New Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar has offered Hungary as a platform for negotiations and has spoken of guarantees for Ukraine. In an interview with the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the Hungarian Prime Minister stated that Budapest is ready to become a platform for peace talks between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. Budapest also supports security guarantees for Kiev, albeit with a caveat. According to Magyar, “only the collective political will of the leading states, and not the scale of military aid, can provide real guarantees.”
Volodymyr Zelensky has given officials a firm deadline for the Patriot contract. The president stated that Ukraine has reached an agreement at the highest political level for the purchase of Patriot systems. However, the implementation of the contract is stalled at financial, technical, and legal levels. To date, the responsible bodies have not yet completed even the basic legal steps for this contract.
Zelensky emphasized that funds from the €90 billion European aid package and other domestic resources must be immediately used to protect human lives. He gave officials exactly one week to resolve the issue, otherwise there will be personnel consequences.
Vladimir Putin signed a decree authorizing Nordline to complete the acquisition of a 10% stake in Arctic LNG 2 LLC, owned by TotalEnergies. And again from Russia comes news that the final decision on the introduction of an excise tax on imported steel will be made by the fall, Russian State Secretary and Deputy Finance Minister Alexey Sazanov announced at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
And now a look at the front line, updated at 3:30 PM on June 3. By morning, at least 30 Ukrainian drones had been shot down over the St. Petersburg region; Ukrainian forces are releasing footage of fires at an oil terminal in the St. Petersburg coal port. Sobyanin reported the downing of 22 drones targeting the capital. In the Tambov region, an apartment building, a library, and an art school were damaged, with windows shattered, as were some outbuildings of an industrial enterprise. The Progress plant in Michurinsk was also targeted, and footage of the aftermath is now available from Ukrainian sources. In the Rostov region, several drones were destroyed in the Millerovsky district. Last night, Ukrainian forces released footage of an overturned and damaged passenger train in northern Crimea; military operations continued on the peninsula overnight.
In Ukraine, explosions were heard overnight in Chernihiv, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhia, and Odessa. Volodymyr Zelensky’s claims regarding information about a “massive airstrike” have therefore not been confirmed by the facts.
In the Bryansk region, a 6-year-old girl was injured by debris from a drone falling into the courtyard of an apartment building, according to the acting governor. A drone, heading toward a shopping center, crashed in the parking lot of the Aeropark shopping center in Bryansk; there were no injuries. One person was killed in a village following a missile launch.
In the Sumy region of Shostka, attack aircraft from the Northern Group of Forces are engaged in light-armed combat near Bachivsk. In the Sumy region, Russian attack aircraft, according to social media sources, have advanced up to 700 meters in 11 areas, with fighting ongoing in Ivolzhans’ke, Pysarivka, and surrounding villages. In the Krasnopil’s’kyi region, fighting is ongoing between the villages of Lisne and Taratutyne, as well as northwest of Novodmytrivka.
In the Kursk region, in the village of Maloye Soldatskoye, Belovsky district, one man was injured in a drone strike. A drone strike in the village of Beloy, Belovsky district, injured two men. In the village of Vyshnie Derevenki, Lgovsky district, a drone injured one man.
In the Belgorod region, in Shebekino, a Ukrainian Armed Forces drone exploded inside a business, injuring a civilian. An FPV drone struck a bus in the same area, injuring the driver. Near the village of Posokhovo, Valuysky District, an FPV drone attacked a moving car, injuring two people. In the village of Bochkovka, Belgorod District, a Ukrainian Armed Forces drone attacked a private home, injuring a minor. Several villages are under Ukrainian attack.
In the Kharkiv sector, units of the Northern Group of Forces are advancing towards a key logistics center of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the village of Kozakha Lopan. Small-arms firefights are ongoing in the village of Shevchenka and the surrounding area. In the Vovchansk sector, Russian forces have advanced up to 500 meters in eight locations and are engaged in small-arms firefights in the village of Okhrimivka, as well as in the forests of the Vovchansk district.
In the southern sector of Kupyansk, according to Russian social media sources, there are reports of Russian forces advancing through the Kupyansk-Vuzlovyi complex.
In Donetsk, several drone strikes have injured at least five people.
In Liman, urban fighting is ongoing, with extensive use of drones by both sides. To the northwest, clashes continue on the outskirts of Svyatogorsk. A strengthening of Russian forces in this direction is evident.
In the direction of Svyatogorsk, Russian forces are attempting to advance along the M-03 highway towards Yurkivka, located 12 km from the outskirts of Slovyansk. Fighting is also reported in Rai-Oleksandrivka, an important defensive stronghold for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Intense urban fighting continues in Kostyantynivka.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region, northwest of Oleksandrohrad, the Vostok Group of Forces is advancing through a wooded area across the Volchya River: it continues to consolidate and expand its bridgehead north of the river.
No changes in the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions. The logistical situation remains critical.
Graziella Giangiulio
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