The situation as of 8:00 on June 6, 2022
OPERATIONAL SITUATION
Sievierodonetsk in the Luhansk region remains the hottest zone of the front, where the Ukrainian Armed Forces managed to push back the Russian troops that had entered the city. The Russian military also continues its offensive in other directions in eastern Ukraine and tries to hold positions near Kharkiv and Kherson. Shelling along the entire front line and rocket attacks on facilities in the rear of the Ukrainian forces continue.
Kyiv and Zhytomyr directions:
Russian troops proceed to destroy transport infrastructure. In particular, on June 5, they launched missile strikes against Kyiv from the Caspian Sea, hitting the facilities of Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian Railways), namely the Darnytskyi Car Repair Plant.
Chernihiv and Sumy directions:
Russian troops attacked the territory of the Sumy region using artillery and aviation. Shelling of the border areas of Chernihiv region from Russian territory also continues.
Kharkiv and Luhansk directions:
In the Kharkiv area, Russian troops are concentrating on maintaining captured positions. They keep shelling the region’s civilian infrastructure and are re-establishing attacks near Izium with the goal of entering Sloviansk from the northwestern direction.
In the Luhansk region, city fighting continues in Sievierodonetsk. Serhii Haidai, head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to push Russian troops back and regain control of half of the city.
The Russian military is striking at settlements that remain under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. According to the city administration, the city of Lysychansk is 60% destroyed.
Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia directions:
In the Donetsk region, active fighting is taking place in the north of the region. According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, up to 20 Russian battalion-tactical groups have been concentrated near Sloviansk and have resumed attacks in the direction of the town. In the Lyman area, Russian troops are trying to gain a foothold on the bank of the Siverskyi Donets River and advance in the direction of Sviatohirsk.
Russian forces are striking populated areas in Donetsk region using artillery, aviation, and tactical missile systems. As a result of the strike on Sloviansk, the town was left without power supply. Due to the shelling, a large-scale fire broke out in one of the buildings of Sviatohirsk Lavra, the Skete of All Saints. Russian troops continue to destroy industrial facilities in the region. On the night of June 5, there was an air strike on enterprises in Kramatorsk. In total, at least 12 civilians were killed and 23 injured as a result of shelling in the Donetsk region between June 2 and 5.
In the Zaporizhzhia region, shelling also continues along the entire front line.
Southern direction:
Russian forces are launching attacks against infrastructure facilities in the rear of Ukrainian forces. In particular, on June 4, a cruise missile struck an agricultural enterprise and storage facilities in Odesa region.
The Russian military continues shelling near the front lines in the Kryvyi Rih and Mykolaiv directions. In addition, rocket fire continues in Mykolaiv region. At least 3 people were killed in the city of Mykolaiv on June 4.
Information confrontation
The State Service for Special Communication and Information Protection of Ukraine reported a cyberattack on Ukrainian state organizations using malware that was spread via e-mail. Russian hackers also tried to disrupt the broadcast of the football match between the national teams of Wales and Ukraine, launching instead a broadcast of the Russian propaganda channel on the platform OLL.tv.
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION
According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, as of June 3, the number of civilian casualties in Ukraine since the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion is 9,197 (4,183 killed and 5,014 wounded). As of the morning of June 5, as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, more than 729 children were affected (262 children killed, 467 wounded).
Russia continues to threaten the safety of Ukrainian nuclear power plants. On June 5, Enerhoatom stated that a Russian Kalibr missile, which was allegedly launched at Kyiv, flew critically low over the South Ukraine nuclear power plant in the Mykolaiv region.
Humanitarian conditions in the temporarily occupied territories of eastern and southern Ukraine are deteriorating. In particular, access to water is an acute problem in Mariupol — residents must sign up at least two days in advance in order to receive drinking water. According to the mayor’s advisor Petro Andriushchenko, there is no delivery of technical water for hygienic needs in the city at all. He also again drew attention to the threat of an epidemic in Mariupol.
The situation remains difficult in Zaporizhzhia region, about 60% of which is under occupation. 77 settlements in the region are de-energized due to hostilities; 2,701 infrastructure facilities have been destroyed. Physical and psychological pressure on citizens in the temporarily occupied towns has intensified, including an increase in the number of people abducted by the Russian military and held captive for weeks. Cases of looting were recorded.
On June 2, the bodies of dead military personnel were exchanged between Ukraine and Russia on the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region according to the “160 for 160” formula.
