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Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

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Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / War for Ukraine Day 836: A Short Saturday Night Update

War for Ukraine Day 836: A Short Saturday Night Update

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A couple of quick housekeeping notes. First, sorry for the delay. I had to run a quick errand between 7:30 and 8:00 and I just got home. Which should tell you how well that went. As a result, tonight’s update will be on the shorter side.

Second, Rosie is still doing great. No real side effects from last Monday’s chemo treatment. Thank you all for the good thoughts, the well wishes, the prayers, and the donations.

Air raid alerts are starting to go up over southern Ukraine as start tonight’s update – 10:10 PM EDT. Everything from Donetsk in the east to Odesa are now under air raid alert.

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

We Have Already Reached Agreements with Partners on Additional Air Defense Systems for Ukraine – Address by the President of Ukraine

8 June 2024 – 20:17

Dear Ukrainians!

A few summaries of the day.
First, the front. Today I spoke with the Commander-in-Chief – overall, about the situation. A significant outcome is that the Russian army has failed to execute their Kharkiv operation. We are currently restraining them to the best of our ability, destroying Russian units that enter our land and terrorize the Kharkiv region. The direction is reinforced. And it will be reinforced even more.

There was also a report on the Donetsk directions, where the situation is the most difficult.

We are also working to ensure more reserves for our army. Now, thanks to negotiations and meetings in France, we have some new solutions for Ukrainian defense – both from France and the United States. Thank you, friends! Progress has also been made in artillery – including the production of 155-caliber shells in Ukraine, and we are preparing a new manufacturing platform. Our combat aviation and electronic warfare capabilities are also being improved. I am grateful to France, and to Emmanuel personally, for his initiative and support for our proposals on the training of our warriors and the provision of brigades. Together, we are preparing a new systematic framework for training units of the Ukrainian Army.

I would also like to commend our units that showed the best performance in combat this week. The Kharkiv direction – the 36th separate marine infantry brigade and the 92nd separate assault brigade. Thank you! In the Donetsk region, I thank all the soldiers and commanders of the 55th separate artillery brigade. Consistently efficient! In addition, based on this week’s results, warriors of the Defense Intelligence, in particular, the “Group 13” unit and the “Shaman” special unit, deserve special mention. Well done! And our warriors of the Security Service of Ukraine – the Center of Special Operations “A”, the Departments of Counterintelligence and Military Counterintelligence. Thank you! Each destroyed unit of Russian equipment, each Russian loss is a contribution to the guarantee of our independence.

And one more thing. We continue to communicate as actively as possible with all our partners. At every level that can be helpful. The first Peace Summit is only a week away. There are also important meetings and negotiations with European leaders ahead – for the sake of our resilience, our protection from Russian terror. We have already reached agreements with partners on additional air defense systems for Ukraine, and some of these decisions will be implemented sooner, while others – closer to the fall. I am grateful to every leader, every state that really provides us with practical support in this regard.

New security agreements for Ukraine are almost ready. Now – these months – is the time for strategic decisions. May has expanded our capabilities on the battlefield, especially at long range. June should strengthen our diplomacy and strategic perspectives – everything that can bring a just peace closer and give more strength to our Ukrainian society. And that’s what it will be.

Glory to Ukraine!

Holland and Denmark:

The Netherlands and Denmark will contribute EUR 400 million in a Swedish fund to build CV 90 infantry fighting vehicles for Ukraine.

The CV 90 IFVs have already proven themselves on the battlefield. They not only effectively destroy the enemy but also save the crew during the missions.

We are grateful to our partners for their staunch support. We are working together to achieve a just peace in Ukraine and in whole Europe.
🇺🇦🤝🇳🇱🇩🇰

Here’s the full video:

For you Yak enthusiasts:

And for you drone enthusiasts:

Here’s the machine translation of the original tweet:

By the way, here 23 OSB show the combat work of a drone that transports ammunition and provisions to our positions, to the enemy – TMs, and now also steals machine guns

Well, how can you not support the collection on such Volleys
Was this trans

Novomykhailivka:

Kharkiv:

The Russian incursion in northern Kharkiv is now one month ongoing and it is time to summarize the intermediate results.

When the Russian offensive started, the Russian advance was initially – at least when compared to the creeping in the east – relatively fast. Vovchans’k was obviously their primary target in that sector. Russians were superior in numbers, shells and had absolute freedom to strike Ukrainians from Russian territory, since Western weapons were restricted from being used there.

But the Russian incursion was eventually bogged down. On May 18, Ukrainian missiles hammered several Russian positions in the northern quarters of Vovchans’k. This was also the day when the last Russian advance was recorded in that sector. The development at the western Kharkiv advance was quite similar.

From a tactical point of view, Russians didn’t make any noteworthy gains. Vovchans’k continues to be primarily under Ukrainian control, and in fact Ukrainians have already regained some previously lost parts. The Russian dream to come any closer to Kharkiv City itself in order to position tubed artillery in range of Ukraine’s second largest city, is but only a fever dream. So, even this tactical objective of the Russian army is nowhere near to materialize.

Much more important, however, is the strategic situation. Again, Russians couldn’t break the Ukrainian lines and are now even compelled to defend this area. Far worse are the political implications of that adventure. The biggest Russian miscalculation has been that the West authorized the usage of Western weapons against Russian targets in Russia, not only exposing countless Russian targets but also Russian bluffs when it comes to red lines. I have mentioned this several times, before. It showed the Russian emperor’s new clothes in such an obvious fashion.

