[Korrespondent] 22:46 In the occupied part of the Kherson region, the Russians formed special groups to remove and hide the bodies of those killed as a result of the explosion of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, Zelensky said: "And this is not the first time Russia is doing it - it is trying to destroy evidence and traces of its crimes in the occupied territory. That's what they did and in Mariupol, and in other places. But this is such a truth that cannot be hidden."
The President also said that he had held a meeting on the spiritual independence of Ukraine: “We continue the relevant work, and there will be new steps. It is obvious that there can be no truly spiritual ties with a terrorist state and those who justify the murder of Ukrainians and cover up evil. Everyone day and night of Russian terror proves it, and we will get to the point where all the dependencies on Russia that anyone is trying to manipulate will be destroyed."
22:37 Zelensky said in an evening video message that he had held a briefing for partner countries on the situation at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant: "Our principle is simple: the world must know what the occupier is preparing. Everyone who knows must act. We will continue to inform partners Information will be provided and those countries that portray a certain neutrality even now... And today I instructed Interior Minister Igor Klymenko to take all the necessary measures, all the necessary explanatory work with our people on all the risks. This will be done in the near future."
20:58 Kuleba said in an interview with Suspіlny that Ukraine will carry out as many counter-offensives, as many will be needed: "We should not look at this counter-offensive as the last and decisive one. If we liberate all of Ukraine for this counter-offensive, thank God, we will thank everyone. But the war - it's the kind of thing where you have to think two or three steps ahead."
20:53 Zelensky said that he had held a meeting with Interior Minister Igor Klymenko - they discussed the elimination of the consequences of the Russian terrorist attack at the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, humanitarian demining, and the preparation of a new Ukrainian security doctrine. "These are more strategic issues - what concerns the new policy and new security standards. Very solid proposals," the president said.
20:44 PMC Wagner publishes announcements about the recruitment of former law enforcement officers to form the so-called "military police" in the occupied Ukrainian territories, writes Layout. The journalists contacted the recruiter at the phone number listed in the ad. He said that such vacancies appeared for the first time, and they plan to create a "commandant's regiment" from former operatives.
20:02 Israel will sell its Merkava tanks to Cyprus, and Cyprus will give its Soviet T-80s to Ukraine, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz writes, citing sources.
19:57 Legislative bodies of South Africa and the UAE expressed their readiness to hold talks between the parliaments of Ukraine and Russia to find possible ways to end the war. The report of the Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union states that the working group of the IPU on a peaceful settlement met separately with high-level parliamentary delegations from the Russian Federation and Ukraine. During the meeting, the UAE and South Africa announced their readiness to host the parliaments of each country to further discuss the war, and the parliaments of Ukraine and Russia allegedly positively assessed the work of the working group.
19:45 Ukraine will defend the Baltic countries in case of joining NATO, Kuleba said in an interview with Suspilny: "If before a full-scale war, Ukraine needed NATO more to defend itself and strengthen, now NATO needs Ukraine... Now, relatively speaking, when the Baltic countries ask Germany to send a brigade to protect them from Russia, then after Ukraine becomes a member of NATO, which brigade will be stationed in the Baltic country? Ukrainian."
19:42 The UN has put Russia on the list of shame for killing children in Ukraine. According to the Organization, in 2022, the Russian Federation killed 136 children, injured 518 and carried out 480 attacks on schools and hospitals. 91 children were used as human shields.
19:38 After reports of an impending terrorist attack at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, Ukrainian pharmacies again began to buy iodine preparations. The State Center for Nuclear Safety explains that today there is no reason for this. Iodine prophylaxis is justified only when there is a real threat of radioactive iodine entering the body, and there is none at ZNPP. In the event of an accident at the plant, the release of radioactive substances will not contain iodine isotopes, since the power units have been stopped for at least nine months.
19:30 The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution on the political consequences of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, which, in particular, fully supported Zelensky's peace plan. In the document, the Assembly called on the member countries of the Council of Europe, which are also members of NATO, to support Ukraine's entry into the Alliance. In addition, the document contains a call to create an international tribunal as soon as possible to hold the Russian Federation accountable, as well as to develop a mechanism for compensating Russia for losses.
