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Ukraine war briefing: Arctic attack extends Kyiv’s strike reach into Russian gas heartland

Ukraine’s special forces said ⁠they attacked two crucial natural gas plants in the Arctic about 3,000km (1,800 miles) from the Russian-Ukrainian border. Both lie in the heartland of Russian gas production: Novy Urengoy is Russia’s unofficial gas capital, ⁠located in the Yamal-Nenets region in north-western Siberia. The other plant is in the Purovsky district of Yamal-Nenets. A Ukrainian statement described the ‌two plants as “crucial for the gas condensate industry … Previously, this was considered an absolutely safe area away from the front for the aggressor.” Fire Point, a Ukrainian company that makes deep-strike weapons including the Flamingo cruise missile, posted: “Guess who just travelled over 3,300km and successfully hit the target?” Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, praised the strikes for their effect on the Russian economy. The Russian regional governor confirmed the attack and said the damage was being assessed. About 80% of all natural gas in Russia is extracted in the Yamalo-Nenets region, according to the Interfax news agency. Ukrainian forces also targeted Novorossiysk, a Black Sea port in Russia’s Krasnodar region. The attack hit the Russian naval base, including a terminal used to load oil, military port facilities, and warships carrying cruise missiles, Zelenskyy said. Ukraine and neighbouring Moldova played down reports that a plane carrying Volodymyr Zelenskyy was almost hit by a drone as it flew to Oslo. In fact, Zelenskyy’s departure for Norway was delayed when authorities closed Moldovan airspace due to a drone ⁠alert, a Moldovan ⁠government spokesperson said. The president’s plane was cleared for take-off from Moldova on Tuesday once it was established ⁠that the drone had come down. In all, three ⁠departures and four arrivals were delayed. Norway’s prime minister was among those who thought Zelenskyy’s plane had been attacked. The Moldovan president, Maia Sandu, denounced the drone intrusions as a “serious threat to people’s lives” and condemned an earlier Russian drone attack on a border crossing with Ukraine that killed two people. Three other people were injured in the strike on the Starokozache border crossing with Moldova. One person was killed and at least four people injured when a Russian drone struck an apartment building in Kyiv, while more strikes were reported in Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Zhytomyr. A Russian drone strike on a shopping centre ⁠in the ⁠northern Ukrainian city of Sumy killed two people and injured ⁠20, four of them seriously, said the regional governor. Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared “there has been too little response from the international community to these strikes”. He added: “A response is needed – Moscow must not go into the winter believing that it can get away with missile and drone terror without consequences. The aggression must be stopped here and now, before it spreads any further.” He called for “effective” sanctions against Russia and support for Ukraine, saying “the partners who can help know exactly what is needed every day”. A Ukrainian couple got married anyway after a Russian air raid on the eve of their wedding wrecked their Kyiv apartment. Before going to bed, Liudmyla Ryzhak had hung on the bedroom door her dress, white skirt and her soldier fiance Leonid’s traditionally patterned shirt. As they slept a Russian strike hit a warehouse across the street from their building. They fled with Liudmyla’s six-year-old daughter and two guinea pigs to a bomb shelter – but soon returned to dig their wedding clothes out of the rubble of their ruined apartment. In the morning, amid more air raids, they forged ahead with the ceremony – only possible after Leonid had been able to make it back from the frontlines in eastern Ukraine. “If God gave me a continuation of life, then why should I put it off?” the bride said. “At least for now, I have the right to be happy. Both him and me.” – Associated Press Russia’s ⁠arms production poses a future threat that goes beyond the war in Ukraine, the German defence ⁠minister, Boris Pistorius, warned on Wednesday. “Moscow uses large ‌parts of its budget … to fill its inventories for future conflicts, not to deploy ‌weapons to the frontline in Ukraine,” he told the German parliament. “On average, only ⁠80 of the 150 short and medium-range missiles that Russia can produce ‌per month are being deployed to Ukraine.” In the UK, a man has been charged after allegedly assisting Russian spy services in planning a sabotage operation, Raphael Boyd writes. Joshua Cammidge, 31, was arrested in Swindon on Friday 4 September. Scotland Yard said it relates to alleged contact with a representative of the GRU Volunteer Corps, a group controlled by Russia’s military intelligence agency that has been accused of engaging in acts of sabotage against Britain and its allies. Cammidge would appear at Westminster magistrates court on Thursday, police said. Moscow wants peace talks to take place in Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, said a Kremlin aide, Yuri Ushakov. Ushakov also said ‌the US should halt aid to Kyiv if the fighting is to stop. Moscow has been indignant throughout the war about Ukraine being able to defend itself with military aid from its allies. Another Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, cited a “confirmed political will” for the talks and suggested prisoner exchanges between the US and Russia might be part of the picture. Peskov was responding to a comment by the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, about a ⁠possible roadmap to restart talks. There have been no talks between Russia and Ukraine ⁠since ⁠February.

