15.06.2024
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 02:26 Russia reportedly preparing for “evacuation” of cultural assets from Crimea +++
Russia is apparently preparing the possible removal of cultural assets and historical artifacts from occupied Crimea. This is reported by the news portal Ukrajinska Pravda, citing a letter from the Russian-led “Ministry of Culture” of Crimea to museum directors, which deals with potential “evacuations”. The Russians are reportedly trying, among other things, to speed up the classification and evaluation of exhibits using electronic registers. The Ukrainian Center of National Resistance fears that the most valuable artifacts could be taken from Crimea to Russian territory, which is recognized under international law.
+++ 00:39 Ukrainian children returned from Russian-occupied territories +++
Twelve Ukrainian children who were held in Russian-occupied territories have returned to parts of the country controlled by Kyiv, according to Ukrainian authorities. Three boys and nine girls between the ages of 2 and 17 were brought to the Ukrainian-controlled side in the southern Kherson region, the region’s governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, said on Telegram. Kyiv accuses Moscow of kidnapping nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children from eastern and southern parts of Ukraine since the invasion began in February 2022. Many more have been living under Moscow’s control since Russian troops invaded. The return of the children is one of the Ukrainian government’s diplomatic priorities.
+++ 23:07 Russia reports attack on gas transfer point in Kursk +++
According to Russian information, Ukraine is shelling a transshipment point for Russian gas exports in Russia. The governor of the Kursk region, Alexei Smirnov, announced on Telegram that Ukraine had attacked several settlements, including the city of Sudzha. This is where the last functioning distribution center for Russian gas exports to Europe via Ukraine is located. Smirnov did not mention any damage to the gas infrastructure. However, two people were reportedly injured in the shelling. A residential building was also destroyed. The responsible Ukrainian operating company stated that Russian gas transit was not affected by the attacks.
+++ 22:13 Austin: Putin cannot dictate to Ukraine what it must do for peace +++
According to US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin cannot dictate terms for peace to Ukraine. “Putin has illegally occupied sovereign Ukrainian territory,” Austin said after a NATO defense ministers’ meeting in Brussels. “We do not want the leader of a country to wake up one day and decide to erase his neighbor’s borders and annex its territory. That is not the world we all want to live in.” Putin cannot dictate to Ukraine what it must do for peace. Putin can end this war today. Putin had previously called for a withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the territories annexed by Russia as a prerequisite for a possible peace solution; that is, from territories that Russia has officially annexed but does not yet control. At the same time, he repeated all the demands he had made at the beginning of the war of aggression he ordered in February 2022. It is about a neutral, non-aligned and nuclear-free Ukraine, Putin said. Ukraine should also disarm. It must be “denazified” – by which Russia understands a leadership in Kiev that is acceptable to it.
+++ 21:45 Germany blocks new sanctions package against Russia +++
The EU countries actually wanted to discuss a 14th package of sanctions against Russia at the meeting of their permanent representatives. However, Germany had previously expressed concerns about the plans, which have not yet been resolved. The current agreement to start accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova is an important signal – especially to Kiev. The Ukraine peace conference starts in Switzerland on Saturday.
+++ 21:34 EU states agree on accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova +++
The EU states have agreed in principle to start accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova. This was announced by the Belgian Council Presidency in Brussels.
+++ 21:07 Finland: Four Russian jets reportedly entered airspace +++
The Finnish border guard says it suspects that four Russian military aircraft violated the airspace of the northern European country last Monday. The Ministry of Defense initially assumed that only one aircraft was involved. But the more the investigation into the incident progresses, the more there are reasons to suspect that three other aircraft were also involved in the violations, the border guard says. It was probably two bombers and two fighter jets.
+++ 20:36 Putin wants to build a global security system – and NATO can join in +++
Russian President Vladimir Putin sees the “Western model” of global security as a failure. We are currently witnessing the collapse of the European-transatlantic system, Putin said at a meeting with representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry. The world has reached a point of no return. He accuses the USA in particular of undermining global security by withdrawing from arms agreements. Putin is calling for the creation of a new global security system. This will be open to everyone, including NATO.
+++ 20:09 According to Putin, 700,000 Russian soldiers are deployed in Ukraine +++
According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, 700,000 Russian soldiers are fighting in Ukraine. In December, he said, there were 617,000 soldiers. At the end of May, British intelligence estimated that around 500,000 Russian soldiers had been killed or injured since the invasion began. According to the “Mediazona” platform and the Russian branch of the BBC, 136,500 Russian soldiers are said to have been killed in Ukraine. Based on publicly available sources, the deaths of around 50,000 Russian soldiers have been confirmed. The Kremlin has only officially announced the number of Russian soldiers killed once so far, in September 2022. At that time, there was talk of just under 6,000 fighters.
You can read all previous developments here.