Monday 05 June 2023
The Chairwoman of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, emphasizes the importance of the large-scale NATO exercise “Air Defender 23”, which is taking place this month mainly in the airspace over Germany. It is an “important exercise that must be done in order to prepare for dangerous scenarios,” says the FDP politician to the “Web.de News” portal. Attacks on national territory would now in many cases take place from the air. Germany “didn’t have enough on its radar anymore,” says Strack-Zimmermann.
+++ 05:15 delimitation from Trump: Nikki Haley stands by Ukraine +++
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley made a clear statement on the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine during a public question session on US broadcaster CNN. Supporting Ukraine is also about defending freedom and putting a stop to tyranny worldwide, she said at the evening’s performance in Des Moines, Iowa. The 51-year-old Republican, who was US Ambassador to the United Nations from 2017 to 2018, clearly distinguishes herself from her strongest internal party competitor and former boss Donald Trump. “It’s about more than Ukraine, this war is about freedom,” she says.
+++ 04:40 Resnikov is silent +++
According to the Defense Ministry in Moscow, the Russian army wants to have pushed back a “large-scale offensive” by the Ukrainian army in Donbass as early as Sunday morning. The Ukrainian government has yet to comment on this. However, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov posted a message on Twitter citing the Depeche Mode song “Enjoy the Silence.”
+++ 03:23 more than 100 Navalny supporters arrested +++
More than 100 of his supporters have been arrested during protests on the birthday of imprisoned Russian Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. According to the civil rights portal OVD-Info, 109 people were taken into custody in 23 cities on Sunday.
+++ 02:27 power plant in Belgorod is on fire +++
In the Russian region of Belgorod, according to the region’s governor, a power plant caught fire in a drone attack. “One of the power plants in the Belgorod region is on fire. The preliminary cause of the fire was an explosive device dropped from a drone,” writes Vyacheslav Gladkov on the news app Telegram. “There were no injuries.”
+++ 01:30 Prigozhin accuses Russian army of ambush +++
The head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, again raises serious allegations against the regular Russian army. In mid-May, soldiers mined a road on which his fighters wanted to drive out of the city of Bakhmut, which has since been conquered in eastern Ukraine, Prigozhin reported on Telegram in the evening. He also publishes a document that is supposed to be a log of the operation from mid-May and in which there is also talk of exchanges of fire between Wagner mercenaries and soldiers. Prigozhin also posted an interrogation video after his men arrested and beat 72nd Brigade commander Roman Venevitin. In the video sequence, the officer accused himself of having shot at the Wagner units. These allegations cannot be verified.
+++ 00:45 Russian Ministry of Defense: Large military operation in Ukraine foiled +++
According to Russia, it has thwarted a major offensive in the southern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. This is reported by the Russian Ministry of Defense, according to the TASS agency. Ukraine opened the offensive with six armored and two armored battalions. Over the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine was ready for a counteroffensive to recapture Russian-occupied territories. The information cannot be independently verified.
+++ 00:10 Kiev: Russia bypasses weapons sanctions +++
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia is bypassing international arms sanctions. In a video message, Zelenskyy says that some countries and companies are helping Russia acquire technology focused on missile production. Russia manages to circumvent the punitive measures with a network of suppliers. Ukraine is aware of all Russian efforts to circumvent sanctions. Kiev will ensure that “there are no products of the free world in Russian missiles”. In April, a senior Zelenskyy aide said Ukrainian forces had found an increasing number of Chinese components in Russian weapons used in Ukraine.
+++ 23:32 data breach: Kremlin is probably planning raids on conscripts +++
According to research by investigative journalists, the Russian military accidentally published a text about problems with mobilization for the war against Ukraine – and deleted it shortly afterwards. The well-known Russian portal “The Insiders” publishes the link to an entry in the web archive where the text can still be viewed. Raids on conscripts are planned for this year, they say. According to “Insider”, military registration and enlistment offices have already compiled a database with 31.6 million people, 2.9 million of whom are of military age. In addition, the authorities collect current mobile phone numbers and e-mail addresses of the conscripts.
+++ 22:56 Selenskyj: So far 485 children have been killed in the war +++
At least 485 children have been killed since Russia’s war of aggression began, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Selenskyj said in his evening speech that these were exclusively victims whose data had been officially recorded. In reality, the number is significantly higher. Zelenskyj also refers to the more than 19,500 Ukrainian children who were deported to Russia from occupied territories. So far it has only been possible to bring back the “little Ukrainians” in around 370 cases, says the head of state.
+++ 22:12 media: Poland also involved in fighting in the Belgorod region +++
According to Polish media reports, Poles are also involved in the fighting in the Russian region of Belgorod on the border with Ukraine. The online news portals Polsatnews.pl and Wprost.pl report that these are mercenaries who fought under the name “Polish Volunteer Corps” on the side of the Ukrainian army. They cite the group’s own messages in the Telegram messaging service and a video that is said to show soldiers on their way to Belgorod. According to information from “Polsat”, the “Polish Volunteer Corps” was founded in February. Initially, it fought as an independent unit consisting only of Poles alongside the Ukrainian army. In the meantime, the troops are also acting together with a “Russian Volunteer Corps”. The reports do not indicate how many Poles are said to be involved.
Earlier developments you can here read.