Two B-52 Stratofortress bombers of the United States were intercepted by two Russian SU-27 fighter jets near Russia’s Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad on Monday, a US official said on Tuesday.

The US bombers were in the Baltic Sea region to train together with their NATO ally Finland, which shares a 1,340 km (833 mile) border with Russia, amid escalating tensions stemming from Western backing for Ukraine to counter Russia’s invasion.

Monday’s interception of the US bombers by Russian fighter jets came just days after Russia fired a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile at Ukraine last Thursday in response to a decision by the U.S. and Britain to allow Kyiv to strike Russian territory with advanced Western weapons.

The US bombers did not change their pre-planned flight pattern during what was deemed a safe and professional intercept by the Russian Su-27s, the U.S. official told Reuters.

On Monday, the US B-52s also flew with Finnish F/A-18Cs during a U.S-Finnish drill in Finnish airspace.

The Finnish Air Force said in an emailed statement to Reuters that its fighter jets and the U.S. bombers had flown a training mission in Finnish airspace on Monday as part of efforts to strengthen Finland’s defence capability.

The Finnish Air Force statement did not address the Russian intercept but said the drill had included “simulated air-to-ground drops demonstrate our ability to work together in fire-use missions”, adding the cooperation also contributed to NATO’s collective defence and deterrence in the far north.

In an abrupt departure from its long-standing policy not to align itself militarily, Finland joined NATO in 2023 in direct response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Having fought back an invasion attempt by the Soviet Union during World War Two, Finland has been among the staunchest European supporters of Ukraine in its attempt to push back the Russian invaders.

In the shattered Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, which Russian forces took in February this year, some of the few residents left said they were trying to rebuild their lives, though the scars of war – and the tears they provoke – remain.

Reuters footage, some of the first visuals by an international media organisation, showed destroyed buildings and vast amounts of rubble dusted with snow. Abandoned family pictures and clothes littered ruined apartments.

In a newly renovated apartment building in the city, Florida Troshina, a Russian-speaking Ukrainian, wept over the death of her daughter, killed just two days before Russian troops arrived.

Others told of the deprivations of living in a ruined city, which is known as Avdeyevka by Russian speakers.

“I just wanted to get out of the basement,” Tatiana Golovina said in Russian, adding that she was pleased to be moving back above ground.

“It is hard there. There is no light, the lighting is bad, we have battery-powered lamps there – at least it is warm here,” Golovina said.

Avdiivka, once a city of more than 37,000, was largely abandoned during the fighting though some residents endured the war and stayed.

“I think, starting from next year we will have the opportunity to approach in detail how and at what pace, what Avdiivka will look like in a post-military period, how it will be linked to the development of Donetsk,” said Denis Pushilin, the Russian-installed head of the surrounding Donetsk region.

Downing Street has denied allegations the UK diplomat kicked out of Russia was a spy.

“To be clear, we refute these allegations. They’re baseless. We’re now considering our response,” a No 10 spokesman said.

Downing Street said it would not pre-empt what the UK’s response might be, when asked if a tit-for-tat expulsion would occur.

“This is not the first time that (Vladimir) Putin’s government has made malicious, baseless accusations against our staff,” the spokesman also said.

He added: “You’ll remember that the Kremlin baselessly curtailed the accreditation of six UK diplomats in Russia earlier this year following action taken by the UK Government in response to the Russian state directing activity across Europe and in the UK.

“Today’s announcement is no surprise coming from President Putin’s government, which has overseen an illegal war in Ukraine.

“The UK Government is unapologetic about protecting our national interests and will now respond in due course, and our embassy in Moscow will continue its important work in Russia to support UK interests.”

A Russian strike killed two civilians in the city of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine on Tuesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

Zelenskiy said in a video on the Telegram messaging app that a rescue operation was underway at the site.

Russia’s claim that a British diplomat expelled by Moscow was engaged in espionage is “baseless”, the UK Foreign Office has said.

The UK diplomat has had his accreditation revoked and must leave the country within two weeks, news agency Tass reported, citing Russian security service the FSB.

The agency claimed he had provided false information to enter the country and alleged he was engaged in spying and sabotage, according to the report.

It said it had found evidence the diplomat was involved in “reconnaissance and subversive work that threatens the security of the Russian Federation”.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “This is not the first time that Russia has made malicious and baseless accusations against our staff. We will respond in due course.”

The diplomat worked at the embassy in Moscow and had replaced one of six British intelligence officers who were expelled in August, according to Tass.

The Foreign Office at the time said Russia’s accusation that those diplomats were spies was baseless and that the expulsions were part of a campaign to deter the UK’s support for Ukraine.

The British ambassador to Russia, Nigel Casey, has been summoned by Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Tass.

A journalist who once worked as a freelance reporter for the US government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was convicted Tuesday by a court in far eastern Russia of cooperating with a foreign organization and sentenced to four years in prison.

Nika Novak, 24, was found guilty after a closed trial in the Zabaikalsky Regional Court in the city of Chita of cooperating with a representative of a foreign media outlet and being paid to prepare “false materials” to discredit the Russian military and government agencies. The court said Novak’s actions were aimed at damaging and destabilizsing Russia.

The human rights organization Memorial has described Novak as a political prisoner.

It’s not clear why Novak was arrested, but she previously did freelance work for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, according to Siberia.Realities, which is part of RFE/RL. She also was the editor-in-chief of Zab.ru, a news site in Chita, a city in eastern Russia that is closer to Japan than Moscow.

Novak was arrested in Moscow in December 2023 and sent more than 6,000 kilometers (3,728 miles) east to Chita for her trial.

Russia has used foreign agent laws to crack down on freedom of speech and independent media, including RFE/RL.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot has said that Europe must as soon as possible send Ukraine money from the $50 billion loan backed by frozen Russian assets.

Barrot was speaking at a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Italy on Tuesday.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said that two more IRIS-T air defence systems would be delivered to Ukraine before the end of the year to aid in its self-defence.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Germany has offered over 37 billion euros ($38.85 billion) in support, said Baerbock on Tuesday, which is meant not only to protect Ukraine, “but also for our own protection and our peace”.

A senior Kremlin aide said on Tuesday he was not aware of any contacts yet between President Vladimir Putin’s office and the team of US president-elect Donald Trump.

Putin has publicly congratulated Trump on defeating Kamala Harris in this month’s election and has said he is willing to talk to him. Trump told NBC on 7 November he had not spoke with Putin since his election victory but “I think we’ll speak”.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters: “There are no contacts going on with Trump’s team yet, as far as I know.”

Trump said repeatedly during his election campaign that he could bring a swift end to the Ukraine war, but without saying how. Putin said on 7 November that what Trump had said “deserves attention, at least”.

Ukraine hit Russia with US-produced ATACMS missiles twice over the last three days and Russia is preparing retaliatory measures, Russia’s defence ministry said on Tuesday.

It said both strikes targeted air defence positions in the Kursk region and on both occasions either one or two missiles reached their targets, while most were shot down.