Ukraine-Russia war latest: Moscow expels British diplomat for ‘spying’, ambassador summons after argument breaks out

Ukraine has attacked Russia twice in the past three days with US-made ATACMS missiles, and Russia is preparing retaliatory measures, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Tuesday.

The report said both attacks targeted air defense positions in the Kursk region, with one or two missiles hitting their targets, but most were shot down.

A court in Russia’s Kursk region has ordered a British national at war with Ukraine to be detained pending investigation and trial.

The sentence for the Briton, identified by state news agency TASS and other media as James Scott Rhys Anderson, was announced by court officials on Tuesday, who said in an online statement that it had been handed down the day before.

The hearing was held behind closed doors at the Leninsky District Court in the city of Kursk. The statement did not make clear what charges Mr. Anderson was facing or whether he was considered a prisoner of war by Russian authorities.

The British national was reportedly captured in the Kursk region, but Ukrainian forces captured the territory following a blitzkrieg attack in August.

Russia’s advance threatens Donetsk’s vital supply routes, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War has warned.

The General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said on Tuesday that about half of the clashes on the 1,000-kilometer front in the past 24 hours occurred near Pokrovsk and Krakhove in the Donetsk region.

Ukraine is severely understaffed on the front lines, and although Russia’s military gains are gradually increasing, they are gaining momentum as the Ukrainian military makes concessions.

However, Ukraine’s defense facilities in Donetsk are not at risk of being overrun, the think tank said late Monday. He also pointed out that to achieve the Kremlin’s goal of capturing all of Donetsk, Russia would need to capture more than 8,000 square kilometers (3,000 square miles) of territory.

Russia has expelled a British diplomat on suspicion of espionage, the Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday, citing Russia’s Federal Security Service.

TASS news agency quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had summoned the British ambassador.

The British diplomat replaced one of six British diplomats who were also expelled in August on suspicion of espionage, according to the FSB. It said the diplomat provided false information in documents and committed espionage and sabotage.

There was no immediate comment from the UK’s Department for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development. The British Embassy in Moscow did not respond to requests for comment.

Ukraine faces a harsh winter amid concerns about the reliability of its power supply following a Russian attack and how much support it can expect from the United States after President-elect Donald Trump takes office next January.

Since mid-year, Russia has increasingly launched drone, missile, and glide bomb attacks on civilian areas of Ukraine.

At the same time, Russian forces continue their onslaught in the eastern Donetsk region, where they have largely retained control of the battlefield and made significant tactical advances over the past year, according to Western military analysts.

Norway has agreed to increase its financial support plan for Ukraine to 30 billion crowns ($2.7 billion) next year from 27 billion crowns ($2.7 billion) this year, Prime Minister Jonas Gaar Stoere announced on Tuesday. He withdrew an earlier proposal to cut spending.

The minority centre-left government last month proposed allocating just 15 billion kronor to Ukraine in 2025, prompting criticism from opposition parties.

The government said it wanted a broad coalition to support donations to Ukraine. The opposition Conservative Party proposes spending 45 billion kronor in 2025.

As energy prices soared in the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Norway’s oil and gas revenues soared and the size of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund expanded.

A Russian court has ordered the arrest of France 24 news channel reporter Catherine Norris Trent on suspicion of illegally entering the western Kursk region, Russian state news agency TASS reported on Tuesday.

The newspaper said she entered the area with Ukrainian troops to file a report.

Russia has filed criminal charges against a number of Western journalists who reported from Kursk, where Ukrainian forces broke across the border and carved out part of Russian territory on August 6.

Proceedings have begun in absentia, and the order means journalists will be arrested if they set foot on Russian soil.

Ukraine’s General Staff said on Tuesday that about half of the clashes on the nearly 600-mile (1,000-kilometer) front in the past 24 hours occurred near Pokrovsk and Krahov in the Donetsk region.

Ukraine faces serious manpower problems on the front lines, and Russian military success is gradual but increasing as Ukrainian forces make concessions.

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War announced late Monday that Russian advances threaten Donetsk’s vital supply routes.

But the think tank said there was no risk of overtaking Ukraine’s defenses in Donetsk.

He also pointed out that to achieve the Kremlin’s goal of capturing all of Donetsk, Russia would need to capture more than 3,000 square miles (8,000 square kilometers) of territory.

Russian forces have captured the village of Kopanki in Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine, Interfax news agency said Tuesday, citing the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The ministry also announced that Russian forces shot down three Ukrainian drones near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine.