War UkraineApparently dissatisfied with the course of the invasion in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has again put a number of senior military personnel on the dike.
According to British intelligence, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Igor Osipov, as well as Serhi Kisel, the general who had to capture Kharkov, have been removed from their posts. There is no confirmation for this from Russia, but it was previously noted that Osipov in particular was emphatically absent from the grandstand during the military parade on 9 May.
The admiral is blamed for the painful loss of the Russian flagship Moskva, the cruiser sank after hits by the Ukrainian army. At Kharkov, the Russian army has not yet been able to force a breakthrough and troops have been withdrawing for several weeks – just as before at Kiev. So Kisel is now being blamed for that. Senior military personnel in the Russian intelligence services were previously sidelined or arrested.
According to Russian deputy minister Andrei Rudenko, peace talks with Ukraine could be resumed “as soon as the Ukrainians show a willingness to do so”. A remarkable statement because the tables seem to have turned somewhat since the beginning of the war when Moscow seemed to dictate the tone and nature of the discussions. With successes on the battlefield, the Ukrainians would now show no rush to get back to the table.
The Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine – which also includes Kharkov, the country’s second city – is said to have stalled. For weeks there has been a stalemate with mainly artillery shelling from both sides. Dozens of civilians have already been killed, both parties report. The Russian plan to quickly surround the Ukrainian army in the east also seems to have failed, anonymous US Defense sources told The New York Times. Senior US military officer, General Mark Milley, and Russian Chief of Staff Valeri Gerasimov met yesterday for the first time since war broke out in Ukraine, the Pentagon said. Until now, the Russians would not have picked up the phone. As agreed in advance, the content of the telephone conversation remains confidential.
annex
Russian media reports that Moscow plans to permanently annex conquered parts of southeastern Ukraine. According to Marat Khusnoellin, the Russian infrastructure minister who was in the Donbas yesterday, the region will have “a worthy place in our Russian family”. It is also reported that the intention is also to permanently demolish the largely destroyed steel factories of Mariupol and other heavy industry and to give the long-besieged city a bright future as a fashionable seaside resort. The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) says that the radical new construction plans for Mariupol mainly confirm the image of the enormous damage there that ‘Russian troops have inflicted on themselves’. In addition, the economy of Donbas would not need a new seaside resort for Russian tourists, but rather a recovery of heavy industry, according to the ISW.
The Ukrainian port city of Kherson, more to the west, must also be annexed “when residents have expressed how they want to proceed and with whom,” said a Russian government spokesman. Ukrainian spokesmen have been warning for some time about a fake referendum in which the outcome is predetermined.
pop star
The well-known Russian pop star and peace activist Yuri Shevchuk (65) has condemned the invasion of Ukraine at the end of a concert. He called Putin ‘our newest Caesar’, referring to Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator and conqueror. According to Shevchuk’s manager, the singer of the band DDT has been interrogated by Russian security services and has been taken to court. Fans of the popular singer are concerned.
The New York Times has got videos proving that Russian paratroopers were involved in executions in Butya, Ukraine. The Russians occupied the suburb of Kiev for more than a month. Hundreds of civilian bodies were found after their retreat in April. One of the videos, from a security camera, shows two paratroopers driving nine Ukrainian men down the street. The inmates walk crouched, holding one hand behind their heads and the other holding their predecessor’s belt. The second video was shot from a nearby house. It shows how the men are taken to a courtyard. The video ends, but eyewitnesses told newspaper reporters that the soldiers took the prisoners from there to the nearby Russian headquarters. They were shot there. The images date from March 4.
shelling
At least 12 civilians were killed and 40 injured in shelling on the eastern Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk yesterday. According to the Ukrainian governor, random neighborhoods had been shelled with heavy weapons.
Deficiencies
While Russia can still fall back on even rising oil and gas revenues, the budget deficit in Ukraine as a result of the war against Russia has risen to 5 billion dollars (4.7 billion euros) per month. The country can only bear that burden with foreign financial aid, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky said in his video message last night. He thanked the United States, where the Senate yesterday gave the green light for the previously announced aid package worth 40 billion dollars. He also said he was grateful for the 9 billion euros that the European Union pledged on Wednesday. The foreign money should not be seen as a gift, but as a “contribution to one’s own security,” Zelenski emphasized. “Because defending Ukraine also means defending ourselves against new wars and crises that Russia may provoke.”
The European Commission is investigating whether the frozen assets of Russian oligarchs can be used for the reconstruction of Ukraine, committee chair Ursula von der Leyen said on the German channel ZDF last night. Since the start of the war, the US and Europe have seized some $30 billion in Russian assets. In addition to bank accounts, this also concerns yachts, real estate and art. Von der Leyen said lawyers are currently looking at the possibilities of using those funds for Ukraine. Von der Leyen also wants European aid for reconstruction to be linked to the reforms necessary for Ukraine’s eventual accession to the European Union.
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