Oorlog in Oekraïne #980: Drone Wars 2

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Putin announces Russia's losses: ISW explains accuracy of this data
Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that the Russian army loses 20,000 combat troops in Ukraine every month. This figure is close to the number of new servicemen mobilized by the Russian Federation for war every month, according to a report from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

According to analysts, Putin has suggested that 5,000 Russian soldiers die in combat in Ukraine every month. Considering the standard ratio of wounded to killed as three to one, approximately 15,000 Russian servicemen are wounded every month.

The ISW cannot confirm the losses mentioned by Putin, but this number coincides with the lower limit of reports from Ukraine about the losses of the Russian army.

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US Encourages China to Engage in the Upcoming Summit on Peace for Ukraine
A US State Department spokesperson informed Reuters on Thursday that the United States is urging China to participate in the Summit on Peace for Ukraine this month in Switzerland.

China has indicated its intention to abstain from attending since Russia did not get an invitation.

“We certainly would encourage China to participate in that summit. They’ve attended previous versions of the summit. We thought their presence was helpful. We think their presence would be helpful here,” the State Department spokesperson said in a briefing.

Additionally, the spokesperson emphasized that China should take action against companies aiding Russia’s defense industry, a move deemed “even more helpful” by Washington.

The Office of the President of Ukraine has announced that 107 countries and organizations have confirmed their participation in the upcoming Summit on Peace for Ukraine. The Summit is scheduled to take place on June 15-16, 2024, in Bürgenstock, near the Swiss city of Lucerne.

On June 3, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba listed the ways Russia uses to try to sabotage the upcoming Summit: discrediting its significance; persuading countries not to participate, and urging those who have committed to attend to do so at the lowest possible level.

The Summit on Peace for Ukraine aims to restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine, one of the most fundamental principles of international law. The Russian Federation has a long history of disrupting countries’ sovereignty, including Georgia, Moldova, Chechnya, and others. That’s why it is crucial for the world to gather in an attempt to prevent the further violation of countries’ basic right of state unity.

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Drones hit two radar stations in Crimea

^{The territory of the nature reserve, where the radar stations were deployed. Photo credits: Google Maps}

During a night attack by drones on military facilities in the temporarily occupied Crimea, two Russian radar stations were damaged.

Astra reported on this.

According to the newspaper, the stations were damaged as a result of drone strikes.

In addition, one Russian serviceman was reportedly wounded.

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No peace agreement expected to be signed at Global Peace Summit, says Swiss president
The Global Peace Summit will be held in Switzerland on June 15-16

Swiss President Viola Amherd believes that the Global Peace Summit is only the beginning of further negotiations to end Russia's war against Ukraine, and a peace agreement will not be signed at the end of the conference, she said in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

The Swiss leader is convinced that in order to achieve peace, "both sides must be at the negotiating table", and emphasized that Russia is not participating in the summit.

"It is clear to us that we will not sign a peace agreement at the end of the conference," she said, adding that Russia could also be present at a possible next conference.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Peter Szijjarto, said earlier that his country will participate in the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland on June 15-16.

On April 24, 2024, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia wants to disrupt the Global Peace Summit and has a plan to do it.

On May 14, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that the end of the war in Ukraine will not be discussed at the event in Switzerland.

On May 21, Zelenskyy named three main points that will be on the agenda at the Global Peace Summit.

On June 2, the president announced that 160 countries of the world have already confirmed their participation in the summit.

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Artillery-Delivered Mine Systems Are Key In Ukrainian Defense

^{Gunners from 43rd Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine fire at Russian position with a 155 mm self-propelled howitzer on April 21, 2024. (Photo by Anatolii STEPANOV / AFP via Getty Images)}

While drones, electronic warfare, and artillery have played significant roles throughout the Russia-Ukraine war, many battlefield outcomes have been decided by a different technology: mines. As Western-provided ammunition starts to arrive at the Ukrainian frontlines, the 10,000 Remote Anti-Armor Mine Systems (RAAMS) included in the recent American aid package will replenish Ukraine's supply of artillery-delivered mines. These systems arrive at a critical time, with Russian forces making advances in the Kharkiv Oblast, Luhansk Oblast, and the Donetsk Oblast. The RAAMS will provide Ukraine with crucial capabilities as they attempt to push back this renewed Russian offensive.

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Deputy leader of Russian ultranationalist movement stabbed to death in Moscow

Anton Yegovtsev, the deputy chairman of the Russian ultranationalist Zov Naroda movement, was stabbed to death overnight in Moscow, the group announced on its Telegram channel on Friday.

