(Image by NEIVANMADE)
Quick housekeeping note: The girls are both fine. Rosie has another week off before her next round of chemo starts. I want to thank everyone, again, for the good thoughts, well wishes, prayers, and donations. They are all greatly appreciated. I’m going to keep today’s update shorter.
One additional item: I know the news from Gaza is bad. I’ve seen the videos of the aftermath of this morning’s (local time) strike. You DO NOT need to see them. Or the screen grabs or pictures. It is enough to know what happened.
Russia attacked Kharkiv again today.
Kharkiv today. One woman was killed and 11 other civilians were injured. How many more people have to suffer to #LetUkraineStrikeBack? pic.twitter.com/4MSxOD8Qyt
— Iryna Voichuk (@IrynaVoichuk) May 27, 2024
For the third day in a row, rescuers have been removing rubble from the store, finding the remains of the bodies of civilians who were killed. Meanwhile, russian forces attacked Kharkiv again today with three glide bombs, targeting a candy factory and an agricultural machinery… pic.twitter.com/Ksl0n94Qxh
— Iryna Voichuk (@IrynaVoichuk) May 27, 2024
For the third day in a row, rescuers have been removing rubble from the store, finding the remains of the bodies of civilians who were killed. Meanwhile, russian forces attacked Kharkiv again today with three glide bombs, targeting a candy factory and an agricultural machinery factory. A 46-year-old woman was killed, and 11 other civilians were injured.
📷Suspilne Kharkiv
President Zelenskyy travelled to Spain today. Among other things he signed a joint security cooperation agreement. The video to his joint press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is below.
France:
⚡️France will send instructors to Ukraine to train soldiers, Syrskyi says.
France is planning to send instructors to Ukraine soon to train the military, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on May 27 after a call with French Defense Minister. https://t.co/b9WwMd3YUK
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 27, 2024
Here are the details from The Kyiv Independent:
Editor’s note: This story was updated with a comment from France’s Defense Ministry to Reuters.
France is planning to send instructors to Ukraine to train the military, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi said on May 27 after a video meeting with French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu.
The announcement comes after reports that some NATO member states are discussing the possibility of sending military instructors or contractors to Ukraine to train troops and assist with equipment repairs.
Kyiv has asked the U.S. and other NATO countries to help train 150,000 soldiers closer to the front lines, according to the New York Times.
Syrskyi said he had already signed documents “that will allow the first French instructors to visit our training centers soon and see infrastructure and staff.”
“I believe that France’s determination will encourage other partners to join this ambitious project,” the general said, without disclosing further details.
France’s Defense Ministry told Reuters that training in Ukraine “is one of the projects discussed since the conference on support for Ukraine” convened by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris in February.
“Like all the projects discussed at that time, this track continues to be the subject of work with the Ukrainians, in particular to understand their exact needs,” the ministry said.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said in late May that “there are countries who are training soldiers on the ground already,” without naming any specific countries or provide any further details on their purported operations in Ukraine.
The debate on the potential presence of NATO troops in Ukraine was sparked by comments made by Macron in February, in which he considered the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine if requested.
The U.S. and multiple European allies, as well as NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, have distanced themselves from the French president’s statement. However, several countries have not ruled out sending troops for non-combat missions, such as training the Ukrainian military.
Macron has nonetheless stood by his suggestion, saying again in May that he would consider sending French troops to Ukraine in the case of a Russian breakthrough or a Ukrainian request.
It appears that General Syrskyi may have gotten a little ahead of himself.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense:
Clarification regarding numerous requests from the mass media regarding the reception of instructors from partner countries.
Starting from February 2024, Ukraine expressed interest in the prospect of receiving foreign instructors in Ukraine.
As of now, we are still in…
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 27, 2024
Clarification regarding numerous requests from the mass media regarding the reception of instructors from partner countries.
Starting from February 2024, Ukraine expressed interest in the prospect of receiving foreign instructors in Ukraine.
As of now, we are still in discussions with France and other countries on this issue.
