American military policy seems to be beginning to admit that the world is changing and that pluralism, i.e. the presence of different geopolitical polarities, is no longer an expectation but a reality. The Chief of the Joint Chief of Staff of the US Armed Forces, Mark Milley, announced the existence of three superpowers “It is now becoming more and more obvious that we are indeed in a multipolar international environment in which there are at least three superpowers: the United States, China and Russia,” he said. If you look at sea power, as the US Navy itself has admitted, the order must have changed: China, the United States, Russia.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that Ukraine admits the possibility of negotiations and a peace deal if Russia changes the previously announced goals of its military operations on Ukrainian territory, Ukrainian media announced.
According to Bloomberg, the Ukrainian military has suffered significant losses of military equipment since the start of the counter-offensive, citing European officials. According to the Bloomberg source, “[the armed forces]’ losses of military equipment have been significant.” The official noted that it was unclear whether the ongoing Ukrainian operations are preparations for the main offensive or an attempt to identify weaknesses in Russia’s defence.
On the same wavelength CNN which stated: “The Ukrainian armed forces have suffered losses in heavy equipment and soldiers as they have faced stronger than expected resistance from Russian troops in recent days in the first attempt to break through the Russian positions in the east of the country. CNN cites two senior US officials as sources. A US official called the losses, including US-supplied MRAP armored vehicles, “significant”.
The American Institute for the Study of War has said that the counteroffensive by the Ukrainian military will likely not be in the nature of a large-scale campaign. “Most likely, it will consist of many operations of different scales and intensities in different places over many weeks,” analysts say.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Europe and Europeans: “must be prepared for the fact that we will have to help Ukraine for a long time”
John Kirby, coordinator of strategic communications at the White House National Security Council, believes that losses among the Ukrainian military with the increase in the intensity of hostilities and the start of the counteroffensive operation were expected.
The Ukrainian counteroffensive has begun, the Washington Post and ABC reported, citing Ukrainian military personnel and officials, including those close to President Volodymyr Zelensky. Ukrainian troops, including strike units armed with Western weapons and trained in NATO tactics, have intensified their attacks on forward positions in the southeast of the country, notes WP. The active phase of the counteroffensive is underway, ABC sources say.
The headquarters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine denied reports by US media, which wrote with reference to unnamed Ukrainian officials and military, about the start of a counteroffensive, Reuters reported on Thursday.
US President Joe Biden said the West did everything possible to prepare for Ukraine’s counteroffensive. According to the Politico newspaper, the provision of further assistance to Ukraine and the reputation of current US President Joe Biden depend on the results of the Ukrainian counter-offensive.
Delays in the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Kiev are due to complex technical processes the army is currently working on, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said. Earlier, at a press conference within the framework of the second summit of the European Political Community in Chisinau, Volodymyr Zelensky said that a large number of countries are ready to supply Kiev with fighter jets. “This coalition is, shall we say, getting stronger… I said it and I repeat it: everything will be fine. There will be F-16s. working to organize everything,” said Kuleba.
Commenting on former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s words that a number of NATO countries could send their troops to Ukraine, the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Dmitry Kuleba said that until the end of the conflict the states foreigners would not send their troops into the country.
Earlier, Rasmussen said some Alliance countries, on an individual basis, may wish to send troops to Ukraine if Kiev does not receive real guarantees at the Vilnius summit. “Until the end of the armed conflict on the territory of Ukraine, foreign states will not send their troops to the territory of our country. We are also not asking for this,” Kuleba reiterated.
Bild military observer Julian Repke said the Armed Forces of Ukraine had launched an offensive from nearby Orekhov to Pologi, Tokmak and Vasilievka.
The commander of the military district and the chief of staff of the Russian Armed Forces reported the situation in the Zaporizhzhia direction to Putin, the Russian Defense Ministry said. Ukrainian troops failed to achieve the surprise of their offensive in the Zaporozhzhia direction, the group commander of the Russian Armed Forces said. On June 8, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost more than 350 people, more than 30 tanks, including three Leopards, the group commander reported.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that “it is necessary to speed up the delivery of all types of military equipment to the operational zone, with the help of which foreign armored vehicles are effectively destroyed.” Again through the Minister’s voice, we learn that the Ukrainian attack was repelled in all four directions, “the enemy was stopped and withdrew with heavy losses,” said Shoigu. “The reserve forces of Ukraine, specially trained to carry out the breakthrough, have not fulfilled their task,” added the Russian Defense Minister.
