作者： root

白罗斯气温首次突破40摄氏度

2026年6月30日 11:55 / 联合早报

欧洲多国近期遭遇致命热浪。6月21日，英国伦敦巴士运营者撑伞站在烈日下。 （路透社）

白罗斯星期一的最高气温突破40摄氏度，创下该国有相关气象数据以来的最高纪录。

新华社引述白罗斯国家通讯社报道，白罗斯气象部门数据显示，星期一（6月29日）记录到的最高气温达40.4摄氏度，于午后出现在布列斯特州平斯克市。此前，白罗斯的最高气温纪录于2010年8月8日在戈梅利州首府戈梅利市创下，为38.9摄氏度。

近期白罗斯出现异常高温天气，气象部门已发布高温红色预警。

白罗斯气象专家说，未来可能出现降水并伴有雷暴和强风天气，提醒居民做好防范。

Ty Cobb on Supreme Court’s E. Jean Carroll ruling: ‘this is one of three women that he has lied openly about’

7:40 PM EDT, Mon June 29, 2026 / CNN Politics

https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/29/politics/video/ebof-ty-cobb-trump-e-jean-carroll-scotus-ruling

Ty Cobb on Supreme Court’s E. Jean Carroll ruling: ‘this is one of three women that he has lied openly about’

Erin Burnett Out Front

Erin Burnett talks to Ty Cobb, former Trump White House lawyer, about the Supreme Court Monday declined President Trump’s appeal in the civil case finding that Trump sexually abused and defamed Carroll. Cobb tells Erin now there’s ‘nothing’ the president can do to prevent having to pay Carroll $5 million.

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Fired FTC commissioner speaks to OutFront as Trump touts Supreme Court ‘big win’: ‘we should be worried’

2026-06-29 07:43 PM EDT / CNN

Fired FTC commissioner speaks to OutFront as Trump touts Supreme Court ‘big win’: ‘we should be worried’

Erin Burnett Out Front

In a primetime CNN exclusive, Erin Burnett talks to Rebecca Slaughter, the former FTC Commissioner who brought a Supreme Court case after President Trump fired her without cause. She reacts to the ruling granting the president power to remove leaders of most independent agencies at will, telling Erin the Supreme Court ‘decided there was a Wall Street exception’ over who would be a ‘watchdog’ versus a ‘lapdog’.

3:50 • Source: CNN

Emotion and feelings: How Democratic Socialists’ congressional insurgency could come back to bite them

2026-06-29 18:34 EDT / Fox News

Some moderates are already trying to keep their distance from what’s going on in their party

By Chad Pergram Fox News

Published June 29, 2026 6:34pm EDT

Socialist surge plunges Democratic Party into identity crisis as primaries loom

Fox News chief congressional correspondent Chad Pergram reports on the mounting fracture within the Democratic Party as moderate members raise alarms over growing socialist primary victories.

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It’s a Democratic identity crisis.

Democratic Socialists of America are on the charge, running hot off their wins in the New York Democratic primaries last week. Their victories in multiple Congressional seats – felling both Reps. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., and Dan Goldman, D-N.Y. – signals that the party is ready to move on from the same old, same old.

Espaillat chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Goldman was a key House staffer during the first impeachment of President Donald Trump.

“Even Dan Goldman’s not good enough for them,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, on Fox. “That is how radical it’s become.”

MAMDANI-BACKED SOCIALISTS LOOK TO TAKE NEW YORK PLAYBOOK NATIONWIDE AFTER PRIMARY VICTORIES

The left flank of the Democratic Party has surged to the top of the nation’s most hotly-contested primaries.(Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Some moderate Democrats are trying to distance themselves from the left.

“That’s not the same brand of politics that we have. We’re not those type of Democrats,” said Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., who represents a battleground district.

“There’s a new group of Democratic Socialists who are socialists who are not commonsense Democrats. Who are not interested in getting things done. They’re interested in throwing bombs. Not actually solving problems,” said Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J.

LURCHING LEFT: MAMDANI-BACKED CANDIDATES OUST ESTABLISHMENT DEMOCRATS

Some Democrats are worried how far left candidates command more attention than those in the middle. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet, D-Mich., worries that the outsized attention garnered by the left sends the wrong impression to voters.

“What they don’t want is divisiveness. They don’t want screaming and yelling,” said McDonald Rivet.

Mainstream Democrats feel trapped in the middle as the left – specifically the New York City left – wields an outsized media and political megaphone.

