Russian Digest
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Ukraine live briefing: Blinken says U.S. ‘won’t let’ Putin impose will on others; Kyiv shoots down drones
The United States “won’t let President [Vladimir] Putin impose his will on other nations,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday in Finland, where he delivered an address on Russia’s war in Ukraine. Blinken said the United States is committed to helping build Ukraine’s military strength and called for long-term investment.
“Let me say directly to the Russian people: The United States is not your enemy,” he said from the Finnish capital, Helsinki, as he was wrapping up a Nordic tour. “We cannot choose your future for you, and we won’t try to do so.”
In Ukraine, the army’s commander said air defenses shot down more than 30 missiles and drones in a new round of Russian air attacks overnight. Air raid sirens blared around the country early Friday, from the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, to the Black Sea port of Odesa.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/06/02/russia-ukraine-war-news/
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation published a report by the Deputy Head of the General Staff on the progress of mobilization in 2022, but it was soon deleted
The head of the mobilization department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Evgeny Burdinsky revealed the details of the process of mobilization in Russia and the formation of new units. His report was published in the magazine of the Ministry of Defense, but it was soon deleted. The report remained in the web archive.
Highlights from the report:
Of the mobilized formed 280 new units.
The Russian army is experiencing problems with "the unpreparedness of a part of society to perform military duties" and blames the "information pressure of the online blogging community" for this.
The RF Armed Forces have a problem with the provision of weapons and equipment, and state corporations and private companies help with the supply of equipment.
The Ministry of Defense began to involve employees of security companies in the war.
The military registration and enlistment offices also compiled a database of 31.6 million people, 2.9 million of whom are people of military age. The authorities also collect up-to-date mobile phone numbers and email addresses of those liable for military service.
The government's reserve fund allocated 5 billion rubles to "stimulate" military enlistment office employees working on mobilization and conscription.
In 2023, the General Staff plans to create a new combined arms and air army, one army corps, five divisions, 26 brigades, and also form the Azov naval region.
In 2023, military registration and enlistment offices will conduct organized raids on recruits together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Draft evasion in Russia has become even more difficult due to new rules on electronic subpoenas, which will affect not only conscripts but also reservists. At the same time, the system cannot cope with those already mobilized: complaints about the lack of training, uniforms, and the complete incompetence of the commanders do not stop. Earlier, The Insider spoke to the Russian military and their relatives and found out what the "training" of recruits is, how they are thrown into suicide assaults, forgotten in the forests, and left to wait for orders without food and medical care.
The head of the British Ministry of Defense said that Ukraine could retake Crimea before the end of the year
Ukraine has a real opportunity to return Crimea before the end of the year, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in an interview with The Washington Post.
“We have already seen on the battlefield that if you hit the Russian troops in the wrong place, they will actually collapse. You can send tens of thousands of young people to their deaths, which they do, but you can't conjure the tanks and weapon systems they need," he said.
In recent months, officials in the West have begun to doubt Ukraine's ability to mount a successful counter-offensive. So, in April, the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, said that Kyiv is unlikely to be able to return the territories seized by Russian troops this year. American intelligence also gave a skeptical forecast for the upcoming offensive, as follows from the files leaked from the Pentagon.
Even the Ukrainian authorities spoke of inflated expectations from the planned counter-offensive.
“Expectations from our counter-offensive campaign are overestimated in the world. Most people… are waiting for something big,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told The Washington Post. Expectations can lead to "emotional frustration," he said.
The announced counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not take place in the spring, as planned. CNN reported that after a large-scale leak from the Pentagon, Ukraine had to make changes to its military plans. Bloomberg wrote that a large-scale offensive could be postponed until 2024. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky explained that the offensive was being delayed because the Armed Forces of Ukraine needed more time and additional military assistance from the West.
The day before, Zelensky said that he approved the timing of the start of the counter-offensive. He did not disclose the exact timeline, but noted that "there are answers regarding the timing."
