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What do drone strikes in Moscow, Kyiv signal about the war?

Kyiv is enduring the worst bombing since the start of the war. Meanwhile, drones strike inside Russia’s borders. What’s been lost — and what does Ukraine hope to gain with its threatened spring offensive.
A firefighter is shown inside a highrise apartment with its window blown out. A window frame teeters in a heavily damaged unit.
A rescuer works inside an apartment building which was damaged during a massive Russian drone strike, in Kyiv on Tuesday, May 30, 2023. (Pablo Petrov/Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Reuters)

Ukraine has been dealt some blows in the last month. Kyiv has seen the most air strikes since the start of the war, and the city of Bakhmut is almost entirely occupied by the Russians.

However, a shift could be coming. After receiving billions of dollars worth of international military aid, Ukraine may be ready to launch its much anticipated spring counteroffensive. And after a drone strike hit an apartment block in a Moscow suburb, some are asking whether it's already underway. 

Plus, tensions between the powerful mercenary organisation, The Wagner Group, and the Kremlin are increasing, after more than 20,000 of their soldiers were killed in Bakhmut. Could Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin be a threat to Putin's leadership?

Paul Adams, the BBC's diplomatic correspondent, has been watching this all closely and helps us make sense of the latest developments — and where the war in Ukraine could be headed.

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