"Eyes open, move swiftly and keep your country in your thoughts." That was the instruction given to soldiers of Ukraine's 82nd air assault brigade last week, said the Financial Times, as they prepared to launch the first ground invasion of Russia by a foreign army since the Second World War.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at the weekend that Kyiv wanted to "push the war on to the aggressor's territory" and put "pressure" on Russia to "restore justice". But more than a week after the operation was launched, it remains "unclear what Ukraine's ultimate ambitions are", said The Times.

What did the commentators say?
There are three "non-mutually-exclusive answers", said National Review. First, it's an attempt by Ukraine to relieve pressure on its embattled eastern front. Second, by taking control of Russian sovereign territory, Kyiv will be "in a much stronger position" in any upcoming negotiations with Moscow. Finally, every war is "fundamentally a contest of both sides' willingness to continue fighting" and Ukrainians are reminding Russia that they won't back down.

The surprise advance also has "profound implications for perceptions of the war", said Peter Dickinson, editor of the Atlantic Council's UkraineAlert service. It "directly challenges the widespread belief that Russia's invasion has reached a stalemate and can no longer be decided on the battlefield". Crucially, it also "exposes the emptiness of Vladimir Putin's red lines and the folly of the West's emphasis on escalation management".

For the first time since the Kharkiv counter-offensive in the autumn of 2022, Ukraine has "caught Russia by surprise", said The Times. Ukraine can never realistically hope to win a war of attrition, so the incursion into Kursk could provide a "template for a new style of warfare, one that favours Ukraine better than the grinding losses of the past six months towards its east".

What next?
Putin has called the takeover of hundreds of square miles of Russian territory a "provocation", but his response so far has been surprisingly "uncertain and unsuccessful", said Tortoise.

This kind of limited operation "may not be what ends the war", said National Review, but "symbolic operations sometimes need not be ultimately rational to be successful". The Ukrainians have "rolled the dice" – and, for now, "stolen the initiative from the Russians".

Banksy unveiled his ninth animal artwork in as many days this morning, the latest in a series that has delighted Londoners. 

The elusive street artist confirmed on Instagram that the mural of a gorilla, seal and birds on a London Zoo shutter was his work. Banksy's artworks often communicate "political statements", said the London Evening Standard. Naturally, this series has sparked debate about a "possible deeper meaning". 

An animal a day
The series began last Monday when a goat painted in Banksy's "signature stencil-style silhouette" appeared perching on a pillar in Richmond, said Sky News. This was followed by two elephants reaching for each other near Chelsea, monkeys swinging over Brick Lane, and a wolf on a rooftop satellite dish in Peckham – which was stolen hours after it was unveiled on Thursday. Then came a pelican "scooping up fish" from a fish and chip shop in Walthamstow, followed by a cat stretched out on a billboard in Cricklewood – which was removed hours later, to the boos of watching crowds.

The windows of a City of London Police box were painted with swimming piranhas on Sunday and later moved to a "safe location". And Monday brought a "cheeky" mural of a rhinoceros "mounting" a car parked in Charlton, which was defaced hours later.

Deeper meaning or silly season?
Today's work may be the "biggest clue yet" as to the campaign's meaning, said Metro. The gorilla seems to be lifting the shutter to free the birds and seal "from captivity". Previous Banksy pieces have featured "similar themes of confinement and escape".  

But such theorising is "way too involved", said The Observer's arts correspondent Vanessa Thorpe. The purpose is simple: to "cheer up the public" after weeks of "bleak" headlines. Banksy hopes the animals will provide "a moment of unexpected amusement", highlighting "human capacity for creative play" rather than "destruction". 

The point is to inject some fun into the summer, confirmed Pest Control Office, Banksy's support organisation. It has indeed "brought so much joy and cheer", said the Zoological Society of London. The gorilla is already "sparking a lot of smiles".

If the thought of scorching beaches and sweaty crowds is enough to put you off booking a holiday altogether this summer, a "coolcation" could be exactly what you need. Here are some top destinations for a refreshing break.

Edinburgh, Scotland
"Scots may grumble about the cold, wet weather over winter," said Amelia Stout in Time Out, but come summer, Scotland is the "perfect oasis" for those seeking a cooler holiday destination. Head to Edinburgh in August and "you won't get too sweaty legging it from one show to the next" during the world-renowned Fringe festival. From the capital, "outdoorsier types" could consider heading north for a weekend of hiking in the Highlands.

Sylt, Germany
A favoured spot among the "German elite", this affluent island in the Frisian archipelago lures travellers with its "pristine pale sands" (pictured above), pinstriped strandkorbs (hooded wicker seats) and "mild microclimate", said The Independent. Add to the mix its "lighthouse scattered peninsulas" and burgeoning collection of gourmet restaurants, and it becomes clear why this "balmy under-the-radar beach break" should be added to your list.

Vilnius, Lithuania
Vilnius has been "cool for a while now", said Laura Chubb in Conde Nast Traveller, but the addition of its MO modern art museum six years ago really "etched it on the map for design nerds". Despite its burgeoning cultural and foodie scene, Lithuania's capital is still "mercifully off radar" – and doesn't get too hot over summer, either.

We must act to fix a broken system
Wes Streeting in The Sun
"When I became Health and Social Care Secretary," writes Wes Streeting, "I declared the NHS broken." And the families of the Nottingham knifeman Valdo Calocane are the "victims of a broken system in the most traumatic and cruellest of ways". It's "painfully clear" there were failings in the killer's mental health care. We need to "bring care into the 21st century" and ensure that it is "appropriate, proportionate and compassionate – while keeping the public safe".

There's a problem with erasing Huw Edwards
Joanna Williams in The Times
Since Huw Edwards admitted possession of indecent images, "efforts have been under way" to "expunge his contribution to Britain's recent cultural past", writes Joanna Williams. Episodes of "Doctor Who", "Great British Menu" and "Would I Lie To You?" have been removed from BBC iPlayer. But this "push to sanitise" the past "deliberately misleads" and "it becomes harder to grasp what is true and makes challenging injustice in the present more difficult". It "wipes the slate clean and tells us to look away".

Britain is being pushed to the brink by official neglect of the white underclass
Sherelle Jacobs in The Telegraph
Britain has "a working class and an underclass", writes Sherelle Jacobs, but the "metropolitan commentariat's" understanding of this "basic distinction" is "fitful". Some were "quick to dub" last week's riots as "an upswell of 'working-class anger' over immigration", but this is "inaccurate" because it seems "many of those involved were textbook underclass". Meanwhile, the "crisis of the British white underclass" is "likely to become yet another super-wicked problem that politicians strenuously ignore".