More than a million households without power across the country as strikes on energy infrastructure continue
Russia has continued its assault on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as Vladimir Putin threatens to strike “decision-making centres” in Kyiv with Moscow’s new ballistic Oreshnik missile.
More than 200 missiles and drones were fired by Russia on Thursday morning, leaving more than a million households without power, according to reports from Ukrainian officials.
Continue reading...Regional leaders meet after undersea telecoms cables severed, while Chinese ship remains at anchor nearby
The Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, has said the Baltic sea is now a “high risk” zone as he met Nordic and Baltic leaders days after a suspected sabotage attack on undersea cables.
The Swedish prime minister declined to speculate on who may have been responsible for the severing of two fibre optic telecoms cables in the Baltic last week. A Chinese ship – the Yi Peng 3 – that sailed over the cables about the time they were severed has remained anchored in the Kattegat strait between Sweden and Denmark since 19 November.
Continue reading...German intelligence chief warns continued hybrid warfare by Moscow increases risk of alliance invoking Article 5
Russia’s acts of sabotage against western targets may eventually prompt Nato to consider invoking the alliance’s Article 5 mutual defence clause, the head of Germany’s foreign intelligence service has warned.
Speaking at an event of the German Council of Foreign Relations (DGAP) think tank in Berlin on Wednesday, BND chief Bruno Kahl said he expected Moscow to further step up its hybrid warfare.
Continue reading...Retired US army general and former Pence aide tapped for newly conceived role to negotiate amid ongoing war
Donald Trump has picked Keith Kellogg to serve as a special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, a newly conceived role given the ongoing war between the two countries.
Kellogg, an 80-year-old retired US army lieutenant general, would start in the role as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues into its third year.
Continue reading...Intelligence agency has been trying to entice Russians disaffected by invasion of Ukraine but president-elect is likely to want to make an ally of Kremlin
For the past three years, the CIA has run an unusually bold outreach programme. It targeted Russians within the country’s government and security services, attempting to turn them into double agents.
Slickly produced recruitment videos portrayed cooperation with the US secret agency as the patriotic choice for officials disaffected with Vladimir Putin’s regime and the war in Ukraine. The videos ended with instructions on how to contact the CIA in a secure manner.
Continue reading...Moscow bans Labour figures including Angela Rayner, Yvette Cooper and Rachel Reeves under new sanctions
Russia has banned cabinet ministers including Angela Rayner, Yvette Cooper and Rachel Reeves from entering the country under new sanctions announced by Moscow’s foreign affairs ministry.
More than a dozen other senior Labour politicians are among the 30 British citizens on the Russian “stop list” after tensions between London and Moscow rose following Ukraine’s recent use of British missiles to strike deeper into Russia.
Continue reading...Kremlin bans UK cabinet ministers including Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Yveette Cooper from entering country
The Federation of Small Businesses applauds the ambition in the government’s Get Britain Working, but says that overcoming the “pervasive poverty of ambition” about employment in the public sector won’t be easy. This is from Tina McKenzie, the FSB’s policy chair.
This is a start – but only a start – in fixing the pervasive poverty of ambition in the Jobcentre, health and other state systems when it comes to getting people back into work. Increasing employment is ultimately the most sure-fire way to drive up living standards and economic growth.
Ministers have a huge job to persuade public institutions that work is good for health and that everyone who needs work should be helped to get a job or start-up in self-employment – not least getting rid of the idea that the only good work is in graduate jobs, the public sector or volunteering.
The ambition behind the 80 per cent employment target is both clear and important ..
To deliver on this policy agenda, government and small businesses must work in partnership to drive real change through the whole employment system and make sure the country is helping those who most need work.
It is right to ensure that young people who are seeking work are helped to find a job or training. Positive early experiences in the jobs market are vital for young people’s future life chances. They must be supported to take part, not faced with self-defeating sanctions.
Success will also depend on ministers making the investment that’s needed in health services and quality training. Jobcentre staff must have a central role in redesigning their services, and devolution must never come at the cost of staff terms and conditions.
