Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

War has brought destruction to the waters around Ukraine.

15-20% of the Black Sea dolphin population perished after the full-scale invasion.

But some of these dolphins have a secret… they are trained Russian agents. In a country at war, death is all around.

But for Pavel Goldin, he’s focused on a particular kind of collateral damage – an aquatic mammal he’s spent much of his life studying.

Good morning to readers, Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

Russia's 3am attacks do not only physical damage.

Frequent strikes have caused collective harm to the psyche of millions of Ukrainians: wounds without physical marks.

Myroslava and I explore effects on Ukrainian sleep. The seemingly random timing of the Russian military’s middle-of-the-night attacks damages more than just the targets of the missiles.

The effect of these attacks over the last two years has caused collective harm to the psyche of millions of Ukrainians: wounds without physical markings.

Good morning to readers, Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

But in Andriivka, an accused collaborator still walks amongst his neighbors.

Meet Mykola, a man claiming to be a monk, who allegedly helped the Russians when they occupied his village.

We went there to track him down. "If I had a gun, I would shoot him myself,” said a woman known as Grandma Sofia.

Already over 80 years of age, she's the sort of person in a small village who knows everything about everybody.

She’s the talkative type, the kind that trades the local gossip.

Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

But the tensions are high in Zakarpattia region, which remains a stumbling block in relationship between Ukraine and Hungary.

This is where a Ukrainian artist reconstructs a Hungarian castle, fostering peace between two nations. The westernmost region of Ukraine has been a source of heated debate after 2010, when far-right candidate Viktor Orbán rose to power as a prime minister of neighboring Hungary.

Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

But it might not be, had the Battle of Antonov Airfield had gone another way.

Ahead of its anniversary, we collected dozens of eyewitness testimonies for an intimate account about the most important battle of the war. “Where’s my artillery?” demanded the voice on the phone.

It was Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces.

Russian paratroopers had landed on Antonov Airfield, 20 miles northwest of central Kyiv.

counteroffensive.news/p/the-epic-bat…

Here’s what we are reading today:

EU approves €50 bln aid package for Ukraine.

After months of Orban vetoing aid to Ukraine, the EU has abandoned their softer approaches and has threatened to kick Hungary out of the EU voting process or cut all EU funding to Hungary. 207 Ukrainian POWs were returned in a prisoner swap yesterday.

This follows Russia accusing Ukraine of downing a plane with Ukrainian POWs last week. Russia has given no proof and has shown “no readiness” to return the bodies of the POWS, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s MOD said.

Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

War brings out the fiercest of emotions - we often report on hate or loss but today we look at love.

Some brides confronted the dilemma of weddings during war. While for others, the war brought an end to their marriages. Ivan proposed to Khrystyna 10 days before the full scale war.

But 6 months later she felt conflicted about having a celebration, and toyed with canceling the party she’d so wanted. "I didn't know how morally right it was," Khrystyna said.

Good morning to readers, Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

There’s a Ukrainian Christmas carol you hear every year without knowing it.

‘Shchedryk’, known in the US as ‘Carol of the Bells’, is deeply personal to Maria, who began learning Ukrainian by reading its lyrics... For her, just like thousands of Ukrainian-Americans, the beloved Christmas hit embodies ancestral pride, inseparable from deep-rooted historical trauma.

‘Schedryk’ is a carol that embodies Ukraine's soft power influence in the world.

Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands

I left my house to go to an interview here.

And yet, minutes later I was kneeling besides a man I had never met before, with my fingers on his carotid artery, feeling a fading heartbeat. His skin was already blue-ish gray.

His limbs were splayed out in inhuman directions. Blood flowed from his face.

Placing the back of my palms on his chest, I felt for rise and fall – he’s not breathing. His skin color reflected that awful fact.

Here's what The Counteroffensive is reading today:

The First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, expressed deep concern about the West’s recent inability to provide timely financial and military aid.

“If the world gets tired, they will simply let us die,” she said to the BBC. A recent nationwide poll has found that Ukrainians resoundingly think elections should be postponed until after the war.

8/10 Ukrainians think parliamentary and presidential elections should be moved until after the war.

Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

And many here are watching the Polish elections today... recent spats have weakened ties between the allies.

A Ukrainian refugee on the receiving end of worsening relations shares her struggles.

counteroffensive.news
Ukrainian Maria Haiseniuk is growing increasingly pessimistic about her surroundings.

