WAR IN UKRAINE: June 21, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 483
High powered group of world leaders and ministers at the Ukraine Recovery Conference: US, Estonia, Canada, Latvia, Poland, Germany, Italy, and Japan.
From the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London…
The two-day Ukraine Recovery Conference is underway in London, with over 1,000 delegates from more than 60 countries discussing reconstruction and how it can be funded. The bill could ultimately be north of $1-trillion, especially after Russia’s sabotage of the dam at the Kakhovka HPP. There are top leaders and senior ministers from the US (Secretary of State Antony Blinken), France, Estonia, Canada, Latvia, Poland, Germany, Italy and Japan.
Conspicuously absent from the London conference is a strong ally of Ukraine - Australia. The Sydney Morning Herald quoted me as saying: “While the most important thing is for Australia to continue providing military assistance to Ukraine, its absence from such a major event risks sending the wrong signal to Kyiv and other allies….It’s a real head scratcher of a decision. Even more so considering that Canberra hasn’t reopened its embassy in Kyiv.”
UK PM Rishi Sunak announced $3-billion in World Bank loan guarantees for the reconstruction of Ukraine. With a $5-billion monthly budget deficit and a total reconstruction bill said to be north of $1-trillion, Kyiv will need much more. Sunak said: “As we’ve seen in Bakhmut and Mariupol, what Russia cannot take it will seek to destroy. They want to do the same to Ukraine’s economy…we’ll stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes as they continue to win this war.’ He praised Ukraine for its spirit and says “despite the threat of attack, people are getting on with their lives – and getting on with business.”
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has addressed the Ukraine Recovery Conference via video from Kyiv. He said Russia has committed one biggest crimes of ‘ecocide’ in modern times by blowing up dam at Kakhovka HPP. Both the New York Times and the Associated Press investigations have pointed finger at Russia for the hugely damaging explosion. Zelensky says as soon as war started Kyiv started to disassemble “the old oligarch model” of the economy. Absolutely crucial point as many young Ukrainians who fled tell me they expect to return to a country built back better without corruption & oligarch self interest
France will reportedly support Ukraine's NATO membership bid. The idea, according to Le Monde, is to increase pressure on Russia at a time when the Ukrainian counter-offensive is proving challenging for the Kremlin. Although the French foreign minister was somewhat noncommittal to journalists when asked about that scenario today.
A bit of irony: While the UK and western partners are promoting reform and digitalization in Ukraine, at least one Ukraine-based media crew found out that their digital IDs were not acceptable at the media accreditation desks at the Ukraine Reform Conference…
While western companies are being encouraged to invest in Ukraine, it is being alleged that components manufactured by western firms and entities are ending up in weapons used by Russia ti pummel Ukraine. The Ukrainian Armed Forces disassembled captured RF weaponry and allegedly found components from the US, Denmark, China, Taiwan, Netherlands and Japan.
Elsewhere…
Russia launched a fresh wave of missile and drone strikes on several Ukrainian regions and the capital overnight, Ukraine's air defense and regional officials said early on June 21, as the military reported some "partial success" in their counteroffensive operations in the southern region of Zaporizhzhya - RFE/RL
Bulgaria’s new defense minister, Todor Tagarev, has signaled a likely break from the previous caretaker government’s reluctance to provide lethal aid to Ukraine.
Russia has been building up rear defensive lines in southern Ukraine over the past weeks, particularly on the approaches to occupied Crimea, the U.K. Defense Ministry wrote on June 21. Meanwhile, over the past day, Russian forces attacked 10 oblasts, killing four people and injuring 15 more, Ukrainian officials reported on June 21. Two people were killed in Kherson Oblast and two were killed in Donetsk Oblast. - Kyiv Independent
General Electric has stopped servicing GE-made gas turbines installed at Russian thermal power plants with extended sanctions over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine coming into force - RFE/RL