President Zelensky admitted that the counteroffensive is not going as well as Ukraine had hoped because of the defenses constructed by the Russian army. Ukraine advances, but before they can move their aid defenses forward, Russian forces push them back with their overwhelming air power. Russia is conducting over 50 airstrikes a day at Ukrainian front-line positions. He added that everything was going according to plan, but that it will take much longer.
Russia launched 35 Iranian military drones against Ukraine in the early morning hours on Tuesday. Ukraine was able to neutralize 32 of them (91.5%), including all over the skies of Kyiv. Critical infrastructure was hit in Lviv, as well as some missiles fired on Zaporizhia Oblast.
Russia has said they have moved nuclear weapons into Belarus, but Ukraine has said they have seen no evidence of this, and even if it were true, it would not be an escalation of Russia’s war against Ukraine. But President Biden disagrees and said that the threat of a nuclear attack should be taken seriously.
China is keeping Russia financially alive by increasing their purchase of Russian oil. At the start of the Russian invasion, China was purchasing an average of 5.4 million tons of Russian oil each month. That had increased to 6.3 million tons in April 2023. But May 2023 was the highest month on record with China purchasing 9.71 million tons.
The African peace mission to Ukraine and Russia has now ended and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa called it a success. When being pushed on what was accomplished, all Ramaphosa could say was that both countries were welcoming to the delegation.
The Ukraine Reform Conference opened on Tuesday in London with 60 countries gathering to discuss how to more effectively support Ukraine in its war against Russia. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak took the opening of the conference to announce that the UK will provide $3 billion to Ukraine over the next three years.
Russia has mined the cooling ponds at the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), the largest plant in Europe. With the Kakhovka Reservoir drained by Russia’s destruction of the dam, the ZNPP is now reliant on the cooling ponds.
Slovakia became the latest country to recognize the Soviet planned famine of the 1930s, known as the Holodomor, as an act of genocide against Ukraine. Millions of Ukrainians starved to death during the famine.
Russia passed legislation exempting Russian soldiers from criminal prosecution for rape, terrorism, sabotage, treason, and espionage.