After a 'long lull,' Ukraine reports intensified Russian attacks near Toretsk in Donetsk Oblast.

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Ukraine's Armed Forces on June 18 reported an increase in Russian attacks near the town of Toretsk, Donetsk Oblast, after a "long lull" in fighting in the area. In a post on Telegram, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said its "intelligence, artillery, aviation, unmanned systems" were all working to repulse five attacks launched simultaneously. "In the Toretsk direction, the Russian occupiers stepped up and started five assaults at once - in the areas of Niu-York, Pivnichne, and Pivdene," they wrote.

"The Defense Forces of Ukraine control the situation and repel the aggressor." According to the crowd-sourced DeepState monitoring service, Russian forces were attacking in the direction of the villages of Pivnichne and Druzhba, just east of Toretsk. In comments to AFP, residents of Toretsk reported an increase in attacks on the town.

"They started shooting in the morning and it was going on all day long," one person said. Over the last few weeks, attention has been focused on Russia's stalled offensive in Kharkiv Oblast, but Russian troops have been steadily advancing in the country's easternmost Donbas region, which remains Moscow's primary target. Moving west from the ruins of the two occupied Donetsk Oblast cities - Bakhmut and Avdiivka - Russian troops have overrun several small villages and come close to Chasiv Yar and a strategic highway south of the town.

Elsewhere, Russian troops are intensifying attacks in the border areas of Luhansk Oblast with the aim of capturing the village of Borova in neighboring Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine's 3rd Assault Brigade said on June 18. In a post on Telegram, the brigade said Moscow's forces are using tanks, FPV (first-point-view) drones, and anti-aircraft missiles in an effort to advance, and also claimed they had deployed chemical weapons, without providing further details. "The front line... in Kharkiv Oblast, bordering Luhansk Oblast, is today one of the most intense areas of the enemy's offensive," they wrote.

"The immediate task of the occupiers is to get to the (villages of) Cherneshchyna (and) Pershotravneve, with the subsequent seizure of Borova." According to the crowd-sourced DeepState monitoring service, Russia has amassed 10,000 troops as part of a "shock fist" to capture the village. Borova had been occupied by Russian forces in March 2022 but was liberated later that year during Ukraine's sweeping counteroffensive in Kharkiv Oblast.

Putin lands in North Korea looking for support, weapons, validation

Russian President Vladimir Putin landed in Pyongyang on June 18 for the first time in 24 years.

Greeted by North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un at the runway and passing by a city saturated with Russian flags and giant portraits of the Russian leader, Putin looked happy - he was visiting