[Korrespondent] 22:58 The Pentagon continues to monitor Western weapons systems transferred to Ukraine and has not yet recorded cases of their unauthorized distribution, said US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper. She also noted that Kiev is ready to liberate the occupied territory: "Ukraine is well prepared and equipped. Although the course of the war is dynamic and unpredictable, we have great confidence in the capabilities and readiness of the Armed Forces of Ukraine."
22:51 Peskov said that Putin "is aware of the situation unfolding around Prigozhin, and all necessary measures are being taken." And the National Anti-Terrorism Committee of the Russian Federation stated that the allegations spread on behalf of Prigozhin have no basis, in connection with them the FSB of Russia opened a criminal case on the fact of calling for an armed rebellion.
22:05 The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation denied and called "information provocation" the reports spread in social networks on behalf of Prigozhin about the strike on the rear camps of PMC Wagner.
21:39 Prigozhin said that the council of Wagner PMC commanders decided to crack down on the military leadership of Russia and intends to destroy everyone who gets in the way.
21:36 Russia has bought more than $20 billion worth of Western weapons components in circumvention of sanctions, Newsweek reports. According to the publication, in most cases, purchases of dual-use goods were not made directly, but passed through China. In total, Russia has acquired technology from 155 companies headquartered in the US, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
21:25 The United States has almost doubled the production of shells for Ukraine, writes The Wall Street Journal, citing sources in the Pentagon. According to them, the pace of production of 155-mm howitzer shells is growing rapidly. So, now the country is producing 24,000 of these shells per month against 14,000 before the war, and plans are to increase production to 80,000 per month by the fall of 2024.
21:28 Prigozhin said that the Russian Defense Ministry launched missile strikes on the rear positions of the PMC Wagner, killing a "huge number" of mercenaries.
20:30 Ukrainian diplomats evacuated two more Ukrainian prisoners of war from Hungary, transferred by Moscow to Budapest, Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said. Thus, the Ukrainian side has already managed to return five of the 11 Ukrainian defenders.
20:16 The Chinese state-owned company Poly Technologies sent large quantities of gunpowder to Russia at least twice in 2022 for the production of ammunition, writes The New York Times. Gunpowder, which would be enough to produce at least 80 million ammunition, was sent by rail to the Barnaul Cartridge Plant.
20:14 Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar said that the main events at the front are still ahead, and the main blow is still ahead: "You don't have to wait that the offensive is very fast. This is a war. The enemy is constantly preparing to counter, because they understand "We will liberate the occupied territories. Nevertheless, we are making progress every day. Yes, it is gradual, but ours are gaining ground on the lines and moving forward confidently. It is very premature and incorrect to give any assessments now, because the offensive continues."
20:11 Prigozhin said that he wrote statements to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation against Gerasimov and Shoigu, "according to which they must be held responsible for the genocide of the Russian people, the murder of tens of thousands of Russian citizens and the transfer of Russian territories to the enemy. And the transfer is deliberate, just like murder of Russian citizens and genocide. Shoigu has genocide on a national basis."
19:45 "Governor" of the occupied Kherson region, collaborator Volodymyr Saldo, said that the Chongarsky bridge was damaged "much more seriously" than they thought at first: research work will be carried out on the bridge in the next 15-20 days, until it is suitable for movement.
19:17 Zelensky said that he had held a meeting of the Headquarters, at which, in particular, he gave an urgent instruction to Zaluzhny to immediately dismiss the Odessa military commissar, whose family bought luxury real estate in Spain and a whole car fleet during the war . "I gave an urgent instruction to create a commission under the leadership of the First Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, General Pavlyuk, together with the law enforcement bloc and the NAPC, to check all military commissars in all regions of Ukraine so that they do not dishonor our state and the memory of the heroes who die at the front," the president said.
18:56 The counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not live up to the expectations of the West in the early stages, but the main forces trained by Ukraine have not yet entered into action. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian army continues to strike at the rear of the invaders and prepares the ground for their flight from the south of the country. Read more in the material Haven't we started yet?