The Ministry of Defense, together with the General Staff, started internal work on the relevant documents on this issue in order not to waste time on coordinating bureaucratic issues when the appropriate decision will be made.
NATO:
NATO allies should lift restrictions that prohibit Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied weapons against military targets inside Russia, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly said in a declaration adopted on May 27.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 27, 2024
Lithuania:
The best way to help Ukraine is to help Ukraine win, but instead we are shielding Russia’s occupation. If we cannot get over our fear of success, we will only invite more failure. pic.twitter.com/okCD1xzl6B
— Gabrielius Landsbergis🇱🇹 (@GLandsbergis) May 27, 2024
Lansbergis should be the next Secretary General of NATO.
Kharkiv:
Investigators found an unexploded aerial bomb near the Kharkiv hypermarket that Russia targeted on May 25, killing over a dozen civilians, Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office reported on May 27.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 27, 2024
Russian occupied Luhansk Oblast:
Rumors have it that a Russian airfield was hit. pic.twitter.com/IeGUbnFOOR
— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) May 27, 2024
Strikes reported in Luhansk. pic.twitter.com/VjA0NTm5aC
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) May 27, 2024
/3. Estimated geolocation of strike/burning area in Luhansk https://t.co/f2aazPRe3x
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) May 27, 2024
The Kyiv Independent has the details:
Explosions were reported in Russian-occupied Luhansk in the evening of May 27 as Moscow-installed head of the region Leonid Pasechnik claimed a missile attack on the city.
Telegram channels shared photos and videos showing a major fire in Luhansk.
It broke out near the infrastructure facilities of the former Luhansk Higher Military Aviation School and the nearby aircraft repair plant, Luhansk Oblast Governor Artem Lysohor said.
Russia’s Pasechnik said that information on damage and casualties “is being clarified.”
The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims. The Ukrainian military has not yet commented on the reports.
Ukraine targeted a Russian military base in Luhansk’s suburb of Yuvileine on May 20, Lysohor said.
A week before, a Russian ammunition depot reportedly exploded in the occupied town of Sorokine (Krasnodon) in Luhansk Oblast.
Russia had occupied Luhansk and a significant part of the region since the start of its war in 2014.
Odesa Oblast:
Zlata was 4 years old.#LetUkraineStrikeBack pic.twitter.com/GIeEJylFoj
— Mira of Kyiv 🇺🇦 (@reshetz) May 27, 2024
The Zaporizhzhia front:
Ukrainian soldiers report about big Russian attacks on the Zaporizhzhia front, Urozhaine area.
In the morning: “Russians are attacking again near Urozhayne, they attacked with infantry forces and 2 tanks. The boys fought back without any particular problems, however, on the… pic.twitter.com/3F2jR5oCAP
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) May 27, 2024
Ukrainian soldiers report about big Russian attacks on the Zaporizhzhia front, Urozhaine area.
In the morning: “Russians are attacking again near Urozhayne, they attacked with infantry forces and 2 tanks. The boys fought back without any particular problems, however, on the same front, in neighboring areas, the enemy also began active actions.”
In the evening: “Strong Russian attacks on Urozhaine, today 11 units of the enemy’s AFVs are already burnt or damaged in the fields. The enemy attacks in waves, is on the outskirts of the village. The guys are holding on.”
The Bilohorivka front:
54th Brigade of Ukraine repels Russian attack on the Bilohorivka front. Deepstate regarding the attack:
“Footage of the destruction of the Russian column east of Verkhnokamianske
Quite unusual shots, because mainly the Russians near Siversk use infantry, drones and artillery,… pic.twitter.com/zdoPNPkAdQ
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) May 27, 2024
54th Brigade of Ukraine repels Russian attack on the Bilohorivka front. Deepstate regarding the attack:
“Footage of the destruction of the Russian column east of Verkhnokamianske
Quite unusual shots, because mainly the Russians near Siversk use infantry, drones and artillery, and AFVs go as a support force. Here, the Russians began to move in a whole column to the positions of the Defense Forces of Ukraine, but encountered an effective repulse. The column was multiplied by zero, and attempts to break through to Siversk, which is the main goal of the Russians, once again failed. Fighting continues along the entire stretch from Bilogorivka (Luhansk region) to Rozdolivka. In particular, near the first one, you can see very frequent shots of damage to the infantry, which is constantly attacking.”
