Vladimir Putin has threatened to retaliate against Western countries that are allowing Ukraine to hit Russia with their long-range missiles.
Putin said Russia will provide such weapons to countries or adversaries within striking distance of Western nations.
“If we see that these countries are being drawn into a war against the Russian Federation, then we reserve the right to act in the same way. In general, this is a path to very serious problems,” Putin said at his annual economic forum in St Petersburg yesterday.
He did not specify where he was considering delivering such missiles.
The Kremlin has also said Russia is ready to strike French troops if they are sent to Ukraine to help train Kyiv’s soldiers, describing them as legitimate targets.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has expressed frustration with the speed of training for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets, noting that at the current rate it won’t have a full squadron of trained F-16 pilots until late 2025, reported Politico. The holdup is in part due to a lack of spaces at a training centre in Arizona.
Key Points
Putin claims Russia may supply long-range weapons to enemies of West
Russia prepared to strike French troops in Ukraine, Kremlin suggests
‘Frustrated’ Ukraine asks US and allies to speed up F-16 training
Ukraine ‘has a chance’ to change ‘difficult’ battlefield situation, says army chief
Britain seeking to send 1,000 first-person drones to Ukraine
Ukraine downs 17 out of 18 Russia drones overnight
07:05 , Arpan Rai
Ukrainian air force shot down 17 out of 18 Shahed-type drones over four regions fired in Russia’s overnight attack, military officials said this morning.
Of these, Ukrainian military shot down eight drones over the southern region of Mykolaiv with no damages reported by the regional governor. Drones were also shot down over Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
Russia’s attack caused a fire at an infrastructure facility in Khmelnytskyi region, where one drone was shot down, the regional governor said.
Russian forces also used two Iskander-M ballistic missiles to attack Dnipropetrovsk region, the military said. No details on damage from the missile attack were immediately available.
No casualties have been reported so far.
Putin claims Trump conviction is manipulation of US justice system in ‘political struggle’
06:59 , Andy Gregory
Vladimir Putin has sought to claim that Donald Trump’s hush money conviction is the result of America’s justice system being used “in an internal political struggle”.
Speaking in St Petersbury as Alexei Navalny ally Ilya Yashin lost an appeal against his bogus designation as a “foreign agent”, the Russian president claimed the United States was “burning themselves from the inside, their state, their political system”.
He added: “It is obvious all over the world that the prosecution of Trump, especially in court on charges that were formed on the basis of events that happened years ago, without direct proof, is simply using the judicial system in an internal political struggle.”
Putin claims Russia may supply long-range weapons to enemies of West
06:55 , Arpan Rai
Vladimir Putin has claimed Russia could retaliate in kind against those permitting Ukraine to target Russia with their long-range missiles – by providing such weapons to countries within striking distance of Western nations.
In wide-ranging remarks at his annual economic forum in St Petersburg, the Russian president sought to insist that Moscow “does not care” about the upcoming US election, claimed candidate Donald Trump’s hush money conviction was “political”, and dismissed fears that Russia wants to attack Nato as “nonsense”.
But he warned that the United States and Germany’s recent authorisation for Ukraine to use their weapons to hit specific Russian targets close to Kharkiv could lead to “very serious problems”, calling Berlin’s decision a “very dangerous step”.
Putin claims Russia could supply long-range weapons to West’s enemies
Ukraine ‘has a chance’ to change ‘difficult’battlefield situation, says military chief
06:30 , Arpan Rai
Ukrainian soldiers can shift the difficult battlefield situation in the country’s east, where the fiercest fighting is underway, and turn it to their advantage by doing “everything possible,” top military official said.
Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi said his commanders of Ukrainian units are “fully aware of the situation” and are “skillfully” using all types of weapons, including attack drones. “Our task is to stop the enemy and force them to go on the defensive,” he said.
“Despite the difficult situation, we have a chance to change the situation in our favour. And the defence forces are doing everything possible to do so,” the top Ukrainian military official said in a daily update last night after visiting the eastern part of the frontline.
Russian forces are continuing to push on the Kurakhove, Pokrovsk, Kupiansk, and Kharkiv sectors.
Heavy fighting is also ongoing near the town of Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast, where Russian troops are trying to break through Ukraine’s defence from two directions, Syrskyi said.
“In Vovchansk, our main task at this stage is to hold back the enemy, inflict maximum losses and gradually move forward to liberate our territories,” the commander said.
The top military command’s task is now to provide the Kharkiv region troops with ample ammunition and combat-ready reserves.
