Ukraine war latest: Putin threatens NATO with 'war' over long-range missiles - as Moscow expels six British diplomats (2024)

These pictures show female Ukrainian volunteers training for combat in Ukraine's Kharkiv region.

By Ivor Bennett,Moscow correspondent

The diplomat expulsions are being announced with great fanfare on Russian state television.

"MI6 secret service agents who were acting undercover" is how a REN TV correspondent breathlessly describes them in one report.

"They were masked as diplomats," he continues, "fulfilling the orders of their authorities."

It seems like he's enjoying it.

Passport-style photos of the six (that would've been submitted for their visas) flash up like mugshots on the screen, as the individuals are named and shamed.

There is footage filmed by FSB agents, showing them out and about around Moscow.

One is caught in the act of having lunch with someone ("to secretly recruit the people he needed," the reporter claims).

Another is seen attending a court hearing for a prominent human rights activist, as well as meeting an independent journalist in a park.

But as the reporter puts it: "The walks around Moscow are over for them."

According to Whitehall, the diplomats left in August, and this is part of a tit-for-tat wave of expulsions that have been going on for some years on both sides. So why is Moscow only publicising it now?

Judging by the television reports, the timing is not accidental.

With all the talk of the UK and US considering giving Ukraine permission to strike deeper inside Russia with Western weapons, it's hard not to see it as being related.

It feels like Moscow is trying to exert pressure on London here, in the hope they might pull back from giving Kyiv the green light.

I think the Kremlin is also trying to shape public opinion with this spy-scandal splash. If the West does give the go-ahead on the missiles, Russia wants to ensure that people here view it as a move of aggression by a foreign enemy.

It certainly seems to be working.

"I think it's disgusting what they are doing," Irina tells us, outside the British Embassy in Moscow, on the bank of the Moskva river.

Vladimir is similarly direct: "We'll put on gloves, boots and march on Europe together."

Not everyone has heard about the accusations of espionage, but they're willing to believe it nonetheless.

"Why shouldn't we believe it?" Svetlana asks.

Her friend Tatiana then chimes in: "We tend to believe our government.

"Do you think the government is lying? We think not."

We return once more to the story dominating today, and the warnings from Vladimir Putin over the reportedly likely shift in the West's stance on allowing its long-range missiles to be used to strike deep inside Russia.

As noted in our 11.20 post, analysts have expressed scepticism as to the sincerity of the Russian president's rhetoric - and a prominent figure in Kyiv has offered an even more dismissive response to the comments.

Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said the threats were in the "classic fashion" of Russia's leader.

He described Mr Putin's claim that the use of the missiles to strike targets inside Russia would be considered direct NATOparticipation in the war as "an absolute legal fiction".

"Therefore, there is no point in discussing the technical aspect and convincing an inadequate enemy that we can and have the right to use high-tech weapons on our own - he knows this very well," he said.

"More importantly, Putin has publicly outlined the true boundaries of his empire. For many months now, Ukraine has been firing Storm Shadow missiles and other systems provided by its allies at Russian troops inCrimea, in the occupied areas of Kharkiv,Donetsk, Luhansk,Kherson, andZaporizhzhia regions.

"None of these attacks has been a pretext for Putin to potentially declare a mythical war on NATO. Obviously, he himself - contrary to the absurd constitution of the [Russian Federation] - does not consider these territories to be Russian.

"This is how forceful coercion promotes diplomacy. Under attack from the aggressor, ideological tinsel falls off, propaganda myths are destroyed, and reality emerges, which can become the basis for negotiations."

By James Matthews, US correspondent

Joe Biden and Keir Starmer are meeting in Washington today, but there will be no podium finish at the White House - no big announcements in public, even if it's a day for big decisions in private.

There is a seriousness in this that precludes precipitous progress.

The meeting, we’re told, will take place in the Blue Room on the first floor - not the Oval Office of Starmer's introductory visit in July and the PR fluff that came with that. This time, it's strictly business.

Vladimir Putin re-drafted the agenda with the red-ink warning of "war with Russia". If he's to be taken at his word then, by extension, this White House face-to-face has Starmer and Biden staring down the barrel of World War 3.

In this meeting, Biden and Starmer will assess Moscow's resolve around its red lines. Over time, they and their NATO allies have bolstered Ukraine's military machine, pushing Russia's red lines without significant response.

However, to green-light the use by Ukraine of long-range Western missiles deep inside Russian territory is a game changer, militarily and diplomatically.

There's a reason why Kyiv has pushed for the capability, given the strength it would add to its war machine. It's the same reason for Putin pushing back, his dire warnings accompanied by the window dressing of diplomatic expulsions.

President Biden is, reportedly, ready to agree on the use of long-range weapons as long as they aren't American ones. There is particular US concern that a Russian reaction could involve helping Iran to target American troops based in the Middle East.

There will be more on the agenda than just Russia/Ukraine - the Middle East crisis will be addressed as the president and prime minister discuss peace efforts that can be future-proofed beyond the US election in November.

There is the small matter of the Biden legacy looming large.

Coordination will be at the heart of discussions in the White House Blue Room - calling Putin’s bluff without causing catastrophe.

