Ukraine war briefing: Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira deserves 17 years in jail, argue prosecutors

Prosecutors plan to seek nearly 17 years in prison for Jack Teixeira, the “Pentagon leaker” who used Discord to put online highly classified military documents about the war in Ukraine. The Massachusetts serviceman, 22, pleaded guilty. In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutors say he “perpetrated one of the most significant and consequential violations of the Espionage Act in American history … Teixeira violated his oath, almost every day, for over a year”.

Teixeira’s attorneys argue that he should serve 11 years for his “terrible decision” for which he “thoroughly accepted responsibility”. Sentencing is due to take place on 12 November. The leak exposed secret assessments of Russia’s war in Ukraine, including information about troop movements and the provision of supplies and equipment to Ukrainian troops. Teixeira also admitted posting information about a US adversary’s plans to harm US forces serving overseas.

North Korean troops who go to fight in Ukraine alongside Russia “will return in body bags”, the US deputy ambassador, Robert Wood, has told the UN. “So I would advise Chairman Kim to think twice about engaging in such reckless and dangerous behaviour,” he added. Russia’s ambassador to the UN on Wednesday said reports that North Korean troops were present at its frontlines were “mere assertions”.

North Korean troops wearing Russian uniforms and carrying Russian equipment are moving to the Russian region of Kursk, near Ukraine, according to the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, who called it a dangerous and destabilising development. “I call upon them to withdraw their troops out of Russia,” Austin said at the Pentagon. The call was echoed by his South Korean counterpart, Kim Yong-hyun, who stood beside Austin and said there was a “high possibility” Kim Jong-un would ask for higher technologies such as nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities in exchange.

A Russian guided bomb attack on Wednesday on an apartment building in Kharkiv killed one person, a child, and injured 29, said the regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov.

Russia claimed its forces had taken control of the settlement of Kruhliakivka, near the key town of Kupiansk in north-eastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, the Reuters news agency reported. Ukraine’s military made no acknowledgment of Kruhliakivka falling into Russian hands but officials said fighting was heavy in the area and the city of Kupiansk had come under Russian shelling. Ukraine’s general staff listed Kruhliakivka as one of nine villages gripped by fighting. Reuters said it could not independently verify battlefield reports from either side.

Moscow summoned Finland’s ambassador to protest after Finnish authorities seized a string of Russian state-owned properties under a court order. The seizure took place because, under a Hague tribunal ruling, Russia owes more than €5bn to the Ukrainan oil and gas company Naftogaz to compensate for its assets stolen during the Crimean annexation in 2014. Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported 44 Russian properties in Finland adding up to more than €35m were seized. Naftogaz said it was the first “publicly known successful asset freeze outside Ukraine” linked to lawsuits filed by Ukrainian companies against Russia for illegally annexing their property along with Crimea.

The US imposed more sanctions on Wednesday on nearly 400 entities and individuals from more than a dozen different countries, the treasury and state departments said. The action was the most concerted push so far against third-country evasion of the sanctions against Russia, a state department official told Reuters. It included sanctions on dozens of Chinese, Hong Kong and Indian companies, as well as targets in Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Thailand, Malaysia, Switzerland and elsewhere. The US has repeatedly warned against supplying Russia with common high-priority items – advanced components including microelectronics deemed by the US and EU as likely to be used for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The US also took action against a variety of entities supporting Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project, which is 60% owned by Russia’s Novatek, and was to become Russia’s largest liquefied natural gas plant. Novatek has been forced to scale back Arctic LNG 2, which had been planned to reach an eventual output of 19.8m tonnes a year, following a raft of US sanctions starting in 2023 with additional measures in August and September.

The Swiss government said on Wednesday it had approved more sanctions against Belarus, bringing it into line with EU measures. The new sanctions include a ban on investment in companies operating in the Belarusian energy sector, and prohibit the purchase and import of gold, diamonds, coal and crude oil from Belarus or of Belarusian origin, the statement said. They also ban the sale and export to Belarus – run by Putin ally Aleksandr Lukashenko – of luxury goods, goods for oil refining and for the liquefaction of natural gas, aviation fuel and fuel additives, maritime goods as well as goods that strengthen Belarusian industrial capacity.

Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, told Russian television on Wednesday he wanted to visit Moscow for next year’s second world war anniversary and criticised the EU’s approach to the Ukraine war. Slovak opposition parties criticised the appearance. “At home, his patchwork [government] is falling apart, healthcare is not a topic for the premier, but he will find time to serve Putin,” said Michal Simecka, chief of the biggest opposition party in parliament. “It is a huge disgrace.”