“Those candidates would not have won in Virginia where I live,” said Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va.

Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., is among the moderate Democrats trying to distance themselves from the party’s insurgent wing.(Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Republicans believe they are primed to nationalize the midterms. Republicans can do that by highlighting the extreme views of Democratic Socialists who captured primary victories in New York City. The GOP wants to portray their opponents as veering left.

“These are board-certified communists, right?” asked Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. “They want no police. They want no private property.”

President Trump capitalized on the Democratic outcomes in his home city.

“The Democrat party is in big trouble because this isn’t stopping with New York,” he forecast.

VICTORIES BY MAMDANI-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES SPOTLIGHTS GROWING RIFT IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY

This shakeup has progressive leaders demanding transformation at the top.

“You’re going to see, I think, people voting for new leadership and to change their representation,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

The Democratic Party tapped Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., to deliver their official response to President Trump’s 2025 State of the Union speech. Slotkin is a moderate who won in a battleground race in 2024 – even as the President prevailed in the Wolverine State. But during an appearance on SiriusXM, Slotkin insists on a Democratic Party management switch.

“If people can’t understand that the game has fundamentally changed and they can’t adapt, then they need to let others,” said Slotkin. “The old models do not work for people.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is perceived by Republicans as vulnerable after his preferred candidates failed in their congressional primaries.(Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)

Republicans believe House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is vulnerable after the DSA elected their candidates over his preferred picks in New York City.

“I think Hakeem Jeffries’ friends and neighbors gave him a big middle finger,” said House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. “If you lose three elections in your hometown, that’s a pretty big slap in the face.”

He added that Democrats “are going further and further to the left to the point where they are full-blown, card-carrying socialists.”

And then there is the anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, and in some cases, antisemitic take by some of these candidates. Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, is a moderate Democrat from a swing district. He’s Jewish and one of the most pro-Israel Democrats in the House.

“There are some on the left who use Israel the way that some on the right use immigrants or trans kids as a way to divide. And I think it’s terrible. It’s also just not what voters want us talking about,” said Landsman.

HOUSE DEMOCRAT LASHES OUT WHEN GRILLED ON WHETHER SOCIALIST VICTORIES WOULD THREATEN DEM UNITY

Yours truly tangled with Rep. John Larson, D-Conn. – who once chaired the House Democratic Caucus. I pressed him about what the party would do about some candidates “who are too far to the left.”

“What does that mean? That’s your statement. Did the people of New York vote?” queried Larson.

I assured him that they did.

“Is that democracy?” asked Larson.

“But if some of them are antisemitic,” I countered.

“Is that a democracy?” continued Larson.

“Will you stand by people if they have antisemitic views?” I followed up.

Larson finally addressed my inquiry. His answer crystallized the schism the Democratic Party now faces.

“I’m against antisemitism, if that’s your question,” Larson declared.

Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., got into a heated exchange with Fox News’ Chad Pergram over the views of some likely members of his party’s next freshman class.(Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The fact that Democrats are now facing this debate robs them of valuable time on economic issues.

Landsman argued that voters would prefer candidates to stick to groceries and the price of gas.

Gottheimer echoed Landsman on kitchen table subjects.

“We should be focused on ways to actually solve problems like that. Not coming in here and using tea party tactics and trying to divide up the country and pray to socialist ideals,” said Gottheimer.

So what is the party to do?

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“They’re our nominees. We’re going to support them. We’re going to welcome them. They’re going to be part of our caucus and we’re going to unite behind Leader Jeffries,” said Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the Oversight panel.

But that doesn’t address the fissures. It doesn’t address how voters may perceive the party. And it doesn’t establish if these new Democratic nominees will work on behalf of the party to raise money and advocate for Democrats across the board. Or, will they become professional bomb throwers – ala what the right has endured for a while.

“It’s going to be a lot harder to get things done when you get more and more extreme candidates who are here because they’re interested in political celebrity. They are interested in fighting. They are interested in making points,” asserted Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D.

Republicans have had an abysmal week themselves – President Donald Trump and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., for instance, got into a shouting match over Iran.(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Tyler Kaufman/Getty Images)

Republicans suffered through an absolutely abysmal week. House GOP leaders had to yank multiple bills off the floor and send lawmakers home early because of internal disputes. President Trump and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., got into a shouting match about Iran. And the president even threatened to veto a bipartisan housing bill. President Trump then refused to sign the bill at the Capitol, despite his aides touting the bill and House Republicans tricking out Statuary Hall for a signing ceremony.

