From: Transform Ukraine By Douglas Landro / June 1, 2025
As Moscow Prepares for Protracted War and Ukrainian Forces Counter-Attack, Train Derailment in Bryansk Oblast Kills Seven Amid ‘Unlawful Interference’
Summary of the Day – May 31, 2025
Russia abandoned diplomatic pretense as Defense Committee Chairman Kartapolov openly threatened Ukraine would lose six major cities if Kyiv refused peace settlement, while Putin signed a decree allowing government seizure of defense enterprises during martial law. Ukrainian forces counter-attacked near Vovchansk and Toretsk as Russian forces captured Novopil and made gains near Lyman. A passenger train derailed in Russia’s Bryansk Oblast killing seven in suspected sabotage, while Ukraine evacuated 11 more villages in Sumy Oblast amid mounting Russian pressure.
Kremlin’s Territorial Maximalism: Six Cities Under Threat
Russian State Duma Defense Committee Chairman Andrei Kartapolov delivered Moscow’s starkest territorial demands yet, openly threatening that Ukraine risks losing six major cities if it refuses a peace settlement.
“Ukraine risks losing Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Sumy, Kharkiv, Odesa, and Mykolaiv cities if Ukraine refuses a peace settlement,” Kartapolov told Kremlin newswire TASS on May 31. He claimed that “every day that Ukraine delays a diplomatic solution to the war worsens the conditions for Ukraine.”
The statement reveals Russia’s territorial ambitions extend far beyond the four oblasts Moscow has illegally declared as annexed — Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson. Russia notably did not occupy Zaporizhzhia City when the Kremlin annexed Zaporizhia Oblast in September 2022, yet Kartapolov’s threat suggests Moscow may illegally declare Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Kharkiv, Odesa, and Mykolaiv oblasts annexed if Russian forces manage to seize these regional centers.
Voice of Ukraine 