In the Donbass, the signs for the Ukrainian troops are not good at the moment, the Russian army is clearly superior. Especially when it comes to artillery, the defenders are at a disadvantage. The number of casualties – both civilian and military – is increasing according to Ukrainian figures. After much hesitation, Chancellor Scholz could now travel to Kyiv after all. According to a report, Italian Prime Minister Draghi and French President Macron will accompany him on Thursday. Then Ukraine will certainly present its wish list for arms deliveries, which a presidential adviser recently presented. The 110th day of the war at a glance.
Clear Russian superiority in Sievjerodonetsk
According to the authorities, fierce fighting continues in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievjerodonetsk. An industrial area, in which around 500 civilians have holed up, is also under heavy fire, explains the governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Hajdaj. This is probably the area where the Azot chemical plant, which is suitable as an air raid shelter, is located. Russian troops already controlled around 70 percent of the city, the governor announced on Facebook. The enemy deployed seven battalion groups there and had a tenfold superiority in fire. “Every meter of Ukrainian soil there is soaked in blood – not just ours, but also that of the occupiers,” Commander-in-Chief Valery Salushny said on Facebook. In the evening, the governor Hajday adds that the third and last bridge from the city over the river Severskyi Donets was also destroyed. This means that Sievjerodonetsk is not completely sealed off. However, it is not possible to evacuate civilians or bring aid supplies into the city, he said on Telegram.
Crucial river crossings
In the coming months, river crossings are likely to be among the most important war-determining factors. The British Ministry of Defense speculates in its latest report. The central part of the Donbass front is west of the Seversky Donets River. To be successful in the current phase of the Donbass offensive, Russia must “either undertake ambitious flanking actions or engage in assault-style river crossings,” according to the UK MoD.
Evacuations after air raids in the north
Fighting continues in other parts of the country. After air raids on the northern Ukrainian city of Pryluky, four surrounding towns were evacuated. “The enemy fired three rockets at Pryluky,” writes the governor of the Chernihiv region, Vyacheslav Chaus, on Telegram. The evacuation was ordered because of the risk of fire, says the head of the region’s civil defense, Sergei Boldyrev, according to the Suspilne news website. Pryluky is 150 kilometers east of Kyiv and has a military airfield. Overall, the Ukrainian troops would now defend a front of about 2450 kilometers against the Russian attackers. “Active combat operations are being conducted along 1,105 kilometers of this,” Commander-in-Chief Valery Salushny writes on Facebook.
Ukraine shells Donetsk city
The pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk are reporting the allegedly heaviest Ukrainian shelling of the city since the beginning of the war. Four people were killed and at least 23 people were injured, according to local media reports. A maternity clinic in the former metropolis caught fire, but nobody was injured there. The reports are not independently verifiable. To protect the city and the People’s Republic of Donetsk, more troops from “allied forces” – that is, the Russian army – are needed, says separatist leader Denis Puschilin, according to the DAN agency.
Ukraine reports 12,000 civilians killed
According to Ukrainian sources, the Russian attacks have killed more than 12,000 civilians since the beginning of the war. Most were killed by explosions, says Ukrainian police chief Ihor Klymenko in an interview published by the Interfax-Ukraine agency. 75 percent of those killed are men, two percent are children and almost a quarter are women. “These are civilians, these people had no connection with the military or law enforcement bodies,” emphasizes Klymenko. 1200 victims have not yet been identified.
Another mass grave discovered near Bucha
Further war casualties are also reported from near the capital Kyiv. According to the police, the bodies of seven other civilians were found near the suburb of Bucha. They were “tortured by the Russians and then cowardly executed with a shot in the head,” said Kyiv police chief Andriy Nebytov on Facebook. Several of the victims, who were discovered in a pit near the village of Myrozke, had their hands and knees tied. The authorities are now working on “identifying the victims,” explains Nebytow.
Report on the visit of Draghi, Macron and Scholz to Kyiv
The Italian newspaper “La Stampa” reports that Prime Minister Mario Draghi wants to travel to Kyiv on Thursday together with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron. On the other hand, the Nexta portal, citing the French ambassador to Ukraine, reports that the three heads of state and government will travel to Ukraine on Wednesday. There is no confirmation for any of the mentioned dates.
Selenskyj criticizes Scholz’ hesitation
Ukrainian President Zelenskyj calls for Scholz to take a clearer stance on the Ukraine war. “We need Chancellor Scholz to be sure that Germany supports Ukraine. He and his government have to make a decision,” he said in an interview with the ZDF “heute-journal”. “Germany came a little later than some of our neighboring countries in terms of arms deliveries. That’s a fact,” criticized the head of state. The first to take action were the USA, Great Britain, the Baltic States and other eastern EU countries. Initially, Germany and France only supported Ukraine politically and rhetorically.
Kyiv renews weapons wish list
A current list shows which weapons Ukraine wants. In it, the president’s adviser calculates what military equipment would be needed in the long term to end the war against Russia. However, the background to this is the meeting of the defense ministers of the western allies on Wednesday. In order to be equal to Russia in heavy equipment, Ukraine would therefore need:
- 1000 howitzers
- 300 Multiple Rocket Launchers
- 500 tanks
- 2000 armored vehicles
- 1000 drones
Erdogan gives hope for negotiations
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announces the possibility of new talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. According to the British “Guardian”, this is reported by the Turkish newspaper “Habertürk”. Possibly they will talk to both of them this week, according to Erdogan. Among other things, it is about bringing exports from Ukraine back “to another dimension”. Talks between the warring parties ended after the bodies were found in Bucha and the complete destruction of Mariupol.
Lithuania donates drones to Ukraine
Four more drones are meanwhile coming from Lithuania. Lithuanian TV presenter Andrius Tapinas reports on a crowdfunding campaign that financed four unmanned reconnaissance drones. These would be immediately sent to Ukraine. Tapinas writes that the drones are named after “Magyla”, the Lithuanian goddess of death. Two more drones would be sent on in two months.
CDU demands EU accession status for Ukraine
However, Ukraine is not only asking for arms deliveries, but also officially applied for membership of the European Union a few weeks ago. The Union faction in the Bundestag is now calling for immediate EU accession prospects for Ukraine, but also for Moldova and Georgia. According to an application, the federal government should work to ensure that these three countries are granted the status of EU accession candidates at the European Council on June 23 and 24.
Large shipment of grain reaches Spain
A ship carrying 18,000 tons of corn from Ukraine arrived at a port in north-west Spain in the morning. The Spanish food association Agafac told CNN that this is the first shipment of Ukrainian grain that was used on a new sea route to circumvent the Russian blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. The Alppila cargo ship carrying the corn arrived at the port of A Coruña before sunrise and is scheduled to be unloaded on Tuesday, the port’s press office told CNN.
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