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It was an extraordinarily public recruitment drive from an MI6 chief - an open invitation to senior officials in Russia’s security establishment to join those who have defected in disgust over Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Sir Richard Moore wanted to send a direct message to officials and politicians in Moscow : “You know the address – come and talk to us… Our door is always open… Our loyalty to our agents is lifelong… our gratitude eternal… Their secrets will always be safe with us.” This was only the second public address by Sir Richard since he had taken over as ‘C’, and there was a reason why he chose Prague to raise this theme. It was crushing of the Prague Spring by Russian tanks 55 years ago which had led to a wave of Soviet officials crossing over to the West. There have been other defections since then. But security officers point out, these have been motivated, to a large extent, by other factors such as money, or general unhappiness, or clashes with colleagues. But the Ukraine war has seen a return to Russian officials agreeing to help Western services in numbers which one officer described as “ surprising but very, very welcome”. Sir Richard, speaking at the British embassy, said “Many Russians are wrestling with the same dilemmas and the same tugs of conscience as their predecessors did in 1968. “I invite them to do what others have already done this past 18 monthsand join hands with us. We will handle their offers of help with the discretion and professionalism for which our service is famed.” People in the Kremlin hierarchy have seen Putin’s position become progressively weak, Sir Richard wanted to point out. The fact that Yevgeny Prigozhin is still free and moving around despite marching on Moscow to carry out a coup was an astonishing example of this. “Just remember, in the morning of the coup Prigozhin was a traitor. By the evening he had been pardoned, two days later he was having tea with Putin”, said the head of MI6.” A security official added later: “And of course it was not tea with polonium which is something enemies of President Putin could have expected in the past, but now Putin is in no position to do that.” Ukrainian military and intelligence officials have claimed that they have received information from the Kremlin via Western intelligence services enabling them to carry out attacks inside Russia. Sir Richard would not be drawn on what role his or other British services may have played in this. He wanted to stress, however, that many in Moscow’s security apparatus shared Prigozhin’s scathing assessment of what had unfolded in Ukraine. “One architect of that onslaught, Yevgeny Prigozhin, demolished the whole charade in a single sentence when he said, and I quote Prigozhin’s own words. ‘The war was needed for Shoigu to receive a hero star….The oligarchic clan that rules Russia needed the war. The mentally ill scumbags decided: ‘it’s OK, we’ll throw in a few thousand more Russian men as cannon fodder. They’ll die under artillery fire, but we’ll get what we want.”’ The fact remains, however, that Putin’s Russia has global allies helping in Ukraine. Moore said “Some nations have reduced themselves to being accomplices of the aggressor. Iran’s decision to supply Russia with the suicide drones that mete out random destruction to Ukraine’s cities has provoked internal quarrels at the highest level of the regime in Tehran. And so it should, because that decision was unconscionable. Iran seeks cash by selling arms to Russia to enable them to kill Ukrainian civilians.” Wagner is no longer active in Ukraine, but its widespread and lucrative operations in Africa have continued. The regimes dealing with them in the continent will, in the long run, suffer, Sir Richard held. Russia is “hawking mercenaries around Africa”, and in nations suffering from civil war, poverty and collapsed infrastructure, Moscow is “offering a 21st Century version of a Faustian pact.” But the regimes which welcomed Wagner are at risk. “Now they’ve had to watch the very mercenaries who they are supposed to trust with their livesturning against their ultimate patron, Vladimir Putin, and bearing down on Moscow. If Russian mercenaries can betray Putin, who else might they betray?” Russia has sought ever closer ties with China as international sanctions have begun to bite. But that has come at a cost, China is emerging as the senior partner in the relationship. Sir Richard ended on his theme of redemption of Russians by rejecting Vladimir Putin and his war of aggression. “ They are watching in horror as their soldiers ravage a kindred country. They know in their hearts that Putin’s case for attacking a fellow Slavic nation is fraudulent, a miasma of lies and fantasy. The message to them is “ our door is always open.” Read More Russia-Ukraine war – live: Putin ‘clearly under pressure’ in wake of Wagner mutiny says UK spy chief Ireland will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes, vows Leo Varadkar South Africa says Putin will skip a summit next month because of his ICC arrest warrant The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

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Manchester City duly booked their spot in the Champions League knockout stage after cruising to a 3-0 win over Young Boys at the Etihad Stadium. Erling Haaland’s 23rd-minute penalty sent them on their way and superb strikes from Phil Foden and Haaland again sealed victory over the Swiss side, who had Sandro Lauper sent off early in the second half. Also in Group G, goals from Xavi Simons and Lois Openda proved enough to give RB Leipzig a 2-1 win at Red Star Belgrade, as Leipzig joined City in sealing a last-16 spot with two games to spare. Atletico Madrid served up another Champions League nightmare for Celtic with both Antoine Griezmann and Alvaro Morata bagging braces in a 6-0 win at the Metropolitano. Celtic were left incensed by the sending off of Daizen Maeda after just 23 minutes following a VAR review of his challenge on Mario Hermoso. Atletico’s win moved them top of Group E after previous leaders Feyenoord fell 1-0 at Lazio, for whom Ciro Immobile scored the only goal of the game in first-half stoppage time. The result of the night came as Shakhtar Donetsk delayed Barcelona’s hopes of reaching the Champions League knockout stages after claiming a shock 1-0 