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Revealed: how Russia uses mobile ‘super-app’ Max to spy on its citizens

Over the past 18 months, tens of millions of Russians have been forced to install a new app on their phones – a violet-blue button designed for messaging and payments, called Max. Authorities have touted it as a patriotic alternative to Telegram and WhatsApp; Russian glitterati have promoted it in rap videos and comic routines. This summer, it became the country’s most-used messaging app. It is a product of VKontakte, the Russian social media company, which is deeply entangled with the Russian state. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, reportedly owns an indirect stake in Max. Max is Russia’s version of a “super-app,” combining an ecosystem of services into a single platform. It is a container for a number of “mini-apps” that now facilitate everyday life in Russia – banking apps, a messaging service that aims to replace Telegram, and apps for essential government services. The best-known super-app in the world is WeChat, China’s everything platform which facilitates the state’s social controls. But while WeChat was developed over decades, in step with China’s other internet controls, Max has been imposed on a population that once had mostly-free internet access. Now, forensic research has revealed a fuller picture of Max’s powerful surveillance capabilities. These amount to a “backdoor” into its entire mini-app ecosystem on every user’s device, said Roya Ensafi, an associate professor of computer science at the University of Michigan. “We have studied Russia’s escalation of internet control for the past decade,” said Ensafi. “What Max provides is the cleverest and also the scariest tactic by authoritarian governments” to surveil their citizens. Max is “a blueprint any government can follow” towards digital authoritarianism, said Ensafi. It represents the cutting edge of what governments such as Iran, Kazakhstan and India may soon try to achieve. Ensafi’s team were able to download the version of the app used in Russia. They found that Max can screenshot users’ devices – and the contents of its mini-apps – without their knowledge. It can access all the information stored in these mini-apps, their messages and payments. It can impersonate its users without them knowing. It can even inject code into mini-apps – which would mean, said Ensafi, that the Russian government could use Max to launch cyberattacks. Their research adds new clarity into an ongoing debate on Max’s surveillance capabilities. Crucially, said Ensafi, it cannot break into apps like Telegram and WhatsApp, if users have these installed. However, Russia has banned both. Many Russians working in or around state institutions have in effect been forced to use Max. Officials and public-sector employees, university students, teachers and even schoolchildren have all faced pressure to move their communications on to the platform. One schoolteacher in Moscow said staff at their school were ordered to switch to Max after instructions from the city authorities. “The school director called us in last March and told us directly: from now on, everything is on Max. That included chats with parents, sending out homework and other school communication,” the teacher said. “There isn’t really an option to say no, so in the end you just use the app,” they added. Daniil, a university student in St Petersburg, said he reluctantly downloaded Max shortly before the start of the academic year after being told students would be denied access to university buildings or dormitories without a QR code generated through the app. He said he had concerns about the app’s security and privacy, but felt he had little choice if he wanted to continue accessing campus. Among Russia’s elite, use of Max often appears to be largely performative, with Telegram and Signal still widely used for day-to-day communication, according to several well-connected figures and prominent businesspeople. One person in the Kremlin’s inner circle said he and several friends had bought second phones solely to install Max, while continuing to use their main devices and preferred messaging apps as before. “It’s all for show. No one in politics really uses it,” the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Max has yet to replace Telegram as a major source of news for Russians. Public channels – used by media outlets, bloggers and officials to broadcast news and commentary to large audiences – remain far less developed on Max, where only a small number have built audiences comparable to the biggest channels on Telegram. Several Max users contacted by the Guardian said the app closely resembles Telegram, long Russia’s most popular messaging platform, in its design and functionality, but concerns about privacy and surveillance were widespread. “Using Max feels like you never quite know who else might be watching,” said Nikolai, a 34-year-old consultant in Moscow. While the app looked modern and slick, Nikolai said there was always something slightly sinister about using it. “You end up using it more and more because the alternatives are becoming harder to access. But it still doesn’t feel right.” Russia’s success in rapidly pushing out Max should be a “wake-up call”, said Ensafi. China reached its current state of digital authoritarianism over the course of 35 years. But Russia has imposed these sweeping restrictions – shepherding people on to a state-controlled internet – in just a decade. “The world is changing, the infrastructure of private communication is changing – and the assault by authoritarian governments is very aggressive,” she said. Max and VKontakte were approached for comment.

