After a second week of limited gains during their counteroffensive, Ukraine announced that they will take a break over the next week to evaluate what they have learned from the Russian defenses. Two more communities, bringing the total to eight, were liberated in the second week of the counteroffensive both on the Zaporizhian Defense Line – Pyatykhaty and Dorozhnyanka. Ukraine continued to make advances on all fronts where they are taking offensive actions including to the north and south of Bakhmut. They have also made some progress pushing south from Vuhledar and north of Avdiivka.
Ukraine averaged the capture of 10 Russian POWs a day this last week. This high number of volunteer surrenders shows the low morale of Russian troops. These POWs are begging not to be exchanged as they know they will be punished for surrendering. These POWs also shared that they had no choice but to surrender as Russia has deployed barrier troops behind them whose job is to kill any of their own soldiers who are retreating. Both sides are experiencing heavy casualties, but 8.7 Russians are dying for each Ukrainian soldier that dies.
Rafael Grossi, UN Chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), visited the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) last Thursday and stated that the plant was in “serious” condition but stabilizing after the Kakhovka Dam was destroyed by Russian forces. He inspected the plant’s cooling ponds and confirmed that they contained enough water, but that the plant is still in danger of a “major accident”.
A delegation of African leaders arrived in Kyiv on Friday to broker a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. The delegation is a mix of countries who are supportive of Russia, supportive of Ukraine, or neutral. Their reason for coming is the impact the war has on Ukrainian delivery of grain to Africa. While they were in Kyiv, Russia launched a missile attack on the city forcing the delegation to bunker underground for their safety. All six missiles were shot down. President Zelensky made it clear to them that there would be no ceasefire agreement that did not include Russia removing their troops from Ukrainian territory. The delegation next headed to Moscow to meet with President Putin who greeted them condescendingly and thanked them for their proposal which he would study. The best that this delegation will accomplish is to convince Russia to extend their permission to allow Ukrainian grain to be exported to Africa and perhaps Putin will throw in a prisoner exchange as well.
Russian anti-war activist Anatoly Berezikov either died from torture or committed suicide in prison according to his lawyer due to his suffering. He had been arrested last month for handing out leaflets advertising an anti-war project called “I Want To Live.” His death occurred the day before his release was planned. His corpse had several marks on his body made by a stun gun.
Several Russian municipal officials signed an open letter calling on the Russian forces to return to the “universally” recognized Russian borders due to the ecological destruction being caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam. They were careful not to criticize Russian troops or the war, as that would be a crime.
Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska had posted on his foundation’s website that they had taken 350 children from Bakhmut “under its wing” and deported them to Russia and Crimea. But when the notice when virile on the web calling for the International Criminal Court to investigate Deripaska for war crimes, the notice was quickly taken down.
Poland’s legislature overwhelmingly (98%) approved Ukraine’s accession to NATO even though it is not even yet on the table. President Biden was not so gracious stating that Ukraine will not have an easy path to NATO membership.
The US approved another $205 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine to help with the shortage of food and drinking water since the Russian invasion.
The Ukrainian government continues its crackdown on corruption, especially when it comes to the military budget. Two officials of the Defense Ministry, the names of which are being withheld, have been arrested for corruption in the first month of the war. They stole $27 million from the military budget by purchasing bullet-proof vests and clothing for the troops and then selling them to the Defense Ministry at a huge profit.
President Putin said some crazy things at the recent International Economic Forum held in St. Petersburg from June 14-17. But the craziest was in response to an American speaker who had questioned how Russia could refer to Ukraine as a “Nazi” state when its president (Zelensky) was Jewish. When it was time for Putin to address the forum, he started out by saying he has many Jewish friends and that they all told him that “Zelensky is not a Jew, but he is a disgrace to the Jewish people.” Putin then added, “I am not joking.” Well, the fact is, Zelensky is an ethnic Jew no matter what Putin’s friends say. Putin also made some wild claims such as having destroyed five Patriot air defense systems at a time when nearly all his missiles and drones are being shot down. He even lost his temper when speaking of the Western alliance around Ukraine and responded with the worst profanity. He is surely under duress from Ukraine’s unexpected survival against Russian forces.