Zov Naroda chairman Sergey Zaytsev told Russian news channel REN-TV that Yegovtsev had been killed by a man who had been obsessed with his wife, and who had been stalking and threatening to kill Yegovstev for some time.

According to Zaytsev, the attack took place in the staircase of Yegovtsev’s building, where the perpetrator had laid in wait for him, turning off the lights when he emerged from his apartment, lunging at him with a knife and killing him.

Breaking news channel 112 reported on Friday that Yegovtsev’s alleged attacker was himself in hospital recovering from injuries inflicted on him by Yegovtsev as he attempted to fight back.

Members of the Zov Naroda — Russian for “Call of the People” — are notorious for their regular denunciations of other Russians. Alisa Gorshenina, a Russian artist from the Urals, said that an event she had been due to appear at was cancelled by the authorities after she was denounced by Zov Naroda earlier this month. “I object to the fact that some citizens have more rights than others just because they are loyal to the current regime,” she added.

Zov Naroda also denounced Belarusian rock group Bi-2 in November, accusing them of treason and sponsoring terrorism after they spoke out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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Defense spending bill forces Israel arms transfers, nixes Ukraine aid
The House defense spending panel on Wednesday advanced the first draft of its annual Pentagon funding bill over objections from Democrats, who cited a provision that would block the president’s authority to withhold arms transfers to Israel and a lack of security assistance for Ukraine, among other partisan provisions.

The $833 billion defense appropriations bill for fiscal 2025 would bar the Pentagon from using funds “to withhold, halt, reverse or cancel the delivery of defense articles or defense services” for Israel, and force the president to transfer withheld weapons to the Israeli military within 15 days.

The bill also drops an annual $300 million in Ukraine security aid that defense appropriators have provided since 2014; revives an effort to move Mexico from U.S. Northern Command to U.S. Southern Command; and bans the Pentagon from implementing President Joe Biden’s executive orders on climate change.

“Why, after this Congress has repeatedly demonstrated broad bipartisan support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian tyranny, are we considering a bill that fails to fund the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative?” Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said in a statement on Wednesday. “In addition to fighting Russian aggression, USAI helps Ukraine integrate with NATO and Western forces, directly supporting our broader national security and defense objectives.”

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Ukrainian Armed Forces scale down mobilization plans for 2024, says MP
About 120,000 people are expected to be mobilized in the Ukrainian Armed Forces this year, Ruslan Horbenko, MP and deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, De-occupation and Reintegration, said in an interview with the Ukrinform news agency on June 6.

According to Horbenko, the command and the military at the front have determined the need for 100-110,000 soldiers, which is significantly less than the previously announced estimate under former Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi. It was planned to mobilize up to 500,000 men for a possible Ukrainian counteroffensive.

However, when Oleksandr Syrskyi became Commander-in-Chief, a new defense plan for 2024 was approved, adjusting the needs of the Armed Forces to actual training, maintenance capabilities, and weapons availability amid delays in Western military aid.

Earlier, on April 3, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine did not need to mobilize “half a million people.” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal also said that Ukraine would not need an additional 500,000 troops as previously anticipated, indicating a shift to a ‘much softer’ approach to conscription.

Last December, Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine's military leadership had requested the conscription of an additional 450,000 to 500,000 people, which would cost UAH 500 billion ($12.7 billion).

The then-Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said the military "did not make a specific request for numbers [of troops to be drafted]."

On April 11, the Ukrainian parliament passed a mobilization reform bill that comes into effect on May 18. Among other measures to bolster military recruitment, the legislation lowers conscription age from 27 to 25 years.

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Ukrainian Defense Forces hit Russian military barracks in Luhansk

^{The Russian military barracks in Luhansk were hit. Photo from open sources}

The Ukrainian Defense Forces hit a Russian military barracks in the occupied city of Luhansk that was repairing damaged equipment.

The videos were posted online by local residents.

A building used as a barracks by the Russian military was struck. In addition, military equipment was spotted on the territory.

According to local residents, there was a military equipment repair base on the territory, located at coordinates 48.537600,39.351385.

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Merkel withheld information about Russia's intention to blackmail Europe with gas, German outlet reports
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel was aware of Russia's intention to reduce gas supply to blackmail Europe to speed up the Nord Stream 2 pipeline launch but concealed the information, German media outlet Handelsblatt reported on June 6, citing classified documents it had obtained.

