Bakhmut Liberated: Russian Soldiers Flee Ukraine

Some Russian regulars have fled their positions in Bakhmut, Ukraine, and Ukrainian forces have gained modest ground, according to the Institute for the Study of War. The Russian military has ramped up recruitment of Russian prisoners to fight in Ukraine, signing on an estimated 10,000 convicts in April 2023 alone. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country needs more time, armored vehicles, and weaponry promised by its allies before beginning its much-anticipated counteroffensive aimed at liberating hundreds of square miles of Russian-occupied land. The U.K. is sending long-range Storm Shadows missiles with a range of almost 200 miles to Ukraine, while the U.S. has balked at providing similar missiles amid concerns of expanding the war.