Ukraine mounts massive Russia attack

Ukraine is adding fire-spitting “dragon drones” to its arsenal — weapons that carry a substance called thermite, which is capable of burning underwater and considered “particularly dangerous” as its fires are difficult to contain, Al Jazeera reported. Kyiv currently appears to have limited thermite capabilities, so it’s unclear to what extent these specific drones will become mainstream. Regardless, the country is stepping up drone production, and plans to build over a million by the end of the year.

Ukraine’s offensive comes amid intensifying signs of domestic frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine: The CIA director said that a recent push by Kyiv to take control of territory in western Russia had “raised questions… across the Russian elite about where is this all headed.” A survey by a Russian state-owned pollster also showed Putin’s approval rating fell by a record amount last month. Meanwhile an artificial intelligence-driven study indicated growing anger online over Putin’s response to Ukraine’s shock incursion into Kursk last month, particularly in Russia’s outlying regions, where he exerts less influence on the media, The New York Times reported.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s cabinet reshuffle last week was poorly received by some Ukrainians, who say it was a badly timed public relations stunt: “We don’t need new ministers, we need new soldiers,” an officer who was recovering in hospital told Al Jazeera. The president’s five-year term has been indefinitely extended under martial law, to criticism from Russia, the Kyiv Independent reported in May, but his approval ratings are now slipping among war-weary Ukrainians, even though at least 70% continue to oppose holding elections, according to polling by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.