18:44 Barack Obama, who was the President of the United States during Russia's annexation of Crimea and its invasion of Donbass, said that there was no armed invasion of Crimea: "There is a reason why there was no armed invasion of Crimea. Because there were many Russian speakers in Crimea people, and there was a certain sympathy for the ideas that Russia represented. Even in the Rada then there were sympathizers of Russia. Politics in Ukraine was more complicated."
Podolyak reacted to this: “If Obama publicly declares that Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 was “legal and justified,” then it should not be surprising that today there is a full-scale Russian aggression in Europe and a big war of conquest that claims hundreds of thousands of lives. And that "international law" practically does not exist. And that international institutions allow the aggressor to use their stands to propagate war. And that business is just business and there is no need to leave Russia, but you can sell chips for Russian missiles on a large scale. Modern Russian authoritarian (Nazi ) the regime is a brazen reflection of a specific pre-war "Western policy. Maybe it's time to start admitting critical mistakes, and not come up with new excuses?"
18:20 The IAEA will send a mission to the Kherson region to provide assistance to victims of the explosion of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, the Ministry of Energy reported. As part of the mission, it is planned to visit specialists to the affected areas to assess urgent needs, as well as to develop a long-term action plan.
17:59 The Permanent Representatives of the EU Member States have agreed on an Ammunition Support Act, which provides for the production of up to 1 million ammunition annually, the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union has announced. The regulation of the document (ASAP) will contribute to an increase in the production capacity of EU shells and better support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and EU Member States from the defense industry.
17:38 Commander of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mykola Oleshchuk confirmed that the Defense Forces destroyed the base of the National Guard in Genichesk, Kherson region.
17:13 Commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky said in an interview with The Guardian that the main forces of the Ukrainian army have not yet been involved in the offensive: "I want to say that our main forces are not yet involved in hostilities, and we are now looking for, probing for weaknesses in the defense of the enemy. Still ahead."
The general also said that now the grouping of Russian troops on Ukrainian territory has about 400 thousand people.
16:57 The death toll as a result of today's shelling of Kherson has increased to three - another wounded public utility worker died in the hospital, said the head of the OVA Alexander Prokudin.
16:51 The Russians have built a new pontoon crossing near the Chongarsky bridge, Radio Liberty reports, citing satellite images from Planet Labs. The images also show the aftermath of the shelling of the bridge.
16:30 The EU has imposed sanctions against more than 100 Russian individuals and legal entities. The list includes the military leadership of the Russian Federation involved in the deportation of Ukrainian children, judges responsible for the theft of cultural heritage, businessmen and propagandists, including Semyon Pegov, Alexander Sladkov, Andrey Medvedev and the owner of the Rybar telegram channel. Also under the sanctions were the Wagner Center, the Positive Technologies cybersecurity group of companies, the plant named after. Sverdlov and the governors of the Belgorod, Voronezh, Magadan regions, Kamchatka, Krasnodar and Stavropol regions.
16:18 Reznikov expects from the Vilnius NATO summit clear terms and conditions for Ukraine's entry into the Alliance: "I expect that we will be given a clear, understandable signal and a formula by which we will become a NATO country." The Minister hopes that at the summit the terms of entry or a "certain event" after which Ukraine will become a member of the Alliance will be indicated, and this will no longer be an incomprehensible vague form about an "open door".
Reznikov is also convinced that the creation of a new NATO-Ukraine Council will increase the effectiveness of interaction with the Alliance: "Then Ukraine will sit at the table on an equal footing with members of the Alliance. Ukraine will have the right to raise issues, put them on the agenda, discuss, participate in the work of subcommissions, subcommittees ". In addition, according to him, Ukraine will receive the right to participate in at least two annual meetings at the level of NATO defense ministers.
15:41 Zelensky announced that he had held a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council, which considered three main issues. The first is bomb shelters, a quarter of which throughout Ukraine and a third in Kyiv are unusable. The decision of the National Security and Defense Council: to bring the perpetrators to justice, and to bring all protective structures into proper condition.