Baby orangutans found in forest in India spark trafficking investigation

Five baby orangutans have been found in a forest in India, prompting authorities to investigate if they were trafficked into the country from south-east Asia. The orangutans, native only to the islands of Borneo and Sumatra and known for their shaggy red fur, were found in Balasore district of Odisha state, thousands of kilometres away from their natural habitat. Odisha’s environment minister, Ram Singh Khuntia, said wildlife investigators were trying to establish how the rare apes reached India. “We suspect that an international racket might be involved in this,” Singh said. International commercial trade in orangutans is prohibited under Cites – a global agreement governing trade in endangered wildlife. The five babies were found by forest department officials who were patrolling in the Jaleswar range in Balasore district. Officials believed the orangutans had been in the area for just a few days, and they have now been placed in quarantine at a zoological park in Odisha. According to the World Wildlife Fund, about 104,000 orangutans remain in Borneo and Sumatra, down from more than 230,000 a century ago. The Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis), a third species, is classified as critically endangered, with fewer than 800 believed to survive in the wild. In November, conservationists found the Tapanuli population had been reduced by 7% after severe flooding in Indonesia. Between 33 and 54 Tapanuli orangutans were estimated to have been killed in widespread floods and landslides in North Sumatra province. Previous research has suggested annual losses of 1% of the Tapanuli orangutan population would be sufficient to lead to eventual extinction. The entire Tapanuli population dwells solely in the West Block of the Batang Toru, a forest threatened by mining, palm oil plantations and a large hydropower project.

Notorious Ecuadorian crime gang designated a terrorist group by US

The US has designated Ecuador’s Los Tiguerones gang, which stormed a television station during a live broadcast in 2024, as a terrorist organisation as the Trump administration expands its campaign against narcotics traffickers it says are destabilising Latin America. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, made the announcement in Quito, where he met Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa, one of several rightwing allies of Donald Trump whom Rubio is courting as a security partner during a three-nation tour through Latin America that began on Tuesday. Rubio said the Los Tiguerones gang was linked to narcotics trafficking, as well as attacks on civilians, law enforcement officers and journalists. “We are not talking about an ordinary mafia, nor are we talking about common criminals, we are talking about terrorists who, in many cases, possess weapons and equipment resembling the national armies of certain countries,” he said. The heavily armed gang’s attack on the TC Televisión network in 2024 prompted Noboa to declare a state of “internal armed conflict”, amid claims foreign drug gangs had descended on Ecuador to take control of important routes for coca grown in neighbouring Colombia and Peru and then shipped to the US. Live footage from the El Noticiero news programme showed men toting pistols, shotguns, machine guns, grenades and sticks of dynamite. The viral images quickly became a symbol of the drug violence destabilising the country. In its efforts to fight against narcotics trafficking and illegal migration from Latin America, the Trump administration has also empowered a number of hardline leaders through its “Shield of the Americas” coalition that aims to tighten security cooperation with rightwing allies in the region. During his trip, Rubio plans to visit several newly elected conservative leaders amid a significant political shift to the right in Latin America. On Wednesday, Rubio hailed Ecuador as being the Trump administration’s most “aggressive” partner in its military campaign against alleged drug traffickers, including in the controversial strikes against boats that have killed at least 227 people whom the Trump administration has called drug traffickers without providing evidence. Rubio said that he would seek $45m (£33m) in additional funding from Congress towards efforts aimed at “dismantling these terrorist groups”, although he did not go into details. He also told reporters that elite forces from both countries were “working jointly on a day-to-day basis in a way that has no precedent in order to try to dismantle these terrorist organisations”. Rubio visited Colombia on Tuesday, where he met its newly inaugurated president Abelardo De La Espriella, who narrowly won a June election against leftist leader Gustavo Petro with whom the Trump White House had cold relations. During his remarks, Rubio took something of a victory lap, saying that the two sides would seek to “[confront] the mistakes of the past four years” and called Petro’s leadership of the country “unnatural”. Colombia joined the Shield of the Americas initiative only after its change in government. During the meeting, the two men discussed security and counternarcotics policy, and signed memorandums of understanding on critical minerals and nuclear energy. Rubio is expected to next travel to Peru, where he will meet Keiko Fujimori, who defeated a leftwing candidate by a margin of just 50,000 votes during a close election in July. She has promised to fight crime with an “iron fist” and adopt some controversial policies from neighbouring El Salvador, which has been a close ally of the US on security policies.

