#same city different spellings
Under the cut: Three foreigners defending Ukraine sentenced to death in Russian-occupied Donetsk; All 2,449 people who left Azovstal are now in Olenivka, an urban-type settlement in the Donetsk region; Kryvyi Rih, located in the central part of the country, is now under constant fire from Russian forces; United States is sending 155 mm M777 howitzers to Ukraine; Ukrainian troops announced on Thursday that they have advanced in fierce street fighting in Sievierodonetsk but continued to stress that the only way to fully overcome enemy forces is more weaponry to counter Russia’s advanced firepower.
“The so-called “Supreme Court of the DPR” [self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic] has served the first sentence to foreign fighters who fought on the side of Ukraine, whom they call “mercenaries.”
These are the British Aiden Eislin and Sean Pinner, and the Moroccan Saadun Brahim.
They have been sentenced by terrorists to death.
The occupiers have given the foreign defenders of Ukraine a month to appeal against the “decision” of the so-called court.
The fighters were found guilty of “committing acts aimed at seizing power and overthrowing the constitutional order of the DPR [self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic]”.”-via Pravda(Ukrainian language source)
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“All 2,449 people who left Azovstal are now in Olenivka, an urban-type settlement in the Donetsk region.
Source: contact person at Ukrainian Intelligence, article by Ukrainska Pravda titled “’Island of hope’. How did the Azovstal defenders get out and what is happening with them now”
Quote: “All those who left Azovstal are now in Olenivka (pre-trial detention centre in an urban-type settlement near Donetsk - ed.). There are 2,449 of our people there.”
Details: The article says that the agreements with the Russians turned out to be simple and concrete: the fighters must stay alive, no torture, separate detention for those from Azovstal, and preparation for their exchange.”-via Pravda(Ukrainian language source)
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“Valentyn Reznichenko, head of Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region military administration, says the city of Kryvyi Rih, located in the central part of the country, is now under constant fire from Russian forces.
“The communities of Zelenodolsk and Shyrokiv suffer the most. Unfortunately, six people died there — 179 houses, two schools, a kindergarten and a hospital were destroyed or damaged,” Reznichenko said.
Reznichenko said villages and towns in Kryvyi Rih are “littered with cluster munitions due to shelling” and there is a problem with gas, electricity and water supply.
Meanwhile, in Kharkiv, five people were killed and 14 were injured in Russian attacks, according to Oleh Syniehubov, the head of Khakiv’s regional military administration.
“Today the enemy attacked Kharkiv region, in particular settlements in the northern and northeastern directions,” Syniehubov said, adding that attacks hit residential buildings in Zolochiv.
“Five houses were destroyed. The enemy also struck at Chuhuiv district today,’’ Syniehubov said Thursday in a live question and answer broadcast on Ukrainian national television.
Syniehubov said Ukraine’s armed forces “hold their positions in the northern and northeastern directions.”
When asked why the Russian military is shelling civilian infrastructure, even though there are no visible confrontations between Russian and Ukrainian armies in the Kharkiv region at the moment, Syniehubov replied that the Russian forces “concentrated their attention on the terror of the civilian population.”-via CNN
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“A new batch of 155 mm M777 howitzers has already been prepared for shipment to Ukraine.
This is according to a report on the official Facebook page of the U.S. Department of Defense, posted on Saturday, seen by Ukrinform.
"155 mm M777 towed howitzers are secured for transportation to Ukraine by United States Air Force airmen,” the report said.
It is noted that the artillery units are sent as part of U.S. security assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”-via Ukrinform
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“Ukrainian troops announced on Thursday that they have advanced in fierce street fighting in Sievierodonetsk but continued to stress that the only way to fully overcome enemy forces is more weaponry to counter Russia’s advanced firepower.
“They (the Russians) are dying like flies … fierce fighting continues inside Sievierodonetsk,” Luhansk governor Serhiy Gaidai said in an online post. “The losses of the Russians far exceed ours.” Fighting was now taking place in the towns of Hirske and Popasnyanska, to the south of Sievierodonetsk, he added.
According to the commander of Ukraine’s Svoboda (Freedom) National Guard battalion, the fighting in Sievierodonetsk is being fought house to house as Ukrainian forces face heavy Russian artillery barrages that endanger forces from sides.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said its forces had won back some territory from Russian forces in a counter-offensive in the Kherson area of southern Ukraine.”-via The Guardian
Under the cut: Most of the eastern city of Severodonetsk is now controlled by the Russians; Russian authorities kept up their crackdown against citizens who speak out about the fighting in Ukraine; A Russian-backed official in Ukraine’s partially occupied southeastern region of Zaporizhia said Russia has begun to send grain from occupied areas to Turkey and the Middle East through Crimea; Turkish efforts to ease a global food crisis by negotiating safe passage for grain stuck in Black Sea ports met resistance as Ukraine said Russia was imposing unreasonable conditions and the Kremlin said free shipment depended on an end to sanctions; A 15-year-old boy who flies drones as a hobby helped to prevent Russian soldiers from overrunning Kyiv.
