Bob Homans May 28

20220529

Ukraine – 5/28 Sitrep
Compiled by: Robert Homans
Twitter: @rhomansjr
May 28, 2022

Fundraising Appeals – A Possible New Approach

As most of you know, we have included 2 funding appeals in these emails, the first for a women’s sniper team, and the second for a mortar platoon.   They, and we, are extremely grateful for your generosity in responding to these appeals which are still on going.    

These were examples of small, individual entities that collectively play a huge role in Ukraine’s war effort.  Equally critical to the success of Ukraine’s war effort is the role played by Ukraine’s civil society.

In Ukraine, civil society groups, including national, professional, religious, etc., now constitute an extremely powerful part of Ukraine’s response to the Russian invasion.   They also have become what amounts to a “shadow government” in Ukraine.   We have been looking for ways to support these groups, especially on the local level.  We may’ve found an approach.

A few weeks ago, my sister approached me, saying that the Pastor of the Baptist church in a small town north of Boston where she has a dacha, approached her asking if it was possible for the congregation to provide support for a church congregation in Ukraine.   To make a long story short, we (members of my immediate family) facilitated the establishment of a relationship between the Baptist church and a Ukrainian Orthodox church in Ukraine, whereby the Baptist congregation will be providing support to the church in Ukraine, located in a small city south of Kyiv.   The local Anglican (Episcopal) church, along with the local Catholic church, may also become involved, making the effort from this small town ecumenical.  

This has led us to think about how this one effort can be replicated, not only with churches, but professional organizations, business organizations and other groups.  From my perspective, the United States and Ukraine have the strongest civil society traditions anywhere.   American tradition goes back to colonial times, with the establishment of the Committees of Correspondence and Public Safety at the start of the Revolution, serving as shadow governments to the British, or the establishment of the first public library in Philadelphia.   Ukraine’s tradition is relatively recent, and only became particularly strong after the 2004/2005 Orange Revolution.   Why shouldn’t civil society organizations in the United States be able to support their counterparts in Ukraine?

Here is a proposition.   If readers of these emails are members of church congregations, professional groups such as bar associations, accountants, chambers of commerce, etc., or any other group, including alumni associations or affinity groups want to establish a relationship with counterparts in Ukraine, to provide support, we would be happy to facilitate.     We can establish the relationship and provide additional support including translation or whatever else is necessary.

This does not necessarily mean monetary support.   On Monday I will share an example of how U.S. and European chapters of the International Coaching Federation, an organization of executive coaches, provide support to the Ukraine Chapter of the International Coaching Federation.

Without the contributions of their civil society organizations, Ukraine would not be in the position to win this war.

5/28 Sitrep (my comments in bold face)

INTERNATIONAL

Russian «TV presenter» Vladimir Solovyev threatens the US with nuclear weapons if they hand over to Ukraine modern long-range systems.

The Wall Street Journal:  Next week, the United States authorities will announce the supply of long-range missile systems like the MLRS.   The weapon has a range of 70 km. The Pentagon reported that the transfer of MLRS is part of a larger package of military assistance for Ukraine.

United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).  Japan provides almost $166 million in grant assistance to Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.  These funds are designed to ensure the transfer to Kyiv of fire-fighting equipment, communications equipment, medicines, and medical supplies through the UN. 

Japan Today:  Japan will pay companies to employ Ukrainian refugees.  The Ministry of Labour of Japan announced that companies employing Ukrainian refugees would be eligible for grants of up to 600,000 yen per employee (140,000 hryvnias).

Voice of America:  The US Senate wants to recognize the Russian threat of famine as a weapon of war.  Purposefully starving civilians as a weapon of warfare is a war crime. Period," said one of the initiators of the document.

Belgorod, Russia,  governor announced the shelling of the village of Nekhoteevka, 8 buildings, a gas pipeline and power lines were damaged, there is one death.

The Czech Republic and Britain will continue to support Ukraine with heavy weapons.  "Today, we agreed on the need to continue supporting Ukraine both politically and militarily, to support its defense and to continue working on the restoration of Ukraine," the head of Czech diplomacy said.

Ex-president of Ukraine Yanukovych: The statehood of Ukraine is threatened with complete destruction, the country may be forced to actually merge with Poland.

Pentagon:  The United States has not yet made a final decision on the supply of MLRS (multiple launch rocket system) to Ukraine. "We are aware that Ukrainians are asking for MLRS privately and publicly. I will not get ahead of decisions that have not yet been made.

●        Putin is not ready for negotiations and should not count on them in the near future.

