UKRAINE WAR BRIEF DAILY DRAFT
For: 2024-06-05
Slava Ukraini! In early 2022 I began a Telegram channel aggregating news from a number of sources daily on the war in Ukraine. Since June 2023 I have provided a daily draft for the Ukraine War Brief Podcast collecting news from over 60 sources daily, much of which forms the basis of the script. While the Podcast is on hiatus I will make this Draft available here both on my own Substack and The People’s Media for those who wish to keep up with events on a daily basis.
ALONG THE CONTACT LINE
GSAFU Morning Report
The Khortytsia operational-strategic group
(Responsible for the northeastern part of Ukraine. )
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in its Operational Information update at 22:30 on June 4 stated that day 836 of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation against Ukraine was about to begin.
During the past day, 99 combat engagements took place. Over the past 24 hours, the enemy carried out 4 missile strikes, 45 air strikes, 479 drone strikes and 2862 shellings across the positions of our troops.
At the same time, Ukrainian soldiers continue to inflict losses in manpower and equipment on the occupying troops, exhausting the enemy along the entire front line and continue to disrupt the plans of Russian occupiers to advance deep into the territory of Ukraine.
Air Force Daily Report
On the night of June 5, 2024, the occupiers attacked with 27 strike UAVs of the Shahed-131/136 type from the regions of Kursk - Russia, Cape Chauda - Crimea.
Anti-aircraft missile units and EW of the Air Force, mobile fire groups of the Defense Forces of Ukraine were involved in repelling the enemy's air attack.
As a result of anti-aircraft combat, 22 "shahedis" were shot down in the Mykolaiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy and Poltava regions.
The Tavria operational-strategic group
(Responsible for the central-eastern and southeastern part of Ukraine.)
Kharkiv axis: Russian forces attacked Ukrainian defences in the vicinity ov Vovchansk 4 times. All enemy attacks were unsuccessful.
Kupyansk axis: The enemy attacked 14 times in the vicinity of Petropavlivka, Sinkivka, Stelmakhivka and Novoegorivka
Lyman axis: Russian troops twice unsuccessfully attacked Ukrainian defenders from the districts of Zhytlivka and Kremínna.
Siversk axis: The situation has not changed significantly.
Kramatorsk axis: Russian forces conducted 7 unsuccessful attacks against Ukrainian defenders in the vicinity of Kalynivka, Chasiv Yar, Klischiivka and Andriivka
The Odesa operational-strategic group
(Responsible for Kherson, Qırım, (also known as Crimea) and the Black Sea.)
Pokrovsk axis: Russian attacks were intense in this region where the enemy attacked Ukrainian positions 37 times. The situation is a complicated one. Ukrainian Defense Forces are making efforts to prevent the enemy from advancing deep into our territory.
Kurakhove axis: Russian forces attacked Ukrainian positions 7 times over the last day in the vicinity of Krasnohorivka, Paraskoviivka and Vodiane.
Vremika axis: Russian forces attacked Ukrainian defences 7 times in the vicinity of Staromaiorske, Urozhaine and Zolta-Nyva. Defence forces have repelled all assault actions and are in control of the situation.
Orikhiv axis: Russian forces attacked Ukrainian defences 5 times unsuccessfully in the vicinity of Mali Scherbaky, Novodanlivka, Robtyne and Mala Tokmachka
TEMPORARILY OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Nothing to support.
THE HOME FRONT
EU working closely with Ukraine to restore electricity supply
The European Union reacted to Ukraine's devastating power loss caused by Russian strikes on critical infrastructure. Tim McPhie, spokesman for the European Commission, Ukrainska Pravda reports.
"We are working very closely with the Ukrainian authorities to provide support either in the form of electricity exports from the EU to Ukraine or in the form of equipment," he stated.
McPhir added that officials from Ukrainian central and regional authorities are putting together a list of urgent needs for the European Commission.
"I assure you that we are in constant contact, and there is a very strong desire from the governments of the EU member states, as well as representatives of the industry, to provide the assistance that Ukraine needs," McPhie stated.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Economy indicated that it would engage with partners from the EBRD and the European Investment Bank to promptly raise funding from the Ukraine Facility for energy recovery.
Children being mandatorily evacuated from Kharkiv Oblast in case of Russian offensive
Local authorities are mandatorily evacuating all children from Zolochiv hromada in Kharkiv Oblast's Bohodukhiv district in case of a Russian offensive. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories – ed.]Radio Liberty reports.