France to aid Ukraine with $700m in critical infrastructure support
05:58 , Arpan Rai
France will aid Ukraine with loans and grants worth over $700m to help address Kyiv’s critical infrastructure targeted by Russian forces.
The agreement between Ukraine and France is expected to be finalised by tomorrow during Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Paris, reported French media outlet 20 minutes.
It added that the first part of the agreement will give the war-hit nation around $435m in loans and $54m in grants to the French Development Agency (AFD), in order to “expand its activities in Ukraine” until the year 2027.
The second tranche will offer $217m to a critical infrastructure support fund.
Mr Zelensky is set to meet his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron tomorrow and both will hold joint press conference on 7 June announcing the aid package, among other agreements.
Russian opposition figure Ilya Yashin loses appeal against ‘foreign agent’ designation
05:50 , Andy Gregory
Russian opposition activist Ilya Yashin – imprisoned for criticising the war in Ukraine – lost a court appeal on Wednesday against being designated as a “foreign agent”, Russian news outlets reported.
Mr Yashin, aged 40, was jailed in December 2022 for eight and a half years on charges of spreading so-called “false information” about the Russian army, under sweeping wartime censorship laws passed shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
A longtime friend and ally of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Mr Yashin was convicted over statements he made on his YouTube channel about alleged war crimes by Russian forces in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha in the first weeks of the war.
In a speech to the court, Yashin said ironically that many would consider it an honour to be on a “foreign agent” list alongside some of Russia’s most famous opposition figures and artists. “But personally, I see no honour in the fact that the authorities brand their public opponents like cattle,” Mr Yashin was quoted as saying by his supporters.
“For me, the status of a foreign agent is offensive because I have devoted my life to defending Russia’s interests as I understand them.”
Ukraine asks US and allies to speed up F-16 training – report
05:48 , Arpan Rai
Ukraine is pushing its allies to amp up the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighters jets, noting that not enough pilots have been trained, reported Politico.
At least 30 pilots from Kyiv are eligible to start training in the US immediately, according to Ukraine, but the process is being slowed by the Biden administration over a lack of school seats.
The US’s Arizona-based programme can only accept 12 pilot trainees at a time, reported Politico, citing three people with direct knowledge of the request. Similar issues of available training spots are being reported in two other facilities in Denmark and Romania.
Ukraine, in a series of meetings and calls in the past few weeks, has also officially requested that the US train the additional pilots at Morris Air National Guard base in Tucson, Arizona. American lawmakers have also pressed the administration to approve the additional training.
At this rate, Ukraine is unlikely to have a full squadron of trained pilots until the end of 2025, a former official said.
Ukraine grid operator orders immediate power cuts in 12 regions
05:30 , Arpan Rai
Ukraine’s power grid operator, Ukrenergo, ordered immediate power cuts in 12 regions yesterday evening after consumption limits were exceeded due to critical shortages.
Ukrainians have been warned to limit consumption after Russian air strikes in recent weeks inflicted serious damage on the country’s generating capacity.
The cuts went into effect from 8.40pm (1740 GMT), extending from Volyn and Lviv in the northwest to Odesa in south and Zaporizhzhia in the southeast.
“Interruptions in energy supply to critical infrastructure facilities are possible,” Ukrenergo said. Cuts would be ended when consumption levels decline to agreed levels.
“In view of repairs to units and the latest destruction, we are catastrophically short of electricity for our needs,” Serhii Kovalenko, head of Yasno, the largest private power company in Ukraine, wrote on Telegram ahead of the latest cuts.
“There will therefore be restrictions and they will be scheduled. If we don’t meet the limits, Ukrenergo will introduce emergency restrictions.”
‘Hard to say’ whether Trump presidency would impact Ukraine war, claims Putin
04:46 , Andy Gregory
It is “hard to say” whether Donald Trump being re-elected president in the United States would impact upon the Ukraine war, Vladimir Putin has claimed.
Asked about whether a second Trump presidency could change the situation in Ukraine, the Russian president told international news agency editors in St Petersburg: “It’s hard to say, I can’t make a definite conclusion as to whether something will change or not. One has to look at the priorities of the future administration.
“No one in the United States is interested in Ukraine, they are interested in the greatness of the United States, which is fighting not for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, but for its own greatness.”
“But if the future administration will change its goal-setting vector, and will see the meaning of its existence, its work in strengthening the United States from within, strengthening the economy, finances, building good relations in the world…then something may change.”