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Călin Georgescu, a Moscow-friendly independent candidate with a nationalist background, has taken a surprise lead in the first round of Romania’s presidential election.
As my colleague Jon Henley notes in this report, with 99.98% of votes counted, Georgescu, who has praised Vladimir Putin as “a man who loves his country”, was on 22.9%, with the reformist Elena Lasconi, of the Save Romania Union (USR), second on 19.17%.
Continue reading...Moscow is pushing hard on eastern frontline amid uncertainty as to how Trump taking office will affect war
Russia launched its biggest ever drone attack on Ukraine on Monday night and Tuesday morning, sending a reported 188 drones into the country against various targets, resulting in power cuts in part of western Ukraine and damage to residential buildings outside Kyiv.
Russian forces are pushing hard along the frontline in the east of the country, amid uncertainty as to how the dynamics of the war might change once Donald Trump takes office in January. Russia also vowed “retaliatory actions” for fresh Ukrainian strikes on military targets inside Russia that used long-range missiles sent by the US.
Continue reading...Security service accuses diplomat of ‘reconnaisance and subversive activities’ amid rising tension
Russia said it was expelling a British diplomat for alleged spying as tensions between London and Moscow rose after Ukraine’s recent use of British weapons to strike deeper into Russia.
The FSB, Russia’s domestic intelligence agency, announced on Tuesday that it had acted on documents accusing a British diplomat of engaging in “reconnaissance and subversive activities that threaten the country’s security”.
Continue reading...Foreign secretary offers support for James Scott Rhys Anderson, who was fighting for Ukraine reportedly in Kursk
The UK government has promised to do all it can to assist a former British soldier fighting for Ukraine who has been taken prisoner by the Russian army.
Two videos of a man who identified himself as James Scott Rhys Anderson surfaced on Russian Telegram channels over the weekend. They featured interrogation of a bearded man in military fatigues, who had his hands tied and spoke slowly in English to give details from his biography, including that he served as a signalman in the British army between 2019 and 2023. Anderson is 22, according to the date of birth he gave in the video.
Continue reading...Olympic gold medalist argues in video that podcaster’s remarks about war in Ukraine is result of Putin-led plot
The podcaster Joe Rogan is “repeating Russian propaganda” about the war in Ukraine, the former world heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko charged in remarks on social media, adding that Rogan should invite him on his podcast to discuss the issue “like free men”.
“I listen to your latest podcast,” said Klitschko, whose brother Vitali Klitschko was also a world champion boxer and is now mayor of Kyiv.
Continue reading...App planned for public to find emergency shelter in places including underground train stations and car parks
Germany is drawing up a list of bunkers that could provide emergency shelter for civilians, the interior ministry has said, at a time of rising tensions with Russia.
The list would include underground train stations and car parks as well as state buildings and private properties, a ministry spokesperson said.
Continue reading...Casualties include 14 people who have been sent to hospital
Jon Henley is the Guardian’s Europe correspondent
An ultranationalist, Moscow-friendly Nato critic is set to face a centre-right candidate in the runoff of Romania’s presidential elections after a shock first-round result that has upended the country’s politics and could jeopardise its support for Ukraine.
Continue reading...Călin Georgescu, a critic of Nato, says people have ‘cried out for peace’ after he heads into runoff with 22.9% of vote
An ultranationalist, Moscow-friendly Nato critic is set to face a centre-right candidate in the runoff of Romania’s presidential elections after a shock first-round result that has upended the country’s politics and could jeopardise its support for Ukraine.
With 99.98% of votes counted, Călin Georgescu, an independent who has praised Vladimir Putin as “a man who loves his country”, was on 22.9%, with the reformist Elena Lasconi, of the Save Romania Union (USR), second on 19.17%.
Continue reading...Man identifies himself in a video as James Scott Rhys Anderson, 22, saying he joined the country’s International Legion
A British man has reportedly been captured by Russian forces while fighting for Ukraine.
In a widely circulated video on Sunday, first posted on Telegram, the man identifies himself as James Scott Rhys Anderson, 22, and says he is a former British army soldier.
