Russia has amassed tens of thousands of troops in the region and occupied several villages. Russia then intensified its shelling of Ukrainian border areas, with Ukrainian authorities ordering the evacuation of 11 villages as a result.

Russian forces on Wednesday advanced further into Ukraine's northern region of Sumy, threatening the regional capital after taking more than 150 square km (58 sq miles) of the area in less than two weeks,

In a few early June days, underlying assumptions about Ukraine and Russia were shaken in three ways. On June 1st Ukraine launched one of the most daring raids in the modern history of warfare, releasing killer drones from trucks to scavenge on strategic bombers deep inside Russia,