WAR IN UKRAINE: June 2, 2022
An evacuation convoy travels along a damaged road on the outskirts of Kharkiv. Credit: RFE/RL
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 99
Luhansk Oblast Governor: Russian forces control about 70% of Sievierodonetsk. Governor Serhiy Haidai told Sky News that Russian troops are now in control of around 70% of Sievierodonetsk, and heavy fighting is ongoing in the city. The governor added that the town is not encircled. However, he said, the city’s critical infrastructure is almost entirely destroyed, with 90% of residential buildings damaged - Kyiv Independent
The Biden administration plans to sell Ukraine four MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones that can be armed with Hellfire missiles for battlefield use against Russia, three people familiar with the situation told the Reuters news agency. The sale of the General Atomics-made drones could still be blocked by Congress, the sources said, adding that there is also a risk of a last minute policy reversal that could scuttle the plan, which has been under review at the Pentagon for several weeks.
Russia has accused the US of seeking to prolong the war in Ukraine after President Biden said he would supply Kyiv with new long-range missiles. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the US was "intentionally adding fuel to the fire" with the deliveries. "Such supplies do not contribute to the Ukrainian leadership's willingness to resume peace negotiations," he added - BBC. Context: Ukraine says it urgently needs long-range rockets that have a range of over 50 miles in order to defeat the Russians. However the Biden Administration had said that it will not be supplying rockets that have the ability to strike inside of Russia (but the US says Kyiv has given assurances that this will not happen). Meanwhile, the Russian side is using ultra long-range cruise missile from inside Russia to target Ukrainian cities more than 1000 miles away. Commenting on the US provsion of the longer-range missiles to Ukraine, BBC diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams said: “Ukraine will be looking to hit targets well beyond its current reach - command and control centres, logistics hubs, and the Russian batteries that have Ukrainian troops pinned down in Donbas.”
The United Nations says a senior UN official had "constructive discussions" in Moscow on facilitating Russian grain and fertilizer exports to global markets after Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba accused Russia of "playing hunger games" with the world by blocking Ukrainian food exports.
A sixth sanctions package has been approved by the European Union. But ambassadors say it doesn’t include Russian Orthodox Church head Patriarch Kirill following objections from Hungary. Earlier, Hungary had held up the sanctions by insisting on carve-outs for its oil imports. The last minute revision is seen as a blow to the reputation of the body as it seeks to project unity on Russia policy.
Since the beginning of hostilities, Russia has carried out 5,722 operational-tactical aircraft flights and 551 launches of "Iskander" and "Kalibr" cruise missiles - Oleksii Hromov, the Deputy Chief of the Main Operations Department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, quoted by "Interfax-Ukraine"
Less than a month after Bulgaria said it was ending refugee reimbursements to hotels as the tourist season approached on its Black Sea coast, around 60,000 Ukrainians faced a deadline of June 1 to vacate hotels that became subsidized shelters amid a massive regional crisis. "The Bulgarian state cannot continue to support such a luxurious stay in Bulgaria," Petkov, who took office in December 2021, said on May 31. Full RFE/RL story here
Yesterday a key advisor to Ukraine’s President said that the government banned three Ukrainian channels from the government operated national digital broadcast network because they were friendly to former President Poroshenko, and because they weren’t ready to broadcast twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, a national marathon orchestrated by the government. Wrote Kyiv-based observer Bohdan Chomiak: “That news marathon dedicates at least 40% of its informational service to linking every Ukrainian event to Zelensky. The three banned channels currently broadcast Zelensky’s daily videos where he rambles about his accomplishments and chastises everyone else. Unless Zelensky stops being the authority on everything and starts respecting others, institutions and the rule of law, there is little hope Ukraine will join the EU. After all, they already have one Orban and don’t need another.”