In autumn 2022, a team of Ukrainian divers – four men and one woman – set off for a seaside resort on the German Baltic coast on a covert mission. Equipped with diving gear and explosives, they had a rather unusual cover story: should they be stopped by the police, they were to claim they were shooting an underwater porn film – an idea suggested by their commander, a Soviet-era military intelligence officer unfamiliar with Western Europe.
Their real objective was far more daring: to dive to a depth of 80 metres – twice as deep as even the best combat divers usually go – to destroy the four pipelines, some 1,200 kilometres long, designed to transport cheap Russian gas to Germany. On 26 September 2022, two explosions rendered three of the four pipelines beyond repair, releasing 350,000 tonnes of methane into the Baltic Sea. None have been operational since.
The attack, dubbed “Operation Diameter”, is recounted in a book by investigative journalist Bojan Pancevski, who gathered the accounts of the Ukrainian conspirators themselves. Two military officers, referred to as “the General” and “the Colonel”, took the initiative by forming, according to the former, “a small deep state” acting largely on its own authority. To achieve such depth, they recruited civilian divers from the patriotic Black Sea community, including a former model nicknamed “Freya”. The team trained in disused Ukrainian quarries, concealing the explosives in their oxygen tanks, before hiring a boat in Germany whilst posing as recreational divers.
German investigators traced the trail via a beige Citroën van, spotted on CCTV and later on a speed camera. To date, only one suspect has been arrested: the skipper, Serhiy Kuznetsov, who was detained in Italy and subsequently extradited. Berlin also targeted a suspect based in Poland, but the Polish authorities – who are more sympathetic to Kyiv – tipped him off. Pancevski suggests that the plan was first approved by General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, now ambassador to London, and then passed on to Volodymyr Zelensky, who denies ever having authorised it. The Telegraph
Middle East
🇮🇷 Iran - 🇺🇸 United States • Washington announced on Monday that it was suspending its sanctions on Iranian oil for two months, following talks in Switzerland described as “very solid” by Vice-President JD Vance, who reported that IAEA inspectors had returned. Tehran stated that it had secured the “immediate” release of $12 billion in frozen assets, in two instalments, with its ambassador in Geneva insisting that Iran would be “the only country” to decide how the funds would be used, whilst Washington has set out conditions, notably agricultural contracts. Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, hailed a protocol amounting to “America’s declaration of defeat”, whilst Secretary of State Marco Rubio was on a tour of the Gulf to reassure his allies. The price of Brent crude has fallen below $75, a far cry from the peak of over $126 reached at the height of the conflict. Disagreements remain over the nuclear issue and the Strait of Hormuz, where Tehran wants to impose service charges that Donald Trump categorically refuses to accept.
🇶🇦 Qatar • An explosion at a huge gas complex in Ras Laffan, the world’s largest LNG production centre, has left 13 people dead and 66 injured, according to the authorities, who are describing it as an “accident” rather than sabotage. The victims, all of Indian or Pakistani nationality, were working at the Barzan facility, which had resumed operations two days earlier following several months of maintenance. The Energy Minister has assured that exports will not be affected.
🇮🇱 Israel – 🇱🇧 Lebanon • On Tuesday, the Israeli army killed at least two people in southern Lebanon – its first shots fired since Saturday evening – whom it describes as “terrorists” and whom Hezbollah describes as civilians clearing roads. The movement’s leader, Naim Qassem, has called for a complete Israeli withdrawal according to a pre-established timetable, in exchange for the deployment of the Lebanese army alone south of the Litani River. A fifth round of direct negotiations between the two countries has begun in Washington.
🇸🇾 Syria – 🇺🇸 United States • The US military announced today that it had killed a senior Islamic State leader during an air strike carried out on 19 June in Syria. The operation is part of Washington’s efforts to eliminate jihadist fighters, whilst IS, which maintains a sporadic presence in the country, launched a new wave of attacks against Ahmed al-Charaa’s government in February.
