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Mercenary chief of the Wagner Group, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, has threatened to keep his men from returning to Ukraine if Moscow continues under the leadership of "clowns," widening the rift that has been growing between his group and military command. "If the whole chain (of command) is 100% failed and will only be led by clowns who turn people into meat, then we will not participate in it," Prigozhin said during an interview to celebrate his 62nd birthday. "It has been a tough year," he added, confirming that his men will leave the city of Bakhmut on June 5 after handing...

Fighting in Russia's Belgorod region entered a second day on Tuesday, and its governor told residents who fled after a cross-border incursion of armed fighters from Ukraine that it was still not safe to return to their homes. Monday's incursion, apparently involving armoured vehicles, was the biggest raid into Russia since the war began 15 months ago, though details including the number of fighters involved, their affiliation and the extent of any clashes, could not be independently confirmed. Russian authorities evacuated residents from the region's Graivoron district after the raiding forces claimed to have captured the border town of Kozinka...

Ukraine launched an operation into Russia in the morning of May 22 focused on the outskirts of Belgorod, where the Ukrainians initially took three settlements. A Russian border crossing in the Belgorod oblast was reportedly destroyed by artillery shelling from the territory of Ukraine. After that, the incursion of troops supported by armored vehicles from Ukraine into the Belgorod oblast began. This operation had both a political and strategic objective. The political objective was to embarrass the Russians, who were very slow to respond to the incursion and to take attention away from the huge Ukrainian army failure in Bakhmut....

Russian authorities have ordered residents of nine villages in the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine to evacuate their homes after anti-Putin rebel groups began capturing territory on Russian soil. The Kremlin's order comes hours after a pair of explosions rang out in the city of Belgorod overnight amid drone attacks on the FSB security service building and Interior Ministry offices. Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov confirmed the aerial bombing raid had caused fires at government buildings and urged citizens to take shelter amid the rebel attacks. Ukrainian military intelligence said two armed Russian opposition groups, the Freedom of Russia Legion and the...

Russian authorities have ordered residents of nine villages in the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine to evacuate their homes after anti-Putin rebel groups began capturing territory on Russian soil. The Kremlin's order comes hours after a pair of explosions rang out in the city of Belgorod overnight amid drone attacks on the FSB security service building and Interior Ministry offices.Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov confirmed the aerial bombing raid had caused fires at government buildings and urged citizens to take shelter amid the rebel attacks....snip...Russian authorities on Tuesday afternoon said its armed forces had beaten back the insurgency.'In the course of the...

After the defeat in Artemovsk (Bakhmut), where they are believed to have lost between 30k-60k troops, the Ukrainians staged this Sunday (May 22) an incursion into the Belgorod Oblast, pre-war Russian territory, in what can best be described as a publicity stunt or a ‘psy-op’.While the Discord Leaks have revealed that Zelensky has plans to take and hold Russian border towns to gain some leverage in future peace talks, that was not it.The incursion consisted of a DRG (Diversion and Reconnaissance Group) with 2 tanks, an infantry support vehicle and about 9 troop-carrying cars, with a number of troops that...

Ukraine claimed “another unbelievable success” on Tuesday morning, stating it had shot down six ‘hypersonic’ missiles over Ukraine overnight, stating that the damage on the ground in Kyiv this morning was caused by falling missile debris. Six Kinzhal (Dagger/Killjoy) ‘hypersonic’ missiles were shot down over Ukraine overnight, as well as nine cruise missiles, three ballistic missiles, six suicide drones, and three reconnaissance drones, the Ukrainian government claimed Tuesday morning.

Ukraine used a U.S.-made air-defense system to intercept a Russian ballistic missile, the first known time that it has been able to block one of Russia’s modern missiles. Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, said in a Telegram post on Saturday that Ukrainian forces were able to take down a Kinzhal, or Kh-47, missile that a MiG-31K aircraft launched from Russia toward the Kyiv region. He said it happened during an attack that Moscow launched on Thursday night.

Moscow media mouthpieces often refer to history books when they talk about Russia's invasion of Ukraine but one Kremlin propagandist decided to turn to the Bible. During a monologue on Solovyov Live, host Roman Golovanov said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is among those who have used the Old Testament story of David versus Goliath as a parallel for the war in Ukraine, in which Russia is portrayed as the larger adversary. However, Golovanov said that the perennial tale of the underdog triumphing should be flipped around and that Russia "was in fact the David" because "at least 50 countries are...

