Russian forces are increasing the use of intelligence and psychological maneuvers in an attempt to damage the morale of Ukrainian soldiers, the War Institute says.

The Main Directorate of Secret Services of Ukraine said that Russia is sending threatening messages to the cell phones of Ukrainian soldiers encouraging betrayal and threatening the soldiers. They usually do it through SMS, Telegram, Viber, Signal and WhatsApp.

a ukrainian deputy posted on Twitter an image that claims to be of cultivated fields in Ukraine, “marked” by Russia.

A typical field in #Ukraine these days. marked by #Russia. However, 75% of the fields have been planted. ????????? does everything to prevent world famine. However, the world needs to step up to unblock the Black Sea from the Russian navy. pic.twitter.com/1FT62oIOrC

— Lesia Vasylenko (@lesiavasylenko) June 8, 2022

Severodonetsk, the new epicenter of the war in Ukraine, is controlled almost entirely by Russia. Zelensky says that the future of Donbass depends on her. New attacks on Sumy.

What happened during the morning?

• The US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, revealed that the Americans sent US$1 billion to the Ukrainians and that another US$7.5 billion “is on the way” in the form of subsidies. These are figures that fall within the 40,000 million dollars that Joe Biden promised to send to Ukraine to help the Ukrainian defense in the invasion of Russia.
• An airstrike in the Sumy oblast (region) destroyed a building of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. One person was injured, according to information provided by Governor Dmytro Zhyvytsky.
• The United Kingdom will tighten restrictions on the application of sanctions, The Wall Street Journal reported. As of June 15, it will be enough for someone to break the economic sanctions imposed by the UK for the Department for the Implementation of Financial Sanctions to issue a sanction – authorities do not need to show that these people knew they were breaking the rules. .

war map. What is known about day 106 of the conflict

Ukraine accuses Russia of stealing 600,000 tons of grain, which, it says again, will have been transported to the Middle East.

In a statement, Denys Marchuk, vice president of the Agrarian Council of Ukraine, accuses Russia of having stolen this production from the occupied regions. And he says the grain will have been transported from Sevastopol in Crimea to the Middle East, according to CNN.

According to the official, criminal proceedings have already been opened to demand that Russia compensate those affected by these actions through international courts.

Videos are being shared showing the risky maneuvers of Ukrainian pilots to evade interception by Russian forces. In one of them, a Ukrainian Su-25 air support plane flies over a wooded area a few meters from the treetops, equipped with four 122mm unguided rockets; and two PTB-800 expulsion tanks.

#Ukraine: Crazy first-person footage of a Ukrainian Su-25 air support aircraft flying over the combat zone in the east almost brushing against the trees.
As seen, the jet is armed with a classic configuration: 4 B-13L 122mm rocket pods and 2 PTB-800 drop tanks. pic.twitter.com/Zi2XK2WUDJ

— ???????? Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) June 8, 2022

One of the pilots who participated in the refueling of the Azovstal steel plant when thousands of soldiers were sheltering inside admitted that he was aware that his mission could be reduced to a “one way flight”.

“A lot of people saw this operation as impossible, so we wanted to show other pilots and troops that it was possible,” the pilot, whose real name was not revealed, admitted to The War Zone.

The 16 helicopters used, of the Mi-8 type, were disarmed to be able to carry Starlink communication systems and missiles. They even flew only 15 feet high (the equivalent of 4.5 meters) at a speed of more than 240 km/h to avoid detection by radar.

Ukraine’s president called for tougher sanctions on Russia to force the country to negotiate an end to the war. The suggestion was made by Volodymyr Zelensky in a speech he made from a distance at a meeting of American business leaders.

The country “still feels its power”, said the head of state, so “we need to completely disconnect Russia from the global financial system”. “We need to weaken Russia and the world must do it,” Zelensky defended.

Good day. Welcome to the new Observer Live Blog.

As of now, you can follow the latest news about the war between Russia and Ukraine here. Stay up to date with yesterday’s events by checking out Wednesday’s live blog or rereading the 105th day of conflict recap.

war map. What is known about day 105 of the conflict