WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Ukraine lifts air raid alerts, says downed more than 30 missiles and drones
Ukrainian authorities on Friday lifted air raid alerts across most of the nation, and officials in the capital Kyiv said defences appeared to have shot down more than 30 missiles and drones fired by Russia.
Moscow has launched around 20 separate missile and drone strikes against Ukrainian cities since the start of May.
Kyiv military authorities, writing on Telegram, said Russia had launched drones and cruise missiles at the same time.
"According to preliminary information, more than 30 air targets of various types were detected and destroyed in the airspace over and around Kyiv by air defence forces," they said in a statement.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, who earlier reported two separate waves of attacks, wrote on Telegram that there had been no calls for rescue services.
Ukraine regularly says its defences knock down the majority of Russia's missiles and drones.
** US seeking explosives in Japan for Ukraine artillery shells
The United States is seeking to secure supplies of TNT in Japan for 155mm artillery shells, as Washington rushes weapons and ammunition to Ukraine for a counteroffensive against Russian forces, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
For war-renouncing Japan, any procurement would test its willingness to court controversy to help Kyiv because export rules ban Japanese companies from selling lethal items overseas, such as the howitzer shells that Ukraine fires daily at Russian units occupying its southeastern regions.
Nonetheless, the allies appear to have found a workaround to enable the TNT sale amid global shortages of munitions.
"There is a way for the United States to buy explosives from Japan," one of the people with knowledge of discussions on the matter in Japan told Reuters on the condition of anonymity, citing the issue's sensitivity.
Export restrictions for dual-use products or equipment sold commercially are less stringent than for items with a purely military purpose, which is why the U.S. can buy Panasonic Toughbook laptops for its military.
Tokyo, which hosted U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin this week, has told the U.S. government it will allow the sale of industrial TNT because the explosive is not a military-use-only product, the other source said.
The U.S. wants to plug a Japanese company into a TNT supply chain to deliver explosives to U.S. army-owned munitions plants that would pack them into 155mm shell cases, the person added.
Japan's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Economy declined to say whether any Japanese company had approached it about exporting TNT. It added in an email that items not subject to military restrictions would be assessed under regular export rules that consider the buyer's intent, including whether their use would impede international security.
The Japanese defence ministry's Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency declined to comment.
The U.S. State Department did not directly address questions from Reuters about whether the U.S. planned to buy TNT in Japan but said Washington was working with allies and partners "to provide Ukraine with the support it needs" to defend itself. Japan, it added, "has demonstrated leadership in supporting Ukraine's defense".
EAGER TO HELP
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida wants to help Ukraine because his administration fears a Russian victory would embolden China to attack Taiwan and embroil his country in a regional war. Last year, he warned that Ukraine may be "East Asia tomorrow", and his administration announced Japan's biggest military build-up since World War Two.
That retreat from the state pacifism that has dominated Japan's foreign policy for decades has not so far extended to lethal military aid, limiting Tokyo's offerings to Kyiv to kit such as flak jackets, helmets and food rations.
Following Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's visit to Japan during the Hiroshima G7 leaders summit last month, Kishida agreed to donate jeeps and trucks.
There appears to be growing acceptance in Japan about providing military aid to Ukraine, but the degree of lethality is contentious, said Tsuneo Watanabe, a senior fellow at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation.
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"The fact that Japan has decided to give trucks to Ukraine shows that things are changing. However, there doesn't yet appear to be any political consensus around the issue of sending lethal aid," he said.
Japan is one of dozens of friends and allies that Washington is asking to help arm Ukraine as it wrestles with stretched military supply chains.
South Korea, which also uses 155mm shells, is among those the U.S. has approached. A South Korean defence official told Reuters that Seoul's stance against providing lethal aid to Kyiv had not changed.
Asked in Tokyo this week about the possibility of a shift in Japanese policy on lethal aid, Austin said at a press briefing that any change would be a matter for Japan but "any bit of support" for Ukraine was "always welcome".