●        “Putin can do the right thing right here and now: withdraw the troops and sit down at the negotiating table with Zelenskyi and negotiate in good faith. It doesn’t look like there is any hope of such negotiations right now.”

●        At the same time, Putin still has not achieved a single strategic goal in the war with Ukraine.

●         "He did not take away the sovereignty of Ukraine - on the contrary, he showed the Ukrainians how important independence really is, and they fight for it every day. He did not capture the capital and did not behead the government. He did not capture any large city except Mariupol."

President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly:  The transfer of military assets to Ukraine that would ensure control over the country's airspace is not a way out of the conflict says during a session of the assembly in Vilnius. "We must look for other ways for Ukraine to exercise this control.   The alliance's actions should not be aimed at escalating the conflict, but at its end."

Cosmetics manufacturer Wella stops deliveries to Russia. This in a letter from Wella to Russian partners.

Russian President Volodymyr Putin is considering placing his younger daughter, Kateryna Tykhonova, at the head of the 'United Russia' party.

Meduza:  Despite the fact that the results of the Russian army are clearly not in line with Moscow's original plans, the Kremlin is again discussing a possible assault on Kyiv and even hope for a full-scale victory in the war.

●        According to the edition, the “minimum program” for “declaring victory” at the end of May 2022 is considered by the Kremlin to be the capture by the Russian troops of the entire territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

●        The ""Maximum Program"" is still called taking control of Kyiv. According to sources in the Kremlin, the Russian top leadership has not given up on this goal.

The Guardian:  The Ministries of Defense of the Czech Republic and The UK refute rumors that some NATO countries have agreed not to provide Ukraine with heavy weapons. The Heads of departments convince that Ukrainians will be provided with weapons. .

Austrian Chancellor:  After a telephone conversation with Putin, the Austrian Chancellor says Putin is ready to discuss the exchange of prisoners with Ukraine.

●        Putin emphasizes the groundlessness of attempts to make Russia responsible for difficulties with food supplies.

●        'Gazprom' would lose its gas storage facility in Austrian Haidach if the Russian company does not fill it with gas.

●        Nehammer stressed "that the efforts towards a prisoner of war exchange will be intensified," adding that he is "optimistic that such an exchange would be possible again soon."

●        Putin also told Nehammer that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will "have free access to prisoners of war," asking for this access to also be granted to Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine.

Bloomberg:  Due to Hungarian position on the embargo, leaders of individual EU countries are offering to ban only the import of oil from Russia transported by sea, while deliveries through pipelines temporarily allowed.  EU governments are discussing with the European Council and the European Commission a plan according to which the transportation of Russian oil through the 'Druzhba' pipeline will be temporarily exempted from sanctions.

Russian media: China has closed the skies for Boeing and Airbus aircraft of Russian airlines.

EU Delegation to Ukraine:  The occupation of territories should not prevent Ukraine from joining the EU.  According to him, it is now difficult to predict how soon Ukraine will receive the status of a candidate or a full member of the EU.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has accused the United States of involvement in the outbreak of monkeypox. The disease itself was imported from Nigeria, where, according to the military department, there are four American biological laboratories. Laboratories in Ukraine were allegedly tied to this network as well.    Previous accounts of American biological labs located in Ukraine, reported by the TV commentator Tucker Carlson, and others, have been debunked.   Carlson’s reporting has frequently picked up by “Russia Today,” as well as other Russian propaganda outlets.

Azerbaijan President: "We are a victorious state, Armenia is a defeated state. We said that a peace agreement should be signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenia tried to avoid this. Because a peace agreement means mutual recognition of the territorial integrity of countries."

●        The Karabakh conflict has been settled. We have resolved this issue, and the whole world accepts it, whether Armenia wants it or not. As for the administrative unit called Nagorno-Karabakh, there is no such unit on the territory of Azerbaijan.

Defense Ministry of Belarus:  Belarus will have a "people's militia".  The task has been set, among other things, to create a people's militia in our country. We really see that this is a very necessary issue. The most important thing is that we have both people and weapons for this. It is important that we can peacefully demonstrate that there is no need to poke your head, because the answer will be adequate.

Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs:  There is no alternative to Ukrainian grain to provide food to third world countries, so it is necessary to do everything possible to ensure its transportation through the ports of Ukraine.

International Ice Hockey Federation: Russian and Belarusian teams banned from the 2023 World Cup.

The UEFA Executive Committee has decided to prevent teams from Belarus and Ukraine from playing each other in any future UEFA competitions.