“Most of the eastern city of Severodonetsk is now controlled by the Russians, Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk regional military administration, announced on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, Ukrainian forces reported fierce battles taking place at several locations across the eastern city in Ukraine’s Luhansk region.
“The Russians are destroying everything,” Hayday said in a televised announcement, “They are firing tanks and artillery at residential buildings.”
In an interview with news outlet RBC-Ukraine on Wednesday, Hayday said that earlier this week, Ukrainian special forces had managed to take control of almost half of the city.But he said that when the Russian troops saw the Ukrainian advance, “they simply began to level it to the ground with air strikes and artillery.”
Hayday explained that Ukrainian forces had no choice but to make a temporary tactical retreat from the central parts of the city due to the intense Russian bombardment.
The official said that despite the pullback, Ukraine has retained control of Serverodonetsk’s industrial zone, a key area on the outskirts of city.”
-viaCNN
“Ukrainian forces have been pushed back by a Russian bombardment in the frontline eastern city of Sievierodonetsk and now only control its outskirts, according to the governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Haidai.
Speaking to the RBC-Ukraine media outlet, Haidai said it made no sense for Ukrainian special forces to stay inside the city after Russia started levelling the area with shelling and air strikes.
Regional leaders had said Ukrainian forces might have to “pull back” to stronger positions in Sievierodonetsk amid heavy fighting in the city and frontline villages to the south as Russia pursues a breakthrough in Donbas.”
-viaThe Guardian
Map from Kyiv Independent (there’s an article there too)
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“Russian authorities kept up their crackdown against citizens who speak out about the fighting in Ukraine, extending a critic’s detention on Wednesday, confirming charges against two others and prompting Moscow’s chief rabbi to flee the country.
Russia adopted a law criminalizing spreading allegedly false information about its military shortly after its troops rolled into Ukraine in late February. The offense is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Human rights advocates have counted dozens of cases. Russians must use the term “military operation” when speaking of the fighting in Ukraine.
In the latest development, a Moscow court on Wednesday extended the detention of Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr., a journalist and former associate of assassinated Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov. The court extended Kara-Murza’s detention from June 12 to Aug. 12 on accusations that he spread “false information” about the country’s armed forces. The activist rejects the charges.
Aside from criminal prosecutions, public figures in Russia have reportedly faced pressure from the authorities to publicly announce their support of the country’s military operations in Ukraine. The latest example is Pinchas Goldschmidt, Moscow’s chief rabbi.
The Times of Israel reports that Goldschmidt refused to make such statements and has now decided to stay in Israel. The newspaper quoted his daughter-in-law Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt.”-via Associated Press (AP)
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“A Russian-backed official in Ukraine’s partially occupied southeastern region of Zaporizhia said Russia has begun to send grain from occupied areas to Turkey and the Middle East through Crimea.
Yevgeny Balitsky, head of the Moscow-installed military-civilian administration in the occupied areas, told Russia’s Rossiya 24 news channel:
We are sending grain through Russia, and primary contracts are signed with Turkey. The first trains have departed through Crimea for the Middle East.
Balitsky did not specify which Middle Eastern countries were allegedly being supplied with the wheat, only saying:
It was a traditional market for Ukraine.
A Russian official in Crimea, Oleg Kryuchkov, said the first train carrying grain had arrived from Melitopol, a city in Zaporizhzhia.
It has not been possible to verify these claims.”-via The Guardian
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“The European Parliament resolution recommended that the European Union grant Ukraine the status of a candidate for EU membership. MEPs also expressed their position on weapons for Ukraine and the UN special tribunal.
MEPs believe that the European Union should give Ukraine the status of a candidate for membership in the union. This is stated in the European Parliament resolution on EU foreign, security and defense policy after Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine, adopted at the plenary session in Strasbourg on Wednesday, June 8. 438 MEPs voted for her, 65 - against, 94 - abstained, according to DW.
The European Parliament recommended that the EU Council agree that “the Versailles Declaration recognizes Ukraine’s European aspirations and its application for EU membership, and grant it EU candidate status as a clear political signal of solidarity with the people of Ukraine.” This is the declaration of the informal EU summit in Versailles, which, however, was very cautious in its wording and recognized only the European aspirations of Ukraine and added that the country belongs to the European family.”-via DW(translated from Ukrainian)
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“Turkish efforts to ease a global food crisis by negotiating safe passage for grain stuck in Black Sea ports met resistance as Ukraine said Russia was imposing unreasonable conditions and the Kremlin said free shipment depended on an end to sanctions.
The war between Russia and Ukraine, the world’s third and fourth largest grain exporters respectively, has added to food price inflation and put global food supplies at risk.
Russia has seized large parts of Ukraine’s coast in nearly 15 weeks of war and its warships control the Black and Azov Seas, blocking Ukraine’s farm exports and driving up the cost of grain.
Ukraine and the West accuse Moscow of weaponising food supplies. Russia says Ukrainian mines laid at sea and international sanctions on Moscow are to blame.