Uganda to withdraw from Invictus Games ‘out of respect for King Charles’, says military chief

Uganda is withdrawing from the Duke of Sussex’s Invictus Games, the country’s military chief has said, out of respect for King Charles amid division over the “Harry-Meghan nonsense”. Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, son of the Ugandan president, made the surprise announcement in a post on X on Wednesday. Kainerugaba wrote: “In order not to be construed as being opposed to His Majesty King Charles III of the United Kingdom, whom we deeply revere, Uganda hereby withdraws from the Invictus Games. We shall not participate in anything that does not have His Majesty’s approval.” The timing of the post suggests it may be in response to an official letter to UK senior government and military officials on behalf of Charles that reiterated the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were not working royals and would not use their HRH styles. When asked by the Times about what had motivated the move, Kainerugaba is reported to have said: “I have factions in the Ministry of Defence that support that Harry-Meghan nonsense. I had to quash it straight away. I support the monarch. Period.” The news, first reported by the Uganda Pulse news website, will be a blow to Harry, who two months ago stood alongside Uganda’s defence minister, Kiryowa Kiwanuka, at an Invictus Games event in London to announce that the East African nation would be the 26th country to enter the multisport event for wounded service personnel. At the time, Kiwanuka praised the Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni for his “visionary leadership” and Kainerugaba, a Sandhurst graduate, for “championing our team’s entry”, adding that their support “marks a new chapter for our servicemen and women”. The Ugandan government spokesperson Alan Kasujja confirmed to the BBC: “Gen Kainerugaba decides whether or not the UPDF [Uganda People’s Defence Force] participates in the Invictus Games. What you saw is his stated position. If it changes, he will let the world know.” The decision to withdraw may be an unintended consequence of the official letter, issued on Monday by the head of the royal household, the lord chamberlain, Richard Benyon, at Charles’s behest, clarifying the position of the Sussexes after their return to the UK two weeks ago. The letter directed that the couple were “no longer working members of the royal family”, that their charitable work “is a personal matter for them both and undertaken in their private capacity” and “their position is akin to private citizens with commercial and charitable interests”. Kainerugaba was appointed army chief in 2024 and is widely seen as his 81-year-old father’s successor to the presidency. He has made several provocative posts on X, including threats to invade neighbouring Kenya, demands that Jay-Z hand over his wife, Beyoncé, so he could marry her, and threats against Bobi Wine, Museveni’s principal political rival. The Invictus Games and representatives for the Duke of Sussex have been approached for comment.