Friday briefing: After two months as PM, is Andy Burnham passing his own test?

Good morning. Remember the Makerfield test? When Andy Burnham was elected as an MP back in June, he reassured wary voters that the constituency was not a “stepping stone” (to be fair, it was a bit) but a “touchstone”. He meant that the policies his government devised would have to matter on the high streets of Ashton and Hindley Green. “A Makerfield test at the heart of British politics will make sure that the places Westminster has neglected will now get fairness,” he said. As the Commons breaks for the jamboree of high ideas, low gossip and crap karaoke that is party conference season, it’s a good moment to ask how Burnham’s early decisions as prime minister – he’s been at it under two months, right enough – meet that test and what it tells us about his government. I spoke to someone who, since that byelection, has immersed himself in the opinions of Makerfield voters, and those living in constituencies like it, Luke Tryl, UK director of the research agency More in Common. But first the headlines. Five big stories UK news | Shabana Mahmood has described the anti-asylum activist Daniel Thomas as “a far-right and outright racist” who will feel “the full force of the law” if his organisation commits crimes near contested asylum sites such as Piddington. Russia | Russians are going to the polls to elect a new State Duma in a tightly controlled vote stripped of meaningful competition and with little doubt about the result. UK politics | Andy Burnham is under further pressure to take control of ailing Thames Water from a cross-party group of MPs who are calling for ministers to break off talks with the US hedge funds who are effectively running the company. Royal family | The brother of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, has claimed in published extracts of his new memoir that King Charles sounded “giddily elated – like a lottery winner” in a phone call to him immediately after her death. Nature | A diminutive wild cat that inhabits Bolivia’s ⁠cloud forest has been identified as a previously unknown species, marking the first time a new living feline species has been formally named and described in more than a century. In depth: ‘The top thing for people in Makerfield was that life was a struggle’ “Who cares what Makerfield man or woman thinks? I’m a Holborn and St Pancras via Caerphilly gal myself,” you might be muttering into your overnight oats. But here’s why it matters: Makerfield, like dozens of similar post-industrial seats in the north of England, is the sort of seat Labour used to win so easily they could put up a ham sandwich as a candidate. Things have since changed. The area voted to leave by 65% in the Brexit referendum, and in the May council elections, Reform won all eight council wards in the constituency with about 50% of the vote. In his byelection dispatches from Makerfield, Luke Tryl found a pervasive sense of being left behind and forgotten – despite being “at the centre of the universe”, as one constituent put it, for one frantic month of campaigning. According to the voters Tryl spoke to, the Makerfield test should consist of three elements: Burnham showing that he “gets it”; a record of delivery; and a national plan to address the issues that Makerfield residents share with people across the country. So how has Burnham fared on some of the early challenges he’s faced? Cost of living measures “The top thing we heard in Makerfield was a sense that too much of life was a struggle,” Tryl tells me. And More in Common’s polling has found that, so far, Burnham’s early cost of living measures are very popular across the country: 86% of Britons had heard about the bus fare cap, seven in 10 thought it reflected well on the government; about 8 in 10 had heard about the VAT cut on household electricity bills (amounting to an average of about £45 a year per household), and 67% said that it landed well. Voters in Makerfield-like areas are realistic, says Tryl: “They say: ‘£45 is not going to change my life’, but they see it as a statement of intent”. People who are slightly more engaged with politics specifically mention the budget as a test point: earlier this week Burnham warned of “difficult choices” ahead. The cut-through of these measures to voters is striking: “Part of it is just the ubiquity of Andy Burnham,” says Tryl. Most recent More in Common polling shows people are more likely