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Ukraine claimed the first successes of its counter-offensive on Sunday as it recaptured three villages from Russian forces in the south-east of the country. Unverified footage showed Kyiv’s forces hoisting the Ukrainian flag at a building in the village of Blahodatne in Donetsk region and posing with their unit’s flag in the adjacent village of Neskuchne. The troops also reportedly retook Makarivka, the next village to the south, and advanced between 300 and 1,500 metres in two directions on the southern front, deputy defence Minister Hanna Maliar said in a statement. “No positions were lost on the directions where our forces are on the defensive,” Maliar added. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Ukrainian “counteroffensive and defensive operations” were taking place. Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Friday that a Ukrainian military push was well underway, but that it had failed and had so far suffered “significant losses”. Kyiv has kept information of its counter-offensive secret and urged Ukrainians not to disclose any information that could compromise the operation. The video from Blahodatne showed Ukrainian troops inside a heavily damaged building as the sound of artillery rumbled in the distance. “We’re kicking the enemy out from our native lands. It’s the warmest feeling there is. Ukraine is going to win, Ukraine above everything,” an unidentified soldier said in the video on Facebook. Russia said at least twice this week that it had repelled Ukrainian attacks close by the nearby settlement of Velyka Novosilka. The occupied southeast is seen as a likely priority for Kyiv’s forces that may aim to sever Russia’s land bridge to the annexed peninsula of Crimea and split Russian forces in half. Makarikva is around 90km northwest of the city of Mariupol, which lies on the Sea of Azov on the southern rim of the land bridge. Russia captured the major city last year after besieging and bombarding it for several weeks. Russia has built vast fortifications across occupied territory to prepare for a Ukrainian counterattack using thousands of troops trained and equipped by the West. In her statement, Maliar also said Ukrainian forces were continuing assault operations in the east near the devastated city of Bakhmut and had advanced 250 metres near the Berkhivka Reservoir. Russia said it captured the city of Bakhmut last month after the bloodiest and longest battle of the February 2022 full-scale invasion, but Kyiv has said it has been regaining ground on the flanks of the city. The General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said separately that a motorised infantry brigade had advanced on the front line around the eastern city Avdiivka in recent days and captured a Russian position, but it provided no further details. In other developments, the Ukranian president said on Sunday that work has already started on an investigation by the International Criminal Court of the breach of the Kakhovka dam. “Representatives of the International Criminal Court have visited Kherson region in recent days,” Mr Zelensksy said in his nightly video address. “On the very first day after the disaster, the general prosecutor’s office sent a corresponding request to the International Criminal Court concerning an investigation of this disaster and the work has already begun.” Mr Zelensky said it was important that international legal experts saw the aftermath of the disaster, including incidents of shelling of flooded areas. Officials said three people were killed on Sunday in Russian shelling of boats carrying evacuees. The president said Ukrainian rescue teams had evacuated about 4,000 residents from affected zones - including areas on the Russian-occupied east bank of the Dnipro River. Additional reporting by agencies Read More Ukraine-Russia war – latest: Kyiv says it has liberated first village in counter-offensive action Air Defender 23: Nato exercise will divert and delay hundreds of planes each day Volodymyr Zelensky welcomes Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau for surprise Ukraine visit The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

