In today's summary:
- In Bakhmut, apparently, there really is a rotation: the Wagnerites are replaced by paratroopers and motorized riflemen;
- The Financial Times writes about "formative operations" ahead of a full-scale UAF offensive;
- The capitals of Russia and Ukraine – Moscow and Kyiv – were attacked by drones within one day;
- Yevgeny Prigozhin found a new excuse to make derogatory criticism of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation;
- Putin spoke about the successful strike on the building of the military intelligence headquarters of Ukraine;
- The shelling of the border areas of the Belgorod region continues, there are dead and wounded;
- Great Britain is ready to train Ukrainian pilots on Eurofighter fighters;
- Joe Biden is "considering" the supply of long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine, he previously did not allow such an option.
The situation at the front
Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Anna Malyar writes that the offensive actions that the Russians have been carrying out in the last 24 hours in several directions have not led to success. We are talking about the Limansky , Avdeevsky , Shakhtyorsky and Kupyansky directions .
It is stated that Russian forces are not conducting offensive operations in the Bakhmut direction . Malyar emphasizes that the Ukrainian military continues to hold the southwestern outskirts of Bakhmut , and the advance of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the flanks in this area has stopped to perform other military tasks.
At the same time, the commander of the ground forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky showed a video of the 3rd Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the outskirts of Bakhmut , where the Ukrainian military are cleaning up the captured Russian position, and said that "the defense forces continue to move forward and destroy the enemy."
According to Sergei Cherevaty, a representative of the Eastern Group of Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, units of Russian motorized riflemen and paratroopers are entering Bakhmut . In addition, there were photographs of Russian servicemen replacing Wagner PMC mercenaries in the "Artyomovsky <Bakhmutsky – The Insider> direction."
On the eve of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that the timing of the counteroffensive was approved, all the relevant orders were given.
According to the Financial Times, Ukrainian troops have already begun "formative operations" to stress the defense of the Russian Armed Forces before the offensive. The publication quotes the words of retired US Army Major John Spencer from the Institute of Modern Warfare at the US Military Academy at West Point. According to him, such actions force Russia to scatter resources. Moreover, we are talking about both information operations and military ones, such as the crossing of the border by sabotage groups in the Belgorod region or the attack of drones on the Kremlin. Their purpose is to distract the enemy from the direction of the proposed offensive.
Mutual shelling and sabotage
The command of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports that on the night of May 30 from 23:30 to 4:30, air defense forces shot down 29 out of 31 drones of the Shahed family (aka Geran) on approach to Kiev and in the sky of the capital. Launches were made from the north and south.
The Kiev city military administration writes that as a result of the fall of fragments of drones in different districts of the capital, 9 people were injured, and a 33-year-old woman received injuries incompatible with life. All, except for one victim, were from the Goloseevsky district of the city, where fragments of a drone fell on a high-rise building. In the Kiev region, four citizens were injured. 16 objects were also damaged, including civilian vehicles, buildings and houses.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation writes that during the day strikes were carried out "on the central decision-making points, where, under the guidance of specialists from Western intelligence agencies, terrorist acts were planned on the territory of Russia." The press secretary of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, also announced a blow to "one of the decision-making centers." According to him, the blow occurred on May 28.
The Ukrainian publication Strana.ua talks about a possible strike on Rybalsky Island in Kiev , where the headquarters of the Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR MO of Ukraine) and the Kuznya shipyard are located, but notes that there is still no confirmation of this.
Later, Russian President Vladimir Putin himself announced the defeat of the building of the headquarters of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry 2-3 days ago. He called the mass drone attack on Moscow a response to the alleged defeat by the Russians of the GUR headquarters.
Military expert Alexander Kovalenko commented on this statement by Putin for The Insider:
“In general, Russian propagandists have long been calling on the Russian command to strike at the so-called decision-making centers. It is rather interesting that only now the Russian command dared to at least talk about attacking the headquarters of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.
