Tuesday, June 11

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Ukrainian Army soldiers prepare LELEKA 100 military intelligence drone for flight in the direction of Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast in Ukraine, June 10, 2024. (Jose Colon/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Ukraine hit Russian S-400, S-300 systems in occupied Crimea overnight, General Staff says. “None of our missiles fired were intercepted by the enemy’s ‘highly effective’ air defense,” the General Staff said.

Russian ship Admiral Levchenko on fire in Barents Sea, Ukrainian official claims. Russian anti-submarine ship Admiral Levchenko is burning in the Barents Sea after an engine malfunctioned and caught fire, Dmytro Pletenchuk, press chief for the Southern Defense Forces of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, said on June 10.

Ukraine to directly sign contracts with global arms producers. “This is a new stage of cooperation that will allow us to receive modern arms directly from producers, which will certainly contribute to faster and more efficient modernization of Ukraine’s Armed Forces,” Deputy Defense Minister Dmytro Klimenkov said during the Balkan-Ukrainian Defense Industries Forum in Bulgaria on June 7.

Report: Russia’s war has caused over $56 billion in damage to Ukraine’s energy sector. Russia’s full-scale invasion has inflicted $56.2 billion in damage to Ukraine’s energy sector as of May 2024, according to the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) report published on June 10.

US lifts weapons ban for Ukraine’s Azov Brigade, WP reports. The United States will allow Ukraine’s Azov Brigade to use weapons provided by the U.S. to fight Russia’s full-scale invasion, the U.S. State Department announced on June 10, reversing a long-standing policy.

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Zelensky arrives in Germany for recovery conference, talks with Scholz. President Volodymyr Zelensky and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will discuss military assistance for Ukraine, expanding air defense capacity, and joint arms production.

Ukraine confirms attack on Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery, claims damage totalling $540 million. The military said the attack had been carried out by “Ukrainian-made means,” but did not elaborate.

Russia uses submarines to patrol Black Sea after naval losses, military says. Russia started using submarines to patrol the Black Sea after a number of ships were attacked by Ukraine, Dmytro Pletenchuk, a spokesperson for the Southern Defense Forces, said on national television on June 10.

Ukraine refutes Kadyrov’s claims about captured Sumy Oblast border village. No Russian troops are present in the border village of Ryzhivka in Sumy Oblast, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on June 10.

Nearly 20,000 Wagner mercenaries died taking Bakhmut, media investigation confirms. BBC Russia and Mediazona obtained documents shortly after the death of Wagner Group’s founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin in August 2023, detailing the posthumous payments to relatives of those killed fighting in Ukraine between January 2022 and August 2023.

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At Ukraine’s key hospital for wounded soldiers, surgeons work non-stop to save lives

Most soldiers are unconscious by the time they arrive at Mechnikov Hospital, the main gateway for the wounded fighting in Donbas.

Photo: Asami Terajima/The Kyiv Independent

European elections: Far-right gains, center holds, Ukraine-skeptics flounder

Centrist parties retained a majority of votes following European Parliament elections that concluded on June 9. Yet, the far-right made significant gains.

Photo: John Thys/AFP via Getty Images

Energy security and EU accession: What this year’s Ukraine recovery conference is all about

Harmonizing Ukraine’s legislation and regulations with the EU will take years,  Oleksii Riabchyn, a former lawmaker and political consultant on energy and climate, told the Kyiv Independent.

Photo: Adri Salido/Anadolu via Getty Images

Ukraine war latest: Ukraine strikes Russian S-400, S-300 systems in occupied Crimea, General Staff says

One S-400 anti-aircraft missile unit was hit near Dzhankoi, and two more S-300 anti-aircraft missile units were attacked near occupied Chornomorske and Yevpatoria, according to the military.

Photo: Contributor/Getty Images

Human cost of war

Russian attacks on Kharkiv, Kherson oblasts kill 1, injure 3, including 102-year-old woman. Russian troops attacked the Derhachi community in Kharkiv oblast and the city of Kherson on June 10, killing one man and injuring three people, the local authorities reported.

Russia strikes Kharkiv with glide bombs, injuring 8 people. Russian forces launched three glide bombs at Kharkiv on June 10, injuring eight people, local authorities reported.

General Staff: Russia has lost 519,750 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 1,190 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

Ukraine This Week: Blackouts, HIMARS in Belgorod, and Ukraine’s upcoming peace summit

International response

FT: Government shake-up straining relations between Kyiv and Western allies. A series of government firings, resignations and reshuffles have strained relations between Kyiv and Western allies and raised concerns about how Ukraine can deal with fixing the country’s energy infrastructure as it comes under repeated attacks by Russia, the Financial Times (FT) reported on June 10, citing unnamed Ukrainian and Western officials.

Dutch Defense Minister arrives in Kyiv in surprise visit. Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal discussed Ukraine-Netherlands joint defense production, the exchange of technologies, the upcoming global peace summit in Switzerland, and Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration.

Belarus to participate in Russia’s nuclear drills. Belarus will participate in the second stage of Russian drills simulating the launch of tactical nuclear weapons, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin announced on June 10.

Putin will soon visit North Korea, Russia’s ambassador says. Despite the increasingly strong alliance between Russia and North Korea, Russian President Vladimir Putin has not visited the country since 2000, when he met with previous North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il.

Switzerland encounters rise in cyberattacks and disinformation prior to upcoming Ukraine summit. In the lead-up to the global summit on Ukraine’s peace formula, Switzerland has experienced a rise in cyberattacks and disinformation, Swiss government representatives reported on June 10.

Czech PM suspects Russia’s involvement in foiled arson attack on Prague buses. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on June 10 that Russia may be linked to an attempted arson attack on Prague city buses last week.

In other news

Infrastructure Development head Nayyem resigns after being blocked from attending German reconstruction conference. The news comes in the wake of the dismissal of Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov in May.

Brothers of Medvedchuk, ex-MP Kozak charged in absentia with tax evasion of $1.8 million. Two brothers of the former pro-Russian Ukrainian lawmakers, Viktor Medvedchuk and Taras Kozak, were charged in absentia with defrauding the state of Hr 75 million ($1.8 million) in taxes, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said.

Survey: Half of Ukrainians say criticism of authorities needed but shouldn’t destabilize country. Around 31% of the respondents said that the criticism must be harsh and uncompromising “as the only way to put pressure on the authorities” to correct their mistakes.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Martin Fornusek, Nate Ostiller, Kateryna Denisova, Kateryna Hodunova, Chris York, Toma Istomina, Sonya Bandouil, and Abbey Fenbert.

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