Chinese envoy meets Ukraine official
04:34 , Arpan Rai
China says its special representative for Eurasian Affairs has met with Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister, and that the two spoke about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and their bilateral relations.
Li Hui met with Emine Dzhaparova yesterday, according to a statement by China’s foreign ministry shared today.
Putin warns Russia could provide long-range weapons to others to hit Western targets
04:25 , Arpan Rai
Vladimir Putin has warned Russia could provide long-range weapons to others to strike Western targets, in a tit-for-tat move for Nato allies allowing Ukraine to use their arms to attack Russian territory.
The Russian president also reaffirmed Moscow’s readiness to use nuclear weapons if it sees a threat to its sovereignty.
He claimed the move by the US and Germany would further undermine international security and could lead to “very serious problems”.
“That would mark their direct involvement in the war against the Russian Federation, and we reserve the right to act the same way,” Putin added.
Putin claimed that using some Western-supplied weapons involves military personnel of those countries controlling the missiles and selecting targets, and therefore he said Moscow could take “asymmetrical” steps elsewhere in the world. The US military said it does not control the missiles it provides to Ukraine or the targets.
“If they consider it possible to deliver such weapons to the combat zone to launch strikes on our territory and create problems for us, why don’t we have the right to supply weapons of the same type to some regions of the world where they can be used to launch strikes on sensitive facilities of the countries that do it to Russia?” he said.
“We will think about it,” he told the journalists on the sidelines of the annual St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Putin warns Russia could provide long-range weapons to others to hit Western targets
04:22 , Arpan Rai
Vladimir Putin has warned Russia could provide long-range weapons to others to strike Western targets, in a tit-for-tat move for Nato allies allowing Ukraine to use their arms to attack Russian territory.
The Russian president also reaffirmed Moscow’s readiness to use nuclear weapons if it sees a threat to its sovereignty.
He claimed the move by the US and Germany would further undermine international security and could lead to “very serious problems”.
“That would mark their direct involvement in the war against the Russian Federation, and we reserve the right to act the same way,” Putin added.
Putin claimed that using some Western-supplied weapons involves military personnel of those countries controlling the missiles and selecting targets, and therefore he said Moscow could take “asymmetrical” steps elsewhere in the world. The US military said it does not control the missiles it provides to Ukraine or the targets.
“If they consider it possible to deliver such weapons to the combat zone to launch strikes on our territory and create problems for us, why don’t we have the right to supply weapons of the same type to some regions of the world where they can be used to launch strikes on sensitive facilities of the countries that do it to Russia?” he said.
“We will think about it,” he told the journalists on the sidelines of the annual St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Putin insists Russia ‘does not care’ about outcome of US election
03:39 , Andy Gregory
Vladimir Putin has claimed that Russia “does not care” who wins the upcoming United States election – insisting that Moscow believes “nothing serious” will change in Washington’s policy towards Russia regardless of whether either Joe Biden or Donald Trump is re-elected.
Speaking to editors from international news agencies at Russia’s flagship annual economic forum in St Petersburg, Mr Putin said: “For the most part, we do not care [who wins the US election].”
“To say – I am speaking quite sincerely – that we believe that after the elections something will change towards Russia in American policy, I would not say so. We don’t think so. We think that nothing really serious will happen,” the Russian president said.
“For us, we do not think the end result holds much significance. We will work with any president the American people elect.”
White House says it does not know which targets Ukraine striking each day
02:31 , Andy Gregory
Ukraine has used US weapons to strike inside Russia in recent days, a Western official familiar with the matter has told the Associated Press – as the White House said it was “just not in a position on a day-to-day basis of knowing exactly what the Ukrainians are firing at what”.
According to the Institute for the Study of War, Ukrainian forces struck a Russian S-300/400 air defence battery in Belgorod over the weekend, likely with a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (Himars). The air defence system was located roughly 40 miles from the current front line in northern Kharkiv, it said.
But White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that he could not confirm that Ukraine had used US weapons at targets in Russia, as Washington did not know which exact targets Kyiv was hitting each day. But he added: “It’s certainly at a tactical level.”
Parts of Russia’s weaponry still come from other countries despite sanctions, says Zelensky
01:10 , Andy Gregory
Ukraine ‘shot down 22 Shahed-type Russian drones’ overnight
Wednesday 5 June 2024 23:55 , Reuters
The Ukrainian air force said it shot down 22 of the 27 Shahed-type drones launched over five Ukrainian regions in Russia’s overnight attack on Wednesday.
