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Ukrainian forces surprised occupying Russians with a one-two punch Thursday, pushing deep into enemy territory to open a second front in Kyiv’s counterattack. Ukrainian authorities announced the liberation of 20 villages in the northeast, outside Kharkiv, as the military pushed for the occupied city of Izyum — all while continuing a fierce fight for Kherson in the south. Oleksiy Hromov, a deputy chief with the general staff of the armed forces of Ukraine, said Thursday that his nation’s forces — pushing toward the Donbas from Kharkiv — had penetrated more than 30 miles beyond Russia’s defensive line. “Since the beginning...

Ukraine’s military advanced as much as 30 miles in the country’s east and liberated more than 20 villages and towns, a senior commander said, in a rapid thrust aimed at cutting Russian supply routes. Brig. Gen. Oleksiy Hromov, a senior officer on Ukraine’s General Staff, gave the first official confirmation of the gains of an offensive launched Tuesday to the east of Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv.

The United States ambassador to United Nations says there's evidence that hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have been interrogated and forcibly deported to Russian filtration camps, in what she's calling "a series of horrors." The accusation by Linda Thomas-Greenfield — dismissed as fantasy by Russia — came during a United Nations Security Council meeting late Wednesday. This comes as Secretary of State Antony Blinken makes an unannounced trip to Ukraine Thursday— his second visit to Kiev since the war began six months ago.

This list only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here. Small arms, ATGMs, MANPADS, loitering munitions, drones used as unmanned bait, civilian vehicles, trailers and derelict equipment are not included in this list. All possible effort has gone into avoiding duplicate entries and discerning the status of equipment between captured or abandoned. Many of the entries listed as 'abandoned' will likely end up captured or destroyed. Similarly, some of the captured equipment might be destroyed if it can't be recovered. When the...

[G]athered in a basement on a quiet, tree-lined street, the Belarusians preparing to leave Warsaw to join the Ukrainian army look more like a bunch of computer programmers getting ready for a long car trip. Maybe that’s because they are a bunch of computer programmers—or anyway, some of them are—gathered in a basement on a quiet, tree-lined street, getting ready for a long car trip...If they are identified, members of their families could be visited, harassed, even arrested by the Belarusian police. “Our relatives are hostages,” one of them told me. Already, mothers of Belarusian soldiers fighting in Ukraine have...

As the war in Ukraine lurches toward the 200-day mark, Russia is turning to global pariah state North Korea to purchase Soviet-era weapons, according to a newly declassified U.S. intelligence report. Moscow is preparing to buy “millions of rockets and artillery shells” from Pyongyang, a U.S. official told The Washington Post on Tuesday, speaking on the condition of anonymity about the declassified intelligence, which was first reported by the New York Times. The move by Russia’s Defense Ministry indicates that “the Russian military continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine, due in part to export controls and sanctions,”...

A former U.S. general has forecast the surrender of Russian forces in Kherson, a strategic city in Ukraine. The Kherson region has been almost entirely controlled by Russian troops since March, when it became the first major city to fall during Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian forces have launched a counteroffensive to take back the critical port city. Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Mark Hertling commented Monday on a Ukrainian soldier's video from the frontlines showing destroyed Russian positions in Kherson. According to Hertling's analysis on Twitter, the footage indicated "extremely poor soldier discipline" and "horrible fieldcraft/training"...

It was supposed to be the bright spot in a grim day. Of a dozen unclaimed bodies set for burial recently at Bucha City Cemetery, one had just been identified. The dead man’s family was present and would be able to bury him with full ceremony. His grave would be marked with his name instead of just a number. But there was a hitch. No one could find the body. (snip)When Russian troops retreated at the end of March from the region around Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, they left behind a trail of more than 1,200 bodies. At least 458 dead...

Summary/Overview Russia cut Nord Stream 1, its main natural gas pipeline to Europe, blaming it on sanctions and saying it would be long-lasting. Energy prices surged; European currencies dropped to multi-decade lows. Ukraine President’s office “explained” the Kherson offensive – or low visibility thereof – by telling the Wall Street Journal the goal was not quick territorial gains but the “systemic grinding of Putin’s army.” The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission to investigate the safety situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has arrived. Mission leader Rafael Mariano Grossi has not yet delivered his report on the shelling of...

