Russian empress in dire straits over article (8)
I believe the answer is:
tsaritsa
'russian empress' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'dire straits over article' is the wordplay.
'dire' indicates an anagram.
'over' indicates putting letters inside.
'article' becomes 'a' (indefinite article).
'straits' is an anagram of 'tsritsa'.
'tsritsa' placed around 'a' is 'TSARITSA'.
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for tsaritsa that I've seen before include "ruler's consort" , "Royal lady" , "Russian empress" .)