Putin faces humiliation. His response could be violent

On Sunday, Royal Marines seized MV Smyrtos, one of the “shadow fleet” tankers transporting Russian oil around the world. On Tuesday, a Russian frigate in the Channel – although outside British waters – fired warning shots when a yacht got too close to it. The Cold War at sea risks hotting up.

Moscow seems to be reserving judgement on the seizure – assuming it was a performative one-off by a Prime Minister trying to establish a legacy as domestic concerns grow for him. But days later, Sir Keir Starmer announced a fresh round of sanctions against Russia’s shadow fleet vessels, with the stated aim to “choke off” Russian revenue.

In case this is the start of a sustained campaign, Vladimir Putin will now be weighing his options, from bringing shadow fleet oil tankers under the protection of the Russian flag all the way to a campaign of sabotage against the UK and others.

Shorts

Girl, 8, injured in wolf attack at German wildlife park

Poundland on brink of administration – what we know

How weight-loss jabs boom is putting waste workers at risk

Why Toblerone owner is suing a vegan chocolate brand

How all over 16s could need ID to use social media

How to be more grateful for daily life in five easy steps

I test drive electric cars – these are the ones to buy

I’m a food editor – the kitchen products I swear by under £25

NEWS

Girl, 8, injured in wolf attack at German wildlife park

An eight-year-old girl has been left seriously injured after being attacked by a wolf at a wildlife park in Germany.

What happened?

Analysis

Trump’s sadistic tiger videos are a hideous window into his mind

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What do we know?

The background

The news comes after William Chapman, 24, was fatally mauled by a tiger at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park earlier this month.

Senior coroner Nicola Mundy said Chapman had a history of mental illness, a diagnosis of schizophrenia and had suffered previous bouts of psychosis.

Man killed in tiger attack at Yorkshire zoo named – everything we know

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NEWS

Poundland on brink of administration – what we know

Poundland has filed to appoint administrators, threatening the future of around 12,000 workers.

Court filings show that the retailer filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators on Thursday, which will give the business 10 working days of breathing space from creditors to secure a potential rescue deal.

What Poundland has said

Despite enormous efforts it has not been possible to identify an acceptable offer for the business as a whole. The process has however attracted several established retail operators who have made formal offers. Collectively these cover a significant part of the business.

Barry willams, Poundland’s managing director

Despite enormous efforts it has not been possible to identify an acceptable offer for the business as a whole. The process has however attracted several established retail operators who have made formal offers. Collectively these cover a significant part of the business.

What you need to know

At 53, I’ve got a part-time job in a shop – it’s been life-changing

3 min read

A closer look at the detail

Health

How weight-loss jabs boom is putting waste workers at risk

The rising popularity of injectable weight-loss drugs like Mounjaro and Wegovy means more used needles are turning up at recycling centres – and their bosses have warned this is putting workers at risk of infection and serious injury.

What is the issue?

Used needles should always disposed of through a dedicated clinical waste service.

But a large number of weight-loss needles are being dumped in household bins, the BBC reports.

Waste site workers are regularly being pricked by them, putting their health at risk. 

What should you do to help?

Weight-loss pills now on sale for £79 – but NHS patients may have to wait years

4 min read

Recycling boss voices concern

There are safe disposal routes for needles but the worst place to put them is in your recycling. It ends up in facilities like ours where it will be touched by people and that’s inherently unsafe

Richard Dobbs, managing director of Sherborne Recycling

There are safe disposal routes for needles but the worst place to put them is in your recycling. It ends up in facilities like ours where it will be touched by people and that’s inherently unsafe

food and drink

Why Toblerone owner is suing vegan chocolate brand

The owner of Toblerone is taking legal action against a small British vegan chocolate brand which it claims has been copying the Swiss chocolate bar’s iconic shape.

What you need to know

Catherine’s Originals, founded by Catherine Dodd in 2021, makes its chocolate in Sussex and sells them via markets and online.

What Mondelēz has said

What O’bar founder has said

We stand firmly behind the product and identity we’ve created. We strongly disagree with the claim concerning O’bar and are working with our legal team to defend our position. Honestly, it’s fairly frightening for a small business we’ve put so much care and hard work into building.

catherine dodd

We stand firmly behind the product and identity we’ve created. We strongly disagree with the claim concerning O’bar and are working with our legal team to defend our position. Honestly, it’s fairly frightening for a small business we’ve put so much care and hard work into building.

How all over 16s could need ID to use social media

Ofcom has set out its recommendations for the most effective ways to identify which of the UK’s millions of social media users are aged over 16.