After attacking his former attorney general on Truth Social earlier in the day for his assessment that he is “toast” following his federal indictment, Donald Trump lashed out at Bill Barr three times during a sprawling interview on Roger Stone’s first radio show. Having called him a “gutless pig” online and told his followers to switch off Fox News anytime Mr Barr is a guest, the former president kept the attacks going during his chat with Mr Stone on WABC. Mr Barr gave a devastating assessment of the indictment of the president in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case during an appearance on Fox News earlier on Sunday 11 June. Speaking about the indictment, the former president took his first shot at Mr Barr: “This thing is a disgrace and virtually everybody other than a lowlife like Bill Barr, who, as you know, I terminated because he was gutless. He wouldn’t do what you’re supposed to do. But everybody says this is a disgraceful indictment.” Mr Stone asked a little later in the interview: “Do you believe that former Attorney General Bill Barr is in fact part of the Deep State?” Mr Trump demurred from calling his former attorney general that, but said: “I think he’s a coward who didn’t do his job.” He added: “We had unbelievable people, as you know, in the administration. But we also had some that we got wrong. And Bill Barr was a mistake.” As usual, Mr Trump got personal with his criticism of one of his chief detractors who made a point of noting in his interview on Fox News Sunday that he had defended the former president on numerous occasions. Said Mr Trump: “And now he goes and he sits down — if they can find a chair for him, because it’s not that easy — and he sits down and he just bloviates and it’s disgraceful.” “It’s actually unpatriotic. It’s so bad for our country, just so bad. But, you know, he’s got a lot of hatred,” he added. Before the end of the 45-minute interview, which covered a wide range of topics from UFOs to Melania Trump to Ron DeSantis, in addition to the indictment, the former president got one more shot in. He said: “When I talk about a slob like Bill Barr, just a stupid person in a lot of ways, this is really not the standard. We’ve had tremendously successful people. But some we haven’t and you know, we cannot afford to have cowards. We need strong people, because our country is going to hell.” Mr Stone and Mr Trump both made a point of telling the former president’s supporters to protest peacefully if they come to the courthouse on Tuesday for his first hearing. Read More ‘If even half of it is true, he is toast’: Bill Barr gives devastating view of Trump indictment on Fox News Trump allies cite Clinton email probe to attack classified records case. There are big differences Jim Jordan rejects Trump’s statement suggesting Mar-a-Lago papers weren’t declassified Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement

Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again ally in the Senate issued a half-hearted defence of the former president on Sunday as Republicans across Washington issued varied responses to the federal indictment against the former president. Sen Lindsey Graham was on ABC’s This Week, where he received a grilling by host George Stephanopoulos about the allegations in the Justice Department’s 37-count indictment, unsealed last week. In one exchange, the South Carolina senator blew up and demanded that he be allowed to finish his remark after Stephanopoulos, attempting to get him back on track, interrupted his spiel about Hillary Clinton and a private email server she used to store data during her time as secretary of State, in violation of federal rules. “You didn't answer the question," Stephanopoulos shot back. "Well, yeah, I'm trying to answer the question from a Republican point of view. That may not be acceptable on this show,” Mr Graham complained in response. He would go on to argue that many Republicans, including apparently Mr Graham himself, see the Justice Department as applying two different standards to Donald Trump and his Democratic rivals like Joe Biden, who was found to have a small trove of classified documents dating back to his time as vice president at his home and office, as well as Ms Clinton, who was investigated by the FBI for her use of the private server. "Most Republicans believe we live in a country where Hillary Clinton did very similar things, and nothing happened to her,” he argued. "Whether you like Trump or not, he did not commit espionage," Mr Graham continued. "He is not a spy. He's overcharged. Did he do things wrong? Yes, he may have. He will be tried about that. But Hillary Clinton wasn't." There are a few facts that undermine the assertion that Mr Trump and his Democratic allies are (or should be) on the same playing field. For one, all indications point to the idea that Mr Trump and his team delayed and fought federal authorities for months after the trove of documents was discovered, only yielding the bulk of them during an FBI raid. Secondly, as secretary of state, Ms Clinton’s records would not fall under the authority of the Presidential Records Act. And thirdly, the FBI investigated Ms Clinton for months in a politically damaging probe that is widely thought to have contributed to her defeat to Donald Trump in 2016, even if it did not eventually end in criminal charges. There are also the other serious allegations that Mr Graham did not discuss, including witness tampering, which only tangentially relate to the ex-president’s choice to retain records and documents from his administration. Mr Graham went on in the interview to reassert that he was still supporting Mr Trump’s third bid for the presidency, even though he would not defend the specific behaviour alleged in the Justice Department’s indictment which he appeared to dismiss entirely as a hit job. His comments are just the latest in a long line of defences for Mr Trump, whose political future he has also vocally opposed on at least two separate occasions, including in the runup to the 2016 Republican nominating convention as well as the immediate aftermath of January 6. The South Carolina senator is considered a case study of the Republican Party’s evolution under Mr Trump, which continues to force many of the ex-president’s former detractors to return to his embrace in order to protect their political futures. Read More What is an indictment? Here’s what Donald Trump is facing ‘If even half of it is true, he is toast’: Bill Barr gives devastating view of Trump indictment on Fox News Trump allies cite Clinton email probe to attack classified records case. There are big differences