The President characterized the housing bill as “a yawn.”

But the Democrats’ internal fractures may have superseded any internecine fighting among Republicans.

“While it’s not been a great week for Republicans, I think it’s been a much worse week for Democrats because of these primary elections,” observed Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla.

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Democrats will certainly run on economic issues and capitalize on statements by the President about basic issues like housing. But will a genuine policy debate outweigh fears about progressives nationwide?

Emotion and feelings rule in politics. And it could be a problem for Democrats if Republicans appropriate what happened in New York and Xerox it onto battleground districts across the country.

Chad Pergram currently serves as Chief Congressional Correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in September 2007 and is based out of Washington, D.C.

Justice Sotomayor received concert tickets from Bad Bunny’s label

2026-06-29 5:19 PM ET / CNN

By John Fritze

2 hr ago

PUBLISHED Jun 29, 2026, 5:19 PM ET

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Bad Bunny.

Getty Images

Justice Sonia Sotomayor received more than $4,000 in concert tickets from a Puerto Rican record label that counts Bad Bunny among its clients, according to a financial disclosure report made public Monday.

Sotomayor, a member of the court’s liberal wing, disclosed receiving $4,333 in concert tickets from Rimas Entertainment “for a concert for me and guests while I was on a private trip to Puerto Rico in August 2025.” Bad Bunny was taking part in a weekslong series of performances in Puerto Rico at that time.

It was one of several notable revelations from the annual disclosure reports from the Supreme Court justices and other members of the judiciary that were made public Monday — hours after the high court handed down some of the most important decisions of its current term.

The justices reported more than $2 million in payments from publishers for books and trips across the country to promote those works.

But it also underscored the lack of detail that’s available in the reports: Nowhere does Sotomayor’s report explicitly mention which concert she attended. A court spokesperson did not respond to questions about Sotomayor’s report.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was nominated by President Joe Biden, reported $1.2 million in book “advance” revenue from Penguin Random House. Jackson continues to tour the country promoting her memoir, “Lovely One,” which she published in 2024. Jackson recently published a young adult version of her book.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was President Donald Trump’s last nominee to the high court, reported nearly $850,000 in revenue from Javelin Group, which last year published her first book, “Listening to the Law.”

Justice Neil Gorsuch, a conservative, has also been appearing at events to promote a children’s book he wrote that is focused on the Declaration of Independence. Gorsuch reported $300,000 in royalty income last year from HarperCollins Publishers.

Supreme Court justices, who earn more than $300,000 a year, are barred from receiving more than about $30,000 in outside income annually. Book revenue is exempt from that policy, creating an incentive for the nine to write beyond their opinions.

Conservative Justice Samuel Alito asked for additional time to file his annual report, as has been his practice over the years.

The justices also listed several trips abroad and in the US.

Barrett, for instance, reported traveling to London last fall for a “legal theory workshop” that was paid for by the University of Notre Dame Law School. Gorsuch traveled to Prague in July for an “educational program” sponsored by George Mason University.

Director Carl Rinsch sentenced to 2.5 years in prison in $11 million fraud case over unfinished Netflix show

June 29, 2026 6:33 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Hollywood writer-director Carl Rinsch was sentenced Monday to 2 1/2 years in prison after being convicted of defrauding Netflix out of $11 million for a never-finished sci-fi series. Supporters, including Keanu Reeves, had asked the court to show him leniency.

Rinsch, best known for the 2013 samurai fantasy film “47 Ronin,” was convicted in December of federal wire fraud and other charges. According to prosecutors and trial testimony, he told Netflix he needed $11 million to finish a show called “White Horse” but diverted the money into a personal account and ultimately spent whopping sums on luxury cars, watches, clothes and household goods, including $638,000 on two mattresses.

Rinsch, 48, and his lawyers told the court Monday that his behavior was fueled by mental health struggles and medication problems, which they said he is now addressing with a new care provider.

“This process has forced me to confront things about my health, my judgment and my life,” Rinsch said. He apologized for his behavior, acknowledged that “real harm was caused,” and explained: “I failed to recognize the danger of the state I was in.”

His psychological troubles weren’t described in court, and he and his lawyers declined to detail them afterward.

Prosecutors argued that Rinsch — who also owes about $11 million in restitution and will be subject to three years of supervised release after his prison sentence — should serve five years in prison.