PACE also recognized Russia as guilty of a war crime - the crime of ecocide, which occurred as a result of the explosion of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station in order to stop the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In addition, Wagner PMCs and other paramilitary groups taking part in the Russian invasion of the Russian Federation are recognized as terrorist groups. Separately, they recognized Russia's intention to blow up the ZNPP, creating a threat to the entire continent.
19:26 As a result of the explosion of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station in a number of settlements in the occupied territory of the Kherson region, the sanitary and epidemiological situation has deteriorated sharply, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported. In particular, due to the lack of access of the population to proper medical care and quality water, outbreaks of viral hepatitis A are recorded, and there is a threat of the spread of other viral diseases. At the same time, the invaders do not recognize the increase in the incidence and try to hide these facts. Measures to stabilize the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the region are not carried out.
19:22 Over the current day, the situation at the front has not changed significantly, said Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar. According to her, the offensive of the Defense Forces continues in the south, "we are gradually moving forward, we have partial successes, pushing the enemy back and leveling the front." On the Melitopol and Berdyansk directions, in some areas they have moved forward and are gaining a foothold on the achieved lines. The enemy is pulling up and using reserves, trying to regain lost positions, suffering heavy losses.
In the east, during the day, the Defense Forces conducted both defensive and offensive operations. The Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to effectively restrain the offensive of Russian troops in the Limansky, Bakhmutsky, Avdeevsky and Maryinsky directions - the enemy has not advanced a single meter. Fighting is going on in all directions - the heaviest, in particular, in the Limansky direction in the areas of Dibrov, Serebryanskoye forestry and Grigorievka of the Donetsk region. Ukrainian forces during the day conducted offensive operations in the direction of Belogorovka - Dibrova, had partial success, are fixed on the achieved lines.
18:51 Zelensky said in an interview with the BBC that the counteroffensive will take place in the same way as in the fall, when at first it seemed that the process slowed down, and then the Armed Forces of Ukraine began to rapidly move forward: "We assess the counteroffensive positively. Not everything is simple, because there are those or other difficulties ... In the autumn we had counter-offensives in response, and it seemed that this was a slow process. But at some point everyone saw how rapidly we began to move forward. It will be the same here."
18:35 On the night of June 22, the Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked the bridge across the Chongar Strait in the Sea of Azov, connecting the peninsula with Melitopol. About the significance of this for the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian army - in the material The road to Crimea is closed?
18:19 The Russian army has begun using the new airfield for missile attacks on Ukraine, Radio Liberty reports, citing satellite images from Planet Labs. So, with the start of the offensive operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Zaporozhye direction, Russia transferred strategic aircraft to an airfield near the city of Mozdok in North Ossetia (North Caucasus, Russia). On the night of June 22, according to the Air Force of Ukraine, Tu-22m3 aircraft took off from this airfield, which launched Kh-22 cruise missiles in the direction of the Dnipropetrovsk region.
17:36 Podolyak said that Russia is not able to keep Energodar in the medium term, therefore, it is considering a large-scale terrorist attack at the ZNPP to stop the Ukrainian counteroffensive and create a deserted sanitary gray zone, fixed for subsequent years, as part of the territorial status quo without a ceasefire.
"This strategy also includes attempts to strike the Kinzhals on the dam in Kryvyi Rih. Now there is an additional mining of the nuclear power plant, including cooling pools. Whether the Kremlin decides on this scenario today depends solely on the reaction of the global world. Red lines must be drawn, the consequences - announced. Not tomorrow. Today," the adviser to the head of the Presidential Office emphasized.
17:03 Hungary and Russia are preparing an operation to discredit Ukraine in order to accuse it of unwillingness to exchange prisoners of war, Ombudsman Dmitry Lubinets said. According to him, Moscow and Budapest will promote narratives that the Russian Federation is supposedly ready to hand over Ukrainian prisoners of war, but the problem is in Ukraine.
16:49 The United States plans to convince the countries of the Global South to condemn Russian aggression against Ukraine, writes the Financial Times, citing sources. According to the publication, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan will visit Denmark on June 24-25 at the request of the Ukrainian government for an unannounced meeting with representatives of the countries of the Global South - in particular, India, Brazil and South Africa.
The plan of this meeting is dictated by "the high probability of a protracted war in Ukraine and the risks due to the cooperation of the countries of the Global South with Russia." As a result of the meeting, the United States hopes to convince countries to refuse communication with Russia and condemn its invasion of Ukraine.
