Ukraine latest news. Weekly overview for June 3-9
Ukrainian forces have struck one of Russia’s most advanced Su-57 stealth fighter jets on ground at Akhtubinks air base in Russia’s Astrakhan region. The Su-57 was the first such warplane to be damaged in a combat operation. The United States has announced a new USD 225 million security aid package for Ukraine. Part of this will go toward the recovery and reconstruction of Ukrainian power grids
03.06/ Mysnyk: Will the Russian Federation be able to turn Sumy Oblast into a gray zone?
03.06/ Ferenc: Strife for peace advocates
03.06/ Farewell ceremony for female military medic Iryna Tsybukh
04.06/ Musienko: The Russian Federation should get prepared
04.06/ Shamrai: Without draft commissariats and in a live queue
04.06/ Zahorodniy: Strikes on the Russian energy sector have weakened its capacities
05.06/ Kharchenko: What shines for Ukrainians without light?
06.06/ Documentary on the legendary "Azov" conducting its training sessions
06.06/ Romaniuk: How Russia eliminates Ukrainian journalists
07.06/ Bratchuk on where the fiercest combat engagements are going on now
PHOTO
3.06/ The vehicle that used to evacuate seriously wounded casualties has been donated to a display at a museum in Dnipro
04.06/ Russia once again attacked Dnipro with missiles
04.06/ School No. 6 in Dnipro is recovering from a missile attack
04.06/ A commemoration ceremony in Zaporizhzhia for the children who died in aftermath of Russia’s war
04.06/ A citizen action in Lviv in memory of the children who died in aftermath of Russia’s war
04.06/ The Ukrainian children who died in aftermath of Russian invasion were commemorated in a ceremony in Dnipro
05.06/ Inauguration ceremony for the "Kherson. High water" display in Kyiv
05.06/ Journalists shown what remained of the Kakhovka Reservoir
06.06/ A display of exhibits salvaged from a Kherson museum, Lviv
07.06/ Third edition of the Pan-Ukrainian Dialogue conference "From communities to Veterans", Vinnytsia
07.06/ Banners with photos of and excerpts from Iryna Tsybukh's farewell letter, Lviv
08.06/ A charity bike ride for the Ukrainian Armed Forces took place in the capital city, Kyiv
08.06/ A Day of Action under the motto "Don't be silent! Captivity kills!", Vinnytsia
08.06/ A Day of Action under the motto "Don't be silent! Captivity kills!", Dnipro
HOSTILITIES
According to the General Staff, 715 combat engagements took place at the front line over the week from June 3 to 9.
Air defense forces destroyed 48 out of 58 Shahed-131/136 strike UAVs launched by Russia over the week under review.
On June 8, 2024, Ukrainian forces for the first time had struck one of Russia’s most advanced Su-57 stealth fighter jets on ground at Akhtubinks air base in Russia’s Astrakhan region, at 589 kilometers away from the front line.
On June 6, 2024, the Ninth special operations unit, Main Directorate of Intelligence, Ministry of Defense of Ukraine hit and damaged Russian raid tugboat Project 498 "Saturn" ("Proteus") and destroyed another Russian vessel off the shore of the currently Russian occupied Crimea Peninsula.
On June 4, Ukrainian missile forces carried out successful strikes on a ferry crossing off the shore of the currently occupied Crimea Peninsula and on an oil terminal in Russia’s Krasnodar region.
On June 7, two radar systems located in currently Russian occupied Crimea were damaged in a Ukrainian drone attack.
On June 3, Ukrainian HIMARS MLRS destroyed an S-300/400 air defense battery outside of Russia’s Belgorod city, simultaneously setting on fire an ammunition depot located nearby.
A total of over 860 frontline engagements had been reported over the past week. Most of the enemy attacks were fought off by Ukrainian forces operating on Pokrovsk and Kramatorsk axes.
On July 7, 2006, the Ukrainian Naval Forces conducted exercises in a designated area of the Black Sea to practice landing and maneuvering operations, as well as disembarkation of personnel on improvised emplacements.
Frontline situation
03.06
• On Kupyansk axis, Russian forces conducted multiple strikes on the areas of Siversk, Kupyansk, and Synkivka, using glide bombs and unguided rockets.