Chasiv Yar:
/2. Repealing of today’s Russian attack on Chasiv Yar.
T-90M with spoiler was burned, was not fast enough. https://t.co/uqYD9tG3Va pic.twitter.com/qgHbZlLbvC— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) May 27, 2024
Orsk, Orenburg Oblast, Russia:
Another over-the-horizon radar ‘Voronezh-M’ in Orsk, Orenburg region was attacked by drones. Sources say that Ukrainian drones covered more than 1.800km, setting a new record. The consequences of the damage are still being clarified.https://t.co/K3rVs1HDr5 pic.twitter.com/NgsBQv7R8v
— NOELREPORTS 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@NOELreports) May 27, 2024
From Ukrainska Pravda:
A drone belonging to Defence Intelligence of Ukraine attacked the Voronezh M long-range target detection radar station located in the city of Orsk inRussia’s Orenburg Oblast on 26 May.
Source: Ukrainska Pravda source in Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU)
Quote: “A Ukrainian drone has covered a distance of more than 1,800 kilometres to the enemy’s facility, setting a new record for the range of destruction for kamikaze drones.”
Details: The aftermath of the attack is being ascertained.
Russian news outlets wrote that a UAV “went down” near Orsk and that the drone’s target “may have been a military facility.”
Previously, the most distant target attacked by Ukrainian drones was a facility in the city of Salavat in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan, which is 140 kilometres closer to the Ukrainian border than Orsk.
For reference: Voronezh M is part of a family of Russian long-range stationary over-the-horizon radars. It is designed to detect space and aerodynamic targets, including ballistic and cruise missiles. This radar operates in the one-metre waveband and has a target detection range of up to 6,000 kilometres.
Background:
Earlier, there was information that a DIU drone had hit another radar station of this family, Voronezh DM, located in the village of Gluboky in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai. It was attacked on 23 May, which resulted in a fire at the site.
That’s enough for today.
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Open thread!
Nukular Biskits
Thanks, Adam.
And I may have asked this question in the past but what do you think the most realistic response Putin could muster would be should the US stop insisting that no US-provided weapons be used to attack targets inside Russia proper?
I don’t see Putin as escalating but, for reasons that escape me, the Biden Administration seems to think he would.
hrprogressive
Landsbergis seems really bullish on the concept of “defeating Russia in Ukraine”. Does he understand something about Putin better than much of the rest of the West, or is he perhaps speaking more existentially since he likely thinks (“knows”) that if Putin isn’t stopped in Ukraine, he’ll keep marching Westward until he is? Or maybe it’s both?
Any thoughts on how Ukrainian drones keep making it further and further into Russia without being stopped? Is this just an abject failure of Russia’s air defenses/military? Is there plausibility that Russia might be “letting them through” to later justify some sort of escalation later? It seems bizarre to me that a country purportedly as strong as Russia is being hit so deep in their own territory by weapons they theoretically should be able to neutralize, no? Or am I overstating Russia’s military capabilities in this region?
Devore
Thanks Adam.
I asked the question late yesterday what does Ukraine need now or next to push the Russians out?
lots more aircraft? More soldiers? Permission to strike Russian territory?
Adam L Silverman
@Nukular Biskits: He’ll just keep doing what he’s doing. Sabotage, wetwork, political warfare: PSYOP, WebOps, cyber attacks, plus person to person influence operations.
Adam L Silverman
@hrprogressive: Our Baltic allies have a far, far, far better understanding of what Putin and those around him are about, what they want, and what they’ll do next. As well as what Russians will support. This is a combination of history and geography.