Meanwhile, the Russians have fielded the people’s militia that “has been created in the Zaporozhzhia region, together with the police and the military commander’s office, the militia will start patrolling,” the Acting Governor of the Zaporozhzhia region said, Balitsky
On the line of contact at 1300 on June 9, the situation was as follows: Orekhovsky area. For more than a day, intense battles have been going on on the Rabotino-Verbove line. Assault groups of the 65th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been trying to break through the defenses of the 291st Regiment of the Armed Forces of Russia since late at night.
Ukrainian formations focused their efforts specifically on one area, sending contingents and reserves to capture a fortified point. Because of this, the fighters of the Russian Armed Forces retreated to reserve positions. However, later, artillery and aviation operated against the Ukrainians, who were trying to reinforce themselves on the occupied lines. As a result, Ukrainian forces withdrew with heavy losses.
Towards morning the Ukrainians resumed attacks on Rabotino with the forces of 65 Ombr. At the same time, an armored group of the 47th obr on Leopard 2A4 tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles attempted an assault on the strongholds between Rabotino and Verbov.
The strike group of the 65th brigade managed to squeeze the Russian units from the first position – at the moment the artillery is beating the Ukrainian formation. To the right, servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces destroyed a Leopard tank and three Bradley tanks, eliminating the forces of 47 Ombr and driving them back to their starting lines.
Other Kamensky armed forces of Ukraine, tried to enter the village of Lobkove, bringing armored vehicles there. The reconnaissance groups of the Russian Armed Forces discovered the accumulation of Ukrainian vehicles and ammunition and hit them. As a result, the 2nd company of the 128th Guards Rifle Brigade withdrew, and Lobkovoe itself is again in the “gray zone”.
In total, according to preliminary estimates, in just a few days of fighting in the Zaporozhzhia direction, the Russian army destroyed 45 tanks and 42 other armored vehicles of the enemy.
The Ministry of Emergency Situations announced the flooding of 14 thousand houses in the Kherson region after the destruction of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station
Rises to more than 22 thousand houses in 17 settlements are flooded in the Kherson region. General director of Ukrhydroenergo Igor Syrota said that Kakhovskaya HPP cannot be restored and a new station should be reconstructed. In his view, this could take at least five years. The analysis of water in the Kherson region did not reveal any deviations from the norm, Rospotrebnadzor reported, thus decreasing the level of concern about a possible cholera infection.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday he was very disappointed and shocked by the reaction of the United Nations and the Red Cross to the emergency at the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant. In an interview with the German newspaper Bild, the Ukrainian leader noted that the major international organizations either did not respond to the request for assistance, or it was essentially a refusal “in diplomatic language”. Kiev now has no evidence of Moscow’s involvement in the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric plant disaster, Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Bild.
On the morning of June 9, a crashed UAV with explosives crashed into a residential building in Voronezh. According to preliminary data, a UAV crashed on Belinsky Street in Voronezh, said the governor of the Voronezh region Gusev. Two people were injured, Gusev explained. According to local accounts, the drone that fell in Voronezh flew towards an aviation facility on Tsiolkovsky Street, and was deflected by electronic warfare. In addition to the airport (it is 4.5 km from the crash site), there is an aviation enterprise 3.5 kilometers from the stricken house along Belinsky Street. The drone could also have targeted the FSB headquarters in the region which is only 300 meters from the site of the explosion.
The Kremlin considers the incident with a drone in Voronezh as an attack by Kiev on civilian infrastructure of the Russian Federation said the spokesman of the President of the Federation Vladimir Putin, Dmtrj Peskov. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has opened a criminal case over the drone strike in Voronezh.
The Russian Armed Forces carried out a group attack at night on warehouses of foreign-made ammunition, weapons and military equipment, including unmanned aerial vehicles, the RF Ministry of Defense reports. All assigned objects are hit. As a result of the strikes, the supply of groups of Ukrainian troops to areas of combat operations was disrupted.
Graziella Giangiulio
