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As many as 100 Russian troops gathered for motivational speech may have been killed
Peter Beaumont
As many as 100 Russian troops gathered for a motivational speech near Ukraine’s eastern frontline may have been killed in a strike earlier this week, prompting fury among Russian military bloggers.
While the details remain unclear and unconfirmed, a number of Russian Telegram channels have been discussing the attack, which they say took place near Kreminna, an eastern town in the Luhansk region where there has been heavy fighting.
The alleged incident took place as soldiers were gathered and made to wait for two hours for a speech from a divisional commander, identified by some as Sukhrab Akhmedov, of the 20th Guards Combined Arms Army, an already controversial figure who had been blamed for the deaths of large numbers of his troops in a botched offensive last year.
According to the Russian military blogger Rybar, the soldiers who were due to be deployed on an offensive had been told to muster for a speech.
The tragic incident occurred near Kreminna, in one of the divisions that was about to go on the offensive.
For two hours, people stood in a crowd in one place and waited for the division commander to deliver a motivational speech. But instead, Himars and enemy artillery spoke.
Rybar added there “were fewer casualties in several days of fighting in the south Donetsk direction than from the criminal stupidity of the division commander”.
Other military bloggers quickly weighed in. “If by the middle of the second year of the war there are commanders who take the columns to the front, make the personnel form a big heap and then wait for the enemy’s artillery to hit them, then such commanders should be shot in front of the columns, even if they are colonels or generals,” said one.
“We are at war with our own stupidity and negligence,” said another.
The strike was given additional credence by the US thinktank the Institute for the Study of War, which included it in its daily updated on the conflict:
ISW has observed both of the 20th CAA’s divisions, the 144th and 3rd Motorized Rifle Ddivisions, operating in the Kreminna area for the past several months and could not confirm which division was struck by the Ukrainian forces.
One milblogger[military blogger] suggested that the reported Ukrainian HIMARSimars strike killed around 100 Russian personnel and wounded another 100, although ISW has not observed any visual confirmation of the strike or its aftermath.[9]
The outrage is reminiscent of previous instances of notable irresponsible Russian military actions resulting in dramatic losses, particularly the 31 December 2022, Ukrainian strike on a large Russian force concentration in Makiivka, Donetsk oblast.
Key events
Zelenskiy’s former spokesperson has shared this video of Kyiv graduates waltzing in the subway during an air raid alert:
UN nuclear watchdog says ‘number of measures’ taken to stabilise Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog, said a “number of measures have been taken to stabilise the situation at Europe’s largest atomic power plant.
Rafael Grossi said inspectors will stay at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, occupied by Russia (see also this earlier post), but that signing a document on security on the site is “unrealistic” while the two sides were still fighting.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief visited the plant, in southern Ukraine, where the Kakhovka dam burst earlier this month, today after meeting the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to discuss concerns about the site.
Russia’s deputy finance minister, Alexei Sazanov, has said the country is approaching the tax ceiling for commodity industries.
He cited what he called weak global demand for their products, reports Interfax news agency.
The US, UK, Netherlands and Denmark to send hundreds of missiles to Ukraine
The US, UK, Netherlands and Denmark have announced they will partner to send defence equipment – including hundreds of missiles – to Ukraine.
A joint statement released by the British government said delivery of the equipment had already begun and should be completed “within several weeks”.
As many as 100 Russian troops gathered for motivational speech may have been killed
Peter Beaumont
As many as 100 Russian troops gathered for a motivational speech near Ukraine’s eastern frontline may have been killed in a strike earlier this week, prompting fury among Russian military bloggers.
While the details remain unclear and unconfirmed, a number of Russian Telegram channels have been discussing the attack, which they say took place near Kreminna, an eastern town in the Luhansk region where there has been heavy fighting.
The alleged incident took place as soldiers were gathered and made to wait for two hours for a speech from a divisional commander, identified by some as Sukhrab Akhmedov, of the 20th Guards Combined Arms Army, an already controversial figure who had been blamed for the deaths of large numbers of his troops in a botched offensive last year.
According to the Russian military blogger Rybar, the soldiers who were due to be deployed on an offensive had been told to muster for a speech.
The tragic incident occurred near Kreminna, in one of the divisions that was about to go on the offensive.
For two hours, people stood in a crowd in one place and waited for the division commander to deliver a motivational speech. But instead, Himars and enemy artillery spoke.