16:32 Kuleba said that he had a second telephone conversation with Stoltenberg in the last week: "We are working closely with the Secretary General and the capitals of NATO countries to make Vilnius successful. We have fully focused on the possible content of a NATO decision on the prospect of Ukraine's membership. Ukraine is an asset for NATO; we will make it stronger."
16:27 The IAEA did not confirm the information of Ukrainian intelligence about the mining of the cooling pond at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. At the same time, they reported that during the visit of General Director Rafael Grossi, mines were found along the perimeter of the station and in some places inside. Grossi argues that although the presence of mines does not meet safety standards, the basic safety functions of the nuclear power plant are not violated.
16:23 Zelensky said in an interview with the BBC that if Putin does not stop threatening the world with nuclear weapons, "the world will find a format to deprive him of his life." "This is very dangerous, and therefore he carefully makes these messages," the Ukrainian president added.
16:09 The European Commission published an oral interim assessment of Ukraine's implementation of recommendations for a candidate for EU membership. According to the report, Ukraine has fully complied with two of the seven conditions necessary to start negotiations on EU membership, and progress has been made on the remaining conditions. The EC report is generally positive and aims to help Ukraine cope with the problems - there are several of them, but Brussels does not consider them insurmountable.
The European Commission considers that the conditions relating to the judiciary and the media are fully met. "Good progress" has been made on the reform of the Constitutional Court. An assessment formulated as "some progress" was given to the process of deoligarchization, the issue of national minorities, the fight against corruption and money laundering and the reform of law enforcement agencies.
16:00 The United States has significantly increased the production of artillery shells against the backdrop of a reduction in stocks after deliveries to Ukraine, the Pentagon said. Now the United States produces 24,000 155-mm shells per month, before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, this figure was 14,000. The Pentagon says that by 2025 they want to reach the level of 70-80 thousand monthly.
15:32 The “governor” of the occupied Kherson region, collaborator Vladimir Saldo, after the strike on the Chongarsky bridge, began to threaten Moldova: allegedly, there will soon be attacks on the bridges of the Odessa region and in the Moldovan Giurgiulesti bordering Romania. The MFA of Moldova summoned the Russian ambassador for an explanation.
15:17 In Belarus, a Mi-24 helicopter crashed near Ivatsevichi. According to the Belaruska Gayun monitoring group, it was a Russian Aerospace Forces helicopter. The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus reported that the crew members were injured. At the same time, the official report of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus does not indicate whose particular helicopter "made a hard landing."
15:13 Estonia will give Ukraine a new package of military assistance, which will include, in particular, equipment for combating drones, the country's Ministry of Defense said. In addition, Estonia, in cooperation with Ireland, will transfer a military hospital to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The aid package will also include medical and demining equipment.
15:06 400 international companies have already joined the "investment coalition", Shmyhal said at a press conference in London. According to him, in order for businesses to feel more confident in Ukraine, the government plans to restart the insurance market. The prime minister added that Ukraine has already signed an agreement on joint work in this direction with the EU, Norway, Switzerland and the EBRD.
He added that Ukraine already has a victory on this path: "The World Bank Group's Multilateral Guarantee and Investment Agency MIGA has begun to provide guarantees for war risk insurance in Ukraine. And a corresponding agreement was signed with the German banking holding ProCredit."
14:39 The Russians fired at a residential building in Kherson - two people were wounded in their yard. Volunteer students from Rivne, who helped Kherson residents, also came under enemy fire, said Alexander Prokudin, head of the OVA.
14:17 Russian cyber aggression against Ukraine has changed its priorities, said Vladimir Kondrashov, spokesman for the State Special Communications Service. According to him, if at the beginning of a full-scale invasion, the activity of Russian hackers was aimed at influence operations and the destruction of critical IT infrastructure, today it is espionage and data theft.
13:58 Czech Radio websites were hacked before a conference on the role of the media during the Russian war against Ukraine. According to the radio, a massive DDoS attack took place a few hours before the start of the event, the main speakers of which were Czech President Petr Pavel and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko. The websites of the Czech Radio, as well as two other organizers, did not work.
