Jun 6 Buonasera Mag
Grain depots, arms depots, stolen grain, Severodonetsk, Energoatom, Spanish arms, Lavrov-Serbia, killed Russian generals, Ukrainian partisans, Belarus sabotage
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 troops are being ousted from Severodonetsk despite "a tenfold advantage of the enemy in artillery", Ukraine's military intelligence chief says.
The Ukrainian navy said it has pushed back a fleet of Russian warships more than 100km from its Black Sea coast as Ukraine receives harpoon missiles. 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.
Russian officials in occupied Mariupol have shut down the city for quarantine over a possible cholera outbreak, according to Ukrainian authorities. Mass burials, poor access to clean water lead to a critical situation in Russian-occupied Mariupol, said Deputy Health Minister Ihor Kuzin.
Another ammo depot of Russian forces exploded in Luhansk oblast, Ukraine. UAV was used to direct artillery fire.
Ukraine’s state-run nuclear power operator Energoatom said a Russian cruise missile flew “critically low” on Sunday morning over a major nuclear power plant.
Ukraine’s intelligence services are in communication with hundreds of captured Azovstal steelworks fighters and Kyiv is doing all it can to ensure their release, according to Ukraine’s interior minister.
Lavrov cancels Serbia visit as neighboring countries close airspace. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov could not make the trip to Serbia as North Macedonia, Bulgaria and Montenegro closed their airspace.
Spain is ready to hand over anti-aircraft missiles and Leopard tanks to Ukraine. The Spanish army will also train the Ukrainian military in Latvia as reported by El Pais.
Estonian PM Kallas is visiting with Boris Johnson about strengthening the Nato alliance against Russian aggression.
La Farnesina summoned Russia’s ambassador Razov to protest over allegations by Moscow that the Italian media were waging an anti-Russian propaganda campaign through their coverage of the Ukraine war. (Absolutely ridiculous, believe me.)
A second ship under the Russian flag has entered the port of Mariupol, primed to load more metal, according to the city's Mayoral adviser Petro Andriyshchenko. Stolen goods, including grain and metal from russian-occupied Ukrainian territories were moved by russian invaders by a bulk carrier “Matros Pozynich”- from occupied Sevastopol on The Black Sea and via Bosphorus toward russian Tartus port in the Mediterranean.
Russia's FM Lavrov says Russia will respond to the UK and US sending long-range missiles to Ukraine, by pushing back Ukrainian forces further.
Radio Free Europe fined 20m roubles for broadcasting what Russian court deems 'fake' information about war on Ukraine.
US. Authorities there have charged Russian businessman Roman Abramovich with flying two planes of US origin to Russia without a licence. Federal prosecutors are now seeking to seize the two aircraft, court papers say.
The UK Ministry of Justice has announced a second tranche of support for the international criminal court’s (ICC) investigations into war crimes in Ukraine, including the deployment of a specialist legal and police team.
A Ukrainian sniper killed the notorious Russian soldier Vladimir Andanov "Vakha" from Buryatia. A mercenary of PMC Vagner, he fought in Ukraine & Syria since 2014. In Feb 2015, he murdered Ukrainian POWs in Logvynove suburb of Debaltseve city.
Russian Major General Roman Kutuzov died in eastern Ukraine. Alexander Sladkov, a VGTRK correspondent, reported about his death.
Correction: Macron has said that he has spent 100 hours talking to Putin over the past 6 months (not since February 24).
In the UK…
Boris Johnson is facing a vote of non-confidence this evening at Westminster. This comes as a result of the ‘Partygate’ scandals that have rocked his office.
The Labour party has said that tomorrow it will force a vote in the Commons on a motion saying the government should implement in full recommendations from the Committee on Standards in Public Life proposing to beef up the ministerial code.
Beaumont & Koshiw, ‘The occupier should never feel safe’: rise in partisan attacks in Ukraine
Ukrainian partisans in occupied areas of the country are increasing attacks and sabotage efforts on Russian forces and their local collaborators, with organised underground efforts appearing to spread.
Clark & Suszko,The underground network of Belarusians sabotaging Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine and plotting a revolution at home
A vast network of former Belarusian officials, activists, private hackers and ordinary citizens has reached deep into Russia's war with the aim of helping Ukrainians defeat their invaders. The Belarusians' fight is a personal one. They believe if Russia fails in Ukraine, the people of Belarus will be closer to freedom at home.
Arms to Ukraine- who is contributing?
No surprise for the Italian contribution, which underscores the ridiculous claims by Italian pro-Kremlin propagandists and collaborators that Italy is an ‘important’ supplier of arms and should desist. France is surprising: instead of calling Putin, maybe Macron should be calling his ministry of defence to increase arms to Ukraine.
Julia Davis’s Russian Media Monitor
Russian geo-political thinking exhibits the concepts of ‘Westphalian’ sovereignty: a world where equal hegemons are in competition with each other for power. Russia sees itself as a ‘hegemon’ of the Slavic world (not only), and does not recognise ‘lesser’ states, which it considers limited in their sovereignty. This is why Russia will engage with the US (an equal power) and not Ukraine which it doesn’t consider a ‘real’ state.
This is simply a justification for war and to continue its imperialist-colonialist worldview. Russia would have us go back in time: Ukraine is looking towards the future as a democratic, sovereign state.
EUvsDISINFO
Throughout 100+ days of brutal invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin has relied on disinformation to: justify agression, hide war crimes, undermine global support for Ukraine, control domestic audiences.
Zelensky and the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee…
Programming note:
On Tuesday evening at 9:30 pm CET on LiberiOltre’s live channel…
Livia and I will be joined by Bill Browder , CEO Hermitage Capital Management, Head of the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign and author of Red Notice (2015), and Freezing Order (2022), and VP of the Italian Federation of Human Rights, Eleonora Mongelli.
We’ll be discussing the beginnings of the Global Magnitsky Act, how Bill made fighting Russian corruption his life’s work and why it’s important for governments to adapt the Global Magnitsky Act.
We’re signing off…thanks for reading…
Mo & Scott