Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 06-10-2024

The 61-year-old nationalist premier is increasingly stoking fears of a war between the West and Russia, which he blames on Brussels and NATO.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party emerged strongest in Sunday’s EU elections but lost ground, according to almost-final results, in what could be its worst score in its 14-year rule.

With nearly 90 percent of the votes counted, Fidesz came out on top at 44 percent, but well down from the 52 percent it won in the last EU elections in 2019.

Alexander Neustroyev, a builder, was arrested soon after by armed riot police who stormed his house in body armor and helmets.

A Russian court sentenced a man to three years in a penal colony on Monday for mocking a boy wearing a hat with the pro-Ukraine-invasion “Z” symbol.

The man, Alexander Neustroyev, was last year filmed shouting, “Stick that hat up your arse, you idiot!” at a passing 11-year-old boy, security camera footage posted on Russian media showed.

The Kremlin has vowed any NATO personnel helping Kyiv attack Russia would be legitimate targets.

Ukraine’s soon-to-be-operational fleet of F-16 fighter aircraft will protect itself from Kremlin attacks by ensconcing some combat aircraft in third-party countries Russia is unlikely to strike, Brigadier General Serhiy Holubtsov, Ukrainian Air Force Chief of Aviation, said in a Sunday interview.

“There is a number of aircraft that will go to Ukraine. There are a certain number of aircraft that will be stored at secure air bases, outside of Ukraine, so that they are not targeted here. And this will be our reserve in case of need for replacement of faulty planes during routine maintenance,” he said. “That is, so that we can constantly have a certain number of aircraft in the operational inventory, which will correspond to the number of pilots we have. When there will be more pilots – there will be more planes in Ukraine.”

The explosion took place in the factory’s rocket fuel center, where authorities said a 59-year-old man is among the victims. Investigations are ongoing to establish the circumstances.

An explosion took place at the Mesko arms plant in Poland that produces the kinds of weapons and munitions in use with the Ukrainian military on Monday, June 10, with casualties reported.

The incident, which killed a 59-year-old man and injured another man, took place at the factory’s rocket fuel center, the plant’s president Elżbieta Śreniawska told Polish news outlet RMF FM.

The Kremlin’s hunger for fresh meat for its war in Ukraine is insatiable, with African students, desperate to retain their residency rights, the latest group to catch the “selector’s eye.”

As Russia’s manpower shortages are exacerbated by losses during its current offensive in the Kharkiv region, Russian officials are forcing thousands of migrants and foreign students to fight in its so-called special military operation in Ukraine, Bloomberg reported on Sunday, June 9, citing unnamed European officials.

Moscow authorities are employing tactics akin to those used by Yevgeniy Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenary group to recruit convicts, combining promises of good pay with threats to cancel the visas of African students and young workers unless they agree to enlist in the military.

Around €260 billion of Russian central bank funds are frozen worldwide, most of it in the EU. The funds generate €2.5 billion to €3.5 billion a year in profit.

US President Joe Biden said on Sunday (9 June) he had reached an agreement with French President Emmanuel Macron on the use of profits from frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine.

Asked if the two men had discussed the issue and whether they had come up with an agreement, Biden replied “Yes and yes.”

Coordination between Ukrainian infantry and aerial reconnaissance halted the advance of Russian forces along a trench system. The Russian assault group was eliminated.

A video circulating on social media showed close-quarter combat footage from a drone, in which Ukrainian soldiers repelled an attack by Russian forces.

Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov claimed Sunday that Russian forces had seized the border village of Ryzhivka.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday denied Russian forces had captured a village in the eastern Sumy region, where the leader of Russia's Chechen Republic said Moscow's forces had advanced. 

Ramzan Kadyrov said on Sunday that Russian forces had seized the border village of Ryzhivka.

Former journalist and activist Mustafa Nayyem, charged with rebuilding Ukraine’s infrastructure, cited “systemic obstacles” that jeopardized the war effort for his departure.

Mustafa Nayyem, Ukraine’s chairman of the State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development, announced today on his Facebook page that he was resigning from his post. He said he made the decision “independently, due to systemic obstacles” that would not allow him to effectively exercise his powers.