Roskomnadzor did not take any restrictive measures regarding the Netflix video service; it independently suspended activities on the territory of Russia

Lukashenko:  The consequences of sanctions against Belarus and Russia will affect all Europe Asia Economic Union members.

The United States Transportation Command:  Since the end of February, the United States delivered 23.8 thousand tons of weapons and military equipment to Ukraine.

CNN:  The U.S. presidential administration is preparing to increase arms supplies to Ukraine by sending advanced, long-range rocket systems to the country.

Canada delivers M777 howitzers to Ukraine.

Yle:  Finnish Prime Minister stated that her country supports granting Kyiv EU candidate status.  I am open to giving Ukraine candidate status. Gaining the status of a candidate country does not mean that it will become a member of the EU tomorrow. Of course, membership requires a lot of work.

Bloomberg: British Prime Minister supports the supply of Multiple Launch Systems to Ukraine

NATO Secretary General:  Sweden and Finland will be invited to take part in the NATO summit in Madrid, but they are unlikely to be candidates for membership in the Alliance if they do not comply with Turkey's requirements by June 28.  No country has suffered from terrorism as much as Turkey.

Spanish Foreign Minister:  NATO is not currently planning to offer Ukraine membership in the North Atlantic Alliance.

NATIONAL

The Russians suffered significant losses and were forced to retreat in the area of Sievierodonetsk, Toshkivka and Oskolonivka.   Another bridge between Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk has been damaged. But the passage between the cities is preserved.

A former history teacher from the Zhytomyr region, Lieutenant Lyubov Plaksyuk, became the first woman in Ukraine to head an artillery unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Moscow Patriarch (MP) - The Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church MP condemned the position of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, on the war in Ukraine and decided on complete independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. 

Institute for the Study of the War (ISW): Russian forces began direct assaults on built-up areas of Sievierodonetsk without having fully encircled the city and will likely struggle to take ground in the city itself.

●        Russian forces in Lyman appear to be dividing their efforts—attacking both southwest to support stalled forces in Izium and southeast to advance on Siversk.

●        Russian forces in Popasna seek to advance north to support the encirclement of Sievierodonestk rather than advancing west toward Bakhmut.

●        Positions northeast of Kharkiv City remain largely static, with no major attacks by Russian forces.

●         Russian forces continue to fortify their defensive positions along the southern axis.

Finance Minister:  The government plans to reintroduce value added tax (VAT) on imported goods and import duties.  They were cancelled at the start of the war.

British Defense Intelligence.

●        Russian forces had likely captured most of the town of Lyman, in the north of the Donetsk region, in what is likely a preliminary operation for the next stage of Russia's Donbas offensive. Lyman is strategically important because it is the site of a major railway junction, and Lyman also gives access to important rail and road bridges over the Siverskyi Donets River.

●        Britain expect that in the coming days, Russian units in the area are likely to prioritize forcing a crossing of the river. For now, Russia's main effort likely remains 40 km to the east, around the Sieverodonetsk pocket, but a bridgehead near Lyman would give Russia an advantage in the potential next phase of the Donbas offensive when it will likely seek to advance on key Ukrainian-held cities deeper in the Donetsk region, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

●        On 26 May 2022, Pushilin said that a referendum would be held if Russia captured the entirety of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine. If Russia did succeed in taking over these areas, it would be portrayed to the Russian people as justifying the invasion.

●        However, the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to conduct a well-organized defense of the sector and continue to impose a high level of casualties on Russia.

Ministry of Defense:  The Armed Forces of Ukraine are still fighting for Lyman. The armed forces of Ukraine hold the northwestern and southeastern parts of Lyman. That's where the hard fighting is taking place right now.

●        In the Volyn and Polissia directions, about seven battalions of the Belarusian Armed Forces continue to carry out tasks to strengthen the section of the Ukrainian-Belarusian border.

●        In the Gomel region, in the immediate vicinity of the state border with Ukraine, an electronic warfare maneuvering group from the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus has been deployed.

●        In the Lyman direction, the Russian army is trying to oust the Ukrainian units from the settlement of Lyman and develop an offensive against Sloviansk. They fired from mortars and multiple missile launchers at the areas of the settlements of Ozerne and Dibrova. They also launched an airstrike in the Siversk area.                                                    

●         In the Severodonetsk direction, the Russian troops, with the support of artillery, carried out assault operations in the areas of the settlements of Shchedryshcheve, Borovske and Toshkivka, the fighting continues.