Rybar added there “were fewer casualties in several days of fighting in the south Donetsk direction than from the criminal stupidity of the division commander”.
Other military bloggers quickly weighed in. “If by the middle of the second year of the war there are commanders who take the columns to the front, make the personnel form a big heap and then wait for the enemy’s artillery to hit them, then such commanders should be shot in front of the columns, even if they are colonels or generals,” said one.
“We are at war with our own stupidity and negligence,” said another.
The strike was given additional credence by the US thinktank the Institute for the Study of War, which included it in its daily updated on the conflict:
ISW has observed both of the 20th CAA’s divisions, the 144th and 3rd Motorized Rifle Ddivisions, operating in the Kreminna area for the past several months and could not confirm which division was struck by the Ukrainian forces.
One milblogger[military blogger] suggested that the reported Ukrainian HIMARSimars strike killed around 100 Russian personnel and wounded another 100, although ISW has not observed any visual confirmation of the strike or its aftermath.[9]
The outrage is reminiscent of previous instances of notable irresponsible Russian military actions resulting in dramatic losses, particularly the 31 December 2022, Ukrainian strike on a large Russian force concentration in Makiivka, Donetsk oblast.
MEPs have called on Nato allies to honour their commitment to Ukraine by inviting the country to join the defence alliance and support opening EU accession negotiations this year, a press release from the European parliament says.
There were 425 votes in favour of the resolution and 38 against, with 42 abstentions. The release says:
MEPs stress that they expect that the “accession process will start after the war is over and be finalised as soon as possible”.
Until full membership is achieved, the EU and its member states, together with Nato allies and like-minded partners, must work closely with Ukraine to develop a temporary framework for security guarantees, MEPs say, which is to be implemented immediately after the war.
Parliament emphasises that Ukraine’s integration in both Nato and the EU would enhance regional and global security and strengthen the bonds between Ukraine and the Euro-Atlantic community.
MEPs condemned “in the strongest possible terms Russia’s destruction of the Kakhovka dam” on 6 June, which they said had caused extensive flooding and created an environmental disaster as well as ecocide in Ukraine.
All those responsible for war crimes, including the destruction of the dam, would be held accountable in line with international law, they added.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged Switzerland to allow the re-export of weapons to Ukraine, saying the move would be vital in combatting the Russian invasion.
In a video message shown in the Swiss parliament, he said:
I know there is a discussion in Switzerland about the exportation of war material to protect and defend Ukraine. That would be vital
We need weapons so we can restore peace in Ukraine.
Switzerland has a longstanding policy of barring any country that buys Swiss arms from re-exporting them to the parties in a conflict. The country also imposed a specific Swiss embargo on munitions going to either Russia or Ukraine in November last year, Reuters reports.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy addressed the Swiss parliament via video message, where he asked Switzerland to take a leading role in the global peace summit on Ukraine, Reuters reports.
Here are some images from the wires.
More information to come …
Russian missiles hit two industrial facilities in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Thursday, and an elderly woman was killed by Russian fire in the southern Kherson region, local officials said.
Kryvyi Rih mayor Oleksandr Vilkul reported no deaths in the latest attack on Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s home town, but said a 38-year-old man had been wounded when three missiles struck two industrial enterprises overnight.
On Telegram, Vilkul wrote:
The destruction is significant.
The attack on Kryvyi Rih followed missile strikes that killed at least 12 people in the city on Tuesday. Russia denies targeting civilians, but Ukrainian officials said none of the buildings hit had any links to the armed forces, Reuters reports.
Ukraine’s military also reported a new Russian attack on the southern port city of Odesa overnight but said all 18 drones launched by Russia had been shot down.
An 80-year-old woman was killed and another person wounded in an attack on the Zelenivka settlement in Kherson in southern Ukraine, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.
Russia’s Tass news agency quoted Moscow-installed officials in Russian-occupied territory in the Kherson region, which was hit by flooding after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, as saying a child had been killed by Ukrainian shelling.
Both sides have reported heavy fighting in the early stages of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Ukraine has regained control of more than 100 sq km, or 38 sq miles, of territory in its counteroffensive against Russian forces, a senior Ukrainian military commander claimed on Thursday.
Brig Gen Oleksii Hromov told a media briefing:
We are ready to continue fighting to liberate our territory even with our bare hands.
