Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visits a military position in Lysychansk amid a Russian offensive in the east of the country, June 5, 2022

Monday’s Coverage: UK Sending Medium-Range Rocket Systems to Kyiv

Source: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1608 GMT:

A member of the Russian women’s football team has criticized the invasion of Ukraine, saying she “can’t just look at this inhumanity and stay silent”.

Nadya Karpova, a striker for Espanyol in Spain, said:

[Putin] took everything from us, he took our future.

At the same time, he did it with our tacit consent. They didn’t witness strong resistance. Most people were just closing their eyes to injustice, thinking it’s not their business.

She said those in Russia supporting the war are “hostages to propaganda”:

I believe we need to do everything to release them from it….

I wish more and more Russians — Russian athletes too — would speak out so other people who are against the war know that they are not a minority. You can’t just pretend that nothing is happening, not any more. The time of silence should be over.

UPDATE 1601 GMT:

A Russian strike on Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv has killed one person and injured three.

Mayor Ihor Terekhov said Russia “does not leave Kharkiv alone and constantly keeps people in fear”.

UPDATE 1314 GMT:

Russian authorities have admitted sending conscripts to fight in Ukraine, contradicting Vladimir Putin’s declaration that he would not never deploy them.

The military prosecutor of Russia’s Western District said about 600 conscripts were dispatched for the invasion. As a result, 12 officials were dismissed.

UPDATE 0810 GMT:

Russian shelling has killed two people and wounded three in the western Mykolaiv Oblast in southern Ukraine overnight.Administrative buildings, a stadium, and a school were damaged.

The office of the Ukraine Prosecutor General says the Russian invasion has killed 263 children and wounded more than 467 since February 24.

The office added its usual caveat that actual figures are far higher since they do not include child casualties in occupied areas and those where hostilities are ongoing.

UPDATE 0719 GMT:

Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian President and current deputy chair of the Russian Security Council, has written with apparent reference to Ukrainians:

I am often asked why my Telegram posts are so harsh. The answer is I hate them. They are bastards and scum. They want death for us, Russia. And while I’m alive, I will do everything to make them disappear.

UPDATE 0652 GMT:

Fiji’s Supreme Court has ruled that the Russian-owned superyacht Amadea be handed over to the US.

The Amedea’s registered owner is Millemarin Investments, but it is linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov.

The Court declared that public interest demands the yacht “sail out of Fiji waters”, because its ongoing berth in Fiji is “costing the Fijian Government dearly”.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation says the $300m luxury yacht has running costs of more than $25m per year. The US will pay to maintain the vessel after it is seized.

UPDATE 0641 GMT:

The Russian Ambassador walked out of a UN Security Council session after European Council President Charles Michel noted Moscow’s responsibility for a global food crisis.

Michel said the Russian blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports is “a stealth missile against developing countries”. He noted that on his recent visit to Odesa, he saw millions of tons of grain and wheat stuck in containers and ships.

Michel also cited the effect of Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure and grain storage facilities, and of its tanks, airstrikes and mines preventing the planting and harvesting of crops.

Calling out Russian propaganda, including that of Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, Michel noted that Russian forces are stealing grain from occupied areas “while shifting the blame onto others.

This is “cowardly” and “propaganda, pure and simple”, he said.

Nebenzia then walked out of the session.

Soon after Michel’s statement, EU foreign policy head Josep Borrell said a Russian missile strike had destroyed a major grain terminal in Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday about Turkish help in securing safe passage for Ukrainian ships through the Black Sea. Zelenskiy said a the 22 million to 25 million tons of grain stuck in Ukraine will become 75 million tons after the fall harvest.

Michel also called out sexual violence by Russian occupiers against Ukrainians.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says defenders are “standing strong” in their resistance of “more numerous and more powerful” Russian forces in the east of the country, “holding on” in Sievierodonetsk and with “every chance” of fighting back.

But Zelenskiy, in a briefing in Kyiv after a tour of the eastern frontlines, said the situation is “difficult” and Sieverodonetsk and the nearby city of Lysychansk — the last major Ukrainian areas in the Luhansk oblast — “are dead cities today” after Russian shelling which has destroyed all critical infrastructure.

He echoed local and regional officials that between 10,000 and 15,000 civilians are still trapped in Sievierodonetsk, which had a pre-invasion population of about 100,000

The last-gasp Russian offensive to seize the Donbas, after failure to topple the Zelenskiy Government and withdrawal of the north, had seized almost all of Sieverodonetsk after weeks of shelling that levelled the area

But Ukrainian forces prevented the city from being surrounded and fought back, reclaiming about half of the city.

Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai said on Monday that “the situation has worsened a little for us again”.

Zelenskiy said in his nightly address to the nation:

Our heroes hold their positions in Severodonetsk. Fierce street fights continue in the city.

Lysychansk, Slovyansk, Bakhmut, Sviatohirya, Avdiivka, Kurakhove and other directions of Russian strikes are the hottest points of confrontation today.

The Russian army is trying to use additional forces in the Donbas direction, but it is the 103rd day – and the Ukrainian Donbas stands. It stands firmly.

Ukraine: More Advanced Rockets Needed

In a symbolic defiance of the Russian offensive, Zelenskiy visited command posts and troop positions in Lysychansk on Sunday.

He also toured Zaporizhzhia in the south, and said on Monday that he believes the Russians still hope to overrun the industrial hub. “There are more of them, they are more powerful, but we have every chance to fight on this direction,” he asserted.

Zelenskiy’s advisor Oleksiy Arestovych told The Guardian that while the US and UK have announced the dispatch of medium-range rocket systems to Ukraine, far more are needed to defeat the Russians.

The Biden Administration has finally committed to the delivery of four advanced systems, and the UK followed on Sunday.

But Arestovych said 60 systems — “a gamechanger weapon” === were needed: “The fewer we get, the worse our situation will be. Our troops will continue to die and we will continue to lose ground.”

If we get 60 of these systems then the Russians will lose all ability to advance anywhere, they will be stopped dead in their tracks. If we get 40 they will advance, albeit very slowly with heavy casualties; with 20 they will continue to advance with higher casualties than now.

The US Army has 363 wheel-mounted M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and 225 track-mounted M270 rocket launchers, and the US Marines have a further 47 systems. The UK has 35 M270s.

Quoting “army veteran Alexey Sakantsev”, Russian State outlet TASS showed its concern, “Of all possible armaments supplied by the collective West, the M270 MLRS and M142 HIMARS are the most dangerous and capable weapons available to the Ukrainian armed forces that can influence combat operations.”