Open Threads

President Zelenskyy also thanked President Biden for providing allowing Ukraine to use US made weapons systems and munitions for limited strikes in Russia in proximity to Kharkiv Oblast:

I appreciate @POTUS Joe Biden’s decision on Ukraine’s use of its defense capabilities.

This is a welcome step that will allow us now to better protect Ukraine and Ukrainians from Russian terror and attempts to expand the war.

We must continue to take exactly such steps,…

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 31, 2024

I appreciate @POTUS Joe Biden’s decision on Ukraine’s use of its defense capabilities.

This is a welcome step that will allow us now to better protect Ukraine and Ukrainians from Russian terror and attempts to expand the war.

We must continue to take exactly such steps, decisive and effective, in order to ensure the democratic world’s strategic advantage in this confrontation, in which not only Ukraine’s fate is being determined.

Together, we will undoubtedly restore just peace and succeed in ensuring security. I am grateful for the vital support.

Just try and imagine how many lives of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians could have been saved if Russian had not had been totally unpunished and unimpeded in its offensive operations and the bombing of Ukraine.

It’s not all sunshine and rainbows:

Zelensky had a good line about Boris Johnson, too:
Asked if he missed the former prime minister, Zelenskiy joked: “He does not give me the opportunity to miss him. He is always here.”

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) May 31, 2024

The Guardian has the details: (emphasis mine)

Joe Biden’s delay in sanctioning the use of western weapons against targets in Russia has left the Kremlin’s forces laughing at Ukraine and able to “hunt” its people, Volodymyr Zelenskiy has told the Guardian.

In a wide-ranging interview in Kyiv, the Ukrainian president said that the White House’s equivocation had cost lives and he urged the US president to overcome his perennial worries about possible nuclear “escalation” with Moscow.

On Thursday night it emerged that, after months of lobbying, the US had taken a small but symbolic step – and for the first time would permit some American-made weapons to be used by Kyiv’s military to fire inside Russia in its defence of the city of Kharkiv.

But in his Guardian interview, Zelenskiy made clear he needed to be able to use “powerful” long-range weapons that could hit targets inside deep Russian territory – a red line the White House has refused to lift.

The US, he said, needed to “believe in us more”.

Without this green light, Zelenskiy said other allies, such as the UK, may not allow Ukraine to use their long-range weapons either. “Believe us, we have to respond. They don’t understand anything but force. We are not the first and not the last target,” he said of Russia.

“I think it is absolutely illogical to have [western] weapons and see the murderers, terrorists, who are killing us from the Russian side. I think sometimes they are just laughing at this situation,” he said. “It’s like going hunting for them. Hunting for people. They understand that we can see them, but we cannot reach them.”

Zelenskiy also said:

• New US weapons had still not arrived in sufficient quantities to equip additional Ukrainian brigades in the north-east, where Russia is advancing.
• Vladimir Putin was similar to Adolf Hitler, saying: “Putin is not crazy. He’s dangerous, which is much scarier.”
• He had asked the former British prime minister Boris Johnson to lobby Donald Trump in the run-up to a vote in the US Congress in April to approve $61bn in aid to Ukraine, which hard-right Republicans had opposed.
• The UK Labour leader, Keir Starmer, whom he met in Kyiv last year, was a “good guy”. He added, after a pause: “Rishi [Sunak] is also a good guy.”

Zelenskiy’s remarks came as the Biden administration on Thursday relaxed its longstanding policy forbidding Ukraine from using US weapons against targets inside Russia. It gave permission for Ukraine to fire back – but only near Kharkiv, where Moscow has been waging a fresh offensive.

The decision allows Ukraine to use US-supplied Himars artillery to strike Russian soldiers and command and control centres. Zelenskiy’s press spokesperson, Serhii Nykyforov, welcomed the US move. He told the Guardian: “It will significantly boost our ability to counter Russian attempts to mass across the border.” Later on Friday, Zelenskiy described the decision as a “step forward”.

But the White House insisted its policy prohibiting deeper strikes had not changed. Ukraine would still not be able to use the long-range Atacms system within Russia, it said.

