May 31: E-Stories
Day 462:Moscow DroneShock Kyiv RUstrikes Ukrenergo Kupiansk Guruli SA EU MOL Georgia Reznikov SA SK &P Kokcharov Starr Kenyon Ilves Landsbergis Jordans Noel Kostyuk Garibashvili Gvaramia MacKay UKDef
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…
Drones hit buildings in Moscow, Russia says. A drone attack damaged several high-rise buildings in Moscow on May 30, according to Russian state media. The incident happened around 4 a.m. and targeted some of Moscow’s wealthiest areas.
Shot reports that the drones that attacked Moscow today carried shaped charges produced in the USSR 36 years ago. According to our data, we are talking about the KZ-6 charge, released in 1987 (inside a mixture of TNT and RDX). Such projectiles are used to penetrate protective armored structures.
At least one of the drones appears to have been a Ukrainian manufactured UJ-22 drone. The UJ-22 is believed to have a flight range of 800km. The distance from the Ukrainian border to Moscow is about 450km.
Reuters has spoken to Moscow residents after the first large-scale drone attack on the Russian capital during 15 months of war. Natalia, 59, told Reuters:
The Kyiv regime is already crossing all the lines … This is very sad, especially since they are directing these drones at residential buildings, at the city, at civilians, where there are no military facilities.”
A middle-aged man, who declined to give his name, told Reuters:
You need to understand cause and effect, why everything is happening. I think that these attacks are due to only one thing: the fact that our ruler began waging a war. All of this is because of our ruler … It’s no surprise it’s bounced back to here.
Prigozhin’s reaction to the drone strike. How he gets away saying what he does is a bit of a mystery. I’m leaning towards Prigozhin’s online presence as a valve for the those who are discontented with Russia’s disasterous campaigns. These are the rantings I expect you would hear from ultranationalists who believed the fairy tale story the MoD and and intelligence services sold to the public for years. More to come.
Russian forces shell 10 Ukrainian regions over past day, killing 4, injuring 45. Russia carried out mass strikes against Ukraine over the past day, mostly using drones and artillery.
At least 1 killed, 13 injured after night attack on Kyiv Oblast. At least 13 people were injured and one woman killed by the Russian overnight drone strike against Kyiv Oblast and the capital on May 30, the Kyiv police reported on Telegram.
29 drones shot down overnight. According to the information published by Ukraine’s Air Force, Russia launched 31 Shahed kamikaze drones over the last night.
Power outages reported in several Ukrainian regions, Ukrenergo pledges to restore supply 'in coming hours'. Emergency power outages were introduced in parts of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Poltava, Vinnytsia, and Sumy around midday on May 30 due to a decrease in the system's frequency, reported Ukraine's Energy Ministry.
The Russian occupiers did not advance on any front where they tried to conduct an offensive over the day. Ukrainian troops control the southwestern outskirts of Bakhmut, as reported by Hanna Malyar at the Defence briefing.
“On the Kupiansk front, the enemy is conducting unsuccessful offensive actions. On the Marinka front, our defenders repelled 12 enemy attacks in the vicinity of the town of Marinka over the last day. On the Bakhmut front, the enemy is not conducting any offensive actions."
Armed Forces of Ukraine fired at the temporary accommodation point where the resettled residents of the Shebekinsky district were located, as reported by the Governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov. According to him, there are dead and wounded.
Melitopol Mayor reports explosions, says smoke rising above Russian military base. "Powerful explosions" occurred in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol, followed by black smoke blowing over a former factory turned into a Russian military base, exiled Mayor Ivan Fedorov said on May 30.
Ukraine's parliament lowers enlistment age for young adults. The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, voted in favor of proposed legislation to lower the maximum age of military enlistment for young adults from 27 to 25, lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak reported on May 30.
Russian media, Ria Novosti, are reporting that a Ukrainian woman, Olga Guruli, has been detained in Moscow for allegedly trying to bring back Ukrainian orphans who had been deported from the occupied territories. The woman had been sent by the Save Ukraine Foundation, which cooperates with the Ukrainian Security Service.
Anti-Kremlin militia claims to have reentered Russia's territory. "Yesterday, Russian border guards celebrated their professional holiday. The fighters of the Russian Volunteer Corps congratulated them by successfully crossing the 'holey' state border once again," one of the Russian militia groups fighting on Ukraine's side said on May 29.
Putin signs law denouncing arms control treaty. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin signed a bill into law on May 29 denouncing the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, according to a Russian government website.
The Ambassador of Finland was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry. The department explained that the diplomat was notified of the closure of the office of the Russian Embassy in Lappeenranta from July 1. The Russian Federation also withdrew its consent to the activities of the Petrozavodsk and Murmansk branches of the Consulate General of Finland in St. Petersburg.
In Berezniki, Perm Territory, a mass grave of Russian soldiers who died in the war in Ukraine was discovered, the publication Perm 36.6 reports. A total of 33 graves were discovered there. The publication says that the deaths of eight soldiers were not officially reported before.
