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Ukrainian forces continue to make significant territorial gains in multiple sectors of the frontlines and appear to be greeted everywhere with open arms by civilians, some of which spent over six months under the thumb of Russian occupiers.Videos like the one below have proliferated online as Ukrainian troops push rapidly through Russian lines in the north around Kharkiv and in the south around Kherson. Ukrainian forces in most places appear to be greeted with hugs, handshakes, and tears of joy by their liberated countrymen.

The Russian-Ukrainian battlefield is roughly comparable to the Kherson battlefield in the endless steppe. The Kharkiv-Severodh Donetsk region is more complex in terrain, with a large number of small highlands, forested swamps, and rivers. The road network is not good, and there are many small villages and towns. As a result, the entire battlefield is also more complex So far Ukrainian Army’s offensive is unusually smooth, more than 3,000 Russian internal guard units and armed mobilizers were almost defeated, and a small number of Russian paratroopers failed to stop the Ukrainian army’s thousands of assault troops alone, and quickly retreated...

MOSCOW — Russians began voting on Friday in the first nationwide elections since the invasion of Ukraine in a climate of wartime censorship and repression, with the Kremlin trying to assure the public that it was business as usual. The vote for local and regional governments across the country includes the first municipal-level elections in the capital of Moscow since 2017, when the opposition won a sizable minority of seats despite the Kremlin’s dominance of the political system and accusations of fraud. But the ranks of the opposition have since been depleted even further. Many anti-government politicians have fled the...

Ukraine says it has recaptured more than 1000 sq km area and 20 villages in its south and east from Russia in the past week. The Ukrainian counterattack in the south, which was once regarded as a “propaganda offensive”, now seems to have really become a major problem for the Russian army. The latest news from Kyiv pointed out that the Ukrainian counter-offensive has reoccupied a large area of territory, while the Russian side is in a state of emergency on the front line, and there are frequent problems in the rear. At the same time, the military assistance provided...

Ukrainian Intelligence reports that due to successful counteroffensive of Ukrainian forces on several fronts, Russian occupiers are looking for a way to escape, calling their wives and asking the Russian Ministry of Defense to get them out of Ukraine. Source: Ukrainian Chief Intelligence Directorate Quote: "The 237th Guards Airborne Assault Regiment of the Russian Federation no longer exists due to either death or injury of all soldiers. A large part of those who survived are in extremely serious condition." Details: It is noted that the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian troops forces the occupiers to ask the Red Cross for help...

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine had taken control of more than 30 cities and towns in Kharkiv Oblast. Quote: "Our army, intelligence and the Security Service of Ukraine continue active operations on several fronts. And they are doing it successfully... At this time, the Armed Forces have liberated and taken control of more than 30 cities and towns in Kharkiv Oblast. In some villages of the Oblast, measures to check and secure the territory are ongoing; we are gradually taking control of new villages and towns, everywhere we are returning the Ukrainian flag and protection...

Dear Ukrainians, I wish you health! We have good news from the European Union. The provision of EUR 5 billion of macro-financial assistance to our state has been approved. It's very important. And secondly, there is a decision of the Council of the EU to suspend the visa facilitation agreement signed by the EU and Russia. This decision will be effective from Monday. And there are specific recommendations of the European Commission regarding visa restrictions for citizens of Russia. This is the protection of Europe, it will make it difficult for those who do not want to change anything, do...

Russian occupying forces deployed helicopters and weapons in search for deserters near the village of Babenivka Druha, in Kherson Oblast, in order to ensure their return to combat positions. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Quote: "The morale and the psychological condition of [soldiers in] the occupying units [of the Russian Armed Forces] have considerably deteriorated, and instances of desertion have become more common, due to significant losses [sustained by the Russian army] and a lack of willingness to participate in combat. The enemy was forced to deploy helicopters and weapons in search for deserters and in...

Work behind the enemy continues! In the southern direction, while conducting special reconnaissance in the temporarily occupied territory, a combat group of the MTR of Ukraine came across an enemy position. The Russian armored personnel carriers and personnel of the invaders found there were destroyed instantly in a matter of minutes. After that, the operators of the MTR of Ukraine division went on, continuing to perform their main task.

During the UN Security Council meeting, Serhii Kyslytsia, Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the UN, said that in order to save the lives of both Ukrainian and Russian citizens, the Russian Federation has only one course of action: surrender and withdraw. Quote: "By launching its aggression against Ukraine in 2014, by invading Ukraine in February 2022 Russia has violated the norms and principles of practically all fundamental international documents, including bilateral and multilateral agreements, the Helsinki Final Act and, first and foremost, the UN Charter." "Not a single state present in this Chamber, besides Russia, is responsible for the Council’s inability...