Speaking inside his presidential headquarters, Zelenskiy made clear he wanted to use long-range weapons such as the UK-made Storm Shadow missiles. He said that, despite reports to the contrary, the UK had not given “100% permission” to do so. Thursday’s shift is unlikely to change the position either.

In reality, Downing Street waits on the Americans, Zelenskiy suggested. “We raised this issue twice. We did not get confirmation from him [David Cameron, the foreign secretary],” he said.

A final decision by the UK and other partners depended on “consensus”, with the position in Washington being crucial, he suggested. “You know how it works,” he said.

Biden has long been concerned about the risks of a direct nuclear conflict with Moscow. The US president is likely to skip a peace summit in Switzerland next month, which Zelenskiy has organised. Asked if he felt let down by the US and its leadership, he replied: “I think they need to believe in us more.”

In the past week Russia has used guided bombs to kill at least 25 civilians in Kharkiv. Yet Ukraine had not been allowed to fire into Russia, Zelenskiy said. Nor did it have enough conventional weapons to equip reserve brigades, which might be deployed to push the Russians out.

“No one is accusing anyone,” he said. “We are where we are. We are fighting, and we are at war, and not at the beginning. That’s why we need to find a way out of the situation every day.”

Zelenskiy noted that western countries at peace had “different priorities” and, understandably, did not share Ukraine’s sense of existential urgency. This meant that “dialogue” rather than action could be frustrating. “For us, time is our life,” he said. “If you don’t go down in a minute [to a bomb shelter] you can be dead. Therefore the attitude to time is completely different.”

He said Russia was “moving faster” than the west in terms of making and supplying weapons for its armed forces. Zelenskiy likened Ukraine to a ship – “not a sinking one” – that had to get to its destination “fairly” and in one piece, saving “as many lives as possible”.

He spoke, too, about the emotional and personal toll the war was taking on the people of his country. “You don’t know what war is until it comes to your house, to your street, to a friend of yours, to someone you studied with or to someone you love,” he said. “Until you have this, the war is somewhere afar.”

Zelenskiy said he had used Johnson as an “instrument” to reach Trump, after Republicans in Congress spent six months obstructing aid to Ukraine. Johnson had a productive “conversation” with Trump, Zelenskiy said. It was one of several initiatives to get through to Republicans, including to the House speaker, Mike Johnson.

With no end to the war in sight, Zelenskiy said negotiations with Russia were unrealistic. He said a peace deal would be a “trap” since Putin would violate any agreement and “could not be believed”.

Russia’s president launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 because the west had responded weakly to his annexation of Crimea and takeover of parts of eastern Ukraine in 2014, Zelenskiy said.

Russia insists Ukraine has to accept new territorial realities. Zelenskiy said Moscow would exploit any pause in the fighting to “strengthen its muscles on the battlefield” and would strike again, sooner or later. He said the conflict in Ukraine was similar to the second world war, though on a smaller scale, because of the “ideology of Russian fascism”. Putin’s brutal “methodology” was the same as in Nazi Germany, he stated. It featured “mass executions, burials and rapes”.

Russian soldiers even used the “same routes” as Hitler’s army in their campaign to overrun Kyiv and to dominate the country, he said. If Russia won in Ukraine, Putin would seek to further reshape the boundaries of Europe by attacking other nations, Zelenskiy said. “This is the real third world war.” He emphasised: “I don’t think Putin is crazy. He’s dangerous. It’s much scarier. You see, he will not stop.”

More at the link.

I want to highlight this point:

In reality, Downing Street waits on the Americans, Zelenskiy suggested. “We raised this issue twice. We did not get confirmation from him [David Cameron, the foreign secretary],” he said.

A final decision by the UK and other partners depended on “consensus”, with the position in Washington being crucial, he suggested. “You know how it works,” he said.

The reason I have been emphasizing, over and over and for some time, that the Biden administration has to lead on this is because I know from actual professional experience that many of our NATO and EU allies and partners will not move until or unless the US does. Specifically, the UK and Germany, as well as many of our other older allies and partners in western Europe. The dynamic here is not that Biden will not move until he and his team can get our allies and partners to achieve consensus. The dynamic is that consensus will only form once the US acts because these allies and partners are looking for top cover from the US. I was the Senior Advisor to the Commander of US Army Europe when Russia initially invaded Ukraine in 2014. I know how this works from being inside the process at a senior level. You cannot extrapolate how NATO works from the domestic US politics where Biden has always positioned himself in the center of the Democratic Party and its constituencies, so he doesn’t move until they do. This is many of our NATO and EU allies and partners will not move until we make the first move.