The attack damaged an industrial facility and injured one person in the region of Poltava, its governor, Filip Pronin, said on the Telegram messaging app.
The Ukrainian military destroyed six drones over the southern region of Mykolaiv, its governor said. Debris from one of them destroyed a private home, and damaged about 10 more, but no casualties were reported, he added.
Four drones were shot down over the southern region of Kherson and four more over the central Dnipropetrovsk region, the regions’ governors said.
The attack also targeted the northern region of Sumy, with no details of damage reported by regional authorities.
ICYMI: Zelensky accuses China of helping Russia sabotage Ukraine peace summit
Wednesday 5 June 2024 22:51 , Andy Gregory
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has accused China of helping Russia to disrupt an upcoming peace conference on the war in Ukraine.
Speaking at Asia’s premier security conference in Singapore, Mr Zelensky alleged Russia had been using Chinese diplomats in the wider Asian region to influence and dissuade countries from attending the peace summit, due to be held in Burgenstock Resort, central Switzerland, on 15 and 16 June.
Tom Watling has the full report:
Zelensky accuses China of helping Russia sabotage Ukraine peace summit
Russia pledges more support for Burkina Faso’s military leadership
Wednesday 5 June 2024 21:56 , Andy Gregory
In more news of Russian manouevres on the African continent, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Moscow will send additional military supplies and instructors to Burkina Faso to help the west African country boost its defence capabilities and fight terrorism.
Burkina Faso, under military leadership since a 2022 coup, has played host to contingents of the Wagner mercenary force, whose founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash last August.
“From the very first contacts between our countries after President Traore came to power, we have been very closely engaged in all areas of cooperation, including the development of military and military-technical ties”, the Tass news agency cited Mr Lavrov as saying during a visit to Burkina Faso.
“I have no doubt that thanks to this cooperation, the remaining pockets of terrorism on the territory of Burkina Faso will be destroyed,” he told a press conference in the capital Ouagadougou.
Mr Lavrov has made a series of visits to Africa since the start of the war in Ukraine as Russia, hit by Western sanctions, seeks new trade partners and tries to rally developing countries behind its vision of a “multipolar world” no longer dominated by the United States and former European colonial powers.
Putin claims Russia may supply long-range weapons to enemies of West in retaliation for Ukraine support
Wednesday 5 June 2024 21:11 , Andy Gregory
Vladimir Putin has claimed that Russia may consider responding in kind directly against nations which allow Ukraine to strike Russia with their long-range missiles – by providing such weapons to countries within striking distance of Western nations.
Speaking in St Petersburg, the Russian president insisted that such action by the West will further undermine international security and could lead to “very serious problems”, warning Germany that its decision to join the US in authorising Ukraine to hit some targets on Russian soil was a “very dangerous step”.
“That would mark their direct involvement in the war against the Russian Federation, and we reserve the right to act the same way,” Mr Putin added.
Because using such Western weapons involves military personnel of those countries controlling the missiles and selecting targets, Mr Putin claimed Moscow could take “asymmetrical” steps elsewhere in the world.
“If they consider it possible to deliver such weapons to the combat zone to launch strikes on our territory and create problems for us, why don’t we have the right to supply weapons of the same type to some regions of the world where they can be used to launch strikes on sensitive facilities of the countries that do it to Russia?” he said.
“We will think about it,” he added.
Russian aluminium giant negotiating mining deal in Sierra Leone, minister says
Wednesday 5 June 2024 20:55 , Andy Gregory
Russian aluminium giant Rusal – the largest outside China – is in negotiations with the government of Sierra Leone on mining for bauxite, the west African country’s mining minister has said, according to Russian state news agency reports.
“We had several meetings during which they [Rusal] showed a lot of interest in opening a bauxite mining concession in Sierra Leone,” Julius Mattai was quoted by RIA as saying on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Negotiations were still underway, RIA cited Mr Mattai as saying. “We are here to resume cooperation, to confirm that we are strengthening Russian-African relations in the field of business, especially in the mining industry,” he added.
Bauxite is converted into alumina, a raw material to make aluminium used by companies in construction and packaging. But Australia’s alumina export ban and a suspension of operations at a refinery in Ukraine have prompted Rusal to seek more alumina in China and other countries.
Pro-Russian hackers hit Spanish defence contractor with cyberattack
Wednesday 5 June 2024 19:56 , Andy Gregory
A pro-Russia hacker group has claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on the website of a Spanish defence contractor which is refurbishing Leopard tanks for delivery to Ukraine.
