Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump at the G20 summit, Osaka, Japan, June 28, 2019
Wednesday’s Coverage: Russia’s “Absolute Depravity” with Attack of Almost 1,000 Missiles and Drones
UPDATE 1816 GMT:
At least three civilians have been murdered and 39 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.
Air defenses intercepted 130 of 153 drones. At least 16 drones evaded defenses and struck 11 locations. One intercepted UAV crashed on Romanian territory near the border.
Six regions were left without power: Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Sumy, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv. The situation is most severe in Chernihiv and Odesa, with repeated attacks causing “extensive damage” to energy facilities.
In the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine, Oblast, a 70-year-old woman and 61-year-old man were killed and 18 people injured, including a 15-year-old girl.
A 66-year-old employee of a heat and power plant was slain in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine.
Casualties were also recorded in the Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Odesa regions.
UPDATE 1431 GMT:
The US Department of Defense is considering whether to divert weapons intended for Ukraine to the Middle East amid the material cost of the US-Israel War on Iran, according to “three people familiar with the matter”.
A final decision has not been made. However, the weapons include air defense interceptor missiles, bought by NATO members and transferred to Kyiv.
Olga Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the US, said Kyiv is keeping partners apprised of its needs, including on air defense, but understands the “period of considerable uncertainty”.
“Any disruptions at the outset of recent operations in the Middle East have been mitigated,” she assured.
However, a Ukrainian official said Kyiv is concerned about the possible diversion of vital weapons for defense against Russia’s invasion.
UPDATE 1403 GMT:
Hungary’s pro-Russian Orbán Government is filing charges against the country’s leading investigative journalist, Szabolcs Panyi, amid media reports that Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó regularly consulted with the Kremlin.
Journalists in Hungary, the UK, and the US established that Szijjártó frequently updated Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov with details about confidential European Union meetings.
UPDATE 1243 GMT:
A Sierra Leone-flagged, Turkish-owned oil tanker, the Altura, was hit by a drone 15 nautical miles off Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait.
The tanker, sanctioned by the European Union and the UK, had left the port of Novorossiysk in southwest Russia with around 1 million barrels of crude oil.
The ship was struck on the bridge, and its engine room took on water. All 27 personnel are safe.
But with the US waiving all sanctions on Russian oil at sea until April 11, a ship carrying more than 700,000 barrels has arrived in the Philippines.
The Sierra Leone-flagged Sara Sky, with the crude from Russia’s ESPO pipeline, arrived last Monday. The consignee is Petron, the Philippines’ sole oil company that operates its own refinery.
UPDATE 1237 GMT:
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he has given the military permission to board and detain vessels in Russia’s “shadow fleet”, which is circumventing international sanctions on Moscow’s maritime oil exports.
UPDATE 1013 GMT:
At least 15 Zimbabwean citizens have been killed fighting for Russia in Ukraine.
Zimbabwe Information Minister Zhemu Soda said the men were victims of human trafficking. They were deceived into enlisting by the Russians, including through social media.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: The Trump Administration has linked any US security guarantees for Ukraine to Kyiv’s full withdrawal from the Donetsk region in the east of the country.
In an interview with Reuters, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the Trump ultimatum, “The Americans are prepared to finalize these guarantees at a high level once Ukraine is ready to withdraw from Donbas [the Donetsk and Luhansk regions].”
He said the US-Israel War on Iran has been a catalyst.
The Middle East definitely has an impact on President Trump, and I think on his next steps. President Trump, unfortunately, still chooses a strategy of putting more pressure on the Ukrainian side.
Zelensky emphasized that Ukraine will not give way to the pressure: “I would very much like the American side to understand that the eastern part of our country is part of our security guarantees.”
Ukraine controls around 20% of Donetsk, with Russia struggling to advance despite years of offensives incurring heavy casualties. Significantly, the Ukraine-held territory is part of a “Fortress Belt” protecting the rest of the country.
The Trump Administration has swung back and forth on the issue. Donald Trump’s envoy, real estate developer Steve Witkoff, has been a loud advocate of the Kremlin’s demands. In late October, he and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner colluded with Vladimir Putin’s top financial advisor Kirill Dmitriev on a 28-point ultimatum to Kyiv.
Howevers, others in the Administration supported Ukraine and Europe as they pushed back with a counter-proposal. Security guarantees, including the US role, have been a central part of the plan.
Zelensky avoided any criticism of Trump:
I am not a box of chocolates or a car, to be liked or disliked by one person or another. In my opinion, the President of the United States looks at this more pragmatically, and he probably wants the war to end quickly. We also want to do so quickly.
Zelensky also spoke of Russia’s offer to the Trump Administration: Moscow will stop sharing military intelligence with Iran — including information targeting US warplanes, warships, and troop positions — if the US will stop intelligence-sharing with Ukraine.
The President said Ukraine’s military intelligence service has “irrefutable” evidence of the offer.
I have reports from our intelligence services showing that Russia is doing this and saying: “I will not pass on intelligence to Iran if America stops passing intelligence to Ukraine.”
Isn’t that blackmail? Absolutely.