This doesn’t make Biden a bad person, nor a bad president. It doesn’t mean I’m not voting for him in November. It is simply the reality that in regard to Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s genocidal re-invasion, he and his nat-sec team need to be more risk accepting and less risk averse.

Imagine how much closer we could have been to a just and stable… pic.twitter.com/f4GieiiR6o

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) May 31, 2024

Just try and imagine how many lives of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians could have been saved if Russian had not had been totally unpunished and unimpeded in its offensive operations and the bombing of Ukraine.

Imagine how much closer we could have been to a just and stable peace if Russia’s ability to fight and finance this war was resolutely undermined 2 years ago.

“Escalation management” has always been a stillborn, senseless approach, and we in many ways are reaping the bitter harvest of it now, with Putin having been given 2 years to recover, find allies, and get prepared for a long-lasting total war.

Map: territories from where Kharkiv being attacked(Near Kharkiv) pic.twitter.com/4jpEWqFfSm

— Liveuamap (@Liveuamap) May 31, 2024

Here’s Tatarigami’s take via the Thread Reader App:

In this war, timely aid and permission to strike are playing a key role. Ukraine must not be limited by weapon types or target locations. Delays or restrictions risk missing a critical window of opportunity, prolonging the war.🧵Thread about consequences and missed opportunities:

2/ These images show Russian concentrations of forces, camps, and field repair bases on the border with Ukraine. All these images have two things in common: by 2024, these sites have moved and dispersed, and none were targeted before their deployment to the frontlines

3/ It’s fair to assume that many of these forces have been destroyed or damaged by now. However, the extent of casualties and damage they caused beforehand is unknown. This could have been avoided in 2022 and 2023 if Ukraine had permission and weaponry for strikes.

4/ Are there any valuable targets left? Yes, there are still valuable targets in areas bordering Kharkiv Oblast. However, Ukraine will predominantly deal with company and battalion-level threats rather than neutralizing entire regimental combat capabilities with few strikes.

5/ Ukraine should conduct strikes at the full range of provided weapons, with clear restrictions like civilian targets or nuclear facilities. Valuable targets remain in Rostov, Voronezh, and Oryol Oblasts, similar to those shown here, which won’t be shared now for opsec reasons.

6/ Into the third year of this war, it’s evident that these restrictions only cost Ukraine lives and territories. The aim of this thread isn’t merely to criticize the strategy, but to show why such restrictions are damaging and urgently require to be openly removed by the West 

7/ Thank you for reading. Our visibility has recently dropped significantly. Please help by liking, and sharing the first message of this thread to boost visibility. Your comments are just as welcomed, as they greatly aid with the algorithm. 

The Ukrainians did another prisoner and hostage swap with Russia today. The hostages were Ukrainian citizens that the Russians simply scarfed up and held because they were Ukrainians.

75 Ukrainians have returned home from the russian captivity: soldiers of the #UAarmy, the National Guard, border guards, and four civilians.

We continue our work to bring everyone home. pic.twitter.com/JZZGgO7YtE

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 31, 2024

19 of them are Ukrainians taken prisoner in Snake Island, and 10 of them are Azovstal defenders.

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) May 31, 2024

Mariana is from Mariupol. In 2022, UN and ICRC representatives promised to evacuate her to Zaporizhia, but took her to a russian filtration camp instead. She spent 2 years in captivity pic.twitter.com/B2TliKctZL

— Mira of Kyiv 🇺🇦 (@reshetz) May 31, 2024

Home at last.
Kostyantyn Myrhorodskyi, who was in captivity for more than 2 years, is singing «Ukraine», one of the most popular songs by Taras Petrynenko.

📹: Suspilne pic.twitter.com/XdwslXmT8B

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 31, 2024

A Ukrainian soldier after Russian captivity.