When she initially fled Kyiv for Krakow in the early days of the invasion, she felt tremendous levels of support.

Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

Today's issue is on the Russian mines that are slowing Ukraine's counteroffensive, and those brave enough to work everyday to neutralize them.

Plus: why is the Heritage Foundation now opposing Ukraine aid? Harley Whitehead was living in Kyiv when Russians launched an invasion in February 2022.

A citizen of the UK, he moved to Ukraine in 2019 and was teaching English. But after the invasion began, he went to study how to become an EOD tech in Kosovo.

Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

I'm out of the hospital.

In today's issue: I talk about my experience in the Ukrainian public hospital system, and @josephaim18 takes us to the front to report on how hungry soldiers feed themselves in combat. In a wooded area, after a fleeting summer rain, a group of Ukrainian soldiers are gathered around a makeshift table.

"Pass me a plate!" shouts one of the soldiers before serving himself a large piece of chicken. "It's a day to celebrate."

Here's what The Counteroffensive is reading today:

In a move to cut down on corruption, President Zelenskyy announced the dismissal of the heads of all regional military recruitment centers.

"Bribery during war is treason," he said. nytimes.com/live/2023/08/1… Before Russia struck Kyiv this morning, a hotel in Zaporizhzhia frequented by members of the UN and other NGOs was damaged in an overnight missile strike.

One is confirmed dead while over a dozen were wounded.
news.yahoo.com/un-official-sl…

Good morning to readers, Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.
Today our newest reporting fellow Myroslava explores the damaging effects of Russian ‘mapaganda’ in western and southern Europe as drone attacks rapidly escalate inside both Ukraine and Russia. Antonina and her two children escaped Ukraine last year, evacuating their beloved city of Kyiv for a safer home in Germany.

But what happened next was like a slap in the face...

Hello to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

Today we review ‘20 Days in Mariupol,’ Moscow is struck overnight, and we visit a Ukrainian refugee center in Poland.
https://t.co/DiEzCUV9uhcounteroffensive.news
It’s the screaming that gets me.

As a former U.S. Army combat medic, the blood and gore doesn’t affect me very much nowadays. I trained for that, studied it, and feel as comfortable as one can get, really, in its presence.

Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

In today's issue, @RyanMcbeth holds forth his love of anti-tank warfare, why he loves it, and delves into the intricacies involved in executing a perfect ambush, by analyzing recent footage of an attack on Russian forces. Hi folks. @RyanMcbeth here.

The story of how I found myself here, analyzing Ukrainian ambush videos, starts with how I once lost the love of my life.

Good morning to readers, Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands. With the nation concerned about a potential nuclear catastrophe near Zaporizhzhia, we take you behind-the-scenes with the people watching 24/7 to ensure the levels of radiation in Ukraine’s capital city are safe. You will also get to see Ross model our haz mat equipment, as well as catch a glimpse of our radiation contamination procedures in case the worst happens. counteroffensive.news

Here's what The Counteroffensive is reading today:

The European Union has agreed to a landmark deal to ramp up ammunition production in an effort to provide Ukraine with the estimated million rounds of artillery ammunition needed over the next year.

euronews.com/my-europe/2023… The cluster bomb is an attractive option because it would help Ukraine destroy more targets with fewer rounds... the U.S. hasn’t used them in conflict since Iraq, it has large amounts of them in storage it can access quickly, per a defense analyst.
apnews.com/article/russia…

Good morning, readers: Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands. But, last night the city endured its first air raid by drones in 12 days. As Ukrainians deal with the 493rd day of war, some turn to escapism in the form of tabletop role-playing games. https://t.co/GjbVORD6EXcounteroffensive.news
Tasha Dashkyevich could be forgiven for engaging in a little daydreaming and escapism. Dungeons & Dragons and other tabletop roleplaying games are often considered the pastime of nerdy basement-dwellers in suburban homes, not by displaced people seeking a respite from war.

Here's what The Counteroffensive is reading today:
Russia has begun a slow withdrawal of personnel from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Ukrainian employees of the plant have been told to leave by July 5th. reuters.com/world/europe/r… Ukraine conducted nuclear disaster response drills in parts of the country yesterday, as worry rises about a meltdown at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
reuters.com/world/europe/u…