Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's Defense Minister, on the middle-strike campaign and the siege of Crimea:

The Ukrainian forces have increasingly begun employing drones equipped with a particular type of communications link to achieve operational effects. 1/13 The current objective is to significantly increase the number of middle-strike drones. This is not simply a reaction to current developments—it is a capability that was modeled as early as February. 2/13

General Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces on the transformation of modern warfare:

Throughout history, different types of weapons have emerged and reshaped warfare. 1/13 Take missiles, for example. When the first ballistic missiles appeared toward the end of the Second World War, many believed they represented the future of warfare—that aviation and bombers would become obsolete, and missiles alone would decide wars. 2/13

Borys "Fidel" Martynenko, co-founder of the 1st Separate UAS Center of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces:

The reason we’re seeing more of deep, strategic attacks now [on Moscow, St. Petersburg, etc.] is actually quite straightforward. 1/11 First, Russia’s air defense has become more strained. Second, there are simply more strike systems available. Third, there are more units conducting deep-strike operations. 2/11

General Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces:

Overall, the situation on the front remains difficult. It would be wrong to underestimate Russia or assume that it has been significantly weakened or is losing ground on the main axes. 1/10 The enemy continues to conduct its strategic offensive operation. It retains a significant advantage in manpower, equipment, and troop numbers, and continues offensive operations along the main operational and strategic directions. 2/10

General Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces:

Active defense is our strategy. We are containing the enemy along the main axes of its offensive. In May, the amount of territory we liberated exceeded the territory we lost by more than 100 square kilometers. 1/15 Overall, since the beginning of the year, Ukrainian forces have liberated more than 670 square kilometers of territory.

These are signs of a certain degree of enemy exhaustion. But again, I want to stress that we must not underestimate Russia. 2/15

Thomas Nilsson, Chief of Swedish Military Intelligence:

The Russian regime is likely to remain a threat to its neighbors well after President Vladimir Putin’s time in office end. 1/8 We don’t see this crisis as a temporary one; Russia has chosen its path, and there is no way back. We are in a strategic confrontation that is deep, structural and enduring — we can’t wish that away. 2/8

Colonel Paweł Szota, Chief of Poland's Foreign Intelligence Agency:

The Kremlin is prepared to sacrifice virtually everything, its own citizens’ prosperity, investment, improvements in governance, and domestic stability but it will not abandon the war against Ukraine. 1/8 Russia can continue the war for several more years. Putin cannot abandon the war because, above all for domestic political reasons, he must continue to present himself as the victor. 2/8

General Viktor Nikoliuk, Commander of Ukraine’s Operational Command East:

Russian losses exceed ours by a very large margin, by an order of magnitude, in some cases. Moreover, around 60–80% of those Russian losses are fatalities. 1/10 Any success, even a relatively small one, such as destroying enemy forces over the course of several days, can be viewed as a local turning point. 2/10

Ukrainian forces struck the Slavyansk oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai.

The refinery's annual processing capacity is more than 4 million tonnes of oil. The facility is part of Russia's energy rear and is involved in supplying the Russian armed forces. 1/ Additional footage of the aftermath of the Ukrainian strike on Russia’s Slavyansk oil refinery. Several fuel storages are burning. 2/

General Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces:

Since January 1, Ukrainian forces have killed or seriously wounded 183,500 Russian troops, exceeding the 180,500 personnel Russia is believed to have recruited over the same period. 1/10 Our main objective is to ensure that the enemy loses more than 1,000 personnel killed or wounded every day, losses so great that they exceed the enemy’s ability to replenish its forces. 2/10

As recently as March, US intelligence officials believed that Russia had the upper hand in the war. But in recent months, European diplomats noted that US officials appeared to have shifted and no longer felt that Moscow was winning the war. 1/5 Trump was “hugely impressed and enthusiastic” about Ukraine’s recent campaign of long-range strikes on targets deep inside Russia at last week’s G7 summit, said two people briefed on the private discussions among the leaders. 2/5

Andrii Maksymenko, Head of the Ukrainian Navy’s Unmanned Systems:

REPMUS is NATO military exercise focused on unmanned capabilities. The exercise was conducted in a free-play format.

