WASHIGTON-While Ukraine is “very well prepared” for a counteroffensive against Russia, it is “too early to tell what outcomes are going to happen,” the top US general told CNN Monday. “They’re in a war that’s an existential threat for the very survival of Ukraine and has greater meaning for the rest of the world — for Europe, really for the United States, but also for the globe,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said in an in an exclusive interview with CNN in Normandy, France. Milley, who is retiring this year, is in Normandy to commemorate the 79th anniversary of the 1944 D-Day invasion — a massive World War II operation — as the war continues to rage in Ukraine.
 For months now, the US and its allies have been helping arm Ukraine for the counteroffensive. Meanwhile, the war has also begun creeping into Russia, as suspected Ukrainian drone strikes hit inside Moscow and a shelling attack was carried out in Belgorod. Asked Monday if such attacks would risk escalating the conflict, Milley said there is “always risk” of escalation, and it’s something the US is watching “very, very carefully.”  Ukraine has taken back some territory north of Bakhmut, Wagner chief claims Ukrainian Armed Forces have taken back some land north of the city of Bakhmut, according to Russian private military company Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin. Berkhovka has already been lost and the troops are getting out of there, he said in an audio message on Telegram.
Some context: Wagner forces are in the final stages of completing their withdrawal from Bakhmut following the capture of the city. In recent weeks, Ukraine has launched successful counteroffensives in the north and south of the city with some success. 
Pope’s peace envoy 
visits Ukraine as 
fighting rages
Pope Francis’ peace envoy to Ukraine, Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, was due in Kyiv Monday for two days of talks with officials about the war with Russia, the Vatican said. His visit comes as Russia claims it had repelled “a large-scale offensive” by Ukrainian forces in the Moscow-occupied Donetsk region.
The 67-year-old cardinal -- who hails from the Sant’Egidio Catholic Community, which specialises in diplomacy and peace efforts -- would “listen in depth to the Ukrainian authorities about possible ways to achieve a just peace,” the Vatican said. “Ukraine welcomes (the) interest of the Vatican to the bloody war, started by Russia, and (its) intentions to understand (more) deeply realities” of the situation, tweeted Ukraine’s ambassador to the Vatican, Andrii Yurash.