A spokesperson for General Dynamics confirmed that the Spanish unit of its subsidiary Santa Barbara Systems had been targeted in an attempted cyberattack “that was detected immediately and has not compromised any of the company’s systems”.
They said the company decided to temporarily disconnect its website until an ongoing investigation concluded. “The company’s sensitive data remains well-protected,” the spokesperson added. A spokesperson for General Dynamics in Germany said all of the company’s operations in Europe were running normally.
The NoName hacking group claimed responsibility for the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack via the Telegram messaging service. These types of attacks direct high volumes of internet traffic towards targeted servers to knock them offline.
“We sent our DDoS-missiles against websites in russophobic Spain,” the group wrote on Telegram on Tuesday. Spain’s National Cybersecurity Institute had warned the company in the past few days about the possibility of such attacks, the General Dynamics spokesperson in Madrid said.
Ukraine urges China to attend Swiss peace summit
Wednesday 5 June 2024 18:55 , Andy Gregory
Ukraine’s first deputy foreign minister has urged China to send a delegation to the planned summit on Ukraine this month in Switzerland.
Russia has not been invited to participate in the meeting next weeked, and Beijing has so far said it will stay away – describing the attendance of both warring sides as a prerequisite for any substantive peace conference.
“The Ukrainian side expressed hope that China’s participation in the event could be a good opportunity to make a practical contribution to achieving a just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” the Ukrainian foreign ministry said, following a meeting in Beijing between Andriy Sybiha and Chinese vice foreign minister Sun Weidong.
According to Kyiv, more than 100 countries have accepted its invitation to the summit to discuss a peace plan outlined by president Volodymyr Zelensky to the Russian invasion now in its third year. Moscow has ridiculed the idea of a summit without its participation as pointless.
China proclaimed a “no limits” partnership with Russia just days before Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but portrays itself as neutral in the conflict and put forward a 12-point paper more than a year ago setting out general principles for ending the war, welcomed by both sides.
Polish investigation in Russian and Belarusian influence on national security gets under way
Wednesday 5 June 2024 17:57 , Andy Gregory
A special 12-member commission tasked with investigating Russian and Belarusian influence in Poland – and led by the chief of Warsaw’s military counterintelligence service – has now begun its work, prime minister Donald Tusk has announced.
At a news conference in Warsaw, Mr Tusk and other officials described the commission as a non-partisan body of experts whose aim is to protect national security, and which will investigate Russian and Belarusian influence over the past two decades, having been requested by Mr Tusk in May.
He and other Polish officials say the country is facing intensified hybrid attacks which include alleged acts of sabotage, cyberattacks and growing pressure along the Poland-Belarus border, where the number of attempted border crossings has shot up in recent months from a handful to nearly 400 a day.
Tomasz Siemoniak, who is the interior minister and the head of the secret services, said there are “no doubts” that the situation at the border is the work of Russia and Belarus, and that “explaining all the cases from the last 20 years where traces of Russian or Belarusian activity are visible is very important”.
Zelensky in Qatar for talks with king
Wednesday 5 June 2024 16:58 , Andy Gregory
Ukraine’s president Volodymr Zelensky has arrived in Qatar for talks with emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
“Qatar assists Ukraine in returning children abducted by Russia,” said Mr Zelensky. “We will discuss these efforts, which are both ongoing within the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children and will be on the agenda for the Peace Summit.
“Qatar also took an active part in the Peace Summit preparations and should become one of the Middle Eastern voices in support of returning people home, as well as global food, nuclear, and energy security.”
I arrived in Qatar to hold talks with my friend, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Qatar assists Ukraine in returning children abducted by Russia. We will discuss these efforts, which are both ongoing within the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 5, 2024
Sergei Lavrov visits Burkina Faso
Wednesday 5 June 2024 16:00 , Athena Stavrou
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pledged additional military supplies to Burkina Faso on Wednesday as he visited the west African country.
Russian state media quoted the official on Wednesday as saying the extra support would be given in an effort to boost the country’s defence capabilities.
Lavrov has made a series of visits to Africa since the start of the war in Ukraine as Russia, hit by Western sanctions, seeks new trade partners and tries to rally developing countries behind its vision of a “multipolar world”.
Ukrainian official discusses cooperation with China
Wednesday 5 June 2024 15:00 , Athena Stavrou
The Ukrainian First Deputy Foreign Minister discussed steps to intensify cooperation with China while on a visit to Beijing.
Ukraine’s Andriy Sybiha met with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong,the Ukrainian ministry said on Wednesday.