Speaking alongside his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Turkey’s foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said talks on Wednesday in Ankara were fruitful and restarting Ukrainian grain exports along a sea corridor was reasonable.”-via Reuters
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“A 15-year-old boy who flies drones as a hobby helped to prevent Russian soldiers from overrunning Kyiv.
Andrii Pokrasa has revealed his role in the defence of the capital after being hailed ‘a real hero, a hero of Ukraine’ by the military.
Desperate soldiers trying to track the position of a column of troops and tanks heading for the capital did not have access to a drone in the early days of the invasion.
His father got in touch with local defenders to tell them his son was skilled at flying one, had bought his own as a pastime and might be able to help.
Not long after, the schoolboy, more used to skateboarding than military reconnaissance, helped direct strikes against the convoy.
The teenager told Global News: ‘They provided us information where approximately the Russian column could be.
‘Our goal was to find the exact coordinates and provide the coordinates to the soldiers.
‘It was one of the biggest columns that was moving on the Zhytomyr road and we managed to find it because one of the trucks turned on its lights for a long time.’
Ukrainian soldiers targeted the column and were eventually able to stop the march on Kyiv altogether.
Commercially available drones have become a core part of the Ukrainian military’s strategy, as well as more advanced models developed by arms manufacturers.”-via Metro UK
Under the cut: The World Bank said on Tuesday its board of executive directors approved $1.49 billion of additional financing for Ukraine to help pay wages for government and social workers; Radiation levels in the area surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear power plant are normal after detectors came back online today; Tass, the Russian state-owned news agency, declared that more than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered in the southern port city of Mariupol after weeks taking a last stand have been transferred to Russia; The bodies of 210 Ukrainian soldiers who fought at Azovstal have been repatriated by Ukraine; Intense fighting continues in Sievierodonetsk; Shelling continues in the southern Mykolaiv region.
“The World Bank said on Tuesday its board of executive directors approved $1.49 billion of additional financing for Ukraine to help pay wages for government and social workers, expanding the bank’s total pledged support for Kyiv to over $4 billion.
The World Bank said in a statement that the latest round of funding for Ukraine is supported by financing guarantees from Britain, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Latvia.
Ukraine’s economy is in tatters.
The project is also being supported by parallel financing from Italy and contributions from a new Multi-Donor Trust Fund.”-via The Guardian
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“Radiation levels in the area surrounding Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant are normal after detectors came back online today, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The radiation detectors in the Exclusion Zone around the defunct nuclear power plant began transmitting data for the first time since Russia seized the area on 24 February.
The UN nuclear watchdog reported today that readings show radiation levels in the area are normal.
“Most of the 39 detectors sending data from the Exclusion Zone … are now visible on the IRMIS (International Radiation Monitoring Information System) map,” said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in a statement. “The measurements received so far indicated radiation levels in line with those measured before the conflict.””-via The Guardian
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“Breaking news is coming through from Tass, the Russian state-owned news agency, declaring that more than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered in the southern port city of Mariupol after weeks taking a last stand have been transferred to Russia, Reuters reports.
More Ukrainian prisoners of war will be taken to Russia “later on”, Reuters is further reporting, with Tass citing a “Russian law enforcement source”.
Ukraine has said it is working for all the prisoners to be returned while some Russian legislators say they should be put on trial.”-via The Guardian
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“One killed after fresh Russian strike on Kharkiv, mayor says. One person was killed and three injured after a Russian strike hit Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, according to the mayor, Ihor Terekhov.
Russia “does not leave Kharkiv alone and constantly keeps people in fear”, Reuters quoted Terekhov as saying on national television.”-via The Guardian
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“As of Tuesday, the bodies of 210 Ukrainian soldiers have been repatriated by Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense Main Intelligence Directorate.
“The process of returning bodies of fallen defenders of Mariupol is ongoing,” due to the efforts of the POW Treatment Coordinating Staff, the statement said.
It said most of the bodies returned to Ukraine were those of the “heroic defenders of Azovstal,“ so Ukrainian soldiers at the massive Azovstal steel factory in Mariupol, the last bastion of Ukraine’s defense in that southern port city, before it fell to Russian and Russian-backed forces.
The Coordination Staff on behalf of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is working to get the bodies of all the deceased returned, as well as some 2500 POWs believed held in the custody of Russian or Russian-backed forces.
“All fallen soldiers must return to the territory controlled by Ukraine. And each of them will be lead to the last journey with honors due to the heroes,” the statement said.”-via CNN
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“Ukrainian forces struggled to hold their ground in bloody street-to-street fighting in the eastern frontline city of Sievierodonetsk as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the situation was difficult, also pledging to retake Russia’s gains.
The days-long battle for the industrial city has emerged as pivotal, with Russia focusing its offensive might in the hope of achieving one of its stated aims - to fully capture surrounding Luhansk province on behalf of Russian-speaking separatists.
"We have to achieve a full deoccupation of our entire territory,” Zelenskiy said by video link at an event hosted by Britain’s Financial Times newspaper on Tuesday.