to have seen him on social media than any of the other party leaders. A fifth of Britons (22%) have seen “Cool Dad” Burnham on social media in the past week, compared to 20% for Reform leader Nigel Farage. I’m fascinated to see that for under-25s that rises to 35%, compared with 13% for Green leader Zack Polanski, who is often touted as catnip for younger voters. Immigration More in Common polling in June estimated that 62% of Makerfield residents consider immigration to be a top issue, making it one of the most concerned constituencies in the country about that issue. Here, Burnham gets a mixed review. The idea of taking in refugees through capped, controlled routes is popular in Makerfield, where voters worry over a lack of control. That’s why Tryl argues that one policy that really does pass the Makerfield test is the community sponsorship scheme, part of Shabana Mahmood’s controversial asylum reforms. But while Burnham has won back Labour-Green switchers over the summer, he’s not been so successful with Labour to Reform defectors – and Tryl believes that’s because he has yet to move the dial on migration. Take, for example, the shift in people’s perceptions: 52% of Britons now cite concern that local women and girls would be at risk of sexual violence as the top reason why they’d oppose asylum accommodation in their area (previously, they were more likely to refer to pressure on services). In socially conservative areas such as Makerfield, voters feel this “much more strongly”. “I think this is an achilles heel”, says Tryl. Prisoner release It’s not just constituencies such as Makerfield where voters think the criminal justice system isn’t tough enough: across the country, nearly two-thirds of Britons think prison sentences are too lenient. “The case of Andrew Harper outrages people across the board,” Tryl tells me, “but particularly in somewhere like Makerfield.” So Burnham played a bad hand well, by explaining the competing priorities to the public, and taking time to examine options before finding a partial solution. “Taking the public on that journey – especially in Makerfield where people are very distrustful of politicians – was important,” says Tryl. Climate Burnham, who is now facing intense pressure over whether to approve oil and gasfields in the North Sea, wrote in the Guardian yesterday that the UK must fully commit to reaching net zero by 2050. While Labour-Reform switchers in places like Makerfield are often deeply worried about climate change, there’s also concern that net zero policies will unfairly punish ordinary people. For many, the issue of climate change falls below more pressing daily concerns like the cost of living crisis. In this context, More in Common’s polling suggests the main test for Britain’s energy policies will be whether they can lower household bills. Party donations Tryl’s fieldwork has found that the public aren’t deeply engrossed in the minutiae of donations limits, although they do want the system to be fair. So Burnham’s early failure to support a domestic cap on donations is unlikely to be a decisive factor when constituents in Makerfield next head to the ballot box. But for the recipient of those crypto-millions, the damage has been done: more than one in three voters now name Farage’s “sleaziness and corruption” as a barrier to them voting Reform. Rather than the party’s core voters, who seem unmoved by the continuing financial scandals, it is Labour-Reform switchers in seats such as Makerfield whose faith has been shaken. But Tryl cautions against over-stressing the issue. “At the next election, if the status quo on cost of living, core public services, andimmigration still feels pretty bad, I don’t think donations in themselves will be an issue” he says. We want to hear from you What do you want to know about the US midterms, and how the Guardian plans to report them? I’ll be putting your questions to our Washington bureau in the coming weeks, so send them in by hitting reply or emailing first.edition@theguardian.com What else we’ve been enjoying I loved our pics gallery of eastern Europe’s socialist hotels, which I hadn’t read about until now. Poppy Noor, newsletters team Cracker of a You be the judge this week: Ayaan lent her brother Ahmed some money thinking it was for something important … then he spent it on a holiday. But does it matter what he did with the cash? Charlie Lindlar, newsletters team I found Zoe Williams’s interview with