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Are conversations useless?
Russia shelled Kyiv after talks between Putin and Trump
The Russian army attacked Kyiv again. Residential buildings, the Dovzhenko film studio and the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, a UNESCO cultural heritage site, came under air attack.
Russian pro-Kremlin media comment on the footage of the burning laurel in the same way: they say that Ukraine itself is to blame, since it purchased “defective” Patriot missiles. They allegedly fell on one of the most famous centers of Orthodoxy in Europe. No evidence is provided for this version.
In turn, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky visited the Kiev Pechersk Lavra and said: “It has been confirmed that two Russian drones deliberately attacked the part of the city where the Lavra and the Arsenal of Arts are located. Today, 35 people are known to be injured in Kyiv. In total, 53 people were injured throughout the country, and 11 people are known to have been killed by the massive Russian strike.”
Today we are talking about the shelling of Kiev, the prospects for peace negotiations and military operations with security specialist Ivan Stupak , sociologist and military expert Nikolai Mitrokhin .
The shelling of Kiev and other cities was not prevented by a telephone conversation between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, which took place on Trump’s 80th birthday, June 14. Later, the US President had a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky . However, it is premature to talk about any resumption of negotiations through US mediation. Vladimir Putin remains belligerent: in particular, he intends to capture the strategically important city of Konstantinovka in the Donetsk region, as he announced at a meeting with combatants on Russia Day.
Russia shelled Kyiv after talks between Putin and Trump
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Ukrainian politician Ivan Stupak speaks about the shelling of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and the prospects for peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine:
The version of the Russian Federation about the freelance operation of some defective Patriot missiles does not stand up to criticism
- The version of the Russian Federation about the freelance operation of some defective Patriot missiles does not stand up to any criticism, because Russia never took responsibility, fiddled and lied. You can look at the results of the hit and understand that it was definitely not a missile, but a drone. The Kiev Pechersk Lavra has enormous historical significance. This is a very old complex of buildings. And it was precisely this council that Russia, which constantly talks about Orthodox “brace,” did not hesitate to strike. This really hurts the image of the Russian Federation. I am sure that the Ukrainian authorities will use this fact at meetings with European colleagues and show how the Russian Federation is “committed to peace negotiations.”
As for the fact that Vladimir Zelensky invited Vladimir Putin to negotiations in France, I think with this invitation he hoped to once again show that he was ready to communicate with Putin, but the Russian side refuses this. The Russian side has two conditions that it always puts forward to Ukraine, and these two conditions are obviously impossible to fulfill. This is that Ukraine must withdraw from the territory of the Donetsk region, and that Vladimir Zelensky must come to negotiations in Moscow. Everything else is not accepted by the Russian side. They are offered some alternative venues - Ankara, Istanbul, Vienna, whatever. No, they insist on Moscow, knowing full well that Vladimir Zelensky will not agree to this. This is a game to delay a possible meeting between the two leaders. Whatever one may say, Vladimir Zelensky wants to speed it up.
Ukraine is preparing to continue hostilities. And despite the fact that it is only June, we are preparing for the new heating season. We understand that Russia will try to organize a blackout both in the Ukrainian capital and in other cities as early as October - November 2026. That is, Vladimir Zelensky is taking some kind of first step towards ending hostilities. But the Russian side stubbornly refuses. Because the Kremlin is very confident that they are advancing on all fronts, and that the Russian army is confidently winning. And this first step of Vladimir Zelensky is regarded there more as capitulation, as weakness. Yeah, you are weak, so we need to press you further, continue the fighting. There is no talk of any peace negotiations yet, Ivan Stupak is sure.
What goals are facing the Russian military this summer, and will the stakes for Russia be raised in this war, argues sociologist and military expert Nikolai Mitrokhin :
Ukrainians, when dismantling incoming missiles and drones, point out that most of them were released this year, and even in recent weeks
-Russia cannot raise these rates. That is, it uses the weapons that it has, in the quantities that it has. Ukrainians, when dismantling the incoming missiles and drones, point out that most of them were released this year, and even in recent weeks. So how exactly Russia could raise the stakes is a big question. Russia has nuclear weapons, everyone knows about it, but otherwise the military does what it can. Or maybe they are relatively few. Vladimir Putin met with the military, as his press team claims, with stormtroopers. The stormtroopers reported to him that there were communication problems at the front. To which Putin replies that there is a satellite constellation, but not yet in all units.
In fact, the problem of the Russian army is not the lack of satellite communications, but the lack of equipment that makes life easier for the Ukrainian military. Starting from the completely different contents of first aid kits, which are much more conducive to saving people’s lives, and ending with ground and air robotic systems, which are widely used in the Ukrainian army. Now things have come to humanoid robots, which have begun to be used as an experiment. The Russian army either does not have all this, or has it in very limited quantities. There are ground robotic systems in some places, but they are still rare. Actually, that’s why, instead of answering the soldier’s direct question, Putin began talking about the satellite constellation. It just shows how out of touch he is with real life.
Putin’s plans in this war are clear - he intends to conquer Donbass. Russia plays in Donbass. Putin really likes to control the arrows on the map, he really likes to meet heroes. So Russia's goals are to fight until Putin gets tired of it. Putin's desire is to completely conquer the territory of the Donetsk region. Konstantinovka and other urban agglomerations stand on the way to this goal. I would be glad if all Russian resources were focused only on this direction. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The Russian army is advancing west of Gulyai-Polye, slowly bypassing Orekhov. The Russian army is advancing in the Sumy region, crossing the border in 25 areas. The Russian army is advancing in several places in the Kharkov region, including, according to Russian military officers, again infiltrating Kupyansk. So the Russian army is spread out over a fairly wide front,” said Nikolai Mitrokhin.
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