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THE UKRAINE WAR
NYT REPORTING Reporting from Ukraine by NYT reporters around June 5th 2022 Original article: Peter Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess | ||
War in Ukraine
LATEST UPDATES
Pope Francis says he’s waiting for ‘right time’ to visit Ukraine
8:05 a.m.
Russia using ‘poorly equipped’ reservists in Severodonetsk, U.K. says
7:31 a.m.
Russian missile flew ‘critically low’ over nuclear plant, operator says
6:55 a.m.
Key update
Putin warns Russia would hit new targets if Ukraine gets rocket systems
6:21 a.m.
Key update
Kyiv, Moscow accuse each other of sparking fire at monastery
5:55 a.m.
Kyiv hit by missile strikes; 1 hospitalized
5:35 a.m.
Milley visits Sweden in show of support for NATO bid
4:51 a.m.
New U.S. ambassador to Ukraine visits Borodyanka
4:10 a.m.
Key update
Battle for Severodonetsk rages, as Ukraine claims it regained ground
3:29 a.m.
Ukraine denounces Macron’s call not to ‘humiliate’ Russia
3:00 a.m.
Fire engulfs towering wooden monastery in eastern Ukraine
2:43 a.m.
Key update
Key battlefield updates: Kyiv’s forces say they’re slowing Moscow’s eastern advance
2:42 a.m.
Key updates
May 9, 2022 How millions of Russians are tearing holes in the Digital Iron Curtain News• May 6, 2022 What happened in Mariupol, the city Russia besieged and captured? News• May 18, 2022 Pope Francis says he’s waiting for ‘right time’ to visit Ukraine By Bryan Pietsch 8:05 a.m. Link copied Pope Francis hugs a child at a Vatican event June 4. Pope Francis hugs a child at a Vatican event June 4. (Remo Casilli/Reuters) Pope Francis said he hopes to visit Ukraine but is waiting for the “right time to do it.” During an event for children Saturday in a Vatican courtyard, a Ukrainian child refugee named Sachar asked the pontiff whether he could come to Ukraine “to save all the children who are suffering there now,” according to the Vatican. Francis responded to Sachar that “I think a lot about children in Ukraine.” The pope said that he “would like to go to Ukraine. But, I have to wait for the right time to do it, because it is not easy to make a decision that could do more harm to the whole world than good. I have to look for the right time to do it.” Francis added that he will meet this week with Ukrainian officials to discuss a potential visit. He has called for an end to the fighting but has received criticism over his refusal to condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin by name for launching the invasion. Russia using ‘poorly equipped’ reservists in Severodonetsk, U.K. says By David Walker 7:31 a.m. Russian is deploying “poorly equipped” separatist fighters in its battle for the contested eastern Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk as it seeks to limit casualties among regular troops, Britain’s Defense Ministry said in an intelligence update Sunday. “Russian forces committed in this area include personnel mobilised from the reserve of Russian-led separatist forces of the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic,” the ministry said in a post on social media. “These troops are poorly equipped and trained and lack heavy equipment in comparison to regular Russian units.” The use of “proxy infantry forces” in urban areas is a Russian tactic previously seen in Syria, the ministry said. “This approach likely indicates a desire to limit casualties suffered by regular Russian forces,” it added. Ukrainian forces have regained ground in Severodonetsk and now control about half of the city, said Serhiy Haidai, governor of the Luhansk region. The British Defense Ministry said Ukrainian operations there have blunted the momentum Russian forces had gained by concentrating combat units and firepower. Russian missile flew ‘critically low’ over nuclear plant, operator says By Julian Duplain 6:55 a.m. A Russian cruise missile passed “critically low” over a Ukrainian nuclear plant early Sunday, according to Energoatom, the Ukrainian nuclear power operator. It said the projectile, which it described as “similar to the Kalibr missile,” flew over the plant in southern Ukraine at 5:30 a.m. and had probably been fired toward Kyiv, where two districts were hit by missile strikes Sunday morning. The nuclear power plant is located near Yuzhnoukrainsk in Mykolaiv province, about 220 miles south of the capital. The Russians “still do not understand that even the smallest fragment of a missile that could hit a working power unit could cause a nuclear catastrophe and radiation leak,” Energoatom said. The Chernobyl plant, the site of a major nuclear disaster in 1986, was occupied by Russian troops for about a month after the February invasion, leading to international concerns about a possible radiation leak. Putin warns