Yesterday, Medvedev posted a rant on his messaging app (for some reason) in which he accused the United States and NATO of plotting to “break up” the Russian Federation. But he warned that even if the alleged plot succeeded, the result would be “doomsday,” and any country attempting it would be engaged in a “chess game with Death.” And I think we all know what that means. (Associated Press)

Valeriy Fedorovych allegedly shot down Russian Su-34 jet flying over Chernihiv He collected debris from the exploded jet and keeps it in his garage Pensioner was awarded a medal by the State Border Service of Ukraine A Ukrainian pensioner shot down a Russian Su-34 jet with a rifle, sending it spiralling to the ground, a government agency has said.Valeriy Fedorovych opened fire when the enemy aircraft flew overhead in Chernhiv, according to the State Border Service of Ukraine.It is claimed he picked off the jet, which costs an estimated £74million, and footage circulating at the time showed it careening back...

Liz Truss has been made Prime Minister of Britain. This was expected, but also the darkest day possible for Britain. Previously, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace had backed Liz Truss’ view that Russian forces must be pushed out of “the whole of Ukraine” – and suggested this should include Crimea. Even the Guardian at the time had accused Liz Truss’ position was “recklessly inflaming Ukraine’s war to serve her own ambition.” Meanwhile, in Russia, this was playing out on TV endorsing World War III. Everything that can possibly point to war is unfolding before our eyes. There are no peacemakers...

Mansur was 13 when Russian soldiers destroyed his village of Samashki during Chechnya's first war for independence against Russia. Wielding flamethrowers, the Russians burned Mansur's neighbors alive in their homes, threw grenades into basements and executed men. Four years later, a truce disintegrated, and Mansur was back at war. He says he was never the same after. "Russia ruined everything I had. I grew up with war, and the war shaped me in all respects," Mansur, 40, says matter-of-factly. Mansur is one of more than 200,000 Chechens who fled to Turkey and Europe throughout the 2000s during a second war...

I am a Ukrainian. My country has been invaded by Russia. In this video I will tell you what happened on the one hundred and ninty third day of the war.Day 193: September 04Today Ukrainian counteroffensive operation was marked by a big symbolic event.In the Dudchany direction, the fighters of the 103 National Guard battalion together with the fighters of the 63 brigade officially confirmed that they established full control over Vysokopillia and showed a video where they raise the Ukrainian flag above the town. This is the most important town in the northern part of the region, because it...

ussian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned Moldova not to endanger its troops or risk an attack. Russian forces have been stationed in the breakaway region of Transnistria since the 1990s.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov this week warned Moldova not to endanger Russian troops stationed in Transnistria, a pro-Russian breakaway region in the country's east, saying doing so could spark military confrontation.

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hit out over the UN visit to Europe's largest nuclear power plant. He's upset the nuclear watchdog inspecting the Zaporizhzhia facility, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has not yet called for the demilitarisation of the site, which has been occupied by Russian troops since early on in the six-month war. Zelenskyy also scolded Russia for allegedly obstructing journalists from accompanying the IAEA on its visit to the plant. "The key thing that should happen is the demilitarisation of the territory of the plant," said Zelenskyy. "This is exactly the goal of Ukrainian and international...

A family from Mariupol spoke to RFE/RL about their experiences of going through a Russian filtration camp and then being taken to Moscow. The mother eventually got her children out via Belarus and Poland, while the husband chose to remain in Russia. A report released by Human Rights Watch on September 1 says the practice of forcibly relocating Ukrainian citizens to Russia is a war crime.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday implored an audience at the Venice Film Festival to resist indifference to his country’s conflict with Russia as the months-long war rages on. Appearing on the festival’s Sala Grande screen, Zelensky told the global film industry audience that Russia is staging “a primitive plot in three acts for the world to make three dramatic mistakes. To get used to the war. To put up with the war. To forget about the war.” More than half a year since Russia first invaded, the war in Ukraine is “a drama based on real-life events” that is...

He wrote a book describing a Russian military so ill-prepared when it invaded Ukraine that he didn’t know his unit had entered the country until he awoke to the sound of artillery fire. Pavel Filatiev, a former Russian soldier, arrived in France on Sunday, after writing a tell-all book detailing his time in Ukraine as a paratrooper in the Russian army. Now 34-year-old Pavel Filatiev, who says he was a paratrooper in Russia’s military, is seeking political asylum in France after arriving there last weekend. He has been greeted as a hero by some in the West, his book embraced...