“Ukraine – Russia”

Standing in front of a statue of a gruff-looking Soviet general, Peter Obukhov explained his plan to purge Russian names from the city of Odesa. “The things written here are unacceptable. You can see the word ‘Kremlin’. And there’s Lenin’s face as well,” he said, pointing to an inscription beneath the monument to Rodion Malinovsky.

Obukhov is a deputy in Odesa’s city parliament. He said he did not want to pull down Malinovsky’s statue, a fate that has befallen Lenin sculptures all across Ukraine. The Soviet defence minister was born in Odesa and liberated the city from the Nazis during the second world war. “I would rewrite the sign and get rid of the communist symbols. We need the truth,” Obukhov said.

Russia launched airstrikes on Kyiv for the first time in five weeks on Sunday, claiming it had destroyed western-supplied tanks – while the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, warned more targets would be struck if weapons deliveries continued.

Several explosions were heard around the eastern Kyiv suburbs of Darnytskyi and Dniprovskyi early on Sunday morning, wounding one person. The strikes represented a change of tack on the part of the invading forces.

Russia’s ministry of defence said the strikes had destroyed T-72 tanks that had been provided to Ukraine by European countries that were being stored in the buildings of a car repair business, although the claim could not immediately be verified.

#Ukraine: Clearer footage just released by the Ukrainian 128th Mountain Assault Brigade shows what was shot down was a Russian Ka-52 attack helicopter- they claim that a MANPADS was used.

Given the low altitude & very rapid explosion, we can state that both the crew were killed. https://t.co/exCn9nvNZ5 pic.twitter.com/EkBKBvd3aY

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) June 5, 2022

I hope the Ukraine kicks butt, I hope they win. I support supplying military aid and helping their refugees but I wonder if they are are being sacrificed for ulterior motives. It is unseemly that Freeland throws herself at Russian oligarchs while our allies continue to buy Russian oil and gas. Now we have Macron warning we mustn’t “humiliate” Putin. The French are such sophisticated surrenderists we yobs from the hinterlands should heed his counsel.

You’re either at war or you’re not. Ukraine seems more like a live expo for weapons manufacturers. Is there an end in sight? Under what terms?

Ukraine on Saturday announced the deaths of four foreign military volunteers who joined the fight against the Russian invasion, three of whom were from the EU.

“We wish to remember and honor our fallen brothers, who travelled to Ukraine to join the bravest of the brave and fight shoulder to shoulder with the defenders of Ukraine,” the International Legion of Defense of Ukraine said in a statement.

ZHYTOMYR, Ukraine (AP) — As soon as they had finished burying a veteran colonel killed by Russian shelling, the cemetery workers readied the next hole. Inevitably, given how quickly death is felling Ukrainian troops on the front lines, the empty grave won’t stay that way for long.

Col. Oleksandr Makhachek left behind a widow, Elena, and their daughters Olena and Myroslava-Oleksandra. In the first 100 days of war, his grave was the 40th dug in the military cemetery in Zhytomyr, 90 miles (140 kilometers) west of the capital, Kyiv.

“I don’t want to go [back to Ukraine] to kill and be killed,” says Sergey – not his real name – who spent five weeks fighting in Ukraine earlier this year.

He is now home in Russia, having taken legal advice to avoid being sent back to the front line. Sergey is just one of hundreds of Russian soldiers understood to have been seeking such advice.

Sergey says he is traumatised by his experience in Ukraine.

More than 1,400 cases of treason and collaboration with the Russian army have been brought against citizens

On the third day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the mayor of the city of Kupyansk received a call from a Russian army commander suggesting they talk.

Russian forces were already on the outskirts of the city, in the north-eastern Kharkiv region. Mayor Gennady Matsegora released a video address explaining that he had accepted a Russian offer.

“I took the decision to take part in negotiations to avoid loss of life,” he said. Matsegora handed over the city to Russian control without a fight. Later, he allegedly provided Russian soldiers with transportation, housing, fuel and food.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The question was posed in a private briefing to U.S. intelligence officials weeks before Russia launched its invasion in late February: Was Ukraine’s leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, made in the mold of Britain’s Winston Churchill or Afghanistan’s Ashraf Ghani?