• On Pokrovsk axis, enemy attacks were most intensive in areas outside of Novooleksandrivka and Sokil settlements.
• On Vremivske axis, Russian forces used aviation to support their offensive operations.
04.06
• Pokrovsk axis saw the highest intensity of enemy assaults, with 25 assaults reported over the day. The situation is tense, but controllable.
• On Kupyansk axis, an attempted Russian assault on an area outside the village of Stepova Novoselivka was successfully fought off by Ukrainian forces. The situation is controllable. Ukrainian forces had lost none of their frontline positions.
• Attempted Russian advance in areas outside Nevske and Serebriyansky Forest, Luhansk Region, has failed. The situation is under control of Ukrainian forces.
05.05
• On Kharkiv axis, Ukrainian defenders repelled two enemy assaults directed toward the village of Lyptsi; fighting continues in the town of Vovchansk and areas nearby. Russia is deploying more of its forces, including motorized rifle units to locations bordering on Ukraine.
• On Bakhmut axis, Ukrainian Defense Forces’ Pomsta brigade repelled a Russian assault on the morning of June 5.
• Russian troops increased the intensity of their assaults on Kupyansk axis.
06.06
• The Russian invaders continue reinforcing their groups of forces operating in areas outside of the village of Lyptsi and the town of Vovchansk, Kharkiv region; the Defense Forces restrain the enemy’s advance and continue inflicting heavy losses on the Russian army.
• On Pokrovsk axis, the situation is tense; Russian invading forces are making attempts to advance in the areas of Novooleksandrivka, Kalinova, Yevgenivka, Sokil, Novoselivka Persha, and Yasnobrodivka. Defense forces are taking measures to get the situation stabilized.
07.06
• Regrouping of Russian occupying forces on Kharkiv axis.
• On Kupyansk axis, Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled four enemy attacks outside the villages of Druzhelyubivka and Petropavlivka, Kharkiv region, as well as Myasozharivka, Luhansk region.
• On Lyman axis, Ukrainian troops repelled 11 enemy attacks outside of the village of Nevske and in the Serebriansky Forest area.
• On Kramatorsk axis, Ukrainian defenders brought to a halt five attempts by the enemy to breach out through Ukrainian defense lines in the areas of Kalynivka, Ivanivske, and Klishchiivka, Donetsk region.
08.06
• On Kramatorsk axis, Russian forces undertook three unsuccessful attempts to advance in areas outside the villages of Ivanivske, Andriivka, and Nove. All of the assaults were repulsed by Ukrainian defenders.
• Pokrovsk axis saw the highest intensity of attacks by Russian troops. Fighting continues in the vicinity of the villages of Novooleksandrivka, Novopokrovske, and Nevelske.
• On Kharkiv axis, Russians forces curtailed the intensity of their operations, but continued with their attempts to advance deeper into the region.
09.06
• On Kurakhove axis, Russian troops attempted to advance toward the area of Paraskoviyvka village, but failed to succeed. The situation is controllable by Ukrainian Defense Forces.
• On Pokrovsk axis, Ukrainian defenders repelled Russian attacks outside the villages of Yasnoborodivka, Karlivka, Novooleksandrivka, and Novopokrovske.
Most of the Vovchansk town area, Kharkiv Oblast, is under control of the Defense Forces of Ukraine (as of June 8), and parts of the town still held by Russian forces are under fire control of Ukrainian troops.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi announced that optimization of the staff structure is ongoing on at the General Staff.
Ukrainian marines, as of June 3, continued holding their defensive positions on the island of Nestryga, Kherson region, in the face of enemy attacks.
On June 3, Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Special Operations Forces searched out and hit Russian vehicle-based radar system "Kasta-2E2", using a most recently developed weapon capability which has recently entered service with the Ukrainian military.
According to the British intelligence, the invading forces achieved a minor success on the Avdiyivka-Pokrovsk axis, albeit at the cost of heavy losses.
The Ministry of Education and Culture reported that more than 67,000 women are currently serving in Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
Nataliya Humenyuk was appointed deputy head of the communications department at the Southern Operational Command.