US war-gamed with Ukraine ahead of counteroffensive and encouraged more limited mission.In the buildup to the current Ukrainian counteroffensive, the United States urged Kyiv to keep the operation limited in both its objectives and its geography to avoid getting overextended and bogged down on multiple fronts, multiple US and western officials and Ukrainian sources tell CNN. -snip- The Ukrainians were initially considering a broader counteroffensive, but narrowed their mission to the south, in the Kherson region, in recent weeks, US and Ukrainian officials said.

Ukrainian soldiers are being welcomed as heroes by gleeful residents who have lived under Russian occupation for months, as Kyiv continues to retake dozens of settlements from the clutches of Vladimir Putin's forces. Videos and pictures have emerged showing troops standing victoriously on top of Russian flags in the liberated city Balakliia, while others have been shown in footage discovering the burnt out wreckages of enemy tanks. The images come as swiftly advancing Ukrainian troops were bearing down on the main railway supplying Moscow's forces in the east on Friday, after the sudden collapse of a section of the Russian...

Ukrainian forces were charging through an expanding area of previously Russian-held territory in the east on Friday after bursting through the frontline in a surprise breakthrough that could mark a major turning point in the war. After keeping silent for a day, Moscow effectively acknowledged that a section of its frontline had crumbled southeast of Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv. "The very fact of a breach of our defences is already a substantial victory for the Ukrainian armed forces," the head of the Moscow-installed administration for occupied areas in Kharkiv province, Vitaly Ganchev, said on Russian state TV.

Ukraine may have captured a Russian general in what would be the highest-ranking of Moscow's officers to be taken prisoner since the Second World War. Video published Wednesday revealed a group of Russian POWs detained by Ukraine amid a surprise counter-attack near the city of Kharkiv, among them a man wearing the uniform of a mid-ranking Lieutenant-Colonel. But Ukrainian media now claims the man is 'likely' to be Andrei Sychevoi, who is actually a high-ranking Lieutenant-General and commander of Russia's Group of Forces West.

Ukraine pressed an offensive in the east of the country on Friday, seeking to cut off Russian forces as Kyiv achieved its biggest breakthrough in months of grinding combat. Over the past three days, Ukrainian forces have advanced almost 50 kilometers, or about 31 miles, in the northeastern Kharkiv region, the army general staff said Friday. Images of the Ukrainian flag being raised over local government buildings and residents greeting soldiers with tears of joy have boosted morale across the country after months on the defensive. One video showed Ukrainian soldiers in the city of Balakliya clambering on top of...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily address that he and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in an unannounced visit Thursday to Kyiv, talked about a variety of topics, including designating Russia as a terrorist state. “The legal reality must always correspond to the actual reality. And it is a fact that Russia has become the biggest source of terrorism in the world,” Zelenskyy said. “The world must receive an unequivocal signal that Russian terror will not be forgiven.” Also in his daily address, Zelenskyy said, “More than a thousand square kilometers of our territory have been liberated...

It is an outcome that few dared to hope for. But 10 days after Ukraine's generals announced the start of their first major counter-attack against Russian troops, the road to victory is starting to become clearer. Clever tactics saw Ukraine's commanders draw Russian troops into the south of the country before pinning them down with a counter-attack around the city of Kherson. Some of Putin's best men are now all-but trapped in the city, bullied by Ukrainian artillery and with no easy way to retreat back across the Dnipro River after HIMARS strikes destroyed the main bridges. That gave Ukraine...

Ukrainian forces surprised occupying Russians with a one-two punch Thursday, pushing deep into enemy territory to open a second front in Kyiv’s counterattack. Ukrainian authorities announced the liberation of 20 villages in the northeast, outside Kharkiv, as the military pushed for the occupied city of Izyum — all while continuing a fierce fight for Kherson in the south. Oleksiy Hromov, a deputy chief with the general staff of the armed forces of Ukraine, said Thursday that his nation’s forces — pushing toward the Donbas from Kharkiv — had penetrated more than 30 miles beyond Russia’s defensive line. “Since the beginning...

Russia has given up on rebuilding bridges destroyed by Ukraine in the Kherson counteroffensive, a Kremlin-installed leader of the occupied southern region said on Tuesday. Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-appointed military-civilian regional administration, told Russian state-owned news agency Tass that it does not make sense for Russia to restore the Antonovsky Bridge, which has been targeted for weeks by Ukraine. "So far, no one is restoring the Antonovsky Bridge, because there is no point, there is no expediency," he said. Stremousov said that the key bridge, as well as a bridge in Nova Kakhovka, are completely closed at...

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday that President Joe Biden has approved additional military aid to Ukraine worth up to $675 million, an announcement that came as he rallied allies to renew their commitment to Ukrainian military support “for the long haul.”