Any thought that Donald Trump’s latest would dampen Republican primary voters’ enthusiasm for his candidacy was quickly dispelled by the overwhelming reception the former president received at the North Carolina Republican Convention in Greensboro. Before Mr Trump took to the stage, a video montage highlighted how the former president had faced multiple investigations, which it called persecution. When he took the stage at the Koury Convention Center on Saturday evening, he received a standing ovation. And rather than waving to the crowd or giving a thumbs up as he normally does, Mr Trump seemed to stand still as if to take in the wellspring of support from the GOP faithful. More tables were added to the ballroom for his speech than the night before, when Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, his chief 2024 GOP rival, spoke at the same event. Mr Trump has been on a pre-arraignment tour of sorts, having spoken in Georgia earlier on Saturday before his appearance in North Carolina. Mr Trump baselessly argued that Joe Biden’s administration indicted him because Democrats do not want the current to run against him, despite the fact Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith to independently lead the investigation of Mr Trump specifically because he would be a future political candidate. “They say well, we want to run against Trump,” Mr Trump said. “In the meantime, we got 5,000 prosecutors after us, because they don’t want to run against me.” The speech came days after a federal grand jury voted to indict the former president. The unsealed indictment accused Mr Trump of showing highly classified information to unauthorised people on two separate occasions – first with a author and publisher who was writing a book with his former chief of staff, and a second time involving a map of an unnamed country and staff for his political action committee. But throughout the weekend, Mr Trump’s supporters said the indictment made them all the more likely to rally around him, just as the earlier indictment in New York City energised his base. “It’s the same old racket the Democrats have been pulling for him,” Jim Forster told The Independent. “They have never had a good thing to say about anybody.” Patricia Koluch of Pender County told The Independent that she already supported Mr Trump but the indictment would make her more likely to get behind him. “Oh, absolutely, 110 per cent now,” she said and said it would get more Republicans behind him. “It already has.” So far, Mr Trump’s numerous legal troubles have weighed down his political prospects. After the federal indictment, scores of Republican lawmakers attacked the Justice Department and crowed about a two-tiered system of justice. Mr Trump’s poll numbers did not drop after his arraignment in Manhattan in April for charges related to his payment of hush money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Nor did they deflate after a jury in New York found him liable for the sexual abuse and defamation of writer E Jean Carroll last month. Mr Trump on Saturday decried the investigation as tampering with elections. “They just tried to stop our movement, they want to do anything they can to thwart the will of the American people – it’s called election interference,” Mr Trump told the crowd. Telia Kivett, the chairwoman of the Sampson County Republican Party, told The Independent that as a county party leader, she had to be neutral but she loved both Mr Trump and Florida Gov Ron DeSantis. But she said that the indictment if anything made Republicans more likely to support Mr Trump. “The Democrats think that this is going to suppress voters, but it actually will embolden them,” she said. “It’s making them angrier. It’s making them see the government for what it really is.” Ms Kivett said she thought that Mr Trump would be the next president. “That’s why they’re so against Trump, that he’s put out everything, you know, as far as what was going on with the FBI, the Department of Justice, CIA, all of that,” she said. “That’s why they do not want Trump to run.” Other elected officials threw their support behind Mr Trump. Rep Richard Hudson, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said he endorsed the former president, citing the fact that his wife worked in Mr Trump’s administration. Similarly, the two other presidential candidates who appeared at the convention, Florida Gov Ron DeSantis and former vice president Mike Pence, criticised the Justice Department for their pursuit of Mr Trump. “Is there a different standard for a Democrat secretary of state versus a former Republican president,” Mr DeSantis said during his speech on Friday evening. “I think there needs to be one standard of justice in this country.” Meanwhile, despite the fact Mr Pence attempted to draw a line between himself and Mr Trump, particularly when it came to Mr Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, Mr Pence criticised the Justice Department and Mr Smith’s prosecution. “Now, as I said earlier this week, I had hoped the Department of Justice would see its way clear to resolve the issues involving the former president without an indictment and I’m deeply troubled to see this indictment move forward,” he said, warning about “its capacity to further divide our country at a time when the American people are stronger as never before.” Throughout the weekend, many attendees continued to wear Trump memorabilia, and Mr Trump’s endorsement continues to be coveted, as he said he planned to endorse Lt Gov Mark Robinson’s gubernatorial campaign at a later date. Mr Trump’s indictment also comes as a number of other Republicans have announced their candidacies. This week, Mr Pence, North Dakota Gov Doug Burgum and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie all announced their campaigns for president of the United States, adding to an already crowded GOP field. But few voters seemed to express interest in other candidates and Mr Trump was introduced as the next president of the United States at the North Carolina event, despite the fact that several of his challengers also appeared over the weekend. Read More Trump indictment: Ex-president kept nuclear and military papers and showed some to unauthorised people ‘Everybody needs to support Trump’: Ex-president’s indictment overshadows DeSantis in North Carolina Pence won’t say whether he’s read Trump indictment after calling for its release