Asked about comments by France’s Emmanuel Macron that it was important not to “humiliate” Moscow, interpreted in Ukraine as implying some demands must be accepted, Zelenskiy said: “We are not going to humiliate anyone, we are going to respond in kind."”-via Reuters
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“Shelling continues in the southern Mykolaiv region, according to Vitalii Kim, the head of the Mykolaiv region military administration.
Kim said two people were killed in the past 24 hours. An administrative building, outpatient clinic, stadium and district council in the city of Bashtanka were also shelled, he said.
Kim said there are more than 3,700 damaged or destroyed properties in the Mykolaiv region.”-via CNN
Under the cut: The bodies of the fighters at the Azovstal steel plant are being turned over to Kyiv by Russia for identification and burial; A Cholera outbreak has begun in Russian-occupied Mariupol due to bodies not being properly cared for or buried; Russia to pay 5m rubles (£65,000 or $80,000) to families of national guards killed in Ukraine or Syria; Heavy fighting continues in the eastern city of Severodonetsk; UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence Pramila Patten said Monday that she believes the humanitarian situation in Ukraine is “turning into a human trafficking crisis.”
“Russia has begun turning over the bodies of Ukrainian fighters killed at the Azovstal steelworks, the fortress-like plant in the destroyed city of Mariupol where their last-ditch stand became a symbol of resistance against Moscow’s invasion.
Dozens of the dead taken from the bombed-out mill’s now Russian-occupied ruins have been transferred to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, where DNA testing is underway to identify the remains, according to both a military leader and a spokeswoman for the Azov Regiment.
The Azov Regiment was among the Ukrainian units that defended the steelworks for nearly three months before surrendering in May under relentless Russian attacks from the ground, sea and air.
It was unclear how many bodies might remain at the plant.”-via AP
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“Russian officials in occupied Mariupol have shut down the southern port city for quarantine over a possible cholera outbreak, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, told Ukrainian television that the city is bracing itself for an epidemic as dead bodies and litter are piling up in the city.
Andryushchenko, who left the city early on in the war, cited his sources still in the city, saying, “The word ‘cholera’ is increasingly heard in the city among local officials and their supervisors. As far as we can see the epidemic has more or less begun already.”
He said they were aware of isolated cases in Mariupol, where most of the city’s infrastructure has been destroyed by Russian airstrikes.
The Kyiv Independent reports that Ukraine’s health ministry warned that mass burials and poor access to clean water were creating a risk of cholera in Mariupol.
The ministry began reporting suspected cases of cholera in the region on 1 June, the paper reports.”-via The Guardian
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“The Ukrainian navy said it has pushed back a fleet of Russian warships more than 100km from its Black Sea coast.
The group of Russian vessels were “forced to change tactics” after carrying out a naval blockade on Ukraine’s coast for weeks, the navy command of Ukraine’s armed forces said on Facebook.
The navy’s update said:
As a result of our active actions on the impact of the enemy’s naval forces, the Russian Black Sea Fleet ship grouping was thrown off Ukrainian shores for more than a hundred kilometres. In an attempt to regain control of the north-western part of the Black Sea, the opponent had to change tactics: deployed Bal and Bastion coastal missile systems in Crimea and in Kherson region; redeploy additional forces to Snake Island.
A group of about 30 Russian ships and submarines continue to block civilian navigation, it said, while the situation in the north-western Black Sea remained “difficult”.
The statement continued:
We have deprived the Russian Black Sea Fleet of complete control over the north-west part of the Black Sea, which has turned into the “grey zone”. Meanwhile, the enemy has adopted our tactics, and is trying to reclaim control of the north-west part of the Black Sea through coastal missile complexes and winged air missiles.
It has not been possible to independently verify this information.”-via The Guardian
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“The families of Russian national guard members who have died in Ukraine and Syria will receive a one-time payment of 5m rubles (£65,000 or $80,000), according to a Kremlin decree on Monday.
The decree signed by Vladimir Putin said the payments would also go to families of those killed during the “special military operation” in Ukraine’s breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.”-via The Guardian
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“Heavy fighting continues in the eastern city of Severodonetsk, with the situation “changing every hour,” according to Ukrainian officials.
Oleksandr Striuk, the head of the city’s military administration, said “there are enough [Ukrainian] forces and means to recapture the city. There are fierce battles and street fights.”
Striuk said Russian forces had a substantial numerical advantage. “They tried to attack the city, and it is happening now. They are throwing away more and more human resources, which of course complicates the situation,” the official said.
“Now Severodonetsk is being leveled, because they can’t capture it in one to two days. The city is being destroyed. It is impossible to say about the preservation of infrastructure because even before the acute phase of the attack on the city and its assault, the infrastructure was almost destroyed. Both gas and water supply will need almost complete reconstruction,” he added.
The highway from the west along which supplies for the Ukrainian front lines travel is under increasing attack from Russian artillery, with Russian units getting closer to it. Striuk said that it “remains under the control of the Armed Forces, but it is still dangerous to move as enemy artillery is reaching [it.]”.
The General Staff said that Ukrainian units were thwarting the enemy’s attempts to take control of the highway.
