Western nations must be prepared for a long “war of attrition” in Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned on Thursday, following talks with US President Joe Biden as Russian forces hammered positions in the Donbas region on the eve of the war’s 100th day. Read about the day’s events as they unfolded on our liveblog. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
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5:11am: Russian Pacific fleet begins week-long exercises
Russia’s Pacific Fleet launched a week-long series of exercises with more than 40 ships and up to 20 aircraft taking part, Russian news agencies quoted the defence ministry as saying.
The ministry statement said the exercises, taking place from June 3-10, would involve, among other matters, “groups of ships together with naval aviation taking part in search operations for (enemy) submarines”.
The exercises were taking place amid Russia’s three-month-old incursion into Ukraine, described by Moscow as a “special military operation”. Ukraine lies thousands of kilometres to the west of where the exercises are occurring in the Pacific.
Jun 3, 3:36am: Russia seeks to portray return to normalcy in war-scarred Mariupol
Some children are returning to school in Mariupol after Russian troops captured the Ukrainian port city in a bloody, weeks-long siege. Trucks pass through the streets playing videos from Russian state television as the occupying forces seek to portray a return to normalcy. But signs of death and devastation are everywhere, including in backyard grave sites and massive new cemeteries on the city’s outskirts. A census of those killed in the battle for Mariupol has yet to even begin.
FRANCE 24’s Jennie Shin reports with our colleagues at France 2:
11:22pm: Ukrainian forces have had some success in Severodonetsk, says Zelensky
Ukrainian forces have had some success fighting Russians in the city of Severodonetsk but the overall military situation in the Donbas region has not changed in the day, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday.
In a late-night video address, Zelensky also thanked US President Joe Biden for promising to send missiles and said he expected good news about weapons supplies from other partners.
Russian forces, backed by heavy artillery, control most of the eastern industrial city of Severodonetsk but fighting is continuing, say Ukrainian officials.
“The situation in the Donbas has not changed significantly over the last 24 hours. We have had some success in the battles in Severodonetsk,” said Zelensky, adding it was too early to give details.
He also slammed what he called the “absolutely senseless shelling” of northern border regions from Russian territory.
“The entire temporarily occupied territory of our state is now a zone of complete disaster, for which Russia bears full responsibility,” he said.
10:43pm: US adds 71 new Russian, Belarus companies to trade blacklist
The US has added 71 new Russian and Belarusian entities to its trade blacklist, including aircraft plants and shipbuilding and research institutes, as part of its latest effort to deprive the Russian military of US technology and other items.
The export restrictions are among a raft of new sanctions the US has imposed, which include prohibitions on additional Russian oligarchs and members of the country's elite.
In total, the US Commerce Department has now added 322 entities to its economic blacklist for support of Russia’s military since February 24.
9:57pm: Ukrainian authorities start releasing casualty figures
Reporting from Kyiv, FRANCE 24’s Gulliver Cragg says Ukrainian authorities over the past week have started “stressing the number of soldiers Ukraine is losing”. President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday said the death toll was up to a hundred soldiers per day.
“Previously in this conflict, Ukrainian authorities preferred to be quite vague about their casualties, putting the emphasis on Russian casualties, perhaps to avoid damaging morale,” said Cragg.
“That has changed because I think the Ukrainian government for the moment feels that it is very urgent to impress on their Western allies that things are not going so well in the Donbas, as they did in the battle for the Kyiv region and they really, really want their allies to send more weapons and send them fast,” explained Cragg.
7:14pm: NATO chief warns of long 'war of attrition'
Western nations need to brace for a long "war of attrition" in Ukraine, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned Thursday following White House talks with President Joe Biden.
"We just have to be prepared for the long haul," the secretary general told reporters. "Because what we see is that this war has now become a war of attrition."
Stoltenberg also the alliance was in talks with Turkey to find a “united way” forward to address Ankara’s concerns over Sweden and Finland’s bid to join the pact.
Finland and Sweden said on Wednesday they would continue a dialogue with Turkey over their bids for NATO membership, but did not say whether there had been progress on overcoming Ankara’s objections to their joining the military alliance. A bid to join NATO requires unanimous backing from the alliance’s current 30 member states.
