pressure him to further reduce US support for Ukraine.

Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and an important intermediary between the Kremlin and Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, called the Ukrainian drone strike an attack on “Russian nuclear assets”, and echoed remarks from Maga-friendly figures warning of the potential for a third world war.

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‘Five years from now, these readers will be soldiers’: The Russian literature encouraging teens to enlist

Master-race stories of heroic characters battling against zombie Nazis and western spies to recover imperial grandeur are a bleak new spin on an old propaganda tradition

‘Z literature”, a subgenre of Russian fantasy fiction characterised by nationalistic, pro-war storylines, has been on the rise since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began three years ago and may be pushing young readers towards enlisting in combat.

Z literature – named after the “Z” symbol of support for the invasion – often features popadantsy, or “accidental travel” narratives, involving a protagonist being transported to pivotal moments in Russia’s past and using modern knowledge to intervene and alter history in Russia’s favour.

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Trump still ‘open’ to meeting Putin and Zelenskyy; Russia rejects unconditional ceasefire – as it happened

This live blog is now closed. For the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, read our full report:

Ruth Michaelson is reporting from Istanbul and will be providing updates on the talks. Here is some colour from outside Istanbul’s Ciragan Palace:

A fleet of black sedans arrived outside the Çırağan Palace in Istanbul, signalling the arrival of some of the negotiations teams.

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Russia seizes more Ukrainian territory amid fears of fresh ground offensive

More than 200 settlements in Sumy region under evacuation orders after Russia take control of two villages

Ukrainian officials issued evacuation orders on Saturday for 11 more villages in the northern Sumy region after continued Russian gains led to fears that Moscow could be gearing up for a fresh ground offensive.

Russia advanced deeper into Ukrainian territory on Saturday, taking control of two more villages in Sumy and killing two people in a missile and drone barrage. More than 200 settlements in the region were already under evacuation orders.

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UK must consider food and climate part of national security, say top ex-military figures

Former army and navy leaders urge government to think beyond military capability in advance of key defence review

Former military leaders are urging the UK government to widen its definition of national security to include climate, food and energy measures in advance of a planned multibillion-pound boost in defence spending.

Earlier this year Keir Starmer announced the biggest increase in defence spending in the UK since the end of the cold war, with the budget rising to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 – three years earlier than planned – and an ambition to reach 3%.

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Germany and Ukraine reach deal for long-range weapons production

Berlin agrees to help finance construction in Ukraine of weapons that can strike targets inside Russia

Ukraine and Germany have agreed to future military cooperation in which Berlin will help finance long-range weapons production on Ukrainian soil.

The deal came as Zelenskyy warned that Russia had amassed 50,000 troops in the Sumy region bordering Russia, where Vladimir Putin has declared an intention to establish a buffer zone.

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Zelenskyy bound for Berlin with Merz boxed in by German coalition

The German chancellor’s desire to lift restrictions on longer range weapons for Ukraine has been frustrated by his SPD and Social Democrat partners

The German chancellor’s drive to keep a campaign pledge of more robust backing for Ukraine is running into blocks within his own government as he prepares to welcome Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Berlin.

Friedrich Merz made a full-throated declaration on Monday, hours before Zelenskyy’s one-day visit was announced, that Germany was for the first time lifting previous range restrictions on weapons supplied to Kyiv, along with Ukraine’s other main western supporters.

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Trump warns Putin he is ‘playing with fire’ after Russian attack on Ukraine

US president launches fresh criticism of Russian counterpart and suggests US sanctions could be increased

Donald Trump has warned Vladimir Putin that he is “playing with fire”, launching a fresh broadside at his Russian counterpart over stalled Ukraine peace efforts.

Trump’s latest comments came after he called the Kremlin leader “CRAZY” over the weekend following a mass Russian air attack on Kyiv, and warned that Moscow risked new sanctions.

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