The Russians have intensified artillery attacks on areas north of the city of Sloviansk and are shelling Ukrainian positions on the southern side of the Siverskiy Donets river. Russian forces appear to be close to the town of Sviatohirsk on the north side of the river — the site of a historic Russian Orthodox monastery. But there is no evidence that they have been able to cross the river in this area.”-via CNN
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“Ukraine’s president is asking for a secure corridor for Ukrainian vessels to be able to ship out grain and prevent food shortages in Africa and Asia.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy told a news conference on Monday that Kyiv is in talks with countries like Turkey and the U.K. about security guaranties for Ukrainian ships.
“It is important for us that there is a security corridor … that the fleet of this or that country ensures the shipping of the grain,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy adds that “if now we have 22-25 million tons blocked there, in the fall we might have 75 (million tons).”
“What are we going to do? he asked. ”That’s why we can’t do without the ports.”
The issue of blocked grain will be on the agenda on Wednesday during Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Turkey. Ankara is involved in efforts by the United Nations to reach an agreement for the shipment of Ukrainian grain amid an escalating food crisis.
Zelenskyy says Kyiv hasn’t been invited, possibly because Turkey wants to get security guarantees from Russia for its own ships first.
He explains that Ukraine can’t export large shipments of grain via railways because of long delivery times, even though Kyiv has been in talks with Poland and the Baltic nations. A transport through the territory of Russia’s ally Belarus isn’t an option, he said.”-via AP
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“UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence Pramila Patten said Monday that she believes the humanitarian situation in Ukraine is “turning into a human trafficking crisis.”
“Women and children fleeing the conflict are being targeted for trafficking and exploitation – in some cases facing further exposure to rape and other risks while seeking refuge,” Patten told the UN Security Council in New York City on Monday.
She said addressing the issue will require “a coherent and coordinated response at the level of European institutions” and “a concerted, integrated and holistic cross-border response humanitarian partners, law enforcement agencies, border forces, immigration officials and political leaders.”
The UN special representative added that she visited reception centers at Ukrainian borders in Poland and Moldova. While there has been an outpouring of financial and moral support for Ukrainians from neighboring countries, there have also been a number of “credible anecdotal accounts from humanitarian staff” regarding suspected attempts of human trafficking, Patten said. She called the protection challenges related to the displacement of Ukrainians “unprecedented.”
“The lack of consistent vetting of accommodation offers and transportation arrangements is a serious concern, as well as the limited capacity of protection services to address the velocity and volume of displacement. There are also concerns regarding the multiplicity of volunteers, with limited vetting, and little or no training or experience,” Patten said.”-via CNN
Under the cut: Putin said Russia would strike new targets if the United States started supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles; Missiles hit Kyiv on Sunday morning; Ukrainian forces have retaken half of the city of Sievierodonetsk (Russia previously held 70% of the city); Spain is sending weapons and tanks to Ukraine; Britain is sending weapons to Ukraine; Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro closed their airspace to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s aircraft meant to fly him to visit Serbia, forcing him to cancel his trip ;Ukraine has been knocked out of the FIFA World Cup Finals after losing to Wales.
President Vladimir Putin said Russia would strike new targets if the United States started supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles, the TASS news agency reported on Sunday.
The TASS news agency reports:
Putin said that if such missiles are supplied, that Russia will strike at those targets which we have not yet been hitting”, in an Rossiya-1 state television channel
Putin did not name the targets Russia planned to pursue if western countries began supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles.
He said the “fuss” around western weapon supplies to Ukraine was designed to drag out the conflict. Ukraine has been seeking Multiple Rocket Launch Systems (MLRS) such as the M270 and M142 HIMARS to strike troops and weapons stockpiles at the Russian forces’ rear.
-viaThe Guardian
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“Columns of smoke rise over Kyiv after airstrikes early on Sunday. Missiles hit eastern areas of the Ukrainian capital and injured at least one person, according to the city’s mayor, Vitaly Klitschko. Russia’s defence ministry said the strikes had targeted tanks and other armoured vehicles on the outskirts of the city.”
-viaThe Guardian (video at link)
“Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said one person has been hospitalized after multiple explosions hit the capital on Sunday morning local time.
“In reference to this morning’s explosions in the capital’s Darnytskyi and Dniprovskyi districts, there are currently no casualties from missile strikes on infrastructure. One victim was hospitalized,” Klitschko said on Telegram.
He said the city’s services are still operating in the affected areas.Russia “continues to launch missile and air strikes on military and civilian infrastructure in our country, in particular in Kyiv,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a separate update on Sunday.”
-viaCNN
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“Ukrainian forces have counterattacked and retaken half of the city of Sievierodonetsk in the east of the country, officials said. “It had been a difficult situation, the Russians controlled 70% of the city, but over the past two days they have been pushed back,” Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Gaidai told Ukrainian television. “The city is now, more or less, divided in half.” The Institute for the Study of War, a US thinktank, also said Ukrainian forces were “successfully slowing down Russian operations” in Donbas and were making “effective local counterattacks in Sievierodonetsk”.”
