Jun 3 Buonasera Mag
100 Days of War, new US Amb to Ukraine, developments on the ground, EU & US sanctions, Chernobyl, the Hackivista site
100 days of War
Unsparing images from Ukraine show war at the 100-day mark. How many buildings have been obliterated in Ukraine? How many limbs lost, children brutalized, refugees put to flight? How many mothers and fathers, sons and daughters killed in 100 days?
How many dreams have been destroyed?
AP has created a stunning and chilling photo reportage on images from 100 days of Russia’s war of aggression vs Ukraine. Russian TV has so far made no mention of the fact that it is now 100 days since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Meduza quoted sources as saying that the government had ordered state media not to mention the 100 days. "Focusing on dates linked to the war may make Russians think about the objectives of the invasion and about how successful it has been," one Kremlin source reportedly told Meduza.
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…
-Russia controls more than 90% of Luhansk, UK MoD says. Russia is now achieving tactical success in Donbas and controls more than 90% of Luhansk, the UK Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence report released early this morning.
-Ukraine has had “some success” in the battles in Sievierodonetsk but it is too early to tell, according to Zelenskiy. “The situation there is the hardest now, just as in the cities and communities nearby – Lysychansk, Bakhmut and others. Many cities are facing a powerful Russian attack,” he said in his latest national address.
-A citizen of occupied Kherson reports: "They disconnect us from Ukrainian communications and the Internet, and read propaganda about how we have all been abandoned over the loudspeaker. To contact their loved ones, people go to cafes/post offices where there is internet".
-UK Defense Ministry: Russia continues to make 'steady local gains,' takes control of most of Sievierodonetsk.
-Russia’s Pacific Fleet has begun military exercises in the Pacific Ocean involving more than 40 warships and support vessels, as well as 20 aircraft and helicopters.
-Petro Andriushchenko, an advisor to the Mariupol mayor, said that local Ukrainian authorities discovered the second “filtration prison” near the city in what used to be a penal colony in Volnovakha, Donetsk Oblast. Over 20 volunteers who helped evacuate Mariupol residents to the Ukrainian-controlled territory are being detained there.
-Yevhen Kramarenko, the director of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, said Russian forces have stolen equipment totalling $135 million, including nearly 700 computers, 344 vehicles, 1,500 radiation dosimeters, and firefighting equipment. In addition, they kidnapped five workers before leaving the plant on March 31.
-Belarus is “strengthening its state border” with mines, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said. At the same time, the threat of air strikes from Belarus remains, according to the General Staff.
-Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, has been speaking with reporters at his regular briefing, where he said Russia will continue its military “operation” in Ukraine until all its goals have been achieved.
-Yevhen Balytsky, the head of Russia’s proxies in the region’s occupied areas, has signed a so-called “nationalization decree” to seize land plots, natural resources, and strategic enterprises owned by Ukraine.
-Over 100 embassies have reopened their offices in Kyiv, though they may not offer all consular services.
-The U.S. Treasury Department announced a new round of sanctions against Russia on June 2, targeting more Russian elites and their luxury assets, including yachts and aircraft belonging to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s associates. The sanctions target Russian FM spokesperson Zakharova, and Sergei Roldugin, who is called “a custodian” of Putin’s offshore wealth, among others.
-Von der Leyen: Ukraine's admission to the EU is the bloc's 'moral duty.' European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Ukraine must meet all the necessary standards and conditions for accession but called on the EU to help Ukraine achieve its goals.
-Russia’s largest bank Sberbank, Moscow Credit Bank, and Russian Agricultural Bank will be disconnected from the world’s main messaging network for international payments. The measure is part of the EU’s sixth sanctions package, which was formally approved by the EU on June 2.
-German FM Baerbock said on June 1 that IRIS-T air-to-air missiles would be supplied by German manufacturer Diehl and not from the Bundeswehr warehouses, delaying the shipment.
-The Baltic transmission system operators, Estonia’s Elering, Latvia’s AS Augstsprieguma tikls (AST), & Lithuania’s Litgrid, agreed to reduce energy dependency on Russia and rely on Baltic, Nordic, and Polish sources as of June 1. The reasons cited for this decision are issues of payment by Russia and the operators’ unwillingness to make payments to Russian companies.
-Estonian PM Kallas says EU officials debate whether to call Putin. She said that a “heated debate” took place between EU leaders on May 31 on whether to continue phone talks with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on the war in Ukraine.
ISW: Russian forces struggle to establish ‘permanent societal control’ in temporarily occupied territories.
The Institute for the Study of War said on June 2 that Russian forces are “incapable of controlling local populations, enforcing the use of the Russian ruble, or conducting bureaucratic processes.” Russian forced mobilization is also “highly unlikely to generate meaningful combat power,” serving only to aggravate low morale and poor discipline among Russian troops and proxies. The ISW also said that, should Russia capture Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, it is unlikely to have the forces required to capture more of Donetsk Oblast.
Anders Aslund, Russia’s war on global food security
Russia’s war on Ukraine’s grain exports should not be allowed to continue. The collective West needs to open Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, primarily the major ports in Odesa, to mitigate the ongoing crisis in countries suffering from food insecurity, as well as enabling Ukraine to sell the twenty-eight million tons of grain it has in storage.
Tom McTague, ‘It’s Extremely Important That We Don’t Forget the Brutality’
The western world must prepare itself for a long war in Ukraine that will require ongoing support for Kyiv to guarantee Russia’s defeat, as well as reinforced defenses across Europe to ensure that Vladimir Putin does not underestimate NATO’s readiness to defend “every inch” of its territory, Jens Stoltenberg, the military alliance’s secretary-general, told me recently.
Vladimir Yakovlev, From "rotten herring" to "unknown hero"- 4 main methods of special propaganda that justify the war
There are only three types of propaganda that you are exposed to every day. White, gray and black. White propaganda does not allow the distortion of facts in order to achieve political goals. Gray propaganda allows such a distortion, but to a small extent. Black propaganda allows absolutely any distortion of reality for the sake of implementing propaganda tasks. The more shameless propaganda, the more powerful its impact on the audience. Black propaganda is the most powerful because it is not constrained by the need to stick to the facts.
This Hacktivist Site Lets You Prank Call Russian Officials
A group of international hacktivists launched a website, WasteRussianTime.today, designed to combine prank calling and robocalling into an automated weapon of telephonic annoyance targeted at the Russian state. Visit the site, click a button, and it will cycle through a leaked list of Russian government, military, and intelligence phone numbers to connect two random Russian officials—and allow the site's visitor to silently listen in as those officials waste their time trying to figure out why they're speaking to each other and who initiated the call.
We’re signing off…thanks for reading…
Mo & Scott