Emergency Manager's Weekly Report
- Jun 4, 2023
- 7 min read

Russian Invasion of Ukraine Situation Report #73

Military and Diplomatic Highlights: · The Ukrainian military is reporting the following Russian losses: o 209,470 Soldiers (Wounded or Killed) o 3,829 Tanks o 7,502 Armored vehicles o 3,533 Artillery o 313 Aircraft o 298 Helicopters o 3,165 Drones o 1,132 Cruise missiles · On June 1st, Russian forces launched seven ballistic and three cruise missiles at Kyiv. All the missiles were shot down. However, fragments of these missiles struck an apartment building and a pediatric hospital. A total of three people were killed and 10 injured. · On May 20th, the Russian Federation instituted coercive measures against the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) prosecutor and judges of the Pre-Trial Chamber II as an intimidation technique. · The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense reported the following: o Russian Wartime Legislation: ü Some local Russian security officials are likely interpreting Russia’s draconian wartime legislation to mean that public display of blue and yellow items is outlawed because it might evidence discreet support for Ukraine. Ø On May 9th, a care home worker was reportedly arrested after wearing a blue and yellow jacket to work. Ø In recent days, Russian National Guard troops arrested a 22-year-old man in Volkhov near St. Petersburg for displaying which was eventually determined to be the blue and yellow flag of Russia’s own Aerospace Forces. ü The clampdown highlights uncertainty within a paranoid Russian officialdom of what is and is deemed permissible within an increasingly totalitarian system. ü Criticism of the arrests has come from an unexpected quarter: the ultra-nationalist, pro-war Liberal Democratic party. The party’s own branding features yellow on a blue background. o Redeployment of Russian forces in Bakhmut: ü Russia has continued to redeploy regular units to the Bakhmut sector, as Wagner Group assault detachment complete their withdrawal to rear areas. ü Russian VDV (airborne forces) have assumed an increasingly important role in Bakhmut. Elements of the 76th and 106th divisions and two additional separate VDV brigades are now deployed to the sector. ü The VDV is much degraded from its pre-invasion ‘elite’ status. However, Russian commanders have likely attempted to maintain some of these still relatively capable units as an uncommitted reserve. ü Because they have instead been forced to deploy them to hold the front line in Bakhmut, the whole Russian force is likely to be less flexible in reacting to operational challenges. o Partisan Group attack in Russia: ü On June 1st, partisan groups attacked Russia’s Belgorod region for the second time in ten days. ü In a complex battlefield situation, what appeared to be uncrewed aerial vehicles also struck Belgorod city (35km inside Russia), while the authorities evacuated civilians from the border town of Shebikino following Ukrainian shelling. ü The Russia military and interior forces have likely seen quicker success in containing this raid than the previous one. However, according to the Russia Ministry of Defense’s press release, it has resorted to deploying the full range of military firepower on its own territory, including attack helicopters, and heavy thermobaric rocket launcher. ü Russian commanders now face an acute dilemma of whether to strength defenses in Russia’s border regions or reinforce their lines in occupied Ukraine. o Boris Nadezhdin: ü On May 27th, Russian opposition politician Boris Nadezhdin appeared on Russia’s NTV channel and called for a new president to be elected in 2024, to rebuild normal relations with Europe. ü Nadezhdin has been a vocal critic of the war since the invasion, but this is highly likely the first call for Putin to be replaced on Russian state-approved TV since it began. ü In the last 15 months, Russia has introduced limitations on freedom of speech which haven’t been seen since Soviet times. However, there is a realistic possibility that recent vitriolic rhetoric by nationalist figures such as Wagner Group owner Yevgeny Prigozhin is emboldening opposition figures to challenge taboo topics. · The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports that the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has been without external back-up power for three months, leaving it vulnerable and underlining the importance of adhering to the IAEA principles for the protection of the facility. . War and Atrocity Crimes Investigations Highlights: · As of May 21st, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights recorded 24,012 civilian casualties (8,895 killed and 15,117 injured) in the country. · As of June 1st, a total of 1,500 children have been killed by Russian forces. · The Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine recorded 1,331 new war crimes committed by Russian forces as of June 2nd. · The Ukrainian military reported on May 27th, a Russian Orthodox priest encouraged Russian forces to kill Ukrainian soldiers. This priest justified this by saying that Ukrainians were “damaged Russians”. Humanitarian Impact and Response and Recovery Highlights: · The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported the following: o There are 17.6 million people in need and 11.1 million people have been targeted to receive assistance. o As of April 30th, 5.4 million people have been reached. o There are 8.3 million refugees in Europe and 5.5 million