Ukraine has put Vladimir Putin “into a position he never dreamt in his worst nightmares”, the former foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind has said.
Asked whether the invasion into the Russian territory of Kursk had been a gamechanger in the two-year war between Russia and Ukraine, Sir Malcolm said: “It’s not by itself something that is going to defeat Russia.
“But it puts Putin into a position he never dreamt of in his worst nightmares that he would be in because the Ukrainians have shown the complete uselessness of the Russian forces.”
Sir Malcolm, who was foreign secretary under prime minister John Major, added: “Putin has always prided himself that the thing he does is provide security to Russia.
“Well this war has been a disaster for him, the change to NATO has been Sweden and Finland joining, which they had never done for almost 70 years, and now he finds parts of Russia occupied by the Ukrainians.”
Blast injures three people at Russian fuel plant
A fire has ripped through a fuel pipeline at a petrochemical plant in western Russia, local authorities are reporting.
Images are emerging of firefighters trying to extinguish the blaze at the Sterlitamak plant in the Bashkiria region and emergency services have said the fire is under control.
It is not clear what has caused the incident.
The plant, located 1,500 km (930 miles) east of Moscow, produces rubber and high-octane additives for fuel and jet fuel.
The Interfax news agency, citing local officials, said production at the plant was continuing despite the fire.
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