He showed me a video from Enerhodar, which I won’t post, of a car riddled with bullet holes and an apparently dead person at the wheel. They can beat or not beat you, detain you.' You look at them without understanding what is in their heads. You could have a pack of cigarettes and a pack of matches. 'They were putting increasing pressure all the time,' Selyverstov said. They were obsessed with loyalty they began searching everyone they posted an armed guard at the power plant to keep an eye on the Ukrainians who worked there. The Russian authorities that took the plant over slowly began ratcheting up pressure on the staff. The only thing certain at this moment is that this pattern, where Ukrainian sources are mostly silent and Russian forces are chattering a mile a minute, is one that has been seen before. Another has Ukraine busting through Russian defensive lines and liberating a town in southern Ukraine. There’s one report that Russia “crushed” a Ukrainian force and destroyed over thirty vehicles. Right now, more reports are coming in from Russian sources than from Ukrainian, and those reports are all over the map. But is it the counteroffensive? Is this the big push we’ve been anticipating since Ukrainian advances cooled down with the weather last fall, and talked about all through the stunted Russian winter offensive and months of mud? That’s unclear. Finally, the Russian Volunteer Corps and Freedom for Russia Legion appear to be holding both Russian territory and Russian prisoners.Īll this clearly represents a counteroffensive. There are also a number of Ukrainian actions underway along the southern front west of Vuhledar. Right now, what we know is that there are Ukrainian advances going on both north and south of Bakhmut, and possibly in the city itself. Therefore, in some areas we are moving to offensive actions.'

On Monday, the Ukrainian deputy minister of defense gave a statement translated here by Tim Mak : 'A defensive operation includes everything, including counteroffensive actions. Read MoreĪustralia, the US and Ukraine are discussing sending 41 Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18 Hornets to Ukraine rather than sending them to the scrapheap as planned, Sources have told The Australian Financial Review /c4LsimsTxJ- Faytuks News Δ June 5, 2023 “I never heard anything like it.” Above them, the Kakhovka Dam was in the middle of collapsing, spilling 18 billion cubic meters of water toward their homes and everywhere along the banks of the Dnipro River. But most were baffled by the sound of thundering water. Others worried about losing electricity again. Some wondered if it was safe to go back to bed. “Why is the water so loud?” asked another. Soon after, one of the residents reported that the ground was still shaking and that there was a strange noise, an “incomprehensible sound.” So loud.” The noise and shaking ground led some to run to the bathroom-a central room with no windows-the same way that people in the Midwest might react to a tornado warning. One reported “such explosions” and speculated it was a missile. In the early hours of Tuesday morning, residents who live near the town of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region of Ukraine started sharing text messages about the unusual noises they were hearing.

There is an increased danger from explosive objects in the flooded area in the Kherson region, the Defense Ministry of Ukraine warned. And across the Russian border in Belgorod, there’s another change in the situation as the Russian Volunteer Corps bring something new into their conflict: tanks. There are reports of Ukrainian advances in several areas, and also of Russia recapturing an area that was liberated one day earlier. Russia may have intended to slow the start of Ukraine’s counteroffensive through an uncontestable war crime, but in places like Bakhmut, the guns have definitely not gone silent.įighting continues both on the eastern front around Bakhmut, and on the southern front around Velyka Novosilka. Considering that thousands of square kilometers are being flooded, thousands of people will be displaced, and both the ecology and economy of the area will be affected for decades, that level of attention is well-deserved.īut across the country, fighting continues. Most of the attention today is focused on events related to Russia’s breach of the Kakhovka Dam. Unconfirmed reports that Ukrainian forces have moved south from Avdiivka and are fighting in the town of Optyne, just a kilometer from the Donetsk air port.

Alexa daily kos