Ukraine’s armed forces said they had regained control of more than 100 square kilometers of territory after the counteroffensive, and Kyiv added that Ukrainian forces had advanced in key areas of the front line. Even though tougher battles lie ahead and the ground gained in just over a week represents only a tiny fraction of the territory Russia controls in Ukraine, the advance by Kyiv’s forces is the biggest in months.

Highlights of the war in Ukraine, day 478, LIVETEXT:

07:18 Jens Stoltenberg: Ukrainian pilots have already started training on F-16 aircraft. The NATO allies have not yet reached an agreement on supplying Ukraine with so-called fourth-generation US fighter jets, but Stoltenberg said training of Ukrainian personnel is ongoing.

06:51 Analysts: “The Kremlin’s strategy is to buy time and hope for the re-election of Donald Trump in 2024”

06:40 According to Assistant Finance Minister Wally Adeyemo, Russia’s oil price cap has resulted in a 50% drop in oil revenues in the first five months of this year.

00:54 Zelenskyi on the transfer of confiscated Russian assets to Ukraine: in such dictatorships as the Russian one, money is the greatest value

A brief summary of recent events:

• US General: Counteroffensive “will take a long time and have high costs.” Ukraine is making steady progress in its new counteroffensive against Russian forces, but the price is likely to be high in what has proved to be an uphill battle, said General Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
• Its NATO allies are under pressure to replace Western weapons destroyed on the battlefield and provide massive amounts of ammunition as Kyiv launches a counteroffensive that has caused material losses to mount.
• The Russians claim that the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, was injured during a Russian missile attack on the headquarters of the Main Directorate of Intelligence in Kyiv.
• Commander Serhiy Yaremenko told how Ukraine managed to shoot down one of the most modern Russian ballistic missiles “Kinzhal” with the help of the “Patriot” system.
• NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday left open the prospect of extending his mandate for a fourth term, while top officials from the alliance’s member states openly supported the idea, including one of his potential successors.
• The head of the UN Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, who had to pass through a Russian checkpoint to get to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which is near the front line, said the situation on the ground was “serious” but that cooling water levels were sufficient.
• Zelenskyi on Thursday called on Switzerland to allow the export of weapons it has sold to partner countries to Ukraine, saying the move would be vital to defeating the Russian invaders.
• Czech President Petr Pavel, a retired general and former NATO commander, says all Russians abroad should be under “strict surveillance” by the intelligence services of their host countries.
• Hungary’s parliament has put on the agenda for June and July, without a specific date, the approval of Sweden’s accession to NATO, a move that came only a day after the US Congress cited Hungary’s lack of progress in this regard to block the sale of HIMARS. systems to Budapest.
• AvtoVAZ, one of the Russian automakers that took over Renault’s operations after the French company pulled out of Russia, has announced that it will use convict labor to supplement production of Lada cars.
• Russia will adopt extraordinary powers to seize the assets of “fraudulent” Western companies to prevent them from leaving the country, Financial Times journalists write.

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• Thursday’s events related to Russian aggression were broadcast LIVE on HotNews.ro