By Sean Rayment British intelligence services are investigating links between a terrorist who murdered two people outside a synagogue in Manchester and Iran. MI5 is trying to establish whether Jihad Al-Shamie, a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent, was acting alone or as part of a covert terror cell. The disclosure comes as police confirmed that one of the two people killed was shot dead by officers. Intelligence sources told National Security News that both the police and the security service are investigating whether Al-Shamie became self-radicalised or was inspired either by Iranian proxies or by individuals linked to Hezbollah. One source…

By Sean Rayment Russia is sending battalions of troops into battle infected with highly contagious diseases including HIV and hepatitis, Ukrainian military experts have said. Soldiers in these units wear armbands marking them out as sick and have been spotted on the frontlines around Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub in eastern Ukraine that has been the focus of a prolonged and bloody assault by the Kremlin, they told The Telegraph. “There is currently information that these units are participating in fighting in what is currently the hottest spot, Pokrovsk,” said Dmytro Zhmailo, executive director of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre…

By Sean Rayment The UK has imposed sanctions on 71 Iranian individuals and organisations linked to Tehran’s nuclear programme amid concerns that it is developing nuclear weapons. The move follows a decision in August by the UK, France and Germany to revive sweeping UN-backed sanctions on Iran after efforts to restart diplomatic talks over Tehran’s nuclear programme stalled. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the sanctions package targeting Iranian financial institutions and energy companies “sends a clear message” to Tehran that Britain “will continue to take every step necessary to prevent Iran ever developing a nuclear weapon”. Iran has said its…

By Sean Rayment British-made unmanned air vehicles will be deployed to create a “drone wall” to protect Nato from Russian aggression, the UK government has revealed. The new low-cost unmanned craft, developed in collaboration with Ukraine, are part of a strategy to deter Russian jets and drones from attempting to penetrate the alliance’s eastern flank. European ministers are concerned about a spate of Russian incursions into Polish and Estonian airspace, which prompted Britain to deploy RAF Typhoons over Poland in a show of force to Moscow. A suspected Russian “hybrid” incursion of drones this week took place in Denmark and…

By Ben Farmer Mali’s Russian-backed military junta has been tipped into crisis by a militant blockade of fuel supplies, highlighting its weak authority in the West African nation. Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) has, over the past fortnight, torched scores of tankers as it attempts to lay economic siege to parts of southern and western Mali. The attempted stranglehold marks an escalation of the militants’ long campaign and comes as extensive Kremlin military backing has done little to halt the insurgency. Mali, along with neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, has in recent years fallen to a military coup and pivoted…

By Isabella Egerton Russia has launched an extensive information campaign to disguise its economic vulnerabilities, following US President Donald Trump’s description of the country as a “paper tiger” and his suggestion that Ukraine could reclaim occupied territory with Western backing. A report released by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said the Kremlin’s messaging has coalesced around three themes: restating its original war aims as necessary for Russian security, portraying Russian victory as inevitable, and highlighting the supposed benefits of renewed US–Russia economic ties. ISW assessed that Moscow is also dangling trade incentives to coax Washington toward normalising ties…

By Sean Rayment US President Donald Trump said Russian planes intruding into Nato airspace should be shot down, in a marked hardening of tone towards Moscow amid frustration over his stalled attempt to end the Ukraine war. In remarks after a fiery speech to the United Nations in which he ridiculed Russia’s failure to defeat Ukraine, Trump said that direct US involvement in attacking Russian incursions would “depend on the circumstances.” Before his meeting with President Zelensky, Trump was asked by a reporter: “Mr President, do you think that they should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter their airspace?”Trump replied: “Yes,…

By Sean Rayment Thousands of Cuban mercenaries are being recruited to fight for the Russian army in Ukraine, Kyiv’s military intelligence agency has revealed. Andriy Yusov, an official within Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence, said that at least 20,000 Cuban citizens had travelled to Russia to join the war against Ukraine. The agency said it had uncovered evidence of both men and women signing contracts with the Russian military, adding that Cuba is “at the very top” of the list of countries supplying foreign mercenaries to Russia. The use of Cuban fighters follows reports that Russia has also recruited troops…

By Isabella Egerton South Korea’s military is investigating reports that Russia has delivered nuclear submarine reactor modules to North Korea — a transfer that, if confirmed, would represent one of the most serious acts of nuclear proliferation in recent decades. According to South Korean officials cited by the Korea JoongAng Daily, Moscow shipped two to three nuclear propulsion modules to Pyongyang earlier this year. The modules — reportedly removed from decommissioned Russian submarines — include a reactor, turbine, and cooling system, the critical elements needed to power a nuclear submarine. The alleged transfer coincided with North Korean state media photographs released…

By Sean Rayment Two Iranian financiers and more than a dozen individuals and firms across Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates have been sanctioned by the US for allegedly coordinating $100 million worth of cryptocurrency transfers from the sale of Iranian oil, benefiting Iran’s government and military. The US Treasury Department alleges that Iranian nationals Alireza Derakhshan and Arash Estaki Alivand facilitated the purchase of over $100 million in cryptocurrency tied to oil sales on behalf of the Iranian government. According to the Treasury, both men then used a network of front companies across several countries to transfer the cryptocurrency. So-called shadow banking networks like…

By Sean Rayment Kidnapped children have been taken to at least 210 facilities in Russia and areas of Ukraine under Moscow’s control, as part of a Kremlin effort to secure their loyalty to President Putin, a report has said. The facilities span 3,500 miles, from the Black Sea to Siberia and the Pacific coast, according to research by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL). Researchers accused Moscow of operating a “potentially unprecedented” system of “re-education” and forced military training for Ukrainian children. The report also said that children are being made to produce drones and other military equipment for Russia’s…

By Isabella Egerton India has sent a 65-strong contingent, including troops from the Kumaon Regiment, to Russia’s Zapad-2025 military exercises, a move sources told National Security News is being interpreted within NATO as a provocative step amid rising tensions with Moscow. The drills involve around 30,000 Russian and Belarusian soldiers and include missile launches, large-scale manoeuvres, and simulated airstrikes from the Arctic to western Belarus near NATO’s eastern frontier. The Indian Ministry of Defence said the troops are stationed at the Mulino training ground, roughly 40 miles west of Nizhny Novgorod, well away from NATO borders. Delhi described the deployment as a…