Adam L Silverman
@Devore: All of the above.
hrprogressive
@Adam L Silverman:
So why do we ignore what people like him and his countrypersons say?
Nukular Biskits
@Adam L Silverman:
That’s pretty much my (semi-informed) layman’s impression as well.
That’s why I simply can’t understand why the timidness out of Biden. Given his experience, he’s bound to know that Putin’s options for retaliation against the US are limited to what you listed.
Westyny
Thanks, Adam. Glad to hear good news about the girls. Also glad to see NATO Parliament approving use of weapons in Russian territory. Is the US even close to following suit, say, tacitly via back channel?
Adam L Silverman
@hrprogressive: Because we’re the US.
Adam L Silverman
@Westyny: Blinken has called for it, but it isn’t going to be his decision. I have no idea where Biden and Sullivan are on this.
hrprogressive
@Adam L Silverman:
Duly noted, ha. Thanks for the responses tonight. Here’s to continued better health for the dogs.
Jay
As always, thank you Adam.
Jay
@hrprogressive:
The ruZZian’s claim that the S-400 AD system is the greatest in the world, far better than the Patriot, and is able to track and shoot down any ballistic missile, cruise missile, drone or aircraft in a 400km range.
Two days ago, drone footage of an ATACMS strike on a S-400 battery emerged. 4 40N6E missiles were launched by the S-400, (and didn’t even come close) before the ATACMS struck and destroyed the battery. Some of the damage may have been from the 40N6E missiles exploding in typical fashion.
Keep in mind, the ruZZian media and hardware salesmen claim that the ATACMS are old, unreliable and obsolete tech.
In the past, anytime Soviet/ruZZian hardware got smoked by Western Arms, the Tankies*, (in the WOW, WOT, other military FPS Games term), would claim several excuses, often all at once.
1) It was a cheap export model with out the bells and whistles,
2) It was not used/deployed in true Soviet/ruZZian tactical fashion,
3) The crews/Officers/Generals in charge were not trained to the same standards as the Soviet/ruZZian crews, and quite often in very racist terms.
*(tankies are gamer/history buffs with a serious hard on for any Soviet/ruZZian gear despite it’s known faults, like the T-34. wereaboos are fans of Nazi shit who spend most of their game time broken down in a field in a Tiger tank).
Jay
@Jay:
It would appear that Soviet/ruZZian systems are more hype than ability, and much of the ruZZian wonderwaffen of the Putin era are either parade queens, (hummmmn? No T-14 Armata’s at the Victory Day parade, just a lonely ex-NORK post WWII T-34, no flypast either, where is that SU-57?) or vapor ware.
Subcommandante Yakbreath
I always read these Ukraine posts the morning after (so always late to the party…), but tonight I want to add my thanks to Adam for the insight and effort that goes into them. I also want to say how much I appreciate the breadth of knowledge that the commenters bring to the conversation; this is indeed a full service blog.
Skritches and best wishes to the pups.
YY_Sima Qian
I used to think that the fears of Russia by Poland & the Baltic States, while complete understandable, sometimes bordered on the paranoid & hysterical. Events have proven them right. Putin stripped away his own mask w/ the current invasion, leaving no room for doubt & excuses (even if apologists continue to make them). In fact, Ukraine stripped away Putin’s mask through its dogged resistance, letting the Putin regime’s malevolence come forth into the broad daylight. Had Ukraine folded in a couple of weeks, & Putin was able to install a client regime in Kyiv, a lot of people & a lot of countries would have remained much more comfortable in pretending Putin is not who he is. The propaganda would have been that the Zelenskyy government was not representative of Ukrainians, & was indeed the US’ puppet & flirting w/ Nazis…
Jay
@YY_Sima Qian:
Vatnick Soup, https://nitter.poast.org/P_Kallioniemi, has a thread up on social media superspreaders.
For example, 0.1% of twitter posters were responsible for creating 80% of the “fake news” about the 2016 US Elections, which wound up being spread further by bots and trolls.
Covid disinfo, 12 users created 65% of the disinfo.
