Why morale matters in the #Ukraine war:

London sunset

Nature pic for today: Western honey bee gathering pollen, London.

Today’s violent exchange between Israel and Hizbullah. My assessment:

Close-up with a (largely harmless) Four-spot orb weaver spider in Surrey today:

Is there a strategy behind Russia’s massive air attacks on Ukraine? My analysis:

Coming up on Jeremy Vine on Radio 2 we discuss the hassles of disabled access on UK trains.

Good luck to all the Paralympians competing in Paris. We salute you! #Paralympiques

A sign of autumn: Migrant hawker dragonfly in London today

Just to put Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region into perspective: it currently occupies just over 1000 square km of Russian territory, out of Russia’s total land mass of 17m sq km. Russia occupies approx 18 pct of Ukraine. Ukraine occupies less than 0.02 pct of Russia.

President of the European Commission Ursula Ursula von der Leyen calling for a strong transatlantic partnership “whoever is in the White House”, in Prague tonight #GLOBSEC2024

Danish PM Mette Frederiksen tells Globsec24 security conference in Prague: “Ukraine needs to win this war.. all discussion about red lines must end”. #GLOBSEC2024

Nature pic for today: Common blue butterfly, Prague

Thank you to the lovely British Airways crew on my flight back from Prague this evening, and also to the excellent Ground Assistance team at Heathrow Airport . When the system works smoothly it leaves everyone smiling!

Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region on Aug 6 was hailed as a brilliant tactical success. But it took some of Ukraine’s best troops away from Donbas where Russia is now accelerating its advance. It was a bold and brave gamble but it could be a costly mistake.

#Ukraine #2 Ukraine’s Kursk incursion did reset the dial in this war, raising morale at home, drawing praise from allies and rattling Putin. But it failed to lure Russia’s best combat troops away from the Donbas where they are now pressing home their massive advantage in numbers.

Ukraine reels from latest Russian missile attack:

#Ukraine update in a nutshell. Ukrainian troops are staying put for now in Russia’s Kursk oblast. Russian troops are closing in on a key Ukrainian town in the Donbas. Ukraine’s drone attacks are penetrating deep into Russia but it still lacks enough air defences at home.

#Ukraine update #2: Major reshuffle of Govt ministers officially aimed at ‘strengthening govt ahead of an important autumn’. But coming as it does, as Ukrainian forces are being slowly pushed back in the East and Russian missiles bonbard her cities daily, it’s not great optics.