WAR: LOSSES AND AFTERMATH
ENEMY: LOSSES AND CONSEQUENCES
Russia’s combat losses in the war in Ukraine over the time from June 3 to 9, 2024 had totaled:
• 8,700 personnel
• 104 tanks
• 151 combat armored vehicles
• 360 artillery systems
• 8 MLRS
• 15 air defense vehicles
• 284 operational-tactical UAVs
• 9 cruise missiles
• 1 ship/boat
• 470 automobiles and fuel tanks
• 58 pieces of special-purpose equipment.
On June 6, two Ukrainian drone attacks set fire to the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in Rostov-on Don, southern Russia, forcing it to halt operations.
Overnight on June 7, Ukrainian UAVs stroke an electrical substation located in the Temryuk district of southern Russia’s Krasnodar region. The substation is part of a power grid that supplies electricity to the currently Russian occupied Crimea Peninsula.
Overnight on June 6, an oil depot located outside of Stary Oskol, Russia’s Belgorod region, was hit by a drone attack. The successful Ukrainian attack was engineered by a special operations unit of the Main Department of Intelligence (HUR) at the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.
According to British intelligence, Russia’s rail crossing capacity degraded in aftermath of Ukrainian drone attacks on the Kerch ferry crossing almost certainly caused significant temporary disruption to Russian military logistics operations.
UKRAINE: LOSSES AND AFTERMATH
As a result of Russian shelling the Donetsk, Kherson, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, and Kharkiv regions, 11 people died and 46 were injured.
Since the break-out of the full-scale war in Ukraine, Russian troops have killed 551 children and injured at least 1,366 more, according to the Office of the Prosecutor General. Since 2014, at least 790 children have died in aftermath of Russia’s war.
The Prosecutor's Office has opened 27 criminal investigations in connection with the murder of 61 Ukrainian prisoners of war; four servicemen of the Russian army have been notified of suspicion.
At least 174 civilians died and 690 were injured in Ukraine over May, the highest number of civilian casualties recorded in a single month since June 2023.
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June 7 drone and missile attack on Ukraine
• Ukrainian Defense Forces shot down five out of five cruise missiles and 48 out of 53 Shahed-131/136 strike drones launched by Russia.
• Russian aerial attacks set fire to an industrial facility in Kyiv region. The attack left no casualties, according to the Kyiv region military administration.
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Over the time since the all-out war broke out, 91 journalists have died and 30 remain in Russian captivity.
Ukraine has lost more than 9 GW of power generating capacity due to Russian shelling attacks. The government announced it has developed a strategy that will help make Ukraine’s energy infrastructures more resilient to enemy attacks.
In early hours of June 4, the Air Defense Forces shot down two Russian missiles over Dnipro; eight people, including a 1-month-old boy, were injured by falling debris; 16 high-rise buildings, 31 private households, a school, a hospital, and a polyclinic were damaged in aftermath of the attack.
WAR: POLITICAL DECISIONS, TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGHS, ARMAMENTS, AID FROM ALLIES
UKRAINIAN HOME FRONT
President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky:
• on June 4 hosted a meeting with members of the Supreme Commander’s Staff to discuss changes on the battlefield, improving countermeasures against Russian drone attacks, as well as to designate locations of priority to deploy planned air defense capabilities.
• placed on record that thousands of children abducted and forcibly removed by Russia from Ukraine have little if any opportunities to contact their families in Ukraine.
• announced that Ukraine already has arrangements with partners to acquire additional air defense systems. Some of these arrangements will start working immediately, while others will become active some time closer to the fall.
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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, in response to a statement by the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi emphasized that the only fair basis for achieving a just peace in Ukraine is the Peace Formula proposed by President Zelensky.
On June 6, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted an appeal to the parliaments and governments of foreign countries, and to international organizations, with a message of support for the upcoming Global Peace Summit.
Command and staff military exercises that got underway in Kyiv and metropolitan region on June 5 will close on June 13.