It said Sybiha expressed hope for China’s participation in a Ukraine-led peace summit later in June saying it could be “a good opportunity to make a practical contribution to achieving a just and lasting peace”, the ministry added.
Spanish firm refurbishing tanks for Ukraine victim of Russian cyberattack
Wednesday 5 June 2024 14:10 , Athena Stavrou
A Spanish firm refurbishing Leopard tanks for Ukraine suffered a cyber attack that took its website down, a pro-Russian hackers group said.
A spokesperson for the firm, General Dynamics, in Germany said the defence contractor was still analysing the cause of the website outage, adding that all of its operations in Europe were running normally.
The NoName hacking group on the Telegram messaging service claimed responsibility for the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack.
DDoS attacks direct high volumes of internet traffic towards targeted servers to knock them offline.
“We sent our DDoS-missiles against websites in russophobic Spain,” the group, which often directs such actions against countries which support Ukraine, wrote on Telegram on Tuesday.
NATO said last month that Russia was behind an intensifying campaign of hybrid attacks on companies and infrastructure in member states, an accusation Russia dismissed as “misinformation”.
The unit of General dynamics, called Santa Barbara, is based in Spain and assembles heavy vehicles such as Leopard tanks and artillery equipment for the Spanish army. It has been involved in refurbishing Spain’s mothballed Leopard tanks for delivery to the Ukrainian army, according to the Defence Ministry.
Kremlin says US is blackmailing China by threatening sanctions over exports to Russia
Wednesday 5 June 2024 13:13 , Athena Stavrou
The Kremlin on Wednesday described comments by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen that Washington would not tolerate China increasing its exports of “dual-use” goods to Russia, and would respond with sanctions, as “blackmail”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Washington’s tone was completely unacceptable and that Moscow stood in solidarity with Beijing.
“We are well aware that our Chinese comrades do not accept such language, do not accept such messages and such threats, such blackmail,” Peskov told reporters.
The United States says that by providing dual-use goods – which have both civilian and military applications – China is powering Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.
“China is the top supplier of machine tools, microelectronics, nitrocellulose, which is critical to making munitions and rocket propellants, and other dual-use items that Moscow is using to ramp up its defence industrial base,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a visit to Beijing in April.
Remote-controlled stretchers put on display
Wednesday 5 June 2024 11:13 , Athena Stavrou
Remote-controlled stretchers may be deployed onto the frontline in Ukraine soon.
The electric stretchers, designed by Dmytro Mamonov, was on display at a Ukrainian manufacturing presentation outside Kyiv last week.
Investigation claims Russian Orthodox Church ‘Russifying’ abducted Ukrainian children
Wednesday 5 June 2024 10:48 , Athena Stavrou
An investigation has found the Kremlin-backed Russian Orthodox Church has played a role in “Russifying” the identities of Ukrainian children.
War monitoring think-tank The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) cited the investigation by Russian opposition student journal DOXA and open-source outlet Kidmapping.
The report found that in the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, officials deported children from orphanages and boarding schools in occupied Donetsk Oblast to Russia’s Rostov Oblast.
It was here that the report claims the children were visited by senior clergyman Metropolitan Mercury who encouraged them to consider baptism into the church.
Ukrainian children were also allegedly placed in shelters run by the church, where clergy and affiliated officials held “military-patriotic” events in an effort to encourage pro-Russian sentiment among the children and “cut the children off from their Ukrainian identities”.
Russian sociologist loses appeal against 5-year sentence for ‘justifying terrorism’
Wednesday 5 June 2024 09:51 , Athena Stavrou
A Russian sociologist and activist had his appeal to overturn his five-year prison sentence on charges of “justifying terrorism” rejected.
Russia’s Supreme Court rejected Boris Kagarlitsky appeal on Wednesday after a petition calling for his release was signed by intellectuals and politicians from around the world including former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn
Kagarlitsky, 65, is a longtime political dissident and has spoken out repeatedly against the conflict in Ukraine in a magazine he edited and on his YouTube channel.
A former teacher at the prestigious Moscow Higher School of Social and Economic Sciences, Kagarlitsky was designated a “foreign agent” by the Russian government in 2018 and was last year added to a register of “terrorists and extremists”.
A Russian court handed him a 600,000-rouble fine in December 2023 after finding him guilty of “publicly justifying terrorism” in a video commenting on a Ukrainian attack on the bridge linking Russia to annexed Crimea in October 2022.