He confirmed that in the early stages of the offensive, which Ukraine said had begun last week, seven settlements had been liberated in the eastern region of Donetsk and in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia, Reuters reports.
The army has advanced by to 3km (1.8 miles) near the village of Mala Tokmachka in the Zaporizhzhia sector and by up to 7km near a village south of Velyka Novosilka in the Donetsk sector, military officials said.
Russia has not officially acknowledged the Ukrainian advances.
These claims have not been independently verified.
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog visited Europe’s largest atomic power plant on Thursday in southern Ukraine, where the Kakhovka dam burst earlier this month.
The visit was announced by Ukraine’s national nuclear energy company, Energoatom, in a Telegram post.
Rafael Grossi, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)chief, met Tuesday in Kyiv with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to discuss concerns about the Russia-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
The IAEA has repeatedly expressed alarm over the facility, which has repeatedly been caught in the crossfire since Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022 and seized the facility shortly after.
Last week, the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine’s partially Russian-occupied Kherson region added a new concern. The dam, further down the Dnipro River, helped keep water in a reservoir that cools the plant’s reactors.
The plant’s six reactors have been shut down for months, but it still needs power and qualified staff to operate crucial cooling systems and other safety features.
Russia’s central election commission on Thursday set the date for regional elections in four Ukrainian provinces that Moscow claims to have annexed for 10 September coinciding with votes in other Russian regions, state news agency RIA reported.
Tass, another state news agency, cited election chief Ella Pamfilova as saying that Russia’s Defence Ministry and Federal Security Service (FSB) considered it possible to hold the votes in September.
Ruslan Stefanchuk, chair of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, has said the European parliament expects that the summits in Vilnius and Washington in the coming months will mark the start of Ukraine’s accession to Nato after strong support for the country’s integration into the Euro-Atlantic community.
Nato sees no sign that Russia has changed its nuclear stance, the head of the military alliance said Thursday, after the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, claimed that Belarus had already received some tactical nuclear weapons from Moscow.
In an interview on state television on Tuesday, Lukashenko brashly warned that he would not hesitate to order their use if Belarus faced an act of aggression. The Russian president Vladimir Putin has said the weapons will be deployed to Belarus next month and will remain under Moscow’s exclusive control.
At the Nato headquarters in Brussels, Belgium the secretary general of Nato, Jens Stoltenberg, told reporters:
We are, of course, closely monitoring what Russia is doing. So far, we haven’t seen any changes in the nuclear posture that requires any changes in our posture.
Russia’s nuclear rhetoric and messaging is reckless and dangerous.
Russia must know that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. Russia has invested heavily in new modern nuclear capabilities and also deployed more nuclear capabilities, including close to Nato borders, for instance, in the high north.”
Nato’s secretive nuclear defence planning group is due to meet on Friday.
Russian forces successfully hit drone production facilities in Ukraine using high-precision, long-range weapons, Russia’s defence ministry said on Thursday, according to the state-run RIA news agency.
The ministry also said Russian air defences had intercepted five US-built Himars-launched missiles and shot down 25 drones, the Tass news agency also reported.
These claims have not been independently verified.
More information to come …
Ukraine reports progress on counteroffensive despite resistance from Russia
Kyiv on Thursday reported progress in its newly launched counteroffensive, despite strong resistance from Russian troops.
The Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar told a briefing:
There is a gradual but steady advance of the armed forces. At the same time, the enemy is putting up powerful resistance [on the southern front].
Around the frontline hotspot of Bakhmut, “the enemy is pulling up additional reserves and is trying with all its might to prevent the advance of Ukrainian forces”, according to AFP
Still, Maliar reported an advance of more than 3km (1.8 miles) in the area of Bakhmut.
Oleksiy Gromov of the Ukrainian armed forces’ general staff said Ukrainian forces have recaptured seven settlements and more than 100 sq km of territory.
Russia claims to have repelled all Ukrainian assaults.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said the soldiers who have lost their lives have not died in vain because Ukraine will defeat Russia. He said Ukrainians would honour their memory by winning and “living in freedom”.
It is only through the common strength of all our people that we can stop the enemy. And we will definitely stop Russia. We will drive it out of our land and with the freedom of 🇺🇦 Ukraine we will honor the memory of all those who gave their lives for Ukraine, the memory of all… pic.twitter.com/9zOE6Uy68v
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 15, 2023
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