As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 98th day, we take a look at the main developments.
Here are the key events so far on Wednesday, June 1.
Get the latest updates here.
Fighting
- The United States will send Ukraine the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), equipped with munitions that will allow Ukraine to launch rockets about 80km, but Ukraine will not use the missiles to hit targets on Russian territory, a senior Biden administration official said.
- Russia has taken control of most of the eastern industrial city of Severodonetsk, the Luhansk regional governor said. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Russia’s bombing of Severodonetsk “madness” due to the number of chemical plants in the city.
- Ukrainian forces have had some success near the southern city of Kherson and are advancing in parts of the Kharkiv region, Zelenskyy said.
- Moscow’s focus on seizing Severodonetsk and the Donbas region more generally risks its hold on Kherson, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said.
- The United Nations human rights body (OHCHR) confirmed 9,029 civilian casualties in Ukraine since February 24, including 4,113 people killed and 4,916 injured.
- Ukraine has identified more than 600 Russian war crime suspects and has started prosecuting about 80 of them, Kyiv’s top prosecutor said.
- The Russian-occupied parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia will become part of Russia, Russian state news agency RIA reported, citing the secretary-general of the United Russia Party’s general council.
- Ukrainian officials reported a “shutdown of all communications” as mobile communication and internet access was blocked in Russian-occupied parts of Kherson.
- Some 60 to 100 Ukrainian soldiers are being killed per day in the war with Russia, Zelenskyy said, adding that about 500 are wounded daily.
- Russia’s nuclear forces are holding drills in Ivanovo province, northeast of Moscow, the Interfax news agency cited the Russian defence ministry as saying.
- Ukraine’s parliament dismissed human rights commissioner Lyudmyla Denisova from her post for inadequate performance, the Ukrinform news agency reported.
- A Ukrainian court sentenced two captured Russian soldiers to more than 11 years in jail each for shelling a civilian area in the country’s northeastern Kharkiv region.
Diplomacy
- Although the US is continuing to “reinforce NATO’s eastern flank with forces and US capabilities”, Washington does not seek a war between NATO and Russia, US President Joe Biden said.
- Zelenskyy thanked the European Union for banning most oil from Russia and urged Ukraine’s allies to give the country more weapons, saying “there should be no significant economic ties left between the free world and the terrorist state”.
- The US hailed an EU decision to scale back Russian oil imports and called for long-term efforts to further reduce dependence on Moscow.
- Turkey’s foreign minister said Finland and Sweden should change their laws to win Ankara’s support in their historic bid to join NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- The US State Department suggested that Washington is preparing another aid package for Kyiv, after Congress approved an additional $40bn in military and humanitarian assistance earlier in May.
- Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on French President Emmanuel Macron to visit the country before the end of June.
- German politician Manfred Weber said EU membership for Ukraine was a priority as he was elected to be the new president of the European People’s Party (EPP).
- Denmark will vote in a referendum on Wednesday whether to abandon the country’s decision 30 years ago to opt out of the EU’s common defence policy.
- Pope Francis led an international prayer service in Rome for peace in Ukraine and other places stricken by war – an event attended by about a thousand people, including the Ukrainian ambassador to the Vatican and a number of people wearing the blue and yellow colours of the Ukrainian flag.
Economy
- Russia’s economy will not suffer from the EU’s oil embargo due to new markets and rising fuel prices, the chairwoman of Russia’s Federation Council said.
- Russia’s Gazprom said it will turn off supplies to several “unfriendly” countries which have refused to accept Moscow’s roubles-for-gas payment scheme.
- German companies Uniper and RWE paid for Russian gas under a new scheme proposed by Moscow, in a bid to ensure continued supply of the fuel that is critical to Europe’s top economy.
- A senior UN official had “constructive discussions” in Moscow with Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov on facilitating Russian grain and fertiliser exports to global markets, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
- Russia’s economy will contract less than expected this year and inflation will be lower than previously thought, a Reuters news agency poll of analysts showed.