There was also the assumption that the Kharkiv incursion was a diversion for operations in the east and, indeed, Russians tried multiple times to advance near Chasiv Yar. But the results there were even smaller than before Kharkiv incursion. The attempted Russian crossing of the Siversky-Donets Canal failed multiple times and the Russian armored spearheads along their manpower were swiftly eliminated. Russians haven’t spent all their cannon fodder there yet, but if Kharkiv was a diversion then this intention failed as well.

All in all, the last 4 weeks, but even more the last 8 months have shown us that even under best fighting conditions Russians perform abysmally low. They have the numbers, the shells, the air planes, their industry completely set for war and, most of all, the Ukrainian shell drought. Yet, despite this huge advantage, the results regarding territorial gains are extremely meager, at best. When nothing changes and when comparing those meager results with the huge resources Russians have allocated and eventually squandered, then we can easily call this a strategic Russian defeat. Seriously, Russians cannot even take Vovchans’k, a city merely 3 miles behind their own border. Just keep this in mind and try not to laugh.

Ukrainians severely degraded Russian manpower and resources. They performed exceptionally well, despite the harsh conditions and in the process exposed Russia’s weakness over and over, again. It is latest episode for the fact that Russia can be defeated.

I’m not sure anyone should take any victory laps yet, especially as Putin is perfectly happy to just bombard Kharkiv and Sumy Oblasts and turn to rubble what he can’t take with Landpower. For now, though, it seems that the ground offensive seems to have stalled.

If you ever wondered why the military has safety stand downs, it’s usually because of stuff like this:

Mozdok air base, North Ossetia, Russia:

Russians report that there was an attempted attack on a Russian military airbase in Mozdok, Caucasus area. It’s known that Russian MiG-31 and Tu-22 are currently based at that airbase.

As claimed by Russians three Ukrainian drones were downed. At that moment there are no information about the damage on the ground.

Approximately 720km from the frontline.

That’s enough fore tonight.

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Reader Interactions

8Comments

  1. 1.

    Another Scott

    Thanks Adam.  Have a peaceful night.

    Slava Ukraini!!

    In other news, TimesOfIsrael.com:

    Netanyahu urges Gantz not to bolt government in wake of successful hostage rescue

    […]

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday evening issued a plea for war cabinet minister Benny Gantz to set aside his plans to bolt the emergency government, as the war cabinet minister was widely expected to do so before the successful rescue of four living hostages from Gaza.

    “This is the time for unity and not for division,” the premier wrote on X. “We must stay unified among ourselves in the face of the big tasks ahead of us. I call on Benny Gantz — don’t leave the emergency government. Don’t give up on unity.”

    In a statement issued minutes later, Gantz responded that “alongside the justified joy in the achievement, we must remember that all the challenges Israel faces have remained as they were. Therefore, I tell the prime minister and the entire leadership — today, too, we must consider responsibly how it is best and possible to continue from here.”

    Earlier in the day, Gantz canceled a news conference planned for the evening, during which he was expected to announce his National Unity party was leaving the government.

    […]

    Shas party chairman Aryeh Deri, an observer in the war cabinet, also called on Gantz not to leave the emergency coalition, promising that the government “will continue to do everything to return all the hostages home.”

    “This is not the time for elections,” he said, stating that “Israel is still in the middle of a challenging campaign in the south and in the north and internal unity among us is critical in the continuation of the war, on the frontlines and on the home front.”

    Meanwhile, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir argued the rescue mission showed it was unnecessary to reach a deal with Hamas to bring home hostages.

    “The heroic action of the Yamam and the other security forces shows that there is hope and it is possible to defeat [our] enemies and return the abductees home and not to capitulate,” said Ben Gvir in a statement.

    It was not immediately clear if Gantz would reschedule the press conference for another time. The Kan public broadcaster reported that Gantz would reassess on Sunday, and could wait until after the Shavuot holiday on Wednesday to leave the government. Netanyahu’s decisions in the coming days would also affect Gantz’s decisions, according to the report.

    […]

    Something like 200+ people were killed to get these 4 hostages out. Including at least one Israeli soldier. They believe that 116 hostages remain in Gaza (not all of them alive)…

    It will be interesting to see what Gantz does, and the path forward.

    :-(

    Peace and comfort to the innocents.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  3. 3.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Another Scott: There’s, at best, 60 hostages left alive.

    As for Gantz, Bibi has twice now shown, or set the conditions for Gantz to reveal, that Gantz is a moral coward with feet of clay and couldn’t lead a one car funeral if you spotted him the hearse. Gantz has already announced he’s staying in. He got played by Bibi again. Which is why Bibi is up 7 points over Gantz in polling.

    As for Deri, his Shas party, as well as United Torah Judaism – the other ultra-orthodox party – have been providing cover for Bibi for the past ten days. By coming out in favor of the ceasefire deal they give Bibi space to maneuver and scheme in. They have set one pole, Ben Gvir and Smotrich the other.

  4. 4.

    Freemark

    @Another Scott: ​
     

    If they killed over 200 people to get the hostages it makes me think the people directly holding the hostages didn’t actually want to kill those hostages. Bet for any remaining hostages that ‘problem’ will be rectified. So the idea the remaining hostages can be returned safely by military means is highly unlikely.

  7. 7.

    Betty

    Thanks for continuing to provide us with such quality information. Hoping for the day when you can say all of Ukraine is once again a free and independent country.

Comments are closed.