US shares footage of Russian aircraft ‘dumping fuel’ on drone – latest

The American military said two Russian Su-27 jets intercepted the unmanned MQ-9 Reaper drone in international airspace before one of them struck the aircraft’s propeller, causing US forces to have to bring it down.

Russia denied involvement, with a senior figure describing the episode as a “provocation.”

My colleague Thomas Kinsgley has this breaking story:

Russian president Vladimir Putin has said that Russia was facing a “sanctions war” in his first major address to the country’s business elite since the day he ordered tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine last year.

Putin said Russia was swiftly reorienting its economy towards countries that had not hit Russia with sanctions, and thanked business leaders for working to help the Russian state.

Steven Seagal has declared himself “one million per cent” Russian after receiving an award from president Vladimir Putin.

The former Hollywood star was given an Order of Friendship medal after supporting the country following its invasion of Ukraine.

Seagal pledged his allegiance to Russia during an event held by International Movement of Russians in Moscow on Monday (13 March).

Jacob Stolworthy reports:

Polish security services have detained members of a Russian espionage ring, authorities said, alleging they were preparing acts of sabotage in Poland and had been monitoring railway lines used to transport weapons into Ukraine.

Interior minister Mariusz Kaminski said the Internal Security Agency had arrested nine people suspected of spying for Russia in the case.

He said at a news conference in Warsaw that the suspects were preparing “sabotage actions aimed at paralysing the supply of equipment, weapons and aid to Ukraine“.

He said the security agents also seized cameras, electronic equipment and GPS transmitters, which the suspects planned to place on shipments of aid to Ukraine.

Defence minister Mariusz Blaszczak suggested the group had entered from neighbouring Belarus, a Russian ally that borders Nato member Poland.

“The threat was real,” Mr Blaszczak said on state radio.

A 400-year-old hotel that was said to be housing Ukrainian refugees was among buildings engulfed by a fire in Midhurst, West Sussex.

The fire was thought to have broken out shortly after 1am on Thursday at a property on North Street before spreading to the roof of the Angel Inn next door.

Local resident Hilton Holloway, who witnessed the fire, told the PA news agency around 30 people, including some children, were evacuated from the hotel.

British foreign minister James Cleverly said on Thursday that the best way to protect Moldova from attack by Russia was to protect Ukraine.

Asked by reporters whether Britain planned on sending military support to Moldova, Cleverly said: “We strongly believe that one of the best ways of protecting Moldova from physical attack is helping the Ukrainians defend themselves against Russia.”

The Kremlin said on Thursday it regretted Moldova’s “unjustified prejudice” against Moscow, and that Russia remained open to good relations.

Moldova has been in focus since the start of the Ukraine conflict, with fears that the small country, which borders Ukraine and has Russian peacekeepers stationed in the pro-Moscow breakaway Transdniestria region, could be dragged into the conflict.

The situation for Russian forces trying to capture the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is “difficult”, because there are no signs Kyiv is ready to order a withdrawal of its troops, the Russian-installed leader of Ukraine‘s Donetsk region said on Thursday.

Russian forces – led by the private Wagner militia – have been trying to encircle and capture the eastern Ukrainian city for months in what has turned into one of the bloodiest battles of the year-long war.

Russia, which refers to the city by its Soviet-era name of Artyomovsk, says capturing the city will allow it to launch more offensives deeper into Ukrainian territory which it says it is fighting to “liberate”.

“The situation in Artyomovsk remains complex and difficult,” Denis Pushilin, the Russian-installed head of Ukraine‘s Donetsk region, said in an interview on state TV on Thursday.

“That is, we do not see that there is any premise that the enemy is going to simply withdraw units,” he added.

Poland has broken up a espionage network operating in the country, the defence minister said on Thursday, after private broadcaster RMF FM reported that a group of spies working for Russia had been detained.

RMF reported on Wednesday that Polish security services had detained six people suspected of spying for Russia. According to the broadcaster the group had been planning sabotage activities.

Reuters was unable to independently confirm the report.

“I would like to emphasize the great success achieved by the officers of the Internal Security Agency, because the whole spy network has been unravelled,” Mariusz Blaszczak told state broadcaster Polskie Radio 1.

“This is undoubtedly proof that the Polish services work for the security of our country in a very efficient manner.”