June 5, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

By Helen Regan, Andrew Raine, Sana Noor Haq, Lauren Said-Moorhouse and Amir Vera, CNN

Updated 12:05 AM ET, Mon June 6, 2022
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8:51 a.m. ET, June 5, 2022

Pope Francis appeals to government leaders on Ukraine: "Please do not bring humanity to ruin"

From CNN's Sharon Braithwaite

Pope Francis speaks during Pentecost Mass on June 5 in The Vatican.
Pope Francis speaks during Pentecost Mass on June 5 in The Vatican. (Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images)

Pope Francis renewed his appeal to government leaders on Sunday to seek a diplomatic solution to end the war in Ukraine.  

"While the fury of death and destruction continues and conflicting positions spread, fueling an escalation that is increasingly dangerous for everyone, I renew an appeal to national leaders: Please do not bring humanity to ruin, do not bring humanity to ruin," the Pope said after his Regina Coeli prayer on Pentecost, appearing at a window of the papal apartments overlooking St. Peter's Square.  

"Carry out real negotiations, concrete talks for a ceasefire and for a sustainable solution. Listen to the desperate cry of the people who are suffering - we see it every day in the media - respect human life, stop the macabre destruction of cities and villages everywhere," he added.  

On Saturday, the Pontiff told a child from Ukraine that he wants to visit Ukraine and will be discussing a possible trip with Ukrainian officials.   

The Pope made an appeal on Wednesday to lift the blockade of wheat exports from Ukraine.  

CNN's Nicola Ruotolo and Radina Gigova contributed to this report.

8:05 a.m. ET, June 5, 2022

Russia says it destroyed tanks in Kyiv

From CNN's Sharon Braithwaite, Yulia Kesaieva and Bex Wright

Russian missiles destroyed T-72 tanks and other armored vehicles near Kyiv that had been supplied by eastern European countries to Ukraine, Russia's defense ministry said Sunday. 

The ministry added that Russian Aerospace Forces used high-precision long-range air-launched missiles in the strikes on the capital's outskirts, hitting buildings of a car repair enterprise.

Background: The Russian announcement comes after multiple explosions rocked Kyiv on Sunday morning, in the first strikes on the capital in weeks. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said one person has been hospitalized.

The Ukrainian government confirmed that a military target was hit by a Russian missile in Kyiv on Sunday.

"One military object was hit and one civilian. No casualties, one person was hospitalized," Vadym Denysenko, adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine said.

This post has been updated.

6:23 a.m. ET, June 5, 2022

Putin warns Russia will strike new targets if long-range missiles are supplied to Ukraine

From CNN's Sharon Braithwaite  

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting in Moscow on May 16.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting in Moscow on May 16. (Alexander Nemenov/Pool/AFP/Getty Images)

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Sunday that Moscow would strike new targets if the US supplied long-range missiles to Ukraine, according to Russian state media.   

Delivering new arms to Kyiv only aims to “drag out the armed conflict for as long as possible,” Putin said in an interview to Rossiya-1 TV channel, Russian state media TASS reported.

In the case of deliveries of long-range missiles to Kyiv, Russia will draw "appropriate conclusions" and strike those “facilities” that it has not yet targeted, he said.  

"If they are supplied, we will draw appropriate conclusions from this and use our own weapons, of which we have enough, in order to strike at those facilities we are not targeting yet," Putin said commenting on the situation regarding the supply of American multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) to Ukraine.  

Supplying American MLRS to Ukraine essentially does not change anything, since Kyiv had similar weapons before, including similar range missiles, so they are simply making up for their losses, Putin said, according to TASS.  

US President Joe Biden said Tuesday the US is providing Ukraine  "more advanced rocket systems and munitions" as its war with Russia grinds on.   

8:11 a.m. ET, June 5, 2022

Ukrainian official says Russian general given until June 10 to capture Severodonetsk or key highway

From CNN's Taras Zadorozhnyy, Julia Presniakova and Bex Wright

Russian forces are “advancing” in several areas north of the city of Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine after they “completed regrouping of troops,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on Sunday.

