• The plan for the Zaporizhzhia plant in Moscow presented to the UN: «Safety our priority». Usa: «It’s up to Russia to avoid catastrophes»
• Moscow: «Ukrainian attack on a refugee camp in the Belgorod region: one dead and two seriously injured».
• Wall Street Journal: «Kiev and allies plan summits in July (without Russia) on peace formula».
• The Ukrainian drones launched on Moscow represent a quantum leap before the counteroffensive.
08.40 am – Russia, Zakharova: Western position on attacks in Moscow is “cowardly”
The position of Western countries on drone strikes in Moscow is “absolutely vile”the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said today Maria Zakharova, adding that the West only comments on what it wants to comment. Yesterday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Ukraine attacked the Russian capital with eight unmanned aerial vehicles, adding that all drones were shot down. “This is, of course, an absolutely cowardly position. There is no other word, no definition: they (Western countries, ed) only see and comment on what is beneficial to them. And this is propaganda,” Zakharova told RIA Novosti radio.
08:35 am – Ukraine, 5 dead and 19 wounded in attack on the occupied area of Luhansk
Five people were killed and 19 others were injured in shelling of a village in the Luhansk region of Ukraine occupied by the Russians, local Russian officials reported on Telegram. According to reports, four missiles were fired from a Himars unit of the Ukrainian army, hitting the village of Karpaty. Luhansk is one of four regions of Ukraine that the Russian Federation has declared annexed to its territory.
08:07 – Kiev, 32 Russian drones shot down in the last 24 hours
The Ukrainian forces have shot down 32 Russian kamikaze drones in the last 24 hours: this was announced by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Kiev in its daily update on the situation at the front, as reported by Ukrinform. “In the last 24 hours, our defenders have destroyed 32 Shahed attack drones.
The units of the missile and artillery forces hit three command posts, an area where enemy soldiers were located, four artillery systems in firing position, one anti-aircraft missile system, three fuel depots and a plant for electronic warfare,” reads the report. Overall, in the last 24 hours the Russians have launched 64 air raids on Ukraine, one rocket attack and fired 88 rockets with multiple launch systems.
07:52 am – Drones “pierce” the sky over Moscow. Putin: “They want to terrorize us”
FROM OUR ENvoy IN KIEV
(Of Andrew Nicastro) The war in Ukraine is poised to further increase the level of violence, perhaps to expand, certainly shows no sign of stopping. The Ukrainian counter-offensive to reconquer the occupied territories, says President Zelensky, already has its starting date fixed. Moscow relentlessly targets cities far from the front. And someone, it seems obvious to think of the Ukrainians, is increasingly hitting Russian territory up to the capital.
It had happened earlier in the month with a drone exploded on the dome of the Kremlin, it happened again in mid-May with the 48-hour incursion of the Free Russia Legion and it was repeated again yesterday with a small flock of unmanned planes that mocked the Russian defenses until they hit some residential skyscrapers. “We have nothing directly to do with all this – is the defense of the Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhaylo Podolyak -, but of course we are happy to assist you and we expect an increase in the number of attacks”.
The war goes beyond the borders of the invaded country, arriving in the capital of the invader. The statements are getting more and more harsh. Retaliation, revenge, annihilation of the enemy, victory are the only words in audible political discourse. A few days ago, the spokesman for the American Security Council said that the US “does not encourage and do not want” that the weapons donated to Ukraine to defend itself “be used in Russian territory”.
07:39 – Governor: “Ukrainian drone causes fire at Krasnodar refinery”
The governor of Russia’s Krasnodar region said a Ukrainian drone was the probable cause of a fire that broke out at the Afipsky oil refinery. The fire was extinguished and there were no casualties, Veniamin Kondratyev added. The Afipsky refinery is not far from the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk, close to another refinery that has been attacked multiple times this month.
07:04 am – The wife of the dissident Kara-Murza: “We have returned to the methods of the USSR: torture and punitive psychiatry”
(by Federico Fubini) Vladimir Kara-Murza is, with Alexei Navalny, the most important opponent in Russian prisons. He survived two poisonings, in 2015 and 2017. He was arrested a year ago. He was recently sentenced to 25 years “for high treason”. Since then Evgenia Kara-Murza, her wife, from exile has dedicated all her energy to the battle against the regime of Vladimir Putin.
Ma’am, you could think about the children and be calm. Why put yourself in danger right now?
«I don’t think I could have done anything else, also because we have three children. He is their father, I have to fight for him. Everything that has happened is devastating for me as a Russian, as a mother, as a wife. But I don’t see a chance to just sit back and wait for things to happen by themselves. War is raging in the heart of Europe, there are people in Ukraine dying, people in Russia being beaten up and thrown in prison for 15 years just because they oppose this genocidal war. I’m in a much better situation.”
06:28 am – Russia, attack on a refinery in Krasnodar, there are no victims
A crude oil storage tank has caught fire at an oil refinery in the Krasnodar region of southern Russia, allegedly due to a drone strike, Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on his Telegram channel. «A fire broke out on the territory of the Afipsky oil refinery. A refinery plant caught fire. A drone attack is currently considered the most plausible cause,” he added, specifying that “the fire was contained in an area of 100 square meters and there were no casualties.” The fire was soon finally extinguished.
06:11 – Russia accuses Kiev of bombing Shebekino again
Russian defense authorities have accused the Ukrainian military of re-bombing the town of Shebekino in southwestern Russia’s Belgorod region where a woman was injured. “Residential buildings were damaged. A number of vehicles caught fire,” said a statement from the region’s crisis response center released by TASS. Shebekino district, which borders Ukraine, has come under heavy shelling in recent days. On Monday alone, 155 shells fell on its territory, including 48 in the administrative center of the district
05:36 am – In the 300 million dollars of US aid, there is also ammunition for drones
A new $300 million aid package for Ukraine, including new munitions for drones, will be announced this week. This was reported by US military sources. The anticipation comes after the new attacks launched with drones on the Russian capital, for which Kiev denies responsibility. The White House, again today, reiterated its opposition to attacks carried out on Russian soil, while not commenting on the possibility that the recent raids were carried out using means supplied by the United States.
05:32 am – Grossi (IAEA): “At the UN Council, I’m taking the right direction on Zaporizhzhia”
“We are encouraged by expressions of support for our work, including the five principles proposed today.” This was stated by the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi at the end of the meeting of the UN Security Council on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
“Today is a good day for the safety of the plant, we have taken a step in the right direction», he underlined, while repeating that words must be weighed and cautious. Grossi then reiterated that “our work continues to be present in Zaporizhzhia and we will strengthen our mission”.