-viaThe Guardian
Serhiy Hayday, the head of the Luhansk region military administration, says there is “good news” from the city of Severodonetsk, which has been under Russian bombardment for weeks.
In a post on his Telegram channel, Hayday says: “Our Armed Forces have cleared up half of the city. Half of the city is really controlled by our defenders.” Last week, Hayday said that Russian forces held about 80% of Severodonetsk, but Ukrainian forces have clawed back parts of the city in street fighting since then.
Hayday says he expects Russian forces to redouble their efforts to take the city in the next few days by using heavy artillery.
“They have no other tactics,” he said “They cannot fight in another way.”
Hayday said there are approximately 15,000 civilians still in Severodonetsk. “Now evacuation is impossible because of constant fighting,” he said.
“Even though we officially stopped the evacuation, today, we managed to evacuate 98 people from Lysychansk together with the help of volunteers, the State Emergency Service and the National Police,” he said.
Lysychansk is across the Siverskyi Donets river from Severodonetsk and is heavily defended by Ukrainian troops.
-viaCNN
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“Spain is to supply Ukraine with anti-aircraft missiles and Leopard battle tanks in a step up of its military support to the country, according to government sources cited by newspaper El Pais.Spain will also provide essential training to the Ukrainian military in how to use the tanks, according to the reports as cited by Reuters. Training would take place in Latvia, where the Spanish army has deployed 500 soldiers within the framework of Nato’s Enhanced Advanced Presence operation.A second phase of training could take place in Spain, according to the sources cited by El Pais.The paper said Spain’s defence ministry is finalising a delivery to Kyiv of low-level Shorad Aspide anti-aircraft missiles, which the Spanish army has replaced with a more advanced system.Spain has so far supplied ammunition, individual protection equipment and light weapons.”-via The Guardian
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“Britain is to supply long-range rocket artillery to Ukraine, despite a threat on Sunday from Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, to bomb fresh targets if similar weapons from the US were delivered to Kyiv.
The UK will send a handful of tracked M270 multiple launch rocket systems, which can hit targets up to 50 miles away, in the hope they can disrupt the concentrated Russian artillery that has been pounding cities in eastern Ukraine.
Ben Wallace, the UK defence secretary, argued the decision to ship the rocket launchers was justified because “as Russia’s tactics change, so must our support to Ukraine”. The move risks further provoking an already irritated Kremlin.”-via The Guardian
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“Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro closed their airspace to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s aircraft meant to fly him to visit Serbia, leading to the cancellation of the visit, Interfax news agency reported on Sunday.
The Serbian daily Danas cited state officials as saying the three Baltic countries banned Lavrov’s flight to Belgrade for his state visit scheduled for June 6-7.
Danas reported that the Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic stated on Sunday that the situation around the arrival of Lavrov in Belgrade is “extremely complicated” and that President Aleksandar Vucic, is dealing with the logistics of his trip.”-via Alarabiya News
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“Wales’ men’s soccer team defeated Ukraine 1-0 on Sunday to secure a berth in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Ukraine thought they had begun the game in perfect fashion as Oleksandr Zinchenko took a free-kick quickly after 3 minutes and found the back of the net — only for Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz to disallow the goal as the Manchester City player took the set piece before the whistle was blown.
Ukraine continued to dominate the early exchanges but were unable to capitalize, with Welsh goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey making a string of excellent saves. In the 34th minute, Gareth Bale’s free kick deflected off the head of Andriy Yarmolenko and into the goal to give Rob Page’s team the lead, which they took into the half-time break.
Both teams had good chances in the second half - Aaron Ramsey missing for Wales and Roman Yaremchuk for the visitors. In the end, one goal was enough for Wales to seal their spot at the forthcoming tournament.
As had been the case in Ukraine’s semifinal victory against Scotland last Wednesday, the build-up to the match was an emotional affair. Players and fans again sang the national anthem pridefully in unison as yellow and blue flags dominated the Cardiff City Stadium in Wales.
The Welsh FA handed out 100 tickets to Ukrainian refugees living in the area before the match as a gesture of solidarity. Ukraine manager Oleksandr Petrakov revealed on Saturday that the team had received a flag from their home country which they had hung in the dressing room.”-via CNN
Under the cut: Ukrainian forces have been managing to push back against Russian troops in fierce fighting in Severodonetsk; President Zelensky said Russian artillery has “destroyed” the All Saints church in Sviatohirsk; Ukraine’s foreign minister reacted angrily to comments by French President Emmanuel Macron that “we must not humiliate Russia”; United States is determined to support Sweden and Finland as the countries pursue Nato membership.
“Ukrainian forces have been managing to push back against Russian troops in fierce fighting in Severodonetsk despite Russia “throwing all its power” into capturing the key eastern city, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday.
In an interview aired online, Lugansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday said that the Russian army has taken control over most of Severodonetsk, but that Ukrainian forces were still pushing them back.
“The Russian army, as we understand, is throwing all its power, all its reserves in this direction,” said Gaiday.