‘It’s a good start’: prominent Israelis welcome UK sanctions on illegal settlements

Prominent Israelis have welcomed new UK sanctions as a necessary response to settlement expansion and spiralling violence in the occupied West Bank. The intervention was described – by the president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, a former prime minister, an ex-head of the army and former ministers and diplomats – as an “inevitable consequence” of Israeli government and security failures. “Sanctions [are being imposed] against Jewish terrorists, and not against the legitimacy of the state of Israel,” they wrote in a joint statement. “There is no basis to the [Israeli] government’s response that the decision to impose sanctions against Jewish terrorists is an expression of antisemitism.” Ed Miliband, the foreign secretary, had indicated Britain was planning new sanctions but the strength of his language and the scale of the controls he announced on Tuesday were a surprise. It was the most significant attempt in many years, from a close Israeli ally, to leverage economic power to force change in the occupied West Bank. “Israel’s government has caused a rupture in the longest-standing diplomatic convention of all: using obfuscation and plenty of ‘very concerned’ statements instead of actually doing anything,” Esther Solomon wrote in the Haaretz newspaper. The impact was multiplied when France and Canada announced plans for trade bans on settlement goods and 10 other European countries backed similar measures. Nor did any senior figure in the Trump administration, which was briefed in advance on the UK plans, criticise the measures. “Jerusalem had prepared for rain, but what arrived yesterday was a full-blown storm,” Itamar Eichner wrote in Yedioth Ahronoth. “Yesterday Israel was caught off guard, to the point that senior Israeli officials used the term ‘an intelligence-diplomatic failure’.” Nearly three-quarters of Jewish Israelis favour partial or total annexation of the occupied West Bank, a poll for the Jewish People Policy Institute found. All leading candidates in the upcoming election reject a Palestinian state. However, there is increasingly vocal opposition to settler violence and expansion from some members of the country’s security, political and cultural elites. They threatened legal action against their government this summer over its support for Jewish terrorism and an “ideology of ethnic cleansing” in the occupied West Bank. Prof David Harel, British-born president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, is among those who signed a statement backing the UK measures. He said the sanctions offered urgently needed support for Israelis like him, who are trying to stop attacks on Palestinians and end the occupation. “I personally would fight until my last breath against antisemitism and against anti-Israelism. For that reason, I’m against general wall-to-wall boycott, divest, sanction-style sanctions on the state of Israel,” the leading scientist told the Guardian. “But what is justified, and I do support, is being anti things that Israel is doing, and these days in particular what it is doing in the West Bank.” He said that Israelis calling for a delay until after the elections were ignoring both the escalating violence that Palestinians faced every day and the risks the occupation posed to Israel’s future. “Getting out of there [occupied Palestine], or, at least for the present, stopping these things from happening and starting to really talk about a two-state solution is not only good for the Palestinians. It’s not that we’re doing these poor people a favour. We’re doing a favour to ourselves, no less, maybe even more.” The joint statement backing the UK sanctions was also signed by former prime minister Ehud Olmert, former commander of the Israeli military Dan Halutz, former ministers Yuli Tamir and Roni Bar-On and former ambassador to Germany Yoram Ben Zeev. “This decision is precisely what the state of Israel should have received in order to remove the disgrace of Jewish terrorism from the face of the country,” they wrote. Nadav Tamir, a former diplomat, also described the measures as good for Israel. “Any move to prevent annexation and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians in the West Bank [and Gaza] is serving the long-term interests of the Zionist vision of Israel as the democratic homeland of the Jewish people,” he said. “It will help us to be more secure and moral.” The value of goods exported from occupied territories to Britain last year was only $45m (£33m) out of total $4.4bn trade in goods and services, according to Roey Fisher, head of Israel’s Foreign Trade Administration. However, plans to place sanctions on any company that finances or facilitates settlement expansion could force Israel’s main banks and insurance companies to choose between their business interests in the UK and those in occupied Palestine. Miliband has not provided details of the new measures but the move has the potential to slow or stop construction. Avraham Burg, a former speaker of the Knesset, thanked Miliband for setting a global example. “Like many Israelis and Palestinians I am grateful for the courageous moral leadership of Miliband. It’s a good beginning. Do not stop,” he said. But Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, attacked Miliband for “blatant interference” in his country’s domestic affairs before a late October election. Opposition politicians suggested instead that Benjamin Netanyahu might weaponise the UK sanctions to bolster his campaign to remain prime minister. Dahlia Scheindlin, one of Israel’s leading political analysts, said the UK move was very unlikely to affect the October election, because Israeli voters were more focused on domestic issues. “Since 7 October [2023], Israel has become much more inward-looking and provincial, and generally the attitude to the rest of the world is just that ‘they all hate us’,” Scheindlin said. “If you are a Netanyahu supporter you might take this as evidence that they are against us because of antisemitism, and if you are in the opposition camp you might take this as further evidence that the world is turning against us because of Netanyahu’s policies. But it’s hard to see how these policies change the breakdown of the electoral map.” Miliband made his speech on a day when political parties finalised their candidate lists and Haaretz had a bombshell story about security warnings delivered to Netanyahu – and apparently ignored – before the 7 October attacks. Fourteen Israeli human rights organisations welcomed the sanctions. “This is an important and necessary first step to meet states’ legal obligation,” said the statement from groups including B’Tselem, Physicians for Human Rights Israel and Breaking the Silence. “We urge the international community to take further concrete measures to ensure that its relations with Israel no longer enable Israel’s settlement enterprise, forced displacement and ethnic cleansing in the occupied West Bank, or its broader assault on Palestinian human rights across all territories under its control.”

