Good evening. Ukraine is “highly unlikely” to make a major breakthrough in its counter-offensive to retake territory held by Russia, senior US and Western officials have said, citing “sobering” intelligence.
Ukraine is struggling to break through Russia’s defensive lines in the east and south of the country and the map has barely changed since the highly anticipated counter-offensive began two months ago. “Our briefings are sobering. We’re reminded of the challenges they face,” Mike Quigley, an Illinois Democrat who has recently met with US commanders training Ukrainian forces in Europe, told CNN.
“This is the most difficult time of the war,” he added. You can follow the latest news on our Ukraine live blog.
Hamish de Bretton-Gordon writes that it’s time to kick Putin’s Russia off the UN Security Council.
Almost £10,000 of taxpayers’ money was spent on luxury VIP travel services for Nicola Sturgeon, new figures have shown.
The costs were among more than £14 million of spending by Scottish civil servants on credit cards, which also included nail polish, yoga classes and a driving theory test for a staff member.
Daniel Sanderson reports that civil servants also purchased multiple copies of a book collection of Ms Sturgeon’s speeches with public funds.
Migrants cannot pick and choose between staying in four-star hotels and a barge, the Justice Secretary has said, amid a stand-off with 20 asylum seekers refusing to move onto a vessel berthed in a Dorset port.
Ministers are threatening to withdraw state funding for their accommodation if the asylum seekers continue to refuse to transfer from hotels to the Bibby Stockholm barge in Portland near Weymouth.
Your View | What do you think about the Home Office’s plan to house asylum seekers in the Bibby Stockholm barge? Send a short comment and your name, with Front Page as the subject, to yourstory@telegraph.co.uk and you might feature in an article later this week.
London | The British Museum was evacuated after a stabbing, which witnesses claim took place in the queue. The Metropolitan Police said a man has been arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm. You can follow the latest updates on the incident on our live blog.