South Africa to grant diplomatic immunity to participants of upcoming BRICS summit, allowing wanted Putin to join. There has been ongoing speculation as to whether or not Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend this year's summit in person due to the International Criminal Court's (ICC) warrant for his arrest.
The Tennis Letter: Marta Kostyuk said she does not respect Aryna Sabalenka: “To reject her responsibility of having an opinion on the most important things in the world, I cannot respect that. She said I hate her. I never said I hate her, I just don’t respect her”
Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s Defence Minister, has said he sees the possibility of receiving Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets from Germany as reported by DW, referring to an interview by Reznikov with the German media group Funke and the French newspaper Ouest France. The minister recalled that there is already an international tank coalition in which the basic models are the German Leopard 2, the American Abrams and British Challenger. Reznikov believes that a fighter jet coalition could also be formed based on the American F-16 as well as the Eurofighter and Swedish Gripen.
Zelensky urges South Korea to provide air defense systems to Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his wish for South Korea to provide air defense systems to Ukraine in an interview published by the daily newspaper Chosun on May 30, stressing that it qualified as defense aid, not arms support.
BAE Systems, the UK’s largest defence company, has begun work to open an office in Ukraine, president Zelensky has said on Telegram. Zelenskiy had a virtual meeting with the company’s CEO Charles Woodburn, managing director Gabby Costigan and senior director for central & eastern Europe Christian Seear. Zelensky said:
“We discussed the localisation of production in Ukraine. We agreed to start work on opening a BAE Systems office in Ukraine, and subsequently repair and production facilities for the company’s products.”
Borrell: Russia won’t negotiate without first trying to win war against Ukraine. The European Union’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell said he is “not optimistic” about how Russia’s war against Ukraine could unfold this summer, adding that he believes Moscow won’t enter negotiations without trying to win the war.
Blinken announces new US sanctions targeting Russia’s use of Iranian attack drones. Washington will introduce additional restrictions on the export of technologies found in Iranian drones, which Russia uses to attack Ukraine, according to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Moldova's president proposes new agency to tackle Russian disinformation, propaganda. Moldova’s President Maia Sandu warned against the dangers of Russian propaganda and disinformation in the country and proposed the creation of a new governmental body to counter this threat. The envisioned “Patriot Center” would coordinate and implement the state's strategy on combatting disinformation, Sandu said during a press conference on May 29.
Georgian parliament speaker says diplomatic relations with Russia 'strategic policy of patience.' Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said that the prospect of restoring diplomatic relations with Russia was not a "policy of concessions" but rather a "strategic policy of patience."
Speaking Globsec conference in Bratislava Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili blamed the war in Ukraine on NATO Enlargement. NATO enlargement and Ukraine’s determination to become member was one of the reasons for the war. “Therefore, we see the consequence,” he said.
Georgian journalists launched a Free Nika Gvarami International journalists' challenge to support, a fellow journalist imprisoned by Georgian authorities a year ago.The government was embarrassed by Gvaramia's criticism, incl.of Georgian pro-Russian policy
Toomas Hendrik Ilves on Justice
The missile attacks on civilians, the assassination threats, the promise to ethnically cleanse Ukraine, all on my twitter feed this AM:
Russians say these things because they believe in impunity, that they will never be held responsible, that Russia will never give them up.The problem is, they don't know that they had better hope for trials. The legal system ultimately is to prevent the беспредел of vigilante-ism.
When you don't have rule of law, even internationally, and justice is denied and people will take it in their own hands.Russians should fear this. Vigiliante-ism will hit Russians everywhere, indiscriminately. HUR will take care of the worst perpetrators of war crimes -- the torturers, the rapists, the missile firers, and not with jail terms.
The rest of "русский мир" will be despised, spat upon, ostracized. What saved Germans from that fate after WW2, Russians don't realize was Nürnberg. Imperfect as it was, it more or less satisfied the need for justice. And Israel got Eichmann anyway.
But without justice, Russians will be pariahs, kept out, unwanted.Cry "Russophobia! Russophobia!" all you want. What Russia has done in Ukraine has rendered "Russophobia" a quaint and risible term. It bothers no one.
So pray, Russia, that justice be done. Or be prepared for generations of "Russophobia", shunned by the civilized world.
Frank Jordans, Spy chief warns authoritarian states stoking anti-government mood in Germany—AP
The head of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency warned Monday of a rise in anti-government extremism - fueled by authoritarian states such as Russia - that seeks to divide society and topple the government.
German security agencies have disrupted several plots in recent years by small groups linked to the Reich Citizens movement accused of planning attacks on critical infrastructure, government officials and even the national parliament.
Thomas Haldenwang, who heads the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, or BfV, said the mixing of previously separate groups — from far-right extremists to QAnon conspiracy theorists — and their willingness to use violence was particularly worrying.
“What links all of these groups is that they despise our state and our democracy, reject it and want to abolish it,” he told The Associated Press in an interview in Berlin.
Haldenwang said anti-government extremists consciously use wedge issues to stoke fear and gain new followers. These include migration — where far-right actors have perpetuated the myth of a “great replacement” — but also government measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic and combat climate change. [continue]