The Bayeux tapestry: why more women should be stitched into the fabric of history | Letters

I enjoyed your photograph of Andy Burnham, Macron and King Charles admiring the Bayeux tapestry and the king’s comment about the “entente amicale” between France and the UK (Bayeux tapestry loan symbolises ‘entente amicale’ between France and UK, says King Charles, 2 September). I also enjoyed Burnham’s wry reference to a tapestry that “shows a new leader emerging from a northern territory, travelling to the south of England in search of the crown. Something clearly that couldn’t happen today.” There is a certain irony, however, in there being, I gather, 93 penises portrayed in the tapestry, and six women – three known and three anonymous. Yet all the beautiful and exquisitely observed needlework was done by women. Observation, detail and creativity – significant and often unremarked. It would be good to hear more about the women involved and less about male leadership, power grabs and violence. Surely we are living too much with this legacy of an over-concentration on only one half of the world’s population? Jane Kearey Bristol • This exchange of treasures is indeed a welcome symbol of friendship and cooperation – at least for now – between our respective elites. Yet the tapestry itself, and the history around it, portray the recurrent theme of history shaped by (pretty much exclusively) male ego, greed and lust for power; thence deceit, treachery, war, massacre, misogyny and psychopathic levels of inhumanity. Looking around the world today, one muses (perhaps in a Norman accent), “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.” I wonder if we’ll ever find a solution. Richard O’Brien Highbridge, Somerset • Let’s hope Jonathan Jones’s vivid review of the Bayeux tapestry will encourage people to engage with English and British history (The Bayeux tapestry: a stupefying, thrilling, horrifying masterpiece that shakes the earth, 3 September). However, discussing the invasion by the Normans, he states that “William succeeded where those later would-be cross-Channel invaders – Philip II of Spain, Napoleon and Hitler – would all fail.” True (although the Germans did occupy the Channel Islands during the second world war), but he overlooks the successful invasion of 1688 when another William, the Dutch William of Orange, or William III, invaded with 500 ships and 20,000 soldiers and after some skirmishes forced James II to flee to exile in France, with profound consequences for the religion, constitution and monarchy of England and later Great Britain. Jones is not alone in forgetting, or misunderstanding, what happened in 1688. In an editorial (28 August), you quoted Nigel Farage as saying, in 2014, that the Bayeux tapestry depicted “the last time we were invaded and taken over”). Let’s hope such ignorance is not widespread and that the loan of the Bayeux tapestry leads to a revival of interest in the study and teaching of history. Richard Ross London • Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.

Spyware can easily fall into the wrong hands – investors should take note | Letter

