WESTERN PERSPECTIVE Ukraine pulls back from three villages in east, Zelenskiy pleads for weapons Ukraine's top commander said on Sunday Kyiv's outnumbered troops had fallen back to new positions west of three villages on the eastern front where Russia has concentrated significant forces in several locations. The statement by Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi reflected Ukraine's deteriorating position in the east that Kyiv hopes it can stabilise once it takes delivery of U.S. weapons under a $61 billion aid package approved this week. "The situation at the front has worsened," Syrskyi wrote on the Telegram app, describing the "most difficult" areas…

Two Israeli hostages seen in latest video issued by Hamas Hamas released a new video on Saturday that appeared to show two Israeli hostages who have been held in the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel. The video is similarly filmed to previous hostage videos made public by the Islamist group, which Israel has condemned as psychological terrorism. The two men, identified as Keith Siegel, 64, and Omri Miran, 47, speak individually in front of an empty background. They send their love to their families and ask to be released. Miran was taken hostage from his…

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE Russia delivers 35 precision strikes on Ukrainian military sites over week — top brass Russian troops delivered 35 strikes by long-range precision weapons against Ukrainian energy sites, military-industrial enterprises, railway infrastructure, warehouses and fuel depots, army and mercenaries’ deployment areas over the past week in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Saturday. "On April 20-27 of this year, the Russian Armed Forces delivered 35 combined strikes by seaborne and air-launched long-range precision weapons, including by Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in retaliation to the Kiev regime’s attempts to inflict damage on…

Hamas again raises the possibility of a 2-state compromise. Israel and its allies aren't convinced The Palestinian militant group Hamas has said for more than 15 years that it could accept a two-state compromise with Israel — at least, a temporary one. But Hamas has also refused to say that it would recognize Israel or renounce its armed fight against it. For Israel and many others, especially in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that spurred the latest war in Gaza, that’s proof that Hamas is still irrevocably bent on destroying Israel. The United States and European countries have…