Europe
🇷🇺 Russia – 🇺🇦 Ukraine • The Moscow-appointed governor of Sevastopol reported power cuts in the city following a Ukrainian attack on energy infrastructure, with nine drones shot down over Crimea’s largest city. In eastern Ukraine, Russian shelling of Balakliia claimed one life today, according to local authorities.
🇷🇴 Romania • Romania remains without a prime minister after the Liberal Adrian Vestea failed on Monday evening to secure a vote of confidence in Parliament, nearly two months after the dismissal of Ilie Bolojan’s pro-European government. He received only 189 votes out of the 233 required, as some MPs, including those from the far-right AUR party, had left the chamber. President Nicusor Dan is expected to propose a new candidate; a second rejection would pave the way for snap elections.
🇵🇱 Poland – 🇺🇦 Ukraine • Volodymyr Zelensky has decided not to attend the conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine, scheduled for Thursday and Friday in Gdańsk, against a backdrop of tensions over memories of the Second World War. Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped him of the Order of the White Eagle after he named a military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which Poland holds responsible for the deaths of more than 100,000 Poles. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko will lead the Ukrainian delegation.
🇦🇫 Afghanistan – 🇪🇺 European Union • Taliban officials were received in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss with the EU the repatriation of Afghan exiles, a first that has provoked anger amongst human rights campaigners and a protest outside the Commission. Around fifteen Member States took part in this “technical” meeting, which focused on the identification of returnees and the issuance of travel documents. Brussels insists that this does not mean it recognises the regime in Kabul.
🇩🇪 Germany - 🇫🇷 France • The manufacturer of the Leopard and Leclerc XLR tanks, the Franco-German group KNDS, announced today its intention to list on the stock exchanges in Paris and Frankfurt in the coming weeks, two days after Paris and Berlin reached an agreement on joint governance. Germany and France will each retain 40 per cent of the share capital, with the remaining 20 per cent open to institutional investors. The group generated €4.4 billion in revenue in 2025.
🇪🇺 European Union • The European Commission today presented a package of corporate tax reforms, designed to save businesses around €8 billion a year, including €3.3 billion in administrative costs. The package notably provides for an exemption from withholding tax on cross-border payments of dividends, interest and royalties. Certain measures, which also relate to the fight against tax evasion, will require the unanimous agreement of the 27 Member States.
Asia-Pacific
🇰🇵 North Korea • Kim Jong Un stated that his army was in the process of “equipping the navy with nuclear weapons” during the commissioning of the Choe Hyon, a 5,000-tonne warship, according to the official KCNA news agency. The leader announced plans to build two state-of-the-art vessels each year, including one weighing 10,000 tonnes, declaring that the era when his fleet was limited to defending the coastline was over. Pyongyang presents itself as an “irreversible nuclear state”.
🇨🇳 China – 🇪🇺 European Union • Beijing has warned that it would retaliate against any restrictive EU measures targeting its companies, whilst calling for dialogue. The head of the Chinese mission, Cai Run, assured that the two powers were “partners, not rivals”, a few days before Trade Minister Wang Wentao’s visit to Brussels. The Europeans, whose trade deficit with China exceeds one billion euros a day, are calling for a strengthening of their trade defences.
🇨🇳 China • Prime Minister Li Qiang today called, at the “Summer Davos” in Dalian, for stronger governance of artificial intelligence, warning that a lack of regulation could lead to a devastating “loss of control”. He praised the Chinese economy, describing it as a “safe haven”, despite a growth target of 4.5 to 5 per cent for 2026 – the lowest in more than three decades. Beijing has called on the United States to cooperate on this issue.
Americas
🇺🇸 United States • Anthropic’s Mythos model identified vulnerabilities in classified US government IT systems during an exercise, having penetrated “virtually all” of these systems within a few hours, according to Senator Mark Warner. On the same day, the Five Eyes intelligence alliance warned that AI models are set to transform cyber capabilities “within a few months”.
🇵🇪 Peru • Right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori has taken what is considered an unassailable lead in the second round of the presidential election on 7 June, with around 50.1 per cent of the vote ahead of her left-wing rival Roberto Sanchez.