Viktor Kovalenko, the Head of Zolochiv Village Military Administration. According to Kovalenko, the situation at the border is no longer as challenging as last week, but he believes that "it is better to be safe, to draw certain conclusions and to prevent the situation".
"Today, Ivashky is a village literally 800 metres from the border – we have evacuated all the children from there as part of the mandatory evacuation. 140 adult men remain there. Together with volunteers, we conduct daily evacuations of local residents. Only one child remains today in Oleksandrivka, where there were once 47 children. Yesterday, we evacuated children from Tymofiivka, and today, another child will be evacuated from Vidrodzhenivske, and no children will remain there. Some wanted to come back. But there is a certain responsibility, including criminal liability. Everyone has been warned about this." Kovalenko said.
Russia has destroyed more than 50% of Ukraine’s electricity generation infrastructure.
Ukrainians are likely to go without light for most of the daytime until winter due to Russian shelling of Ukraine's electricity generation infrastructure. The Financial Times reports.
Russia's initial aerial bombing campaign, launched in the winter of 2022-2023, targeted the country's electrical grid, which officials and experts thought could be quickly restored. However, the most recent shelling concentrates on thermal and hydroelectric power stations, which will be significantly more difficult and costly to repair, rebuild, or replace.
"One Ukrainian government official described Saturday’s assault as ‘devastating’ while another said it was likely to mean that by winter residents would be spending a vast majority of their day without electricity," the newspaper writes.
Canada's Roshel to build defence plant in Ukraine: company reveals details
Roshel, a Canadian armoured vehicle manufacturer, is planning to invest tens of millions of dollars in a new facility in Ukraine. Ukrainska Pravda reports.
Roman Shimonov, the company's CEO, said the decision to open a plant in Ukraine has already been made. The company expects to invest "tens of millions of dollars" and create "hundreds" of new jobs. The plant will be focused on both the Ukrainian and European markets.
"Ukraine has a strong infrastructure left over from the collapse of the USSR, and not all of it is being used effectively. You have cheap electricity, labour, production chains which are being built up, and many people educated to university level and beyond. When we hire Ukrainians, we see a big difference compared to people from other regions with no production culture," said Shimonov.
A total of 200 of the company's employees are internally displaced persons from Ukraine. Shimonov says many of them are eager to come back home. Roshel expects to employ some of them at the new Ukrainian facility.
The company's main product is the Senator armoured vehicle, 1,140 of which have been supplied to Ukraine's Defence Forces. Ukraine receives these vehicles from partners and purchases them with its own funds.
RUSSIAN WORLD
Putin’s Flagship Forum Offers Stage to Children of Russian Elite
Vladimir Putin turns his native St. Petersburg into the heart of power for his flagship economic event this week. Increasingly, the gathering in Russia’s former imperial capital is becoming a generational showcase for the children of the Kremlin elite. Bloomberg reports.
The president’s daughters, Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova, are among speakers at the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that begins Wednesday. Former Defense Minister and current Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu’s daughter, Ksenia, also takes part in a panel event.
So does Kremlin Chief of Staff Anton Vaino’s son, Alexander. Anna Tsivileva, named as a relative of Putin’s by the UK government and who’s married to Energy Minister Sergey Tsivilev, is also due to speak as head of a state fund set up by the president last year to help soldiers who’ve fought in the war on Ukraine.
Children of some of the president’s closest allies are also listed as participants at the four-day event, including Roman Rotenberg, whose father Boris was among Putin’s childhood judo partners.
Russian business chiefs and officials flock to St. Petersburg for SPIEF, eager to please a ruler whose February 2022 invasion of Ukraine drained much of the glitz and energy from an event that attracted global leaders before Russia was hit by unprecedented sanctions. Putin’s address to the forum’s plenary on Friday is the invitation-only hot ticket for attendees, who pay a hefty 1.35 million rubles ($15,200) to attend this year’s SPIEF.
There’s a “gradual transfer of power to the heirs” taking place, said Maria Snegovaya, senior fellow with the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. “This is an attempt to renew, rejuvenate the elite.”
Some of the second generation already hold high positions. Dmitry Patrushev, who’s also attending SPIEF, was promoted to deputy prime minister in the government shuffle that followed Putin’s inauguration last month. He’s the son of 72-year-old Nikolai Patrushev, the long-serving security council secretary whom Putin replaced with Shoigu, aged 69, last month.
NEWS WORLDWIDE
Right wing Swiss political party demands Russia be invited to Peace Summit
The Swiss People's Party (SVP) has called on the Swiss authorities to send Russia an official written invitation to the Global Peace Summit. The party has the largest representation in parliament, where they said the conference without Russia could damage Switzerland's neutrality. Relevant statement published on the SVP website. Liga.net reports.