Former Trump administration attorney general Bill Barr gave a devastating analysis of the indictment against Donald Trump, his former boss, in an appearance on Fox News Sunday. Mr Barr said that if even half of what is alleged in the 49-page, 37-count document is true, then the former president is “toast”. Host Shannon Bream asked the former attorney general about the argument from Trump loyalists that the case should have been handled under the Presidential Records Act and not under the Espionage Act. Mr Barr explained that this all began under the Presidential Records Act with the National Archives trying to retrieve the documents that Mr Trump had no right to have. However, it quickly became apparent that the government was particularly worried about how sensitive the classified documents were. He continued by saying that their sensitivity and how many there were shocked him, and that because Mr Trump had wilfully retained those materials that made the counts under the Espionage Act “solid”. “If even half of it is true, he is toast,” the former attorney general told Bream. “I mean, it’s a very detailed indictment, and it’s very, very damning.” Mr Barr also demolished claims that Mr Trump is some kind of victim being politically persecuted in a Democrat-led witch hunt. “This idea of presenting Trump as a victim here or a victim of a witch hunt is ridiculous,” he said. “Yes, he’s been a victim in the past. His adversaries have obsessively pursued him with phony claims. And I’ve been at his side defending against them when he is a victim. But this is much different. He’s not a victim here.” Mr Barr continued: “He was totally wrong that he had the right to have those documents. Those documents are among the most sensitive secrets that the country has. They have to be in the custody of the archivist. He had no right to maintain them and retain them.” The former attorney general then reminded viewers of his history of sticking up for Mr Trump despite the current hostility the former president now has for him. “He’s been angry with me for a while,” Mr Barr told Bream. “But you know, I defended the president on Russiagate. I stood up and called out Alvin Bragg’s politicised hit job. And I have spoken out for 30 years about the abuse of the criminal justice process to influence politics.” He continued: “But this is simply not true. In this particular episode of trying to retrieve those documents, the government acted responsibly. And it was Donald Trump who acted irresponsibly.” Mr Barr had previously drawn the former president’s ire by predicting he would face charges over the classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida. He also described it as a crisis of his own making. Mr Trump lashed out at him for those comments calling him “sloppy” and “weak”. The former attorney general has also warned that Mr Trump getting a second term as president would “deliver chaos” to the country. “If you believe in his policies, what he’s advertising as his policies, he’s the last person that could actually execute them and achieve them,” Mr Barr said at a City Club of Cleveland luncheon in Ohio in early May. Read More Jim Jordan rejects Trump’s statement suggesting Mar-a-Lago papers weren’t declassified Trump-appointed judge will stay on Mar-a-Lago documents case unless she recuses Jonathan Turley tells Fox News the Trump indictment is ‘extremely damning’ and a ‘hit below the waterline’

Billionaire philanthropist and investor George Soros, 92, is handing control of his Open Society Foundations to his son

By Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON The World Bank must use "informed risk-taking" to encourage private investors to get more