academic/author/policymaker Camilla Cavendish, on all the reasons we’ve stopped having babies, utterly fascinating. Poppy In case you missed it, make sure you read this viral essay from The Cut (£) on friendless husbands and the wives who try desperately to build social lives for them. Charlie The photos in our piece on the Tate’s Edward Enninful-curated show, c, about how the 90s art and fashion changed British culture, are beautiful and nostalgic. Poppy Sport Cricket | England extended their extraordinary hex over Sri Lanka to a 14th game, Tom Banton and Harry Brook leading them to a six-wicket victory with 47 balls to spare in the second T20 international. Football | Two first-half goals inspired Bournemouth, playing in their first European match, to a 2-1 win against Real Sociedad in the Europa League, while Crystal Palace had a comfortable 4-0 win over Lech Poznan. Athletics | Keely Hodgkinson has lifted the lid on how plans to chase the 800m world record this summer were ruined by a freak accident that her team has likened to whiplash. Something for the weekend Our critics’ roundup of the best things to watch, read, play and listen to right now Music Beabadoobee: Pylon | ★★★★☆ The Filipino-British songwriter’s fourth album sprinkles 90s alt fuzz with disarmingly sweet melodies and an impressive host of guests including Paramore’s Hayley Williams and Turnstile’s Brendan Yates. Read Alexis Petridis’s full review. Film Resident Evil (in cinemas now) | ★★★★☆ Weapons director Zach Cregger delivers a seat-edge thriller with a standout lead performance from Austin Abrams as an everyman navigating chaos. Read Jesse Hassenger’s full review. TV 70 Up (ITVX) | ★★★★☆ The landmark documentary series looked like it was done for good – until one participant was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Asif Kapadia takes the helm for its most elegiac, thoughtful outing ever. Read Lucy Mangan’s full review. Games Marvel’s Wolverine | ★★★☆☆ Logan is well realised by Liam McIntyre and some exquisite character art, but there are lapses in narrative and emotional arcs and some of the combat feels like a chore. Read Keith Stuart’s full review. The front pages “UK must fully commit to hitting net zero by 2050, says Burnham”, is the Guardian’s front page today. The Telegraph has “Labour’s tax raid on holiday cottages”, and the FT writes “BoE warns of higher rates ahead to tackle rising inflation”. On Earl Spencer’s claims, the Times leads with “Charles was elated after Diana died, earl claims”, the Mail splashes “Queen offered to restore Diana’s HRH … after she died”, the Mirror says “War of words”, and the Sun asks “Why is he doing this to the King now?”. The i Paper runs with “Palace on the defensive after Earl’s new claims against King”, and the Express has “Charles was ‘emphatic we respect Diana’s memory’”. Lastly, Metro says “A royal crisis? What crisis?”. The Latest Taking on Trump? Canada and EU forge closer ties Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, has welcomed the EU’s proposal for Canada to become the bloc’s first ‘associate member’, despite threats from Donald Trump over the plan. The US president said Washington could impose ‘very serious tariffs’ or halt trade if the EU went ahead with the plan. But in a defiant speech to the European parliament, Carney called for ‘deep cooperation’ and said polling showed the overwhelming majority of Canadians supported closer ties with Europe. Lucy Hough speaks to Europe correspondent Jon Henley. Cartoon of the day | Ben Jennings The Upside A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad West Yorkshire’s moors include beautiful pinks and purples; boast rich biodiversity and a variety of flora and fauna, and play an important part in tackling the climate crisis. But, before now, much of the area’s rural beauty might have gone unnoticed by the wider public. But, on Saturday morning, the Bradford Pennine Gateway Trail will open, the first reserve of its kind in West Yorkshire. It will showcase the area’s astonishing landscape, and it is hoped that it inspires people to explore more in the region. Writer Chris Moss described a trip to the area as embodying a “ local, low-carbon, cheap-as-chips tourism before the jet age” kind of throwback vibe, adding that the new route could offer “a model for how we travel in the future” Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday Bored at work? And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply

Paul Keating says Aukus locking Australia into a US war against China, which it would ‘certainly lose’

Aukus critic Paul Keating has said the submarine deal is locking Australia in to any future US conflict with China – “a war America would certainly lose” – and making Australia a target for retribution. The former prime minister seized on comments reported out of Washington this week from Republican congressman Michael McCaul – a China hawk and co-chair of the Congressional Friends of Australia caucus – who said “Australia is a target” for enemies of the US already. However, McCaul argued that greater integration with the US military would better protect Australia rather than leaving it more vulnerable. McCaul also said it was “logical to assume” US nuclear-powered submarines rotating through Australian bases could also be nuclear armed after 2032, and that Australia’s participation in a US war against China over Taiwan was assumed by the US military establishment. “I don’t think it was even questioned. It’s just obvious,” McCaul said. “Australia, being a Five Eyes [intelligence-sharing network member] and an ally of the United States, would be at odds with China invading Taiwan and threatening the Indo-Pacific.” He said it was “absolutely critical” for Australian to back any US intervention to protect Taiwan. McCaul met with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, the defence minister, Richard Marles, and the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, during a visit to Australia this month. Keating said the US would “certainly lose” in a war with China over Taiwan. “But having lost, [the US would] scuttle itself back to San Diego, leaving Australia vulnerable to China for having participated in a military escapade against it and its military assets.” Keating said Australia’s increasing enmeshment within the US military, especially through Aukus, was seeing Australia’s “sovereignty effectively being shredded”. “Australia is now getting locked in and locked up to the military prerogatives of the United States.” The Guardian revealed last week that the US military, and its corporate interests, control, or have access to, more than 100 military bases across the Australian continent. More than half of the military installations in Australia have some level of US control or access. Intelligence sites such as Pine Gap play a critical role in US warfighting, downlinking masses of surveillance data from satellites, and providing targeting information for US strikes. In parliament this week, Greens senator David Shoebridge seized on McCaul’s further comments that he considered Australia a “beachhead” for the US in its efforts to deter China and maintain peace in the region. “The US spruikers of Aukus have said they want to make Australia the beachhead for US military war against China,” Shoebridge told a press conference at Parliament House. “I want to be clear what happens at a beachhead: people get killed at a beachhead, destruction happens at a beachhead in someone else’s war. “How on Earth does Aukus make us safe, when a foreign military is bringing their nuclear-armed submarines into this country and consciously saying they want our country to be the beachhead in a war with China? It’s time we ended Aukus before we become the US’s beachhead.” Under Pillar One of the proposed Aukus agreement – a multi-decade deal slated to cost Australia $368bn to the mid-2050s – Australia will buy three “in-service” Virginia-class nuclear-powered, conventionally armed submarines from the US, beginning in 2032. From the early 2040s, Australia expects to deploy a new, larger Aukus-class submarine. The new class will be designed in the UK and the first boat built for the Royal Navy. Australia will then build five Aukus submarines - except for their nuclear reactors - in South Australia. America’s Virginia class submarines do not currently carry nuclear weapons but, from 2032, the US navy is planning to equip some of its Virginia boats with nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missiles. The regular rotation of US nuclear submarines through HMAS Stirling is also part of Aukus cooperation. The US has a policy of “strategic ambiguity” around the deployment of its nuclear arsenal, refusing to confirm or deny the presence of nuclear weapons on platforms around the world. The Treaty of Rarotonga prohibits Australia from “stationing” nuclear weapons on its territory.

