More than 900 port infrastructure sites sustained damage in Russian attacks since the invasion, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister said. Russian ultranationalist Dugin draws future scenarios for Russia, one includes the use of nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency says a key thermal facility powering the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant came under attack.
More than 900 port infrastructure sites sustained damage in Russian attacks since invasion, Deputy PM says
At least 935 port infrastructure sites were damaged or partially ruined by Russian attacks since the invasion, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration — Minister for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, Oleksiy Kuleba said in a post to social media on Thursday.
Russia continues systematic attacks on Ukraine’s logistics infrastructure. It carried out more than 500 drone attacks in April alone. Ukrainian ports sustained attacks almost daily, he said.
“Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, 935 port infrastructure sites were damaged or partially destroyed, 191 civilian ships were affected and 255 people were wounded,” Kuleba said.
Russian ultranationalist Dugin draws future scenarios for Russia, one includes use of nuclear weapons
The Russian ultranationalist community presented extreme and unrealistic scenarios for Russia’s military and geopolitical future at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) that likely somewhat differ from the Kremlin’s positions. In its update on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) breaks down the scenarios. The paragraphs below are quoted from the report.
Russian business newspaper Kommersant reported on June 3 that Kremlin-affiliated Russian oligarch and Orthodox nationalist Konstantin Malofeev and Russian ultranationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin presented several “future scenarios” for Russia at SPIEF.
The presentation slides outlined “good,” “inertial” (continuing), and “bad” scenarios for 2036 and 2050 and divided perceived threats to Russia into five categories, including geopolitics, ideology and politics, demography, economy, and technologies.
The “good” scenario includes the Russian occupation of Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, and other Ukrainian cities and the collapse of the European Union (EU) by 2036 and other Russian narratives about alleged imminent victory in Ukraine.
The presentation’s “bad” scenario included a Russian military defeat in Ukraine, Ukraine joining NATO, the loss of Russian influence over post-Soviet countries by 2036, and the “colonization of Russia” by 2050.
The presentation’s “continuing” 2036 scenario speculated that Russia would use nuclear weapons if the military situation in Ukraine remained the same, effectively threatening that Russia will use nuclear weapons against Ukraine if the war in Ukraine continues its current path.
Malofeev also spoke about the potential actions of Russia and Russian “enemies” and outlined the threat dynamics from 2000 until 2026. Dugin noted that his ultranationalist think tank Tsargrad Institute also presented the “future scenarios” report at the Russian forces’ General Staff Academy and will publish the report by the end of 2026.
Malofeev and Dugin are part of an ultranationalist hardline community in Russia that has continuously advocated for a protracted war in Ukraine and are likely presenting the report at SPIEF to outline their personal goals and the goals of the hardliners they represent for Russia’s future.
The Kremlin may use the unrealistic nature of these three scenarios to portray Russian President Vladimir Putin’s and other government officials’ rhetoric as moderate and reasonable in comparison to the extreme scenarios presented by a small cadre of ultranationalists. The Kremlin will likely have to strike a balance between the demands and expectations of the Russian ultranationalist community, with its own rhetoric and the battlefield realities in Ukraine, however, as Putin likely does not want to risk losing the support of the ultranationalists.
IAEA says key thermal facility powering Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant came under attack
The Zaporizhzhia thermal power plant that powers the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was under a “heavy attack” on Thursday morning, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a post to X. The plant’s switchyard helps send electricity to the nuclear plant, it explained.
The agency’s team at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant said it “saw light smoke coming from the direction of the [Zaporizhzhia thermal power plant] and heard the sound of military activity.”
“The incident raises serious concern about the [Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant’s] sole remaining power line, which in recent weeks has been disconnected several times, leaving the plant entirely reliant on emergency diesel generators for the electricity it needs to cool its six reactors and avoid the threat of a nuclear accident,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said.
The statement also cited the agency’s Director General, Rafael Grossi as saying that the attack “must stop immediately, to avoid the danger of an extended loss of power incident at the [Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant].”
Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant occupied by Russia lost power overnight on Wednesday. The outage happened for the 17th time since the invasion, Ukraine’s nuclear energy authority said.