WAR IN UKRAINE: June 3, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 465
Ukrainian shelling killed two people on Saturday in Russia's Belgorod, a border region that has been hit by repeated attacks this week, the local governor said. Belgorod border villages have been hit by unprecedented shelling, and the latest deaths bring the overall toll to seven this week. "Since this morning, the district of Shebekino has been under shelling of the Ukrainian armed forces," said Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. He said an "elderly woman" was killed in the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka and another woman died from her wounds in the village of Bezlyudovka. Two other people were wounded in the shelling - Moscow Times
Russia continues to have “significant losses” during fighting around the eastern city of Bakhmut, according to the commander of Ukraine’s Ground Forces. The Russian military has taken over most of the positions in Bakhmut held by Wagner fighters, according to the private military company's leader. Meanwhile, Russia carried out more than 60 airstrikes and 15 missile strikes over 24 hours on Friday, according to the Ukrainian military, while its forces also rebuffed more than a dozen ground assaults - CNN
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was now ready to launch a long-awaited counteroffensive but tempered a forecast of success with a warning: It could take some time and come at a heavy cost. “We strongly believe that we will succeed,” Zelensky said in an interview in this southern port city as his country’s military girded for what could be one of the war’s most consequential phases as it aims to retake territory occupied by Russia. “I don’t know how long it will take,” he told The Wall Street Journal. “To be honest, it can go a variety of ways, completely different. But we are going to do it, and we are ready.”
Zelenskiy ordered an audit of all of Ukraine's air raid shelters after a 9-year-old girl, her mother, and another woman were killed by falling fragments of a missile after being unable to enter a Kyiv shelter that was reportedly locked during a Russian attack - RFE/RL
Spare parts from partner countries of Ukraine - Danilov were found in Russian attack drones. "We took apart the drones and, unfortunately, found parts there that are not produced either in Iran or in Russia," commented the secretary of the NSDC. Danilov suggested that spare parts could have been purchased even before the start of a full-scale invasion, since the drones were mostly produced in 2019-2021 - UP