Alexander Query

Russian forces keep using marine mammals in the Black Sea as military weapons against Ukrainian drones. The Soviet-inherited programs are akin to animal cruelty and endanger dolphin species on the brink of extinction. The recent death of Hvaldimir, Russia’s famous beluga whale spy, shows that no animal is safe in Russian hands.

Cheap to build and deadly, First Person View (FPV) drones have become a fixture in this war, and the Pokrovsk frontline is no exception. For two brothers from Kherson—call signs “Stary” and “Google”—hunting Russian invaders is a family business.

Pokrovsk, a key target in Russia’s strategy to capture Ukraine’s Donbas, faces an urgent evacuation deadline. With Russian troops advancing to within 10 kilometers and artillery fire intensifying, authorities warn that residents have less than two weeks to flee their homes.

Since 2014, Russians have flocked to occupied Crimea, replacing Ukrainians who left. The same thing is happening in Mariupol. It’s yet another Russian war crime quietly unfolding as international law prohibits the transfer of an occupying power’s civilian population into its occupied territory.

Ukraine had already hit over 30 Russian oil-processing refineries, President Volodymyr Zelensky y said on June 24th. That was roughly three months ago, and Ukraine has been keeping up the pace since—with drones already reaching a 1,500-kilometer range, according to him. 

Ukraine has been pounding Russia’s Black Sea Fleet since the full-scale invasion started, in a bid to repel the threats of missile attacks from ships deployed around its southern coast. Russia’s Black Sea has been forced to relocate most of its ships, but can it work its way back to Crimea?