As former President Donald Trump prepares for a momentous court appearance Tuesday on charges related to the hoarding of top-secret documents, Republican allies are amplifying, without evidence, claims that he is the target of a political prosecution. To press their case, Trump's backers are citing the Justice Department's decision in 2016 not to bring charges against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent in that year's presidential race, over her handling of classified information. His supporters also are invoking a separate classified documents investigation concerning President Joe Biden to allege a two-tier system of justice that is punishing Trump, the undisputed early front-runner for the GOP's 2024 White House nomination, for conduct that Democrats have engaged in. "Is there a different standard for a Democratic secretary of state versus a former Republican president?” said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Trump primary rival. “I think there needs to be one standard of justice in this country.” But those arguments overlook abundant factual and legal differences — chiefly relating to intent, state of mind and deliberate acts of obstruction — that limit the value of any such comparisons. A look at the Clinton, Biden and Trump investigations and what separates them: WHAT DID CLINTON DO? Clinton relied on a private email system for the sake of convenience during her time as the Obama administration's top diplomat. That decision came back to haunt her when, in 2015, the intelligence agencies' internal watchdog alerted the FBI to the presence of potentially hundreds of emails containing classified information. FBI investigators would ultimately conclude that Clinton sent and received emails containing classified information on that unclassified system, including information classified at the top-secret level. Of the roughly 30,000 emails turned over by Clinton's representatives, the FBI has said, 110 emails in 52 email chains were found to have classified information, including some at the top-secret level. After a roughly yearlong inquiry, the FBI closed out the investigation in July 2016, finding that Clinton did not intend to break the law. The bureau reopened the inquiry months later, 11 days before the presidential election, after discovering a new batch of emails. After reviewing those communications, the FBI again opted against recommending charges. WHAT IS TRUMP ACCUSED OF DOING? The indictment filed by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith alleges that when Trump left the White House after his term ended in January 2021, he took hundreds of classified documents with him to his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago — and then repeatedly impeded efforts by the government he once oversaw to get the records back. The material that Trump retained, prosecutors say, related to American nuclear programs, weapons and defense capabilities of the United States and foreign countries and potential vulnerabilities to an attack — information that, if exposed, could jeopardize the safety of the military and human sources. Beyond just the hoarding of documents — in locations including a bathroom, ballroom, shower and his bedroom — the Justice Department says Trump showed highly sensitive material to visitors who without security clearances and obstructed the FBI by, among other things, directing a personal aide who was charged alongside him to move boxes around Mar-a-Lago to conceal them from investigators. Though Trump and his allies have claimed he could do with the documents as he pleased under the Presidential Records Act, the indictment makes short shrift of that argument and does not once reference that statute. All told, the indictment includes 37 felony counts against Trump, most under an Espionage Act pertaining to the willful retention of national defense information. WHAT SEPARATES THE CLINTON AND TRUMP CASES? A lot, but two important differences are in willfulness and obstruction. In an otherwise harshly critical assessment in which he condemned Clinton's email practices as “extremely careless,” then-FBI Director James Comey announced that investigators had found no clear evidence that Clinton or her aides had intended to break laws governing classified information. As a result, he said, “no reasonable prosecutor" would move forward with a case. The relevant Espionage Act cases brought by the Justice Department over the past century, Comey said, all involved factors including efforts to obstruct justice, willful mishandling of classified documents and the exposure of vast quantities of records. None of those factors existed in the Clinton investigation, he said. That is in direct contrast to the allegations against Trump, who prosecutors say was involved in the packing of boxes to go to Mar-a-Lago and then actively took steps to conceal the classified documents from investigators. The indictment accuses him, for instance, of suggesting that a lawyer hide documents demanded by a Justice Department subpoena or falsely represent that all requested records had been turned over, even though more than 100 remained. The indictment repeatedly cites Trump's own words against him to make the case that he understood what he was doing and what the law did and did not permit him to do. It describes a July 2021 meeting at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, which he showed off a Pentagon “plan of attack” to people without the security clearances to view the material and proclaimed that “as president, I could have declassified it.” “Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret,” the indictment quotes him as saying. That conversation, captured by an audio recording, is likely to be a powerful piece of evidence to the extent that it undercuts Trump's oft-repeated claims that he had declassified the documents he brought with him to Mar-a-Lago. WHERE DOES BIDEN FIT IN? The White House disclosed in January that, two months earlier, a lawyer for Biden had located what it said was a “small number” of classified documents from his time as vice president during a search of the Washington office space of Biden's former institute. The documents were turned over to the Justice Department. Lawyers for Biden subsequently located an additional batch of classified documents at Biden's home in Wilmington, Delaware, and the FBI found even more during a voluntary search of the property. The revelations were a humbling setback for Biden's efforts to draw a clear contrast between his handling of sensitive information and Trump's. Even so, as with Clinton, there are significant differences in the matters. Though Attorney General Merrick Garland in January named a second special counsel to investigate the Biden documents, no charges have been brought and, so far at least, no evidence has emerged to suggest that anyone intentionally moved classified documents or tried to impede the probe. While the FBI obtained a search warrant last August to recover additional classified documents, each of the Biden searches has been done voluntarily with his team's consent. The Justice Department, meanwhile, notified Trump's vice president, Mike Pence, earlier this month that it would not bring charges after the discovery of classified documents in his Indiana home. That case also involved no allegations of willful retention or obstruction. _____ Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP ___ More on Donald Trump-related investigations: https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump Read More Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement Jim Jordan rejects Trump statement suggesting Mar-a-Lago papers weren’t declassified Kimberly Guilfoyle posts chilling warning over Trump indictment Trump-appointed judge will stay on Mar-a-Lago documents case unless she recuses

