- Russia will stand up against Western sanctions and “provocations”, President Vladimir Putin tells a virtual meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a group that also includes China and India.
- The Russian president also thanks the Eurasian defence bloc for support during the recent Wagner insurrection.
- Russia reports an attempted attack on Moscow, saying air defences destroyed four drones while flights to and from Vnukovo airport were briefly restricted.
- A man and a woman died during the shelling of Ukraine’s southern city of Kherson, according to the local prosecutor’s office.
Russian says forces repelled 10 attacks in Donetsk region
Russia’s defence ministry says troops repelled 10 attacks in the Donetsk direction over the past 24 hours, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
“In the Donetsk direction, ten enemy attacks were successfully repelled by competent and courageous actions of the defending units of the Southern Group of Forces,” ministry spokesperson Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov said.
According to Konashenkov, Ukraine’s losses amounted to “up to 290 servicemen killed and wounded, two infantry fighting vehicles, nine vehicles, two pickup trucks, an Akatsiya self-propelled artillery mount, Msta-B and D-30 howitzers”.
He added that air defence systems shot down two Ukrainian Su-25 aircraft and intercepted two HIMARS MLRS shells and 14 drones.
‘Certain contacts’ with the US over WSJ reporter: Kremlin
The Kremlin says there were “certain contacts” with the United States over the case of jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich but that it did not want to make them public.
On Monday, the US ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, was granted access to visit Gershkovich, in the second such visit since his pre-trial detention in March on espionage charges he denies.
“Ambassador Tracy reports that Mr Gershkovich is in good health and remains strong, despite his circumstances,” a US State Department spokesperson said.
“We expect Russian authorities to provide continued consular access.”
Novaya Gazeta journalist attacked in Russian region of Chechnya
Unidentified men have beaten up a journalist for Russia’s Novaya Gazeta newspaper and her lawyer in the Russian region of Chechnya, the news outlet says in a statement.
The attackers destroyed equipment and documents belonging to reporter Yelena Milashina and lawyer Alexander Nemov after intercepting them on their way from the airport to the Chechen capital, Grozny, to attend the trial of Zarema Musayeva, the mother of two local activists who have challenged Chechen authorities.
Novaya Gazeta said Milashina sustained a brain injury and had several fingers broken, and Nemov had a deep cut on his leg.
The Kremlin has relied on Chechnya’s leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, to stabilise the North Caucasus region after two separatist wars.
Kadyrov’s security forces have also fought in Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Novaya Gazeta journalist attacked in Russian region of Chechnya
Unidentified men have beaten up a journalist for Russia’s Novaya Gazeta newspaper and her lawyer in the Russian region of Chechnya, the news outlet says in a statement.
The attackers destroyed equipment and documents belonging to reporter Yelena Milashina and lawyer Alexander Nemov after intercepting them on their way from the airport to the Chechen capital, Grozny, to attend the trial of Zarema Musayeva, the mother of two local activists who have challenged Chechen authorities.
Novaya Gazeta said Milashina sustained a brain injury and had several fingers broken, and Nemov had a deep cut on his leg.
The Kremlin has relied on Chechnya’s leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, to stabilise the North Caucasus region after two separatist wars.
Kadyrov’s security forces have also fought in Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
NATO chief to lead alliance for another year
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s contract will be extended by a year as the military alliance grapples with helping Ukraine without triggering a larger war with Russia.
Stoltenberg, a former prime minister of Norway, has been the alliance’s leader since 2014 and has had his tenure extended two previous times, including last year after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Stoltenberg said on Twitter that he was honoured by the decision to extend his term to October 1, 2024.
“The transatlantic bond between Europe & North America has ensured our freedom & security for nearly 75 years, and in a more dangerous world, our Alliance is more important than ever,” he said.
Russia is more united than ever, says Putin
Putin has told Asian leaders at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) that Russians were more united than ever in his first appearance at an international forum since the Wagner Group mutiny two weeks ago.
“The Russian people are consolidated as never before,” Putin told a virtual meeting.
“Russian political circles and the whole of society clearly demonstrated their unity and elevated sense of responsibility for the fate of the Fatherland when they responded as a united front against an attempted armed mutiny.”
Putin emphasised Russia’s unity at a meeting with key allies to show how dedicated he is to removing doubts about his authority following claims that the Wagner mutiny had shown his weakness.
Moscow will stand up against Western sanctions: Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin told a virtual meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation that Moscow would stand up against Western sanctions and “provocations”.