●        In the Avdiivka direction, the Russian Federation used artillery against civilian infrastructure in the areas of the settlements of Novobakhmutivka, Kamianka, Avdiivka, Pisky and Mariinka.

●        In Russia, covert mobilization activities continue. Russian troops continue to withdraw obsolete armament and military equipment from the mobilization centres.

●        On the border of the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, Russian troops suffered losses and retreated.

Chief State Inspector for Nuclear and Radiation Safety of Ukraine reported on the recorded facts of the flights of cruise missiles over the nuclear power plant: "…Such attacks could potentially lead to a planetary catastrophe greater than the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents combined".

Operational Command Pivden (South): Russian reserve troops from Crimea are heading to Kherson. And in the opposite direction, the Russians continue to export agricultural products from Kherson to the Crimea.

Bild:  German Development Minister visited Borodianka  During her visit to Borodianka, she assured the residents of assistance from Germany. 185 million euros have already been approved for emergency measures.

Naftogaz:  Gas and heat tariffs for the population will remain unchanged. The state company said that information that " the price for heating will be increased three times" is fake.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine:  Despite public statements by the Russian leadership, no indication of Russia’s readiness to negotiate.

●        Heavy weapons from the US are already heading to Ukraine, - Ukrainian Foreign Minister after a conversation with US Secretary of State.

Media Reports:  Former head and ex-judge of the Ukraine’s Constitutional Court Oleksandr Tupytskyi, who had been accused of committing several criminal offenses, on the international wanted list.  He was declared wanted and an order for his arrest released through Interpol.   According to Ukrinform, he is believed to be in Austria, having left Ukraine via a border crossing in Transcarpattya.

Chief Intelligence Directorate, Ministry of Defense of Ukraine: Russia fails to solve the problems of providing for the occupation units. To avoid responsibility for the loss of equipment, the commanders of Russian logistic units prohibited the drivers from evacuating the wounded and from transporting food and fuel to the forward units. More than 3,000 rear vehicles of the Russian Army continue to be stored in permanent locations.

●        Since the beginning of the military invasion of Ukraine, the Russian logistic troops have already used more than 45 per cent of available vehicles. However, it turned out that the entire logistics scheme of the Russians could not provide the needs of a significant number of troops at a distance of more than 100 km from their border.

●        The Armed Forces of Ukraine have already destroyed more than 2,200 Russian vehicles and tankers.

Ukrainian Ombudsman:  published the order of the “Ministry of Health of Crimea", according to which all medical capacity will be directed to the treatment of the Russian military. All free services for ordinary citizens will be suspended.

Medical facilities in Crimea are in dire need of blood. To replenish the blood bank, the Russian authorities require entrepreneurs to send workers to blood banks. At the same time, anyone can become a donor - no medical documents are required, and no examination.    This will inevitably lead to a tainted blood supply in Crimea.   To take one example, in the U.S. someone who is a first cousin, or closer, to a person who suffered from Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, otherwise known as the human version of “Mad Cow Disease,” cannot give blood.  Then there is the matter of HIV/AIDS.

Deputy minister of agrarian policy and food:  Due to the occupation of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, there were problems with the supply of early vegetables, such as young onions, beets, and carrots in Ukraine.

The Security Service of Ukraine:  The service prevented Russia from circumventing previously imposed sanctions for the repair of transport aircraft type ""An"". The Security Service found that Russia had registered a company in one of the countries of the Middle East, which supposedly has no relation to Moscow.

The Foreign Minister of North Macedonia, visited the liberated Irpin. North Macedonia firmly supports the courageous Ukrainian people. The Irpin town is clear evidence that Russian aggression is a grave violation of international law. The attacks against civilians are a war crime, and they should be held accountable.  .

Twitter: Advisor to the President's Office: Some partners avoid giving the necessary weapons because of fear of escalation. Escalation, really? RF already uses the heaviest non-nuclear weapons against Ukrainians, burning people alive.

●        In the Donetsk region, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed the command post of the Russian troops, where there were more than 20 senior officers

●        Part of the Russian troops entered Severodonetsk and fortified there, which means a transition to street fighting.

KHARKIV

Regional Military Administration: Over the past 24 hours, Russians shelled the Kyiv district of Kharkiv. There is one victim in the Slatyne village, in the town of Balakliia also one person was wounded. A 65-year-old woman died in Slatyne.

LUHANSK

Regional Military Administration:  Ukrainian troops continue to hold Sievierodonetsk and repel the attacks of the Russians.

