The Wall Street Journal reports:

Ukraine’s military intelligence chief said the country would keep fighting until it evicts Russian forces from all of its territory—including Crimea and other areas effectively seized by Moscow in 2014—and called for deliveries of longer-range heavy weapons and warplanes from the West to help.

“I don’t know any borders except the borders of 1991,” Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov said, referring to the year of Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union. “Who can force Ukraine to freeze the conflict? This is a war of all Ukrainians, and if someone in the world thinks that they can dictate to Ukraine the conditions under which it can or cannot defend itself, then they are seriously mistaken.”

In an interview in his Kyiv office, Gen. Budanov, one of the architects of the country’s war effort, said that to speed its counteroffensive Ukraine urgently needs medium- and long-range missile systems, large-caliber artillery and strike aircraft to offset Russian advantages in manpower and equipment.

“We have already begun an offensive in certain points, but a large-scale offensive without these weapons will be very difficult,” the general said.

With peace negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv stalled, Ukrainian forces have been pushing Russian forces back in the northeastern region of Kharkiv, reclaiming a string of villages in recent days. In the coming months, Gen. Budanov said, the military would shift its focus to driving Russia from areas it has occupied in the country’s south as well as the eastern Donbas region. [Continue reading…]

Reuters reports:

In a sign of Russia’s urgent need to bolster its war effort in Ukraine, parliament said on Friday it would consider a bill to allow Russians over 40 and foreigners over 30 to sign up for the military.

The website of the State Duma, parliament’s lower house, said the move would enable the military to utilise the skills of older professionals. [Continue reading…]