Summary: Ukrainian President Zelensky delivers a powerful speech on Independence Day, emphasizing unity and resilience . Zelensky calls for those in occupied territories to return home and highlights Ukrainian strength. President Zelensky reassures the nation of Ukraine's ability to overcome challenges and defend its freedom . The international comm unity , including Norway , stands in solidarity with Ukraine's pursuit of peace . ...

Summary: The Russian Black Sea Fleet fires warning shots at a civilian vessel in the Black Sea, escalating the conflict. Reasons behind Russia's move to target grain include weakening Ukraine's revenue generation and potentially increasing global grain prices . The impact of reduced grain supplies could be severe in starving areas of the world. President Putin 's motives are unclear, but the move might be aimed at altering the course of the war in Russia's favor. ...

Summary: Five individuals, including a couple, have been arrested in the UK on suspicion of espionage. The couple is accused of possessing false passports and ID cards from various European countries. Former MI6 officer praises the police operation, highlighting its potential deterrence effect. Russia's history of espionage activities in the UK raises concerns about state-sponsored threats. Previous cases of Russian involvement include the Salisbury poisoning and the Litvinenko assassination. ...

Summary: The Africa-Russia summit, usually attended by 43 to 44 countries, saw a significant decline in participation, with only 17 countries present. Russia's withdrawal from a grain deal adversely affected African countries, prompting discussions at the summit about food supply challenges. Putin 's offer of 50,000 tons of free grain to affected countries is minimal compared to the 30 million tons of grain previously supplied by Ukraine . Yevgeny Prigosin 's presence at the conference indicates continued patronage from Putin , despite controversial actions by his mercenary groups. ...

Summary: The eighth week of the Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian defenses is underway, with progress hampered by challenging obstacles like extensive trench systems and minefields. Ukraine strategically uses Western weapons to target Russian rear areas and ammunition dumps, attempting to break through the dense minefields obstructing their advance. The conflict's dynamics may shift as Ukraine's 9th Corps awaits reinforcement from the more seasoned fighters of the 10th Corps. The outcome of the battle for the city of Bakhmut could have broader implications for the conflict's trajectory and resource allocation f...

Summary: Russian air strikes target grain facilities in Ukraine's port cities, disrupting the grain trade. Ukraine's significant role as a grain supplier to African nations makes the attacks impactful on vulnerable communities. The motives behind Russia's aggressive actions remain unclear, but it could be an attempt to force the international community's hand in resolving the conflict. Russian air strikes have intensified as they target key grain supplies in Ukr...

Summary: Russia may be desperate enough to confront NATO forces on the Black Sea. The withdrawal of the grain deal raises food security concerns for Ukraine and the world. A humanitarian corridor is suggested to safeguard food exports from Ukraine. The changing nature of warfare includes the use of drones and microprocessing technologies. The democratization of violence poses challenges for both states and sub-state actors. Russia's strategy on the Black Sea has come unde...

Cluster Bombs | What You Need to Know About Ukraine's Controversial New Weapon Summary: Cluster munitions are bombs that open in the air, releasing smaller bomblets across a wider area, targeting multiple objectives simultaneously. More than 120 countries have banned the use of cluster munitions due to the risks posed to civilians from unexploded bomblets. The United States has been providing cluster bombs to Ukraine to support its ground troops in countering heavily fortified Russian positions. The Convention on Cluster Munitions, an international treaty, prohibits the use, production, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster bombs. The use of c...

Russian infighting 'out of control' in Bakhmut The agreement, the understanding is that Ukraine will not strike targets on Russian territory. Well, this is the grey area. I mean, yes, the UK is saying we don't want these weapons to be used to strike Russian territory, but it's interesting that US, for example, so far has been reluctant to offer anything of the range of storm shadow. Perhaps where that grey area is crystallised is Crimea, because Crimea is de facto Russian territory now, but of course it's regarded by the UK and Western Allies as part of Ukraine still. So one thinks that that would be seen as a legitimate target in Western capitals, although obviously the reaction from Moscow would probably be pretty strong. Yeah, and it is true over the weekend that a Russian military aircraft, a couple of helicopters, a bomber and a combat aircraft were shot down ...

Russian Defense Ministry acknowledges retreat north of Bakhmut A Ukrainian tank rumbled toward back-mood on Friday as Kiev claimed its forces had advanced more than a mile around the shattered ruins of the eastern city. Russian forces have fought for months to seize back-mood without success. The Russian Defense Ministry on Friday said that Ukraine had deployed more than 1,000 troops in up to 40 tanks in more than two dozen attempted attacks in the direction of the town of Solodar. The military admitted it was regrouping its forces, suggesting its fighters had fallen back. The leader of a Russian mercenary force gave a different assessment. Evgeny Progoshin, founder of the Wagner paramilitary group, said the Defense Ministry was lying and Russian forces had been routed and forced to flee. Reuters has been unable to verify reports of battlefield movement. Ukraine this week released w...

Liberating Russian-targeted territories is Ukraine's top priority We can tackle any objects in Russian territory because Russia is aggressive against Ukraine and we have all moral and juridical right to do this. But for the moment, for us, it's more important to liberate our territories. So that is our priority aim. At least nine people died earlier today in a new wave of strikes across Ukraine, in which Russia used powerful weapons, including rare hypersonic missiles. Russia had reportedly not fired Kinzau hypersonic missiles, which can evade their defenses since the beginning of the conflict. And this latest barrage was the most severe to hit Ukraine for weeks, cutting power to the Zaporizhia nuclear plant, which is Europe's biggest. Well, earlier this evening, I spoke to Alexei Honcharenko, people's deputy of Ukraine, and former chairman of the Odessa Oblast Council...

Ukraine War: Iran allegedly secretly supplying ammunition to Russia Russia is burning through ammunition in Ukraine. It means Russian industry is under pressure to produce more. Now claims have emerged that Moscow is also receiving help from a close ally. A source alleges that two ships transported a large amount of ammunition in January from Iran to Russia, paid for in cash. The security source told me the two ships are thought to have been carrying up to 100 million bullets and around 300,000 shells of varying sizes for different weapons like machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars. It's not been possible independently to verify the volume and one expert said it did sound quite high. But Iran is certainly suspected of supplying an amount of ammunition to Russia to help replenish stockpiles that are thought to be running low. Sky News' data and forensics unit looked into t...

Bakhmut won't fall into Russian hands 'any time soon' So I would say in central back, 10 days ago with the times team and spoke to a lot of the soldiers fighting there and the commanders fighting there and was able to move into some areas of the center of the city. I don't think it's going to fall anytime soon. And here's why. The Russians have managed to dominate the battlefield around the city. It's a small city or large town, depending on how you look at it. In the last 48 hours, they have the Russians have captured the entire east side of the city. The city is divided north to south by a thin river. But they've been fighting in that eastern side really since the beginning of December. So it's not like they've just swept in yesterday and grabbed it. They've just got the last few streets that they didn't already hold. They have got t...