5:46pm: Foreign fighters on the Donbas frontline
Reporting from Ukraine, FRANCE 24’s Jonathan Walsh reported group of foreign fighters that are now a unit of the Ukrainian National Guard fighting in the eastern Donbas region. “They came various countries – the US, UK, Canada, one was French. There were around 30 of them. They told us the reasons why they came to fight on the frontlines in Ukraine,” said Walsh.
4:11pm: EU drops Russian patriarch from new sanctions package
EU diplomats have given a final approval to a sixth round of sanctions against Russia, which the 27-member bloc hammered out earlier this week.
The approval came after 26 countries agreed to drop the leader of Russia's Orthodox church from a proposed blacklist, to appease Hungary.
Patriarch Kirill was taken off the list following a demand by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Kirill, 75, is a fervent supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has backed his military campaign in Ukraine.
Orban, the closest EU leader to the Kremlin, had said he opposed adding Kirill to the list as it would contravene "freedom of religion".
3:02pm: Ukraine may turn off Russian-held nuclear plant if it loses control
Ukraine would consider switching off the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant that lies in Russian-occupied territory if Kyiv loses control of operations at the site, Interfax news agency has quoted an aide to the prime minister as saying.
"As long as the control commands are executed and the site maintains the regime, we are not stopping. But the scenario in which the station could move completely out of control and we stop it is also being looked at," said the Ukrainian official.
The facility in southeast Ukraine is Europe's largest nuclear power plant.
1:24pm: Zelensky says Russia controls 'about 20 percent' of Ukraine
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that Russian troops control about one-fifth of his country, including the annexed Crimean peninsula and territory in the east held by Moscow-backed separatists since 2014.
"Today, about 20 percent of our territory is under the control of the occupiers," he said during an address to lawmakers in Luxembourg, as Russian forces were solidifying their hold on the eastern Donbas region and pushing towards Ukraine's de facto administrative centre there.
1:11pm: Kremlin says US plan to sell armed drones to Ukraine does not affect military operation
The Kremlin said on Thursday that US plans to sell Ukraine four MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones that can be armed with Hellfire missiles for battlefield use would not change the parameters of what Russia calls its special military operation.
Reuters reported on the Biden administration's plans to sell the drones on Wednesday. The transaction could still be blocked by Congress or derailed by a last-minute policy reversal.
"Pumping (Western) weapons into Ukraine does not change all the parameters of the special operation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call. "Its goals will be achieved, but this will bring more suffering to Ukraine ..."
12:57pm: UK to send medium-range rocket systems to Ukraine
Britain pledged Thursday to send sophisticated medium-range rocket systems to Ukraine, joining the United States and Germany in equipping the embattled nation with advanced weapons for shooting down aircraft and knocking out artillery.
Western arms have been critical to Ukraine’s success in stymieing Russia’s much larger and better-equipped military during a war now in its 99th day. But as Russian forces closed in on a key city in recent days, the Ukrainian government said its fighters needed better rocket launchers to prevail.
11:17am: Ukraine seeks UN-backed mission to export grain shipments through Black Sea
Ukraine is working with international partners to create a United Nations-backed mission to restore Black Sea shipping routes and export Ukrainian farm produce, foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said on Thursday.
Russia has captured some of Ukraine's biggest seaports and its navy controls major transport routes in the Black Sea, blocking Ukrainian shipments and deepening a global food crisis.
"We call on countries whose food security may suffer more from Russian aggression against Ukraine to use their contacts with Moscow to force it to lift the blockade of Ukrainian seaports and end the war," Nikolenko wrote on Facebook.
10:48am: Moscow says EU move to partially phase out Russian oil likely to rock markets
The Russian foreign ministry said on Thursday that the European Union's decision to partially phase out Russian oil was likely to destabilise global energy markets.
"Brussels and its political sponsors in Washington bear full responsibility for the risk of an exacerbation in global food and energy issues caused the illegitimate actions of the European Union," the ministry said in a statement.
10:41am: Russia says it downed Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jet
Russia's defence ministry said on Thursday its military had downed a Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jet in the Mykolaiv region.
It also said in a briefing that it had struck command points of Ukrainian forces near Kharkiv.
It was not possible to independently confirm the information.
9:04am: African Union head to speak to Putin in Russia on Friday
The head of the African Union, Senegalese President Macky Sall, will speak with President Vladimir Putin in the southwestern Russian city of Sochi on Friday, Dakar said.