Russians go to polls against backdrop of Ukraine war and Putin’s tightening grip

Russians are going to the polls to elect a new State Duma in a tightly controlled vote stripped of meaningful competition and with little doubt about the result. Vladimir Putin’s United Russia is expected to extend the grip on parliament it has held for 23 years, alongside a handful of nominal opposition parties that reliably vote with the Kremlin on the issues that matter. The three-day vote begins on Friday, with results expected after polls close on Sunday. For all the predictability of the outcome, the first Duma election since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 is taking place against the backdrop of a war that, once distant for many Russians, is increasingly intruding into everyday life. Swarms of Ukrainian drones have struck oil refineries, factories and logistics hubs across Russia over the summer, while polling has pointed to growing anxiety about the course of the fighting and what may still lie ahead. Against that backdrop, the Kremlin has tightened its grip further. Last month, the authorities barred Yabloko, the liberal anti-war party, from the ballot, removing the only political force remaining in Russia that was openly challenging the invasion of Ukraine. That leaves a handful of other parties, from the Communists to the far-right Liberal Democrats, which together form what is known in Russia as the “systemic opposition”: groups permitted to criticise the authorities at the margins, but which fall into line with United Russia on issues that matter to the Kremlin. For years, they have served as a political safety valve, giving voters somewhere to register discontent without posing a serious threat to the ruling party’s dominance. But even by the diminished standards of Russian politics, these parliamentary campaigns have been strikingly lifeless. “In most elections, candidates compete for attention. In Russia this year, many are doing the opposite,” said Farida Rustamova, a political analyst and founder of the independent Vlast newsletter. “No one wants to come into the spotlight or discuss anything sensitive.” Most candidates have barely campaigned at all, she noted. Televised debates have at times taken place in half-empty studios because politicians failed to turn up, producing awkward clips that quickly became memes online. United Russia’s campaign videos have leaned heavily on low-budget AI, with few memorable slogans or promises. None of the parties has dared to address the growing questions surrounding the continuing war that increasingly dominate private conversations. “The Kremlin is deliberately keeping the election low-key, as greater interest would not benefit them. They don’t want to discuss difficult issues and just [want to] get it over with,” said a person close to the Kremlin, speaking on condition of anonymity. By keeping the election subdued, Moscow hoped to depress turnout among disaffected and independent-minded voters while ensuring its own supporters made it to the polls, said Rustamova. Yabloko’s exclusion followed the same logic. Several observers believe that officials had initially expected the party to receive a negligible result, demonstrating how little support remained for an explicitly anti-war platform. But when polling instead suggested growing support for the party, the authorities removed it from the ballot rather than risk an unscripted result. Vladimir Gelman, a professor of Russian politics at the University of Helsinki, said another purpose of the elections was to provide the Kremlin with a continuing source of legitimacy and reinforce the impression that there was broad public consent behind the political system and the war. “Even though these elections are neither free nor fair, they are still the only source of legitimacy,” he said. In a televised address before the vote this week, Putin explicitly linked participation in the election to the war in Ukraine, presenting voting as a demonstration of unity in the face of outside pressure. “Your choice and your will will once again demonstrate that millions of people stand behind our soldiers, that we are a united people bound together by shared values, historical memory and love for our homeland,” Putin said. Putin himself secured another six-year term in the 2024 presidential election, with genuine opposition barred from the ballot, extending his rule until at least 2030. For many Russians, however, the election’s greater significance lies not in the result, but in what follows. With Moscow’s troops making little progress at high cost in Ukraine, rumours of another large-scale mobilisation have spread across the country. The fear is that once the election is safely out of the way and a compliant new Duma is installed, the Kremlin will have greater freedom to pursue unpopular measures it has so far avoided. The anxiety has already prompted some young men to leave the country, hoping to wait out any new mobilisation – scenes that carry echoes of September 2022, when hundreds of thousands of Russians fled after Putin announced the first wartime draft. The person close to the Kremlin said several friends had sent their sons abroad in recent weeks, a sign, he said, that even among those with access to the system, few are certain what will happen after the voting. Putin has sought to calm those fears. In recent weeks, he has twice dismissed suggestions that a new mobilisation is imminent. But those reassurances have not been enough for some men, including Dmitry, who flew to Yerevan, Armenia last week. “I’ll just wait a few weeks after the elections,” he said, adding that he felt the risk of a new mobilisation was too high to ignore. “Let’s see if anything changes after the vote.”

