Monday, June 26

Russia’s war against Ukraine

The view of the apartments destroyed by the debris of a Russian missile shot down over Kyiv in the early hours of June 24, 2023. (Photo: State Emergency Service)

Military: Ukraine advances up to 1 kilometer in Bakhmut direction. The Ukrainian army has advanced from 600 to 1,000 meters in the southern and northern directions around the strategic city of Bakhmut as of June 25, military spokesperson Serhiy Cherevatyi reported.

General Staff: Russian sabotage group fails to cross Ukrainian border in Sumy Oblast. The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on June 25 that a Russian subversive-reconnaissance group failed to cross Ukraine’s state border in the settlement of Rodionivka, Sumy Oblast.

Reznikov: Ukraine’s main counteroffensive is yet to come. After three weeks, the ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive remains in “some kind of preparatory operation.” Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in an interview with the U.S.-based TV channel Fox News on June 25.

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Military: Russia redeploys airborne troops from Ukraine to protect Moscow during Wagner’s mutiny. Russia redeployed two separate airborne units from the occupied territories of Ukraine to protect its capital, Moscow, during the Wagner Group’s mutiny, the Ukrainian military’s National Resistance Center reported on June 25.

Ukraine’s Air Force: Wagner mercenaries down 6 Russian army helicopters, 1 plane on June 24. The Wagner Group mercenaries downed six Russian army helicopters and one plane on June 24, Yurii Ihnat, Ukraine’s Air Force spokesman, told the national television on June 25. Russia lost two attack helicopters and four transport ones.

Ministry: Dnipro River returns to its banks after flooding caused by Kakhovka Dam explosion. The Dnipro River in Kherson has returned to its banks after the flooding caused by the Russian June 6 Kakhovka Dam explosion, the Environment Ministry reported on June 25.

Military: Russian forces shell bordering Chernihiv, Sumy oblasts. Russian forces attacked bordering communities in northern Chernihiv and Sumy oblasts 21 times on June 25, Ukraine’s military Northern Command reported.

Russian forces hit Kherson Oblast with 500-kilogram guided bombs. Russian forces attacked southern Kherson Oblast with KAB-500 guided munition, Ukraine’s military Southern Command reported on June 25. No casualties were reported in the June 25 attack.

UK Defense Ministry: Ukraine refining tactics in first weeks of counteroffensive for deeper assaults. Ukrainian forces have refined tactics in the first two weeks of their counteroffensive in preparation for deeper assaults into Russian-held positions, the U.K. Defense Ministry said on June 25.

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Ukraine war latest: Military reports advance on Bakhmut flanks; 2 Ukrainian teenagers reportedly killed by Russians in Berdiansk

Ukrainian forces have advanced on the flanks of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast up to one kilometer, the Eastern Command spokesperson Serhii Cherevatyi reported on June 25; Russian proxies in Zaporizhzhia Oblast reported that Russian troops killed two teenagers in the occupied port city of Berdiansk

Photo: Asami Terajima/The Kyiv Independent

Human cost of war

2 injured in Russian shelling of Kherson Oblast. On June 25, the Russian military heavily shelled Kherson Oblast, injuring a 29-year-old man in the village of Antonivka and another man in the village of Burgunka, the regional administration reported.

Russia reportedly kills two Ukrainian teenagers in occupied Berdiansk, Ukraine launches investigation. Russian troops killed two 16-year-olds, Tihran Ohannisian and Mykyta Khanhanov, in a shootout in the occupied Berdiansk, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on June 25. His office later informed the Kyiv Independent that they are still trying to confirm this information.

Mayor: 2 more bodies found in Kyiv building after Russia’s June 24 missile strike. Two more bodies were found under the rubble of an apartment building a day after it was hit by missile debris during a Russian strike on Kyiv, mayor Vitali Klitschko reported on June 25.

General Staff: Russia has lost 224,630 troops in Ukraine. The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on June 25 that Russia has lost 224,630 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion, with an estimated 720 casualties on June 24.

International response

Ukrainian embassy accuses Israel of pro-Russian position, Israel prepares response. According to the embassy, the signs of Israel’s pro-Russian position were almost no humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, several controversial interviews by the country’s Prime Minister Netanyahu, and recent “two rounds of high-level political negotiations with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

Zelensky holds call with Biden, discusses further US defense support for Ukraine. On June 25, President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with US President Joe Biden, discussing the hostilities and “the processes taking place in Russia” amid one-day armed ‘rebellion’ of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group.

Polish PM: Poland strengthens defense on borders with Belarus and Russia. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on June 25 that the Polish military had strengthened the defensive lines on the country’s eastern borders with Belarus and more than 230 kilometers of the border with Russia’s Kaliningrad Oblast in the northeast.

Germany to provide 45 more Gepard anti-aircraft guns by end of 2023, an official says. Germany will supply Ukraine with 45 more Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns by the end of the year, with 15 of them expected to arrive in the coming weeks, German Brigadier General Christian Freuding said in an interview published on June 25.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Asami Terajima, Alexander Khrebet, Natalia Datskevych, Francis Farrell,  Lili Bivings, Toma Istomina, Oleksiy Sorokin, Olena Goncharova, and Rachel Amran.

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