On Saturday, the Sloviansk city military administration said hundreds of people were fleeing Sloviansk every day, with evacuation numbers almost doubling this week. A missile strike that killed three people on Tuesday “pushed the citizens to leave,” the official said.

In nearby Lyman, Russia is also “advancing in the direction of Sviatohirsk, trying to push our troops to the right bank of the Siverskyi Donets River,” the military said.

Russian troops continue to pummel areas of eastern Ukraine. In the past 24 hours, eight civilians were killed and 11 were injured in the Donetsk region after Russian forces shelled 15 areas, an update from the regional military-civilian administrations said on Sunday.

Russia also conducted two air strikes in Donetsk, including one overnight in the key city of Kramatorsk, which caused “serious damage to two enterprises in the city,” but did not result in casualties, Oleksandr Honcharenko, Kramatorsk Mayor said.

In areas around Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia, the Russians are “firing on the front line of defense and the rear areas of our troops, in order to restrain our units and prevent their regrouping,” the military said.

And in Luhansk, Russian forces fired on five areas, including Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, with artillery and multiple rocket launchers. Air strikes were also carried out on four areas, regional officials said.

One person was also killed and two others were injured after shelling in Hirske and Lysychansk, which also damaged 18 houses and a police department building. In Severodonetsk, a building on the Azot chemical factory complex was damaged by Russian artillery shelling, regional officials said, with no casualties reported.

Russia’s units are “focusing on offensive operations to surround our troops” in Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, and to “block the main logistics routes,” the military said.

The Russian general Aleksandr Dvornikov “has received the task by June 10 of either completely capturing Severodonetsk, or completely cutting off the Lysychansk-Bakhmut highway and taking it under control,” Serhiy Hayday, head of Luhansk regional military administration said. “Therefore, a huge amount of forces, everything they had, all reserves — everything is used to accomplish these two tasks.”

Near Severodonetsk in the city of Lysychansk, a humanitarian aid center was “completely destroyed” by Russian shelling on Sunday, Hayday added.

In the northeast, in the Kharkiv region, the Russians used phosphorus munitions in the Cherkaski Tyshky area northeast of Kharkiv, the military said.

One person was also injured after Russian shelling of Chuguev to the southeast of Kharkiv, and several other areas came under fire overnight, regional officials said.

“The enemy does not stop firing on the positions of our troops near the city of Kharkiv,” the military statement said.

In Sumy in the northeast, Russia fired artillery shells at infrastructure facilities in two areas, the military said, and the Chernihiv region in the north was also shelled.

This post has been updated with additional information about casualties from regional officials.

4:02 a.m. ET, June 5, 2022

Russian missile shot down south of Kyiv, says Ukrainian official

From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva and Bex Wright

A Russian missile was downed on Sunday by Ukraine’s air defense system above the Obukhiv area south of Kyiv, the Kyiv region military administration said on Sunday.

“According to the preliminary information, there are no casualties or destruction,” the statement said.

Some background: Multiple explosions also hit the capital on Sunday morning local time. One person was hospitalized.

“In reference to this morning's explosions in the capital's Darnytskyi and Dniprovskyi districts, there are currently no casualties from missile strikes on infrastructure. One victim was hospitalized,” Klitschko said on Telegram.

He added that the city’s services are still operating in the affected areas. 

Russia “continues to launch missile and air strikes on military and civilian infrastructure in our country, in particular in Kyiv,” a separate update the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on Sunday.

CNN's Taras Zadorozhnyy, Josh Pennington and Sophie Jeong contributed reporting to this post.

3:02 a.m. ET, June 5, 2022

Ukrainian counterattacks in Severodonetsk are likely “blunting” Russian momentum: UK Ministry of Defense

From CNN's Bex Wright

Ukrainian counterattacks over the past 24 hours in Severodonetsk are likely “blunting” Russian momentum, the UK Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence update on Sunday.

“Ukrainian forces have counterattacked in the contested city of Severodonetsk in eastern Ukraine, likely blunting the operational momentum Russian forces previously gained through concentrating combat units and firepower,” the ministry said.

