WAR IN UKRAINE: June 27, 2023

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 489

  • In his nightly address from June 26, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukrainian forces had advanced in all areas along the front lines where the country is conducting offensive operations. President Zelensky's office said on the same day that he had visited Ukrainian troops in Donetsk Oblast. Separately, Ukrainian forces have advanced up to 1.5 kilometers in the Melitopol direction, Interfax-Ukraine reported on June 26, citing the spokesperson for the Taurida Group of Forces Valerii Shershen - Kyiv Independent

  • Preparations are under way for Wagner to hand over its heavy military hardware, Russia’s defence ministry says, following Saturday's failed rebellion. Russian media cites the FSB security service as saying the criminal case against Wagner mutineers has been closed

  • In a speech on Monday, Vladimir Putin confirmed Wagner fighters can choose to join the Russian military, return to their families or go to Belarus. The Russian president also confirmed Russian army pilots were killed in clashes with Wagner troops during the rebellion - BBC

  • President Volodymyr Zelensky on June 26 issued a decree ordering the relevant authorities to put Ukrainian bomb shelters in order by July 25. According to the document, the Cabinet of Ministers and the regional authorities must identify those responsible for the poor state of some of the shelters and provide information on the measures taken by June 30. The decree tasked the Cabinet of Ministers with appointing an official responsible for oversight over shelters and their restoration. A bill will also be submitted to the parliament by July 31 to strengthen criminal liability for improper management of bomb shelters. The responsible authorities must remove unusable shelters from electronic maps by June 30, put all other shelters in order by July 25 and provide constant, unhindered access to them. The Ukrainian authorities initiated a nationwide audit after two women and a nine-year-old child were killed by missile debris in Kyiv on June 1 when they could not access a nearby bomb shelter.

  • The above mentioned scandal with bomb shelters is behind a feud between Zelenskyy and Kyiv Mayor Yevgeni Klitschko which blew up into the open last week during the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London. The boxer-turned-politician accused unnamed Ukrainian authorities - presumably the Presidential Administration - of harassing city officials and slowing the crucial work of the city. Why after all over a year of war, it took the tragic deaths of innocent civilians to wake up the authorities to the problems with bomb shelters is beyond me.

  • Looking away from the Wagner episode for a moment, Switzerland’s intelligence agency warns that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made Switzerland a hub for Russian espionage. Christian Dussey, head of the Federal Intelligence Service (FIS), says that of the roughly 220 accredited Russian diplomats, either in Bern or the Russian mission to the UN in Geneva, “at least a third” are actually spies. “Russia has destroyed the rules-based order for peace in Europe,” the FIS says in its annual report.