The Cabinet of Ministers:
• extended by three months the validity of reservation from mobilization for draft-liable persons employed at specific enterprises;
• permitted the import of selected product types under the customs procedure stipulating that the products should be processed on Ukraine’s customs territory and used in further production of special-purpose vehicles at Ukrainian factories;
• endorsed a procedure for the distribution of national budgetary subventions to local budgets for use in projects selected by the Ministry of Education and Culture for the renovation and construction of school bomb shelters:
• endorsed Ukraine’s Reform Matrix – a comprehensive change plan that systematizes reforms and includes recommendations from international partners;
• endorsed a decision to borrow EUR 100 million from the Council of Europe’s Development Bank for use in funding for the "HOME: Compensation for destroyed housing" program.
• endorsed measures to reduce electricity consumption by bodies of state administration. One such measure prohibits the use of air conditioners and external lighting of buildings.
• updated its Directive No. 76, allowing for 100 percent of employees of defense industry and energy sector enterprises to be reserved from mobilization for war. The updates make the reservations also available through the Diia application.
Fifty million tons of cargoes had been exported via the Ukrainian sea corridor in nine months.
Over the time since the war broke out, 58 companies owned by sanctioned individuals, including 13 Russian Federation nationals, have been transferred to Ukrainian ownership.
Ukraine’s electricity supply situation during the week under review remained to be critical due to a number of factors, among them high temperatures, Russian shelling attacks and a decrease in the amount of available generating capacities.
ALLIES AND PARTNERS
Visits by the President of Ukraine
THE PHILIPPINES, JUNE 3
• During an official visit to the Philippines, Volodymyr Zelensky met with his Filipino counterpart, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to discuss, among other things, the inaugural Global Peace Summit and the importance of Southeast Asian countries being represented at it.
QATAR, JUNE 5
• President Zelensky met with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to talk over preparations for the Global Peace Summit among other issues.
FRANCE, JUNE 6
• As part of an official visit to France, President Zelensky and First Lady Olena Zelenska attended the official international ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Allied Landings in Normandy.
• French President, Emmanuel Macron announced plans to transfer Mirage fighter jets to Ukraine and train Ukrainian pilots in France.
JUNE 7
• French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron hosted an official reception for President Zelensky and his wife, Olena at the Élysée Palace;
• President Zelensky held talks with US President, Joe Biden. Here are the key topics of their discussion:
• Biden announced that the US is providing Ukraine with a new aid package worth $225 million, part of which will go toward the recovery and reconstruction of Ukrainian power grids;
• Joe Biden apologized for the months-long delay in the provision of new U.S. military aid to Ukraine;
• In that meeting, Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized the need for speedier delivery of U.S. weapons to Ukraine.
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A meeting between the presidents Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and Emmanuel Macron of France took place at the Élysée Palace. France announced a new security aid package for Ukraine. Here are the highlights from the Zelensky-Macron press briefing:
• President Zelensky highlighted the importance of disrupting Russia’s attempts to thwart the inaugural Peace Summit;
• Putin's legitimacy is recognized by Putin alone; Putin himself decides who he is, while in Ukraine, it is Ukrainians who have the sole authority to grant legitimacy to their leader, Zelensky said.
• Macron said he wants to finalize a coalition of military instructors for Ukraine, adding that several of France’s partners had agreed to take part in the coalition of instructors.
• the inaugural Ukraine peace conference in Switzerland is a strategic discussion that can lay the "bricks" for building a lasting peace and chart the way to it, Macron said.
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• Zelensky held a meeting with French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sebastian Lecorneuil;
• delivered a speech at the National Assembly (Parliament) of France;
• met and talked with the President of the National Assembly of France, Mme Yaёl Braun-Pivet, as well as with committee chairs.
• in the meeting with the heads of lead French companies, Zelensky called upon them to invest in Ukraine right now;
• Zelensky met with bipartisan delegations of the US Senate and House of Representatives to discuss urgent needs of the Ukrainian defense forces, which the United States could provide through military aid packages.
Ukraine and France signed a Grant Agreement on assistance in recovering and maintaining critical infrastructure and priority sectors of the Ukrainian economy. Sixty million euros of the Agreement’s total cost of 200 million euros will go toward the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine’s energy sector.
On June 7, the French-German KNDS (KMW + NEXTER Defense Systems) group signed two memorandums of intent with the Ukrainian company ENMEK to set up a maintenance center, to be known as BMFTV, for Caesar self-propelled howitzers.