Ukraine war briefing: Poland’s Tusk heads to Kyiv after warning of Russian strikes on Ukrainian allies

Russia is planning hybrid strikes with drones or rockets on European countries supporting Ukraine, among them Poland according to its prime minister, Donald Tusk. Russia will pretend the attacks are “accidental” in order to “paralyse or at least weaken the motivation of Nato countries” to rush to the defence of the member state coming under attack, Tusk said in a speech to the Polish parliament. “There is a real risk that drones or other types of projectiles will enter the territory of one or several countries on the eastern flank and even cause destruction,” Tusk said, vowing that “if anyone dares to attack us, they will face a resolute response from us and our allies”. Tusk announced he would travel to Ukraine overnight, arriving on Friday, in what might be seen as an act of defiance against Russia after European leaders were in transit during a drone strike on a train near the Polish-Ukrainian border on Sunday. Officials usually keep their travel plans to Ukraine secret for security reasons. In Kyiv, he said he would discuss with Volodymyr Zelenskyy how to defend against the new types of drones, as well as discuss with partners including Slovakia further sanctions against Russia. The Slovak ⁠prime minister, Robert Fico, ‌also said ‌he would be in Kyiv as he claimed Europe is closer ⁠than ever to a large-scale ⁠war erupting ⁠from the war in Ukraine ⁠and politicians must strive for peace. Fico has ‌kept warm relations with Russia while criticising EU and Nato aid to Ukraine, though Slovakia’s arms industry is simultaneously a producer of artillery shells supplied to Kyiv’s forces. On Friday ⁠the European Union will ⁠disburse €3.3bn to ‌Ukraine to buy missiles and drones, Ursula von ⁠der ⁠Leyen, the European Commission president, has announced. Tusk said Russia was not ready for any peace talks “without the total capitulation of Ukraine”. “They are convinced the winter will be tragically critical for Ukraine.” He said last winter Poland stepped in with deliveries when Ukraine’s energy infrastructure came under attack, but if border crossings are destroyed it will be much harder for Warsaw to offer such help this winter. “Russia’s goal is to destroy as much as possible the economy and logistics of Ukraine,” Tusk said, adding that intelligence indicates continuous attacks of “very high frequency and intensity” on six main Ukrainian cities should be expected in the near future. A drone hit a petrol station near Ukraine’s border with Poland on Thursday, Tusk said separately at a press conference in Warsaw. A spokesperson for the Polish military told TVN24 that air defences were activated on Thursday after a jet-powered drone approached Polish airspace before exploding about 4km (2.5 miles) from the Polish border. Poland’s Lublin and Rzeszow ‌airports temporarily suspended operations on Thursday as the air force responded to Russian drone activity, Polish authorities said. Russian missiles and drones injured at least 19 people in Ukraine’s capital and the surrounding region, authorities said on Thursday. Kyiv’s military administration said more than 10 locations were hit, while 33 sites were damaged in the wider region. A 10-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy were among the injured, the administration said. Ukraine’s air force said it destroyed or suppressed 131 Russian aerial targets during the overnight attack in the Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia and Odesa regions. The attack involved ballistic and cruise missiles as well as drones and decoys. In Odesa, seven people were injured, including two children, according to Ukraine’s state emergency Service. Apartments on the 14th through 16th floors of a residential building were damaged. A private residential building in Odesa was also destroyed and others damaged. Ukrainian forces struck an oil refinery in Yaroslavl and a military airfield in the Rostov region, Zelenskyy said on Thursday. Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s operation against the Yaroslavl oil refinery was conducted jointly by the country’s Security Service, special operations forces, military intelligence and the foreign intelligence service. The security service also struck a military airfield in Rostov, damaging an An-12 aircraft, two An-26s and three helicopters. Reuters said that according to its industry sources, the refinery halted crude processing after the Ukrainian ⁠attack. The local Russian governor confirmed the damage. A Russian drone struck a civilian vessel flying the flag of Tanzania in the Black Sea on Thursday, killing the ship’s captain and injuring three crew members, according to Oleh Kiper, the regional head in Odesa. Russia damaged the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi bridge in the Odesa region, ⁠significantly limiting Ukraine’s ability to transport grain to its Danube river ports, Ukrainian state railway ⁠operator Ukrzaliznytsia ⁠said on Thursday. According to Ukrzaliznytsia, about 3,000 grain wagons ‌are bound for the Danube ports. Without the bridge, they would need 26 days to reach the ports. “The situation is very difficult. We are working to restore the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi bridge,” a company official said.