Internally Displaced Persons. o A total of $3.9 Billion is required and $955.4 million has been received. · Mine contamination continues to be an enormous challenge: o Ukrainian authorities calculate that nearly 30% of the country’s territory is contaminated with explosive ordnances, with the number of accidents steadily increasing each month. o This is particularly concerning in the Kharkiv, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions, where people depend on agriculture. · Despite tremendous challenges, humanitarian organizations in Ukraine continue to reach more people with assistance every month: o Over 330 humanitarian partners carried out their lifesaving activities in all 24 Ukrainian oblasts and the capital Kyiv. Almost 200 of these organizations are national and local non-governmental organizations. o Insecurity and access challenges continued to hamper assistance in areas under the military control of the Russian Federation. Because of the deterioration of the security situation and shifts in the front line, humanitarian partners have lost access to almost 60,000 people in almost 40 towns and villages in the east of the country. · The Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) Update: o They are supporting an initiative to relocate the main UN Remote Security and Information Operations Centre (RSIOC) from Mukachevo to Kyiv, to be closer to operational coordination. The ETC is now finalizing the installation of equipment in a temporary RSIOC located in Kyiv. o The ETC continues to develop the Remote Site on Vehicle (RSoV) project, which is a pilot mobile VHF radio solution for UN armored vehicles on mission in high-risk areas. The ETC deployed the RSoV on a mission to Sumy on May 29th. · Healthcare and Public Health Update: o A health-care facility in the city of Dnipropetrovsk was hit in a missile strike on May 26th: ü The World Health Organization (WHO) along with local authorities and partners assessed urgent needs and provided the necessary support within hours of the attack. ü A total of two people were killed, 31people were injured (included 8 healthcare workers) and 16 were hospitalized. · As of June 2nd, the European Union has delivered 30 temporary housing containers. · Black Sea Grain Initiative Update (May 30): o 963 outbound voyages carrying 31 million tons of commodities. o 41.3% of wheat has been shipped to lower income countries. Russian Dis-information Campaign Highlights: · On June 2nd, the Russian president repeated existing disinformation talking points about Ukraine and the West. Here are four of these falsehoods debunked. · The deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus violates the Budapest Memorandum of 1994 and their non-nuclear status in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. · Russia continues to spread false information regarding protecting Ukrainian children. Here is a fact check. Cultural Heritage Protection Highlights: · As of May 31st, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has verified damage to 258 cultural sites. This includes: o 111 Religious sites o 22 Museums o 93 Buildings of historical and/or artistic interest o 19 Monuments o 12 Libraries o 1 Archive Sources: · Ukraine ETC Situation Report #23 (Reporting period: 01/05/2023 to 31/05/2023) · War in Ukraine: Situation report from WHO Ukraine country office. Issue No. 53, 31 May 2023 · Ukraine Humanitarian Response 2023: Situation Report, 26 May 2023 · Ukraine: Civilian casualties as of 24:00, 22 May 2023 · ICC Statement on reports of coercive measures against officials, May 20 · Ukraine Data Explorer · Damaged cultural sites in Ukraine verified by UNESCO · OCHA Ukraine Twitter Page · IAEA Twitter Page · ECHO Twitter Page · Ukrainian Ministry of Defense Twitter Page · Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine Twitter Page · United Kingdom Ministry of Defense Twitter Page · PolyGraph Info Twitter Page · EU East Stratcom Task Force Disinformation Review Twitter Page Resources Ukraine: USG Humanitarian Response to the Complex Emergency (06/02/23) (New) https://reliefweb.int/map/ukraine/ukraine-usg-humanitarian-response-complex-emergency-060223 IAEA Director General Statement to United Nations Security Council (New) https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/statements/iaea-director-general-statement-to-united-nations-security-council UN Refugee Agency, Ukrainian Refugee Operational Data Portal http://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine Centre for Humanitarian Data, Ukraine Data Explorer https://data.humdata.org/visualization/ukraine-humanitarian-operations/ Humanitarian Logistics Association, Ukraine Crisis Information Website https://www.humanitarianlogistics.org/donate ACAPS Ukraine Analysis Hub https://ukraine-analysis-hub.acaps.org/ UKRAINE- HEALTH CLUSTER ACTIVITIES Dashboard https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/operations/ukraine/ukraine-health-cluster-activities U.S. Department of State, Disinformation Website https://www.state.gov/disarming-disinformation/ U.S. Department of Defense, Support for Ukraine https://www.defense.gov/Spotlights/Support-for-Ukraine/ Alliance For Securing Democracy War in Ukraine Dis-Information Dashboard https://securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/war-in-ukraine/ National Democratic Institute Disinformation Coordination Hub https://t.co/OctUrivBQC International Fact-Checking Network, #Ukraine Facts https://ukrainefacts.org/ Monetary Donations