Russia launches offensive into northern Ukraine
Russian troops have flooded Ukraine’s northeastern border over the past three days. They occupied more square miles per day than at almost any other point in the war (except at the beginning), and were moving closer to Kharkov.
Russian troops launched a complex offensive on Friday. At least nine villages were captured. Now that some Ukrainian troops are retreating, some commanders have taken the unusual step of pointing fingers.
Ukraine’s top military commander, General Alexander Silsky, acknowledged that the situation had “significantly worsened”. But he said Russia’s attempts to break through Ukraine’s defenses have so far been unsuccessful.
Thousands of people fled to Kharkiv, the nearest big city to the village. It is about 20 miles from the border and is currently safe. “We could hear the sound of machine gun fire getting closer and closer,” said a woman who arrived recently. The Russians “are about to break in.”
TOLL: After Ukraine repelled Russia, villagers in the Kherson region slowly rebuilt their lives. Now they are ready for a new round of attack.
In Russia: President Putin transferred Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to head the National Security Council. It was the first shake-up of his national security team since the invasion began.
In Belarus: A New York Times analysis of satellite imagery found that Russia is upgrading an ammunition depot, possibly to store nuclear weapons.
Fighting breaks out in northern Gaza
Both sides said close ground fighting broke out over the weekend between Hamas militants and Israeli forces in Gaza City and nearby Jabaliya.
It fits a now-familiar scenario: Israeli forces returning to areas where they defeated Hamas earlier in the war — particularly in the north — only to see the group fill the lawless power vacuum left behind.
Military analysts say Hamas is likely to regroup in these areas because Israel refuses to administer them itself or hand them over to non-Hamas Palestinian control. In another northern town, Beit Lahiya, weekend fighting left at least 12 people dead, according to the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa.
Other updates:
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Rafa: U.S. intelligence agencies say Yahya Sinwar, the top leader of Hamas in Gaza, is not hiding in Rafah. Such an assessment could undermine Israel’s case for a major military operation in the city, where U.N. agencies say some 300,000 people have fled.
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assistance: Food and goods entering Gaza have almost completely dried up in the past week, according to the United Nations
Deadly floods in Afghanistan
Afghan and U.N. officials say flash floods have killed more than 300 people, destroyed thousands of homes and engulfed entire villages. Heavy seasonal rains triggered flooding in the northern province of Baghlan and at least three other provinces, which appeared to have suffered the worst damage.
More headlines
In Bangkok, a factory that once produced cigarettes has become an oasis for residents (as well as birds, bats and mosquito-eating dragonflies), bringing a breath of fresh air to the crowded, smog-filled heart of the big city.
Australian letter: This year’s flooding has cut off food supplies to remote Aboriginal communities, requiring charter flights to stock up.
conversation starter
Britons fight over apostrophe
Regional councils across the UK have caused quite a stir as they start removing apostrophes from street signs such as St Mary’s Walk and the King’s Road. In protest of the move, an apostrophe was withdrawn.
Officials said the decision will make it easier for streets to search in the database. Some grammarians say that apostrophes have no real function. One linguist says they can be decorative and confusing, like “harpoons” of punctuation.
But some supporters are angry. The chairman of the Society for the Protection of Apostrophes, a small group in the UK, said phasing out apostrophes was “cultural destruction”.
“What’s next?” One former teacher added: “We just use emojis?”