The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea were built to supply natural gas from Russia to Europe.

Russia aimed to accelerate the introduction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline into service without German authorities' certification by causing a gas deficit in Europe, Handelsblatt said, referring to a 2021 document from the German Economy Ministry.

The document also described Russian actions as threatening to cause "dramatic consequences," while the filling of gas storage facilities was called "very slow."

Gazprom filled its European gas storage only halfway by July 2021, according to the document.

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Media: Hungary obstructs decision on Ukraine accession talks among EU members
Hungary is preventing consensus among EU members on the start of Ukraine's accession talks, Interfax Ukraine reported on June 7, citing undisclosed diplomatic sources.

The news came after the European Commission supported the start of accession talks with Ukraine on the same day, according to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

For talks to begin, the EU needs to unanimously agree that Ukraine has undertaken measures to improve issues like corruption and the protection of minority languages.

Budapest has repeatedly claimed that the Hungarian ethnic minority concentrated in southwestern Ukraine is discriminated against due to Kyiv's language laws.

Ukraine denies the allegations and updated its national minorities law at the end of 2023 in line with the EU's recommendations.

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Europe’s largest rare earth metal deposits discovered in Norway

Europe’s largest deposits of rare earth metals have been discovered in the Telemark region of Norway, the Rare Earths Norway (REN) mining company announced on Thursday.

The company revealed that the new deposits found in the Nome municipality, 150 kilometers southwest of Oslo, contain an estimated 8.78 million tons of rare earth metals, such as neodymium and praseodymium oxide.

These elements are crucial for manufacturing batteries, wind turbine generators, and military equipment. Currently, China dominates the supply of these metals.

REN, which has been conducting drilling operations for the past three years, stated it could commence mining by 2030, aiming to meet 10% of the increasing demand for rare earth metals. REN’s CEO, Alf Reistad, highlighted the significance of this discovery by suggesting that Norwegian metals might become more valuable to Europe than the country’s exported gas.

This Norwegian discovery surpasses a similar find in Kiruna, northern Sweden, made in 2023, which was previously considered the largest in Europe. The Swedish discovery had sparked a debate about speeding up the complex environmental permitting process required to open a new mine and influenced the creation of the EU’s strategy on critical metals.

Rare earth metals comprise a group of 17 elements, including lanthanum, praseodymium, neodymium, and lutetium.

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France Has Confirmed The Deployment of Its Military Trainers to Ukraine
Macron has confirmed that France commits to train a full Ukrainian Armed Forces brigade (4,500 soldiers) and the deployment of its military trainers to Ukraine.

This was announced on June 7, during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to France.

The announcement comes after French President Emmanuel Macron’s statement that France is considering the possibility of deploying French troops to Ukraine.

In an interview with The Economist posted on May 2, Macron said that such a scenario is feasible if “Russia breaches the front line” and Ukraine requests assistance.

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France seeks coalition of instructors for Ukraine, Macron says many countries already involved
French President believes it is more efficient and practical to train Ukrainian forces on Ukrainian territory

France will work on expanding the coalition of countries sending military instructors to Ukraine for training, French President Emmanuel Macron announced during a joint press conference with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

When asked whether France is ready to send military instructors to Ukraine and the current status of this decision, Macron responded:

"We have decided that we want to have a coalition [to send foreign military instructors to Ukraine], and many of our partners have already agreed," the French president stated.

Macron noted that he will work on expanding this coalition to meet Ukraine's requests, as Ukraine is currently mobilizing significantly more personnel who will need training.

"It is much more efficient and practical in certain conditions to train these people on Ukrainian territory - this is a legitimate request," he said.

Macron emphasized that his country wants to do everything possible to help Ukraine continue defending itself against Russian aggression.

"So when Ukraine asks us for training on its sovereign territory for mobilized soldiers - is that an escalation? No. It is not sending European soldiers to the front lines - it is recognizing Ukrainian sovereignty on its territory," he said.

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Confident Putin warns Europe is ‘defenceless’
Ever since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has been engaged in nuclear sabre-rattling, dropping a series of not-so-subtle hints that trying to defeat a nuclear power like Russia could have disastrous consequences for those who try.

Today President Putin claimed that Russia wouldn’t need to use a nuclear weapon to achieve victory in Ukraine.
He was being interviewed at a panel discussion at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum: the annual event often described as ‘Russia’s Davos’.

There are few occasions when Mr Putin looks dovish compared to the person asking him the questions.

