WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Russia launches 'massive missile' attack on Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine - officials
Russia launched a "massive missile" attack overnight on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, killing and wounding people and damaging civilian infrastructure, Ukrainian officials said early on Tuesday.
"There are dead and wounded," Serhiy Lisak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region where Kryvyi Rih is located, said on the Telegram messaging app.
"A massive missile attack on Kryvyi Rih."
Russian air strikes hit several civilian buildings in the city, including a five-storey building, the mayor of Kryvyi Rih, Oleksandr Vilkul, said earlier.
"Likely, there are people under the rubble," Vilkul said on Telegram.
Reuters could not independently verify the report. Vilkul did not provide any further detail.
Lisak posted a photograph of a five-storey apartment building with all windows blown out and smoke coming out of some.
There was no immediate comment from Russia about the reported strikes. Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in the war which Russia launched on its neighbour nearly 16 months ago.
During the earli hours of Tuesday, air raid sirens blared across the whole of Ukraine, with Kyiv's military officials saying air defence forces destroyed all Russian missiles targeting the Ukrainian capital.
The mayor of the city of Kharkiv in Ukraine's east said on his Telegram channel that Russian drones hit civilian infrastructure there, striking a warehouse and a utility firm's building. There was no immediate information about casualties.
** Coalition aims to begin Ukrainian F-16 pilot training by summer - Dutch minister
Ukrainian pilots could begin training to fly U.S.-manufacture F-16 fighter jets as soon as this summer, the Dutch defense minister has told Reuters, a first step toward supplying Kyiv with a powerful, long-term capability in its war with Russia.
NATO allies the Netherlands and Denmark are leading an international coalition to train pilots and support staff, maintain aircraft and ultimately supply F-16s to Ukraine. Previously, the Netherlands had said it aimed to start training Ukrainian pilots "as soon as possible", but had stopped short of specifying when such training could get under way.
"This summer is our ambition. And we'll see if that's realistic" for the start of the training programme, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren told Reuters in an interview.
She said the aim would be to have the training programme fully operational within six months. Denmark, where there are flight simulators, is a possible location to host the program.
A final decision has not yet been taken on a request from Kyiv to supply dozens of F-16s, Ollongren said. The U.S.-backed training program will include Belgium and Luxembourg, while France and Britain have offered assistance, she said.
While adopting F-16s will not impact the war in the short-term, it will bring Ukraine more in line with NATO military capabilities, which "is very important for the future," Ollongren said.
"When the war is over Ukraine has to be able to defend itself to deter Russia from trying again. And I think...that's what the Ukrainians also see."
"It is a very strong weapons system. It's a very strong capability. But it's not going to be available anytime soon and President (Volodymyr) Zelenskiy, of course, knows that," Ollongren said.
Two sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the training would begin with two groups of 12 Ukrainian pilots, already experienced flying Soviet-era MiGs. The minister did not specify the initial size of the programme.
JUST AN AIRPLANE
Ukraine's Zelenskiy said last week he received "a serious, powerful" offer from leaders of countries ready to provide Kyiv with F-16 fighter jets and is awaiting final agreements with key allies.
The Netherlands, like other NATO members, is transitioning to newer F-35 fighters. The Dutch still have 24 F-16s in operation and more out of service which could be transferred to Ukraine.
It usually takes roughly 2.5 years to become a fighter pilot in the Netherlands. A U.S official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said estimates on the training time are still being finalised, but that it could take as little as four months to teach basic F-16 skills to an experienced Ukrainian pilot.
Colonel Laurens-Jan Vijge, a Dutch F-35 pilot who flew F-16s for 15 years, including multiple missions to Afghanistan, is part of the team being assembled to train the Ukrainians.
"Flying-wise, well, technically, if you're a pilot, this is also just an airplane," he told Reuters at the Volkel air base in the southern Netherlands, the roar of landing F-35 jet planes in the background.
Ukrainian pilots would have to learn how to operate the F-16's so-called 'hands-on throttle and stick'.
"That means that both on the throttle which you use to accelerate and on a stick to control the airplane, there's a lot of buttons that you use to operate all the avionics. Usually in Soviet equipment that's non-existent, or at least less part of the design," he said.
The course will include language training and "simulator training where they learn how to deal with the different subsystems in the airplane," he said. "And that's before you start talking about how to operate it as a weapons platform. So that's really the last part of the training."
RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Ukrainian unit loses most of its Bradley fighting vehicles in Zaporozhye
A Ukrainian military unit lost most of its US-made Bradley fighting vehicles (BFVs) during an offensive in Zaporozhye, the France-Presse news agency reported.
According to it, the fighting vehicles were eliminated near the town of Orekhovo.
The news agency said that "of nine vehicles attached to the group's mechanized infantry unit […] six were wrecked, three damaged but reparable, and one was unscathed."
Replying to the agency’s question about the offensive’s results, one of Ukrainian soldiers admitted that no serious progress was made.
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed to reporters the onset of a Ukrainian counteroffensive. He noted that the Kiev regime had engaged its strategic reserves but the offensive had not been successful due to the courage and valor of Russian servicemen. In turn, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky at a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dodged answering a question on the Ukrainian counteroffensive.
On June 10, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that Ukrainian troops had lost nine tanks over 24 hours south of Donetsk and in the Zaporozhye area, including four Leopard tanks, as well as 11 infantry fighting vehicles, including Bradleys.
** No pre-requisites exist for talks with Kiev regime, says Kremlin
Today there is no even ‘fragile foundation’ for talks with the Kiev regime, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.
"Today there are no pre-requisites for accords. Moreover, today there is no foundation, even fragile, for building any dialogue. We see: first, the regime is unwilling, second, it is unready and third, it is not allowed by its handlers [to hold negotiations], as we can say, without any equivoques," Peskov said in an interview with the Moscow. Kremlin. Putin program, an excerpt of which was posted by journalist Pavel Zarubin on his Telegram channel.
As the Kremlin press secretary pointed out, "that is why, there are no pre-requisites for negotiations now".
The Russian presidential spokesman earlier said that Russia would seek ensuring its own security, which excluded NATO’s expansion to the country’s borders and Ukraine’s admission to the military alliance. Peskov also earlier pointed out that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s statement on Ukraine’s potential NATO membership suggested Kiev’s "unpreparedness, unwillingness and inability" to address existing problems at a negotiating table.
Reuters/Tass