DONETSK:

Regional Military Administration:  The city of Lyman is mainly controlled by Russian troops, the Ukrainian military has taken new fortified positions in the Lyman direction

●        The Russian military forcibly took almost all men from the so-called ""DNR"" to war.  This was told a prisoner who was ""mobilized"" in the temporarily occupied Donetsk region.

●        The Second Donetsk water supply system is damaged. 11 settlements of Donbass were without water.

●        The command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine may consider withdrawing from Severodonetsk in order to avoid encirclement

●        The Russians will not be able to capture the Luhansk region in the coming days, as analysts predict, we will have enough forces and means to keep the defense. However, it is possible that in order not to be surrounded, we will have to retreat", – Haidai says.

●        Severodonetsk "is not cut off, fighting continues in the vicinity of the city

Adviser to the mayor of Mariupol:  Propaganda newspapers are distributed in Mariupol. They write that Mariupol is an example of how the Russian mqqgether with the military of the so-called "DNR" took the city without mass destruction. And all this to save the lives of Mariupol residents.

●        In Kherson, the Russian military and the Russian Guard are looking for the residents of Mariupol to bring them back to the city. The reasons and purpose are unclear.

●        Yesterday Russian soldiers took 280 Mariupol residents, including 36 children to a filtration camp in the village of Bezimenne.

●        Because the Russians could not restore the water supply in Mariupol, they installed mobile showers in the city.   «So Mariupol becomes the most mobile city - mobile crematories, mobile “propaganda machine”, mobile showers»

ZAPORIZHIA

SOF AZOV report that, together with other units, they not only managed to stop the Russian offensive in the Zaporizhzhia direction, but also made significant progress.

Regional Military Administration: The so-called "Crimean engineers" connected Berdiansk to three Russian radio stations. Еvery hour radio "Crimea" broadcasts the "news" of the occupied territories of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Russian propaganda calls the captured Ukrainian territories "liberated".

●        Partisans continue to distribute anti-Russian leaflets on the streets of occupied Tokmak and Melitopol. Flyers with warnings against obtaining Russian passports are pasted throughout the city.

●        Also, by leaflets, the Melitopol partisans are invited to the pro-Ukrainian rally on May 29

DNIPRO

Regional Military Administration: reported another shelling of the Kryvyi Rih district. The Russian troops hit the Zelenodolsk territorial community with artillery. There is destruction. People were not injured

Dnipro City Council:  According to preliminary data, due to yesterday morning’s shelling by Russia, about ten people died, and about 30 were injured in the Dnipro R INTERNATIONAL

Russian «TV presenter» Vladimir Solovyev threatens the US with nuclear weapons if they hand over to Ukraine modern long-range systems.

The Wall Street Journal:  Next week, the United States authorities will announce the supply of long-range missile systems like the MLRS.   The weapon has a range of 70 km. The Pentagon reported that the transfer of MLRS is part of a larger package of military assistance for Ukraine.

United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).  Japan provides almost $166 million in grant assistance to Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.  These funds are designed to ensure the transfer to Kyiv of fire-fighting equipment, communications equipment, medicines, and medical supplies through the UN. 

KHERSON

Regional Military Administration: Russian forces are building fortifications from stolen concrete.

Occupied Kherson completely closed off its borders with Ukraine.  Entry and exit from the region are currently blocked. The occupiers say this was done «for security reasons».

ODESA

Regional Military Administration:

REST OF UKRAINE

Sumy Regional Military Administration, from midnight to 4 am, Russia was bombarding the Sumy region. No casualties. There was a missile strike. An agricultural enterprise was destroyed in the Putyvl territorial community.

The head of Sumy region said that the border communities of the Sumy region were in a war zone.

President’s Office:  Electricity and gas have been restored throughout the Kyiv region.

Comparing Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to Russian invasion of Ukraine using Wikipedia and Ukraine Ministry of Defense Daily Bulletins.  Soviet and Russian military losses not including captured equipment.

SOURCES

https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/ 

https://euromaidanpress.com/

https://invite.viber.com/?g2=AQBD3wxTrZ6XUU7IdXeHUfjVCydekezQCCGuwYnT6qPd1r7n1aVbFIewa6ng6Lis

www.ubn.news

Comparing Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to Russian invasion of Ukraine using Wikipedia and Ukraine Ministry of Defense Daily Bulletins.  Soviet and Russian military losses not including captured equipment.

SOURCES

https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/ 

https://euromaidanpress.com/

https://invite.viber.com/?g2=AQBD3wxTrZ6XUU7IdXeHUfjVCydekezQCCGuwYnT6qPd1r7n1aVbFIewa6ng6Lis

www.ubn.news