(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Ukraine Invasion Day 834: combat continues as the Kremlin centralizes control over irregular troops [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-05 Russian forces conducted a series of drone strikes against Ukraine on the night of June 4 to 5 and a missile strike against Odesa Oblast during the day on June 5 Ukrainian Air Force Commander Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk reported that Russian forces launched 27 Shahed-136/131 drones from Kursk Oblast and occupied Cape Chauda, Crimea and that Ukrainian forces shot down 22 drones over Mykolaiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, and Poltava oblasts. [106] Ukrainian officials stated that Russian drones struck an industrial facility in Poltava Oblast causing a fire. [107] Odesa Oblast Prosecutor's Office reported that Russian forces struck civilian infrastructure in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Raion (near Odesa City) with an unspecified number and type of missiles. [108] Kharkiv City Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported on June 5 that Russian forces have tripled their strikes against Kharkiv City in May 2024 as compared to April 2024. [109] Terekhov stated that Russian forces launched 37 D-30 universal joint glide munition (UMPB) guided glide bombs, 25 unspecified missiles, 12 Shahed-136/131 drones, and three lancet loitering munitions against Kharkiv City in May. understandingwar.org/... x ❗️Russia has destroyed almost a thousand buildings in Ukraine protected by the Geneva Convention, according to an interactive map by The New York Times. During the full-scale invasion, 106 hospitals, 109 churches, and 708 educational institutions have been destroyed. pic.twitter.com/dR35thA1bq — KyivPost (@KyivPost) June 4, 2024 Key Takeaways: US officials continue to attempt to clarify US policy regarding Ukraine's ability to strike a limited subset of Russian military targets within Russia with US-provided weapons, but public communications about US policy remain unclear. Western-provided artillery ammunition has reportedly started arriving to Ukrainian forces on the frontline, although not at a scale that would allow Ukrainian forces to fully challenge the Russian military's current artillery shell advantage. Russian missile and drone strikes have caused significant long-term damage to Ukraine's energy grid, and Ukraine will reportedly face even greater energy constraints in summer 2024. Ukrainian outlet Liga reported on June 4 that a source in Ukraine's Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) stated that there are roughly 550,000 Russian military and paramilitary personnel concentrated in occupied Ukraine and near the international border. Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on June 4 that former Russian Defense Minister and Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu will coordinate efforts to increase Russian defense industrial capacity alongside former Tula Oblast Governor and Presidential Aide Alexei Dyumin and Security Council Deputy Chairperson Dmitry Medvedev. The apparent demotion of former First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council and United Russia Secretary Andrei Turchak on June 4 is likely part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing effort to remove from power the political and military figures that violated his trust in 2023. A recent meeting of the Kremlin-appointed Russian Human Rights Council (HRC) on Russia's migration policy reflects Russia's competing imperatives of attracting migrants to offset Russian labor shortages while also catering to its ultranationalist anti-migrant constituency. Chechen Republic Rosgvardia Head and Russian State Duma Deputy Adam Delimkhanov accused State Duma Deputy Chairman and New People Party Head Vladislav Davankov of contradicting the Russian Constitution and attempting to divide Russian society, exposing continued tension between Chechen efforts to operate autonomously and the Russian state’s efforts to regulate perceived Islamic extremist threats from migrant and indigenous Muslim communities. Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom reportedly assesses that it is unlikely to recover gas sales it lost following the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, illustrating how Western sanctions are achieving some long-term impacts against Russian revenue streams supporting Russia's war effort. Russian investigative outlet the Insider and Moldovan outlet Little Country published an investigation on June 5 detailing how former Moldovan Chief of the General Staff Igor Gorgan operated as an agent on behalf of the Russian General Staff’s Main Directorate (GRU). Russian forces recently advanced southeast of Kupyansk, near Chasiv Yar, west of Avdiivka, and southwest of Donetsk City. The Kremlin likely authorized the Crimean branch of the Kremlin-created "Defenders of Fatherland" state fund to help grant combatants in Russian private military companies (PMCs) legal veteran statuses, possibly as part of an ongoing state effort to centralize control over irregular formations operating in Ukraine. At this moment, 80 years ago, Allied commanders meet one final time at Southwick House to hear the weather forecast. The forecast is good. General Eisenhower gives the final order, D-Day will definitely take place on 6 June. x ⚡️ WAR IN #UKRAINE - JUN 5, 2024 ■ Combat engagements at 7-day average but casualties stay above it ■ 7-day artillery & vehicle losses reach new heights ■ Good increase in 🇺🇦 strikes, improved strike ratio ■ 30-day ratio of visually confirmed equipment losses at 2.3x See… pic.twitter.com/tTPYwH9IiS — Ragnar Gudmundsson 🇮🇸🇺🇦 (@ragnarbjartur) June 5, 2024 x Russian soldiers are complaining about the high prevalence of Ukrainian drone along the front. They state that there is a red zone within 10km of the front where Ukrainian drones are constantly hunting Russians. They further state that 3 soldiers in one spot is far too many. See… pic.twitter.com/s9sqpEaMWn — OSINT Aggregator (@AggregateOsint) June 6, 2024 Ukrainian outlet Liga reported on June 4 that a source in Ukraine's Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) stated that there are roughly 550,000 Russian military and paramilitary personnel concentrated in occupied Ukraine and near the international border. [15] The GUR source reportedly stated that there are about 32,000 Rosgvardia, Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), and other law enforcement personnel operating in occupied Ukraine, in addition to about 520,000 Russian military personnel in and around Ukraine. ISW cannot independently confirm these figures, and the numbers likely encompass combat and other non-combat military personnel who perform support functions and do not represent Russia's immediate combat power. Ukrainian Ground Forces Commander Lieutenant General Oleksandr Pavlyuk stated that as of May 3 there were roughly 510,000 to 515,000 Russian personnel deployed in Ukraine. [16] Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed in December 2023 that there were 617,000 Russian personnel in the “combat zone,” likely referring to all Russian military personnel in the zone of the “special military operation,” which includes staging areas in border areas within Russia. [17] GUR Spokesperson Andriy Yusov reported in January 2024 that there are 35,000 Rosgvardia personnel in occupied Ukraine and that Russian authorities are considering deploying more Rosgvardia personnel to occupied areas. [18] understandingwar.org/... US officials continue to attempt to clarify US policy regarding Ukraine's ability to strike a limited subset of Russian military targets within Russia with US-provided weapons, but public communications about US policy remain unclear. US National Security Spokesperson John Kirby stated during a press conference on June 4 that "there's never been a restriction on the Ukrainians shooting down hostile aircraft, even if those aircraft are not necessarily in Ukrainian airspace." [1] Kirby made this statement in response to a question about whether America's recent partial lifting of restrictions on Ukraine's ability to strike targets within Russia with US-provided weapons pertains to strikes against Russian aircraft operating in Russian airspace. Kirby suggested that Ukrainian forces can shoot down Russian aircraft within Russian airspace if they "pose an impending threat" to Ukraine and stated that Ukrainian forces already have done so since the beginning of the war. It remains unclear what the official US policy on what Russian aircraft constitute "an impending threat" to Ukraine, and Kirby's statements did not elucidate how the US administration views this issue. ISW continues to assess that Ukraine's ability to defend itself against devastating Russian glide bomb strikes is heavily contingent on Ukraine's ability to target Russian aircraft within Russian airspace using US-provided air defense systems before Russian aircraft can launch strikes at Ukrainian cities, critical infrastructure, and frontline positions. [2] The current lack of clarity in US restrictions on Ukraine's use of US-provided weapons to strike Russian military assets within Russia has routinely missed the opportunity to force Russia to self-deter against conducting such