An aerial view of the destruction from Russian attacks on Bakhmut in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, May 21, 2023

Tuesday’s Coverage: Russian Drone Attacks Across Country

Map: Institute for Study of War

UPDATE 1836 GMT:

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group, has called out the Russian Defense Ministry’s propaganda over Ukraine’s counter-offensive.

Prigozhin said in an audio message that the Ministry was not acknowledging the loss of territory: “They are misleading the Russian people.”

He noted that a series of villages had been recaptured by Ukraine, citing a lack of arms and ammunition.

Huge chunks have been handed over to the enemy. All of this is being totally hidden from everyone. One day Russia will wake up to discover that Crimea too has been handed over to Ukraine.

UPDATE 1652 GMT:

Germany has announced a new package of military aid for Ukraine.

The assistance includes two tank tractors and trailers; 1,000 155-mm artillery rounds; six vehicles for border patrols; 155 mm Volcano precision guided munitions; and missiles for Patriot aid defense systems.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also announced €381 million
($418 million) in humanitarian aid.

Addressing the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London, she said the aid will includes generators, food, tents, and support for mine clearance.

We want Ukraine to emerge victorious in this war and to achieve lasting peace.

Today, we are here to emphasize that the German government is intensifying its efforts to assist Ukraine in its recovery.

UPDATE 1632 GMT:

European Union ambassadors have reported adopted the 11th set of sanctions, expanding the list of goods and technology which are denied transit to Russia.

The banned items are those which might aid Russia’s military or security sectors.

Suspensions of broadcasting licenses are extended on five Russian State-controlled media.

Access to EU ports will be denied to vessels which engage in ship-to-ship transfers if the cargo is suspected to originate in Russia.

An additional 71 individuals and 33 entities will be subject to asset freezes and travel bans.

Hungary and Greece had held up the package, developed since April because some of their companies were listed for doing business with Russia and contributing to Moscow’s war effort.

UPDATE 1328 GMT:

Addressing the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says proposed European Union financial assistance of €50 billion ($54.58 billion) will cover about 45% of Kyiv’s needs through 2027.

Until 2027, Ukraine’s remaining fiscal gap is about €60 billion. The needs for fast recovery are about €50 billion euros. That makes in total €110 billion euros until 2027 that are not covered.

UPDATE 0909 GMT:

Joining the International Ukraine Recovery Conference 2023 by video link, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said:

The world is watching to see if we will restore normal life in such a way that our transformation will land an ideological defeat on the aggressor.

We protect Ukraine and thus we protect freedom. And when we build Ukraine we will build freedom, country, region, continent, world. It’s a global task.

UPDATE 0803 GMT:

The Ukraine military says its counter-offensive in the south has had “partial success”, with troops reinforcing liberated positions in the Zaporizhzhia region.

General Staff spokesperson Andriy Kovalev said, “They had partial success in the directions of Novodanilivka-Robotyne, Mala Tokmachka-Verbove, Vilne Pole-Makarivka. they are consolidating at the achieved boundaries.”

Kovalev said Ukraine is holding off Russia’s attempt to regain the initiative in the east, with “especially heavy fighting” near Lyman in the Donetsk region.

UPDATE 0759 GMT:

The Ukraine Defense Ministry has confirmed that European Union states will train up to 30,000 Ukrainian troops this year.

EU officials made the pledge in February, raising an initial target of 15,000 soldiers and territorial defense personnel.

UPDATE 0731 GMT:

The June 6 demolition of the Nova Kakhovka Dam has caused €1.2 billion of damage, Ukraine Environment Minister Ruslan Strilets said on Tuesday.

The dam’s collapse has caused flooding throughout the Kherson region in southern Ukraine, killing at least 52 people, forcing the evacuation of thousands, and threatening 500,000 hectares of agricultural land.

Multiple investigations have pointed to the use of explosives by Russian troops to bring down the dam.

Strilets said, “There are things that we can never restore. These are the ecosystems that were washed away into the Black Sea. This includes 20,000 animals that probably died, including endemic species that were only found in southern Ukraine.”

Ukraine’s head of military intelligence Kyrylo Budanov said on Tuesday that the Russian unit at the dam was ordered to evacuate 30 minutes before the explosion.

He said Russian special forces then arrived. A car — photographed by a drone and apparently rigged with explosives — “belonged to them”.

Oleksandr Khorunzhyi, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, said the main evacuation has been completed.

He reported that 818 houses in four settlements remain flooded. On the Russian-occupied left (east) bank, 17 settlements are still affected.

UPDATE 0718 GMT:

Ukraine has finally repatriated 3 of 11 POWs from Hungary, almost two weeks after they were transferred from Russia to Budapest.

The Ukraine Foreign Ministry said it was denied access to the men, all of Hungarian origin with roots in Transcarpathia, a region in western Ukraine: “Essentially they are being kept in isolation.”

Ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko posted on Tuesday, “The Embassy of Ukraine in Budapest managed to bring back three Ukrainian prisoners of war from Hungary.”

He said diplomats and other officials are still trying to bring back the remaining eight POWs.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has welcomed a two-day conference on Ukraine’s reconstruction, opening Wednesday in London, as “a global project of protection”.

In his nightly address to the nation, Zelenskiy said of the International Ukraine Recovery Conference 2023, with delegations from more than 60 countries:

A rebuilt Ukraine, a transformed Ukraine, a strengthened Ukraine is a carrier of security and a guarantor of security.

It is protection against any form of Russian terror and protection against any repetition of Russian aggression.

On Tuesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed a European Union program of €50 billion ($54.58 billion) in financial assistance for 2024 -2027. Succeeding the €18 billion authorized for 2023, the package will help finance running costs of the Zelenskiy Government — including public sector salaries and pensions — as well as supporting emergency recovery.

The UK is expected to announce $3 billion of additional guarantees to ensure World Bank funding.

The World Bank estimates that $14 billion is needed for immediate repairs of damage from Russia’s invasion. The wider recovery of the economy is projected to cost $441 billion.

Mustafa Nayyem, the head of the Ukraine State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development, highlighted the scale of the project: “Historically the largest amount of money we have been capable of working with was $6 billion a year in 2014.”

Counter-Offensive “Clearing Ukraine” of Russian Invasion

Zelenskiy also spoke of the counter-offensive in which Ukrainian forces are “very actively destroying the enemy, physically clearing Ukraine”.

Protection against terror means the destruction of terrorists. And it is a guarantee that the evil state will never again have the opportunity to bring evil to Ukraine.

Ukraine’s commander of land forces, Gen. Oleksander Syrskyi, said troops were making further progress around Bakhmut in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, weeks after the city was seized by a year-long Russian assault.

Syrskyi added that Russia’s attacks near Kupyansk, was being repelled.

Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar spoke of the operations in the east and in the south, where forces have liberated eight villages.

[They are] gradually, in small steps, but very confidently, making advances. We could even use the allegory that we are carving up every metre of land from the enemy.