The targeting of Serbian activists with advanced spyware (Report, 4 September) is the latest warning in a mounting record of abuse that makes the systemic and foreseeable risks of the commercial spyware industry increasingly impossible to ignore. Investors who aren’t paying attention are leaving their portfolios exposed to growing financial, reputational and human rights risks. Despite industry assurances that its technology is intended only for investigating terrorists and criminals, spyware has repeatedly been linked to the targeting of journalists, activists, elected officials, opposition leaders, lawyers, judges, academics and civil society. The fallout for the companies involved has been serious: costly litigation, criminal complaints, crippling sanctions, judicial investigations, tightening export restrictions, executives being convicted, severe reputational damage and, in some cases, financial collapse. That’s before accounting for the damage spyware can inflict elsewhere in an investor’s portfolio. Companies more profitable than spyware firms are forced to defend against attacks, respond to breaches and protect their users and commercially sensitive information. Funding spyware often means funding an attack on their far more valuable portfolio companies. Investors shouldn’t wait for the next scandal to discover their exposure. They should screen commercial spyware companies from their investment universe, require fund managers to identify and prevent exposure across investment chains, and urge portfolio companies to take action to prevent spyware proliferation. This is particularly important for development finance institutions, pension funds and other responsible investors whose mandates and reputations rest on creating long-term social value. Financing companies whose products can be used to silence journalists, intimidate civil society and undermine democratic institutions creates risks that extend far beyond any single investment. The Serbian case should prompt investors to question whether their firm is exposed to commercial spyware. And citizens should be asking, are my tax dollars or pension savings funding this? Meredith Veit Technology and human rights researcher, Business and Human Rights Centre • Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.

Iran claims to have attacked 10 ships near strait of Hormuz after US strikes

Tehran has said it attacked 10 ships around the strait of Hormuz after the US sunk five Iranian tankers, as escalating strikes between the two countries sent the oil price above $100 a barrel for the first time since July. The attacks were the sharpest flare-up of strikes in weeks, as the two sides struggled to break a deadlock in the six-month-long war. Fighting in recent weeks has largely revolved around who controls the strait of Hormuz, as Iran attempts to close off the waterway and Washington enforces a blockade of Iranian ports. The strait is a critical route for global energy supplies, with up to 20% of the world’s oil and gas transiting it before the US-Iran war. The rising price of oil, above the psychologically significant $100 mark, is likely to raise inflation and the price of goods. Stocks fell on Wall Street while rising fuel and food prices in the US will further frustrate the Trump administration, which faces a midterm election with an unpopular war and a cost-of-living crisis. Among the vessels struck by Iran were two US vessels and eight oil tankers, the Iranian’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Wednesday. The IRGC said the 10 vessels were “noncompliant” – a likely reference to ships that tried to traverse the waterway without its permission. At least one sailor was killed and another was missing. The US denied that its vessels were hit, with US Central Command saying on social media that all “attempted attacks failed”. A tanker in Iraqi waters carrying 2mi barrels of fuel oil was also struck by a drone, according to Iraqi officials. There were no reports of casualties among the crew and the Iraqi government said there were no reported oil leaks. Iran said it also fired missiles at US bases in Jordan – 18 of which authorities said were intercepted while two fell in unpopulated areas. The US had said it destroyed five Iranian oil tankers overnight, publishing videos of ships on fire. The US military said the attacks were a response to Iran targeting a US navy warship twice in the previous two days. Iranian state TV said the US strikes had followed a “complex intelligence and operational action at dawn” to seize a US underwater drone in the strait. The US said the seized craft was a “defective” older model that did not carry any sensitive data. The back-and-forth strikes signalled an intensifying escalation between the two sides as Washington announced a new policy of attacking Iranian tankers if Iran targets its warships. “Iran continues to try to hit US naval ships, and for every time they do that or try to do that, they’re going to lose tankers,” the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, told reporters. Iran said it would also escalate its attacks, and that for every two or three tankers struck it would respond by hitting 20. The IRGC said it would also release maps of a new, much-larger area near the strait that it considers forbidden for ships to traverse, extending as far as the Gulf off Chabahar for the first time. The conflict has also taken on an increasingly regional dimension as the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen traded strikes with Saudi Arabia. The Houthis launched a wave of attacks on four cities in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, causing large fires at oil installations and wounding 73 people. The Houthis said dozens of people have been killed in Saudi airstrikes, something unconfirmed by Riyadh. Fighting re-ignited between the two sides after the Houthis launched an offensive against the Saudi-backed government of Yemen in south Yemen last week, aimed at reaching the Red Sea. The group is trying to enforce a Red Sea blockade against Saudi Arabia, announced in July. If enforced, it would cut off another route for the kingdom to export its oil.