Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy greets European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Kyiv, June 11, 2022
EA on Times Radio: An Axis of Weakness — Russia, Iran, and the Ukraine Invasion
The 6 Winter Fronts in Putin’s War on Ukraine
Saturday’s Coverage: Who Are The 10,000s of Russian Soldiers Killed?
Source: Institute for the Study of War
UPDATE 1708 GMT:
Igor Girkin, a former commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, has launched his strongest verbal assault so far on Russia’s leaders and commanders over the state of Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
Girkin, who is now a “milblogger” with a large following, recently visited the frontline in eastern Ukraine. In a 90-minute video, he claimed some Russian officers are unhappy with the conduct of the invasion, openly complaining about Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu and even Vladimir Putin
Declaring the “fish’s head is completely rotten”, Girkin called for reform of the Russian military and recruitment of competent officers.
He added that Russia, despite its wave of missile strikes across Ukraine, lacked effective tactical missiles for the battlefield and had failed to establish air superiority because of Ukrainian air defenses.
UPDATE 1703 GMT:
Aftermath of the Ukrainian strike on the Russian barracks, which reportedly killed scores of Moscow’s troops in the occupied port city of Melitopol in southern Ukraine ….
UPDATE 1243 GMT:
Russian shelling of Kherson city in southern Ukraine, liberated last month by Ukrainian forces, killed two people and injured five on Saturday.
Governor Yaroslav Yanushevich said a maternity ward, a cafe, and an apartment building were struck.
After fleeing across the Dnipro River to its east bank, the Russians have killed scores of civilians in regular shelling with artillery, multiple launch rocket systems, tanks, and mortars.
UPDATE 1059 GMT:
A neo-Nazi, Kremlin-linked paramilitary group has asked its members to submit intelligence on border and military activity in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.
In a Telegram post, “Task Force Rusich”, currently fighting in Ukraine and linked to Wagner Group mercenaries, asked for details on border posts and military movements.
UPDATE 0804 GMT:
Ukrainian forces have reportedly killed and wounded scores of Russian troops in an attack on a barracks in occupied Melitopol in southern Ukraine.
Witnesses reported 10 explosions on Saturday night from incoming Ukrainian fire and Russian air defense systems. Video claimed to show the barracks engulfed in fire, and rescue workers among bodies in the ruins.
The barracks is in a former resort and hotel complex next to a church. Reports indicated most troops were in the mess hall when rockets struck.
Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian-installed governor of occupied areas of the Zaporizhzhia region, implicitly acknowledged the strike. He said four of six missiles landed and “completely destroyed” a recreation center where “people, civilians, and base personnel were having dinner on Saturday night”.
Russian proxy authorities said two people were killed and 10 injured.
The port of Melitopol was occupied by the Russians in the early days of the February 24 invasion.
There are also reports of Ukrainian strikes in Russian-occupied Crimea, including on a military barracks in Sovietske and in the city of Simferopol.
UPDATE 0754 GMT:
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has confirmed that 1.5 million residents of Odesa are likely to be without power for a “few days” after Russian strikes on energy infrastructure early Saturday.
The Ukraine military said it had downed 10 of 15 Iranian-supplied drones launched by the Russians. However, two power facilities in Odesa region were struck by the remaining Shahed-136 drones, said the Prosecutor General’s office.
Please, while the repairs are in progress, help your friends, your neighbors, and the elderly in Odesa to find and use the Points of Invincibility. Points of Invincibility are deployed. There you can warm up, charge your equipment, get access to mobile communication, get the necessary, important support.
The President added that “the power system is now, to put it mildly, very far from a normal state” with an “acute shortage” across much of Ukraine. He said the largest number of blackouts are in the Lviv, Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Ternopil, Sumy, Zakarpattia, Zhytomyr, and Khmelnytsky regions.
He pointed to one item of “important news”: a commitment from Norway for $100 million in support, including for “the restoration of our energy system”.
UPDATE 0741 GMT:
Germany has again refused to provide US-made Patriot air defense systems to western Ukraine.
Berlin’s top foreign affairs official, Tobias Lindner, said on Friday, “The Patriot systems we send are part of NATO’s collective defense system.”
Germany has agreed to provide the Patriots to Poland, but has vetoed any transfer to Kyiv. Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak has expressed his disappointment, as “the deployment of Patriots in western Ukraine would increase the security of Poles and Ukrainians.”.
German Defense Christine Lambrecht announced the deliver of the Patriots to Poland after a missile — likely from Ukrainian air defenses trying to repel Russian strikes — hit the Polish village of Przewodow and killed two people on November 15.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: The European Union agreed on Saturday to an €18 billion ($19 billion) package of financial aid to Ukraine.
Member states unblocked the aid by circumventing the veto of Hungary and its president Viktor Orbán, who is close to Vladimir Putin.
Orban tried to use the EU package as leverage for Hungary’s share of EU and recovery funds. The bloc has held up €7.5 billion ($7.91 billion) because of breaches of the rule of law by Budapest over corruption, irregularities in public procurement, and conflicts of interest among government officials..
The European Council bypassed Hungary’s veto through a mechanism in which the other member states, rather than the EU budget, will provide the loan guarantees.
The Council said in a statement, “Ukraine can count on the EU. We will continue to support Ukraine also financially, for as long as it takes.
The package will be submitted to the European Parliament for its approval next week.
Ukraine requires about $5 billion per month to maintain essential services amid Vladimir Putin’s invasion and Russia’s missile attacks.