Russia would hit new targets if Ukraine gets rocket systems By Julian Duplain and Annabelle Chapman 6:21 a.m. U.S. Marines in California load an M777 howitzer into a military transport plane in April to be delivered in Europe to Ukrainian forces. U.S. Marines in California load an M777 howitzer into a military transport plane in April to be delivered in Europe to Ukrainian forces. (Cpl. Austin Fraley/U.S. Marine Corps/Reuters) Russian President Vladimir Putin said that if Western countries supply Ukraine with advanced rocket systems, Russia will target new areas in the conflict. “We will draw appropriate conclusions from this and use our weapons, which we have enough of, to strike those objects that we have not yet struck,” Putin said in an interview broadcast Sunday on the state-owned Russia-1 television channel. Ukraine has said new rocket systems from Western allies are essential to repelling Russian advances in the eastern part of the country. Last week, U.S. officials said the Biden administration was preparing to send advanced medium-range Multiple Launch Rocket Systems to Ukraine, which would fulfill a top request from Ukrainian officials. But Putin appeared to play down the impact of such deliveries, saying the United States’ supply of such systems to Ukraine essentially does not change anything. Kyiv had missiles of this range before, and the planned deliveries make up for losses, Putin maintained. U.S.-delivered M777 howitzers currently in use in Ukraine have a range of about 18 miles. The version of the Multiple Launch Rocket System that the United States has decided to send, the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, would extend that range to about 43 miles. “The fuss around additional deliveries of weapons has only one goal — to drag out the armed conflict as far as possible,” Putin said. He also said Russian antiaircraft forces have destroyed “dozens” of Ukrainian weapons, without specifying which kind. “Our antiaircraft systems are crunching them like nuts,” he said. Kyiv, Moscow accuse each other of sparking fire at monastery By Rachel Pannett and Christine Armario 5:55 a.m. Kyiv and Moscow traded barbs on Saturday over a fire that engulfed a towering wooden monastery that is part of a revered centuries-old Ukrainian Orthodox Church site in eastern Ukraine, with each side accusing the other of sparking the blaze. In his nightly address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Russian army of “systematically destroying Ukraine’s cultural and historical heritage, as well as social infrastructure, housing, and everything necessary for normal life.” Ukrainian leaders said in a statement on Twitter that Russia bombed the All Saints Monastery, which is affiliated with Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church. Videos posted on social media showed flames engulfing the ornate building, which drew tourists and pilgrims before the war. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church said it had no information on whether Saturday’s attack caused deaths or injuries. Russia’s Defense Ministry denied that its forces were involved in the attack. It accused Ukrainian troops of firing at the monastery and igniting the blaze. Zelensky late Saturday called on Russian church leaders to issue “a clear condemnation of each of those who condone aggression.” The monastery is part of the Svyatogorsk Lavra, a sacred site along the Siversky Donets river. In March, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church said a bomb fell near a bridge and blasted the facility, breaking windows. Church leaders said more than 500 people were seeking refuge there at the time of the attack. UNESCO has included the Svyatogorsk Lavra on a list of cultural sites damaged during the war. The conflict has raised tensions between the Ukrainian and the Russian Orthodox churches. Christianity is the dominant faith in both nations. Kirill is a supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the invasion. Religious and secular leaders in Ukraine and other countries have called on Kirill to take a stance against the war. In May, Pope Francis warned him not to be “Putin’s altar boy.” Kyiv hit by missile strikes; 1 hospitalized By Bryan Pietsch 5:35 a.m. Smoke rises after missile strikes in Kyiv on June 5. Smoke rises after missile strikes in Kyiv on June 5. (Stringer/Reuters) Two districts in Kyiv were hit by missile strikes Sunday morning, leaving one person hospitalized, the capital city’s mayor said. