Russia on Wednesday raised the death toll from floods in areas it controls in southern Ukraine to 41, following the destruction of a dam on the Dnieper River in early June. “Unfortunately, the death toll has risen to 41,” said the head of the Russian occupation in the Kherson region, Andrei Alekseyenko. A previous report communicated last Saturday by the authorities installed by Russia reported 29 dead.
Information to remember:
Death toll rises to 41 in Russian-controlled areas after floods
– Russia neutralizes three drones near Moscow
– EU countries allocate 3.5 billion euros to continue arming Kyiv
– EU member states agreed on Wednesday on an eleventh package of restrictive measures against Russia
– The Ukrainian government estimated on Wednesday at 1.5 billion dollars the damage to the environment from the destruction in early June of the Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper
Dam destroyed: kyiv estimates environmental damage at $1.5 billion
The Ukrainian government estimated on Wednesday at 1.5 billion dollars the damage to the environment from the destruction in early June of the Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper, which caused major flooding. This “preliminary estimate (…) does not include the losses relating to agriculture, infrastructure, housing or the cost of the reconstruction of the plant itself”, specified Prime Minister Denys Chmygal, during a meeting. press conference in London.
EU: agreement on a new package of sanctions against Russia
EU member states agreed on Wednesday on an eleventh package of restrictive measures against Russia, intended in particular to avoid the circumvention of sanctions already in place, we learned from an official source. “This package includes measures aimed at combating the circumvention of sanctions and individual sanctions,” said Sweden, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council.
Westerners promise to make Russia pay
Kiev’s western allies pledged on Wednesday to increase financial aid to Ukraine’s economy, ravaged by more than a year of war, but warned Russia that it would ultimately have to pay for reconstruction. While Ukraine recognizes that its counter-offensive, which is coming up against strong resistance from the Russian army, is not going as quickly as hoped, the conference for the reconstruction of Ukraine meets for two days in London more from 60 countries, international institutions and the private sector.
“We must move from a vision to agreements and from agreements to concrete projects”, pleaded from the outset, by video, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the opening of this event. “Every day of Russian aggression brings new ruins, thousands and thousands of homes destroyed, industries devastated, lives burned.”
EU countries allocate 3.5 billion euros to continue arming Kyiv
EU countries decided on Wednesday to contribute to a new €3.5 billion endowment for the European Peace Facility (EPF) used to finance their arms supplies to Ukraine and military missions in the stranger. An agreement has been reached by the ambassadors of the 27 in Brussels, announced Sweden, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. It will have to be formally endorsed by the Foreign Ministers during their meeting on June 25 in Luxembourg.
“This decision reaffirms the EU’s commitment to supporting its partners in the field of security and defence”, underlined the Swedish Presidency. The initial endowment of 5.7 billion allocated for 7 years to this fund created by the Member States outside the European budget was exhausted in one year by the conflict in Ukraine. Member States have used it to finance arms and ammunition taken from their arsenals and sent to kyiv.
Three drones neutralized in the Moscow region
The Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, located in an area under Russian control in the Kherson region (southern Ukraine), was destroyed on June 6. Hundreds of square kilometers downstream were flooded, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents and raising fears of both a humanitarian and environmental disaster. Moscow and kyiv blame each other for this destruction.
Russia announced on Wednesday that it had neutralized three drones in the Moscow region, including two near a military base, accusing Kiev of being behind the attack while Ukraine said it had downed six Russian explosive drones. “Today an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack with three drones against sites in the Moscow region was halted,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. “All drones were neutralized by electronic warfare systems, lost control and crashed,” he explained.
The Ukrainian Air Force said on Wednesday morning that it had intercepted six Iranian-made Shahed 136/131 explosive drones launched by Russia during a new night attack against its neighbor. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, all the aircraft were launched from the north and shot down over the Khmelnytsky region in the west of the country, where Russia regularly claims to target Ukrainian military targets located several hundred kilometers behind the front line.
According to the governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, two drones crashed “at 05:30 and 05:50 in the morning (02:30 and 02:50 GMT) when approaching the depots of a military base” located in the village of Kalininets, in the Naro-Fominsk district, about fifty kilometers southwest of Moscow.
“The debris has been discovered, there is no damage or casualties,” he said on Telegram, calling on residents to “keep calm”. It was not immediately clear whether the third aircraft was also targeting the military base or another objective.
Moscow and its region, located more than 500 km from the Ukrainian border, have so far been rarely targeted by drone attacks since the start of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, even if this type of attack has multiplied elsewhere in Russia.
Last month, drones crashed into apartment buildings in Moscow, shocking the population. In early May, two drones were shot down over the Kremlin, the seat of Russian power, in an attack blamed on Ukraine. In recent months, drones have also targeted military bases or energy infrastructure elsewhere in Russia.