WAR IN UKRAINE: June 6, 2022
A man waits to get water in Mariupol on May 30, amid the ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine. (AFP/Getty Images)
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 102
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky travelled on Sunday to the Zaporizhzhia region in the southeast, which is partly under Russian control. Zelensky visited command posts and frontline positions in Lysychansk, which sits across the Siverskyi Donets river from Severodonetsk, where Ukrainian troops were pushing back against Russian forces who had earlier appeared on the verge of taking the strategic city. He also visited Bakhmut, to the southwest in the Donetsk region of Donbas, and talked with servicemen - France 24
Earlier, Zelensky said that 113 churches have been “destroyed” since the start of the war - including one of the country’s best-known all-wooden churches over the weekend.
A series of long-range Russian cruise missile strikes interrupted the return of normalcy to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, early Sunday. Officials said one person was taken to hospital after missiles hit what they said was a railway repair depot. Russian officials claimed the target was a storage site fro tanks donated by Eastern European countries. Separately, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the importation of long range missile from the United States would invite more response from the Kremlin. Once again, it goes to show that no region of Ukraine can be regarded as safe until Kyiv has the ability to protect its skies nationwide.
Ukraine’s foreign affairs minister, Dmytro Kuleba, hit out at French President Emmanuel Macron for stating that Russia shouldn’t be humiliated in the search for an end to the war in Ukraine. Macron was quoted as saying that it was crucial Putin had a way out of what he called a "fundamental error". In a rare public tongue-lashing he tweeted: “Calls to avoid humiliation of Russia can only humiliate France and every other country that would call for it. Because it is Russia that humiliates itself. We all better focus on how to put Russia in its place. This will bring peace and save lives.” Earlier, Mr Macron told French regional media that Russia's leader had "isolated himself". The BBC quoted Macron as saying: "I think, and I told him, that he made a historic and fundamental error for his people, for himself and for history. Isolating oneself is one thing, but being able to get out of it is a difficult path," he added. Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi has aligned himself with Mr Macron, suggesting Europe wants "some credible negotiations".
Mr. Putin said that Moscow shouldn’t be blamed for the food crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine. However, data points to the opposite: before Russia’s invasion there were 1.2 billion people facing food insecurity, and 39 million at risk of famine. Today, the globe has 1.6 billion facing food insecurity, 49 million at risk of famine. “This crisis isn’t going away, it's getting worse,” said Ian Bremmer of the Eurasia Group.
Many Kyivans are still coping with damage to their homes from the Russians' first, abortive offensive on Europe's seventh-most-populous city. And they are still trying to make their homes livable again, including navigating obstacles to rebuilding during wartime that include bigger national-level priorities, legislative delays and red tape, and a lack of resources. See the full RFE/RL report here
Move over Patron - the bomb-sniffing dog belonging to Ukraine’s armed forces that’s become an Internet sensation. Thanks to the BBC’s Ukrainian service, Freddie the hotel cat has shot to fame with a feature and video showing the feline creature, owned by a BBC correspondent in Lviv, and who has become friendly with folks at CNN in the same hotel. I’ve encountered Freddie many times, including before early morning hits at CNN’s Lviv hub, and even for dog lovers such as me, it is hard to resist Freddie’s antics. Below is a link to the BBC’s Ukrainian-language video about Freddie. And here’s a link to my own video documenting the cat’s antics!