WESTERN PERSPECTIVE Ukrainians torn by evacuation calls as Russian shells fall in northeast Ukrainians living in the northeastern Kupiansk district close to Russia's border on Sunday found themselves torn between the will to stay and protect what they have built and the desire to flee from Russian artillery fire. "If you said the evacuation is going well," Dmytro Lozhenko, who runs a volunteer group that helps civilians flee the fighting, said on television, "It would sound like a bit of sarcasm." Regional authorities announced a mandatory evacuation of civilians from near the Kupiansk front earlier this month due to daily…

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE Putin visits Ukraine military operation headquarters Russian President Vladimir Putin met the head of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, and other high-ranking military commanders during an unannounced visit to the headquarters of Russia’s Southern Military District, the Kremlin said on Saturday morning. The head of state received classified briefings from Gerasimov and other senior commanding officers involved in the ongoing military operation in Ukraine, the brief statement said. Russian state media shared a video of the rare visit, which shows the head of the General Staff greeting Putin at the headquarters ahead of the closed-door meeting. However, it…