It is a missile crisis that carries an echo of 1962 - Cuba, Kennedy, Khrushchev and all that - who will blink first this time?

Russian forces have taken control of the village of Dolynivka inUkraine's eastern Donetsk region, Russia's defence ministry has claimed.

Sky News has not independently verified the battlefield report but we'll bring you more updates on this as we get them.

In what represents a rare glimmer of light against the backdrop of a gruelling two-and-a-half-year war, Volodymyr Zelenskyy today announced Ukrainehas secured the release of 49 people from Russian captivity in the latest exchange of prisoners with Moscow.

The agreement was mediated by the United Arab Emirates, a spokesperson forUkraine's military intelligence agency said.

"Another return of our people - something we always wait for and work tirelessly to achieve... We must bring home every single one of our people, both military and civilian," Mr Zelenskyy said on X, announcing the 56th such swap with Russia.

His chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said the Ukrainians released included seven civilians along with personnel from the armed forces, national guard, police and the border guard service.

Ukrainedid not say how many Russians had been released. Moscow is yet to comment on the swap.

Video footage released byUkrainefrom an undisclosed location showed service personnel being greeted with flowers, hugs and leaflets saying: "Thank you for enduring it all".

One released prisoner held the leaflet to his heart and wept.

We now turn our attention to the battlefield situation in Ukraine, where Kyiv says Russian forces have been focusing their assaults on the eastern region near the embattled town of Kurakhove - as Ukrainian troops attempted to hold the line at a critical juncture of the war.

The Russians have also pressed towardsUkraine's rail hub of Pokrovsk, about 33km (20 miles) north of Kurakhove, in an effort to open new lines of attack, disrupt Ukrainian logistics, and take control of the rest of the eastern Donetsk region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised his troops for holding their positions in Pokrovsk and Kurakhove, the two most difficult sectors in the east.

Ukraine's forces are stretched thin, but the military said they had repelled 64 assaults near Kurakhove in the past day, the most intense fighting there this month.

The Ukrainian military also reported repelling 36 attacks near Pokrovsk on the same day.

Together, the action on these fronts accounted for more than two-thirds of about 140 clashes reported along over 1,000 km (600 miles) of front lines in the northeast, east and south of the country in the last day.

Kyiv launched a cross-border assault into Russia's Kursk region in early August in the hope of diverting forces from the eastern front.

The Ukrainians made rapid initial gains before stalling, while the situation around Pokrovsk has remained perilous.

Meanwhile, a Russian guided bomb attack today killed two people and injured six others, including a four-year-old child, local authorities inUkraine's northern Sumy region aid.

Ukraineused Sumy, which borders Kursk, as a staging ground for its incursion into Russia in August.

The settlement of Yampil, about 20km (12 miles) from the border, was hit with four guided bombs, Sumy regional prosecutors said - in an attack that damaged residential houses and a clinic, and cut power supplies.

While doubts have been cast as to the sincerity of Vladimir Putin's statements about the consequences of potential Western weapons strikes deep into Russia (see 11.20 and 7.51 posts), prominent figures in Moscow appear determined to perpetuate the narrative that they should be taken at face value.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in his daily briefing today that Russia's leaders had no doubt that the president's words had reached their intended recipients.

"The statement that Putin made yesterday is very important," he said.

"It is extremely clear, unambiguous and does not allow for any double readings."

A selection of today's images from the conflict show Russian forces as they attempt to retake parts of the border region of Kursk - and damages to the Aya bulk carrier, a grain vessel hit in a missile attack in Black Sea waters near NATO member Romania .

Russia reportedly started producing a new long-range attack drone called the Garpiya-A1 last year using Chinese engines and parts, which it has deployed in the war inUkraine.

The report is based on two sources from a European intelligence agency and documents cited by Reuters.

The intelligence - which included a production contract for the new drone, company correspondence on the manufacturing process and financial documents - indicated that IEMZ Kupol, a subsidiary of Russian state-owned weapons maker Almaz-Antey, produced more than 2,500 Garpiyas from July 2023 to July 2024.

The existence of the new Russian drone incorporating Chinese technology has not been previously reported. IEMZ Kupol and Almaz-Antey have not responded to Reuters' requests for comment.

The two intelligence sources said the Garpiya, which means Harpy in Russian, has been deployed against military and civilian targets inUkraine, causing damage to critical infrastructure as well as both civilian and military casualties.

They shared with Reuters what they said were images fromUkraineof the wreckage of a Garpiya, without providing further details. The news agency said it unearthed information that reinforces this conclusion, but was unable to confirm the images independently.

Samuel Bendett, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington DC-based think tank, said that Garpiya, if confirmed, would mark a departure from Russia's reliance on Iranian designs for long-range drones.

"If this is happening, it could indicate that Russia can now rely more on domestic development as well as, obviously, on China, since both sides in this war defend on many Chinese components for drone production," he said.

Russia's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment for this story. The Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement to Reuters that Beijing strictly controls the export of items with potential military applications, including drones.

"With regard to the Ukrainian crisis, China has always been committed to promoting peace talks and political settlement," the statement said. It added that there were no international restrictions on China's trade with Russia.