Date—June 4, 2022

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Stories

1. UAF General Staff: With the support of artillery, the enemy is storming Severodonetsk, strengthening the group at the expense of the mobilization reserve of the 2nd Army Corps. The rate of advance of enemy units during hostilities in the Donetsk direction is low due to the physical exhaustion of personnel and shared moral and psychological conditions. The city continues to fight. In the Lyman direction, near the settlement of the Stariy Caravan, the occupiers are trying to take control of the left bank of the river Seversky Donets. In the South Bug direction, the enemy is conducting a positional defense and trying to carry out fire damage to our units. The invaders are afraid of the local population’s resistance, which is growing in particular in the Kherson region. The leadership of the occupiers moves with a lot of security, in bulletproof vests, in armored vehicles. (Source: SPRAVDI).

2. Dvornikov, who was nicknamed the “Syrian butcher” for his brutal methods of fighting in Syria, was appointed to lead the occupying contingent in April and has disappeared from view. His sudden disappearance could indicate his dismissal. Dvornikov, taking command, tried to improve the coordination of Russian ground and air units. However, he did not quite succeed due to fundamental problems in the Russian army. It became known about a week and a half ago. He is a former commander of the Eastern Military District and was the commander of this district until November 2021. He was transferred to Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia for military and political affairs. That is, he is, in fact, such a chief deputy, the chief political instructor of the Russian army. The Eastern Military District of the Russian Federation, commanded by Zhidko, is considered the most complete and combat-ready. Therefore, naturally, people from this district are now given a more privileged position. They can set the task of commanding and throw them in the most critical areas because they are effective. It is known that in 2016 Zhidko was the chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in Syria. Gennady Zhidko was born on September 12, 1965, in the Uzbek village of Yangiabad. In 1987 he graduated from the Tashkent Higher Tank Command School. He went from platoon commander to division commander in the 27th Guards Motorized Rifle Division of the Volga and Volga-Ural Military Districts with a base in the village of Totske, Totsk District, Orenburg Region. He then served as commander of the 92nd Motorized Rifle Regiment based in Dushanbe. In 1997 he graduated from the Malinowski Military Academy of Armored Forces, and in 2007 from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. From August 2007 to July 2009, he commanded the 20th Guards Motorized Rifle Division of the North Caucasus Military District based in Volgograd. From July 2009 to January 2011, he was Deputy Commander of the 20th Guards Army of Moscow, then the Western Military District with headquarters in Voronezh. From January 2011 to January 2015, he was Chief of Staff – First Deputy Commander of the 6th All-Military Army of the Western Military District based in St. Petersburg. From January 2015 to September 2016, he was Chief of Staff – First Deputy Commander of the 2nd Guards All-Army. From September 2016 to November 2017, he was the commander of the 2nd Guards All-Military Army of the Central Military District, with headquarters in Samara. On February 20, 2016, he was promoted to major general. In the same 2016, he was chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in Syria. From November 22, 2017, to November 3, 2018, he was Deputy Chief of the Armed Forces General Staff. In June 2018, he was promoted to lieutenant general. In November 2018, he was appointed Commander of the Eastern Military District. In June 2020, he received the rank of Colonel-General. On November 12, 2021, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense. (Source: NV).

War

1. The Environmental Protection Agency reported large losses of equipment suffered by the enemy in the Donetsk and Luhansk directions over the past 24 hours: 1 tank; 1 artillery system; 6 combat armored vehicles; 2 special armored vehicles; 3 units of motor vehicles; 1 cruise missile; 1 UAV “Eleron”; 2 UAV “Orlan-10”. (Source: SPRAVDI).

2. The head of the Luhansk region, Sergei Gaidai, said that the Ukrainian troops were able to regain control over 20% of the territory of Severodonetsk. Before that, he said, Russian troops captured 70% of the city, but now the warring parties control roughly equal parts of Severodonetsk. (Source: Telegram).

