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NY Times: The recent Kremlin drone attack was likely orchestrated by one of Ukraine’s special military or intelligence units, U.S. officials said. It was unclear if Ukraine's top officials were aware of the operation.

Meduza: Russia has been sending conscripts (who legally can’t be sent into combat) to the Ukrainian border, where they live in dugouts and dodge shellfire. At least 7 have died. The authorities maintain they’re 'technically' not breaking the law.

EU Observer: Five Moldovans are to have their EU money frozen and lose access to Europe to help stop Russia from usurping power in Chișinău.

The Guardian: The paramilitaries who raided Belgorod include guerrillas with far-right connections, anti-Kremlin veterans and former members of Russia’s security services.

ISW: Russia's year-long drive on Bakhmut began as part of a theoretically sensible but overly-ambitious operational effort but ended as a purely symbolic gesture that cost tens of thousands of Russian casualties.

Kyiv Independent: Russian forces are attempting to strengthen their positions on the flanks of Bakhmut's suburbs, relying on constant shelling to achieve this goal, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar reported on May 24.

The Daily Beast: The second in command of Ukrainian military intelligence says Kyiv’s spies are actively trying to kill Vladimir Putin—and the Russian leader is well aware of it. Vadym Skibitsky, the deputy head of Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate, made the admission in an interview with German publication Welt.

RFE/RL: Germany will make further contributions to strengthen NATO's eastern flank in response to the ongoing war in Ukraine, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in Romania on May 24.

The Moscow Times: Russia announced Wednesday that a court in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don will try five foreign men, including three British nationals, accused of fighting alongside Ukrainian forces against Moscow.

Sky News: The fierce battle for control of the besieged city in eastern Ukraine is continuing. Russia claims to have captured it, but Ukraine insists it still controls part of it. "They destroyed Bakhmut. They haven't taken it," said one Ukrainian commander.

Reuters: The world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, sailed into Oslo on Wednesday, a first for such a U.S. ship, in a show of NATO force at a time of heightened tension between NATO and Russia over the war in Ukraine.

Bloomberg: For the first time the Swiss government has actively backed European military support for Ukraine.

NY Times: Seizing the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut took 10 months and untold lives. But what comes next for Russia is unclear. Most likely, analysts say, Russia’s exhausted forces will settle into a defensive crouch, preparing for Ukraine’s counteroffensive.

FRANCE 24 spoke to exiled Russian opposition figure Ilya Ponomarev, the political representative of the Freedom of Russia Legion involved in cross-border incursions into Russia's Belgorod region in the past last few days. Ponomarev claimed the pro-Ukrainian, anti-Putin group "didn't lose a single soldier" and is successfully making progress inside Russia. Ultimately, "our guys will be in Moscow and Putin will not be in the Kremlin", he predicted.

Novaya-Europe: Founder of the mercenary Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin has revealed that his private military company has lost 20,000 fighters in the Ukraine war. Half of the losses represent convicts who were recruited in Russian prisons, Prigozhin told media strategist Konstantin Dolgov in an interview.

U.S. Defense Department clarified that the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets and their eventual transfer are meant to support Ukraine's mid- and long-term defense needs rather than short-term goals such as an upcoming counteroffensive.

The Dutch Ministry of Defense: The Netherlands will allocate 260 million euros for the purchase of 155 mm artillery ammunition for Ukraine.

Reuters: The director of a top Russian science institute, arrested on suspicion of treason along with two other hypersonic missile technology experts, stands accused of betraying secrets to China, two people familiar with the case told Reuters.

BBC: A state department spokesman acknowledged reports "circulating on social media and elsewhere" that US-supplied weapons had been used, but said his country was "sceptical at this time of the veracity of these reports". In a news briefing on Tuesday, Matthew Miller added: "It is up to Ukraine to decide how to conduct this war."

Reuters: A two-day incursion from Ukraine into Russia's western borderlands could force the Kremlin to divert troops from front lines as Kyiv prepares a major counteroffensive, and deal Moscow a psychological blow, according to military analysts.

worth mentioning

Interview: The 'War of clans for Putin's throne has begun'

Putin is toast with or without Bakhmut

WHO member states condemn Russian attacks on Ukraine healthcare

China's Xi offers Russia 'firm support' in 'core interests'

Russian indicted in U.S. lobbies for freedom through a prisoner swap

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