One of Donald Trump’s most loyal champions in the House of Representatives battled a CNN reporter on Sunday over whether all the documents retained without the consent of the National Archives at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate were declassified. Jim Jordan, chair of the House Oversight Committee, appeared on CNN’s State of the Union for an interview with Dana Bash. During the interview, the two disagreed over whether Mr Trump himself had admitted that some of the documents he retained were still classified, which statements cited by the Justice Department in his indictment suggest was the case. “In this indictment, he states on at least one occasion that he did not declassify the information,” Bash told the Republican congressman in the interview. Mr Jordan responded, however, by pointing to numerous public statements by the former president insisting otherwise, an apparent contradiction of the statements cited by the DoJ in the agency’s investigation. “Dana, he has said time and time again that he declassified all this material,” Mr Jordand responded. He later added: “I go on the president's word and he said he did.” It’s an interesting defence of the former president’s remarks, given that Mr Trump has a long and well-documented history of spreading false claims and misinformation. Most recently, the twice-impeached ex-president has been reported, according to The New York Times, to have told supporters at his events at Mar-a-Lago that he will be reinstated as president in some sort of vindication of his (also false) claims that the 2020 election was rigged. Mr Jordan has long been a defender of the former president amid his various legal escapades, a role more establishment-aligned Republicans (especially those in the Senate) have shunned. In recent weeks he has sought to use his powerful chairmanship of the Oversight Committee to impose an investigation on the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in response to that office’s prosecution of Mr Trump for falsifying business records in connection to hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Mr Trump was charged with 34 criminal counts in that case earlier this year; he now additionally faces 37 felony counts brought by the US Department of Justice. Read More Trump news – latest: Trump defiant at post-indictment speeches as Florida judge he appointed set to keep case Kimberly Guilfoyle joins chorus of violent rhetoric over Trump indictment Trump-appointed judge will stay on Mar-a-Lago documents case unless she recuses What is an indictment? Here’s what Donald Trump is facing Jonathan Turley tells Fox News the Trump indictment is ‘extremely damning’ and a ‘hit below the waterline’ Fox host Mark Levin screams at camera in outrage at Trump indictment over secret papers

Ukraine’s military has claimed to have recaptured their first village since launching counter-offensive actions against Russia. Ukrainian soldiers were filmed hoisting their blue and yellow flag at a damaged building in what the army said was the village of Blahodatne, in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region in the southeast of the country. The unverified video was published by the 68th Separate Hunting Brigade of the Armed Forces. It comes after president Volodymyr Zelensky said that counter-offensive and defensive actions are under way against Russian forces in an apparent confirmation of the long-awaited pushback of Putin’s troops. The Russian Defence Ministry has continued to insist that it is repelling Ukrainian attacks in the Donetsk region. It said in a statement that Ukrainian attempts at offensive operations on the southern Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia axes of the frontline over the past 24 hours have been “unsuccesful”. Read More Ukraine goes on attack in Zaporizhzhia – as counteroffensive steps up Ukraine tells ‘clown’ Tucker Carlson to check his facts after pro-Kremlin rant in first Twitter show Before-and-after satellite images show profound toll of Ukraine dam collapse

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his cabinet will pass a national security strategy on Wednesday that’s aimed at

About a third of Americans say the US government was wrong to indict Donald Trump over the classified