The sources who spoke to Reuters declined to identify the Japanese company that would supply explosives to the U.S. government and did not say how much TNT Washington wanted to buy.
Reuters contacted 22 explosives makers listed on the Japan Explosives Industry Association's website. The only one that said it made industrial TNT was Chugoku Kayaku, an Hiroshima-based firm that supplies Japan's military.
"We have not received any direct inquiry from the U.S. government or U.S. military," the company said in an email.
Asked if it was discussing any TNT sales through an intermediary, the firm, which lists an industrial TNT product on its website, said it did not disclose the identity of customers or potential buyers.
JAPAN'S NEXT MOVE
Supplying commercial TNT to the U.S. may only be a stop-gap measure because many lawmakers of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) want to ease or eliminate the export restrictions.
In December, when Kishida announced Japan's five-year military build-up, he pledged to revise the export rules, opening up the possibility that Japan could supply lethal weapons not only to Ukraine, but to other nations that Tokyo and Washington see as potential allies against Russia and China.
Akihisa Nagashima, a former deputy defence minister and a ranking LDP member of the parliamentary committee on national security, said the military build-up would take Japan four-fifths of the way to becoming a "normal country" unencumbered by the legacy of its World War Two defeat.
"Tackling the export restrictions is the remaining 20%," he said.
RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Ukrainian drones attack Russian city – governor
Several Ukrainian drones have been shot down near the Russian city of Kursk, regional governor Roman Starovoyt said in the early hours of Friday.
Starovoyt urged residents to stay calm, adding that the capital of the region that shares a border with Ukraine was “under the firm protection of our military.”
The governor’s statement came shortly after several Telegram channels reported that explosions were heard over the city. The channel Mash posted an unverified video appearing to show an air defense system firing a missile into the sky.
Russia’s border regions have frequently come under artillery and rocket fire, as well as drone attacks, ever since Moscow launched its military operation in the Ukraine in February 2022.
Raids have also been launched into Russian territory. On Tuesday, drones carrying explosives crashed into several high-rise residential buildings in Moscow. No one was killed, while two civilians suffered minor injuries. According to Russian officials, Kiev had conducted the attack in order to sow fear and confusion among the population.
On Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that its troops had repelled an armed incursion from Ukraine into the Belgorod Region.
Units in Kiev's service, allegedly made up of Russian nationalist volunteers, have claimed responsibility for similar cross-border raids on the Belgorod Region in mid-May and the Bryansk Region in early March.
** Russian assault teams advance in Maryinka area in DPR, top brass reports
Russian assault teams continued advancing in the Maryinka tactical area in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Thursday.
"The assault teams of the 5th motor rifle brigade and the Akhmat special operations formation continue offensive operations in the Maryinka tactical direction," the spokesman said.
Operational/tactical and army aviation and artillery of Russia’s southern battlegroup inflicted damage on the enemy’s manpower and equipment in areas near the settlements of Georgiyevka, Lastochkino and Tonenkoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the general reported.
Russian forces destroy 45 Ukrainian troops in Kupyansk area
Russian forces destroyed roughly 45 Ukrainian troops and neutralized three enemy subversive groups in the Kupyansk area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the Kupyansk direction, aircraft and artillery from the western battlegroup struck the enemy units in areas near the settlements of Timkovka and Berestovoye in the Kharkov Region and Stelmakhovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic. As many as 45 Ukrainian personnel, three motor vehicles, an Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system and a D-20 howitzer were destroyed in the past 24 hours," the spokesman said.
In areas near the settlements of Sinkovka and Kislovka in the Kharkov Region and Rozovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic, three Ukrainian subversive/reconnaissance groups were neutralized, the general reported.
