Russian forces advanced deep into the ruined eastern factory city of Sievierodonetsk, but Ukrainian troops were still holding out on Friday (June 3) as Russia’s assault on its neighbour entered its 100th day.
Members of Ukraine’s foreign legion arrived in Sievierodonetsk on Thursday (June 2) getting ready to join the battle.
Zurab Kakalidze is a 22-year-old member of Ukraine’s foreign legion, which is made of foreign fighters who volunteer to come to Ukraine and fight against the Russians. He said he felt he was on the right side of history. He and his fellow fighters were optimistic to see their families again and wanted to make sure the enemy would not, he added.
Ukraine’s defence minister said his troops were already training in Europe to operate new, advanced missile systems pledged this week by the United States and Britain, which Kyiv hopes will help swing the battle in its favour in coming weeks.
You have to wonder what Putin hopes to acquire long-term. Captured territories don’t exactly settle into peace and quiet.
Eideard 
“Russian assault on Sievierodonetsk redoubled after counterattack : Non-stop street fighting and bombardments as Kremlin seeks full control of Luhansk province” (Guardian UK Tue 7 Jun 2022 14.28 EDT) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/07/russian-assault-on-sievierodonetsk-redoubled-after-counterattack
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine.svg
Ukraine Live Updates: ‘The Fate of Our Donbas Is Being Decided,’ Zelensky Says of Sievierodonetsk : From across the river in a twin city, the danger to outgunned Ukrainian forces is clear. The city is burning, and small-arms fire from street-to-street combat echoes across the water. (NYT) https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/06/09/world/russia-ukraine-war-news
See also “Russia’s Shrinking War : The goals of Russia’s invasion keep getting smaller. But its depleted military is still failing to make major advances, and time is on Ukraine’s side. (NYT interactive 5/24/22) https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/05/24/world/europe/russia-shrinking-war-ukraine.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article
Two British citizens and a Moroccan were sentenced to death Thursday for fighting on Ukraine’s side, in a punishment handed down by the country’s pro-Moscow rebels.
The proceedings against the three captured fighters were denounced by Ukraine and the West as a sham and a violation of the rules of war.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to liken himself to conquering monarch Peter the Great and spoke of his country’s need to “take back” territory and reinforce itself as the Kremlin’s forces continued a grinding war of attrition in eastern Ukraine. https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-moscow-business-blockades-74883ed750fb8778259cf733e1095fb8
Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Geneva, 12 August 1949: prohibits any illegal acts, including violence, intimidation, or inaction against prisoners of war, and mandate humane treatment of prisoners of war. Failure to comply with the recognized norms of international humanitarian law is a serious violation of the Convention.
The Commando Order (German: Kommandobefehl) was issued by the OKW, the high command of the German armed forces, on 18 October 1942. This order stated that all Allied commandos encountered in Europe and Africa should be killed immediately without trial, even if in proper uniforms or if they attempted to surrender. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commando_Order
Shortly after World War II, at the Nuremberg Trials, the Commando Order was found to be a direct breach of the laws of war, and German officers who carried out illegal executions under the Commando Order were found guilty of war crimes and sentenced to death, or, in two cases, extended incarceration.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Geneva Convention — the charter which sets out how soldiers and civilians are treated in wartime — does not apply to two detained US citizens.
Two American volunteers fighting for Ukraine — Alexander John-Robert Drueke, 39, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, from Hartselle, Alabama — were taken into detention by Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk after being captured last week, according to Russian state media.
Peskov, during a regular call with journalists Tuesday, said the Geneva Convention does not apply to the two US citizens. Peskov said the death penalty cannot be ruled out but this is a decision for a court. The Kremlin — Peskov said — does not have a right to interfere. https://edition.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-06-21-22/h_8d65b86c7f945f7fc10583a21483c5b4
Needs to be seen and heard. 7AM MDT, tomorrow morning, 25th.
Re: ‘GRAD barrage’ see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BM-21_Grad and Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6aSghkwCEg
“For years, the Wagner private military company has done Moscow’s dirty work in eastern Ukraine, Libya, Syria and parts of Africa. The Kremlin always officially denied any relationship with Wagner, whose soldiers for hire have been accused of massacres and other human rights violations.
But now, Wagner and its mercenaries have suddenly emerged from the shadows in the Ukraine war, openly celebrated on Russian state media and lauded as heroes of President Vladimir Putin’s bloody invasion. A recent special report on the most-watched state TV channel trumpeted the group’s gains on the Ukrainian front lines — an unthinkable acknowledgment of Wagner even just a few months ago.
Pro-Kremlin reporters lionize the members of the group, named for the right-wing German classical composer Richard Wagner, as “musicians” in an “orchestra.” And Wagner is using glitzy advertising across Russia to sign up new members. Its efforts include recruitment campaigns in prisons.” (Washington Post) https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/08/17/ukraine-russia-wagner-group-mercenaries/
See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagner_Group
The Ukrainian Army was on the move on Monday in two theaters, as Kyiv’s forces chased retreating Russian troops outside the reclaimed city of Lyman in the east and Moscow-installed officials acknowledged losing ground in the southern region of Kherson. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/10/03/world/russia-ukraine-war-news
KOROVII YAR, Ukraine — Piled into the back of an army truck, heading down the road to new positions toward the town of Lyman, a company of Ukrainian and foreign soldiers were in an ebullient mood.
“The Russians have been retreating,” said the unit’s commander, Rob Roy, a 26-year-old American volunteer who uses the code name Borys. “We broke their lines and have been pursuing them since.”
Ukrainian Army units including Mr. Roy’s Karpatska Sich battalion are on the move across a wide expanse of rolling hills and forests east and south of Izium, the last major prize the offensive captured before Lyman. They are camping in forests and small hamlets, setting up firing positions on ridges, and clearing towns and villages as Ukrainian airborne troops spearhead the advance.
Mr. Roy said his light infantry unit of international and Ukrainian volunteers, now formally integrated into the Ukrainian Army, captured two Russian soldiers Sunday in this small farming town of Karovii Yar.
The Sich Battalion was named after the Sich of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, who became a well-respected political entity with a parliamentary system of government and challenged the Polish, Russian, and Ottoman rule of Ukraine between the 15th and 18th centuries. The unit is one of several Ukrainian paramilitary volunteer battalions formed at the start of the War in Donbass in 2014 to fight against pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
“Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan Mehmed IV of the Ottoman Empire” (Ilya Repin, finished 1891)
Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks is a historical tableau, set in 1676, exploiting the legend of the reply that the Cossacks sent the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed IV. The Cossacks of the Zaporozhian Host had defeated Ottoman Turkish forces in battle. However, Mehmed demanded that the Cossacks submit to Turkish rule. The Cossacks, led by Ivan Sirko, replied in an uncharacteristic manner: they wrote a letter, replete with insults and profanities. The painting exhibits the Cossacks’ pleasure at striving to come up with ever more base vulgarities. During Repin’s time, the Cossacks enjoyed great popular sympathy. Repin also admired them: “All that Gogol wrote about them is true! A holy people! No one in the world held so deeply freedom, equality, and fraternity.”
(click painting to enlarge and see details)