The Russian Invasion

Field picture. LIBKOS / AP 

 

The Russian InvasionThe Battles  

Enormous challenges for Ukraine in the counteroffensive  

 

Ukraine's conditions in the field have changed drastically since last year, writes the Wall Street Journal.  

 

They now face one of the most difficult military missions there is: pushing back an enemy that has spent months fortifying its defensive lines with bunkers, tank obstacles and miles of minefields.  

 

Attempts to push south towards the Sea of Azov, through Russian-controlled territory, fail. Although Ukraine says it is making progress, and has captured some villages in recent months, it acknowledges the task ahead is monumental. 

 

- If we kill an entire unit of 100 soldiers, they send a new one the next day. And one more the day after, says lieutenant colonel Oleksij Telehin.  

 

Fire and smoke after the explosion on the bridge. AP  

Ukraine appears to acknowledge bridge bombing in Crimea  

 

Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar has listed on Telegram twelve achievements that the country has achieved since Russia's full-scale invasion just over 500 days ago. One of them is that 273 days ago they attacked the bridge to the annexed Crimean peninsula and thus disrupted Russian logistics. 

 

According to CNN, it is the clearest admission so far that Ukraine was behind the explosion on the Kerch Bridge last fall. Kyiv welcomed the attack when it happened, but did not officially claim responsibility for it.  

 

CNN has reached out to Ukraine's military for clarification on the claim of responsibility, but has not received a response. 

 

 

Putin and Ramaphosa. Ramil Sitdikov / AP  

 

The Russian invasion|The response of the outside world 

South Africa: Summit despite Putin's arrest warrant 

 

Brics will hold a physical summit despite the International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrant against Russian President Putin. This is what South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says, according to AFP.  

- We have not held a physical summit in almost three years. It will not be virtual.  

 

The meeting between the cooperation organization's members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa is to be held in South Africa next month. Putin is invited, but it is unclear if he will attend. 

 

South Africa signed the Rome Statute in 1998, when the ICC was founded, and is therefore expected to arrest Putin if he sets foot in the country.  

 

However, Ramaphosa's government is critical of the ICC. In March, the president announced that the country would withdraw, but backtracked.