“Mr. Rinsch had every possible advantage,” including family money, an elite education, famous friends and a high-flying career, prosecutor David Markewitz told the court. Rinsch’s motive, the prosecutor said, “was naked greed.”

Director Carl Erik Rinsch attends the New Directors’ Showcase In Los Angeles presented by Team One, Saatchi LA on September 23, 2015, in Los Angeles, California. John Sciulli

Rinsch, who also has used the name Carl Erik Rinsch professionally, hails from the Los Angeles area and began making short films as a teenager. He later directed commercials, then got attention for 47 Ronin, which stars Reeves. His character leads outcast samurai seeking to avenge their master’s killing.

Rinsch brought “exceptional joy and warmth to the people around him” and “creative inspiration to others through his creativity and vision,” Reeves told the court in a letter ahead of Rinsch’s sentencing.

The “Matrix” star acknowledged that Rinsch “can self-sabotage by amplifying the scale, scope and landscape of what had been negotiated.” But he said he hoped the director’s sentence “might be tempered with measures of leniency and mercy as well as justice.”

Prosecutors said Netflix initially paid Rinsch about $44 million for “White Horse” in 2018 and 2019, then provided another $11 million in 2020 after he said he needed more money to wrap up production.

But instead of putting that money toward the show, Rinsch steered the cash to a personal account and made a series of failed investments, losing around half the $11 million in a couple of months, according to prosecutors and witnesses’ testimony.

They said he put the remaining funds into the cryptocurrency market, netting some profit, which Rinsch deposited into his own bank account.

Then came the lavish purchases, prosecutors said, with Rinsch buying five Rolls-Royces, a red Ferrari, $652,000 worth of watches and clothes, and the pricey mattresses, plus another $295,000 on luxury bedding and linens. In addition, he used some of the money to pay off about $1.8 million in credit card bills, prosecutors said.

“Instead of using the money to make the show, Rinsch made risky bets on highly speculative stock options and cryptocurrency, and spent millions of dollars on luxury goods for himself,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton said Monday in a statement. “Today’s sentence sends a deterrent message: fraud will not be tolerated.”

U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff said Rinsch’s mental health difficulties “may explain some of the excesses” but don’t “detract from the court’s conclusion that he was determined to lie to get substantial monies from Netflix, lie to cover it up.”

As Rakoff announced the prison term, Rinsch wrote on a piece of paper on a table in front of him. One of his lawyers, Benjamin Zeman, patted the director’s back.

After court, Rinsch — who’s due to report to prison in September — hugged several people who had come to support him. He and his lawyers declined to comment as they left, except that attorney Daniel McGuinness said they looked forward to appealing the case.

Netflix declined to comment on his sentence.

习近平李强赵乐际等出席庆祝中共成立105周年音乐会

2026年6月30日 07:36 / 联合早报

中国共产党星期一（6月29日）举行庆祝成立105周年音乐会，习近平、李强、赵乐际、王沪宁、蔡奇、丁薛祥、李希、韩正等党和国家领导人，同约3000名观众一起观看演出。

据中国央视新闻报道，音乐会《人民至上》当晚在北京举行。在京中共中央政治局委员、中央书记处书记，中央军委副主席，全国人大常委会副委员长，国务委员，最高人民法院院长，最高人民检察院检察长，全国政协副主席观看音乐会。

观看音乐会的还有“中央党政军群各部门和北京市主要负责同志，各民主党派中央、全国工商联负责人和无党派人士代表，功勋荣誉表彰获得者代表，老党员、老干部代表，在华工作的外国专家代表，首都基层党员和各界群众代表，驻京部队官兵代表等”。

中国共产党也将在星期三（7月1日）早上举行庆祝成立105周年大会，习近平将向“七一勋章”获得者颁授勋章并发表讲话。

Trump says he will ‘continue the fight’ after Supreme Court declines to review Carroll abuse verdict

2026-06-29T16:27:08-04:00 / Fox News

Trump called the case ‘weaponization and lawfare’ and accused New York lawmakers of creating a law to target him

By Louis Casiano Fox News

Published June 29, 2026 4:27pm EDT

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President Donald Trump appeared surprised after the U.S. Supreme Court said it would not hear his appeal of a $5 million verdict that found he sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll and later defamed her.