The party said it was "a hasty adoption by the Federal Council of the party after the start of the war in Ukraine" and the consequences of "Switzerland's full acceptance of EU sanctions".
"The SVP parliamentary group is concerned about the events surrounding the conference in Burgenstock on June 15-16, 2024. Peaceful efforts should in principle be welcomed. However, it turns out that Switzerland's neutrality is no longer recognized by all parties to the conflict: Russia has already made it clear that it does not want to participate in the conference in Burgenstock, — said the political group.
Hmmmm, how strange that a right wing populist party would be pro-russian, I wonder why that is…
Ukraine Peace Summit Opens Door to Limited Future Talks With Russia
A Swiss-hosted summit on Ukraine will aim to carve a path to involving Russian officials in future talks after establishing agreement on nuclear safety, food security and returning abducted children, a draft document shows. Bloomberg reports.
The June 15-16 gathering in Lucerne, Switzerland, will focus on the three measures as a way to build trust in order to later engage with Moscow on a limited number of issues, according to a draft document seen by Bloomberg.
Although Russian officials have been excluded from the Kyiv-led format, the document says that an end to the war must involve all parties.
“We, therefore, agreed to undertake concrete steps which can serve as confidence building measures in the above-mentioned areas with further engagement of the representatives of the Russian Federation,” the document, which is subject to change in negotiations, says.
But the aims of the Swiss summit, a culmination of rounds of talks by senior diplomats and national security advisers from dozens of nations, have narrowed from Ukraine’s 10-point blueprint in an effort to secure the participation of as many leaders as possible.
Ukraine and its allies have struggled to win full backing for the process, above all from China, which has signalled it may not attend the meeting. Zelenskiy last week accused Beijing, which has sought to portray itself as neutral even as it maintains close ties with Moscow, of working to undermine the summit.
The draft document lays out three main principles:
Nuclear power facilities must be safe and any threat of using nuclear weapons is “inadmissible.” Nuclear installations, including the power plant in Zaporizhzhia, must operate under Ukrainian control and in line with principles set out by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Food security must not be “weaponized” — and be guaranteed by free navigation in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. Ukraine must have access to third parties for its agriculture products.
All captives in the war must be released, including all “deported and unlawfully displaced” Ukrainian children and civilians, who must be returned to Ukraine.
Biden to discuss support for Ukraine with Macron in France
US President Joe Biden will discuss further aid to Ukraine with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron during his visit to the events dedicated to D-Day. John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House European Pravda reports.
Kirby reports that during the bilateral meeting, the presidents will discuss such priorities as support for Ukraine, the need for the Indo-Pacific region to be free and open, as well as solving the crisis in the Middle East and efforts to combat climate change.
"France is, of course, an important US ally — in fact, our nation’s oldest ally. And this visit will underscore continued US-French leadership on a range of consequential issues," Kirby said.
When asked whether Biden and Macron would discuss using frozen Russian assets in favour of Ukraine, he said he did not doubt that the issue would be discussed when the US president has the opportunity to talk to leaders in France and next week at the G7 summit.
MILITARY & TECH
France could announce sending military instructors to Ukraine next week
France could soon send military trainers to Ukraine despite the concerns of some allies and criticism by Russia, and may announce its decision next week during a visit by the Ukrainian president, according to diplomatic sources cited by Reuters.
Earlier, the Kremlin’s spokesman claimed that the deployment of NATO countries’ troops in Ukraine would be a “huge danger,” and Russia would consider it “an extremely defiant provocation.” to escalate tensions between NATO and Russia, if Western troops are deployed in Ukraine.
Russia threatens to target French military instructors in Ukraine if they are sent
As France is preparing to announce the deployment of military instructors to Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that any French military personnel sent to Ukraine, whether official or mercenary, would be considered “absolutely legitimate target” for Russian forces. Euromaidan Press reports.
Russia warned that any French military instructors sent to Ukraine would be considered legitimate targets for Russian forces, following reports that France is considering deploying personnel to assist Ukrainian troops.
France is expected to announce the deployment of military trainers to Ukraine, focusing on technical expertise and demining. This move aims to bolster Ukraine’s defence capabilities amid ongoing war with Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will discuss the details during his visit to France on 6 June.
“Whoever they are labelled as, whether they are members of the French armed forces or are just mercenaries, they represent an absolutely legitimate target for our armed forces,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
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