The Crimean isthmus can become the target of a counteroffensive, their capture will allow the Armed Forces of Ukraine to begin preparations for the liberation of the peninsula, Meduza wrote in an analysis of possible scenarios for a Ukrainian attack. However, in order to advance in this direction, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will have to cross the Dnieper River, which is about a kilometer wide there.
The pro-Russian head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, urged not to underestimate the possibilities of Ukraine. Nevertheless, he said that nothing threatened Crimea.
To liberate territory, Ukraine must smash fortified Russian defenses
As Ukraine prepares to launch a long-trumpeted counterattack, the first obstacle its soldiers must push through isn’t Russia’s defenses. It’s their own.
Like Russia, Ukraine has laid thousands of mines along its front line. And to advance into occupied territory, its troops now need to get through these lines without tipping off the Russians, who would notice if heavy machinery were brought in or explosions were set off. This means sappers must go out to the fields and quietly remove the mines.
They do it by hand. At night.
“Everyone’s hands shake,” said the 42-year-old commander of engineers in the 1st Tank Brigade, whom The Washington Post is identifying only by his call sign, Klimat, for security reasons.
Klimat said this kind of mine-clearing work has been going on for weeks, but he declined to describe precise locations or methods used to deactivate the mines. Once a path has been cleared, he said, signs are set up — sometimes lighted, with the beams facing away from Russian positions — to show a path forward.
That’s just the first step. Then comes the fight against the Russians.
Precisely where it will start is impossible to know. But speculation has focused heavily on the Zaporizhzhia region because it is a strategic lifeline for Russia’s occupation. If Ukraine pushes south through the region, it might be able to cut off the “land bridge” connecting occupied Crimea with mainland Russia.
With the Kremlin hellbent on keeping the land it has stolen in Zaporizhzhia, Russian forces have ripped it apart, transforming huge expanses of once-sleepy agricultural fields into a veritable fortress with webs of trenches and other obstacles that can be seen from space.
To retake territory and oust the Russians, the Ukrainians will have to punch through these fortifications. That requires special training and equipment as well as careful reconnaissance to find a weak spot — probably one of a number of reasons the long-awaited counteroffensive has not started yet.
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Prigozhin accused the Ministry of Defense of trying to mine the escape routes of Wagner fighters from Bakhmut
The co-founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said that the escape routes of the mercenaries from Bakhmut were mined by representatives of the Ministry of Defense.
“Today, there are no provocations against us from the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, however, it should be noted that surprises were waiting for us from the other side <...> [While leaving Bakhmut] we found about a dozen places where various explosive devices were placed, ranging from hundreds of anti-tank mines and ending with tons of plastid - a charge from the so-called "Serpent Gorynych" - said the head of the PMC "Wagner".
According to Prigozhin, when the mercenaries discovered "suspicious activity," they called law enforcement. An investigation is now allegedly underway.
“Those who planted these charges were representatives of the Ministry of Defense. When asked why you did it, they point their fingers up. Questions are not yet answered. <...> It can be assumed that they wanted to meet the advancing units of the Wagner PMC with these charges, although we do not walk in columns, ”said Prigozhin.
The founder of the mercenary organization also said that almost 99% of Wagner PMC units have left Bakhmut, a city that Russia has been trying to occupy since August last year. After it was actually captured, the mercenaries handed over their positions to the Russian army.
PMC "Wagner" began to leave Bakhmut on May 25. According to the founder of the mercenary organization, the company's fighters went to the rear for rest and retraining.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that as a result of a months-long assault, Bakhmut was completely destroyed. “You have to understand: there is nothing left. They destroyed everything. There is not a single building there. This is a huge tragedy, but today Bakhmut exists only in our hearts,” Zelensky said, speaking at the G7 summit in Hiroshima.
Sweden will join NATO soon, Joe Biden promises
‘It will happen,’ the US president says as he underscores the transatlantic alliance’s commitment to supporting Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden has said he is confident that Sweden will join NATO “as soon as possible,” despite Turkey and Hungary continuing to block the northern European country’s accession to the alliance.