Russia prepared to strike French troops in Ukraine, Kremlin suggests
Wednesday 5 June 2024 08:55 , Alexander Butler
Russia is ready to strike French troops if they are sent to to Ukraine to help train Kyiv’s soldiers, the Kremlin has suggested.
Ukraine’s top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said French trainers would come to Ukraine “soon” last week, which was downplayed by both Paris and Kyiv.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “No instructor involved in training the Ukrainian military has immunity. It doesn’t matter whether they’re French or not.”
In February, French president Emmanuel Macron said the situation in Ukraine was “dynamic” and nothing could be ruled out.
Britain seeking to send 1,000 first-person drones to Ukraine
Wednesday 5 June 2024 08:54 , Alexander Butler
Britain is pushing to deliver 1,000 first-person view drones to Ukraine as part of an international coalition in support of Kyiv.
According to a tender notice posted on the Government’s website, industry providers have been invited to submit bids to provide drones and equipment that can be fitted with armour-destroying munitions.
The appeal, worth £300,000, calls for the procurement of up to 15 batches of 20 “first-person view racing quadcopter style drones”.
Ukraine says use of western weapons to strike inside Russia is ‘vital’
Wednesday 5 June 2024 08:02 , Shweta Sharma
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff has said that using Western weapons to strike inside Russia was a vital step that would impact Moscow’s tactical aviation and its capability to operate in border areas.
Following pressure from Ukraine and some of its European allies, the US agreed last week to change its policy and allow Kyiv to strike inside Russia with Western weapons as part of its campaign to repel Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Kyiv said the move would help push back Russian advances and better defend territory in the northeast Kharkiv region.
“Permission to use Western weapons on the territory of the Russian Federation is a vital decision,” Andriy Yermak said on the Telegram messaging app. “This will impact the conduct of the war, planning of counteroffensive actions, and will weaken Russians’ abilities to use their forces in the border areas.”
The decision would also help to better fend off Russian aerial attacks, Mr Yermak said.
Russia has ‘robbed normal life for an entire generation of Ukrainian children’, Zelensky says
Wednesday 5 June 2024 07:47 , Shweta Sharma
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has shared an emotional video depicting some of the children who have been killed since the start of the war.
He said: “Many little Ukrainians will never grow up because they were killed in Russian attacks.”
“Thousands have been kidnapped, transferred from Ukraine to Russia, and scattered among strangers. Most of them are unable to contact their families,” he added.
“The way Russia treats Ukraine and its people is a deliberate and calculated genocide.”
Russian terrorists have robbed an entire generation of Ukrainian children of a normal life and shattered their trust in adults. Many little Ukrainians will never grow up because they were killed in Russian attacks.
Thousands have been kidnapped, transferred from Ukraine to… pic.twitter.com/K0bPLbAT0C
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 4, 2024
Ukraine shoots down 22 of the 27 Russian drones launched overnight
Wednesday 5 June 2024 07:05 , Shweta Sharma
The Ukrainian air force said it downed 22 of the 27 Shahed-type drones launched over five Ukrainian regions in Russia’s overnight attacks.
One person was injured and an industrial facility was damaged in the attack in the region of Poltava, its governor, Filip Pronin, said on the Telegram messaging app.
The Ukrainian military destroyed six drones over the southern region of Mykolaiv, its governor said.Debris from one of them destroyed a private home, and damaged about 10 more, but no casualties were reported, he added.
Four drones were shot down over the southern region of Kherson and four more over the central Dnipropetrovsk region, the regions’ governors said.
The attack also targeted the northern region of Sumy, with no details of damage reported by regional authorities.
On Monday, Ukrainian forces claimed they struck inside Russian territory with Western-supplied weapons and hit a Russian S-300 missile system.
“It burns beautifully. It’s a Russian S-300. On Russian territory. The first days after permission to use Western weapons on enemy territory,” Ukrainian government minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
She posted a picture of the alleged attack on Facebook.
Russian-linked hacker group ‘targeting Paris Olympics’
Wednesday 5 June 2024 07:00 , Alexander Butler
The Paris Olympics are being targeted by a Russian-linked disinformation campaign, according to Microsoft.
Since last summer, efforts have been under way by a hacker group named Storm-1679, according to research.
The hackers “are trying to cultivate an anticipation of violence”, said Clint Watts, the head of Microsoft’s Digital Threat Analysis Centre. “They want people to be fearful of going to the Olympics.”
US embassy in Ukraine issues warning to dual citizens
Wednesday 5 June 2024 06:43 , Shweta Sharma
The American embassy in Ukraine has announced that US-Ukrainian dual citizens will no longer be able to leave the country.