But when the person asking the questions is Sergei Karaganov it would be hard not to. Mr Karaganov is a hawkish Russian foreign policy expert. Last year he called for a pre-emptive nuclear strike. Today he suggested holding a “nuclear pistol” to the temple of the West over Ukraine.

President Putin wasn’t so extreme in his language.

But he is no dove.

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There should be no restrictions on Ukraine using Western weapons to strike Russia – NATO Military Committee head
Admiral Rob Bauer, the head of the NATO Military Committee, argues that Ukraine should be able to properly defend itself by striking Russia with Western weaponry without having its range limited.

Source: The Washington Post, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Bauer advocated permission to strike Russia with Western weaponry, saying that it is militarily logical.

Quote: "In the law of armed conflicts there are no limits in terms of the range. So militarily, again, if the target is deeper into Russia, then, military, you’d want to strike that target. If, for example, aircraft that take off from an airfield deeper into Russia," Bauer states.

Bauer noted that the increased range of weapons in Ukraine impacted Russian forces' logistics.

"If you push back the Russians deeper into Russia, that will make the fight more difficult for them," Bauer concluded.

Separately, he stated that the West should not allow Vladimir Putin to threaten him with "red lines", since this would just give Russia time to reinforce its defences and position in Ukraine.

"So we have to be careful not to jump, time and time again, to this idea that everything is a red line, that everything is an escalation. Because, first and foremost, Putin has been lying about basically everything," he believes.

After giving Ukraine limited permission to deploy American weapons to hit Russian territory, US President Joe Biden expressed resistance to potential US military strikes deep into Russian territory.

At the same time, Kyiv wishes to agree on broadening the scope of this permission.

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Media: Explosions reported across occupied Crimea
Explosions were heard across Sevastopol in occupied Crimea overnight on June 8, the Telegram channel Crimean Wind reported.

At around 1:39 a.m. local time, residents of Balaklava, a settlement in the city of Sevastopol, reportedly heard explosions. The first explosion allegedly took place near the Balaklava Thermal Power Plant. Crimean Wind alleges that large-caliber weapons were heard before the explosion, possibly indicating a drone attack.

A second explosion was heard closer to the coastline, near the Sevastopol port.

The Russian proxy leader in Sevastopol in occupied Crimea, Mikhail Razvozhayev, later claimed that the "loud sounds" residents heard in the Striletska Bay were the Russian forces destroying an "unmanned boat."

The Crimean Wind alleged that residents of Sevastopol had their windows blown out by the explosion in the coastal area.

The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims.

Earlier this week, Ukraine's military carried out a naval strike in occupied Crimea overnight on June 6, destroying a Project 498 "Saturn" raiding tugboat.

Ukraine has carried out a number of successful attacks against Russian targets in Crimea and its vicinity, heavily degrading the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

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Polish foreign ministry slams ‘incomprehensible’ Belarusian response to diplomatic protest over murdered soldier
Warsaw will not play Minsk’s “games” over the death of a Polish soldier at the countries’ common border, the Polish foreign ministry has said following an “incomprehensible” and apparently evasive response by Belarusian authorities to a formal protest in the matter.

A Polish soldier died on Thursday after being stabbed at the Poland-Belarus border on May 28 while trying to prevent an illegal border crossing. The frontier has been the site of heavy migratory pressure since 2021 in what Warsaw sees as a “hybrid war” tactic engineered by the country’s Alyaksandr Lukashenka regime in a bid to destabilize Poland and the EU.

Following the soldier’s death, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski described the perpetrator as not being a migrant or refugee but a “common criminal” and said a protest note would be presented immediately to the Belarusian chargé d'affaires demanding action.

“We demand that the Belarusian authorities identify the murderer and hand him over to the Polish authorities as part of the investigation already being conducted by our Ministry of Justice,” Sikorski said.

On Friday, a spokesman for the Belarusian foreign ministry, Anatol Glaz, posted a reply on the ministry’s website to a question on the subject by Russian news agency TASS.

Having acknowledged receipt of the protest note and said it would be considered “in light of all the circumstances,” Glaz went on to express condolences to the soldier’s family and friends.

The remainder of the post drew the ire of Glaz’s Polish counterpart.

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Op zaterdag 8 juni 2024 06:49 schreef Delenlill het volgende:
https://kyivindependent.c(...)-talks-with-ukraine/
[..]

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Wie had dat nou zien aankomen. Wat een verassing, ik ben gechoqueerd.