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said Friday he would send troops to fight in Bakhmut if the Wagner Group pulls out of the Ukrainian city. Kadyrov, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, made the pledge in a statement he posted on his official Telegram channel. Earlier in the day, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group of Russian mercenaries, announced he would be removing his fighters from Bakhmut on May 10 because of an ammunition shortage. Prior to his announcement, Prigozhin published a video in which he angrily blamed top Russian officials for the deaths of Wagner fighters...

JUST IN: Ukraine confirms shot down drone over Kyiv was not a Russian drone but their own Ukrainian TB2 drone. “On May 4, around 20:00 in the Kyiv region, during a scheduled flight, the Bayraktar TB2 UAV lost control.” “Since the uncontrolled presence of UAVs in the sky of the capital could lead to undesirable consequences, it was decided to use mobile calculations...”

The Netherlands is working "intensively" with other European countries to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets. However, there are no concrete commitments yet, as it turned out today at the joint press conference of Ukrainian President Zelensky, Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Belgian Prime Minister De Croo in the Catshuis in The Hague. "There are no taboos and we are working intensively on it," said Rutte. "But we're not there yet". The three other countries are Belgium, the United Kingdom and Denmark...

A new wave of Russian missiles plunged into the Caspian Sea after ‘technical malfunctioning’, it's been reported. Launched from a Tu-95MS – one of Vladimir Putin’s Soviet nuclear bombers – the three rockets were aimed at Ukraine. The alleged blunder could have seen them hit Russian residential buildings, said Crimean Wind Telegram channel, citing a Moscow military source A new wave of Russian missiles plunged into the Caspian Sea after ‘technical malfunctioning’, it has been reported. Launched from a Tu-95MS – one of Vladimir Putin’s Soviet nuclear bombers – the three rockets were aimed at Ukraine. The alleged blunder could...

Attacks on Pavlograd may have stopped the great "ukie counteroffensive(TM)" I view the Ukrainian confusion of the letters 'G' and 'H' as an artifact of some kind of a linguistic inferiority conplex... E.G. it's 'Hitler' and not 'Gitler'. 'Pavlograd' and not 'Pavlohrad'....The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain....

Ukraine's Ambassador to Ireland has called for people to boycott Jameson Irish Whiskey after the company decided to continue trade in Russia.Larysa Gerasko alleges that Jameson is playing a part in financing Russian aggression in Ukraine by resuming trade in Russia.

The Kremlin is suddenly concerned with saving face ahead of an imminent Ukrainian counteroffensive. After spending the last year reassuring Russians that victory is inevitable in the war against Ukraine, the Kremlin is now frantically working to lower expectations—and rolling out a contingency plan to lessen the impact of a humiliating defeat. A new manual prepared by Russia’s presidential administration and distributed to the Kremlin’s army of propagandists contains some surprising instructions: Do not “underestimate” Ukraine’s impending counter-offensive and do not spread the idea that Kyiv is somehow “not ready” for it. That’s according to the independent news outlet Meduza,...

Investigative independent journalist Lee Fang weighs in on his reporting surrounding Ukrainian intelligence and disinformation

With even nationalist pro-war bloggers criticising Putin’s actions in Ukraine, his desperation and paranoia are growing. May is traditionally a month for public celebration in Russia, with massive public processions on 1 May for Labour Day and military parades on 9 May for Victory Day, a holiday commemorating the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. Not so in 2023. Russia’s biggest trade union cancelled its traditional Labour Day demonstrations because of the “heightened risk of terrorist activity”, while regions near the Ukrainian border called off Victory Day parades so as to “not provoke” the Ukrainian army. The Russian government has warned...

Update from Ukraine | Ukraine will start the counterattack soon | New Goodwill gesture is coming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYZdwNUnsSc ****NEW SUMMARY Military MAPS & COMMENTS here: Invasion Day 428 – Summary April 27, 2023 Jerome News The summary of the situation of Russian re-invasion to Ukraine covering the last 48 hours, as of 2023 – 22:00 (Kyiv time). https://militaryland.net/news/invasion-day-428-summary/ *** Greatly appreciate the viewer controlled Map magnification tool to use on each Front map!

Ukraine’s military has set up positions on the eastern side of the Dnipro River near Kherson city, the Institute for the Study of War cites Russian military bloggers as saying. Infiltrating the area could be a first step towards trying to dislodge Russian forces from positions they are using to shell and shoot at Kherson. The constant attacks have made it impossible for residents to return to normal life months after Ukrainian troops liberated the city from occupation. Ukrainian military forays across the river could also mark the first tentative steps towards launching a long-awaited spring offensive to reclaim more...