Nayyem, 42, had served as a parliamentarian since 2014 and has been credited with triggering the Euromaidan protest in 2013. On Nov. 21 of that year, Nayyem posted on his Facebook page a call to gather on Kyiv’s “Maidan,” as Independence Square is known, in order to protest then-President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to back out of an association agreement with the European Union. Within three months Viktor Yanukovych would flee Kyiv.

Ukraine's defense forces destroyed Russian anti-aircraft missile systems in the temporarily occupied Crimea, causing significant losses to Russian air defense in Crimea.

Kyiv struck a Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile division in the Dzhankoy area and two S-300 anti-aircraft missile divisions overnight June 9-10 near Chornomorske and Yevpatoria in occupied Crimea, the Ukrainian military reported.

“None of our launched missiles were intercepted by the ‘highly effective’ enemy air defense,” the General Staff added, with an element of sarcasm.

The Kremlin’s spin doctors and useful idiots in the West are having a field day with the disgraced former US Marine’s last-minute setback en route to St. Petersburg.

Moscow propagandists and Kremlin supporters in the West are having a field day with the disgraced former US Marine and self-proclaimed Russophile’ travel problem on the way to St. Petersburg.

Convicted pedophile Scott Ritter is not your average, run-of-the-mill Putin apologist. His criminal background and troubling fetishes aside, the self-proclaimed “blue-blooded American patriot” masquerades as a voice of reason on a virtuous quest to course-correct the deeply strained bilateral relationship between Moscow and Washington. What landed Ritter in hot water, however, was disingenuously passing off his recent visits to Russia as bridge-building pilgrimages when they were nothing more than social-climbing escapades during which he ended up rubbing shoulders with and being glad-handed by untold senior government figures.

The world in focus, as seen by a Canadian leading global affairs analyst, writer and speaker, in his review of international media.

The first projections for the EU elections show the centre-right European People's Party has strengthened its majority in Parliament. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said "the centre is holding" as she hailed victory for her party. Far-right parties have also made gains in Italy, Austria and Germany as liberal and green parties see losses. French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the French Parliament and called snap elections for June 30 after his alliance suffered a big defeat to the far-right. Exit polls show Marine Le Pen's National Rally are set to trounce Macron's party in a historic win for the party. Voter turnout is estimated to be 51% in this election, very slightly higher than it was in 2019. About 360 million eligible voters were choosing 720 new Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) - BBC

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz suffered massive defeats in the European Parliament elections Sunday, as far-right parties made gains that could sway the bloc to take a harder line on migration and upset ambitious actions to protect the environment. Despite the defeats on the national level, center-left and center-right parties across Europe are set to preserve their majority in the European Union-wide ballot, which determines the make-up of the bloc’s legislative assembly. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s European People’s Party was projected to finish first, getting 181 seats. In France, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally won with 32% of the vote — in line with expectations — while Macron’s Renaissance party trailed with 15%, according to a poll published by Ifop. In Germany, Scholz’s Social Democrats crashed to their worst-ever result, falling behind both the opposition conservatives and far-right Alternative for Germany. "The president can’t remain deaf to the message sent by the French people,” Jordan Bardella, the head of the National Rally, told supporters after the results were announced. "We solemnly ask him to take note of this new political situation, to come back to the French people and organize new legislative elections.” - Bloomberg

The ATVs and motorcycles used by Russia to speed up their infantry attacks around Kharkiv and Avdiivka were easy prey for Ukrainian FPV drones, so now they are turning them into “turtles” too.

The success and fear of first-person view (FPV) drones during the war in Ukraine has led to the appearance of so-called “cope cages” on the tanks and armored personal carriers (APC) of both sides, aimed at limiting the impact of the weapons. Initially an assortment of crude grills, frames and screens fitted in the field were used, often referred to as BBQ grills. Now Russia has reportedly taken to fitting purpose-built anti-drone grills on factory new-build tanks and APCs.

Several months ago, both Ukrainian and Russian troops began using buggies and motorcycles on the battlefield. Kyiv’s troops used the fast, lightweight, and mobile vehicles to carry supplies, troops, small arms and even anti-tank guided missiles into rear areas.

The gathering comes immediately after the G7 summit in southern Italy, running from Thursday to Saturday, during which the wealthy democracies will also discuss Ukraine.

Switzerland will stage a conference on Ukraine this coming weekend, with world leaders set to discuss how to reach an eventual peace process -- although Russia is not taking part.