In theory, when large-scale missile strikes were carried out on February 24, 2022, in principle, such objects as the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the General Staff, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine and other points, logically, should have been precisely among those , which in the first place should have been hit to destroy the control system of the units of these power structures. But this was not done.
What is the reason for this? It is difficult to explain, but according to the laws of war, this phenomenon is not unique when such objects are struck. With regard to the current statement, there was no official confirmation of the strike on this object, but, on the other hand, the question arises that it is necessary to convincingly refute the fact of the strike.
Kovalenko recalls that Russian propagandists and officials regularly voice unverified information:
We already had an interesting precedent related to Valery Zaluzhny. For 2-3 weeks, Russian propaganda reported that he was either killed, or mortally wounded, or lost his arms, legs, and they almost performed a craniotomy on him and he was incapacitated. This was until Zaluzhny appeared at the transfer of another boat of the Gyurza type to the naval forces of Ukraine – he took part in this event.
Actually, it is similar with the GUR MO. After all, we live in the 21st century, satellites are everywhere. It is not even necessary to specially arrange some kind of photo shoot <to refute the fact of the blow – The Insider>. In general, I am more than confident that Russian propaganda will soon spread more and more all kinds of enchanting reports about the success of their missile strikes.
Apparently, having never found Zaluzhny and not satisfied with the evidence that he was alive and well, the Investigative Committee of Russia placed him on the wanted list of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Together with him, the security forces are also looking for the commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexander Syrsky.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the defeat of another American Patriot air defense system in Kiev . This information was denied by the representative of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Yuriy Ignat, saying that the complex is “of course, intact”, as evidenced by the destruction of all air targets over the Ukrainian capital.
Meanwhile, power outages were occurring across Ukraine due to automatics being triggered, Ukrainian energy company DTEK said. They were caused by a decrease in frequency in the united energy system of Ukraine. The blackouts began at 13:28, but power was restored an hour later.
According to various sources, from 8 to more than 30 drones attacked Moscow and the Moscow region . As Baza wrote , most of them were shot down with the help of air defense, there were also those that were caught on trees or wires due to flying at ultra-low altitude. At least three drones were reported to have crashed into residential buildings on Profsoyuznaya Street and Leninsky Prospekt , as well as Atlasova Street in New Moscow . At least one of them carried explosives, but no detonation occurred.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported minor damage to buildings. According to him, two people sought medical help, but hospitalization was not required for anyone.
Officially, the Russian Defense Ministry recognized the attack with the help of eight drones. According to the agency, “all enemy drones were hit” either with the help of electronic warfare or ammunition from the Pantsir RPK. What happened was described as a “terrorist attack”, although from the same report it can be concluded that those drones that were not shot down, but hit residential buildings, “deviated from their intended targets” under the influence of electronic warfare.
Judging by the video taken during the attack, the Pantsir anti-aircraft missile and gun system really participated in its reflection. The appearance of this and other air defense systems already in Moscow itself was noted earlier this year .
It is noted that one of the drones fell near the village of Ilyinskoye , across the river from which there is an elite village of Zhukovka . Many representatives of the Russian elite live in it, including Putin's friends, the Rotenberg brothers.
The Rybar Telegram channel linked to the Russian Ministry of Defense sums up the results of the drone attack on Moscow . According to the authors of the channel, if the purpose of the raid was to cause stress among Muscovites, then it was achieved thanks to the very fact of the appearance of drones in the Moscow sky. He explains the fall of drones on residential buildings either by failures in the navigation system or by the operation of electronic warfare systems.
Rybar also suggests that the launch of the drones came from the border regions of Ukraine. At the same time, the Russian command allegedly has data on where these drones are produced, but "they hit very selectively."
The Ukraine Weapons Tracker project, which is engaged in the identification of Ukrainian weapons, writes that at least two different models of Ukrainian drones took part in the attack on Moscow . One of them is capable of flying at a distance of 600-1000 km and carrying a charge with a capacity of 1.8 kg of TNT along with additional submunitions. It is noted that such a charge is not capable of inflicting serious damage to the thick walls of civilian buildings and is intended mainly to attack storages of flammable combustible materials. For the first time, such drones were seen in the Tula region in March of this year.