What you need to know

Under the UK’s social media ban – which comes into force in March next year – under 16s will be prevented from accessing 10 of the biggest platforms, including Instagram and TikTok.

Many adults are also likely to have to confirm that they are not under-age by using one of the proposed measures,

Three ways social media is harming young people, according to landmark study

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Ofcom’s recommendation

Age verification below 18 is difficult, because 16 and 17 year olds don’t have credit cards or full driving licences, and may not have passports.

To address that challenge, Ofcom has recommended four methods that it says would be “highly effective” at gauging people’s ages, in addition to traditional forms of ID.

The four methods

What Meta’s £421m child safety fine could mean for social media reforms

3 min read

How to be more grateful for daily life in five easy steps

Gratitude

The world feels like a difficult place at the moment, and it can feel very hard sometimes to find things to be thankful for; when we are overwhelmed, we have less capacity to notice and reflect on the good things. Yet, ironically, proactively cultivating gratitude is one of the things that can actually help us feel less stressed.

NHS GP dR RADHA

The world feels like a difficult place at the moment, and it can feel very hard sometimes to find things to be thankful for; when we are overwhelmed, we have less capacity to notice and reflect on the good things. Yet, ironically, proactively cultivating gratitude is one of the things that can actually help us feel less stressed.

The science

Research has shown that feeling or expressing thanks can actually alter our brain.

How can we build gratitude?

Change your words

Instead of seeing something as a problem, try to see the opportunities within it. 

Journal

Our brains are very receptive and what we read or write can alter our emotional system.

Express it

This will not only make you feel good, but you will also get a positive response from others.

How can we build gratitude?

Notice more

Throughout your day, try to notice all the things that are going well; has someone opened a door for you, or smiled?

The basics

By being thankful for the small things every day, we are far more likely to be and stay healthy so that we can enjoy them.

What to do

Gratitude can lead to feelings of optimism, lower our blood pressure, and improve sleep quality. 

Sales of battery
electric vehicles hit a record high last year.

Leon Poultney, a writer who specialises in cars, gives his EV recommendations, and the ones that should be avoided.

Renault 5 E-Tech

Starts at £22,995 for the smaller battery

Available with either a 40kWh battery or a larger 52kWh pack, that offers almost 255 miles, the latest, retro-inspired Renault 5 is both a joy to behold and a hoot to drive.

The interior has been lavished with a level of detail that’s typically reserved for more expensive cars. 

I test drive electric cars – these are the fastest-charging for under £50,000

4 min read

Mercedes-Benz CLA

A champion of EV efficiency

It offers a remarkable 491 mile range on a single charge from the 85kWh battery.

It is a technological masterclass inside with the ability to option screens that span the entire width of the dashboard, including an optional display for the front passenger.

Priced from £37,400

Why electric cars might be about to get more expensive

2 min read

Porsche Macan GTS

It’s a lot of money to part with, but this is arguably all the car you will ever need.

It’s a lot of money to part with, but this is arguably all the car you will ever need.

The £89,000 Macan is a premium SUV that somehow manages to blend Porsche’s reputation for dynamics and sporty driving with everyday practicality.

The 95kWh batteries can go from 10 to 80 per cent in as little as 21 minutes from the fastest public charging outlets.

Kia EV 9

With the business class-style six seat configuration costing a staggering £76,995, it is by far the most expensive Kia ever made, but it backs up its financial demands with a suite of genuinely useful and impressive onboard technology.

MG IM6

It’s fast, goes a long way between stops and charges relatively quickly but the interior is bland, the onboard technology is infuriating and the experience is devoid of emotion. 

BYD Dolphin Surf

All of its gadgetry can’t disguise the fact that performance is weak, even for a typically zippy EV, the ride is fussy at slower speeds and it’s not in the least bit enjoyable to drive on a country road.

Leapmotor T03

The one thing no one tells you about electric cars

2 min read

The kitchen gadgets and products a food editor swears by, all under £25

The kitchen gadgets under £25

Victorinox paring knife

It’s comfortable to hold, with a point sharp enough for scoring pastry.

ProCook cast iron pan

For unbeatable searing and heat-retention, cast iron is the top choice. 

Tesco chopping board

Priced at just £22, I’ve yet to find another board that matches it for sheer value and quality.

The kitchen gadgets under £25

Pyrex jug

It is the perfect vessel for blending smooth sauces, melting butter, or warming stock. It won’t stain like plastic and the red measurements never fade.

Salter scales

“I’ve had my slim little set of Salter Disc Scales for over a decade, and I’m delighted to see they are still made to exactly the same reliable design today.”