The second issue is the courts. "We are continuing the judicial reform in close cooperation with the EU. We are tightening responsibility for corruption in the justice system. We are separately working on a mechanism for protecting foreign and domestic investments in courts," the president said. The third topic, according to him, is the future of Ukraine in the EU - "we are speeding up work on the implementation of European recommendations."
15:29 The "Governor" of the occupied Kherson region, collaborator Volodymyr Saldo, said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine fired on Genichesk and Skadovsk, presumably with four Storm Shadow missiles. Local publics write that in Genichesk the explosion occurred at the location of the National Guard.
15:22 PMC leader Wagner gave another interview with harsh criticism not only of the Russian Defense Ministry, but also of all the Kremlin oligarchs and the so-called "special operation" itself. More details - in the material "Insight" by Prigogine .
14:59 The Russians are considering a scenario for leaving Crimea, Andrey Yusov, a spokesman for the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, told Radio Liberty. In particular, according to him, most of the representatives of the Russian Federation took their families and assets out of the peninsula. "A number of occupation enterprises in the Ukrainian Crimea are preparing for evacuation, including collecting documents for transportation to the territory of the Russian Federation," he added.
14:48 Russia is unlikely to publish data on the number of nuclear charges allegedly supplied to Belarus, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.
14:06 Podolyak urged not to wait "with popcorn" for the results of the counteroffensive: "The real war is not a Hollywood blockbuster. The counteroffensive is not a new season of the series on Netflix. Do not expect action and stock up on popcorn. The offensive operations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are going in a number of directions. There are molding operations to prepare the battlefield.Time is of the essence, especially in war."
The adviser to the head of the Presidential Office also stressed that "the time spent persuading partners to provide the necessary weapons turns into specific Russian fortifications built over this period, a deeply dug line of defense, a system of minefields." According to him, the breakthrough of the Russian front today requires a reasonable and balanced approach: "The life of a soldier is the most important value for Ukraine. The military command relies not on fans from the stands, but on military science and reason."
13:49 The Russians have been attacking the civilian population of the Zaporozhye region since the very morning. Three people were wounded in Primorskoye, one in Vozdvizhovka, and another person was killed in the center of Malaya Tokmachka during an artillery strike, said Yury Malashko, head of the OVA. In addition, the enemy hit Orekhov with guided bombs, and Preobrazhenka with cluster shells. Private houses and high-rise buildings were damaged, there is no information about the victims yet.
13:30 Ukraine can receive F-16 fighters in early 2024, Politico writes, citing sources. According to a Pentagon source, the Netherlands and Denmark can provide aircraft.
13:23 Russian officials have recently begun to accuse Ukraine of making "dirty bombs" again. Kuleba replied: “Russian propaganda is back in business, trying to fabricate a story about a “dirty bomb.” I repeat: Ukraine has never had, does not have, and does not plan to have “dirty bombs.” When Russia first publicized this hoax last year, we gave full access to the IAEA, which debunked this lie."
13:01 The German concern Rheinmetall plans to deliver another 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine this summer. The German government will pay for the equipment in the warehouses of the Bundeswehr. This means that Ukraine will receive a total of 60 Marders: 40 from Rheinmetall and 20 from the warehouses of the Bundeswehr.
12:58 Prigozhin said that Ukraine did not bomb Donbass for eight years, but only exchanged blows with the Russian army. He also claims that all these years Donbass has been plundered, including employees of Putin's administration. In addition, he said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine were not going to attack Russia together with NATO, the Russian Defense Ministry was deceiving the president and the public, and the oligarchic clan that rules Russia needed the war. The war was unleashed in order to make Medvedchuk president of Ukraine, says the head of PMC Wagner.
According to Prigozhin, when Zelensky became president, he was ready to make agreements, and all the Russian leadership had to do was to agree. However, according to Prigozhin, they started a war "so that Shoigu would receive a hero's star."
12:50 The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in an interview with El Mundo that she cannot imagine the European Union without Ukraine in 20-30 years: "We cannot name the exact date, but it would be unthinkable to have the European Union in 20 or 30 years without Ukraine and the bloc of the Western Balkans in it."
