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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia could increase its attacks in Ukraine's north east following its recent gains near the city of Kharkiv. Mr Zelensky admitted that there were issues with military staffing and morale, saying a number of existing brigades were empty. He also told the AFP news agency the country's air fleet was lacking and renewed calls for allies to send more air defence and fighter jets. "Today we have about 25% of what we need to defend Ukraine," Mr Zelensky said of Ukraine's air capabilities.

Ukraine’s military is confronting a “critical” situation in the country’s northeast, facing troop shortages as it tries to repel a Russian offensive that has been advancing for several days, a top Ukrainian general said on Monday. Russian troops surged across the border last week to open a new line of attack near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city after Kyiv, capturing at least nine settlements and villages and forcing thousands of civilians to flee. “The situation is on the edge,” Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, said in a video call from a bunker in Kharkiv. “Every hour...

Locals handing out poison cakes... There's nothing Ukrainians behind enemy lines won't do to defeat their Russian occupiers Under the cover of darkness, however, Ukrainians sabotage infrastructure including railways, communications and factories, and some will kill the enemy if the opportunity arises. The direct action of those doughty fighters, armed with a secretly amassed arsenal of guns, car bombs and other explosives, has seen hundreds of Russians soldiers and collaborators shot or blown up. I have learned that women are also playing a key role in the resistance, including acting as honeytraps to lure Russian soldiers to their deaths. READ...

The possibility of Ukraine's army collapsing cannot be ruled out, an unnamed US official told Bloomberg. The report said, citing talks with multiple officials, that Ukraine's position on the battlefield is at its most fragile moment since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Ukraine's war effort has been weakened in recent months by a severe shortage of ammunition, dipping morale among Ukrainian soldiers, and the impasse in Congress over US aid to Ukraine, Bloomberg reported. One major risk is a collapse of Ukraine's line of defense, which would allow Russia to make a major advance, Bloomberg said, citing an...