Ukraine's counteroffensive gains momentum with strategic advances and airstrikes.

Ukrainian forces have gained ground in the Kherson region, with reports suggesting that the Russian forces there are disorganised and undermanned. Meanwhile, Russia's advance into western Bakhmut has been slowed by Ukrainian resistance, with the US and other NATO allies promising weapons to support Ukraine's counteroffensive. Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyryl Budanov has said it is possible to reach Ukraine's 1991 borders this year, meaning it could retake the industrial Donbas region as well as Crimea, the peninsula Russia seized and annexed in 2014. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has announced that Ukraine will become a NATO member.