Trump administration again denies entry visas to Palestinian officials ahead of UN general assembly

The US state department said on Wednesday that it had again denied entry visas to Palestinian officials ahead next week’s United Nations general assembly gathering in New York. The state department said in a statement the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) had “failed to live up to their commitments”, accusing the groups of “taking actions to internationalize the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict including through the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ)” and of “glorifying terrorism” among other allegations. “As a consequence of their failure to reform, contrary to their commitments to the United States, and their ongoing activities that undermine the prospects for peace, the United States will extend sanctions that deny visas to PLO members and PA officials,” the department said. The move marks the second year in a row the Trump administration has barred the Palestinian delegation from traveling to New York to attend the UN general assembly in person. The foreign ministry of the Palestinian Authority denied the allegations made against it in a statement on Thursday, describing the visa sanctions as an “unjustified measure” that “contradicts the efforts being made to restore trust, develop Palestinian-US relations, and prepare the necessary political climate for implementing the two-state solution and achieving peace and stability in the region”. Among the Palestinian officials barred from entering the US is Mahmoud Abbas, the longtime president of the Palestinian Authority, according to reports. The UN general assembly voted on Thursday to allow Abbas to address the gathering via ⁠video, for the second year in a row. This year’s UN general assembly general debate begins on 22 September.

Nato head: Britain must show ‘credible path’ of annual defence budget increases

Britain needs to show “a credible path” of annual increases in its defence budgets to meet a Nato target of spending nearly £30bn more on the military by the middle of the next decade, the head of the alliance said on Thursday. Mark Rutte, Nato’s secretary general, said that Britain could not wait until just before 2035 to lift defence spending to 3.5% of GDP, in an unusually pointed intervention a day after he met prime minister Andy Burnham. In an interview with the Press Association, he said: “And that is why you need a credible path towards that 3.5%, and yearly increments.” The alliance’s secretary general, a former Dutch prime minister, made similar remarks to the BBC, where he said that the UK understood that the target could not be met “in one go in 2034” and that it would have to be achieved gradually. Earlier on Thursday, Rutte met with Wes Streeting, the defence secretary, and Ed Miliband, the foreign secretary. He saw Burnham on Wednesday, at a business park in Didcot, and also met representatives from the defence industry. Keir Starmer signed the UK up to a Nato-wide target of increasing defence spending to 3.5% of GDP in the summer of 2025, under pressure from the US president, Donald Trump. The figure has since been endorsed by Burnham and his chancellor, former defence secretary John Healey. Current spending plans, covering until 2028/9, show defence spending levelling off at 2.7%, nearly £30bn below the ultimate target, raising the question of how it would be achieved after the next general election. It is unclear if taxes or borrowing would have to rise, or other government spending cuts. Healey resigned as defence minister in June because Starmer would not commit to lifting defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030. At the time Healey said Labour needed to set “a clear path” to meet the Nato commitment, similar language to that used by Rutte in his interviews. But since then Healey and Burnham have avoided committing to the 3% by the end of the decade. Decisions on future spending are likely to be left to the next government spending review due next year, prompting the Nato leader to engage in public lobbying on his trip to Britain. Rutte said he was certain the Burnham government remained behind the ultimate goal and the need to increase defence spending gradually. “I am absolutely confident that when it comes to the yearly increments, they totally take it and accept it, that they have to be there,” he told the BBC. “There has to be a credible path. What that credible path exactly will be, we will see with the spending review next year,” Rutte added. A day earlier, Rutte gave a speech to at Ditchley Park in Oxfordshire, in which he warned that the 32 country military alliance faced “the most dangerous and complex security environment in a generation” with wars in Ukraine, the Middle East coming at time of rising state competition. Nato needed “more UK and more Europe”, he added, to take up the slack as the US reduces its military commitment to the alliance. Trump has long argued that the UK and Europe should match US levels of defence spending and take the lead in defending the continent from Russia aggression.