“Our soldiers have managed to redeploy, build a line of defence,” said the city’s mayor, Oleksandr Striuk, in a televised interview broadcast on Telegram Saturday.
“We are currently doing everything necessary to re-establish total control” of the city, he added, while also acknowledging that the current situation is “quite difficult,” due to fierce street fighting and artillery exchanges.
At least seven civilians were reported killed in the Lugansk region where Severodonetsk is located and in the southern city of Mykolaiv, while a revered wooden church was reported to be on fire because of the fighting.”-via The Guardian
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“Ukraine has staged a counterattack on the frontline city of Sievierodonetsk and recaptured a fifth of the city it had previously lost to Russian invaders, according to the head of the region.
Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Luhansk oblast, told Ukrainian television that Russian forces were forfeiting recent gains in the city, the easternmost held by Kyiv in the Donbas region, where fighting has been concentrated.
The governor said Russia had “previously managed to capture most of the city” – but added in a tweet that the military had pushed them back by 20%. “They are really suffering huge losses,” he said.
Such claims are hard to verify amid the heavy fighting, which had seen the Russian invaders concentrate their forces on trying to surround and capture the city in the past two weeks, advancing at a rate of 500m to 1km a day.”-via The Guardian
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“Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian artillery has “destroyed” the All Saints church in Sviatohirsk in eastern Ukraine on Saturday.
“It was first destroyed during the Soviet era,” Zelensky said in a Facebook post. “Later it was rebuilt. And so it was burned by the Russian army.”
“The occupiers know exactly which object is being shelled,” he said. “They do not care what to turn into ruins.”
Ukraine has been appealing to UNESCO to “deprive Russia of membership in the organization” because it has “destroyed so many monuments, cultural and social sites in Europe since World War II.”
“We expect a logical and fair response from the UN and UNESCO,” Zelensky said. “It is the United Nations, and its charter does not provide for association with terrorists. Russia’s isolation must be complete, it must be held accountable for its crimes.””-via CNN
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“Ukraine’s foreign minister reacted angrily to comments by French President Emmanuel Macron that “we must not humiliate Russia.”
Macron has kept a line of communication open with the Kremlin and flew to Moscow in February in a failed effort to deter Russia from invading Ukraine.
In an interview published Saturday, Macron said in an interview with regional newspapers in France: “We must not humiliate Russia so that the day when the fighting stops we can build an exit ramp through diplomatic means. I am convinced that it is France’s role to be a mediating power.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted Saturday that “calls to avoid humiliation of Russia can only humiliate France and every other country that would call for it. Because it is Russia that humiliates itself. We all better focus on how to put Russia in its place. This will bring peace and save lives.”
Ukrainian officials have been swift to reject any proposals suggesting territory be ceded to Russia as part of peace negotiations. Russia currently occupies about one-fifth of Ukraine.
“I think, and I told [Putin], that he is making a historic and fundamental mistake for his people, for himself and for history,” Macron said in his interview. Macron has not been to Ukraine since the invasion but said he is open to the possibility.”-via CNN
Here’s the article the foreign minister is responding to.
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“Top US General Mark Milley said on Saturday that the United States is determined to support Sweden and Finland as the countries pursue Nato membership, a statement underscored by his visit to the USS Kearsarge after it became the largest US warship ever to dock in Stockholm.”-via The Guardian
100 days in.
Under the cut: Ukrainian forces have recaptured around 20% of the territory they lost in Sievierodonetsk (previously Russia held 70% of the city); UN says that 14 million Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes, 5.3 million Ukrainians have fled from Ukraine to other countries; Russia shells Luhansk Oblast; Two Reuters journalists were injured and their driver was killed when they came under fire near the city of Severodonetsk; President Joe Biden said it was up to Ukraine when asked whether the nation needs to cede part of its territory to achieve peace and end the Russian invasion; Update on various regions across Ukraine still under attack, with map of the changes over the last day or so.
“Ukrainian forces have recaptured around 20% of the territory they lost in Sievierodonetsk since Russia’s invasion, according to Ukrainian officials.
“Whereas before the situation was difficult, the percentage (held by Russia) was somewhere around 70%, now we have already pushed them back by approximately 20%,” Serhiy Gaidai, the head of the eastern region of Luhansk, announced on national television on Friday.
Gaidai said that Russian forces were attacking and advancing upon Ukrainian positions for hours, only to be driven back by defenders who were not injured.
“This is how they are moving forward, step-by-step, because with artillery, aircraft, mortars, they are simply destroying everything,” he said.
“But as soon as we have enough Western long-range weapons, we will push their artillery away from our positions. And then, believe me, the Russian infantry, they will just run.”
Since the invasion, Russian forces have swarmed into the city in attempts to capture it in order to achieve its stated aim of controlling the entire Luhansk province. On Thursday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced that Ukrainian forces have had some recent successes in the region.”-via The Guardian
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“14 million Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes, the majority women and children, said the United Nations Crisis Coordinator for Ukraine Amin Awad on Friday.
