The Russian invasion

The Russian invasion The outside world's response
Russia is reducing the number of diplomats in Norway

Russia's embassy in Norway is reducing its staff to two at the request of Norwegian authorities, Reuters reports.

On Facebook, the embassy writes that Norway demanded that this happen by October 17 at the latest, and that consular services will be limited as a result.

Norway's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not commented. In April last year, the country expelled 15 Russian diplomats who, according to the ministry, were in fact intelligence agents.

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The Russian invasion  The outside world's response
Germany: Putin may be ready for NATO attack in 2030

By 2030, Russia is said to have built up sufficient military capacity to attack NATO. That was what German intelligence chiefs warned about on Monday, according to AFP.

- Whether we like it or not, we are in a direct confrontation with Russia, said Bruno Kahl, head of the intelligence service BND, during a parliamentary hearing.

The chiefs also warned that Russian espionage and sabotage against Germany is becoming more common and more sophisticated.

Vladimir Putin's long-term goal is to weaken the West, and a military confrontation with NATO is "starting to become an option for Russia," according to Kahl.

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The Russian invasion The battles
A quarter of the land in Kursk has been reclaimed

Russia has gradually begun to reclaim the land in the Kursk region that Ukraine seized last summer, and which Kyiv sees as an important pawn in potential peace negotiations with Russia. The New York Times reports.

- In general, the situation in Kursk is not so good, says a source within Deepstate, a blogging group that analyzes the war situation and has connections to the Ukrainian army.

Currently, Ukraine controls around 750 square kilometers of land in Kursk, compared to around 1⁠000 this summer, according to the Finnish analysis group Black Bird Group.

In recent days, Russian forces have launched several attacks in the region, led by armored vehicles. Yesterday, sources on both sides confirmed that the Russians have broken through Ukrainian defense lines, and that the Ukrainian troops are in danger of being surrounded.