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that “several explosions” had struck the adjacent Dniprovskyi and Darnytskyi districts, in the city’s east and southeast, respectively, and east of the Dnipro River. Emergency services responded and there were no casualties as of Sunday morning, he said. Kyiv has largely been spared from strikes in recent weeks as Russia focuses its military might on Ukraine’s east as it tries to capture the Donbas region. Russian forces pulled out of Kyiv in the early weeks of the war after failing to capture the capital. Kyiv’s regional military administration said that 'an enemy missile was shot down over Obukhiv district by the air defense forces” and there are no victims, according to preliminary information. Milley visits Sweden in show of support for NATO bid By Dan Lamothe 4:51 a.m. Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, meets with Navy Capt. Tom Foster, the commanding officer of the USS Kearsarge, aboard the vessel on June 4. (Dan Lamothe/The Washington Post) Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, meets with Navy Capt. Tom Foster, the commanding officer of the USS Kearsarge, aboard the vessel on June 4. (Dan Lamothe/The Washington Post) STOCKHOLM — The United States prepared Saturday to launch a sprawling naval exercise in the Baltic Sea with Sweden, Finland and 13 NATO allies, a visible sign of an expanding partnership as Stockholm and Helsinki apply to join the military alliance following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Baltic Operations exercise involves more than 40 warships and has been held annually for decades, but will shift this year to include more involvement from Finland and Sweden, said Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He visited Stockholm on Saturday in a show of support for Sweden’s membership bid, one day after a similar stop in Finland. The two countries have long partnered with the U.S. military but resisted applying to join NATO until last month out of concerns that it would anger Moscow. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, however, that changed with significant shifts in public opinion in favor of joining the military alliance in both countries. New U.S. ambassador to Ukraine visits Borodyanka By Christine Armario 4:10 a.m. The new U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, on Saturday visited Borodyanka, a community northwest of Kyiv hit hard by Russian forces at the start of the war. Photos of the trip show Brink walking in front of a destroyed building, devastation that she said “strengthens my resolve to do everything we can to hold the perpetrators of these awful crimes to account,” she wrote on Twitter. The United States reopened its embassy in Kyiv in May, nearly three months after shuttering the office when Russia’s invasion started in February. Brink was confirmed as ambassador around the same time as operations resumed in Ukraine’s capital. Ukraine had not had a U.S. ambassador since 2019, when President Donald Trump removed Marie Yovanovitch from the position, a move scrutinized during his first impeachment inquiry. Washington Post reporters visited Borodyanka in April and witnessed scenes of devastation. The city is one of several where war crimes investigations are underway. Battle for Severodonetsk rages, as Ukraine claims it regained ground By Rachel Pannett, Meryl Kornfield and Julian Duplain 3:29 a.m. Ukrainian service members drive on a damaged road near the front line in the city of Severodonetsk on June 2. (EPA-EFE/Shutterstock) Ukraine and Russia are locked in an intense street-by-street fight for territory in the strategic city of Severodonetsk and surrounding areas, with Ukraine’s forces saying they have clawed back ground under a barrage of artillery attacks in recent days. “With the support of artillery, the Russian army continues storming operations in Severodonetsk,” said Serhiy Haidai, governor of the Luhansk region. “It controls the eastern part of the city.” But Ukrainian forces are pushing back, he said early Sunday. “In the past 24 hours, five enemy attacks have been repulsed, and three tanks, four artillery systems, 11 armored combat vehicles and 26 vehicles have been destroyed,” he said, adding that a combat helicopter and two drones were shot down. The resistance from Ukrainian forces is “likely blunting the operational momentum” that the Russians previously achieved in the city, the British Defense Ministry said in its latest update. On Saturday, Haidai said in a television interview that Ukrainian forces now control about half of the city. Russia’s military had captured up to 70 percent of it last week. He also downplayed an earlier assessment by British defense officials that the entire Luhansk region could fall into Russian hands in the next two weeks, saying Ukrainian troops have enough reinforcements to defend their positions and launch more attacks. Severodonetsk is one of the last cities standing in the way of Russia controlling the region. Fighting has escalated over the past three days, Oleksandr Stryuk, the head of the city’s military administration, said Saturday in an interview in Ukrainian media. About half of the residential areas have been taken over by invading forces, Stryuk said, but he offered an optimistic assessment. “The situation is tense, but there is hope and we are sure that everything will work out,” he said. Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said in a Telegram post that Ukrainian forces are suffering “critical losses” in the fight for Severodonetsk and are retreating. Neither side’s claims could be independently verified. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said recently that Ukraine is losing up to 100 soldiers daily in the conflict. Analysts from the Institute for the Study of War said Ukraine appears to be having some success slowing Russia’s advance, and its defenses “remain strong,” but its troops are likely “more degraded” than Haidai’s statements imply. Zachary Nelson contributed to this report. Ukraine denounces Macron’s call not to ‘humiliate’ Russia By Bryan Pietsch 3:00 a.m. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba criticized a comment by French President Emmanuel Macron that the West should not “humiliate” Russia, saying Saturday that such a statement “can only humiliate France and every other country that would call for it.” Macron said in an interview published Saturday with French newspapers that “we must not humiliate Russia, so that the day when the fighting stops, we can build an exit ramp through diplomatic channels.” The statement was in response to a question about whether the desires of countries such as Sweden and Finland to join NATO risked escalating tensions. Macron said he was “convinced that it is France’s role to be a mediating power.” Since Angela Merkel stepped down as German chancellor in December, Macron has presented himself as Europe’s de facto representative on the world stage. “It is Russia that humiliates itself,” Kuleba said on Twitter. “We all better focus on how to put Russia in its place. This will bring peace and save lives.” Macron said in the interview that he has had countless conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin since December. He also said he told Putin that the Russian president had “made a historic and fundamental mistake for his people, for himself and for history. Nevertheless, Russia remains a great people.” Fire engulfs towering wooden monastery in eastern Ukraine By Christine Armario 2:43 a.m. A towering wooden monastery that is part of a revered centuries-old Ukrainian Orthodox Church site caught fire and sustained heavy damage, officials said Saturday. Ukrainian leaders said in a statement on Twitter that Russia bombed the All Saints Monastery, which is affiliated with Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church. Videos posted on social media showed flames engulfing the ornate building, which drew tourists and pilgrims before the war. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church said it had no information on whether Saturday’s attack caused deaths or injuries. Ukraine’s mission to the U.N. office in Vienna wrote, “Would Patriarch Kiril finally call president putin 2 end the war or would he continue blessing russia’s army?” Russia’s Defense Ministry denied that its forces were involved in the attack. Instead, it accused Ukrainian troops of firing at the monastery and sparking the blaze. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday evening called on Russian church leaders to make “a clear condemnation of each of those who condone aggression.” “Russia is deliberately and systematically destroying Ukraine’s cultural and historical heritage,” he said. The monastery is part of the Svyatogorsk Lavra, a sacred site along the Siversky Donets river. In March, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church said a bomb fell near a bridge and blasted the facility, breaking windows. Church leaders said more than 500 people were seeking refuge there at the time of the attack. UNESCO has included the Svyatogorsk Lavra on a list of cultural sites damaged during the war. The war has raised tensions between the Ukrainian and the Russian Orthodox churches; Christianity is the dominant faith in both nations. Kirill has been a supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the invasion. Religious and secular leaders in Ukraine and other countries have called on Kirill to take a stance against the war. In May, Pope Francis warned him not to be “Putin’s altar boy.” Key update ... Key battlefield updates: Kyiv’s forces say they’re slowing Moscow’s eastern advance By Rachel Pannett 2:42 a.m. Ukrainian forces appear to be slowing Moscow’s efforts to surround their troops in the