Russia-Ukraine warfare reside: French international minister says there ought to be ‘no red lines’ in supporting Ukraine

Miranda Bryant, the Guardian’s Nordic correspondent, has spoken to Finnish ladies who’re getting ready for a possible Russian invasion or hybrid assault. Right here is an extract from her piece, which you’ll learn in full right here:

It’s Friday night time on a forested navy base in western Finland. A gaggle of girls wearing camouflage with matching purple beanie hats are sat in a darkish tent discussing how their views have modified since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“I didn’t think it was a real threat that Russia would attack us,” says Sari, 42, who works in gross sales and lives in a close-by city. However then, she provides: “They attacked Ukraine. I saw that it is possible that we are next.”

The mom of two, who describes herself as a “realist”, was moved to hitch this weekend-long “surviving without electricity” course by her patriotic values, however she additionally needs to be extra ready with sensible abilities for day-to-day life. She is one in all about 75 ladies collaborating.

Whereas an influence reduce is a state of affairs that may very well be introduced on by a storm – as occurred for tens of hundreds throughout Finland final week – they’re additionally abilities that would show essential in a possible Russian invasion or hybrid assault.

The coaching course, referred to as Nasta, is one in all 40 placed on by the Ladies’s Nationwide Emergency Preparedness Affiliation round Finland. Others embrace cybersecurity, psychological resilience, wilderness abilities, snowmobile driving and knowledge influencing. After the invasion of Ukraine, functions for the programs soared. Not solely does Finland have a historical past of warfare with its neighbour, however in addition they share a 830-mile land border.

Russia is ready to launch a sequence of cyber-attacks on Britain and different Nato members because it seeks to weaken assist for Ukraine, a senior UK cupboard minister will warn in a speech on Monday.

Moscow will “not think twice” about exploiting defence gaps to focus on UK companies, and allies should “not underestimate” the menace it poses, Pat McFadden, a senior UK minister whose portfolio consists of nationwide safety, will say.

In a speech to the Nato cyber defence convention at Lancaster Home, the minister is anticipated to say:

Army hard-power is one factor. However cyberwar will be destabilising and debilitating. With a cyber-attack, Russia can flip the lights off for tens of millions of individuals. It may well shut down the facility grids. That is the hidden warfare Russia is waging with Ukraine …

Given the size of that hostility, my message to members right now is evident: nobody ought to underestimate the Russian cyber menace to Nato. The menace is actual. Russia is exceptionally aggressive and reckless within the cyber realm.

McFadden is anticipated to particularly name out Unit 29155, a Russian navy unit that the federal government says was beforehand discovered to have carried out various assaults within the UK and Europe.

There are gangs of “unofficial hacktivists” and mercenaries circuitously below the Kremlin’s management “but who are allowed to act with impunity so long as they’re not working against Putin’s interests”, he’ll say.

The accusations come as tensions between Russia and the west have escalated dramatically, with Vladimir Putin warning that the warfare in Ukraine had the traits of a “global” battle.

The rising frictions have sparked contemporary unease in London and different western capitals that Putin could step up cyber-attacks and different non-military measures.

Hi there and welcome to the Guardian’s reside protection of the warfare in Ukraine.

The French international minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, has informed the BBC in an interview that western allies mustn’t put any limits on assist for Ukraine towards Russia, and “not set and express red lines”.

Barrot’s feedback are important, coming a couple of days after US and UK long-range missiles have been utilized in that method for the primary time. Barrot stated that Ukraine might fireplace French long-range missiles into Russia “in the logics of self-defence”, however wouldn’t verify if French weapons had already been used.

“The principle has been set … our messages to President Zelenskyy have been well received,” he stated. France has equipped Ukraine with the Scalp missile, which is similar to the British-supplied Storm Shadow that Ukraine has reportedly already used inside Russia.

“We will support Ukraine as intensely and as long as necessary. Why? Because it is our security that is at stake. Each time the Russian army progresses by one square kilometre, the threat gets one square kilometre closer to Europe,” he stated.

When requested if “no limit” assist might translate to French troops in fight, Barrot stated: “We do not discard any option”.

Listed below are a few of the different newest developments within the warfare:

• Ukraine’s air defence models destroyed greater than 10 Russia drones that have been concentrating on Kyiv in an in a single day drone assault, Ukraine’s navy stated on Sunday. There have been no quick reviews of harm or accidents because of the assault. “The UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) were flying in different directions towards Kyiv,” Serhiy Popko, the top of Kyiv’s navy administration, stated. “The air raid alert in the city lasted for more than three hours.”

• Ukraine’s air defences downed 50 of 73 Russian drones launched in a single day, the Ukrainian navy stated this morning. In a publish on Telegram, the air drive stated it misplaced observe of 19 drones and 4 extra are nonetheless within the air. Russia’s air defence methods destroyed 34 Ukrainian drones in a single day, together with 27 over the Kursk area bordering Ukraine, Russia’s defence ministry stated.

• Russian media is reporting that colonel basic Gennady Anashkin, the commander of the southern grouping, had been faraway from his command, for giving deceptive reviews in regards to the progress of the warfare. There was no official affirmation from the Russian ministry of defence.

• The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will focus on the newest developments within the warfare with the Nato secretary basic, Mark Rutte, on Monday throughout his go to to Ankara, a Turkish official. They’re anticipated to debate the removing of defence procurement obstacles between Nato allies and the navy alliance’s joint combat towards terrorism.

• Ukraine has misplaced over 40% of the territory in Russia’s Kursk area that it quickly seized in a shock incursion in August as Russian forces have mounted waves of counter-assaults, a senior Ukrainian navy supply informed Reuters. The supply, who’s on Ukraine’s basic employees, stated Russia had deployed about 59,000 troops to the Kursk area since Kyiv’s forces swept in and superior swiftly, catching Moscow unprepared two and a half years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “At most, we controlled about 1,376 square kilometres (531 square miles), now of course this territory is smaller. The enemy is increasing its counterattacks,” the supply stated.