The notification comes after the Ukrainian government reportedly removed the exception that allowed some Ukrainian males between 18 and 60 to leave the country, as long as they could prove they were resident abroad.
“Previously, dual US-Ukrainian citizens in this group could enter and then depart Ukraine if they had deregistered their Ukrainian residency and registered their US residency,” the embassy statement reads. “According to our information, this exception was revoked as of 1 June.”
The Ukrainian government also passed a bill on the mobilisation of men into the military in April as it faces a shortage of manpower amid the ongoing war with Russia.
Eight including two children injured after Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s Dnipro
Wednesday 5 June 2024 06:20 , Shweta Sharma
A Russian missile attack on Ukraine‘s central city Dnipro injured eight people, including two children, and damaged civilian infrastructure yesterday, Ukrainian authorities said.
The Ukrainian air force said it shot down two Iskander-K cruise missiles over the region. The missile debris damaged civilian infrastructure, causing a fire and injuring residents, according to Serhiy Lysak, the regional governor.
A month-old boy and a seventeen-year-old were among those injured, in addition to six adults, based on preliminary information from the governor and the state emergency services.
The attack damaged cars and knocked windows out in residential buildings and a hospital, Lysak wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Dnipro mayor Borys Filatov added that at least 47 residences and a school were damaged.
Emergency services put out the fire caused by the attack.
Russian forces also launched four drones in the overnight attack. The Ukrainian air force said it shot down two of them over the northern region of Chernihiv.
Missile threat alert across Ukraine after aircraft intercepted
Wednesday 5 June 2024 05:57 , Shweta Sharma
A missile threat alert was announced across the country after a MiG-31K aircraft took off overnight.
The Ukrainian Air Forces said they monitored the MiG-31K, an aircraft that can carry the Kinzhal hypersonic ballistic missiles that are being used by Russian forces to attack Ukraine.
China pushes Beijing’s version of Ukraine peace plan after snub to Switzerland
Wednesday 5 June 2024 05:38 , Shweta Sharma
The Chinese foreign minister has continued to push Beijing’s potential role as a mediator in Ukraine-Russia peace talks, days after China withdrew from an upcoming peace summit in Switzerland.
Wang Yi told reporters that both Russia and Ukraine have separately indicated their support for the peace plan laid out by China and Brazil last month.
Mr Wang said the two countries have “affirmed most of the content” of the plan that called for an international conference, inviting both Russia and Ukraine.
He said 26 nations have agreed or expressed interest in the plan and a total of 45 countries have given “positive feedback” to the idea.
China is seen as a close ally to Russia, a fact that puts into question its ability to serve as an independent mediator, though Ukraine has not entirely ruled out the idea.
Biden to skip Switzerland’s Ukraine peace summit
Wednesday 5 June 2024 05:05 , Shweta Sharma
US president Joe Biden is set to skip the upcoming Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland despite the Ukrainian president’s direct appeal to his most significant ally.
The US will instead be represented by vice president Kamala Harris and Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan during the two-day event on 15 and 16 June in Lucern, the White House said in a statement.
Mr Zelensky had said that only Vladimir Putin will “applaud” Biden if he fails to show up in Switzerland.
“I believe that the peace summit needs President Biden, and other leaders need President Biden because they will look at the US’s reaction,” Mr Zelensky said at a press conference in Brussels last week.
Mr Biden’s absence “would only be met by an applause by Putin – a personal, standing applause,” he added.
China has already pulled out of the summit after it expressed concerns over Russia not being invited.
The Kremlin has pressurised its allies not to take part in the summit, claiming it lacks clear goals and that it was absurd to hold it without Russia.
As Russia’s forces edge ever closer, Kharkiv’s mayor has a defiant message for Putin
Wednesday 5 June 2024 05:00 , Alexander Butler
As Russia’s forces edge ever closer, Kharkiv’s mayor has a defiant message for Putin
Britain to deliver 1,000 first-person view drones to Ukraine
Wednesday 5 June 2024 04:42 , Shweta Sharma
The UK is expected to send 1,000 first-person view drones to Ukraine, according to a tender posted on the government’s website.
The government is inviting bidders to provide drones that are “capable of carrying varying payloads depending on their propeller size”, reported The Telegraph.
The notice called for 15 batches of 20 “first-person view racing quadcopter style drones” worth £300,000.
The potential delivery would be part of an international coalition launched by Britain and Latvia in February to supply unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to the front lines of Ukraine.
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