Summary of the Events of the Day
Russian forces have almost destroyed the valiant defenders of Mariupol. They have also had partial success in widening their hole in Ukraine’s defenses at Izyum and are back to street fighting for Marinka which they had lost the day before to Ukraine. Everywhere else on the front lines Ukrainian forces held Russia back on the second day of the Battle for the Donbas.
Battle for the Skies
Ukraine has received fighter planes and aircraft parts from unspecified nations bolstering their air force to a higher level than it was two weeks ago. The planes are all Russian made so that Ukrainian pilots will not need extra training. Some of the parts did come from the U.S., but the U.S. made it clear that no complete planes were given to Ukraine from the U.S.
Battle for the Donbas (Donetsk, Luhansk, Mariupol)
On Tuesday, the first day of what is now being called the Battle for the Donbas, Russian forces lost one SU-34 fighter jet, one Ka-52 Alligator assault helicopter, 12 tanks, one artillery system, and 28 units of armored vehicles.
Russian forces conducted ten assaults against the Donbas Contact Line. At all points Russian forces were stopped cold except at Kreminna which Russian forces took on Tuesday and are attempting to punch further through the line at that point. 100 Russian armored vehicles are in that region of the battle alone. Torske and Zelena Dolyna were also heavily attacked, but Ukrainian troops held firm. Russia suffered their heaviest casualties in their attacks on Popasna, Zolote, and Rubizhne which are heavily defended by Ukrainian forces. Popasna and Rubizhne have been the heaviest hit since the escalation of war began with the two cities being almost completely destroyed. Russian forces are also back in Marinka which Ukraine had liberated on Tuesday, so that community is still being contested over.
Russian forces had some partial success at punching through the hole in Ukraine’s defenses at Izyum down to Dibrovne. But a simultaneous attack on Dovhen’ke was fully repulsed.
Ukrainian defenders are facing their last days, if not hours, in the Battle for Mariupol. This will allow a land bridge from Russia to Crimea and allow another 10,000 Russian troops to join in the Battle for the Donbas. A thousand soldiers and civilians are holed up in the Azovstal steel mill encircled Russian troops ten times their size. The Azovstal commander has made a plea to world leaders to send an extraction team to take them to the territory of a third-party state.
Battle for Kharkiv
Russian forces continue to partially encircle Kharkiv on the east with constant shelling continuing each day. Russian troops are building up in Belgorod to the north for a possible strike against Ukraine’s second city over the next few days. 90 helicopters alone have been spotted by satellite.
Russian forces unsuccessfully tried to push Ukrainian forces out of Stara Hnylytsya just south of Kharkiv to create another hole in Ukraine’s defense line.
Ukrainian forces discovered a cache of Russian weapons worth $200 million hidden in a warehouse. The equipment was stored there before the start of the escalation of war on February 24 to resupply Russian forces attacking Kharkiv. The cache includes 60 tank engines and 26 air-to-air guided missiles as well as various spare parts and components for armored vehicles.
Battle for Kherson (Kherson, Mykolaiv, Kryvyi Rih, and Zaporizhia)
Russian forces have renewed their offensive to retake the northern part of Kherson region they had lost to Ukrainian forces last week. But they were unsuccessful on all counts.
Other News
Ukraine and Russia held their fifth prisoner swap. 60 Ukrainian soldiers and 16 civilians were released by Russia to Ukraine. Although it was not reported how many Ukraine released, the first four were at equal parity and so it is assumed this one was as well.
Ukraine reported that 3000 of their soldiers have died defending Ukraine since the escalation of the eight-year war with Russia began on February 24. The U.S. Pentagon estimates it is closer to 5000 losses. But Russia has lost three to four times more forces.
It is estimated that 20,000 mercenaries are now fighting with Russian forces in Ukraine, mostly infantry in the Donbas region. These mercenaries mainly come from Syria and Libya, as well as 5000 of Putin’s private army known as The Wagner Group, a fascist group whose name derives from Hitler’s favorite composer and whose leader brandishes Nazi tattoos. When the conflict began there were 8000 troops in the Wagner Group with nearly 40% of them killed.
International Support
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz charged Russia, and specifically Russian President Vladimir Putin, with war crimes against the thousands of civilians killed over the last two months in Ukraine. When asked whether Germany would be providing heavy weapons, his response was vague.
President Putin awarded the 64th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade an honorary title for their service in raping and killing Ukrainians in the western suburbs of Kyiv before retreating to Belarus. The body count in the region is now at 1200, with 400 alone in the community of Bucha where I visited this last weekend. Putin said the Russian troops showed “great heroism and courage” in their atrocities against unarmed civilians.
EU President Charles Michel visited Kyiv in a show of support to Ukraine as the EU embassy has now been reopened. He announced that the European Commission will give their answer to Ukraine about becoming a candidate to join the EU by the end of June and is confident it will be approved.
Norway delivered 100 French-made Mistral anti-air missiles to Ukraine which they had planned to retire from their own defense force. These short-range surface-to-air missiles were made in the 1980s to be used on ships, vehicles, and helicopters. Although they are not the more modern NASAMS type missiles that Ukraine had requested, they were still very much appreciated.
Wimbledon organizers have banned Russian and Belarusian players from this year’s Grand Slam tournament.