Jul 5 Buonasera Mag
Day 132 of War against Ukraine: Battle of the Donbas, stolen grain, bridges, NATO-Cavoli, Kazakhstan, Bad news for Boris, Macron
Catching up…
EA Worldview’s Ukraine Up-date- hop over to Scott’s amazing hourly Ukraine up-date page. I’ll fill in with some bits and bobs.
Stories we’re following…
Russian missiles hit Mykolaiv early on July 5. Rescuers, medics, emergency crews and utility workers are already working on the ground. There is no information on casualties available at the moment.
Satellite images show Russia regularly exporting Ukrainian grain to Turkey via Crimea from the newly-occupied parts of Khreson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts via Sevastopol to Turkish ports, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Schemes investigative project.
Russia’s war has destroyed 25,000 km of Ukrainian roads, more than 300 bridges since Feb. 24. Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said during the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano, Switzerland, that the damage to infrastructure is estimated at more than $95 billion.
Mayor of Mariupol: People dying due to medicine shortages. There are not enough drugs for patients with cancer, diabetes, tuberculosis, and those who have thyroid gland diseases, according to Vadym Boychenko, the mayor of Russian-occupied Mariupol in Donetsk Oblast.
Canada is the first country to recognise Finland and Sweden’s accession protocol to NATO.
NATO appoints new Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. U.S. Army General Christopher Cavoli has taken over as NATO's new supreme allied commander in Europe. Cavoli - who speaks Russian and has a master’s degree from Yale in Russian studies - replaced General Tod Wolters of the U.S. Air Force who had been in post since 2019.
Commander of Belarusian regiment in Ukraine "Brest" was killed during the harsh battle. Brest was a true Belarusian patriot. Several other Belarusian volunteer fighters are missing; several are taken hostage by Russians.'
UK to impose new sanctions against Belarus as Lukashenko's "regime continues to actively facilitate Putin’s illegal invasion," according to a statement by the U.K. government. The sanctions will include a ban on the exports of oil refining products, advanced technology components, and luxury goods to Belarus, as well as on the imports of iron and steel from Belarus.
A new British intelligence report presents a dire prediction about Ukrainian agricultural exports The combined effect of war, supply chain disruptions and the Russian blockade of Odesa means that Ukraine's grain exports in 2022 will be just 35% of 2021 levels
The President of Kazakhstan promised to help Europe with oil and gas. During a conversation with the President of the European Council, Tokayev noted that Kazakhstan is ready to use its "hydrocarbon potential" to stabilize the situation on the world and European markets.
Lawrence Freedman, Can Ukraine Win?
I believed that Putin would fail because this enterprise was launched on the basis of a deluded view of Ukraine as a country lacking both a legitimate government and a national identity and so apt to crumble quickly. On this first day he expected to take down the Ukrainian government and replace it with a puppet. Even is this plan had succeeded, the Ukrainians would probably have continued to fight against a Russian occupation.
NYT, An American’s Murky Path From Russian Propagandist to Jan. 6
He blends in with the mob, seemingly unexceptional by the chaotic standards of that day. But what he did afterward was far from routine.
Within 24 hours, the man, Charles Bausman, gave his recordings and commentary to a Russian television producer for a propaganda video. He then decamped to Moscow, where, appearing on a far-right television network owned by a sanctioned oligarch, he recently accused American media of covering up for neo-Nazis in Ukraine.
BREAKING NEWS via NYT: Rudy Giuliani, Lindsey Graham and several other Donald Trump allies were subpoenaed in Georgia's criminal inquiry into election interference.
Bad news for Boris
Ukrainians love him and rightly so as he has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine’s defence, but at home he’s got problems. Alex Chalk (the Solicitor General), Sajid Javier (Health Secretary), MP Theo Clark, and incredibly, Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor have all resigned.
The Conservatives have been losing local by elections, and his Cabinet and Tory party grandees may be looking for someone else to captain the next elections. There may also be some bad news coming in the next few days. Let’s see what comes down the pike.
Politico, Inside Emmanuel Macron’s failed one-man diplomacy mission on Ukraine
French President Emmanuel Macron is on the line with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in a last-ditch attempt to kickstart talks four days before the invasion of Ukraine. It’s February 20 and Macron and his team of advisers believe they have convinced Putin to agree to a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in Geneva. But instead of confirming the rendezvous, the Russian leader starts stalling and turns the conversation to sports.