“Ukraine – Russia”

Ukraine carried out its deepest strikes inside Russian territory to date in an apparent bid to disrupt the Kremlin’s bombing campaign against energy infrastructure.

Three people were killed and six injured on Monday after a fuel tanker exploded at the Dyagilevo airfield near the city of Ryazan, southeast of Moscow, Russia’s state-owned RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Unofficial Russian social media channels reported that four aircraft were also damaged.

BREAKING:

Major explosions at the Engels Air Base in Saratov, Russia.

It’s the same air base from which a major Russian air attack is expect to be launched against Ukraine.

Initial reports say Ukraine attacked it with drones and damaged 2 Tu-95 bombers pic.twitter.com/nvp3BsVu6W

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) December 5, 2022

A draft resolution is circulating at the United Nations in New York for a Nuremberg-style tribunal to hold the Russian leadership accountable for crimes of aggression in Ukraine amid signs that US opposition to the proposal may be softening in the face of lobbying by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Beth Van Schaack, the US ambassador for global criminal justice, said this week: “It’s something that President Zelenskiy cares deeply about. This is something Ukraine wants, and I think that’s going to carry a lot of weight. The question is, will they have the votes at the general assembly?”

Vladimir Putin needs “security guarantees” from the west so a peace deal can be negotiated, Emmanuel Macron has said provoking outrage from Kyiv.

In an interview with the French television station TF1 following his state visit to the US, Mr Macron said his Russian counterpart remains worried about Nato expansion and this needs to be addressed as part of negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

#Ukraine: A Russian Ka-52 attack helicopter was reportedly shot down by the Ukrainian air defense forces today. pic.twitter.com/9ELCyiAOHm

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) December 4, 2022

Ever since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and even before, there were stories circulating that claimed many Ukrainians were adherents of Nazism. On well-known propaganda channels such as the German-language Telegram group “Neues aus Russland” (“News from Russia”), run by the allegedly independent journalist Alina Lipp, assertions regarding “Ukrainian Nazis” are rife. Such posts are influential — Lipp’s channel alone has more than 183,000 subscribers.

A simple search on the channel shows that the word “Nazi” occurs 285 times, “National Socialism” 22 times and “swastika” 17 times (as of November 25).

But why is there this narrative about Ukrainian Nazis? And what about the alleged evidence spread by pro-Russian accounts on social media?

The fighting in Ukraine has been slowing down and this will likely continue in the coming winter months, US intelligence agencies believe.

However, there has been no evidence of fading resistance on the part of Ukrainian forces, US director of intelligence Avril Haines said.

She said both sides would try to “refit, resupply and reconstitute” for any counter-offensive in the spring.

It follows Russian attacks on Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure.

British-trained former Afghan spies are being recruited by Russia for the war in Ukraine, the Telegraph can reveal, having failed to secure relocation to the UK after the Taliban took over last year.

Former intelligence officers are being offered cash bounties of $10,000 and monthly salaries for joining Putin’s war effort, with their families offered homes and security in Russia.

Many former members of the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) are taking up the offer as they feel they have been left behind by Britain and other western countries that employed them during the fighting in Afghanistan.

Going underground in the Ukraine conflict is still as vital tactically as in the First World War

Many people are surprised to see the images from the war in Ukraine of soldiers on both sides living and fighting in trenches. We think of trench warfare as uniquely associated with the horrors of Flanders and Gallipoli in the First World War. Surely modern war is all about cyberattacks and missiles?

But a hole in the ground is as fundamentally important to success or failure in war today as it has been for hundreds of years.

Russian tank destroyed by soldiers of the 72nd brigade from Sugna-P ATGM. Donetsk region. pic.twitter.com/WCPkghZBeL

— Paul Jawin (@PaulJawin) November 29, 2022

Eighteen Ukrainian diplomatic missions in 12 countries have received bloody packages in what Ukraine has described as a “campaign of terror and intimidation”. Oleh Nikolenko, a spokesperson from Ukraine’s foreign ministry, said the packages were simultaneously sent from one European country, which he could not disclose while the investigation was ongoing.

As of Friday, Ukraine said 17 embassies had been targeted, indicating that another was delivered on Saturday.

#Ukraine: A Russian Ural-4320 cargo truck and a Scooby Doo van (UAZ 452) were destroyed by indirect fire of the Ukrainian 54th Mechanized Brigade in Zolotarivka, #Luhansk Oblast. pic.twitter.com/fONsVc0p6I

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) December 3, 2022

Parcels containing animal eyes have been sent to six Ukrainian embassies in Europe, its foreign ministry says.

Spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said the “blood-soaked” packages were found in Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Croatia, and Austria.

It is not clear who sent the packages to the embassies and consulates.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba believes a “well-planned campaign of terror and intimidation of Ukrainian embassies and consulates” is taking place.

#Ukraine: In the East, the Ukrainian 66th Mechanized Brigade struck a Russian tank with an ATGM, damaging it.

Another Russian armoured vehicle and transport truck were also hit and destroyed. pic.twitter.com/ZZkQ4ZU3ZR

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) November 30, 2022