In other words, would Zelenskyy lead a historic resistance or flee while his government collapsed?

Ultimately, U.S. intelligence agencies underestimated Zelenskyy and Ukraine while overestimating Russia and its president, even as they accurately predicted Vladimir Putin would order an invasion.

The biggest shock is how poor Putin’s army has performed. Hitler’s ambitions with Italian fervor for battle.

The United States and Germany this week pledged to equip Ukraine with some of the advanced weapons Kyiv has long desired for shooting down aircraft and knocking out artillery, as Russian forces close in on capturing a key city in the east.

Despite multiple countries sending arms to Ukraine since Russia invaded on 24 February, Kyiv has complained that it is still outgunned as it pleaded for more heavy weapons.

Here is a look at the weaponry that has either been promised or sent so far. This is not a complete list given some nations keep their donations secret.

Even a ceasefire won’t thwart his masterplan

A hundred days ago, Putin did what he was always going to do: press the red button on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While US and British Intelligence warned an attack was imminent, much of the world was shocked by the sudden, merciless violence set in motion as Russian military forces entered from the north, east, south, and from across Black Sea.

The perverse effects of sanctions means rising fuel and food costs for the rest of the world – and fears are growing of a humanitarian catastrophe. Sooner or later, a deal must be made

… The first set of economic measures were introduced immediately after the invasion, when it was assumed Ukraine would capitulate within days. That didn’t happen, with the result that sanctions – while still incomplete – have gradually been intensified.

There is, though, no immediate sign of Russia pulling out of Ukraine and that’s hardly surprising, because the sanctions have had the perverse effect of driving up the cost of Russia’s oil and gas exports, massively boosting its trade balance and financing its war effort. In the first four months of 2022, Putin could boast a current account surplus of $96bn (£76bn) – more than treble the figure for the same period of 2021.

“A deal must be made” seems to be a rising chorus.

Vladimir Putin’s health is a subject of intense conversation inside the Biden administration after the intelligence community produced its fourth comprehensive assessment at the end of May. The classified U.S. report says Putin seems to have re-emerged after undergoing treatment in April for advanced cancer, three U.S. intelligence leaders who have read the reports tell Newsweek.

Weapons sent to Ukraine after Russia’s invasion in February will end up on the global hidden economy and in the hands of criminals, the head of Interpol has said.

Jürgen Stock says once the conflict ends, a wave of guns and heavy arms will flood the international market and he urged Interpol’s member states, especially those supplying weapons, to cooperate on arms tracing.

“Once the guns fall silent [in Ukraine], the illegal weapons will come. We know this from many other theatres of conflict. The criminals are even now, as we speak, focusing on them,” Stock said.

#Ukraine: What happens when pre-WW2 weapons meet inventive people: Ukrainian forces training with a vintage DP-27 light machine gun that has had optics and a suppressor added. pic.twitter.com/WQjlLNMmA4

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) June 2, 2022

The US will send Ukraine more advanced rocket systems to help it defend itself, President Biden has announced.

The weapons, long requested by Ukraine, are to help it strike enemy forces more precisely from a longer distance.

Until now, the US had refused the request out of fear the weapons could be used against targets in Russia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the US was “directly and intentionally adding fuel to the fire” with its weapons deliveries to Ukraine.

Himars: what are the advanced rockets US is sending Ukraine?

Joe Biden has announced the US will send advanced missile systems to Ukraine. The new weapon is the Himars multiple launch rocket system, or MLRS: a mobile unit that can simultaneously launch multiple precision-guided missiles.

Both Ukraine and Russia already operate MLRS, but Himars has superior range and precision.

#Ukraine: One of the most professionally edited videos so far from the Ukrainian side- the 45th Artillery Brigade tracking and taking out Russian vehicles (BMP/BTR and a Truck) in #Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Evidently, the assistance of DJI Matrice 300 RTK drone is invaluable. pic.twitter.com/vOjfW6fBl5

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) May 31, 2022