Ukrainian forces have refined tactics in the first two weeks of their counteroffensive in preparation for deeper assaults into Russian-held positions, the U.K. Defense Ministry said on June 25.
Germany will supply Ukraine with 45 more Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns by the end of the year, with 15 of them expected to arrive in the coming weeks, German Brigadier General Christian Freuding said in an interview published on June 25.
Editor’s note: The Kyiv Independent interviewed a few dozen soldiers deployed near Bakhmut and visited their positions in late May and early June. The soldiers are identified by their first names or call signs for security reasons amid the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine. NEAR IVANIVSKE VILLAGE, Donetsk Oblast
At least 240 Ukrainian children have been taken away from their families in EU countries due to guardianship law, Iryna Suslova, a representative of Ukraine's children's ombudsman, said in an interview released on June 18.
Sixty-five hectares of the Snihurivka forestry in the southern Mykolaiv Oblast remain flooded after Russia's June 6 destruction of the Kakhovka dam, the local branch of a state forestry enterprise said on June 18.
Fire erupted at a construction site of a military hospital being built in the Russian city of Bryansk, roughly 150 kilometers north of Ukraine, Kremlin-run news agency TASS reported on June 18.
Russia appears to be transferring equipment and troops from Kherson Oblast to the southeastern Zaporizhzhia front where a Ukrainian counteroffensive is underway, Ivan Fedorov, an exiled mayor of Melitopol, said on June 18.
Ukrainian forces took control of the village of Piatykhatky in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Russia's local occupation administration claimed on June 18, as Kyiv continues to take the initiative on the battlefield.
The Black Sea in the southern Odesa Oblast is turning into a "garbage dump and an animal cemetery" as house fragments, furniture, as well as mines and ammunition are floating in the water after Russia's blow-up of the major dam, the State Border Guard said on June 10.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a surprise visit to Kyiv on June 10, where he paid respect to fallen Ukrainian soldiers and laid a wreath at a memorial site at St. Michael's Cathedral.
Ukrainian forces have advanced up to 1.4 kilometers in "different sections" of the Bakhmut front over the past day, Serhii Cherevaty, spokesperson for the eastern grouping of Ukraine's Armed Forces, said on June 10.
NATO members will agree on a "certain procedure" for Ukraine's potential accession into the 31-nation alliance at the July summit in Vilnius, Deputy Defense Minister Volodymyr Havrylov said on June 10.
Two volunteers, aged 25 and 50, were wounded during a Russian artillery strike on flood-hit Kherson, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported on June 10.
Russia is only evacuating Russian passport-holders from the flooded areas in the occupied parts of the southern Kherson Oblast, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on June 10.
Ukraine also shot down 20 of the 35 Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones launched by Russian forces overnight, the Air Force said on June 10.
Russian forces launched an intense airstrike targeting Myrhorod military airfield in Poltava Oblast, with the facility's infrastructure and equipment suffering "some damage," Governor Dmytro Lunin reported on June 10.
Editor’s Note: Soldiers in the story are introduced by their first names for security reasons amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. DONETSK OBLAST – Soldiers from Ukraine’s 24th Mechanized Brigade listened closely to the instructors as they practiced assault tactics before using them on the battlefield for the first
Exiled Nova Kakhovka Mayor Volodymyr Kovalenko reported significant flooding in the southern Russian-occupied city after Russian forces destroyed the Kakhovka dam in the early hours of June 5.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on June 3 that law enforcement checked over 4,800 bomb shelters across Ukraine, and about 20% proved to be unsuitable for use.
DONETSK OBLAST – Yuliia Mykytenko, the commander of a Ukrainian air reconnaissance platoon deployed near Bakhmut, has gotten used to seeing surprised faces when doing her job. Though the 27-year-old is a seasoned service member, Mykytenko said she frequently encounters sexist comments on the battlefield, such as “You are a girl,
Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina defeated her Russian opponent Anna Blinkova on May 27 at the final of the Internationaux de Strasbourg tournament in France, claiming her first Women's Tennis Association (WTA) victory since giving birth to a baby girl.
The Ukrainian military intelligence said on May 27 that it gained "valuable information" from the Belgorod Oblast incursion, which was carried out by Russian anti-government militia fighting alongside Ukraine in Russia's full-scale war.
Russian Telegram Channel Baza, which is allegedly linked to Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), said on May 27 that two soldiers were killed in a Russian bordering region due to a drone attack.
About 400 Ukrainian soldiers began training on American M1 Abrams tanks in Germany on May 26, the New York Times reported, as Ukraine readies itself for a much-anticipated counteroffensive.
Key developments on May 26: * Governor: Russian missile strike on Dnipro clinic kills 2, injures 31 * Kyiv braces 13th air assault since the beginning of May; no casualties reported * Zelensky says Ukraine doing best to procure air defense following the latest Dnipro missile strike * Local authorities: 128 children evacuated from
Editor's Note: The Kyiv Independent, together with a number of journalists, was taken to a location in northern Ukraine to interview the members of the units that took part in the military operation inside Russia. Not revealing the exact location was the only precondition for the interview. Northern Ukraine – At
Key developments on May 22: * Attacks involving anti-Kremlin fighters reported in Russia's Belgorad Oblast * Russia announces ‘counter-terrorist operation’ in Belgorad Oblast * Ukrainian military reports small advance on Bakhmut flanks Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of Russia's Belgorod Oblast, announced a "counter-terrorist operation" in the region on May 22 amid reported attacks by
Key developments on May 19: * Zelensky arrives in Saudi Arabia, meets with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman * Zelensky expected at Hiroshima G7 Summit after Saudi Arabia * Ukraine's military confirms gaining initiative near Bakhmut, makes further advances * NBC: US, allies plan to supply Ukraine with F-16 jets, official says President Volodymyr
Donetsk Oblast – At an unusually nice house on a street with rows of modest cottages, Ukraine’s front-line sappers spend their days indoors waiting for their daunting nightly missions– venturing out into “gray zones” laying mines sometimes as close as 100 meters from the nearest Russian trench. “The scariest moment
Key developments on May 16: * Defense Ministry: Ukraine liberates about 20 square kilometers on Bakhmut outskirts * At the same time, Ukraine admits Russia has ‘somewhat’ advanced in Bakhmut * Ukraine’s military reports downing 25 Russian missiles, including unprecedented 6 Kinzhal hypersonic missiles in night attack on Kyiv * CNN: One of
Editor’s Note: This story is based on interviews with Ukrainian soldiers, conducted in Donetsk Oblast, near the eastern front line, in late March. Some of the soldiers declined to give their last names for security reasons, and are identified by first names and callsigns instead. DONETSK OBLAST – Under the
Key developments on May 14: * Ukraine says it captured more than 10 Russian positions in northern and southern Bakhmut outskirts * Russia says two commanders killed in the Battle of Bakhmut * Zelensky meets Scholz in Berlin, calls on Germany's support for fighter jets * Governor: Russian attack wounds 4 in Zaporizhzhia Oblast,