Russian forces eliminate 80 Ukrainian troops in Krasny Liman area
Russian forces eliminated roughly 80 Ukrainian troops in the Krasny Liman area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the Krasny Liman direction, operational/tactical and army aviation, artillery and heavy flamethrower systems from the battlegroup Center inflicted damage on the Ukrainian army units in areas near the settlements of Karmazinovka and Chervonaya Dibrova in the Lugansk People’s Republic and Grigorovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.
In all, the enemy lost as many as 80 Ukrainian personnel, two pickup trucks, a Gvozdika motorized artillery system and a D-20 howitzer in that area in the past 24 hours, the general reported.
Russian forces destroy 395 Ukrainian troops in Donetsk advance
Russian forces destroyed roughly 395 Ukrainian troops in their advance in the Donetsk area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"As many as 395 Ukrainian personnel, a tank, two infantry fighting vehicles, three pickup trucks and two D-30 howitzers were destroyed in the Donetsk direction in the past 24 hours," the spokesman said.
"Near the settlement of Udachnoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic, a Ukrainian ammunition depot was obliterated," the general reported.
Russian forces destroy Ukrainian ammo depot in DPR
Russian forces destroyed a Ukrainian ammunition depot in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the area of the settlement of Serebryanka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, an ammunition depot of the 125th territorial defense brigade was destroyed," the spokesman said.
In addition, the activity of a Ukrainian subversive/reconnaissance group was thwarted near the settlement of Kremennaya in the Lugansk People’s Republic, the general reported.
Russian forces eliminate 120 Ukrainian troops in southern Donetsk, Zaporozhye areas
Russian forces eliminated about 120 Ukrainian troops in the southern Donetsk and Zaporozhye areas over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
In the southern Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, aircraft and artillery of Russia’s battlegroup East struck the Ukrainian army units near the settlements of Vodyanoye and Pavlovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Malaya Tokmachka and Shcherbaki in the Zaporozhye Region, the spokesman specified.
"As many as 120 Ukrainian personnel, two motor vehicles and an Msta-B howitzer were destroyed in those directions in the past 24 hours," the general reported.
Russian forces destroy 20 Ukrainian troops in Kherson area
Russian forces destroyed roughly 20 Ukrainian troops, a Grad multiple rocket launcher and a D-30 howitzer in the Kherson area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the Kherson direction, as many as 20 Ukrainian personnel, two pickup trucks, a Grad multiple rocket launcher and a D-30 howitzer were destroyed in the past 24 hours as a result of damage inflicted by firepower," the spokesman said.
Russian forces wipe out command posts of two Ukrainian army brigades
Russian forces destroyed command posts of two Ukrainian army brigades in the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Zaporozhye Region over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In areas near the settlements of Seversk in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Gorkoye in the Zaporozhye Region, the command/observation posts of the Ukrainian army’s 81st air mobile brigade and 108th territorial defense brigade were destroyed," the spokesman said.
During the last 24-hour period, operational/tactical and army aviation, missile troops and artillery of the Russian group of forces struck 103 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions, manpower and military equipment in 149 areas, the general reported.
Russian air defenses down Ukrainian Su-25 ground attack plane, 17 drones
Russian air defense forces shot down a Ukrainian Su-25 ground attack aircraft and destroyed 17 enemy drones over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"Air defense capabilities shot down a Ukrainian Air Force Su-25 plane near the settlement of Novoandreyevka in the Zaporozhye Region. In the past 24 hours, they intercepted 16 rockets of the HIMARS, Uragan and Olkha multiple launch rocket systems," the spokesman said.
In addition, Russian air defense forces destroyed 17 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in areas near the settlements of Ploshchanka, Kuzyomovka and Makeyevka in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Tonenkoye and Georgiyevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the general reported.
In all, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 430 Ukrainian warplanes, 235 combat helicopters, 4,407 unmanned aerial vehicles, 424 surface-to-air missile systems, 9,352 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,105 multiple rocket launchers, 4,954 field artillery guns and mortars and 10,587 special military motor vehicles since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, Konashenkov reported.
Reuters/RT/Tass