Microplane grater

It uses photo-etched stainless steel teeth that stay razor-sharp for a decade, something the lookalike copycats simply can’t match. 

Braun hand-held blender

It’s an essential for everything from making velvety soup to getting the lumps out of white sauce. 

Bodum cafetiere

As well as delivering great results, cafetieres are easy to clean and there’s no ongoing filter paper costs or pod recycling to deal with.

I’ve got a gene that means coffee is bad for my heart – half the public have it

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The kitchen gadgets under £25

Oxo peeler

What truly sets it apart is the chunky, rubberised handle that absorbs pressure and stays completely non-slip, even if your hands are wet. It is inexpensive and incredibly durable.

Falcon pie dish

Made by fusing porcelain onto heavy-gauge steel for smooth durability, it is dishwasher, freezer, hob, air-fryer and oven-safe. 

The first to respond to the tanker seizure in Russia were, predictably, the ultra-nationalists. Senator Dmitry Rogozin drew parallels with England’s use of pirates as privateers in the 16th to 18th centuries and advocated placing explosives on tankers to blow them up in the case of seizure.

“A couple of explosions under their noses with an oil spill and the corresponding environmental consequences will immediately make them come to their senses,” he said.

A prominent milblogger channel, Starshe Eddy, said that “without a response, this will continue to happen more frequently, more harshly, and more shamefully for us”. It called for some kind of retaliation, whether “under our own flag, or made to look like an accident. It could look like an environmental disaster”.

However, voices like these were relatively marginal, and the mainstream press in Russia scarcely reported it, with the Government’s RIA Novosti news agency confining itself to quoting the Russian embassy in London saying that “there were no Russian citizens among the crew members of the detained tanker”.

Still, this doesn’t mean that the Kremlin doesn’t care, but rather that it is weighing its options. Russia may strike back in unexpected ways, or choose to wait to see what happens next, especially as Donald Trump’s deal with Iran could return the focus to the war in Ukraine.

For Putin, the calculations are simple. Oil and gas only amount to about a fifth of Russian state revenues, and the state taxes hydrocarbons when they come out of the ground, not when they are sold. If export profits fall, it doesn’t have an immediate and direct effect on his war chest and the continuing conflict in Ukraine.

The shadow fleet is also made up of mostly non-Russian ships, and the oil that was seized by the UK had already been sold. As long as there is a market for cheap Russian oil, someone, somewhere, will try to supply it.

Putin will also take solace in the fact that the ships seized so far by France and Belgium were eventually allowed to go on their way, after paying fines worth a fraction of the value of the oil on board.

But that doesn’t mean that the seizures don’t matter. If they force shadow fleet tankers to take more roundabout routes – avoiding the English Channel can add four days to the overall journey – and deter shipowners, it increases costs. That makes Russian oil a little less competitive on international markets at a time when Putin needs all the money he can get.

Still, that is not going to bring Putin to his knees, but with Ukrainian drones hitting refineries across the country and the battlefield casualty rate now exceeding recruitment, there is increasing discomfort about his war.

Putin is finding himself trapped between nationalists who complain that he is not being aggressive enough and pragmatists who think it is time to settle for what Russia has already been able to conquer. In these circumstances, the seizure of the Smyrtos could be seen as an isolated act of geopolitical machismo. However, if Britain and the rest of Europe step up the campaign – something Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is urging at the G7 summit – Putin will have to respond.

When it comes to a response, setting aside the more fanciful suggestions like Rogozin’s, Putin’s main options range from the defensive to the aggressive. Ships have the right of innocent passage, even through territorial waters. What allowed the Cameroonian-flagged Smyrtos to be seized was that, while it was at sea, Cameroon deregistered it, leaving it fair game.

Looking ahead, Russia could offer its flag to other shadow fleet tankers, place armed security officers on board or send them in convoys escorted by warships. This would likely make future seizures much less palatable for the West.

Of course, still smarting at the humiliating Ukrainian drone attack on his hometown of St Petersburg during a recent business forum, Putin may feel that is not enough.

The conviction on Monday of two men for arson attacks on properties owned by Starmer shows that Russia continues to wage a covert war across Europe, one intended to distract, divide and demoralise its enemies. It hopes this will undermine our will and capacity to support Ukraine.

Stepping up this campaign – perhaps even by targeting ships, ports and other export routes as a symbolic rebuke – could be a more serious response. The UK will have to wait to see what Putin chooses to do next – and even he might not know what he plans.

Tuesday’s incident in the Channel is a reminder that in the current time of heightened tensions, bad luck or bad judgement can easily raise the risk of dangerous escalation.

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