“Ukraine – Russia”

Ukraine has begun using longer-range ballistic missiles against Russia that were secretly provided by the US, American officials have confirmed.

The weapons were sent as part of a previous US support package, and arrived this month. Officials said they were not announced publicly to maintain Ukraine’s “operational security”.

They have already been used at least once to strike Russian targets in occupied Crimea.

A $61bn package of military aid for Ukraine could be signed off within days. So what weapons might it receive and what difference could they make in trying to stem Russian advances?

Air defence systems, mid to long-range missiles and artillery shells remain the most pressing weaponry needed by Ukraine.

Here is where the US aid could go in these three areas. About a third of the package goes on replenishing depleted US stocks.

Ukraine’s efforts to drive back Russian troops received a massive boost as the US House of Representatives approved $60.8 billion in military support.

Eight months after President Biden first requested more money for Kyiv, the House voted 311-112 to back the bill, part of a funding package that also includes aid for Israel, Gaza and Taiwan.

There were cheers as the vote passed, with Democrats waving Ukrainian flags, in violation of House rules and chanting: “Ukraine! Ukraine!”

Russian national Oleg Ponomaryov’s asylum application was turned down by Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) at the end of February. BAMF said he was at no risk in Russia and should leave Germany within 30 days. If not, he could expect to be deported.

Ponomaryov’s despair is palpable. He fears he will be arrested as soon as he arrives in Russia and be sent to fight against Ukraine.

“The situation in Russia is getting worse and worse, a total mobilization is on the cards and my fitness level and driving license allow me to drive military vehicles,” says Ponomaryov, who came to Germany in September 2022 after Russia announced a partial mobilization.

Two alleged spies suspected of planning to sabotage German military aid for Ukraine have been arrested in the southern German state of Bavaria.

The two men, described as dual German-Russian nationals, were detained in Bayreuth on suspicion of spying for Russia, prosecutors say.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said authorities had prevented “possible explosive attacks”.

The men are accused of scouting US military facilities and other sites.

Russia’s military death toll in Ukraine has now passed the 50,000 mark, the BBC can confirm.

In the second 12 months on the front line – as Moscow pushed its so-called meat grinder strategy – we found the body count was nearly 25% higher than in the first year.

BBC Russian, independent media group Mediazona and volunteers have been counting deaths since February 2022.

When a torpedo starts coming straight at you, there’s only one thing a submarine crew can do – snap into “full evasion” mode. Captain Ryan Ramsey issues swift orders. His crew responds immediately, twisting the Royal Navy’s Trafalgar-class submarine to manoeuvre the boat beneath the waves in an effort to shake off the weapon bearing down fast on their position.

It would, though, take a miracle for a submarine of nearly 6,000 tons to outrun a torpedo. And that miracle never comes. The torpedo smashes into the fin, the large central structure on the submarine sometimes called the conning tower. As it hits the boat, a loud bang reverberates hard through the hull, a high-strength steel alloy designed to withstand the extreme pressure experienced at the submarine’s maximum – and classified – diving depth.

Texas should secede. Alaska should come home to Mother Russia. It’s presidential election time again in America, and Kremlin leaders again are preaching the breakup of the United States.

Russia’s former president, Dmitry Medvedev, recently joined a Kremlin chorus supporting Texas independence. A Russian state television host, Tigran Keosayan, said of Alaska, which Russia sold to America in 1867: “Secession from the United States is half the battle. The main thing is to join Russia.”

This time last year, Volodymyr Zelensky was touring western capitals, calling for weapons and money to launch a decisive summer offensive. NATO eventually provided Leopard and Challenger tanks, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, M777 howitzers, Himars rocket artillery and Patriot air defenses — but too little, too late. The much-vaunted offensive went nowhere, despite a mutiny by the Wagner Group and widespread disarray in the Russian army. Instead, Soledar, Bakhmut and Avdiivka were seized. Today, Russian missile assaults are intensifying, not receding. In March, Russia hit Ukraine with 264 missiles and 515 drones. A relentless bombardment of Kharkiv is making Ukraine’s second city uninhabitable.

The Pentagon is defending its steady rollout of weapons to Ukraine even as officials in Kyiv say the assistance is coming too slowly — and it might already be too late to help turn the tide of the war in Ukraine’s favor.

On Wednesday, POLITICO detailed criticisms from high-ranking Ukrainian officials, who said they can’t defend the frontlines any longer: “There’s nothing that can help Ukraine now,” one of the officials said.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has signed into law three measures aimed at replenishing the ranks of his country’s exhausted and battered army, including lowering the age when men become eligible for conscription and eliminating some medical exemptions.

While Mr. Zelensky did not say why he had decided to move ahead on at least some changes, Russia’s forces have been on the offensive along the front line and the ongoing fighting has shrunk Ukraine’s supplies of soldiers and weapons.