One of the founders and the main public representative of PMC Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, did not miss the chance to hold another PR campaign against the background of the drone attack on Moscow , once again criticizing the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense:
“About the drones that fly over Moscow and in Moscow. Stinky creatures, what are you doing? You are cattle! Get your shit out of the offices you've been put in to defend this country. You are the Department of Defense. You didn't do a f*ck to step on. Why the fuck do you allow these drones to fly to Moscow?
The fact that they fly to Rublyovka to your home, and fuck it! Let your houses burn. And what do ordinary people do when drones with explosives crash into their windows? And therefore, as a citizen, I am deeply indignant that these scum sit quietly and sit on their fat assholes smeared with expensive creams. And therefore, I believe that the people have every right to ask them these questions, these bastards.
But I have already warned about this many times, but no one wants to listen. Because I'm angry and frustrating bureaucrats who have a great life."
The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, called for martial law to be declared in Russia and strikes at the place where "terrorist leaders" gather in Ukraine. At the same time, he stated that the drone attack does not make any sense, including psychological, and immediately promised to show "what real revenge is."
The mayor of Kiev , Vitali Klitschko, who addressed the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny the day before with a question about why the inhabitants of Moscow are resting when the Russians "nightmare" Kiev , commented on the drone raid on the Russian capital as follows:
Not everyone can look into tomorrow, but I can do it
Radio Liberty journalist Mark Krutov mapped all the known sites of drone incidents and the deployment of air defense systems in Moscow and the Moscow region .
In light of the attacks on Moscow , British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley acknowledged that Ukrainians have the right to act not only on their own territory, but also on enemy territory to undermine Russia's ability to send forces to Ukraine.
The shelling of the Belgorod region continues. According to the Rybar Telegram channel, over the past week, border settlements in the region have come under fire 158 times. At the same time, the channel calls for the distribution of weapons to local militia units and the creation of a buffer zone in the border regions with an entry into Ukrainian territory.
The governor of the region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, reported on the shelling of a temporary accommodation center where displaced residents of border areas were located. According to him, there are wounded and dead.
Losses
Russian Z-channels publish a video of the Ukrainian self-propelled gun "Hyacinth-S" damaged by the Russian kamikaze drone "Lancet". It is worth noting that the “anti-lancet” mesh stretched over the installation position did not protect it from being hit by a drone, but the machine looks repairable even if damaged.
Armaments and military equipment
The Armed Forces of Ukraine received about 60 Leopard tanks, of which two battalions were formed, Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov said . In addition to them, he mentioned the transfer to Ukraine of French AMX-10RC “wheeled tanks”, as well as British Challenger 2 and American M1 Abrams, but did not indicate their number. According to him, the Ukrainian army needs about 120 Western fighters. In addition to the F-16, which in the foreseeable future should be transferred to Ukraine, Reznikov also mentioned the Eurofighter and Gripen. According to him, Denmark and the Netherlands should soon begin training Ukrainian pilots to fly the F-16, while negotiations are underway with Poland and Belgium. The Minister of Defense also announced the UK's readiness to offer Ukraine training courses on the Eurofighter.
Finland sent Ukraine the 16th military aid package worth 109 million euros. It included, in particular, ammunition and air defense equipment. Now the total cost of military aid provided by Helsinki to Kyiv has reached 1.1 billion euros. The Finnish Ministry of Defense traditionally does not disclose information about the specific content of the military aid package in order to ensure the security of its delivery.
During a conversation with reporters, US President Joe Biden said that the issue of the supply of ATACMS missiles with a range of more than 500 km to Ukraine is "under consideration." Previously, he doubted that they were necessary for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At the same time, he said that the increased raids on Kyiv are not unexpected, and that is why "we must continue to give Ukraine everything it needs."
About the main events of the war on May 29 – in the previous report: “Calm at the front, massive strikes by kamikaze drones in Ukraine, desertion of prisoners from units of the Russian Defense Ministry. What is happening on the front line.