It is the 99th day of the war in Ukraine. There are allegedly civilians in the basement of the Azot chemical plant, which was hit in Severodonetsk. This was reported by the governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Gaidai. Zelensky called it “madness” to bomb the area “blindly”.
Meanwhile, the Russians have entered the center of Severodonetsk and are consolidating their positions, with the aim of taking over the Ukrainian administrative center of Lugansk and then surrounding neighboring Lysychansk and taking control of the entire region. Street-to-street fighting now makes it impossible to evacuate the approximately 15,000 residents who have not left their homes and who were invited by Gaidai to stay in shelters and “prepare face masks soaked in a sodium solution” to protect themselves from the consequences of the explosion of a nitric acid deposit in a plant hit during a raid.
Moscow’s reaction to the announcement of new, more advanced missiles by the American president is extremely harsh. Russian nuclear forces are carrying out exercises in the Ivanovo province, northeast of Moscow, where over 100 vehicles have been used, including the Yars intercontinental ballistic missile launchers.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has also entered the long-distance clash between Washington and Moscow. In an interview, he said he had “no intention of attacking Russia”. And according to the Kremlin “Moscow has never ruled out a possible meeting between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, but this requires preparations and in any case a face-to-face will be held only for the signing of some kind of document”.
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00.22 – Wsj: hundreds of Russian soldiers deserted at the beginning of the war
Hundreds of Russian soldiers fled the war in Ukraine or refused to take part in the opening stages of the invasion. The Wall Street Journal reports this, citing some sources, according to which desertions and refusals to intervene put Moscow in difficulty on how to punish the soldiers who have pulled back. So far, sanctions have been limited to formal dismissal but the fact that Russia has not declared war on Kiev reduces the chances of bringing criminal charges against the deserters.
00.19 – USA, meeting with NATO allies in the Baltic
The United States spoke today with the Baltic allies about the situation related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. National Security Advisor for the White House Jake Sullivan said so. The participants, who were their respective security officers and advisers for their countries, discussed the “joint efforts to strengthen our collective defense and security” and the preparation of the NATO summit scheduled in Madrid on 29 and 30 June. Representatives from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia participated in the conference call.
00.03 – Kiev: 5 wounded by missile in the Lviv region
“A missile hit the Beskydy railway tunnel in the Carpathians”, injuring at least “5 people, who are not in danger of life”. This was confirmed on Telegram by the advisor to the Ukrainian Interior Minister, Anton Gerashchenko, referring to the explosions heard in the evening in the Lviv region and denouncing the “attempt to interrupt Western supplies of weapons and fuel to Ukraine”.
00.01 – Denmark: Von der Leyen, strong message for common security
“I welcome the strong message of commitment to our common security sent today by the Danish people. Denmark’s defense experience is highly valued. I am convinced that Denmark and the EU will benefit from this decision ». Thus the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in a tweet commenting on the victory of the yes in the referendum in Denmark on the opt-out of the EU common defense.
Yesterday’s news and insights
Orban impedes and stops the sanctions: he asks to exclude the billionaire patriarch Kirill from the list of EU sanctions
Emanuele Bonini
01 June 2022
