Global Courant
As the war enters its 481st day, these are the most important developments.
This is the state of affairs on Monday, June 19, 2023.
To fight
Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-installed official in Ukraine, said Ukrainian troops had taken the village of Piatykhatky in the Zaporizhia region, in Kiev’s second gain on that front since it launched its counter-offensive earlier this month. Rogov said the Ukrainians mounted attacks and “hundreds” of Ukrainian soldiers had been killed.
Russia’s defense ministry said its troops repelled a series of Ukrainian attacks on three parts of the frontline. The ministry said Kiev was most active in the Zaporizhia region, but did not name Piatykhatky.
The Ukrainian army said its air force carried out 14 strikes against Russian positions and destroyed two anti-aircraft missile systems.
Serhiy Bratchuk, the spokesman for the Odessa military administration, said Ukraine destroyed a “significant” munitions depot near the Russian-occupied port city of Henichesk in the southern Kherson region.
The United Kingdom said Russia and Ukraine are suffering large numbers of military casualties as Kiev fights to drive Kremlin troops out of occupied territories. The most intense fighting took place in the southeastern region of Zaporizhia, around Bakhmut and further west in the eastern region of Donetsk, the UK said.
Russia’s Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said 32,000 men recruited from Russian prisons had returned home after the end of their contracts with the mercenaries in Ukraine.
Diplomacy
According to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, an African peacekeeping mission over the war in Ukraine that did not enthuse either Moscow or Kiev was still effective. He said the Africans would continue to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about their proposal.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will ask companies to invest more to help Ukraine rebuild during the Ukraine Recovery Conference starting in London on Wednesday. Zelenskyy is expected to make a virtual appearance at the two-day event, organizers said.
Weapons
European Union industry chief Thierry Breton said the bloc was speeding up arms deliveries to Ukraine in support of the country’s counter-offensive against Russian forces. Breton told the French daily Le Parisien that the EU was preparing for a war that “would last several months or even longer”.
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