Putin said Moscow planned to boost ties with the group, which includes China and India, and supported the transition to settlements in local currencies in foreign trade.
He warned that the potential for conflicts and the risk of a global economic crisis were rising.
Lithuania urges NATO to give Kyiv a path towards membership
The president of Lithuania has urged NATO leaders to address Ukraine’s push to join the NATO military alliance at a summit in the capital next week.
“We should not hesitate to take bolder decisions because otherwise, the Putin regime will decide that the Western allies are too weak (that they should be) pushed to the corner and they will surrender”, President Gitanas Nauseda said in an interview with Reuters news agency on Monday.
“Our stronger wording on Ukraine’s (membership) perspective would for sure increase the fighting spirit of Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield. And this is very important”, he added.
Ukraine has been pressing NATO to declare at the July 11-12 summit that Kyiv will join the bloc soon after the war ends and to set out a roadmap to membership.
Zelenskyy praises air defence forces, says Europe will be safe with Kyiv
In Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s nightly Telegram address, he praised anti-aircraft troops and said there would only be peace in Europe once it had guaranteed its security.
On Twitter, Zelenksyy posted his video address and wrote, “It is obvious that Europe can be protected from any aggression only together with Ukraine and only together with Ukraine in NATO.
“That is why we must achieve security certainty about our future in the Alliance. Then Russia will have to refocus on its own statehood – to finally take care of itself, not some expansions.”
Ukraine’s security service detains man accused of collaborating with Russia
Ukraine’s security service (SBU) wrote in a Tweet that a “traitor” allegedly preparing a missile attack on buildings belonging to the SBU and Ukrainian defence forces in Mykolaiv – a city near the Black Sea in southern Ukraine – had been detained.
Last week Ukraine arrested a man accused of directing the Russian missiles that hit a restaurant in the city of Kramatorsk, killing at least 13 people and wounding more than 60.
Two people killed in Kherson: Prosecutor’s office
A man and a woman died in Kherson after the city – located in southern Ukraine – was shelled by Russia on Tuesday morning, the local prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
The number of wounded is being ascertained. Damage to property has also been reported, it said.
Russian forces occupied Kherson in early March 2022. On November 11, 2022, Ukrainian forces recaptured the city.
Ukraine made ‘marginal advances’ on Monday: ISW
The Institute for the Study of War said Ukraine made “marginal advances” on Monday, June 3, as it conducted its counteroffensive in at least four sectors.
The institute published geolocated footage showing that Ukrainian forces have advanced southwest of Bakhmut.
Last few days ‘fruitful’ for military: Senior Ukrainian official
On Tuesday, a senior Ukrainian security official said Kyiv’s troops have had a “particularly fruitful” few days.
“At this stage of active hostilities, Ukraine’s Defense Forces are fulfilling the number one task – the maximum destruction of manpower, equipment, fuel depots, military vehicles, command posts, artillery and air defence forces of the Russian army,” Oleksiy Danilov, the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, wrote on Twitter.
Normal operations resume at Vnukovo airport after earlier disruption
Landings and takeoffs at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport were restricted for several hours early on Tuesday before normal operations resumed after 05:00 GMT.
Vnukovo airport is one of four main airports that serve the Russian capital.
Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, or Rosaviatsiya, said on the Telegram messaging app that landings and takeoffs were restricted “for technical reasons beyond the control of the airport”.
A number of flights from Russia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt were diverted.
Drone attack ‘act of terrorism’: Russian foreign ministry
“The Kyiv regime’s attempt to attack an area where civilian infrastructure is located, including the airport, which incidentally also receives foreign flights, is yet another act of terrorism,” said Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
“The international community should realise that the United States, Britain, France – permanent members of the UN Security Council – are financing a terrorist regime,” she said.
There was no immediate comment from Kyiv. Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.
Four drones shot down, one jammed: Russian defence ministry
Russia said on Tuesday that Ukraine had attacked Moscow with at least five drones.
The Russian defence ministry said that Moscow air defences shot down four Ukrainian drones while a fifth was jammed and crashed into the Odintsovo district of the Moscow region. No one was injured.
Russian news agencies reported that two drones were intercepted near a village 30km (19 miles) southwest of the Kremlin. One drone was detected in the neighbouring Kaluga region.
“At this moment, the attacks have been repelled by air defence forces,” Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his Telegram messaging channel. “All detected drones have been eliminated.”
