Ukraine-Russia war: Putin makes absurd claim new military pact with North Korea and Kim is ‘peaceful’

A university professor was jailed Tuesday in Estonia after being found guilty of spying for Russian military intelligence, part of a campaign of sabotage, electronic warfare and information gathering that Estonian officials blame on Moscow.

Viacheslav Morozov, a Russian citizen who taught at Estonia’s country’s most prestigious university, was sentenced to six years and three months in prison for undermining the security of the Baltic state during the 14 years he operated in the country until his arrest in January.

Estonian officials are extremely hawkish about the threat from Russia and have convicted a number of people of spying for Russia in recent years. Harju County Court in the Estonian capital said Morozov collected information about Estonia’s defense and security policy and the people and infrastructure related to it.

A network of people and firms that support the sanctioned president of Bosnia’s Serb-run portion, Milorad Dodik, has been hit with a new round of sanctions.

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Tuesday designated two people and seven companies that provide revenue for Dodik and his family, including his son Igor Dodik.

Treasury says Dodik used his presidency to direct government contracts to a network of private companies that he and his son oversee.

A Russian court sent an American soldier to three years and nine months in a penal colony for stealing and threatening murder, state news media reported.

Gordon Black, 34, was detained in Vladivostok in Russia’s far east on 2 May. He was there to see Alexandra Vashchuk, a woman he believed to be his girlfriend, and was arrested after being accused of assaulting her and stealing 10,000 rubles (£90) from her, according to state news agency TASS.

He “forcefully grabbed the girl by the neck, which she perceived as a real threat to her life”, and then stole money from her wallet, the prosecutor said.

Washington has witnessed “egregious efforts” by Moscow to interfere in the democratic process across the globe, similar to those alleged in the 2016 US presidential election, said Mark Warner.

The senior senator, who is regularly briefed on secret US intelligence, said he had been closely monitoring the situation in the UK, adding: “I think the next big test of the state of play will be the British elections in a few weeks.”

The Russian president is desperate for ammunition for his invasion of Ukraine, forcing him to turn to another international pariah for help, writes Kim Sengupta:

French multinational Thales has signed three deals with Ukraine including one announcing an intention to create a joint venture in the country that will boost delivery of military gear, the defence company has announced.

“Domains of cooperation include Electronic Warfare, Tactical Communications, Air Defence Systems and radars, as well as Unmanned Aircraft Systems,” it added.

Besides the planned joint venture and another deal to help Ukraine cut repair times of electronic warfare gear, Thales also inked a deal with Ukraine’s FRDM aiming to co-develop and manufacture a drone system capable of releasing munitions.

A blaze caused by a Ukrainian drone strike on an oil terminal in southern Russia has been raging for more than a day and a half despite the efforts of firefighters, the regional governor has said.

Several oil storage tanks in the town of Azov caught fire after a drone attack early on Tuesday that a Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters was conducted by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

Vasily Golubev, governor of the Rostov region, wrote on Telegram that emergency services had been unable to extinguish the flames as of Tuesday afternoon as the second storage tank had been depressurised.

Azov has two oil product terminals, DonTerminal and Azovproduct, which handled a total of about 220,000 tons of fuel for export during the period from January to May 2024.

Ukraine has often said that targeting Russia’s energy, military and transport infrastructure undermines Moscow’s war effort.

Vladimir Putin praised Vietnam for its “balanced” stance on the Ukraine war and listed progress on payments, energy and trade in an opinion piece published on Wednesday in the newspaper of Vietnam’s Communist Party.

In the piece timed for Mr Putin’s state visit to Vietnam, he applauded the Communist-ruled country for supporting “a pragmatic way to solve the crisis” in Ukraine, in comments published in the Nhan Dan newspaper.

The far-right leader angling to become prime minister after France’s upcoming parliamentary election has backtracked on his party’s previous promise to pull out of Nato’s strategic military command.

National Rally president Jordan Bardella said he “doesn’t plan to question the commitments France has made on the international stage” if voters give his far-right party a majority that enables him to lead a new government, in what would be an awkward power-sharing arrangement with President Emmanuel Macron.

Referring to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Mr Bardella said at the Eurosatory arms trade show outside Paris: “France mustn’t leave Nato’s military command while we are at war, because it would considerably weaken France’s responsibility on the European scene and, obviously, its credibility with regard to its allies.”

The comments pulled back from a campaign promise made by his party in its manifesto for the 2022 French presidential election, which stated: “The priority will be to leave the integrated Nato command.”