Continue reading...Comments part of debate over whether Beijing backs Kim Jong-un’s decision to send troops to fight in Ukraine
China is increasingly uncomfortable about North Korea’s engagement with Russia and finds the growing cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow unnerving, Kurt Campbell, the US deputy secretary of state has said.
He was leaning into a growing debate among the US’s security partners in Asia on whether China supports the decision of North Korea’s Kim Jong-un to send 10,000 troops to fight for Russia against Ukraine. It is said the North Korean troops are now inside Russia.
Continue reading...Tsai Ing-wen says Kyiv needs weapons more urgently than Taipei and says Ukrainian victory will be ‘effective deterrent to future aggression’
Taiwan’s former president urges US to prioritise aiding Ukraine over Taiwan for now, says report. Former Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen has suggested that the US should prioritise helping Ukraine over Taiwan – in the immediate future – as Kyiv needs weapons more urgently than Taipei. Speaking at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia, the former Taiwanese leader was quoted by Politico as saying: “They should do whatever they can to help the Ukrainians … We [Taiwan] still have time.”
Moscow offers debt forgiveness to new recruits. Vladimir Putin has signed a law granting debt forgiveness to new army recruits who enlist to fight in Moscow’s war on Ukraine. According to Russian state news agency Interfax, the new legislation allows those signing up for a one-year contract to write off bad debts of up to 10 million rubles ($96,000; £77,000).
An air alert has been sounded ‘almost daily’ across Ukraine this week, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says as he pleads for more air defences. Zelenskyy has posted to Telegram saying that his country needs more air defences to protect itself against relentless Russian attacks. He said that Russia used more than 800 guided aerial bombs, about 460 attack drones, and more than 20 missiles over the past week.
Russia prepared to launch cyber-attacks on UK, minister to warn. Russia is prepared to launch a series of cyber-attacks on Britain and other Nato members as it seeks to weaken support for Ukraine, a senior UK cabinet minister will warn in a speech on Monday. Moscow will “not think twice” about exploiting defence gaps to target UK businesses, and allies must “not underestimate” the threat it poses, Pat McFadden, a senior UK minister whose portfolio includes national security, will say. In a speech to the Nato cyber defence conference at Lancaster House, the minister is expected to say: “Military hard-power is one thing. But cyberwar can be destabilising and debilitating. With a cyber-attack, Russia can turn the lights off for millions of people. It can shut down the power grids. This is the hidden war Russia is waging with Ukraine.”
No ‘red lines’ when it comes to support for Ukraine, France’s foreign minister says. The French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, has told the BBC in an interview that western allies should not put any limits on support for Ukraine against Russia, and “not set and express red lines”. Barrot’s comments are significant, coming a few days after US and UK long-range missiles were used in that way for the first time. Barrot said that Ukraine could fire French long-range missiles into Russia “in the logics of self-defence”, but would not confirm if French weapons had already been used.
Vladimir Putin has signed a law granting debt forgiveness to new army recruits who enlist to fight in Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
Continue reading...The US doesn’t need to spend more on Ukraine. Britain can bring funding to the table – and help Trump reboot alliances
With Donald Trump the very meaning of words is up for negotiation. What does he really mean when he promises to “build a wall”? When he pledges to end the Russo-Ukrainian war in one day?
His supporters say they don’t take him literally but seriously – but who decides what “serious” is? The very ambiguity can be part of Trump’s appeal. There’s something exhilarating in the sense one is in an exclusive negotiation with the president to define reality. It’s as if he’s welcoming you backstage from the reality show of politics to the discrete board room where meaning is made.
Continue reading...Pat McFadden will tell cyber summit that Russia ‘won’t think twice about targeting British businesses’ and danger to Nato must not be underestimated
Russia is “exceptionally aggressive and reckless in the cyber realm” and “no one should underestimate” the threat to Nato, a senior UK minister will warn in a speech on Monday.
Pat McFadden, whose portfolio includes national security, will tell a Nato cybersecurity conference in London that Moscow “won’t think twice about targeting British businesses”, according to excerpts of his address released on Sunday by his ministry.
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