eastern Luhansk region, including in Severodonetsk, through “prudent and effective local counterattacks” in the city and their defense of the western Siversky Donets riverbank, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Severodonetsk: Ukrainian forces are regaining land and now control about half of this city, according to the governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Haidai. Russian forces had captured about 70 percent last week. Fighting has escalated in the city’s streets over the past three days under a constant barrage of artillery attacks, said the head of the city’s military administration, Oleksandr Stryuk. Elsewhere in Luhansk: Haidai countered a Friday assessment by Britain’s Defense Ministry that Russian forces would probably control all of the heavily contested Luhansk region in the next two weeks. He said Ukraine’s troops have enough reinforcements to defend their positions and launch more attacks. ISW analysts said Ukraine’s forces are probably “more degraded” than his remarks imply, but defenses “remain strong.” They noted that Moscow’s military has “concentrated all of its available resources on this single battle to make only modest gains.” Kherson region: Russian forces are also facing strong resistance in this southern region, Ukraine’s military said in an update on Saturday. Moscow occupied the city of Kherson in the early days of the war and has apparently started issuing Russian passports in the city and in Melitopol to the east. Kyiv region: Two districts in Kyiv were hit by missile strikes Sunday morning, leaving one person hospitalized, the capital city’s mayor said. Ukrainian investigators have exhumed more than 1,300 bodies of civilians as part of the nation’s investigation of potential war crimes. The identities of more than 200 people found dead have not yet been determined, the Internal Affairs Ministry said in an update on Saturday. David Walker, Meryl Kornfield, Bryan Pietsch and Christine Armario contributed to this report. War in Ukraine: What you need to know The latest: Ukraine and Russia are locked in an intense street-by-street fight for territory in the eastern city of Severodonetsk and surrounding areas, with Kyiv’s forces saying they have clawed back ground under a barrage of artillery attacks in recent days and Moscow saying Ukraine is suffering “critical losses” and retreating. The Institute for the Study of War said Ukraine appears to be having some success slowing Russia’s advances and its defenses “remain strong.” Severodonetsk is one of the last cities standing in the way of Russia controlling the entire Luhansk region. The fight: A slowly regenerating Russian army is making incremental gains in eastern Ukraine against valiant but underequipped Ukrainian forces. The United States and its allies are racing to deliver the enormous quantities of weaponry the Ukrainians urgently need if they are to hold the Russians at bay. The weapons: Ukraine is making use of weapons such as Javelin antitank missiles and Switchblade “kamikaze” drones, provided by the United States and other allies. Russia has used an array of weapons against Ukraine, some of which have drawn the attention and concern of analysts. Photos: Post photographers have been on the ground from the very beginning of the war — here’s some of their most powerful work. How you can help: Here are ways those in the U.S. can help support the Ukrainian people as well as what people around the world have been donating. Read our full coverage of the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for updates and exclusive video. UNDERSTANDING THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE CONFLICT HAND CURATED Maps of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine News• June 3, 2022 Why is Ukraine’s Donbas region a target for Russian forces? News• May 3, 2022 How far will Biden go in helping Ukraine? News• June 1, 2022 View 3 more stories Image without a caption By Rachel Pannett Rachel Pannett joined the Post's foreign desk in 2021 after more than a decade with The Wall Street Journal, where she was deputy bureau chief for Australia and New Zealand. Twitter Image without a caption By Julian Duplain Julian Duplain is a contributing reporter for The Washington Post. He worked for more than 25 years for the BBC as a radio producer and website editor. He was also a BBC correspondent in Prague and reported from countries in Central and Eastern Europe, including Romania, Bosnia, the Baltic states and Ukraine. Image without a caption By Bryan Pietsch Bryan Pietsch is a reporter covering breaking news for The Washington Post from its hub in Seoul. He previously covered breaking news for the New York Times in Colorado. 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