WAR IN UKRAINE: July 1, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 493
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday ordered security to be beefed up at his country's border with Belarus, where fighters from the Russian paramilitary group Wagner have been offered exile. Zelensky said he had been informed on Friday of the situation in Belarus by the Ukrainian intelligence service GUR, foreign intelligence services and border guards. “By the decision of the Stavka (chief of staff), Commander-in-Chief (Valery) Zaluzhny and General (Sergey) Nayev were instructed to strengthen the northern direction in order to guarantee peace. There are appropriate deadlines," the Ukraine leader said in a video posted on Telegram.
On BBC World Television Friday evening, I said that I doubted Wagner Group chief Yevgeni Prigozhin would go into silent exile in Belarus. There’s a high possibility he will use it as a base to deliver more evil to the world. If that includes a rogue or planned attack on Ukraine’s northern borders, the armed forces are much better prepared to defend their positions.
During a secret visit to Ukraine by CIA Director William J. Burns earlier last month, Ukrainian officials revealed an ambitious strategy to retake Russian-occupied territory and open cease-fire negotiations with Moscow by the end of the year, according to officials familiar with the visit. The trip by Burns, which has not been previously reported, included meetings with President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine’s top intelligence officials. It came at a critical moment in the conflict as Ukrainian forces struggle to gain an early advantage in their long-awaited counteroffensive but have yet to deploy most of their Western-trained and -equipped assault brigades. “Director Burns recently traveled to Ukraine, as he has done regularly since the beginning of Russia’s recent aggression more than a year ago,” said a U.S. official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the unannounced visit. Its purpose was to reaffirm the Biden administration’s commitment to sharing intelligence meant to help Ukraine defend itself, the official added - Washington Post
Ukraine wants to show results on the battlefield before the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius, but every kilometer costs lives, President Volodymyr Zelensky told Spanish public broadcaster RTVE. Meanwhile, Zelensky signed into law a bill securing additional payments and vacations for military personnel.
The Biden administration is strongly considering approving the transfer of controversial cluster munition warheads to Ukraine, multiple people familiar with the matter told CNN, as the Ukrainians struggle to make major gains in their weeks’ old counteroffensive. Officials told CNN that a final decision is expected soon from the White House, and that if approved, the weapons could be included in a new military aid package to Ukraine as soon as next month. “These would undoubtedly have a significant battlefield impact,” a US official told CNN. But the US had been reluctant to provide them because of the risk they could pose to civilians, and because some key US allies, including the UK, France and Germany, are signatories to a ban on cluster munitions – weapons that scatter “bomblets” across large areas that can fail to explode on impact and can pose a long-term risk to anyone who encounters them, similar to landmines - CNN
Unicef estimates 82 per cent of Ukrainian children currently live in poverty. More than half of the 7.5 million child population has been displaced – 2 million in other countries. Separated from family and friends, many live on hand-outs in temporary accommodation. Some 1.5 million children are at risk of mental health issues with long-term implications. More than 1,500 under 18s have been killed or injured. In education, less than a third of schools are delivering in-person learning. About 3 million children have been attending online classes full or part-time for more than a year. They study with a parent’s mobile phone, in bomb-shelters, or in secret in Russian-occupied territories - The Telegraph
Death, displacement, doubt and fear damage children’s psyches and their ability to cope. The Sesame Street Workshop is helping kids who should never experience what they’re undergoing in Ukraine. Watch the PBS NewsHour story here