“It does look like Vladimir Putin is intent on linking up mainland Russia, if you will, through southern Odesa into Moldova.”

Michael Bociurkiw and Michael Bociurkiw discuss the recent Russian strikes near the Moldova border, and what they could reveal about Moscow’s ambitions in southern Ukraine.

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“Inside the Kremlin, they know that Ukraine is able to fight back, and that’s why they’re escalating their hybrid attacks against NATO.”

Russia knows it is slowly losing on the battlefield, as it is losing troops and replacing them with poorly trained men, says Ambassador Kurt Volker, former US special envoy to Ukraine.

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“They parachuted ground vehicles in behind enemy lines and drove them.”

Journalist and British Army veteran Shaun Pinner describes how Ukrainian troops managed to drive an armoured personnel carrier right up to Russian defences as part of Operation Vivaldi in Lyman.

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“There is a fear that, look across the border, there is an economically successful, teaming in population terms, rival. At what point does China seek to turn its economic domination into political domination.”

There is “a lot of fear in Russia” as the expanse in the Far East closest to China becomes more economically deprived and loses its population, says China expert, author and journalist Ian Williams.

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“The Russian idea of encircling the fortress belt within the next six months—that’s not going to happen.”

Russia’s 25th Combined Arms Army is in “survival mode”, trying to establish a new defensive line along the Zherebets River, says The ISW’s George Barros.

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Lieutenant Vladyslav Polskyi has won Ukraine’s highest military honour for rescuing two wounded soldiers in the ‘kill zone’. Maxim Tucker discusses his time speaking with the former teacher and his unit in Ukraine on Frontline.

Read Maxim's interview with Polskyi on The Times: https://www.thetimes.com/world/russia-ukraine-war/article/ukraine-dispatch-teacher-hero-xkv7qkrk3

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“Discontent is starting to rumble among the population.”

Ukraine’s new spy chief has received intelligence suggesting that the Russian people are beginning to express their anger publicly over the war in Ukraine, says The Times’ Maxim Tucker.

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“They were certainly deliberately targeting to kill the people, to destroy the train, or at the very least to send a very intimidating signal that it is dangerous for Western VIPs to go into Ukraine.”

Russia tries to “choke off” constant Western visits to Ukraine by targeting Boris Johnson’s rail route to Poland, says Lord Ricketts.

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