Russia-Ukraine war latest news: Putin threatens to arm West’s enemies as he talks up Moscow’s nuclear weapons

The authorities in Russia have arrested a French NGO worker on suspicion of allegedly gathering information about the activities of Vladimir Putin’s military.

A criminal case has been launched against the Frenchman for allegedly violating Russia’s law that requires a person receiving foreign support to register as a “foreign agent”.

Moscow said the man, who it did not name, was involved in the “targeted collection of information in the field of military [and] military-technical activities of the Russian Federation”.

“Such information, if obtained by foreign sources, may be used against the security of the state,” it added.

The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue told AFP it was trying to secure the release of a member of its team, identifying him as Laurent Vinatier.

The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue is a Geneva-based non-profit that works to prevent and resolve armed conflicts through mediation and discreet diplomacy, according to its website.

“We are aware that Laurent Vinatier, an adviser at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, has been detained in Russia,” it said in a statement. “We are working to get more details of the circumstances and to secure Laurent’s release.”

Taiwan’s ministry of economic affairs said it has decided to restrict exports to Russia and Belarus by adding nitrocellulose to its list of controlled items.

The ban will come into force from 14 June.

Nitrocellulose, a highly flammable thermoplastic resin, is an essential component in smokeless gunpowder and ammunition propellant and has already been regulated by the US and EU.

The self-governed island currently has export restrictions on nitrocellulose with a nitrogen concentration in excess of 12.2 per cent, but nothing below that.

The decision to control exports of all nitrocellulose is necessary to strengthen and prevent “a regulatory loophole”, the ministry said.

President Volodymyr Zelensky warmly embraced a veteran in a moving exchange at the D-Day ceremony in Normandy, France yesterday.

The veteran, who was sitting in a wheelchair, hugged the Ukrainian president and told him: “You’re the saviour of the people. You bring tears to my eyes”.

Russian investigators said on Thursday they had detained a French citizen on suspicion of gathering information about the activities of the Russian military.

The state Investigative Committee said the man was suspected, over a period of several years, to have “purposefully collected information in the field of military and military-technical activities of the Russian Federation”.

It added: “This information, when obtained by foreign sources, can be used against the security of the state. For these purposes, he repeatedly visited the territory of Russia, including the city of Moscow, where he held meetings with citizens of the Russian Federation.”

Investigators said the man, whom they did not identify, would be charged shortly under a Russian law on failing to register as a “foreign agent”, which carries a punishment of up to five years in prison.

No comment was immediately available from the French Foreign Ministry in Paris.

German chancellor Olaf Scholz has reiterated his stance that Ukraine could use weapons supplied by the West to defend itself against attacks launched from just inside Russia, such as those made against the Kharkiv region.

“In order to defend itself against such attacks, Ukraine can also use the weapons supplied by us and our allies – always in accordance with international legal obligations,” Mr Scholz told the Bundestag lower house of parliament.

Mr Scholz’s comments came after Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday warned that allowing Kyiv to strike Russia with ever more powerful weapons was a serious escalation that was drawing the West towards a war with Russia.

Ukraine’s recent strikes on targets in Crimea “almost certainly” disrupted the Russian army’s logistical operations, Britain’s Ministry of Defence has said.

Strikes on rail ferries on 29 May caused significant temporary disruption to Russian military logistics operations “and, potentially, Crimea’s fuel supply,” the MoD said in a statement.

Read the statement in full below:

Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg has said that western allies should ensure that gaps in military support to Ukraine are not repeated.

Speaking during a visit to Finland, Mr Stoltenberg said Ukraine needed “predictability and accountability” from Nato allies in terms of military support.

“Over the last months we have seen some gaps, some delays in the provision of military support to Ukraine,” he said during a press conference alongside Finnish President Alexander Stubb.

“We need to ensure that doesn’t happen again.”

Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery and a fuel depot in Russian border regions, officials in the targeted areas said Thursday.

An overnight drone attack hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia’s Rostov region and started a fire, Rostov Gov. Vasily Golubev said. Firefighters had to pull out briefly because of a second attack, he said.

The extent of the damage to the facility wasn’t immediately clear. Golubev said that there were no casualties.

In Belgorod, another border region, a drone hit an oil depot overnight, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said. It caused an explosion and a fire in one of the oil reservoirs. The blaze was quickly extinguished and there were no casualties, Gladkov said.

It wasn’t immediately possible to verify the reports.

A legal battle between insurers and aircraft leasing companies over jets stuck in Ukraine should be heard in Ukraine rather than London, the High Court in London ruled on Thursday.

Aircraft lessors, including Ireland’s AerCap, are pursuing insurers after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine left aircraft stranded in Ukraine.

Judge Andrew Henshaw, in a decision relating to six separate lawsuits, ruled that the cases in London should be put on hold because of “exclusive jurisdiction clauses” requiring disputes to be heard in Ukraine.

The claimants had argued that the cases should be heard in London, in part because the ongoing war in Ukraine makes it very difficult to fairly conduct litigation there.

Henshaw, however, said in his ruling that “the evidence about the effect of the war on the court system … does not indicate that the war is likely to result in substantial delays or other problems in litigating these claims effectively in the courts of Ukraine”.

In March, the High Court ruled that a separate $10 billion battle over more than 200 jets stuck in Russia should be heard in London rather than Moscow.