Ukraine conflict briefing: British ex-soldier arrested in Kyiv and accused of spying for Russia | Ukraine

A British ex-army teacher has been arrested in Kyiv and accused of spying for Russia whereas posing as an adviser to the Ukrainian military. Ukraine has accused the person of passing data to Moscow about different international navy advisers in Ukraine and the coordinates of military coaching centres. The Ukrainian prosecutor basic’s workplace alleged he arrived in Ukraine in 2024, performed navy coaching for the military and labored within the border guard earlier than agreeing to collaborate with Moscow.

Ukraine’s state safety service, the SBU, alleges the Russian FSB spy bureau gave the person directions on making explosive units and in addition offered him with a handgun and ammunition, whereas the prosecutor basic claimed he “tried to determine entry to the command of navy models” in change for $6,000. He faces as much as 12 years in jail if discovered responsible. Britain’s Overseas Workplace informed Agence France-Presse that it was “conscious of experiences {that a} British nationwide has been detained in Ukraine … We stay in shut contact with the Ukrainian authorities.”

Pjotr Sauer writes that Russian commanders are executing or intentionally sending to their deaths troopers who refuse to combat in Ukraine, in keeping with a brand new investigation by the award-winning unbiased outlet Verstka, which paints a bleak image of inner violence inside the Russian military. Verstka cited testimonies from troopers who mentioned commanders had appointed “execution shooters” to open hearth on refusers and later dump their our bodies in rivers or shallow graves, registering them as killed in motion. Different accounts describe commanders utilizing drones and explosives to “end off” wounded or retreating troopers.

Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles at Ukraine’s vitality infrastructure and different targets, forcing nationwide energy restrictions and killing seven folks together with a seven-year-old woman, Ukrainian officers mentioned on Thursday. Regional officers mentioned two vitality amenities within the western Lviv area had been broken. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest non-public vitality firm, mentioned its thermal energy stations in numerous areas had been beneath assault. “This assault is a foul blow to our efforts to maintain energy flowing this winter,” mentioned Maxim Timchenko, DTEK’s CEO.

The Ukraine authorities introduced nationwide limits on electrical energy provides to retail and industrial shoppers. In some areas, water provides and heating had been additionally disrupted. The assaults hit vitality amenities in central, western, and south-eastern areas, Ukrainian officers mentioned.

Regional officers mentioned two males had been killed within the south-eastern industrial metropolis of Zaporizhzhia, and a seven-year-old woman from the central Vinnytsia area died in hospital from her accidents. The regional governor mentioned a later drone strike on a village south of Zaporizhzhia killed one individual and injured one other.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, mentioned in his nightly video deal with {that a} bomb hit a thermal energy plant in Sloviansk in japanese Donetsk area, killing two folks and injuring others. Prosecutors in Donetsk area mentioned Russian assaults on dwellings within the metropolis of Kramatorsk killed one individual and injured three. Zelenskyy mentioned Russia launched greater than 650 drones and 50 missiles within the assaults. A lot of the drones had been neutralised and two-thirds of the missiles had been downed, he mentioned. Air defence models shot down 592 drones and 31 missiles, the air pressure mentioned.

In Sumy, a metropolis close to the northern border with Russia, the regional governor mentioned 10 Russian drones attacked town in an hour early on Friday. Two folks had been injured when two condominium buildings had been hit and footage posted on-line confirmed a number of flats ablaze. Air alerts lasted almost your entire night time in Kyiv, the place residents took shelter in deep underground metro stations.

Russia’s defence ministry mentioned its forces had been attacking amenities of the Ukrainian military-industrial advanced. Moscow denies focusing on civilians and has mentioned its strikes are responses to Ukraine’s assaults on Russian infrastructure; nonetheless, Russian missiles and drones regularly, conspicuously and instantly hit civilian properties and amenities. Ukraine has launched common drone assaults on navy and oil websites that it says help the conflict.

“[Russia’s] purpose is to plunge Ukraine into darkness. Ours is to protect the sunshine,” mentioned the Ukrainian prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko. “To cease the fear, we’d like extra air defence methods, more durable sanctions, and most strain on the aggressor.”