Speaking at a United States Air Force Academy graduation ceremony on Thursday, Biden praised NATO’s unity amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Read More:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/6/1/sweden-will-join-nato-soon-joe-biden-promises
SBU: Kolomoisky's purported business partner exposed in Ukrtatnafta embezzlement scandal
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) reported on June 2 that it had exposed Mykhailo Kiperman, reportedly one of oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky's business partners, for embezzling nearly Hr 600 million ($16 million) from the oil refining company Ukrtatnafta.
According to materials gathered by the SBU, the Prosecutor General's Office, and the Economic Security Bureau, nearly Hr 600 million were taken from Ukrtatnafta's accounts on the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion.
Kiperman, a former member of Ukrtatnafta's supervisory board, allegedly initiated the withdrawal of the funds.
The Hr 600 million was transferred on Feb. 24 to the accounts of a European-based company allegedly controlled by Kiperman, the SBU wrote.
The funds were originally intended as payment to a supplier for 84,000 tons of previously-chartered crude oil.
Rather than send the Hr 600 million to the crude oil supplier, "the former top management of UkrTatNafta created a 'clone contract' in which they changed the recipient's payment details," the SBU wrote.
The Economic Security Bureau previously reported on Feb. 1 that it had previously uncovered a $1 billion embezzlement scheme at oil companies Ukrnafta and Ukrtatnafta that was organized by the "previous management" of the companies.
The SBU and the Economic Security Bureau raided Kolomoisky’s house in Dnipro the same day.
Both Ukrnafta, Ukraine's largest oil producer, and Ukrtatnafta were previously linked to Kolomoisky.
https://kyivindependent.com/sbu-purported-business-partner-of-kolomoisky-exposed-in/
Ukrainian sanctions on media tycoon Alexander Lebedev revealed
Ukraine has imposed sanctions on Alexander Lebedev – the former KGB intelligence officer whose son Evgeny sits in the House of Lords – in connection with Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
The national security and defence council in Kyiv imposed sanctions on Lebedev Sr last October. The decision – first reported by Tortoise media – emerged on Thursday and follows a decree signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Lebedev, a KGB operative turned media tycoon, owns a hotel and other assets in Crimea, the peninsula Vladimir Putin illegally annexed in 2014. Ukraine accuses Lebedev of actively destabilising its sovereignty by investing in Crimea’s tourist industry.
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Canada sanctions Moldovan oligarchs, politicians over Russian links
Canada is imposing sanctions on Moldovan oligarchs, business people and politicians over their connections to Russia and to prevent alleged Russian destabilization efforts in the region, the Canadian foreign ministry said on Thursday.
The sanctions target seven individuals and one entity, the pro-Russian opposition Shor Party, the Canadian ministry said in a statement.
The targeted individuals include the Shor Party's leader, exiled businessman Ilan Shor; former Moldovan parliament member Vladimir Plahotniuc and businessman Veaceslav Platon.
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Iran has a direct route to send Russia weapons – and Western powers can do little to stop the shipments
The waters of the Caspian Sea appear deceptively calm. But this sea route – which provides a direct path between Iran and Russia – is increasingly busy with cargo traffic, including suspected weapons transfers from Tehran to Moscow.
As cooperation between the two countries deepens, the Caspian Sea route is being used to move drones, bullets, and mortar shells that the Russian government has purchased from the Iranian regime to bolster its war effort in Ukraine, according to experts. Tracking data shows that vessels in the region are increasingly going “dark” – suggesting growing intent to obfuscate the movement of goods.
Last year, data from Lloyd’s List Intelligence revealed a September spike in the number of gaps in vessels tracking data in the Caspian. That’s shortly after the United States and Ukrainian governments say Moscow acquired drones from Tehran last summer. Russia’s use of Iranian drones increased in the fall, including against critical energy infrastructure in Ukraine.
Read More:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/26/europe/iran-russia-shipments-caspian-sea-intl-cmd/index.html