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Musk cuts Starlink access for Russian forces - giving Ukraine an edge at the front

BBC News

Evidence is mounting that Elon Musk's decision to deny Russian forces access to his Starlink satellite-based internet service has blunted Moscow's advance, caused confusion among Russian soldiers and handed an advantage to Ukraine's defenders. And what can Ukraine's military achieve in the meantime? The Russians lost their ability to control the field, a Ukrainian drone operator who goes by the callsign Giovanni told us. I think they lost 50% of their capacity for offence, he said. That's what the numbers show.


Ukraine hails 'real results' after Musk restricts Russian Starlink use

BBC News

Ukraine hails'real results' after Musk restricts Russian Starlink use Elon Musk's efforts to stop Russia from using Starlink satellites for drone attacks have delivered real results, a Ukrainian official said. Praising the SpaceX founder as a true champion of freedom and a true friend of the Ukrainian people, defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Musk had swiftly responded when he was told Russian drones with Starlink connectivity were operating in the country. The drones have been linked to a number of recent deadly attacks by Russia on Ukraine, including one on a moving passenger train which left six people dead. Looks like the steps we took to stop the unauthorised use of Starlink by Russia have worked, Musk wrote on X. Let us know if more needs to be done.


Panic on crowded train: Passenger tells BBC of moment of Russian drone strike

BBC News

A Ukrainian soldier has described the moment a passenger train was targeted by Russian drones, killing five people. When a carriage on the train was hit in northeastern Ukraine, passengers threw themselves on the floor in panic and the military officer told them to get out immediately. Without his instruction, issued moments before the carriage burst into flames, many more passengers could have died. The officer, whose army call-sign is Omar, is part of Ukraine's 93rd brigade. He was among the passengers travelling on a route from Chop, on the border with Slovakia, to Barvinkove, the last stop before the front line in eastern Ukraine.


Romance and parenthood feel remote in Ukraine: 'I haven't had a date since before the war'

BBC News

Romance and parenthood feel remote in Ukraine: 'I haven't had a date since before the war' Sitting in a wine bar in Kyiv on a Saturday night, Daria, 34, opens a dating app, scrolls, then puts her phone away. After spending more than a decade in committed relationships she's been single for a long time. I haven't had a proper date since before the war, she says. Four years of war have forced Ukrainians to rethink nearly every aspect of daily life. Increasingly that includes decisions about relationships and parenthood - and these choices are, in turn, shaping the future of a country in which both marriage and birth rates are falling.


US military officials in Ukraine for talks on ending war

BBC News

Senior Pentagon officials have arrived in Ukraine to discuss efforts to end the war with Russia, the US military has said. The team, led by US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, is expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Thursday when he returns from a trip to Turkey. Reports began surfacing on Wednesday that the US and Russia had prepared a new peace plan, containing major concessions from Ukraine. Neither Washington nor Moscow has officially confirmed the plan. Earlier in the day, at least 26 people were killed in a Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine's western city of Ternopil, officials there said.


Is the fall of Pokrovsk, Ukraine's key eastern stronghold, inevitable?

Al Jazeera

Is Trump losing patience with Putin? Will sanctions against Russian oil giants hurt Putin? Is the fall of Pokrovsk, Ukraine's key eastern stronghold, inevitable? Pokrovsk, a key fortress and logistical hub for Ukrainian forces in the eastern region of Donbas, has been under siege for almost two years. But in recent weeks, tens of thousands of Russian soldiers have been storming the town around the clock, taking over the streets where buildings are mostly reduced to bombed-out, deserted ruins. They use reconnaissance drones and satellite images to identify gaps in Ukrainian defences and use tiny groups of soldiers who are attacked and killed in droves by Ukrainian drones .


In Russia's 'blitz' of Ukraine, the question of appeasement is back

BBC News

In Russia's'blitz' of Ukraine, the question of appeasement is back Following another week of intensive and lethal Russian bombardment of Ukraine's cities, a composite image has been doing the rounds on Ukrainian social media. Underneath an old, black-and-white photo of Londoners queuing at a fruit and vegetable stall surrounded by the bombed-out rubble of the Blitz, a second image - this time in colour - creates a striking juxtaposition. Taken on Saturday, it shows shoppers thronging to similar stalls in a northern suburb of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, while a column of black smoke rises ominously in the background. Bombs can't stop markets, reads the caption linking the two images. The night before, as the city's sleep was interrupted once again by the now all-too-familiar booms of missile and drone strikes, two people were killed and nine others injured.


Have Russians set up a military base in my childhood home?

BBC News

Have Russians set up a military base in my childhood home? It was another busy day at work. Russian forces had attacked my home region of Zaporizhzhia again: a region in the south of Ukraine, split between the Russian invaders, who claim it all as theirs, and the defending Ukrainians. Sitting in my office in central London, I was feeling nostalgic. I decided to take a quick look at the latest satellite images of my childhood village - the poetically titled Verkhnya Krynytsya (or Upper Spring in English), in the Russian-occupied part of the region, just a few kilometres from the front lines.


Deadly Haiti drone attack kills eight children in capital Port-au-Prince

Al Jazeera

A deadly drone attack in an impoverished area of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, which killed at least 11 people, including eight children, is being blamed on the government, as the country's use of the UAVs in its war on gangs comes under increasing scrutiny. The incident happened on Saturday night in Cite Soleil, one of Port-au-Prince's most dangerous neighbourhoods, in the city's west along the coast, as Albert Steevenson, known as Djouma or "King Jouma", who is a suspected gang leader, was celebrating his birthday. One of the group's leaders and most notorious figures, Jimmy Cherizier, known as Barbecue, promised to avenge the attack. Claudia Bobrun, 30, whose daughter was killed in the attack, showed The Associated Press news agency a video of the eight-year-old in a pool of blood, as she burst into tears. Merika, another four-year-old victim of the attack, was playing with other children at 8pm in the Simon Pele neighbourhood, in Cite Soleil, where the suspected kamikaze drone exploded.


As Russian army inches closer, Ukrainians must decide to stay or go

BBC News

The white armoured police van speeds into the eastern Ukrainian town of Bilozerske, a steel cage mounted across its body to protect it from Russian drones. They'd already lost one van, a direct hit from a drone to the front of the vehicle; the cage, and powerful rooftop drone jamming equipment, offer extra protection. But still, it's dangerous being here: the police, known as the White Angels, want to spend as little time in Bilozerske as possible. The small, pretty mining town, just nine miles (14km) from the front line, is slowly being destroyed by Russia's summer offensive. The local hospital and banks have long since closed.