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Morning Headlines
Reuters: A Ukrainian drone sparked a fire at an oil refinery in southern Russia and shelling hit a Russian town close to the border for the third time in a week, damaging buildings and setting vehicles ablaze, Russian officials said on Wednesday.
Reuters: Washington is encouraging Kyiv by publicly ignoring the drone attack that struck several districts of Moscow on Tuesday, Russia's envoy to the United States said on Wednesday, after President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukraine for the strikes.
AP News: A U.S. military aid package for Ukraine that is expected to be announced this week will total up to $300 million and will include additional munitions for drones, U.S. officials said Tuesday. The drone ammunition comes after new attacks by unmanned aircraft targeted Moscow.
ISW: Russian President Vladimir Putin attempted to downplay the drone attack on Moscow to avoid exposing the limited options he has to retaliate against Ukraine.
UK Ministry of Defence: Operationally, Russian commanders are likely attempting to generate reserve forces and position them where they believe a Ukrainian counter-attack will occur. However, this has probably been undermined by uncommitted forces instead being sent to fill gaps in the front line around Bakhmut.
WSJ: A Kremlin-linked businessman accused of illegally exporting American military technology to Russia was arrested in Italy at the U.S.’s request. Then he vanished.
More News
Euronews: The World Health Organisation says it has verified 1,000 attacks on health care in Ukraine since the start of Russia's invasion - the highest number it has ever recorded in a humanitarian emergency.
Defense News: The Polish government has signed a deal to purchase 800 Hellfire II missiles that are to be carried by a new fleet of attack helicopters, with a request to buy Boeing AH-64E Apaches still in the pipeline.
The Kyiv Independent: Italy will provide Ukraine with another military aid package, the seventh since the beginning of Russia’s all-out war, Italian news outlet La Repubblica reported on May 30.
POLITICO: The EU has imposed sanctions on a high-profile Moldovan politician who has led a series of protests in recent weeks against the country’s pro-Western government.
WSJ: Ukraine and its allies are working to organize a summit of global leaders that would exclude Russia, aimed at garnering support for Kyiv’s terms for ending the war.
The Guardian: Latest attacks on Russian capital may be tactic by Kyiv to bring invasion closer to wealthy Muscovites.
Reuters: NATO countries are in the middle of Arctic military manoeuvres, vowing on Tuesday to defend their newest member, Finland, which is hosting its first joint NATO exercise since becoming the 31st member of the Western alliance in April.
Bloomberg: Ukraine reached a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund on a fresh disbursement of aid as part of a broader loan program to the war-battered nation.
AFP: Russia seeks to exhaust Ukraine's air defence missiles and divert forces prior to expected counteroffensive, experts say.
POLITICO: Ukraine is upping its campaign to get a firm promise of NATO membership eventually, working to sway wary allies before a key meeting this week.
POLITICO: Russia's paramilitary Wagner Group has been using Twitter and Facebook to recruit medics, drone operators and even psychologists to aid fighting operations, including in Ukraine, according to exclusive research seen by POLITICO.
YLE: The construction of a trial fence on Finland's eastern border with Russia is nearing completion, but will be delayed by about one month, the Finnish Border Guard said on Tuesday.
The Moscow Times: The sound of air defense missiles and crashing drones likely interrupted the sleep of some of Russia's wealthiest and most powerful people.
RFE/RL: The number of Russians who obtained Kyrgyz citizenship has skyrocketed 400 percent since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.
Meduza: Sources from Russia’s pro-state media told Meduza how the Kremlin wants them to cover the drone attacks. Among other things, the authorities’ response should be emphasized, while comments from officials about Moscow adjusting to a “new reality” should not.
EURACTIV: Russia will likely try to prevent the approval of the security cooperation agreement between the US and the Czech Republic, Czech Security Information Service Director Michal Koudelka said at a conference in the lower chamber of the parliament on Monday.
Reuters: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that the West was "supporting genocide" in Ukraine through its backing for President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's peace plan, which he claimed would "destroy everything Russian" in east Ukraine and Crimea.
WSJ: Russians are turning to black-market tricks to get their money out of the country: “The first time I did it with caution. I think that’s probably how people buy drugs.”
AFP: South Africa's leading opposition party said on Tuesday it had taken legal action to force the government to arrest Vladimir Putin if the Russian President were to attend a planned summit in the country.
WSJ: A Russian cruise missile in December slammed into a patch of forest in Poland, near a NATO training center, exposing challenges to defending the alliance’s airspace.
worth mentioning
CNA report: ‘Russia's use of uncrewed systems in Ukraine’
NATO aspirant country blames NATO for Russia’s war on Ukraine
Russian Oil Flows Stay High Three Months Into Pledged Output Cut
Denmark To Triple Defence Budget Over Next Decade
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