12:39 The bodies of 51 dead defenders were returned to Ukraine, the Ministry of Reintegration reported.
12:07 In Kherson, the Russians hit the municipal transport company with aimed fire. They beat on civilian workers who ensure the life of the city. Two people were killed, four more were injured, said Alexander Prokudin, head of the OVA.
11:43 The European Union officially approved the 11th package of sanctions against Russia. It introduced a mechanism providing for a ban on the export of a number of goods and technologies to third countries in order to prevent their re-export to the Russian Federation. In addition, the list of goods and technologies prohibited for transit through Russia has been expanded, new sanctions against the media have been introduced, including a ban on the broadcasting of five more channels. Also, the import of Russian oil along the northern branch of Druzhba is finally banned, the import of oil from Kazakhstan along this branch will continue. The ban on the export of luxury cars to Russia, as well as on all electric and hybrid cars, including used ones, has been extended.
11:32 The Turkish company Baykar expects to start production of combat UAVs Bayraktar TB2 and Bayraktar Akinci in Ukraine in 2025, CEO Haluk Bayraktar said. According to him, construction work is going according to plan.
11:28 In connection with a possible terrorist attack by Russia at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, the work of headquarters has been launched in Ukraine today, in which power engineers, representatives of the State Emergency Service, police, and doctors will be present, Interior Minister Igor Klimenko said. According to him, the radioactive background, which may arise after the attack, will persist for about a day. It will be reduced by 80% within one day, the minister noted.
Until that time, if there are no evacuation measures, everyone should close in their room, close the ventilation, turn off the air conditioners. You also need to seal all openings in houses or apartments with a damp cloth or tape. Also, in the coming days, exercises will be held with road closures and the deployment of sanitary checkpoints. The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs noted that all equipment for measuring radiation that Ukraine has is ready for use.
11:13 Israel will not transfer weapons to Ukraine, because they can get into Iran and be used against Israel itself, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post. According to him, Western anti-tank systems transferred to Ukraine are already found near the borders of Israel.
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10:59 Naftogaz filed a lawsuit against Russia in the US court in order to recover $5 billion for lost assets in Crimea. We are talking about the compensation that the company was awarded in April this year by the Arbitration Court in The Hague. Naftogaz then stated that if the Russian authorities refuse to voluntarily comply with the court decision, then the process of enforcement of the decision will begin in the countries where there are assets of the Russian Federation.
10:38 British intelligence reports that Russia has increased the number of trained dolphins to protect the fleet in Sevastopol. The latest satellite images show twice as many bottlenose dolphins swimming as they did a few weeks ago. The Russian military uses trained animals for various tasks. Most likely, those located in the harbor of Sevastopol are designed to counter enemy divers.
10:24 Macron said that he would pick up the phone if Putin calls him, but there is no reason to call Moscow himself.
09:57 Enemy shelling has intensified in the Kherson region. After the attack on the Chongarsky bridge, the Russians attacked the area of the Antonovsky bridge, said Natalya Gumenyuk, speaker of the OK Pivden: “Now they are returning to their positions, they are starting to fire harder, terrorizing the right bank. "Where they haven't bombed before. Now it's such a revenge for Chongar."
Gumenyuk added that not everywhere the soil allows the invaders to return to their positions, but in some areas they use, among other things, private courtyards and the second floors of houses to locate firing positions.
09:39 Russia has increased the production of Kalibr and X-101 missiles by about 3-4 times compared to the pre-war level and now produces about 30-40 such missiles per month, Vadim Skibitsky, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine. As for the Daggers, they are produced up to six units.
Skibitsky also predicts that strikes on Ukraine's critical infrastructure will continue, despite the fact that the Russian Federation has begun to save on missile weapons. Today, missiles produced by Russia immediately go to the troops for further use.
The representative of the GUR believes that in the next 2-3 months there will be active hostilities, both offensive and defensive. After that, it will be possible to predict the possible nature of the actions of the Russian Federation already for the autumn-winter campaign.