The high court declined to take up the case, leaving the $5 million judgment in place. In 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in 1996 inside a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room, awarding her $5 million. In 2024, another jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in a separate defamation case over Trump’s denials and attacks after she accused him.

The justices did not provide an explanation for Monday’s decision.

“Surprisingly, the Supreme Court declined to ‘review’ a Fake Case brought against me by a woman I never met (Decades old celebrity photo line, standing with her husband, does not count!),” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I will continue the fight against this Weaponization and Lawfare Case against me, including the ridiculous claim of Defamation, with all of my power and strength.”

TRUMP REQUESTS E JEAN CARROLL $83M JUDGMENT STAY FOR PENDING SUPREME COURT ACTION ON PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY

The Supreme Court declined to take up an appeal by President Donald Trump to consider the verdict in the E. Jean Carroll case.(Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Alex Kent/Getty Images)

“This Case is really against the United States of America, and all it stands for,” he added, “and should never be allowed to happen to another President, or Candidate to be!”

Trump’s attorneys argued that the trial judge violated federal evidence rules by admitting the infamous Access Hollywood tape — in which Trump is heard bragging about grabbing women by their genitals — and by allowing the jury to hear from two other women who accused Trump of sexual assault, allegations he denies.

Carroll’s lawyers countered that the women’s testimony was relevant because the allegations were highly similar, and they noted that Judge Lewis Kaplan’s evidentiary decisions aligned with legal precedents across the country.

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS $83.3M E. JEAN CARROLL JUDGMENT AGAINST TRUMP

Rain clouds roll over the United States Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., on June 18, 2026.(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“Today’s Supreme Court decision affirms once and for all the jury’s unanimous verdict that President Donald J. Trump sexually assaulted and defamed E. Jean Carroll. His multiple efforts to appeal that verdict have all failed, and today’s ruling ends his quest to avoid accountability for his actions,” said Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney.

In a separate statement, Trump’s legal team stated: “The American People stand with President Trump as they demand an immediate end to all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes. President Trump will keep winning against Liberal Lawfare, as he continues to focus on his mission to Make America Great Again.”

Columnist E. Jean Carroll discusses her reaction to the verdict against Donald Trump during an interview on CBS Mornings.(Screenshot/CBS Mornings)

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In his Truth Social post, Trump also accused New York state lawmakers of explicitly targeting him.

“New York State created a Law, for an instant speck of time, going back many decades, in order to wrongfully ‘nab’ me,” he wrote. “It was tailor-made, and this Injustice cannot be allowed to stand!”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Louis Casiano is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to louis.casiano@fox.com.

After mysterious four-month absence, GOP congressman plans grand return

2026-06-29 6:39 PM ET / CNN

By Nina Giraldo, Sarah Ferris

Westfield, New Jersey—

One day before Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. planned to return to Washington, the long-missing congressman sat on the steps of his tidy Tudor-style home in North Jersey, sifting through mail beside his wife.

Kean, wearing a gray polo, offered a casual wave and headed inside when he noticed a reporter from CNN on his street. Then, he dispatched a spokesperson for his campaign to deliver a message that his own GOP colleagues have been eager to hear for months.

The 57-year-old congressman will be “fully transparent” about his nearly four-month absence when he returns to Washington on Tuesday, spokesperson Harrison Neely told CNN.

Upon his return, the two-term Republican is planning to deliver a floor speech that is expected to address his unexplained health condition, according to a person familiar with the plans. For months, Kean’s family and his aides have said little about his absence except that he is recovering from a medical condition and is “under a doctor’s care,” even as fellow Republicans have publicly urged him to divulge more information.

His absence has rattled House Republicans, who are worried it could complicate the GOP’s ability to hold onto a critical swing seat in an already difficult midterm cycle, multiple sources previously told CNN.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has spoken by phone with Kean and has said publicly that he’s urged Kean to explain his absence to his voters.

Party leaders and senior aides have repeatedly told CNN they do not have any idea where Kean is, a rarity for a House GOP leadership team tasked with keeping close contact with rank-and-file members as they navigate their historically narrow majority. He has missed hundreds of votes — many close — since early March.

His interaction with a CNN reporter on Monday appears to be only his second documented sighting in months, after he was first spotted at his Westfield home by The New York Times last week.

Rep. Tom Kean attends a hearing on Capitol Hill in December 2023.

Mariam Zuhaib/AP

The office door of Rep. Tom Kean Jr. at the Cannon House Office Building on May 14, 2026.

Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

In the meantime, senior leadership staff have been left to speculate about his ailment and why he would choose not to disclose it for months. Lawmakers who believed they were close to him have been irked by unreturned messages. Democratic operatives have stepped up their attacks, newly confident they can flip his competitive battleground seat.

It’s not unusual for members of Congress to take medical leave, sometimes unable to vote for weeks at a time. But even GOP aides privately admit they are frustrated with how Kean’s aides have handled his absence, refusing to disclose his health condition and leaving his constituents in the dark.

The New Jersey congressman said in late April on social media that he’s dealing with a “personal medical issue,” without specifying what it is, and said he would be back “very soon.” Late last month, he told The New Jersey Globe that he’d be back in the “next couple of weeks.”

In early June, Kean ran unopposed in a primary, with some GOP operatives privately unsure whether he would be on the ticket in November. Kean’s office said in public statements that he planned to run for reelection.

His Democratic opponent, Rebecca Bennett, has said​ little about Kean’s absence. But the House Democratic campaign chief, Suzan Delbene, has insisted he must be transparent.

“Clearly, I wish him the best, but it is his job also to be transparent with his community and there has been no clarity about why he has been gone so long,” Delbene recently told a group of local reporters, according to The New Jersey Globe.

Some Russian soldiers last just minutes on front lines against Ukraine’s drones, military bloggers say

June 29, 2026 / 6:09 PM EDT / CBS News

Kyiv — Once Russian soldiers reach certain parts of the front lines of the war in Ukraine, they can expect to live an average of just 20 to 35 minutes, according to a grim estimate by Russian military bloggers, cited by Oxford historian Peter Frankopan in a Foreign Policy report. CBS News has not independently verified the claim. But similar accounts are becoming increasingly common on Russian military channels, suggesting that more Russians are becoming aware of the war and its toll on their side — a toll Kremlin officials have long sought to shield from view.

The war has inflicted staggering losses on Russia’s young men. The director of the British intelligence agency GCHQ said last month that Russian war deaths have now likely reached nearly 500,000. Ukraine’s defense ministry says it has taken over 1.4 million wounded or killed Russian troops off the battlefield.

As drones have saturated the front lines — creating what is known as the “kill zone” — Russia is losing men at faster rates. Unable to rely on heavy artillery, now easily picked off by cheap first-person-view drones, Russia’s military has turned to infiltration tactics: using small groups of soldiers on foot or motorcycles to probe weaknesses in Ukraine’s lines.

This has resulted in bloodier fighting. Drones now account for more than 80% of Russian losses, according to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. And estimates suggest that there are now more Russians killed in the war than there are wounded, a first in modern warfare.

Ukraine faces its own manpower problems and must resort to similar infiltration tactics to push back Russian lines.

“Manpower’s been a problem since the end of the summer of 2023 offensive,” Rob Lee, a Ukraine-based military analyst, told CBS News. “We’ve had some cases where infantry have spent more than a year in position with no rotation.”

But Ukraine’s military has managed to more effectively reduce its soldiers’ exposure to danger by using drones to replace some troops in combat, medical evacuation and logistics roles.

“We say there is no need to send a human being where the robot can do the job,” Oleksandr Kamyshin, the official in charge of Ukraine’s defense industry, told CBS News in an interview this spring. By some estimates, Russia is now losing eight men killed or seriously wounded for every one lost by Ukraine.

Russia’s relentless waves of men have yielded some success on the battlefield. While Ukraine’s top general said that his military had retaken over 230 square miles of territory this year, Russia is still gaining ground in crucial areas in and around Ukraine’s coveted Donetsk region. Ukrainian commanders said last week that Russian soldiers are attempting to infiltrate the outskirts of Kostyantynivka, an industrial city in Donetsk.

But more Russians are beginning to feel the war’s toll firsthand.

In a Russian nationwide public opinion survey released Monday by the Institute for Conflict Studies and Analysis of Russia, a Ukrainian think tank, 31% of respondents said one or more of their family members have been mobilized, a 14% increase from 2022.

Oleksandr Shulga, the head of the think tank, cautioned that the findings should not be overstated: “Even after four years, the majority of Russians do not perceive this war as existential.”

Still, he said, “Most Russians know someone killed in action since the beginning of the war: only 29% said that no one among their relatives or acquaintances has died in the fighting.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/russia-war-rages-on-as-ukraine-generals-claim-advances-against-putins-troops/