3. In Severodonetsk, Luhansk region, on the streets of which fierce battles continue, the “Foreign Legion” arrived to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It includes volunteers from Australia, Brazil, Georgia, France, and other countries. Foreigners will reinforce the forward Ukrainian assault groups. “Now, our task is to clean up those streets determined by our command. We clean them up, consolidate, and then the main forces will already approach. We will build a line with a further offensive and recapture of our territories,” explains one of the Ukrainian military. (Source: CT).

Opinions

1. Artillery supplies from the West are limited in terms of both quantity and “quality”: there are almost no Soviet-made systems that the Ukrainian military is familiar with in Europe; the supply of Western weapons requires the training of gunners and the creation of repair facilities. In addition, NATO countries themselves do not have an infinite supply of guns (their armies rely more on aircraft use). However, in theory, NATO artillery has a qualitative superiority over Russian. There are more long-range guns and guided precision-guided munitions in the West, and fire control systems allow them to hit more accurately and reload systems faster. In this regard, the hopes of the Ukrainian command for the supply of American HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems are understandable. Theoretically, even when using “conventional” missiles, HIMARS can surpass the most long-range Russian plans. American weapons are comparable in effective range to the Smerch and Tornado systems – about 70 kilometers – but better in accuracy and reload speed. HIMARS also has an additional option: the system can use tactical ballistic missiles MGM-140 (ATACMS) with a range of 300 and even 500 kilometers. They are comparable to the Russian Iskander-M (but have a lower power warhead) in terms of scope and accuracy. However, the ATACMS shipments do not appear to have been approved by the US authorities for fear that Ukrainian forces will use them against targets deep inside Russia. Such strikes can lead to an escalation of unpredictable proportions (up to Russia’s use of tactical nuclear weapons).  (Source: Meduza).

Foreign news

1. The US Department of Commerce has expanded export restrictions against Russia and Belarus due to military aggression in Ukraine: 70 Russian organizations and one Belarusian organization were included in the list. The document was published in the US Federal Register. The US Department of Commerce explains the restrictions by saying that organizations are involved “in activities contrary to national security or US foreign policy interests,” in particular, “acquisition or attempted acquisition” of American goods to support the armed forces of their countries. Among the Russian organizations included in the list of the US Department of Commerce: AK Bars holding company; joint-stock company “Rubin”; Gazprom Neft Shelf LLC; Aviation Complex. S. V. Ilyushin; Special Research and Production Association “Eleron”; OKB of Yakovlev; Voentelekom; Institute of Marine Technology Problems of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and others. In addition, the list includes one Belarusian legal entity – the Belarusian representative office of Eleron. It is an engineering company as part of the nuclear weapons complex of the atomic energy corporation Rosatom. In early April, US authorities banned the export of products to 120 Russian and Belarusian organizations, in particular, related to the defense sector. Then the special unit of the KGB of Belarus, “Alfa,” also fell under the restrictions. On June 2, the US Treasury again expanded sanctions against Russia due to its military aggression in Ukraine. The sanctions list included, among other things, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, cellist Sergei Roldugin and his wife Elena Mirtova, billionaire Alexei Mordashov, his sons Kirill and Nikita, as well as his wife, Marina. She received part of her husband’s assets in the spring of 2022. (Source: CT).

2. Residents of Germany began to notice how brands of cigarettes Marlboro and L&M, owned by the manufacturer Philip Morris, began to disappear from the shelves. It was confirmed by representatives of the company, explaining the problems in the work of the war in Ukraine and the violation of world logistics routes. It was told by the publication Volksstime, having read the company’s press release. According to Philip Morris, “due to the difficult situation in the global commodity markets and declining cardboard stocks, consumers may indeed be facing a shortage of cigarettes.” The company had to close a plant near Kharkiv to produce paper packaging for cigarettes. Because of this, specific packs of 22 and 29 cigarettes, which usually sold the Marlboro Gold and Red brands, were affected. The rest of the tobaccos are supplied in regular quantities, but Marlboro and L&M are in short supply. (Source: SF).