Russia has suffered more than 100,000 casualties, including 20,000 killed, since December in the fighting in Ukraine, with Wagner mercenaries accounting for almost half of Russian fatalities, according to the US National Security Council.
(Bloomberg) — Russia has suffered more than 100,000 casualties, including 20,000 killed, since December in the fighting in Ukraine, with Wagner mercenaries accounting for almost half of Russian fatalities, according to the US National Security Council.
Meanwhile, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces said they have pushed back Russian troops from some positions in Bakhmut.
Russia targeted Ukrainian cities with cruise missiles in the early hours of Monday, but Ukraine’s army chief said most were intercepted. At least 34 people were reported hurt by a missile strike in Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region. The barrage of attacks comes as Ukraine prepares for another ground offensive against Russian forces.
Key Developments
- McCarthy Says He Supports Aid to Ukraine, Urges Russia to Leave
- Russia Seen Buying Yuan Soon as Sanctions, Oil-Cap Hit Eases
- Eastern Europe Is Jeopardizing Ukraine’s Economic Lifeline
(All times CET)
McCaul Says Sees Counteroffensive as ‘Game Changer’ (2:35 a.m.)
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said a widely expected Ukrainian counteroffensive, if successful, would be “a game-changer for continued support.”
McCaul, a Texas Republican, told Bloomberg Television’s “Balance of Power” on Monday that “you’re going to see a counteroffensive very soon now that’s going to take place. And I think there’s going to be a lot riding on the line with this counteroffensive.”
Referring to strong support for Ukraine by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy earlier in the day, McCaul said, “I think that does impact the rest of our conference and the House and the Senate.” He added that he was “not familiar” with a remark by former President Donald Trump that Russia would eventually “take over all of Ukraine.”
Ukraine’s Businesses Shows Optimism for First Time Since Invasion (8:37 p.m.)
Ukraine’s businesses expect expansion for the first time since Russia’s invasion began in February of last year, a sign of increasing optimism even though an end to the war isn’t in sight.
In April an Index of Business-Activity Expectations surpassed a neutral level of 50%, meaning that surveyed companies anticipate their output will rise for the first time in a year and a half, Ukraine’s central bank said.
“An improvement of the situation with electricity supplies, growing supplies of food and fuel, enhancement of inflation and exchange-rate forecasts and a rise in consumer demand have had a positive impact on the expectations of the companies of most industries,” Ukraine’s central bank, which calculates the index, said in a statement on its website.
US Says 20,000 Russians Killed, 80,000 Wounded Since December (7:46 p.m.)
Russia has suffered more than 100,000 casualties, including 20,000 killed in action, since December in Ukraine, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
He said about half of those killed belonged to the Wagner mercenary force, “the majority of whom were Russian convicts that were thrown into combat in Bakhmut without sufficient combat training, combat leadership, or any sense of organizational command and control.”
Kirby attributed the estimate to “information and intelligence that we were able to corroborate over a period of some time,” while continuing the US policy of refusing to estimate Ukraine’s casualties in the war.
Speaker McCarthy Makes His Strongest Case for Ukraine Aid (6:40 p.m.)
US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy gave his most full-throated support for aiding Ukraine in a heated exchange with a Russian news agency reporter during a visit to Jerusalem.
“I vote for aid for Ukraine, I support aid for Ukraine,” McCarthy told the reporter, who asked if the US will curtail aid. “I do not support what your country has done to Ukraine. I do not support your killing of the children either.”
“You should pull out, and I don’t think it’s right,” the speaker said. “We will continue to support. And I think the rest of the world sees it just as it is.” In the past, McCarthy has said there will be no “blank check” for Ukraine funding responding in part to hard-right members of the GOP who have been critical of the US providing arms and aid to Kyiv.
Zelenskiy Holds Talks With Canada’s Trudeau (4:56 p.m.)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he discussed “long-term defense cooperation” with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a phone conversation.
Earlier, Zelenskiy said he spoke by phone with New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and “discussed the importance of consolidating the countries of the Pacific region to support” Ukraine.
Russia Says Missiles Targeted Ukraine’s Defense Production (2 p.m.)
The attacks with long-range air- and sea-based missiles were aimed at Ukrainian factories producing ammunition, weapons and military equipment, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said in a statement on its Telegram channel.
“All the designated targets were hit,” according to the statement.
Ukraine Reports ‘Significant Damage’ to Power Grid in Two Regions (12:15 p.m.)
Russian missile attacks disrupted the power grid in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson regions, though there was no damage to electricity generation facilities, according to the Energy Ministry.
More than 18,000 residents of the southern city of Kherson and the surrounding region faced temporary power cuts, as well as an unspecified number of people in Dnipro city, the ministry said.
Ukraine Calls for Humanitarian Corridors Out of Occupied Areas (11:50 a.m.)
Ukraine is urging Russia and the International Red Cross to open humanitarian corridors to allow Ukrainians to leave areas under Russian occupation, Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk said on Telegram.
Russia is violating international law by keeping Ukrainian citizens who refuse to take Russian passports under the occupation from evacuating to areas under Ukrainian control, she said.
Blast Derails Russian Freight Train in Border Region: Tass (11:37 a.m.)
A blast caused by an explosive device derailed a freight train, which caught fire, in the Bryansk region near the border with Ukraine, state-run Tass news service reported.
No injuries were reported and most of the train’s cars were pulled back from the accident site, Tass said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.
(Corrects Russian casualty figures to show they were total losses in Ukraine since December and not just in Bakhmut)
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