The ministry said the Russian troops include personnel mobilized from the reserve of the Russian-led separatist forces of the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic.

“These troops are poorly equipped and trained, and lack heavy equipment in comparison to regular Russian units," it said.

“The use of proxy infantry forces for urban clearance operations is a Russian tactic previously observed in Syria, where Russia employed V Corps of the Syrian Army to assault urban areas,” the ministry said. 
“This approach likely indicates a desire to limit casualties suffered by regular Russian forces.”
4:16 a.m. ET, June 5, 2022

Russia flies cruise missile “critically low” over a Ukrainian nuclear power plant, operator says

From CNN's Taras Zadorozhnyy and Bex Wright

The South Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plant is seen in this 2015 file image.
The South Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plant is seen in this 2015 file image. (Anatolii Stepanov/AFP/Getty Images)

Russia flew a cruise missile “critically low” over the South Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plant on Sunday, Ukraine’s state-run nuclear power station operator Energoatom said.

Russia continues to threaten the nuclear safety of Ukrainian nuclear power plants and threatens the world with a new nuclear catastrophe,” the operator said in a statement.
“Russia committed another act of nuclear terrorism — at 5:30 a.m. a Russian cruise missile, similar to the 'Caliber' missile, flew critically low over the South Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plant,” Energoatom said.
“Probably, this missile was fired in the direction of Kyiv, where explosions were heard this morning.”

Energoatom said that Russian forces “still do not understand that even the smallest fragment of a missile that can hit a working power unit can cause a nuclear catastrophe and radiation leak.”

2:33 a.m. ET, June 5, 2022

Russia continues to “storm” Severodonetsk and controls the eastern part of the city: Ukrainian official

From Taras Zadorozhnyy and Bex Wright

Russian troops continue to “storm” the city of Severodonetsk in eastern Ukraine, and they are “controlling the eastern part of the city,” Serhiy Hayday, the head of Luhansk regional military administration said on Sunday.

Russian forces are also “focusing on offensive operations to surround our troops” in Severodonetsk and neighboring Lysychansk, and to “block the main logistics routes,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a separate update on Sunday.

Around 40 kilometers (24 miles) southwest of Severodonetsk, Russia is also trying to “lead an offensive in the direction of Nyrkove – Mykolaivka,” Hayday said.

In Severodonetsk's industrial area: Russia again attacked the Azot chemical factory complex with “artillery shelling,” Hayday said, damaging one of the buildings.

Last Tuesday, a Russian air strike hit a tank of nitric acid at the factory and on Thursday, troops fired at the complex and hit an administrative building and a warehouse. Hayday said 800 people are currently sheltering in several Soviet-era bomb shelters underneath the factory. 

In the Hirske area: About 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of Severodonetsk, “significant damage” was sustained to 13 buildings.

Five buildings were also damaged in Lysychansk, the city next to Severodonetsk.

In Luhansk and Donetsk: In the past 24 hours, “five enemy attacks have been repulsed” and Ukrainian troops have destroyed “three tanks, four artillery systems, eleven armored combat vehicles and twenty-six vehicles,” Hayday said. Air defense units also shot down a Ka-52 combat helicopter and two Orlan-10 UAVs, he added.

4:04 a.m. ET, June 5, 2022

Kyiv mayor says one person hospitalized after explosions on Sunday

From CNN's Taras Zadorozhnyy, Josh Pennington, Sophie Jeong and Bex Wright

Smoke rises after a missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine on June 5.
Smoke rises after a missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine on June 5. (Vladyslav Sodel/Reuters)

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said one person has been hospitalized after multiple explosions hit the capital on Sunday morning local time.

“In reference to this morning's explosions in the capital's Darnytskyi and Dniprovskyi districts, there are currently no casualties from missile strikes on infrastructure. One victim was hospitalized,” Klitschko said on Telegram.

He said the city’s services are still operating in the affected areas. 

Russia “continues to launch missile and air strikes on military and civilian infrastructure in our country, in particular in Kyiv,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a separate update on Sunday.