Russia’s Chechen allies vow to fight until Putin stops them
President Vladimir Putin’s Chechen allies have vowed to keep fighting in Ukraine, saying they will even go outside the country until the president stops them.
“There should be no doubt: DPR [the Donetsk People’s Republic — a pro-Russian breakaway region], Nikolaev, Kherson, Odessa, until Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin stops us. Inshallah [God willing] we will get to Berlin,” Chechen parliament speaker Magomed Daudov told reporters.
Pro-Russian Chechen fighters have been part of Russian forces in Ukraine and have a fearsome combat reputation, having experience fighting in urban settings after several conflicts with Russia itself in the 1990s and 2000s before rapprochement between Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Putin on several occasions before years.
It is doubtful that Daudov’s comments reflect any official policy in Moscow. There are also Chechens fighting for Ukraine.
— Holly Elite
The battle for Slavyansk is fast approaching, UK says
A market in Slavyansk was hit on July 5, 2022, following a suspected missile attack amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Miguel Medina | AFP | Getty Images
The British Ministry of Defense has announced that a battle is ahead for the large city of Slavyansk on the front line in Donetsk. Russian forces are advancing on Donetsk province after capturing the neighboring Luhansk region.
“Russian forces from the Eastern and Western groups of troops are probably now about 16 km north of the city of Slavyansk. As the city is also under threat from the Central and Southern Group of Forces, there is a realistic possibility that the battle for Slavyansk will be the next key contest in the fight for Donbass,” the ministry said on Wednesday.
A market in Slavyansk was attacked yesterday, killing two people and injuring seven others, the city’s mayor, Vadim Lyakh, said on Wednesday.
The ministry noted that Russia is likely to continue consolidating its control over Lisichansk and Luhansk Oblast (province), where fierce fighting has raged for weeks, culminating last weekend in Russia’s capture of the last Ukrainian-held town in the province.
North of Slavyansk, the British noted, Russia had “directed most of the remaining available units of the Eastern and Western Group of Forces to the Izium axis,” referring to the route between Slavyansk through Izium, to Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine.
“In the last week, Russian forces have probably advanced up to another 5 km down the E40 main road from Izium, facing extremely determined Ukrainian resistance,” the ministry said.
— Holly Elite
Russia seeks to mobilize the economy to sustain a war
The Russian parliament has taken several steps toward putting the country’s economy on a war footing, with the State Duma passing two bills that would allow the government to force Russian businesses to supply the military with goods for the war effort.
Natalia Kolesnikova | Afp | Getty Images
The Russian parliament has taken several steps toward putting the country’s economy on a fighting footing, with the State Duma (the lower house of parliament) passing two bills that would allow the government to force Russian businesses to supply military goods for the war effort.
“The load on the defense industry has increased significantly. In order to guarantee the supply of weapons and ammunition, it is necessary to optimize the work of the military-industrial complex and the enterprises that are part of the cooperative chains,” said Deputy Prime Minister Yuriy Borisov. told lawmakers on Tuesday, according to a Reuters translation.
The second bill, also passed by the Duma after the first reading, will amend the labor code. This means that businesses supplying goods that support the war effort can make their employees work nights, weekends and holidays and without annual leave if necessary.
Both bills still need to pass a second and third reading in the Duma and must be approved by the upper house and signed by President Vladimir Putin.
“The mobilization of the country’s economic and industrial potential to support the military is a tacit acknowledgment of significant losses incurred since the beginning of the invasion and the approaching shortage of certain types of equipment,” Andrius Tursa, advisor for Central and Eastern Europe at Teneo Intelligence, commented in Tuesday.
“At the same time, it can be seen that Moscow is preparing to sustain its military operations in the long term.
— Holly Elite
An airstrike alert sounded over almost all of Ukraine, raising anxiety among citizens, Zelensky said
Zelensky told Ukrainians not to “overdo it”, saying that “you should not look for logic in the actions of terrorists”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said an air alert was declared over almost all of Ukraine on Tuesday evening, leaving many civilians anxious after a period of relative calm in parts of the country.
“Before that, there was no air alert in the capital and some regions for some time,” Zelensky said in his overnight address, adding that it had made many people wonder if Russia was planning something.
Zelensky told Ukrainians not to “overdo it”, saying that “you should not look for logic in the actions of terrorists”.
“The Russian army does not take breaks. It has one task – to take people’s lives, to intimidate them – so that even a few days without an air alert already feel like part of the terror.”
— Holly Elite
Evidence is mounting of Russian war crimes in Ukraine, UN says
A member of the war crimes prosecutor’s team speaks on the phone next to buildings that have been destroyed by Russian shelling, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Borodyanka, Kyiv region, Ukraine, April 7, 2022.
Zohra Bensemra | Reuters
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said her office had growing evidence of unlawful killings and executions by Russian forces.
“The mounting evidence gives my office reasonable grounds to believe that serious violations of international humanitarian law have been committed by the Russian armed forces in this regard,” Bachelet wrote in a statement.
Bachelet said UN investigators had verified the recovery of more than 1,200 civilian bodies from Kyiv. She added that her office was working to confirm more than 300 allegations of killings by the Russian armed forces in situations not related to active hostilities.
“Arbitrary detention of civilians has also become widespread in territory controlled by the Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups. Despite access restrictions, we documented 270 cases of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance,” she added.
The Kremlin has previously denied that its forces committed crimes against civilians in Ukraine.
— Amanda Macias
US, allies call for suspension of Russia and Belarus from international sports, ban on official state flags at athletic events
A fan holds a Russian flag during the luge relay race at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Getty Images
The State Department reiterated its calls for the international sports community to suspend Russian and Belarusian sports organizations and remove Russian and Belarusian individuals from influential positions related to the athletic community.
“National and international sports organizations should consider suspending the broadcast of sports competitions in Russia and Belarus,” the State Department said in a statement, adding that “official Russian and Belarusian state flags, emblems and anthems should be banned.”
“Furthermore, we again encourage the international sports community to continue to show its solidarity with the people of Ukraine, including by supporting the continuation and reconstruction of Ukrainian sports where possible,” the State Department wrote in a joint statement with representatives of more than 30 countries. .
— Amanda Macias
‘Historic day’, NATO chief says as all 30 NATO allies approve membership of Finland and Sweden
Sweden’s Foreign Minister Anne Linde and Finland’s Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto attend a press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg after signing their countries’ accession protocols at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, July 5, 2022.
Yves Herman | Reuters
All 30 NATO member states have approved protocols for the accession of Finland and Sweden to the military alliance, a significant step in NATO’s expansion.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg hailed the “historic day for Euro-Atlantic security”.
“With 32 nations around the table, we will be stronger and safer as we face a more dangerous world,” Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter.
In May, both nations began the formal application process for NATO membership.
— Amanda Macias
Pro-Russian forces are moving towards Donetsk, separatist leader says
Denis Pushilin (C), leader of separatists in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), arrives to give a press conference in Donetsk on April 11, 2022.
Alexander Nemenov | AFP | Getty Images
Pro-Russian separatist forces from the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics” (known as the DPR and LPR) are moving toward Donetsk Oblast, DPR head Denis Pushilin said Tuesday, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
“We can now say that our corps, the first corps that took part and helped our brothers [in the liberation of the LPR]is already moving towards the Donetsk direction, as well as a second corps [from] Luhansk,” Pushilin said.
Russia and its backers in eastern Ukraine are calling last weekend’s takeover of the Luhansk region “liberation”, although Russia is widely seen as using the rationale of “protecting” the breakaway separatist regions, which were founded in 2014 ., when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine as an excuse to invade Ukraine.
— Holly Elite
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