Jun 8 Buonasera Mag
Grain corridors, Russia, Turkey, new Canadian sanctions, Kherson, Mariupol fighters, Poland, Draghi, Salvini, Masi, History repeats, Rabbi of Moscow, Taiwan aid
The graduates of Kharkiv School 134 still decided to take photos in front of their school that was destroyed by Russians. This is Valaray who said she “wanted to bring attention to the situation.” There are 111 schools that are completely destroyed by Russia in Ukraine.
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…
Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Luhansk, claims "nobody is going to surrender Severodonetsk" - despite "fierce battles" in the city.
President Zelensky said Ukraine will soon launch a data collection system to record evidence of war crimes Russian forces determined to have committed or ordered in Ukraine. The system is set to launch next week.
The Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine said on June 7 that 210 bodies returned were those of “heroic defenders of Azovstal.”
At the Turkey-Russia presser, a Ukrainian journalist asked MFA Lavrov: "What of the things stolen from Ukraine, besides grain, has Russia managed to sell?".
President Zelensky announced that Svitolina will work together with Ukrainian football legend Andriy Shevchenko, the first ambassador of UNITED24, a platform dedicated to collecting charitable funds in support of Ukraine.
Sergei Kiriyenko, first deputy head of Moscow's administration, was quoted as saying in a report circulated by Russian MP Igor Kastyukevich: "Kherson Region's inclusion into the Russian Federation will be fully-fledged, similar to Crimea's accession."
More than 1,000 Ukrainian fighters who surrendered after the fall of Mariupol have been transferred to Russia for investigation – according to state media.
Talks on-going today in Ankara between Russia’s FM Lavrov and Turkey’s FM Cavusoglu. Lavrov said that Russia is 'ready to ensure safety' of ships leaving Ukraine ports. (I’m really trying not to swear.)
Russian intelligence services are developing a system of covert influence on Russian-speaking residents of foreign nations, which will be integrated into the service platform.
The Government Commission on Legislative Activity approved the bill, prepared by Minecon and agreed upon with the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Russia, making it possible to classify information about the size of the gold reserve and the currency reserves of the Russian Federation.
Russia's Ministry of Defense claimed on Tuesday that it had opened a land corridor to Russian-occupied Crimea, allowing civilians and goods to pass through the eastern Ukrainian territory now under its control.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs creates a department to ensure martial law in Russia: Main Directorate for Rapid Response. The new department will coordinate activities to ensure law and order in closed administrative-territorial formations, at sensitive facilities like the nuclear power industry complex, mobilization training of personnel and the implementation of organizational measures for civil defense, as well as ensuring the integrated use of forces and means in law enforcement agencies.
The Levada Centre: Russians aged 18-24 said they supported the war and that figure increased to 83% for those polled over 55. Overall, 77% of Russians polled said they support the war, a 2% increase from the April survey.
Tikhon Dzyadko announced that TV Rain had received a broadcasting license in Latvia and that it would restart its work later this summer.
A White House official confirmed to Voice of America that the U.S. will provide Ukraine with unmanned coastal defense vessels and is looking into providing long range anti-ship missiles which could help Ukraine regain control of portions of the northwestern Black Sea.
Polish PM Morawiecki announced a $650 million defence contract with Ukraine on June 7. He said that the weapons sold to Ukraine under the deal would be “very important” on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine.
UN Secretary General said today: "The war's impact on food security, energy and finance is systemic, severe, and speeding up," as he was presenting the UN's second report into the repercussions of the conflict.
Angela Merkel defended her diplomatic legacy as German chancellor Tuesday, rejected accusations that her policies were indirectly to blame for Russia’s ongoing attack on Ukraine.
Draghi vetoes Chinese deal on Italian robotics: Beijing-based Efort Intelligent Equipment wanted to increase its stake in an Italian high-tech company, Robox. But the government pushed back against the technology transfer deal with its special powers. It’s the fifth China-related veto with Mario Draghi as PM.
China is secretly building a naval facility in Cambodia for the exclusive use of its military, with both countries denying that is the case and taking extraordinary measures to conceal the operation, Western officials said.
Veteran Russian propagandist Peter Akopov says that Russia should not only make Serbia Moscow’s outpost in Europe but Russia should help it become an independent center of power in the region that could lead to a new balance of power both in Europe and on the world stage.
Today was hell for travellers across the EU due to the transportation strike in Italy. Those booked with EasyJet, Ryanair and other carriers were grounded in their vacation destinations.
Julia Ioffe, Who is Masi Nayyem?
As you recall, in the first week of the war, you met my old friend Mustafa Nayyem, the Ukrainian journalist who helped spark the Maidan Revolution in 2013. Mustafa, who is now a deputy minister in Zelensky’s government, confirmed on Sunday that his younger brother, Masi, had been severely wounded in the fighting in the Donbas. Masi, a lawyer, was a veteran of the long frozen war in the east, and this weekend, he suffered serious injuries to his head and eye. He was operated on and, according to Mustafa’s Telegram channel, he is still not out of the woods.
“The life of my brother was hanging by a thread and is still in danger,” Mustafa wrote, while thanking everyone who had helped his family evacuate Masi and get him into surgery. The tragic irony of this, of course, is that Masi and Mustafa, along with a younger sister, were children when they came to Ukraine from Afghanistan in the early 1980s. They were fleeing the Soviet invasion of their homeland. Now, they are defending their adopted homeland from still another invasion by the armies of Moscow. This time, however, they stayed and fought.
ISW, Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, JUNE 7
The Kremlin’s efforts to censor information about deceased military personnel and ongoing forced mobilization within the DNR and LNR are reportedly exacerbating domestic tensions and opposition to the war in Russia.
Dmitry, Can we believe the Russian phone calls intercepted and published by Ukrainian SBU and GUR?
In the three months I’ve been translating material from the war in Ukraine, no topic has been as consistently popular among my translations as various calls between Russian soldiers and their family members, intercepted and published online by Ukrainian SBU (Security) and GUR (Intelligence) services. These calls tell us an enormous amount of detail..
John Schindler, Military History Repeats in Ukraine
After initial bloody setbacks, the Russian military is advancing deep in Ukraine. Defenders have acquitted themselves with unexpected grit, blunting initial Russian blows. But eventually weight of shell begins to turn the tide as the attacker’s artillery outnumbers and outguns the defenders. Soon, a debacle looms as retreat threatens to turn into a rout. The high hopes of just weeks before, the victory euphoria seeing Russian forces reeling from heavy blows, slowly turn to doubt, even despair.
Cathy Young, The Long History of Glenn Greenwald’s Kissing Up to the Kremlin
While Greenwald has made overwrought claims about the “neo-Nazi menace” of the Azov Regiment, his only response to reports of Russian atrocities in Bucha has been to warn about the dangers of falling for “war propaganda” and “social media’s manipulations.”
Decode39, Salvini’s trip to Moscow and the endurance of the Italian government
Leader of the League, Matteo Salvini has met with Russia’s ambassador to Italy, Ravoz, at least 4 times and through the intermediation of Antonio Capuano (lawyer and ‘assists’ several embassies in the Middle East) were planning Salvini’s trip to Moscow to speak with Putin. The announcement sent ripples of consternation across Italian political parties: in what capacity would Salvini be meeting with Putin? Why is he not coordinating with the foreign office?
TikTok Man…
Aid from Taiwan to Ukraine…
We’re signing off. Thanks for reading…
Mo & Scott