13:45 At least eight explosions have thundered in Melitopol today, the loudest of which are in the north of the city, in the area of concentration of enemy military equipment, Mayor Ivan Fedorov said. In addition, according to him, in Yakimovka there was a hit on medical warehouses and gas facilities, which the Russians turned into a military base.
Fedorov warned that because of the panic, the occupiers intensified terror against local residents: they do not let civilians out at checkpoints at the exit from Melitopol, carry out filtering in Yakimovka, deploy civilian cars and trucks on Chongar. And at the checkpoints of Tokmak, the Russians stop people, demand documents and tear up Ukrainian passports.
13:37 Due to the destruction of the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, four systems of irrigation canals were left without water, reports the BBC. Before the full-scale invasion, they supplied water to 5.8 thousand square meters. km of fields on which about 2 million tons of grain were grown annually.
13:24 Ukraine should receive long-term security guarantees, but joining NATO is now impossible, Scholz said and urged "to take a sober look at the current situation." The Chancellor added that the government in Kyiv itself admitted that the country would not be able to join NATO while the war was going on. “Therefore, I propose to focus on the main priority, namely, strengthening the combat power of Ukraine,” Scholz stressed.
According to him, Berlin and partners in the G7 and the European Union are working on long-term security guarantees for Kyiv. "Our goal is sustainable military support for Ukraine, including modern Western weapons, and strengthening the economic stability of Ukraine in the process of protecting against Russian aggression," the Chancellor said.
12:59 Explosions thundered in Dzhankoy in the morning, the occupation administrations hide it, Denis Chistikov, Deputy Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in Crimea, said. He also added that there are reports of the destruction of a transformer near Kerch last night.
12:26 Peskov called "another lie" Zelensky's statement about the impending terrorist attack at the ZNPP. He also claims that Russia is "observing a possible discord in the collective West" and allegedly increasing pressure on Kyiv "in light of the failures of the Ukrainian counter-offensive."
12:23 Shoigu said that, on average, 1,336 people allegedly enter a contract in Russia per day, that is, every day "we receive a regiment." According to him, 114,000 people have been recruited into the RF Armed Forces under a direct contract, and "there are more than 50,000 volunteers." He also announced that a reserve army would be formed by the end of June and an army corps in the near future, they would allegedly receive more than 3,700 pieces of equipment.
Shoigu also claims that he "already understands" that the weapons that have been delivered to Kyiv and will be delivered "will not significantly affect the course of the special operation."
12:20 The EU provides another 1.5 billion euros of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine - this is the fifth tranche of the program for a total of 18 billion euros.
12:00 The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation claims that Ukraine launched four strikes with Storm Shadow missiles on the bridges across Chongar. Vehicle traffic was temporarily organized along a reserve route, one of the strikes fell on an unused bridge across the Sivash.
11:52 Ukrainian intelligence received information that Russia is considering a scenario of a terrorist attack at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant with a release of radiation, Zelensky said , who had just heard a report from intelligence and the SBU. According to them, the Russians have already prepared everything for this.
“Unfortunately, I have repeatedly had to remind that radiation knows no state borders, and who it hits is determined only by the direction of the wind. We transfer all available information to our partners - everyone in the world. All evidence. Europe, America, China , Brazil, India, the Arab world, Africa - all countries, absolutely everyone should know this. International organizations. Everyone. There should never be any terrorist attacks on nuclear power plants anywhere. This time it should not be like with Kakhovka: the world has been warned, that means , the world can and must act," the president stressed.
11:35 Zelensky announced that he had signed a law establishing "restrictions on the import and distribution of publishing products relating to the aggressor state, the Republic of Belarus, the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine." The text of the law was sent to the EU institutions, which will assess whether certain norms of the document can affect the fulfillment of obligations in terms of protecting the rights of minorities in the context of Ukraine's application for EU membership.
11:01 Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko said in an interview with the Financial Times that the transit of Russian gas through the territory of Ukraine may stop before the end of 2024, since the chances of Kiev and Moscow to agree on an extension of the five-year gas transit contract signed in 2019 are small.
10:58 Advisor to the "head" of Crimea Oleg Kryuchkov said that due to damage to the Chongarsky bridge, traffic flows were redirected to the Armyansk and Perekop checkpoints. The “governor” of the occupied Kherson region, collaborator Volodymyr Saldo, said that the strike on the bridge allegedly “will not affect the course of the special operation in any way,” while “there are other overland routes to Crimea,” “longer in time, but there are.”
