Ukraine continued their attacks on three fronts. The two most important developments yesterday were the advance towards Priyutne, the southern-most point of Ukraine’s offensive to date, and the holding of the Antonivsky Bridge over the Dnipro River and foothold of Dachi on the eastern bank of the river under intense Russian fire. Ukrainian forces also continue to make gains towards Klishchiivka to the south of Bakhmut.
Evidence continues to mount that Wagner Group forces are planning to join Yevgeniy Prigozhin in exile in Belarus. An anonymous forestry worker reported that 1780 four-bed bunks and 400 two-seat toilets were delivered to the military base which Belarus is building for the Wagner Group. This suggests an expectation of 8000 soldiers arriving. Another source reported that this base near Asipovichy is only the first of many such camps that will be erected for Wagner Group. He claimed another one has already begun 12.5 miles (20 km) north near the village of Tsel.
The Wagner Group mutiny was very costly to Russia. The rebels shot down one of the twelve Russian Ilyushin IL-22M airborne command posts and six other helicopters resulting in the death of 13 airmen. The loss of the airborne command post will hurt Russia’s ability to gain intelligence to defend against Ukraine’s counteroffensive.
Technically, it is illegal in Russia to form a private army like the Wagner Group. But there are currently 27 private Russian armies. Moscow has allowed them to form to conduct “off-the-book” dirty work for Russia such as adventures in the Middle East, Africa, and now Ukraine. One of these private armies, Patriot, is owned by the Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sent a proposed bill to the legislature to change the date of certain holidays. This is an affront to Russia whose Orthodox population still uses the Julian calendar. He proposed changing Christmas from January 7 to December 25 to align with the majority of other Orthodox Christians worldwide who have moved to the Gregorian calendar. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has already also moved to the Gregorian Calendar and will celebrate Christmas on December 25 this year. The Ukrainian move to the Gregorian calendar also means that the Day of Ukrainian Statehood needs to move from July 28th to July 15th, and the Day of Defenders from October 14th to October 1st. The Day of Defenders was inaugurated in 2014 to honor the soldiers who defended Ukraine against the first Russian invasion of that year, but the date was chosen to correspond with the founding of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in 1942 to defend Ukraine against both the German Nazis and Soviet forces.
President Zelensky also sent another bill to the legislature to officially recognize English as the language of international communication. All heads of local administrations, officers, police and prosecutors will be required to speak English.
The EU expanded their list of sanctions against Russia for the eleventh time. The sanctions include new techniques to block Russia from circumventing existing sanctions through other countries, the addition of 15 technologies used on the battlefield in Ukraine, requirements from countries to prove their imports of iron and steel did not come from Russia, an export ban on all luxury cars to Russia, ban of Russian ships at EU ports suspected of breaching the ban of Russian oil exports, ending the importation of Russian oil by pipeline to Germany and Poland, the ban of Russian trucks from entering the EU, adding five more media channels to the list not allowed to broadcast in Europe, and the addition of 100 more individuals whose EU assets are subjected to freezing.
The Presidents of Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania met in Kyiv to discuss security issues and Ukraine’s membership in NATO.
A recent poll shows the number of Americans who support arming Ukraine has grown from 46% before the start of the counteroffensive, to 65% now. 67% of Republicans and 73% of Democrats said they are more likely to support a candidate in favor of supplying US weapons to Ukraine.
President Zelensky was honored as the 2023 recipient of the prestigious Chatham House Prize given to an individual who has shown outstanding leadership and contribution to international relations. President Zelensky gave a pre-recorded address thanking the think-tank and sending a special representative to receive the prize.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov gave an interview to the Financial Times reporting that the nine liberated communities of the counteroffensive is just the beginning. The “main event” is yet to come but “when it happens, you will all see it…Everyone will see everything” he said. Valerii Zaluzhny, Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief, had a telephone conversation with Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mike Milley to let him know that Ukraine now has the initiative in the war against Russia.
Ukraine arrested the traitor who assisted Russian forces in bombing the pizzeria in Kramatorsk on Thursday killing at least eleven people. President Zelensky vowed he would receive the “maximum punishment.” And Ukrainian investigators have identified the names of the Russian soldiers, including commander Roman Titov, who oversaw the Kakhovka Dam when it was blown up.