“Ukraine – Russia”

Matt Roe was devastated when he discovered a medical condition would prevent him joining the Australian military.

“It took me years to get over it … if I ever did,” the South Australian landscaper says.

“It’s all I ever wanted to do.”

But now Roe, 36, has found a different – though potentially illegal – way to become involved in a military campaign, by leaving Australia to join the Georgian National Legion, a unit formed to support Ukraine’s struggle against the Russian invasion.

#Ukraine: The catastrophic explosion of a Russian tank (reportedly a T-90) again due to internal ammo detonation. pic.twitter.com/OKUX2BHICd

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) August 6, 2022

In a war being fought largely in World War II era trenches, with Soviet ammunition, the vast influx of modern NATO weapons and military supplies from the West into Ukraine has proven to be among the largest determinants of whether territory is lost, or gained, along Ukraine’s embattled border region with Russia.

The bulk of these weapons and military supplies make their way to the border of Poland, where U.S. and NATO allies quickly ferry it across the border and into the hands of Ukrainian officials. That’s where U.S. oversight ends.

A Russian army commander who called herself the “she-wolf” after boasting that she enjoyed killing Ukrainians has died in a missile strike.

Lieutenant Colonel Olga “Korsa” Kachura is Moscow’s first female army chief to die since the invasion started in February. Kachura, 52, was killed instantly after a rocket struck her car in the city of Horlivka, Donetsk.

President Putin is desperately redeploying thousands of Russian troops to southern Ukraine to stave off a humiliating defeat, moving troops from the Donbas to bolster a force that has been split precariously across two banks of the wide Dnipro river.

The reinforcements bring the total Russian force in the area to more than 25,000 troops, a Ukrainian reconnaissance and intelligence team told The Times, adding that nine Russian battle groups, each between 500 and 800 men, had been moved there from Donbas and Crimea.

#Ukraine: Ukrainian counter-battery fire hit a 9P140 MRL of the 220 mm BM-27 Uragan system, destroying it and sending rockets flying wildly. Thanks @serhiyprytula. pic.twitter.com/WtjP3yURTm

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) August 4, 2022

Ukrainian forces have been accused by Amnesty International of endangering civilians by basing themselves in residential buildings, schools, and hospitals, sparking a strong response from Kyiv.

Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnes Callamard said the group’s researchers documented “a pattern of Ukrainian forces putting civilians at risk and violating the laws of war when they operate in populated areas” as it released its report on August. 4.

The report, which the Kremlin and Russian media have already quoted extensively, is an attempt to “shift responsibility from the aggressor to the victim,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

#Ukraine: What appears to be the second documented use of a mysterious top-attack munition by Ukrainian forces- here seen targeting a vehicle reportedly carrying Russian officers.

The second car can be seen doing a little flip. pic.twitter.com/XzVWtE2pze

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) August 4, 2022

Russia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday declared the Ukrainian Azov Regiment a terrorist organization.

Despite its checkered past, the Azov Regiment is hailed in Ukraine as heroes for fighting to defend the country’s embattled east against the Russian invasion.

An estimated 1,000 Azov soldiers are being held by Russia and Moscow’s allied forces in eastern Ukraine.

A group of Russian soldiers have accused their commanders of jailing them in eastern Ukraine for refusing to take part in the war, in a rare public exposure of tensions inside the ranks of Russia’s army over the invasion.

Maxim Grebenyuk, a lawyer who runs the Moscow-based advocacy organisation Military Ombudsman, said at least four Russian soldiers had filed written complaints with the investigative committee, demanding punishment for the superiors who oversaw their detainment.

“We already have a list of 70 Russian soldiers who were held as prisoners. In total, about 140 soldiers were held,” added Grebenyuk, who represented the soldiers.

#Ukraine: Rare footage of no less than four M142 HIMARS in action, firing 24 M31A1 GMLRS unitary rockets at Russian targets.

This footage is notable not just for the quantity but also the daytime usage of HIMARS. Note the Ukrainian soldier with possible MANPADS to the left. pic.twitter.com/bHQKQM2fiG

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) August 3, 2022

Destroying military aid flowing into Ukraine from the West is ‘goal number one for Russian agents’, according to Ukraine military

Britain is helping Ukraine hunt Russian spies targeting Western-supplied weapons, the acting deputy head of Kyiv’s military intelligence has said.

Finding and destroying military aid flowing into Ukraine from Western countries is “goal number one for Russian agents”, according to Major General Vadym Skibitsky.

Russian Ministry of Defense claims it destroyed two of Ukraine's HIMARS rocket artillery systems, and posts video to prove it. Apparently, the two 16.2 ton, 7 m long, 3.2. m high, 2.4 m wide HIMARS vehicles were hidden in a room on the second floor of a building in Kharkiv. pic.twitter.com/WC8mSvpaZY

— Euan MacDonald (@Euan_MacDonald) August 1, 2022