And with “ad revinue sharing” under Felon Musk, one can pretty good living from it.
YY_Sima Qian
Just catching up on global news this morning here in China…
Is Biden going to enforce his publicly stated red line wrt Israel assaulting Rafah w/o adequate protection of civilians, or was that just an election season sop to wavering Arab American voters in Mich. & the Administration will keep finding excuses not to enforces it?
Jay
@YY_Sima Qian:
Bibi and Israel are making the proper “squeaky noises” about an “investigation” into the Rafah airstrike,
so yeah, nothing will be done except excuses and white washing.
YY_Sima Qian
@Jay: Are these the “squeaky noises” you are talking about?
Another Scott
@YY_Sima Qian: @Jay:
TimesofIsrael.com:
I’m reminded of the MOVE bombing.
The party doing the violence is responsible. Israel is responsible. (And of course there was masses of flammable stuff nearby. Anyone with half a brain could tell them that planning to bomb the middle of a tent city (or row houses) was a recipe for a conflagration.) As in 1985, there’s no excuse for it.
Grr…,
Scott.
Harrison Wesley
@YY_Sima Qian: Really? That’s the analysis? “Hey, shit happens….”
Jay
@YY_Sima Qian:
Israel always “investigates”.
99% of the time they exonerate themselves, quite often, with really weak assed excuses.
1% of the time it’s one or two “bad apples”.
It’s never policy, or systemic, although it is policy and systemic.
YY_Sima Qian
@Another Scott: If the IDF had not dropped a large aerial bomb into the middle of a tent camp in a “Designated Humanitarian Area”, to go after a couple of senior Hamas leaders (or so they say), the fuel tank might not have ignited (if that was what happened).
Of course Hamas leaders will try to hide among the refugees & use them as human shields. Killing a few more senior Hamas leaders will not destroy the organization, nor stop it from reemerging from areas the IDF has vacated to snipe at the IDF or launch rockets at Israel (which does to show how ineffective the IDF campaign has been on its own terms).
Traveller
I was going to agree that people don’t need to see the Rafah destruction and dead from last night…though I of course watched it. But to my point today, I think I’m going to disagree with Adam’s advice to not see this or that of the dead and dying and grievously wounded on the Ukrainian front…maybe there is some value in so seeing…all this death.
Because I was avoiding work I didn’t want to be doing I spent probably an hour perusing these, often up close, videos of drone strikes and even ambushes of Russians on motorbikes, (actually this was a combined killing with drones and ground based rifle fire).
With all these cautions, still, I feel I’ve seen all 500,000 Russians killed or harmed today…it is exhausting, but surly in truth I’ve seen a hundred real deaths today…some quite awful, some in a six part series of Russian wounded being treated in a Ukrainian field hospital…and just lots of dead and dying in open farmlands. Terribly dying.
This is all open source, mostly Reddit and X, (for whatever reasons I seldom get over to Telegram), and I have to ask…do Russians get to see this? Does a volunteer from Kazakhstan at least peruse the actual battlefield before volunteering?!?
The exclamation point is intentional…the deaths are extraordinary…and watching these men die real deaths, in almost real time…you would have to be insane to walk these fields and tree lines in a country that is not yours and is foreign to you….
Of course, I’ve done this myself in foreign lands as I think about it, but, JFC…I do hope that everyone on the Russian side of this war spends the hour I spent today…seeing what…artillery, what minefields, what bombs and bullets awaits them….there may even be a propaganda victory to be won here…if the lads first saw what is going on out there on the battlefield.
All of this makes me a little more optimistic for Ukraine, actually…there is lots and lots of killing of real human beings being done…at a rapid pace. Best Wishes, Traveller
Jay
@YY_Sima Qian:
Yahya Sinwar is in Khan Younis where he has been since the start of the conflict, even when the IDF was supposedly holding it after they had supposedly cleared it of Hamas.