Ukraine achieved its objective in roughly 30 minutes. 1/13 What was perhaps most remarkable was that the blue team did not even realize the attack had begun. By the time they emerged and asked when the exercise was going to start, the engagement had already been completed and adjudicated. 2/13

Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's Defense Minister:

The next stage of warfare will be defined by artificial intelligence and drone autonomy.

Why are we able to cut Russian logistics on the battlefield? Because we can control drones, especially mid-strike drones, in real time. 1/12 Our operators change flight paths, identify targets, and destroy them as missions unfold. The next step is autonomy. 2/12

General Christopher Cavoli, former SACEUR:

Ukraine has pulled off one of the most remarkable military feats of a century. It has managed, against the odds, to fight Russia to a standstill in its invasion and is turning around and regaining moderate amounts of territory. 1/12 Russia has been losing tremendous numbers of soldiers. A couple of months ago, for the first time since the beginning of the war, Russia began losing more soldiers in a month than it was able to field back onto the battlefield. 2/12

Ukraine continues its systematic campaign to degrade Russian air defense capabilities. In a single day yesterday, Ukrainian forces destroyed seven Russian air defense systems. 1/ In just the first half of June, Ukraine has already eliminated 28 air defense systems, one of the highest monthly totals of the war and is on track to surpass its own record set in May. 2/

A powerful open letter from President Zelenskyy to Putin:

When you came to power in Russia more than 26 years ago, many people in Ukraine viewed you positively. That is how it was. But that is now in the past. 1/19 Now, the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians view it positively that our long-range drones paid a visit to the opening of your forum in St. Petersburg, covering a distance of more than 1,000 kms. As you know very well, that distance is not the limit of our capabilities. 2/19

General Biletksyi, Commander of Ukraine's 3rd Army Corps:

Russia’s winter campaign was largely unsuccessful, and its spring campaign has also failed to achieve its objectives.

A turning point is taking place at both the tactical and operational levels. 1/10 There are certainly many factors [why Ukraine is in the best position since the 2022 counteroffensive].

One of the key indicators is territorial gains, which reflect the capabilities of both armies. 2/10

General Budanov, Head of Ukraine's Presidential Office:

The fact that Putin is worried about his life is definitely true. There are certain reasons why he feels that way. A lot of it may be exaggerated, but ultimately people of his type tend to live with similar fears. 1/10 There are quite serious and intelligent people within the [Kremlin] system who are capable of analyzing what is happening. They can clearly see the trajectory of events and understand that regression and decline are visible in many areas. 2/10

My long comment for Newsweek:

The overall dynamics of the war are gradually shifting in Ukraine’s favor compared to previous months. The situation for Ukraine is markedly better than it was last year. 1/9 A notable recent development is that Kyiv has intensified its mid-range strike campaign against Russian logistics at an operational depth of 18 to 65 miles inside occupied territories, such as in southeastern Ukraine. 2/9

General Biletskyi, Commander of Ukraine's 3rd Army Corps:

The next six are the most critical.

Four or five months into this year, it's much more likely that the Russians will get exhausted before the Ukrainian problems come to a breaking point. 1/8 If Ukraine's military can build and maintain momentum over several months, it can gain the initiative along the frontline and push Russia to abandon its designs on the last part of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine that it ​does not yet occupy. 2/8

General Zaluzhnyi, former Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces:

What is modern war? The era of extremely expensive precision-guided weapons, which were the true game changers of the twentieth century, has been replaced by weapons of attrition. 1/14 These are cheap, mass-produced, yet highly accurate weapons that rapidly exhaust expensive weapons systems — the very systems upon which NATO doctrine is largely built. These weapons of attrition continue to evolve systematically and effectively. 2/14