In a statement released on the 100th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Awad spoke of displaced Ukrainians, describing the “scale and speed of [their] displacement not witnessed in history.””-via The Guardian
5.3 million Ukrainians have fled from Ukraine to other countries.-via Frontex
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“Serhii Haidai, the head of the Luhansk Oblast Military Administration, said that Russian forces had conducted an airstrike on Myrna Dolyna, while Lysychansk was pounded by artillery, killing one woman.
Nine houses have been damaged in Sievierodonetsk alone, where fighting is continuing in the city centre.
Two houses have been damaged in Lysychansk, as well as a fire station, including both its structural elements and vehicles. In particular, four fire engines which could have been attending to fires and saving lives. In Hirske, 16 houses have been destroyed, six in Zolote, and three in Toshkivka.
Yesterday (2 June) morning, an enemy artillery shell killed a woman in Lysychansk.“
Details: According to Zaika, 60% of all infrastructure and residential buildings in Lysychansk have been destroyed.”-via Pravda
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“Two Reuters journalists were injured when they came under fire near the city of Severodonetsk in eastern Ukraine, a Reuters spokesperson confirmed to CNN in a statement Friday.
The driver of the vehicle they were traveling in was killed, the spokesperson said.
“In the course of a reporting trip, two Reuters journalists sustained minor injuries when they came under fire while enroute to Sevierodonetsk. They were traveling in a vehicle provided by the Russian-backed separatists and driven by an individual assigned by the separatists. The driver of the vehicle was killed,” the Reuters spokesperson said.
“Reuters extends its deepest sympathies to the family of the driver for their loss,” the spokesperson said.”-via CNN
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“US President Joe Biden said it was up to Ukraine when asked whether the nation needs to cede part of its territory to achieve peace and end the Russian invasion, telling reporters Friday that “I’m not going to tell them what they should and shouldn’t do.”
“From the beginning, I’ve said — and not everyone’s agreed with me — nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. It’s their territory. I’m not going to tell them what they should and shouldn’t do,” Biden said in Rehoboth, Delaware.
Biden did add that it “appears” at some point there will need to be a “settlement” between the two countries, adding “what that entails, I don’t know.”
Biden said that in the meantime, the United States will continue to put Ukrainians in a position where they can defend themselves.”-via CNN
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“On the 100th day of war, Russian forces appear to have made little headway in the last 24 hours as they try to break Ukrainian resistance along the border of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. In the south, a Ukrainian counteroffensive is making progress, according to Ukrainian officials.
In Luhansk, shelling of defensive positions around Severodonetsk continues, according to the Ukrainian military’s Friday update. The military reported Russian air strikes in the area as well. But the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine claimed that "the enemy tried to carry out assault operations, suffered losses, and retreated to previous positions.”
The military reported damage to properties in Severodonetsk, Lysychansk and Hirske, adding that one woman died.
Oleksandr Motuzianyk, the Ukrainian defense ministry’s spokesman, said the Russians persisted in efforts to surround Ukrainian troops near Severodonetsk and Lysychansk. But Ukrainian units had thwarted Russian efforts to seize the nearby towns of Metiolkine and Bilohorivka, he said. Russian forces continued assault operations in residential areas of Severodonetsk but suffered casualties.
The military said Ukrainian units inflicted heavy losses — “at least 50% of the personnel, weapons and equipment” — on the 150th Motorized Rifle Division. There is no way to independently verify that claim.
In Donetsk, fighting continued along much of the front line, with 14 towns and villages coming under fire, the general staff said. Russian forces are trying to degrade Ukrainian defenses around Bakhmut and Sloviansk. Motuzianyk later said that Russian attempts to take two villages about 20 kilometers (or about 12 miles) northwest of Sloviansk had failed.
Altogether, the Ukrainian military reported that at least seven civilians were killed and eight were injured in the past 24 hours in Luhansk and Donetsk, but as usual gave no casualty figures for the military. It said that over the past 24 hours,1,472 people had been evacuated from areas of hostilities.
In the southern region of Kherson, the Ukrainians say their offensive continues, and attempts by Russian forces to recover lost ground had failed. The Kherson regional military administration said fighting continued in the Beryslav district.
“We had victories from the Kryvyi Rih direction for three days in a row, villages were liberated. The occupier tried to counterattack today, but got a very strong rebuff, and our Armed Forces pushed the occupier back even further,” said Serhii Khlan, an adviser to the head of the Kherson regional council.
Khlan also claimed that resistance inside Kherson was growing.
“Our people continue to resist in the occupied territories. Every day we see flags appear in the city of Kherson, slogans appear against the occupiers, as well as leaflets,” he said.
Ukrainian forces appear to have advanced several kilometers inside Kherson. The Operational Command South said Russia had shipped in nearly 30 infantry fighting vehicles to reinforce their units and were shelling villages far behind the front lines. It also said that Russian forces had resumed shelling of settlements south of Kryvih Rih and of the city of Mykolaiv, where two people had been killed.
In the northeast, Russian shelling around Kharkiv continued, killing one person, according to the regional military administration. About six settlements came under fire from artillery and rocket systems.
There was also renewed cross-border shelling of villages in the Sumy region.”-via CNN