Jay
@Traveller:
Most of the non-ruZZian Eastern “recruits” to the SMO, arn’t “recruits”. They were “contracted” by shady brokers to fill jobs like truck driver, Security Guard, construction worker in their home countries, given tickets to ruZZia. Even where the ruble sit’s now, it’s still way more money that they could earn at home, even if they could find employment at home.
When they arrive in ruZZia, they are arrested and given a choice. 20 years in a Gulag for “illegal entry” or joining the SMO in a “non-combat” role. Tip, the “recruiters” lied, they are given at best, 5 day’s “training” and then sent to the Zero Line.
For ruZZian’s, they either don’t see the vids, (closed, censored and blocked internet), or don’t believe them because it doesn’t match their media. They are raised from birth on ruZZian propaganda, (die for ruZZia, false masculinity), live in a brutal broken society, live with out hope and the promised money is a lot. Plus, opportunities for plunder, rape and State supplied vodka.
The few Western SMO “volenteers” showed up after Crimea, many are Nazi’s or criminals on the run, most of those who have lived so far are more “War Correspondent” than soldier, and those who are soldiers are basically in the LPR and DPR to keep other’s from running away, deserting or retreating. “Blockaide troops”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Bentley
Yutsano
@YY_Sima Qian:
Ah. I see the flaw in your logic good sir. You’re assuming the point of this war is to actually eliminate Hamas. Netanyahu has no reason nor intention to “eliminate” Hamas. Hamas is his best tool for staying in power. This war has one true objective: to keep Bibi out of jail. That’s why there’s no after plans. He doesn’t care what happens after. He just needs to stay Prime Minister until he can somehow get his charges quashed.
Traveller
Ahhh, yes, Russell Bentley…each side is attracting…their champions. Often, odd folk. We have previously discussed foreign recruitment, especially on the Russian side. There is an endless supply of the poor and desperate. (I want them to peruse these videos when and while they can….Russia is a dangerous place now.)
I was somewhat distressed to see Chinese, (or N. Koreans), dead on the battle space. There were three together so I suppose they could all speak to each other….I guess. ) Best Wishes, Traveller
Jay
@Traveller:
After the initial run of “gung ho” wannabe’s from the West, Ukraine’s have pretty much measured up. The Eastern Block volenteers, showed up early, starting in 2013,with no fantasies, Georgians, Chechens, Russians, Latvians, Finns, Poles, etc.
Some 30,000, so about 1/5th of Ukraine’s current manpower.
And so far, 0 WarCrimes
An issue, for the Internationals, is that if they have to break contract, (no longer combat capable), they cannot stay in Ukraine or retain services. The Rada is trying to pass a law to change that.
YY_Sima Qian
@Yutsano: That surely is Bibi’s plan, but why would the rest of the War Cabinet go along w/ it? But then, Adam has always said that Suleimani was the best strategist in the region, so probably no competent strategist in the current Israeli natsec establishment?
wjca
They each have their own agendas. Some are focused mostly on tactics. Some are interested in flat out genocide (some explicitly, others covertly). None of them is focused to ending the war ASAP.
Since Bibi is still PM, it would be up to him to designate somebody to do planning for ending the war (not to mention planning for what comes after). Since he doesn’t want to end it, no such appointment has been forthcoming.
Geminid
@wjca: The War Cabinet has three principals- Netanyahu, Gallant, and Gantz- and two Observers- Dermer and Eisenkot. Right now the power to make major decisions on this war is vested in them collectively by the coalition agreement ratified by the Knesset on October 12. They won’t decide on a plan for Gaza though, despite knowing for months that they have to.
When you speak of some members wanting this, some wanting that, it seems like you are describing the larger government, not the War Cabinet; in particular Smotrich the Finance Minister (and deputy Defense Minister) and police minister Ben-Gvir. Those two are in the larger Security Cabinet.
Ed. There are something like 30 Cabinet ministers in this government. That’s a lot for a nation of less than 10 million people, but Netanyahu had to hand out so many in order to form his rotten government. Some of the posts’ have only nominal responsibilities, but they come with an office and a staff so they are patronage plums.awe