“Ukraine – Russia”

Thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes and an ecological disaster has been unleashed on southern Ukraine by the collapse of a major hydroelectric dam on the Dnipro River, which Kyiv said was blown up by Russia in a desperate attempt to ward off a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, declared the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam as an act of terrorism and the “largest man-made environmental disaster in Europe in decades”.

Video. Appears confirmed. This could be catastrophic for both Russian and Ukrainian settlements along the Dnipro river. It may also cause problems with cooling for the ZPP Nuclear plant.

Water levels behind the damn were reportedly at a 30-year high. https://t.co/vQ8S7DXsQc pic.twitter.com/jvT6exHr6U

— Tommy Liberty (@RucksackRadio) June 6, 2023

All the signs suggest Russia has made up its mind

However you try to spin it, the drone strikes that struck Moscow’s wealthiest neighbourhoods on Tuesday night represented a grim turning point in Putin’s flagging campaign against Ukraine. The surprise attacks — which killed eight people, and for which Kyiv has denied all responsibility — were the first against Russian civilians since the war began. They were also the most significant incursion into Russian territory since the Second World War.

Russia has claimed to have thwarted a major Ukrainian offensive in the east of the country, sparking speculation over whether a long-promised counter-offensive by Kyiv had finally begun.

Russia’s defence ministry said it had repelled attacks by six mechanised battalions and two tank battalions in the southern Donetsk region, claiming to have killed hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers.

Ukraine is not ready to launch its long-anticipated counteroffensive against Russian forces, one of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s closest aides said on Saturday, contradicting statements from the Ukrainian leader that were released on the same day.

“If you want to start a successful counteroffensive you need everything at your disposal,” the deputy head of Zelensky’s office, Dr Ihor Zhovkva, told The Sunday Times, adding that Ukraine needs tanks, armored vehicles and artillery. “So probably we don’t have enough.”

Counter Strike skins are showing up in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/YoySJnbefh

— vlad🩸🇺🇦🟧 (@dovgvlad) June 2, 2023

The Ukrainian counter-offensive is expected to be imminent but what happens once it begins is one more giant uncertainty in what is proving to be a particularly unpredictable war.

Those of us relying mostly on open sources, Ukrainians and remaining Russian contacts to get a picture of the situation on the ground can only envy the mass of sources at the disposal of senior US officials. Nonetheless, one I spoke to was candid that for all the intelligence on which he could draw, he could not predict how the counter-offensive would play out. “Frankly,” he said, “there are simply too many variables, too many unknowns.”

#Ukraine: A Russian 9A310M1[-2] TELAR of the Buk-M1[-2] air defense system was destroyed by a precision strike of Ukrainian forces presumably in #Luhansk Oblast. pic.twitter.com/Qz2SkFofZt

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) June 4, 2023

It has required a major U-turn on the part of President Joe Biden to finally give his approval for F-16 warplanes to be supplied to Ukraine. Even so, given the unconscionable delays that have affected other commitments by the Biden administration to provide Kyiv with advanced weapons, concerns remain about whether the aircraft will actually arrive in time to make a material difference to Ukraine’s war effort.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted that he is afraid of a possible return of Donald Trump to the White House in 2024, before begging for more American-made Patriot missile systems.

h/t Mauser

The Ukrainian counter-offensive has not yet begun because Kyiv still lacks sufficient weapons and ammunition to push out the Russians and take back the country, one of President Zelensky’s closest aides has said.

Dr Ihor Zhovkva, deputy head of the president’s office and his chief foreign affairs adviser, said the military needed more reinforcements to begin the long-awaited operation, which was originally billed as a spring offensive but will now take place in summer.

#Ukraine: Ukrainian forces destroyed a Russian T-72-series tank on the western outskirts of #Donetsk City. Seems that the cope cage didn't help. pic.twitter.com/23iK734fhN

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) June 3, 2023

Experts thought Putin’s hackers would overwhelm the country at speed. They were wrong, Kyiv’s chief cyberwarrior tells Maxim Tucker

Just as the Russian missiles were closing on their targets, an alert flashed on the general’s screen. Kremlin hackers were already in the system of a regional power network under aerial attack.

Moscow was trying to pull the plug on two million Ukrainians, taking the energy grid apart from the inside while explosions rocked power stations and substations, fusing a virtual war with attacks from the air.

“The biggest attacks, the most critical attacks, are on the energy sector and other critical infrastructure, when the Russians are firing missiles at the same time, just like they did with the missiles we saw today,” Brigadier-General Yurii Shchyhol told The Times in Kyiv, a capital in the grip of a three-week Russian bombardment.

#Ukraine: A Russian T-90M tank was destroyed by artillery fire of the Ukrainian 45th Artillery Brigade somewhere in #Luhansk Oblast. pic.twitter.com/tM7HmtTG3e

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) June 2, 2023

Blame for the explosions, which tore apart Russia’s gas pipelines to Germany last September, has fallen on multiple nations and now Ukrainians are in the spotlight

German police tasked with solving the mystery of the Nord Stream pipeline bombings have searched a flat near the Polish border and taken a DNA sample in the hope of tracing a Ukrainian suspect.

Investigators have yet to explain the three explosions at the bottom of the Baltic sea that tore apart Russia’s gas pipelines to Germany last September.

Russian anti-Putin partisans said they were conducting a raid on the town of Shebekino a little over four miles across the Ukrainian border in Belgorod province, the second partisan attack inside Russia in less than two weeks.

The Russian Volunteer Corps, based in Ukraine, said it had shelled the local Russian administrative building, while dramatic footage of a large block with multiple fires on the roof was posted in a local Telegram messenger channel.

US announces $300m arms package for Ukraine – with a caveat that weapons not be used in Russia

The United States has announced a new $300m arms package for Ukraine, including air defense systems and tens of millions of rounds of ammunition – but warned Kyiv that US weaponry should not be used to attack within Russia.

“We have been very clear with the Ukrainians privately – we’ve certainly been clear publicly – that we do not support attacks inside Russia. We do not enable and we do not encourage attacks inside Russia,” said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.

A Russian 2S4 Tyulpan 240mm self-propelled mortar and supply truck were destroyed by Ukrainian/Pro-Ukrainian Russian forces in the vicinity of Shebekino, #Belgorod Oblast, #Russia. pic.twitter.com/OSFV6rc3Ff

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) June 1, 2023

Ukraine’s defence minister bypassed the Canadian government Wednesday and took his country’s plea for more sophisticated weapons directly to Canada’s defence manufacturers.

Through a video statement, Oleksiy Reznikov told the audience assembled for Canada’s largest defence exposition that his country has urgent military equipment needs that must be filled.

“Hence, we count on Canada’s long-term support in this area,” Reznikov told the Canadian Association of Defence and Security’s (CADSI) annual trade show (CANSEC).

The life of the occupiers in 18 seconds 😂 pic.twitter.com/YoMKlL1AWb

— MAKS 23 👀🇺🇦 (@Maks_NAFO_FELLA) May 31, 2023

Russian partisans who attacked Kremlin forces from Ukraine have “thousands” of applicants waiting to join their ranks and will continue raiding the border until their force is large enough to assault Moscow, their commander has told The Times.

“We have serious capabilities,” the commander of the Free Russia Legion, using the call sign Caesar, said. “We have mortars, armoured vehicles, stinger manpads, portable anti-tank systems and a highly effective drone reconnaissance unit.”

#Ukraine: A Russian MT-LB armored personnel carrier was destroyed by an artillery strike of the Ukrainian 40th Artillery Brigade in #Luhansk Oblast. pic.twitter.com/AtB7ehOdNf

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) May 30, 2023