Each week, we round up the must-read for our coverage of the war in Ukraine, from news and features to analysis, visual guides and opinion.

Ukraine steps up attacks on Kherson

This week Pierre-Beaumont reported on Ukraine’s push to isolate the city of Kherson, currently occupied by the Russians. On Wednesday, a key bridge in the southern city was hit by a barrage of rocket fire from Ukrainian forces.

Videos and eyewitness accounts indicated up to 18 explosions at the Antonivskiy Bridge over the Dnieper, one of Russia’s main supply routes to Kherson, as Russian missile air defenses apparently failed to intercept the strikes. A second rail bridge upstream was also hit.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces posted a one-minute clip on Telegram showing the rockets fired at the bridge just after 1 a.m. Wednesday. “The moment of flight over the Antonivskiy Bridge,” the force said.

A spokesman for the Ukrainian army’s Southern Command, Nataliya Humenyuk, told Ukrainian television that “surgical strikes” had been carried out on the bridge. We are not destroying the infrastructure, we are destroying the enemy’s plans,” she added.

Kherson, captured in early March, has long been a focus of Ukrainian concern, with the defenders making limited gains in the campaign between Mykolaiv and the target city since April. But, apparently aided by longer-range weapons with an effective firing distance of up to 80 km, the Ukrainians are gaining confidence.

As the offensive in the south gathered pace, Russia responded by sending a barrage of missiles into Ukraine from Belarus.

Life under fire in the Donbass as the war enters its sixth month

Russia’s war on Ukraine has entered its sixth month, and in the eastern Donbass region – home to some of the heaviest fighting – the missiles continue to fall. Pierre-Beaumont traveled to Kostyantynivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, where the sound of shelling and rocket fire could be heard in the distance.

“I sleep in my clothes so I can get out quickly in case of an airstrike,” said Tamara, 85, whose home is about 100 yards from a school that was hit by two rockets on Sunday morning. “The explosion shook my apartment… It was like an earthquake. I’m so scared,” she said, on the verge of tears. “I hate this! I hate this! I just want this war to end.

The towns, all located in Donetsk province, are seen as key targets in Russian forces’ bid to occupy the entire Donbass region, which encompasses Donetsk and the neighboring city of Luhansk.

Satellite imagery by Nasa of fires burning along the front line suggests Russian artillery shelling has recently abated. Some analysts suggest it could be the result of Ukrainian strikes – using newly supplied Western artillery systems – on munitions dumps and command posts, which degraded Russian capabilities.

But still, locals are not yet willing to believe this is more than a temporary respite, with many seeing little prospect of an end to the war in sight.

EU agrees gas rationing plan amid Russia supply fears

The EU has been forced to water down its gas rationing plan this winter to try to avoid an energy crisis generated by further Russian supply cuts, writes Jennifer Rankin in Brussels.

Energy ministers from the 27 member states, except Hungary, have backed a voluntary 15% reduction in gas consumption over the winter, a target that could become mandatory if the Kremlin orders a complete shutdown of gas to Europe.

After days of tense negotiations, ministers agreed exemptions for island nations and possible exclusions for countries with little connection to the European gas network, which will mitigate the overall effect in the event of a large-scale gas crisis.

The deal came less than 24 hours after Russia’s state-controlled energy company Gazprom announced a sharp cut in gas supply via the critical Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Wednesday. Ursula von der Leyen said there was “no justifiable technical reason” for the cut.

EU governments can choose how to reduce gas consumption by 15%, as long as they protect household supplies. Industrial users will feel the pinch first; factories could be assigned heating and cooling reduction targets.

In Germany, cities are turning off spotlights on public monuments, turning off fountains and imposing cold showers at municipal swimming pools and gyms, as the country strives to reduce its energy consumption.

EU gas storage levels are currently at 66%, but by the end of next spring they could be seriously depleted with fewer options to replace stocks. EU officials suggest the gap could be filled by the pipeline from Norway and Azerbaijan, more liquefied natural gas delivered by tanker from as far away as the United States and efforts to reduce demand.

A day in the life of a Ukrainian city

Once a city of nearly 500,000 people, Mykolaiv’s population has almost halved in the past five months. More and more locals, like Lyubov Verba and his 15-year-old daughter, Ksenia, are leaving every day.

Unable to sleep under the Russian shelling that has targeted the city since the war began in February, Lyubov developed a tremor.

Her husband, Serhiy, will remain in the city. Just like their son Vyacheslav, 12, and their daughter Diana, 20, married to a Ukrainian soldier. They say they don’t want to leave.

“I’m very nervous about the situation,” Serhiy said. Pierre-Beaumont after his wife’s bus left for Odessa, a two-hour drive along the coast. “But for her, it was much worse.”

That morning, just after 3 a.m., a missile had struck a few blocks away, leaving a huge crater in the middle of a car wash and blowing out the windows of surrounding homes. “Out of 148 days of war”, says Mayor Alexander Senkevich, “there were 21 days when we were not bombed”.

Away from the city itself, the main water pipe supplying Mykolaiv was damaged by Russian fire. Drinking water comes from tankers for which residents have to queue.

Next to the water line, there is another for food distribution, which starts at 2 p.m. Vaneeva Valentyna, 68, and Vasyukova Rymma, 84, arrived at 9 a.m., like two dozen others wanting to be first in line.

“At two o’clock there will be 200 people here,” says Valentyna.

Lavrov’s African tour, another front in the struggle between the West and Moscow

Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, visited Uganda on the latest leg of his Africa tour, aimed at rallying the continent’s support for Russia as the war in Ukraine enters its sixth month.

Many African leaders have refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and have blamed the United States and NATO for initiating or prolonging the conflict.

But hundreds of millions of people on the mainland are facing rising food prices and, in some cases, severe shortages, as the blockade of Ukrainian ports by the Russian Black Sea Fleet traps tens of millions tons of grain, greatly exacerbating existing supply chain problems.

As Jason Burque writing in this analytical article, Lavrov seeks to convince African leaders and, to a much lesser extent, ordinary people that Moscow cannot be blamed for either the conflict or the food crisis.

Ukraine prepares for a remarkable comeback of league football

Five months ago, Ukrainian footballers could not afford to reflect on their sport. The horrors inflicted by the invading Russian forces left no one unscathed and staying alive, while ensuring the same for their loved ones, was all that mattered.

But on August 23, unless the current security situation deteriorates sharply, the football season will resume in Kyiv, Lviv, Uzhhorod and possibly Ternopil or Rivne, writes Nick Ames. The matches will be played behind closed doors amid a heavy military presence.

Last Monday, representatives from the Ukrainian FA, government ministries and the state emergency service met in Kyiv to discuss the protocols which, once signed, should allow the league to begin. “Organizing football competitions during the war is not just about sport,” said Andriy Pavelko, president of the football association. “It’s about demonstrating our people’s fearlessness, indomitable spirit and desire for inevitable victory. It is a unique initiative in the history of the world: football against war in conditions of war, football for peace.