The Ukrainian government estimates that more than 300,000 square kilometers — almost half of Ukraine’s territory — are contaminated by ammunition or mines as a result of hostilities. 5 people in the Kherson region and Mariupol have been killed in recent days because of the Russian side’s mining of beaches.
Russian troops do not stop hitting historical monuments and social infrastructure in Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyi called on the United Nations and UNESCO to expel Russia as a terrorist state. For the second time since early June, Russian artillery hit the Sviatohirsk Lavra in the Donetsk region, where some 300 civilians, including 60 children, were sheltering from the hostilities. In total, the Russians have already destroyed or damaged at least 43 religious buildings in the Donetsk region during the war.
ECONOMIC SITUATION
The National Bank of Ukraine changed the discount rate for the first time since the full-scale Russian invasion and decided to raise it from 10% to 25%. Thus the National Bank seeks to protect the hryvnia incomes and savings of citizens, increase the attractiveness of hryvnia assets, reduce pressure on the currency market, and ultimately strengthen the ability of the National Bank to ensure exchange rate stability and curb inflationary processes during the war.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal stated at a meeting of the Cabinet that over the past two months, the government has allocated UAH 2.3 billion to urgently restore critical infrastructure. Shmyhal also appealed to international companies to show solidarity with the Ukrainian people and resume their work now.
POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC EVENTS
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi made his first trip to the war zone in eastern Ukraine since the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion. He visited command posts and forward positions of Ukrainian troops near Bakhmut in Donetsk region and Lysychansk in Luhansk region. The Head of the State checked the operational situation in these areas of the front and received a report on the logistical support of Ukrainian units. The president also made a trip to Zaporizhzhia region, where he visited the forward positions of the Ukrainian military and talked to the evacuated residents of Mariupol.
While addressing the GLOBSEC International Forum in Bratislava, Volodymyr Zelenskyi spoke about the security challenges for water areas due to the war and the consequences of blocking Ukrainian ports by Russian troops, and called on the international community to support Ukraine in its fight against the aggressor, strengthen sanctions and join United24 — a fundraising platform that allows accumulating funds from various sources to protect the state from the threat of armed aggression, natural disasters, etc.
50 embassies resumed full operations in the capital of Ukraine. Letters of Credence from foreign ambassadors will now be accepted at St. Sophia Cathedral. The first ambassadors to present their credentials to the President of Ukraine as part of the new ceremony were the representatives of Moldova, India and the United States of America.
An important aspect of the international community’s support is the intensification of sanctions pressure on Russia. The European Union officially agreed on the sixth package of sanctions, which includes a ban on oil imports from Russia by sea. This will reduce Russian oil imports to Europe by 92% by the end of 2022. As part of the sixth package of sanctions, the EU has agreed to disconnect one Belarusian and three Russian banks (including Sberbank) from SWIFT, expanded the ban on exports to Russia, etc. The EU also expanded the sanctions list to include 65 people and 18 companies. However, because of Hungary’s position, sanctions were not imposed on Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The United States expanded the list of Russian citizens against whom sanctions were imposed. Representatives of Vladimir Putin’s close entourage were put on the sanctions list (including S. Roldugin, who is considered to be involved in the Kremlin’s offshore deals) and certain government officials (Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman M. Zakharova).
Taiwan’s Ministry of Economy imposed a ban on exports of modern chips to Russia and Belarus in response to aggression against Ukraine.
International financial assistance to Ukraine to strengthen the state’s defense capabilities and support the population in times of war is being stepped up. According to Ann Linde, the Swedish Foreign Ministry, Sweden will provide Ukraine with another military aid package worth more than €95 million, which will include anti-ship missiles, anti-tank weapons and 12.7 mm rifles along with ammunition. Ukraine will receive €330 million from the European Union, which is designed to support the population affected by the Russian invasion and to strengthen the country’s resilience. The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) has approved five new loans totaling nearly €1.2 billion. Most of the funds are intended to help refugees and displaced people from Ukraine.
Bridget Brink, the new U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, visited Borodianka, which suffered catastrophic devastation during the fighting in the first weeks of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war. A parliamentary delegation from the Republic of Korea, headed by the chairman of the ruling People Power Party, Lee Jun-seok, paid an official visit to Kyiv region (in particular, Bucha and Irpin). These visits show the special attention of the world to the consequences of Russia’s war crimes and readiness to join in the future reconstruction of Ukraine.
The information in the digest is collected from official sources — reports of state authorities of Ukraine, Ukrainian and international news agencies. The accuracy of the data is carefully checked by the project team and corrected in case of fake news.