Now compare this with what Russian POWs look like as they get back home from Ukraine.

This is insane. pic.twitter.com/E9NtY6kjjx

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) May 31, 2024

The price:

We spent time with 3 amazing children all coping with growing up under fire.

This short report (in two parts here) is some of the girls’ stories.

All 3 children are in our film that goes out this Saturday on @BBCNews & @BBCiPlayer pic.twitter.com/goYCCbph1l

— Sarah Rainsford (@sarahrainsford) May 31, 2024

And big thanks, too, to Voices of Children Ukraine and Unicef – for helping the children, and for helping our team

— Sarah Rainsford (@sarahrainsford) May 31, 2024

Germany:

Olaf Scholz finally gets the stick out.

🇩🇪Germany joins nations that officially authorize 🇺🇦Ukraine to defend itself by using their weapons against legitimate Russian military targets in Russian territory.

Slowly and steadily, step by step, common reason prevails.

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) May 31, 2024

And a new aid package too:

The German Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius, announced a new military aid package for Ukraine valued at €500 million during his visit to Odesa.

The capabilities in the package include missiles for IRIS-T air defense systems, artillery systems, spare parts for Leopard tanks,… pic.twitter.com/Z5AdswyTmq

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 31, 2024

The German Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius, announced a new military aid package for Ukraine valued at €500 million during his visit to Odesa.

The capabilities in the package include missiles for IRIS-T air defense systems, artillery systems, spare parts for Leopard tanks, unmanned aerial systems, and sniper rifles.

We are grateful to our German partners for their unwavering support.
Together, we are stronger!
🇺🇦🤝🇩🇪
@BMVg_Bundeswehr

Zaporizhzhia Oblast:

Explosions reported in Zaporizhzhia!

— Iryna Voichuk (@IrynaVoichuk) June 1, 2024

Sumy Oblast:

⚡️Russia attacks 9 communities in Sumy Oblast.

Russian forces attacked Sumy Oblast 131 times in 24 separate attacks throughout the day, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported on May 31.https://t.co/5z63kee4aO

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 31, 2024

The Kyiv Independent has the details:

Russian forces attacked Sumy Oblast 131 times in 24 separate attacks throughout the day, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported on May 31.

The communities of Khotin, Yunakivka, Krasnopillia, Velyka Pysarivka, Myropillia, Seredyna-Buda, Mykolaiv, Svesy, and Esman were targeted.

Throughout the day, Russia assailed the border communities with mortar, drone, and artillery attacks, while also dropping explosives from drones onto two of the communities.

No casualties or injuries were reported.

The village of Esman, located about 24 kilometers west and 10 kilometers north of the Ukraine-Russia border, experienced the bulk of the attacks reported with 29 explosions recorded in the area.

Russian strikes against Sumy Oblast have become increasingly destructive in recent months. Amid intensified attacks, Ukrainian authorities ordered increased evacuations from the region.

Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said on May 14 he expects Russia to launch a new attack in Sumy Oblast once the situation in Kharkiv Oblast stabilized, the New York Times reported.

Officials from Ukraine’s Border Guard service later said that Russia does not have enough troops on the Sumy Oblast border to launch a major attack on the region.

Shelling is a daily occurrence for the communities near Ukraine’s northeastern border with Russia, with residents in the region’s vulnerable border settlements experience multiple attacks per day.

A Russian rocket attack on May 29 on the village of Krasnopillia in Sumy Oblast killed two civilians and injured three others.

Vovchansk, Kharkiv Oblast:

Destroyed Russian assault group in Vovchansk, Kharkiv front https://t.co/YiOdOB3biA pic.twitter.com/LS4RVS3Hz5

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) May 31, 2024

Russian occupied Crimea:

It was a slow news day yesterday, so you’re all forgiven for not appreciating that a U.S.-made missile old enough to have seen Nirvana in concert whistled blissfully past Russia’s state-of-the-art air defense systems in occupied Crimea and hit its target perfectly.

— Michael Weiss (@michaeldweiss) May 31, 2024

The Kreminna front:

Roads in the Kreminna sector under the control of FPV drones of the 12th Azov Brigade.