win in their Group H clash in Hamburg. Danylo Sikan headed the only goal in the 40th minute from a cross by Giorgi Gocholeishvili, while Shakhtar had a second effort from 18-year-old Newerton ruled out for offside. The defeat ended Barcelona’s 100 per cent start to the group and enabled Porto to pull level on nine points at the top after they beat 10-man Royal Antwerp 2-0. Evanilson’s early penalty and a late strike from Pepe sealed victory for the hosts and left the Belgians, who had Jurgen Ekkelencamp sent off in the 52nd minute, still hunting their first points. Goals from Niclas Fullkrug and Julian Brandt proved enough for Borussia Dortmund to sink Newcastle 2-0 in Germany and move to the top of Group F as Paris Saint-Germain dropped down after a 2-1 defeat at AC Milan, despite former Inter defender Milan Skriniar firing them in front after just nine minutes. Rafael Leao equalised for Milan within three minutes and Olivier Giroud hit what turned out to be the winner five minutes into the second half. Read More John Stones injury leaves Manchester City ‘in trouble’, says Pep Guardiola Newcastle discover brutal truth - it’s so much harder in the Champions League Stones injury dampens Manchester City joy at Champions League progress Erling Haaland back with a bang as Man City cruise into Champions League knockouts Celtic suffer Champions League embarrassment as Atletico Madrid show gulf in quality Eddie Howe knows Newcastle need two wins to keep Champions League hopes alive

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Megan Fox has opened up about some of the values that she wants to instil in her three sons. The 37-year-old actor spoke candidly about her parenting habits and hopes during an interview with Women’s Wear Daily (WWD), published on 29 November. During her 10 years of marriage with now ex-husband Brian Austin Green, Fox welcomed three sons: Noah, 11, Bodhi, nine, and Journey, seven. Speaking to WWD, she acknowledged that there will come a day when her children read her latest collection of poems, Pretty Boys Are Poisonous, in which she reflects on some of the difficult experiences she’s had throughout her previous relationships. However, according to Fox, most of what she’s written in her book are lessons that she’s tried to teach her sons. She then acknowledged that she doesn’t want her sons to be similar to the men she’s dated, before describing some of the qualities she hopes they have as they grow up. “I think because I have sons, it’s very important to me to raise boys who are not like these men that I’ve been with,” she said. “It’s very important for me to raise boys who are able to have a very deep emotional intimacy with their partner.” The Jennifer’s Body star also described the attitudes that she doesn’t want her children to have. “It’s very important to me that they are not liars, that they are able to be fully transparent and honest and respectful and experienced at some point in their life,” she added. Fox – who’s engaged to Machine Gun Kelly – then reiterated how important it is to her that her sons are respectful towards women when they develop their own relationships. She also emphasised that the way she raises her sons will impact how they treat women. “I don’t expect them when they’re 16 to have a sacred love, but I do expect them at some point to get to that place, because I am their first introduction into women and the way that I love them is going to influence the way they are allowed to love others when they go out into a relationship,” she explained. Fox concluded by detailing what she wants her children to gain from how she communicates with them, adding: “And so I hope that just through my transparency in the way that I engage with them, in the way that I am demonstrative and affectionate with them, that allows them to love in a really healthy way.” This isn’t the first time that Fox has opened up about her family. Earlier this year, she hit back at criticism about letting her son wear a dress when she fiercely rebuked a claim made by Republican politician Robby Starbuck, who alleged that she had “forced” her sons to “wear girls clothes” while playing in a park. “Hey @robbystarbuck I really don’t want to give you this attention because clearly you’re a clout chaser. But let me teach you something…” she wrote on Instagram in June. “Irregardless [sic] of how desperate you may have become at any given time to acquire wealth, power, success or fame – never use children as leverage or social currency. Especially under malevolent and erroneous pretense.” The mother-of-three continued: “Exploiting my child’s gender identity to gain attention in your political campaign has put you on the wrong side of the universe.” “I have been burned at the stake by insecure, narcissistic, impotent little men like you many times and yet I’m still here. You f***ed with the wrong witch.” Elsewhere in the WWD interview, Fox also revealed that she had an ectopic pregnancy, years before she experienced a miscarriage while pregnant with her fiancé Machine Gun Kelly’s baby. “[The miscarriage] was so much harder than I would’ve anticipated it being, and I’ve really analysed ‘Why was that? Why was that so difficult for me?’” Fox said. “Because when I was younger, I had an ectopic pregnancy, I’ve had other things that I’m not going to say because God forbid the world will be in an uproar.” “But I’ve been through other similar issues, but not with someone who I was so in love with,” she added, referring to Kelly, whose real name is Colson Baker. The Transformers star went on to describe the pain she felt due to the miscarriage, years after having an ectopic pregnancy. She also acknowledged how those feelings ultimately encouraged her poems. “And so that love element really made this miscarriage really tragic for me and left me with a lot of grief and a lot of suffering. So I put it into a lot of writing,” she said. Read More Megan Fox reveals she had an ectopic pregnancy years before experiencing miscarriage Keke Palmer opens up about ‘abusive relationships’ after Darius Jackson breakup Rosalynn Carter remembered for her mental health advocacy at poignant tribute service Keke Palmer opens up about ‘abusive relationships’ after Darius Jackson breakup Rosalynn Carter remembered for her mental health advocacy at poignant tribute service Paris Hiltons says ‘mama bear instincts’ came out after comments about son’s head