Ukraine draws conclusions from the peace summit. Ukraine’s Magura drones can hit military sites 800 kilometers inside Russia, Ukraine’s defense intelligence says. Russia concentrates its main efforts in the Pokrovsk direction. Time will play to Ukraine’s advantage after it gets F-16s, Ukraine’s top military commander says.
Ukraine draws conclusions from peace summit
More than 100 delegations representing countries and organizations attended the Ukraine peace summit over the weekend in Switzerland. At least 78 participants supported the final statement.
The conference is the biggest such event ever held in Switzerland. Western news media are looking into whether the summit was a success. Ukrainian media have largely assessed the summit as positive.
The peace summit participants signed a joint communique on the foundations for peace. The three-point document touches upon food, nuclear and energy security, the release and return of all Ukrainians, adults and children, unlawfully detained and forcibly transferred to Russia.
Signatories to the communique stated that “any use of nuclear energy and nuclear installations must be safe, secured, safe-guarded and environmentally sound. Ukrainian nuclear power plants and installations, including Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, must operate safely and securely under full sovereign control of Ukraine and in line with IAEA principles and under its supervision.”
The document also said that “global food security depends on uninterrupted manufacturing and supply of food products. (…) Attacks on merchant ships in ports and along the entire route, as well as against civilian ports and civilian port infrastructure, are unacceptable. Food security must not be weaponized in any way.”
“Thirdly, all prisoners of war must be released by complete exchange. All deported and unlawfully displaced Ukrainian children, and all other Ukrainian civilians who were unlawfully detained, must be returned to Ukraine,” it added.
These are three points of the 10-point peace proposal that President Zelenskyi presented to the G20 gathering in Indonesia in November 2022, the Office of the Ukrainian President said. “The work on the remaining points will continue together with the international community in the working formats determined at the Summit,” it added.
“This Summit has become the largest international event in support of Ukraine and peace, with 101 countries and international organizations representing all parts of the world and continents – Latin America, the Middle East and Asia, Africa, Europe, the Pacific, Australia, and North America,” the Office of the President of Ukraine said.
“Two-thirds of the participating countries were represented at the highest level. The Summit allowed each of the participants to demonstrate global leadership. Essentially, this event is the first step towards a just peace based on the UN Charter and the basic principles of international law,” it added.
Saudi Arabia, Thailand, India, Mexico, South Africa, Brazil, and the United Arab Emirates took part in the summit, but did not sign the final communique.
A follow-up summit to this weekend’s talks in Switzerland aimed at paving the way for peace in Ukraine is conceivable before the U.S. presidential election in November, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said, Reuters reports.
Ukraine’s Magura drones can hit military sites 800 kilometers inside Russia, Ukraine’s defense intelligence says
Ukraine’s Magura sea drones are capable of reaching targets within a range of 800 kilometers inside Russia, Yevhen Yerin, a Ukrainian defense intelligence representative said on television on Monday.
“[The Magura] is a multi-purpose drone that can be used on any type of the water surface. We are considering whatever possibility there is to hit with our drones whatever military targets the enemy has at a range of 800 kilometers,” Yerin said.
Ukrainian drones targeted military sites in Russia’s Belgorod, Voronezh, and Lipetsk regions overnight on Monday in an operation conducted by Ukraine’s defense intelligence.
The drones were aimed at a tractor plant and the Novolipetsk metallurgical plant in Lipetsk. Russia uses both facilities for military production, Ukrainska Pravda said, citing sources in the Ukrainian intelligence. The consequences of the attacks are being clarified.
Eyewitness accounts described hearing the sounds of explosions and seeing smoke rising from the tractor plant.
Russia concentrates main efforts in Pokrovsk direction. Time to play to Ukraine’s advantage after it gets F-16s, Ukraine’s top military commander says
Russia’s activities on the eastern frontlines have not significantly changed. Russia concentrates its main efforts in the Pokrovsk direction where it has amassed most of its assault brigades and regiments, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Monday after a nearly week-long visit to frontline troops in eastern Ukraine.
He said fierce fighting was raging near Hlyboke, Chasiv Yar, Staromayorske, Robotyne, Krynky and the islands close to the left bank of the Dnipro, Syrskyi said.
The Russian command is making all efforts to increase the intensity and expand the area of fighting aiming to exhaust Ukrainian troops and prevent them from advancing, Syrskyi said.
“The enemy knows perfectly well that as weapons and materiel from our partners will keep gradually coming, and the first F-16s will arrive and bolster our air defenses, the time will play to our advantage, and [Russia’s] chances for success will be declining,” Syrskyi said.
Russian forces are on the offensive in the Kupyansk, Kurakhove, and Vremivka directions. They try to break through the Ukrainian defenses and seize parts of an area critical to Ukraine’s defense, he added.
Ukraine’s EU integration under threat with a looming Hungary presidency? Ukraine in Flames #625
In this episode of Ukraine in Flames, we talk about Ukraine’s integration into the EU and whether it is under threat considering the upcoming Hungarian presidency in the EU in July 2024. We discuss with the expert speakers what the current challenges are, what Ukraine needs to do and what Ukraine should Ukraine most worry about as of to date? Watch UIF #625 to learn more about Ukraine’s advancement into the EU
Guests:
- Hugues Mingarelli, Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine 2016-2019
- Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine on matters of European integration, member of parliment