strikes on Ukrainian territory from Russian airspace. [3] Russian forces continued to conduct intense glide bomb attacks against Ukraine on June 5, likely largely from Russian airspace. [4]| x What weapons has Ukraine been allowed to use to strike Russia? Here is the list.https://t.co/4WJGs9Jck0 — UNITED24 Media (@United24media) June 6, 2024 Kirby also stated during the press conference that the US cannot confirm if Ukraine has already used US-provided weapons in strikes on Russia since the US partially loosened its restrictions on May 30, but the Associated Press (AP) reported on June 5, citing an unnamed US senator and Western official, that Ukraine has used US-provided weapons to strike Russia "in recent days." [5] ISW has observed geolocated footage from June 1 or 2 that shows a likely Ukrainian HIMARS strike on a Russian S-300/400 air defense system in Belgorod Oblast. [6] understandingwar.org/... Russian forces continued offensive operations in the Lyptsi direction on June 5 but there were no confirmed changes to the frontline. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces repelled Russian assaults near Lyptsi on June 4 and 5. [60] Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi stated on June 5 that Russian forces are concentrating their main efforts north of Kharkiv City on Lyptsi and Hlyboke (north of Lyptsi). [61] Fighting continued near and within Vovchansk on June 5 but there were no confirmed changes to the frontline. [62] Syrskyi stated that Ukrainian forces in the Vovchansk direction are trying to inflict maximum losses on Russian forces, prevent Russian gains, and gradually regain territory. [63] Russian milbloggers claimed that Ukrainian forces intensified counterattacks within and near Vovchansk on June 5, and Vovchansk City Military Administration Head Tamaz Gambarashvili stated that Ukrainian forces have recently retaken unspecified positions within the town. [64] Gambarashvili added that Ukrainian forces fully control central and eastern Vovchansk but that Russian forces control a large part of northern Vovchansk. [65] The Ukrainian Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) published an audio intercept on June 5 wherein a Russian soldier stated that Russian forces are concentrating a grouping of an unspecified size near Grayvoron, Belgorod Oblast. [66] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on May 26 that Russian forces are preparing for new offensive actions and are concentrating a grouping of an unspecified size near the Ukrainian border 90 kilometers northwest of Kharkiv City, likely referring to the Grayvoron-Borisovka-Proletarskiy area in western Belgorod Oblast. [67] Grayvoron is about 65 km northwest from Kharkiv City, for example. Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration Head Oleh Synehubov has repeatedly warned about the possibility of Russian offensive operations in the direction of Zolochiv (northwest of Kharkiv City) but has noted that Russian forces have not yet concentrated a "strike group" in the area as of June 1. [68] The Grayvoron-Borisovka-Proletarskiy area notably offers Russian forces opportunities to launch offensive operations southward in the direction of Zolochiv and Bohodukhiv (also northwest of Kharkiv City) or to the west in the direction of settlements in Sumy Oblast along the P-45 highway that connects Bohodukhiv with Sumy City. [69] ISW has not observed specific indicators suggesting that Russian forces are likely to launch offensive operations in the direction of Sumy Oblast versus in the direction of Kharkiv City, and a concentration in the vicinity of Grayvoron could facilitate offensive operations in either direction. understandingwar.org/... understandingwar.org/... understandingwar.org/... understandingwar.org/... understandingwar.org/... understandingwar.org/... understandingwar.org/... x ✈️🇺🇸🇺🇦 Ukrainian officials are pressing the U.S. and other countries to ramp up their F-16 pilot training, saying the current pipeline isn’t producing enough aviators, - Politico 👀 Ukraine says it has 30 pilots who are eligible to start training in the U.S. immediately. Yet the… pic.twitter.com/Xenzc3fY42 — MAKS 24 🇺🇦👀 (@Maks_NAFO_FELLA) June 5, 2024 x The bombing of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine last year has had surprising effects: for Ukrainians, for wildlife, and for a nuclear power plant. These maps show how https://t.co/rj9HlfVvTT 👇 — The Economist (@TheEconomist) June 5, 2024 [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/5/2244860/-Ukraine-Invasion-Day-834-combat-continues-as-the-Kremlin-centralizes-control-over-irregular-troops?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/