Ukraine War Watch Thread

[caltrek]

UN High Court Accepts Record-breaking Support for Ukraine in Genocide Case
by Molly Quell
June 9, 2023

Introduction:

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (Courthouse News) — The International Court of Justice announced on Friday that it will accept submissions from more than 30 countries that are backing Ukraine in a legal fight with Russia over what Kyiv says are false accusations of genocide.

The Hague-based court received interventions last year from a record-breaking 33 countries – including the United States, Canada, Germany, France and Spain – supporting Ukrainian allegations that Russia is violating the Genocide Convention by using fictitious claims of genocide as a pretext for its invasion.

Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/un-high ... de-case/

[caltrek]

Zelenskyy Confirms Start Of Counteroffensive
June 11, 2023

Introduction:

(Voice of America via Eurasia Review) Heavy fighting is taking place in eastern Ukraine, around Bakhmut and Maryinka, where Ukrainian forces reportedly have repelled Russian advances, Ukraine’s general staff said Saturday. Russian forces, it said, “continue to suffer heavy losses which they are trying to conceal.”

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Russian forces carried out 66 airstrikes and launched 39 attacks from rocket systems.

“Unfortunately, there are dead and wounded among the civilian population, private houses and other civil and administrative infrastructure have been destroyed and damaged,” the general staff said in its Saturday evening update, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Earlier Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that “appropriate counteroffensive and defensive actions are taking place in Ukraine,” but he did not divulge any information on what’s happening on the battlefield.

However, he did exude optimism, saying his generals “are all in a positive mood, pass that on to Putin,” he said during a news conference in Kyiv alongside visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Read more here: https://www.eurasiareview.com/11062023 ... offensive/

[caltrek]

Putin Chimes In On ‘Intense Fighting’
by Howard Altman
June 9, 2023

Introduction:

(The Drive) As Ukraine's counteroffensive ramps up after days of intense fighting, Russian President Vladimir Putin finally weighed in.

“We can safely state that the offensive has begun. We know this from the fact that the Ukrainian Army tapped its strategic reserves. This is my first point,” Putin said in response to a reporter’s question Friday, according to the Russian Defense Ministry Telegram (MoD) channel. “Second, the Ukrainian troops failed to achieve their goals in all combat sectors, which is clear as day.”

The “intense hostilities have been going on for five days now,” Putin said. “The fighting was intense over the past 48 hours, and the enemy was not successful in any area of operations.”

Putin credited that to “the courage and heroism of our soldiers and the good organization and command of the troops, as well as the high effectiveness of Russian weapons, especially the latest weapons.”

Ukrainian forces, he added, “suffer significant causalities. As is known, losses routinely amount to about three to one during offensive operations. But in this case, they are much higher. I am not going to give these figures, but they are striking.”

Read more here: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/ ... -fighting


Map of Ukraine.
Credit: DOD

[caltrek]

U.S. Infrared Early Warning Satellites Help Investigate Ukrainian Dam Destruction
by Joseph Trevithick
June 9, 2023

Introduction:

(The Drive) U.S. satellites with very high-fidelity infrared sensors detected what appears to have been an explosion at Ukraine's Nova Khakovka dam right before it failed earlier this week, according to a new report. You can read more about what else is known about this incident, over which Ukrainian and Russian authorities continue to trade accusations, in The War Zone's earlier reporting.

The New York Times first reported earlier today on the U.S. government's use of data from infrared sensors on its satellites to try to determine what exactly happened at Nova Khakovka, citing an anonymous official within U.S. President Joe Biden's administration. Though the specific satellites utilized here have not yet been confirmed, this sounds likely to be the work of the Space-Based Infrared System constellation, or SBIRS. These space-based sensors are primarily intended to watch for ballistic missile launches, but are understood to be sensitive enough to gather useful intelligence data in many other contexts.

Conclusion:

All told, how long it may be until there is a definitive picture of what happened at Nova Khakovka this week and who might be responsible – if that ever happens – remains to be seen. Data from satellites like SBIRS, however, looks to already be playing a useful part in establishing some of the basic facts about the incident.

Read more here: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/ ... n-report

[raklian]

[weatheriscool]

Ukraine war: Russia moves to take direct control of Wagner Group
Source: BBC

Russia appears to have moved to take direct control of Wagner, after months of infighting between defence officials and the private military group.

Deputy Defence Minister Nikolai Pankov said on Saturday "volunteer formations" will be asked to sign contracts directly with the ministry of defence.
...
But in a furious statement on Sunday, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said his forces would boycott the contracts.
...
Last week the group kidnapped a senior frontline army commander, Lt Col Roman Venevitin, after accusing him of opening fire on a Wagner vehicle near Bakhmut.

Lt Col Venevitin was later released, and in a video shared by Russian military bloggers he accused the group of stoking "anarchy" on Russia's frontlines by stealing arms, forcing mobilised soldiers to sign contracts with the group and attempting to extort weapons from the defence ministry.

Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65871232

[Xyls]

Russia trying to blow up more dams to slow the counteroffensive as it gains force:

[funkervogt]

Ukraine has lost at least 16 American-made Bradley fighting vehicles since the start of the offensive.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/12/europe/u ... index.html

The Russians are proving themselves to be skilled defenders.

[raklian]

Ukraine has lost at least 16 American-made Bradley fighting vehicles since the start of the offensive.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/12/europe/u ... index.html

The Russians are proving themselves to be skilled defenders.

The Russians have already lost at least 100 square km of territory trying to defend against this Ukrainian counteroffensive. Not sure if that counts as skillful defense.

[funkervogt]

THE gruesome remains of soldiers from World War Two complete with Nazi helmets have been unearthed in the Ukrainian reservoir emptied by a devastating dam blast last week.

Haunting footage shows decayed skulls eerily jutting out of the sodden ground in wake of the explosion that caused apocalyptic floods and sparked fears of a nuclear catastrophe.

https://www.the-sun.com/news/8349588/na ... d-kherson/

[wjfox]

Canada to help Ukraine with another $500M and weapons, Trudeau says

Posted June 10, 2023 7:15 am

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is committing another $500 million to help Ukraine’s military fight back against Russia’s invasion, including by sending more weapons.

Trudeau made the announcement during an unannounced visit to Kyiv to show Canada’s support for the fight against Russia, and told the country’s parliament they are in a battle for “the future of us all.”

“You are the tip of the spear that is determining the future of the 21st century,” Trudeau said during a 25-minute speech before a special session of the national legislature, known as the Verkhovna Rada.

Pledging more weapons and fighter-pilot training for Ukraine, Trudeau also told the lawmakers that Canada will support their country’s bid for membership in the NATO military alliance.

“We want peace on Ukrainian terms,” he said. “Russia must completely and unconditionally withdraw all its military forces from Ukraine.”

https://globalnews.ca/news/9760011/just ... isit-2023/

[funkervogt]

The Russian military released a video of its troops inspecting several German and American tanks captured from a Ukrainian unit.

[eacao]

Former Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, claims in an interview that in March 2022 he had mediated a peace deal between Zelenski and Putin, but the Biden Administration torpedoed the deal in order to keep the war alive.

[raklian]

Former Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, claims in an interview that in March 2022 he had mediated a peace deal between Zelenski and Putin, but the Biden Administration torpedoed the deal in order to keep the war alive.

I think this is an unnecessary distraction and should not be given foremost importance in anyone's mind. President Biden has said multiple times negotiations between Ukraine and Russia should be on Ukraine's terms (e.g. - Russia giving back all of occupied territory to Ukraine, etc.), so if there is any truth to the interference by President Biden, he was probably doing it as a favor to Ukraine and Europe for obvious reasons.

[eacao]

I think this is an unnecessary distraction and should not be given foremost importance in anyone's mind. President Biden has said multiple times negotiations between Ukraine and Russia should be on Ukraine's terms (e.g. - Russia giving back all of occupied territory to Ukraine, etc.), so if there is any truth to the interference by President Biden, he was probably doing it as a favor to Ukraine and Europe for obvious reasons.

Zelensky: Yes, okay, these terms are acceptable to me, I want peace.
Putin: Yes, me too. We can have peace.
Biden: No, Zelensky, you have to keep fighting.
Naftali: I'm not sure this is a good idea. I get your point, Biden, but the parties are ready to agree to peace.
*Biden to the American people*: We want peace on Ukraine's terms!
*Response*: I stand with Ukraine!
Ukrainian youth dying in droves for 16 more months: мати...

Your comment was basically, "I know what's in the best interest of Ukraine better than Ukrainian people."

[funkervogt]

After two weeks, Ukraine's counteroffensive has achieved little. Even Zelensky admits the operation has been disappointing so far.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/22/politics ... index.html

[funkervogt]

Russia's destruction of the Kakhovka Dam has caused all the irrigation canals running into Crimea to go dry. An act meant to hobble the Ukrainian counteroffensive will have long-lasting consequences for the people living in the parts of Ukraine Russia annexed.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65963403

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Crimean_Canal

[weatheriscool]

Moscow Strikes Kill 'Huge' Number of Wagner Forces - Prigozhin
Source: AFP/Moscow Times

The chief of Russian mercenary group Wagner on Friday accused Moscow's military leadership of ordering strikes on their camps and killing a "huge" number of forces.

"We were ready to make concessions to the Defense Ministry, surrender our weapons," Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a furious audio message released by his spokespeople.

"Today, seeing that we have not been broken, they conducted missile strikes at our rear camps."

He vowed to "stop" Moscow's top military leadership and called on Russians not to resist his forces.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/06/ ... hin-a81615

[weatheriscool]

[Powers]

Moscow Strikes Kill 'Huge' Number of Wagner Forces - Prigozhin

Ukraine strikes Azov's camp