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Ukraine Peace Summit
• The US has officially confirmed that Vice President Kamala Harris will represent the United States at the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland.
• French President Emmanuel Macron will take part in Ukraine Peace Summit set for June 15-16 in Switzerland.
• Sim Ann, the Senior Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Development will attend Ukraine Peace Summit for Singapore;
• Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Peter Szijjarto announced his participation in Ukraine peace conference in Switzerland on June 15-16;
US President Joe Biden revealed his personal vision of a peace in Ukraine, which he said looks like making sure Russia never occupies Ukraine;
Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani has confirmed Rome’s intention to transfer the second SAMP/T air defense system to Ukraine;
French President Emmanuel Macron does not believe that the training of Ukrainian soldiers by French instructors would cause the war to escalate further. He also announced his country's intention to train a brigade-size unit of the Ukrainian army.
The head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak met with Pope Francis to discuss Ukrainian Peace Formula and preparations for the Ukraine Peace Summit.
Finnish President, Alexander Stubb, at a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg said that the two have no intention to dispatch troops to Ukraine.
Over 2,000 representatives from more than 60 countries will participate in the international conference on the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine (Ukraine Recovery Conference - URC2024), which is set to take place in Berlin on June 11-12.
The French group Thales announced the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s purchase of the second ControlMaster 200 air defense system. The first such system, acquired in 2023, has already proven its effectiveness.
The United States has announced to be ready to provide Ukraine with a $50 billion loan, which will be repaid with proceeds from immobilized Russian assets, if EU sanctions against Russia are extended indefinitely.
The Netherlands’ Minister of Defense, Kaisa Ollongren said that Ukraine will be free to use the F-16 fighter jets provided by her country to strike targets on sovereign Russian territory.
German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz believes that a permission for Ukraine to use German-supplied weapons to strike military targets on Russian soil will not cause the war to escalate.
The United States has imposed sanctions against Iranian individuals and legal entities Iran involved in the production of strike drones and their transfer to Russia and to insurgents in the Middle East.
Twelve member states of the European Union issued a joint statement calling to speed up the EU accession procedures for Ukraine and Moldova and give a formal start to accession talks with the two countries by the end of June.
The United Kingdom and Latvia have opened the bidding for companies to supply first person view (FPV) drones to Ukraine, on behalf of the Drone Capability Coalition.
Ukrainian Defense Minister, Rustem Umerov, speaking at the Asian Security Summit, called on the world's lead defense manufacturers and technology giants to invest in the production of weapons in Ukraine and to create joint partnerships.
PUBLICATIONS AND INTERVIEWS
03.06/ Sweden to provide two Saab 340 AEW&C radar airplanes to Ukraine. With this capability at hand, Ukraine will be able to shoot down 95 percent of targets.
03.06/ Putin does not need the USSR, but a contour map of the modern Russian Federation.
03.06/ Childhood amid war.
04.06/ Invitation to surrender. Is Putin really ready for negotiations?
04.06/ Kostyantyn Saliy, President of the Pan-Ukrainian Association of Building Materials Manufacturers: Domestically made building materials should make up the prime resource for Ukrainian reconstruction.
05.06/ Terror and information attacks: how the Kremlin tries to intimidate Kharkiv city residents.
06.06/ Kyiv has won the diplomatic battle, Moscow will be unable to disrupt the Ukraine Peace Summit.
06.06/ Shelter for displaced persons: Home where they live and work.
06.06/ Ruslan Horbenko, People's Deputy, volunteer: This year's need for mobilization amounts to 110,000.
06.06/ Ukrinform congratulates soldier journalists on Journalist's Day 2024.
07.06/ 24 invaders eliminated in a day. How the former stormtrooper commander is living now.
07.06/ Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on EU Integration: Statements being made that Ukraine will become full-fledged EU member in two years’ time are outright lie and manipulation.
07.06/ Ihor Dubinin, psychiatrist, chief the Rehabilitation Forces of Ukraine: Never talk about the war with a military man, never ask him what he did, what he saw and how he was able to survive.
08.06/ Kinbourn: The scope of the disaster is visible even from space.
08.06/ Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs. Following the Peace Summit, it will be much more difficult for Russia to promote its international initiatives.
Compiled by Maryna Dmytriv, Kyiv