10:47 At night, the Russians attacked Ukraine from the air with Kh-22, Kh-47 Kinzhal missiles and Shahed-136/131 strike drones, the Air Force command reported. In particular, the enemy launched three Kh-22 cruise missiles from Tu-22m3 bombers from the Sea of Azov, and three Kh-47 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles from MiG-31K. The missiles did not reach their targets in the Dnepropetrovsk region. Launches of four Iranian drones were also recorded - three UAVs were destroyed by air defense.
10:29 American deputies of both parties and houses of parliament sent a letter to Biden, in which they call for providing Ukraine at the summit in Vilnius with a "concrete and achievable" mechanism for joining NATO.
09:51 In the occupied part of the Kherson region, the death toll after the explosion of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station increased to 46, Russian emergency services reported.
09:34 Zelensky invited the Organization of American States to work "together with us and all the free nations of the world" on the implementation of the Peace Formula. He also invited me to take part in the preparations for the Global Peace Summit.
08:59 In the Donetsk region over the past day, as a result of Russian shelling, one person was killed (in Chosov Yar), six more were injured. In Kherson and Zaporozhye regions - three wounded each, in Kharkiv - one person was injured, according to the IVA.
08:38 The defense forces continue their offensive in the Melitopol, Berdyansk and Liman directions, said the speaker of the General Staff Andrey Kovalev. In the direction of Rivnopol - Staromayorskoye Armed Forces of Ukraine had a partial success, they are fixed on the achieved lines.
In the Liman direction, the Defense Forces carried out offensive operations in the direction of the settlements of Belogorovka and Dibrova, had partial success, and consolidated on the achieved lines. Also, Ukrainian troops continue to hold back the advance of the Russians in the Limansky, Bakhmutsky, Avdeevsky and Maryinsky directions. "Especially heavy fighting is going on in the Limansky direction in the areas northwest of Dibrova, near Serebryansky forestry and north of Grigorievka, Donetsk region," Kovalev said.
08:21 The General Staff announced the approximate losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of June 22.
- personnel - about 222,650 (+650) people liquidated,
- tanks - 4013 (+7),
- armored combat vehicles - 7783 (+12),
- artillery systems - 3941 (+21),
- MLRS - 617 (+2),
- air defense systems - 376 (+1),
- aircraft - 314 (+0),
- helicopters - 307 (+1),
- UAV operational-tactical level - 3438 (+10),
- cruise missiles - 1214 (+0),
- ships/boats - 18 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tankers - 6678 (+11),
- special equipment - 539 (+0).
08:16 At night, the Russians attacked the Odessa region with Shahed drones - they managed to destroy three, one hit the storage room. The fire was quickly extinguished, people were not injured, OK Pivden reported.
07:50 "Governor" of the occupied Kherson region Volodymyr Saldo said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine allegedly struck bridges on the administrative border between Kherson region and Crimea near Chongar, the roadbed was damaged, there were no casualties.
07:42 At night, the Russians fired missiles at the residential sector in the Krivoy Rog district - ten private houses, a gas pipeline, water supply, and power lines were damaged. The Russian army also fired heavy artillery at Nikopol three times. People were not injured, said the head of the Dnipropetrovsk OVA Serhiy Lysak.
07:24 The Russian army continues to focus its main efforts on the Limansky, Bakhmutsky, Avdeevsky and Maryinsky directions, there are heavy battles. During the day, more than 40 combat clashes took place, the General Staff said in the morning summary .
06:33 Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kiev has received 45 Soviet-made aircraft, most of which are MiG-29 fighters and Su-25 attack aircraft, CNN reports. The main suppliers of such aircraft were Poland, North Macedonia and Slovakia. The advantage of Soviet aircraft is that Ukrainian pilots are already familiar with this technique, but the transferred models are inferior to Russian Su-35s.
06:02 At night, a loud explosion thundered in the Berdyansk region, which was heard even 50 km in the village. Urzuf, Mariupol region. According to the adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, Petr Andryushchenko, with reference to local residents, there was a hit in the place of concentration of Russians at the Troyanda recreation center in the village. Azovskoe, Berdyansk region. After the explosion, a fire started, the glow was observed for more than an hour.