War raging in Ukraine

Ukraine is in the initial stages of its most ambitous counterattack to date since Russia’s 2022 invasion. It has retaken eight villages, it said, in what Reuters described as its most substantial gains on the battlefield for seven months.

But Russia still holds swathes of territory in eastern and southern Ukraine, and Ukrainian forces have yet to push to the main defensive lines that Russia has had months to prepare.

Maliar said: “We still have the main events ahead of us. And the main blow is still to come. Indeed, some of the reserves – these are staged things – will be activated later.”

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She added: “It is not necessary to expect the offensive to be something very fast.”

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Zelenskiy said this week that Russian forces controlling Zaporizhzhia – Europe’s biggest nuclear plant – were planning a “terror attack” by orchestrating a radiation leak.

The Kremlin said it was a “lie” but the president’s warning put many Ukrainians on alert with demand for iodine at many pharmacies sky-rocketing.

  Guardian

Meanwhile...

Wagner group head Yevgeny Prigozhin on Friday questioned Russia’s justifications for invading Ukraine, criticising the country’s military top brass for “deceiving” Russian society.

In a 30-minute video posted on his Telegram channel, Prigozhin dismissed Moscow’s claims that Kyiv was planning to launch an offensive on the Russian-controlled territories in eastern Ukraine in February 2022.

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“The ministry of defence is trying to deceive the public and the president and spin the story that there was insane levels of aggression from the Ukrainian side and that they were going to attack us together with the whole Nato block,” the Wagner head said.

“The special operation was started for a completely different reason.”

Prigozhin also said Russia’s leadership could have avoided the war by negotiating with Ukraine’s president, Volodomyr Zelenskiy.

  Guardian

This is not the first time Prigozhin has complained about Putin's program. I guess Putin can't afford to have him killed, since Prigozhin's doing some of the most brutal work for him. Or maybe Putin doesn't feel personally assaulted, since the complaints are mostly about the war ministry leadership.

UPDATE 06/23/2023, 10:25 pm:  Things are escalating.