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Ukraine-Russia war latest: Relentless fighting as annexation vote enters final day

Sweden's Maritime Authority has issued a warning of two leaks on the Russian-owned Nord Stream 1 pipeline in Swedish and Danish waters, shortly after a leak on the nearby Nord Stream 2 project was discovered.

"There are two leaks on Nord Stream 1 - one in Swedish economic zone and one in Danish economic zone. They are very near each other," a Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA) spokesperson told Reuters.

The leaks were located northeast of the Danish island Bornholm, the spokesperson said. It was not immediately clear what had caused the leaks.

"We are keeping extra watch to make sure no ship comes too close to the site," a second SMA spokesperson said.

"Recently we've had many people from Russia coming here," Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies. "Most of them are forced to leave because of the hopeless situation. We must take care of them and ensure their safety."

 Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday that rhetoric regarding the use of nuclear weapons was "certainly not a bluff".

Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, also warned that Moscow has the right to respond "without much consultation", as tensions rise with the West over referendums held in large swathes of Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory.

Medvedev has regularly issued aggressive statements on the West and Ukraine in recent months, underlining his transformation from an apparently Western-minded liberaliser as president from 2008-2012 to strident geopolitical hawk.

Vladimir Putin will address both houses of the Russian parliament on Friday, where he may announce the accession of the occupied regions of Ukraine to the Russian Federation. 

The referendums currently underway within these territories are due to conclude today.

"Russia’s leaders almost certainly hope that any accession announcement will be seen as a vindication of the ‘special military operation’ and will consolidate patriotic support for the conflict," the UK's Ministry of Defence said on Twitter on Tuesday.

"This aspiration will likely be undermined by the increasing domestic awareness of Russia’s recent battlefield sets-backs and significant unease about the partial mobilisation announced last week."

Russian border guards on Monday started blocking military-aged men from leaving the country as tens of thousands joined long queues to flee, writes Nataliya Vasilyeva.

The Kremlin insisted it had no plans to close the border despite reports in local media that an order could follow the ongoing sham referendums in occupied Ukraine.

Around 300,000 men have reportedly fled the country already, the same number as Sergei Shoigu, the defence minister, said would be called up from military reservists to fight in Ukraine.

Satellite images released by Maxar showed a traffic jam stretching 10 miles from the border with Georgia.

Read the full story here

Russia has announced that it has detained a Japanese diplomat the Kremlin claims had been caught “red-handed" spying.

The diplomat was named by Moscow as Motoki Tatsunori, Tokyo's consul in the eastern city of Vladivostok.

He was accused of trying to buy classified information about another country cooperating with Russia.

In a statement, Russia's FSB security service said the Japanese diplomat accused of spying had been ordered to leave the country within 48 hours.

It claimed: "A Japanese diplomat was detained red-handed while receiving classified information, in exchange for money, about Russia's cooperation with another country in the Asia-Pacific region."

Read the full story by Nick Allen and Nataliya Vasilyeva here

• Russia has announced that it has detained a Japanese diplomat the Kremlin claims had been caught “red-handed" spying

• Vladimir Putin has granted Russian citizenship to former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden

• Kyiv has condemned reports that Ukrainian prisoners of war have been forced to vote in the referendums in four regions of eastern Ukraine on joining Russia

• The Kremlin has admitted that “mistakes” have been made in its mobilisation drive, amid continued anger that led to a man shooting a military recruitment officer in a draft centre on Monday

• Keeping Darth Vader’s voice alive is a real wheeze for Ukrainian AI

• President Volodymyr Zelensky described the military situation in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region on Monday as difficult and said it was the country's "No. 1 goal" because it was also Russia's No. 1 goal.