The gathering comes immediately after the G7 summit in southern Italy, running from Thursday to Saturday, during which the wealthy democracies will also discuss Ukraine in the presence of its president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

Their support aims to assist Ukrainian artists and cultural professionals, protect and restore cultural sites, and revive cultural life under UNESCO's coordination.

Almost 30 countries on Friday, June 7, committed to supporting the recovery of Ukraine’s cultural sector through UNESCO's coordination.

This pledge was made at a conference in Vilnius initiated by Lithuania. UNESCO, in collaboration with over 40 international and Ukrainian institutions, will develop a comprehensive action plan to guide the recovery efforts.

Ukraine's French champion Macron risks all at home to recover the political initiative.

French President Emmanuel Macron has taken the biggest gamble of his political career by calling early legislative elections to combat the surge of the far right, with the outcome decisive for his political legacy.

France will go to the polls to vote for a new National Assembly on June 30, with a second round on July 7, Macron said in an address to the nation.

Putin is removing from power the political and military figures that lost his trust in 2022 and 2023.

The Kremlin's concerted effort to remove and arrest senior Russian defense officials may be extending to civilian regional administration officials.

Russian authorities arrested Tyumen Oblast Deputy Governor Vyacheslav Vakhrin on June 9, Republic of Karelia Legislative Assembly Head of the Committee on Budget and Taxes Vitaly Krasulin on May 29, Oryol Oblast Gubernatorial Advisor Sergei Lezhnev on May 27, and Krasnodar Krai Deputy Governor Sergei Vlasov on May 24 for various fraud and bribery charges.

Previously, the administration of US President Joe Biden did not permit any Washington-provided weaponry to attack targets within Russia for fear of escalation with Moscow.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday partially credited the lifted restrictions on the use of American-made missiles in Ukraine for what he called a “stalled” invasion of the Kharkiv region.

In an interview on CBS News, Sullivan described Biden’s decision to permit strikes on Russian territory with American weapons as “common sense.”

Here are five takeaways from the vote which saw Europe's centrist political groups emerge relatively unscathed and higher turnout than in 2019 among the bloc's 27 states.

Far-right parties made striking gains in European Union elections on Sunday, while the ultimate losers were French President Emmanuel Macron -- and the Greens.

Here are five takeaways from the vote which saw Europe's centrist political groups emerge relatively unscathed and higher turnout than in 2019 among the bloc's 27 states.

Yuriy Zarko, the Ukrainian head of the local municipality, later denied Ryzhivka had been captured and told state broadcaster Suspilne there were no Russian troops in the village.

The leader of Russia's Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, said Sunday that Russian forces had seized the border village of Ryzhivka in Ukraine's northern Sumy region.

There was no immediate comment from Russia's defence ministry and a local Ukrainian official denied Kadyrov's claim.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• The Biden Administration’s limited policy change permitting Ukraine to use US-provided weapons to strike some Russian military targets in a small area within Russian territory has reduced the size of Russia’s ground sanctuary by only 16 percent at maximum. US policy still preserves at least 84 percent of Russia's ground sanctuary – territory within range of Ukrainian ATACMS.
• Likely Ukrainian forces struck a Russian Su-57 fighter aircraft at the Akhtubinsk Airfield in Astrakhan Oblast between June 7 and 8.
• Ukrainian forces may have struck a Russian large landing ship or patrol boat in Yeysk, Krasnodar Krai on the night of June 8 to 9.
• The Kremlin's concerted effort to remove and arrest senior Russian defense officials may be extending to civilian regional administration officials.
• The pro-Kremlin Moldovan Victory opposition electoral bloc held its second congress in Moscow on June 9 following a series of meetings between pro-Kremlin Moldovan opposition politicians and Russian officials from June 6 to 9.
• Former pro-Russian Moldovan president and current head of the Moldovan Socialist Party Igor Dodon gave interviews to Russian state news agencies TASS and RIA Novosti on June 9 in which he promoted several known Kremlin narratives targeting the current Moldovan government – many of which Moldovan opposition politicians also promoted at the Victory bloc congress.
• The Kremlin will likely try to exploit its ties to Dodon as part of its wider efforts to destabilize Moldovan democracy and influence the Moldovan government.
• Russian forces recently advanced near Kupyansk, Siversk, Chasiv Yar, Avdiivka, and Donetsk City.
• Russian officials continue efforts to coerce migrants into military service.