The visit is aimed at "freeing up stocks of cereals and fertilisers, the blockage of which particularly affects African countries", along with easing the Ukraine conflict, Sall's office said Thursday.
The visit was organised after an invitation by Putin, and Sall will travel with the president of the African Union Commission, his office added.
The AU will also receive a video address from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, though no date has been set.
8:34am: Slovakia to deliver eight Zuzana 2 howitzers to Ukraine
Slovakia will deliver eight self-propelled Zuzana 2 howitzers to Ukraine under a commercial contract which a state-controlled producer signed, the Slovak Defence Ministry said on Thursday.
The Zuzana 2 howitzer, a modernised version of an older model, is using 155-mm rounds and has an effective range of 40 km (25 miles) to more than 50 km (30 miles) depending on the ammunition type.
8:24am: Civilians 'completely stuck' in Severodonetsk
Civilians in Severodonetsk are "completely stuck" in the city and "no rescue teams are able any more to go there", FRANCE 24's Jonathan Walsh reported from Dnipro. Dnipro is a "humanitarian hub here in eastern Ukraine, and we spoke to a rescue team yesterday who tried to drive towards Severodonetsk and they had to stop before that", Walsh continued. "The Russians now hold most of the city and there's intense fighting in the city centre."
6:58am: Russian forces 'consolidating their positions' in Severodonetsk
"The main military spokesman in Kyiv [...] said 'let's not talk about this in percentage terms'; clearly a lot of Severodonetsk might be regarded as disputed territory and fighting is still going on on the streets of that city," FRANCE 24's Gulliver Cragg reported from Kyiv.
"But earlier the regional governor [...] had talked about 70 percent of the city being in Russian hands; clearly the Russians are advancing in the city. Ukrainian media [are] also reporting that the Russians have been consolidating their positions in parts of the city."
06:18 am: Ukrainians look to new shipment of US weapons as Russians tighten grip on Severodonetsk
Russian forces edged closer Wednesday to taking the key eastern Ukraine city of Severodonetsk but Kyiv’s hopes of holding off their invaders were boosted by a US pledge of more advanced rocket systems to help their defence.
The Russians had taken control of 70 percent of the key industrial hub, with Ukrainian forces withdrawing to prepared positions, Lugansk region governor Sergiy Gaiday said.
“If in two or three days, the Russians take control of Severodonetsk, they will install artillery and mortars and will bombard more intensely Lysychansk,” the Ukrainian-held city across the river, he said on Telegram.
Ukraine successfully stopped Russia from seizing Kyiv after its February 24 invasion but the campaign in the east has had a high cost, with President Volodymyr Zelensky saying that 60 to 100 soldiers were dying each day.
“The situation in the east is very difficult,” Zelensky told US newsgroup Newsmax.
With only Lysychansk remaining a pocket of resistance in the eastern Lugansk region, Severodonetsk has become a target of massive Russian firepower.
Oleksander Motuzianyk, spokesman for Ukraine’s defence ministry, said there was fighting in the streets in Severodonetsk and the Russians had reached the city centre.
“The Ukrainian armed forces are actively resisting them,” he said.
In a boost for the outgunned Ukrainian military, US President Joe Biden confirmed that longer-range weapons were on the way.
The new weapon is the Himars multiple launch rocket system, or MLRS, a mobile unit that can simultaneously launch multiple precision-guided missiles up to 80 kilometres (50 miles) away.
They are the centrepiece of a $700 million package unveiled Wednesday that also includes air-surveillance radar, more Javelin short-range anti-tank rockets, artillery ammunition, helicopters, vehicles and spare parts.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Washington of “adding fuel to the fire”, saying that the weapons would not encourage Kyiv to resume peace talks.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Ukraine had promised not to strike into Russia—and dismissed suggestions that Washington was to blame for escalating with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Simply put, the best way to avoid escalation is for Russia to stop the aggression and the war that it started,” Blinken told reporters.
He promised that the United States would keep assisting Ukraine, saying there were no signs of Russia pulling back.
“As best we can assess right now, we are still looking at many months of conflict,” he said.
While some analysts have suggested the Himars could be a “game-changer”, others caution they should not be expected to suddenly turn the tables, not least because Ukrainian troops need time to learn how to use them effectively.
But they may improve morale after 98 days of war.
“If you know you have a heavy weapon behind you, everyone’s spirits rise,” one Ukrainian fighter on the frontline told AFP before the announcement.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)