08:55 In the Zaporozhye region, as a result of Russian shelling over the past day, two people were killed - in Malaya Tokmachka and Gulyaipole. In the Kherson region, seven people were injured, in the Donetsk region, one person died in the Chasovoy Yar, according to the OVA.
08:46 In the Kupyansky and Limansky directions, the Defense Forces stopped the enemy's offensive, Anna Malyar said.
08:41 Ukrainian anti-aircraft gunners shot down another Russian Ka-52 helicopter in the Donetsk region, the command of the Air Force reported.
08:28 The General Staff announced the approximate losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of June 23.
- personnel - about 223,330 (+680) people liquidated,
- tanks - 4017 (+4),
- armored combat vehicles - 7798 (+15),
- artillery systems - 3985 (+44),
- MLRS - 617 (+0),
- air defense systems - 379 (+3),
- aircraft - 314 (+0),
- helicopters - 307 (+0),
- UAV operational-tactical level - 3447 (+9),
- cruise missiles - 1214 (+0),
- ships/boats - 18 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tankers - 6708 (+30),
- special equipment - 545 (+6).
08:21 The Defense Forces continue the offensive operation in the Melitopol and Berdyansk directions, the General Staff said. On the directions Novodanilovka - Robotino and Malaya Tokmachka - Novofedorovka they had partial success, they are fixed on the achieved lines. The enemy concentrated his main efforts on defense in the Orekhovskoye direction, using reserves, trying to restore the lost position.
The defense forces continue to hold back the advance of Russian troops in the Limansky, Avdeevsky and Mariinsky directions. Especially hard fights:
- in the Limansky direction - in the area of the settlement of Belogorovka, Lugansk region;
- in the Avdeevka direction - in the areas of the settlements of Severnoe and Avdeevka of the Donetsk region;
- in the Maryinsky direction - in the areas of the settlements of Maryinka and Pobeda, Donetsk region.
The Russian military is using Ukrainian citizens as human shields. Thus, a unit of invaders consisting of more than 300 people arrived in Kremennaya - they are quartered in small groups in private houses among the local population.
07:23 At night, the Russians attacked Ukraine from strategic aircraft, this time the attack was directed at a military airfield in the Khmelnitsky region. All 13 X-101/X-555 cruise missiles were destroyed by air defense, most in the Khmelnytsky region, the Air Force command said. Launches were made around midnight from the Caspian Sea from four Tu-95ms bombers. In addition, the air defense forces destroyed an unidentified reconnaissance UAV.
07:19 The Russian army is concentrating its main efforts on the Limansky, Bakhmutsky, Avdeevsky and Maryinsky directions - more than 30 military clashes occurred in a day, the General Staff said in the morning summary .
06:45 Adviser to the mayor of Mariupol Petr Andryushchenko, referring to the Mariupol resistance, announced the liquidation of at least four Russian officers who settled in a private house of Mariupol residents in the evacuation in the Primorsky district near the seaport.
06:02 U.S. President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, following a meeting in Washington, issued a joint statement in which they "commit to continue providing humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine," and also call on "respect for international law, the principles of the UN Charter, territorial integrity and sovereignty". Also, both countries "agreed on the importance of the post-conflict reconstruction of Ukraine." At the same time, the statement does not mention Russia, which Western countries accuse of violating the world order due to the invasion of Ukraine.
06:08 Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said that the "speculations" of US senators about the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons in Ukraine are "absurd", Russia remains a "responsible nuclear power."
03:24 The Pentagon believes that cluster munitions could be effectively used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine against Russian troops in the trenches, said US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper. According to her, the reason why the United States has not yet approved the transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine lies in the existing restrictions of Congress on their provision and concerns about the unity of the allies on this issue.
01:56 The US Senate has registered a draft bipartisan resolution, according to which, in the event that Russia uses nuclear weapons in Ukraine, such an attack by NATO countries should be considered an attack on the Alliance itself, Voice of America reports. The authors of the document are Democrat Richard Blumenthal and Republican Lindsey Graham.
00:51 The United States received a request from the Danish authorities to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets, Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said. However, he added that it "was expected." According to Ryder, Denmark's request is currently under review.