The logistics routes of the invaders are a key target of the strike UAVs company fighters. FPV drones effectively destroy moving targets and save ammunition for other brigade firepower.

Enemy… pic.twitter.com/rECOffFrBH

— Azov Brigade (@azov_media) May 30, 2024

Roads in the Kreminna sector under the control of FPV drones of the 12th Azov Brigade.

The logistics routes of the invaders are a key target of the strike UAVs company fighters. FPV drones effectively destroy moving targets and save ammunition for other brigade firepower.

Enemy infantry, vehicles and armored vehicles, equipment — in a new selection of hits from the strike UAVs company of the 12th Special Forces Brigade Azov.

Krasnodar Krai, Russia:

Overnight, 🇺🇦 Neptun missiles hit the ferry crossing and the oil terminal of the port “Kavkaz” in the Krasnodar region, russia — @GeneralStaffUA reports.
This infrastructure was used by the enemy for logistics and supply of the army.
Also, attack UAVs hit another oil terminal in… pic.twitter.com/es00gbz1tA

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 31, 2024

Overnight, 🇺🇦 Neptun missiles hit the ferry crossing and the oil terminal of the port “Kavkaz” in the Krasnodar region, russia — @GeneralStaffUA reports.
This infrastructure was used by the enemy for logistics and supply of the army.
Also, attack UAVs hit another oil terminal in Krasnodar.

We continue to destroy russian military equipment and infrastructure. Ukraine will win!🇺🇦

Big news! Large seaport Kavkaz in Krasnodar Krai got hit—ferry crossing and oil terminal. Drones also went after Tamanneftegaz oil depot. Later, a long-range UAV “Lyuty” hit Orgsintez plant in Kazan. Quite a massive, simultaneous attack with anti-ship missiles and various drones. pic.twitter.com/hDQuWJwMle

— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) May 31, 2024

Official statement of Ukrainian military regarding tonight’s attack on Kavkaz port near Kerch bridge:

“Another result of the coordinated actions of the Defense Forces: the terminals in the Krasnodar region of Russia was hit

The strike of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of… https://t.co/bbImLCItcw

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) May 31, 2024

Official statement of Ukrainian military regarding tonight’s attack on Kavkaz port near Kerch bridge:

“Another result of the coordinated actions of the Defense Forces: the terminals in the Krasnodar region of Russia was hit

The strike of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine hit the ferry crossing and the oil terminal of the port “Kavkaz” in the Krasnodar region of Russia. This happened at the beginning of the day on May 31 – the next night after the Ukrainian Defense Forces disabled the Kerch ferry crossing on the territory of the occupied Ukrainian Crimea with well-aimed strikes, which were traveling to the port of “Kavkaz” and were used for military logistics of the aggressor.

The damage to the oil terminal in the area of ​​the port “Kavkaz” was caused by several missiles of Ukrainian production from the coastal missile complex “Neptun”.

The results of the objective control confirm the explosions at the aiming points. The accuracy of hits is being investigated.

The complex operation was carried out in coordination with other components of the Defense Forces of Ukraine.

Thus, the attack UAVs of the Defense Forces hit another oil terminal in the territory of the Krasnodar Territory.

“Modern” and “effective” Russian air defenses again proved powerless against our missiles and unmanned systems and could not protect important facilities used for logistics and supply of the Russian army.

To be continued…

We continue to destroy the enemy, his equipment and military infrastructure.
So we will win! Glory to Ukraine!»

https://t.me/GeneralStaffZSU/15080

That’s enough for tonight.

Your daily Patron!

There are no new Patron tweets today, so here is some adjacent material:

☺️ pic.twitter.com/kdpuQlJkvp

— UkrARMY cats & dogs (@UAarmy_animals) May 24, 2024

Friends pic.twitter.com/wK3G7hyIDM

— UkrARMY cats & dogs (@UAarmy_animals) May 24, 2024

And a new(ish) video from Patron’s official TikTok! From Kyiv Day, which was five days ago.

@patron__dsns

З Днем Києва!💙💛

♬ оригінальний звук – Patron_official

Here’s the machine translation of the caption:

Happy Kyiv Day! 💙💛

Open thread!