Today is the 116th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the governor of the Lugansk region of eastern Ukraine, Serguii Gaidai, says that “we must prepare for the worst”. Russian and Ukrainian forces clash in the streets in Severodonetsk, while Russian artillery fire is permanent in Lyssychansk. No chance of peace on the horizon. Indeed: the secretary general of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, in an interview with Bild argues that the war in Ukraine “could last for years”. And he adds: «We must not stop supporting Ukraine, even if the cost is high, not only for military support, but also for the increase in energy and food prices.
The G7 will clarify at the upcoming summit in late June in Elmau that Ukraine can expect to receive the support it needs “as long as it is needed”. German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, explains that he intends to use the Elmau summit precisely to discuss the long-term prospects for the invaded country: “We want to ensure that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s calculations don’t work,” says Scholz.
In Lysytchansk, there are signs of preparations for street fighting: soldiers are digging holes and mounting barbed wire, and police are placing burnt vehicles across the streets to slow traffic. Life is very hard for those who have remained in the city, in the cellars, without a telephone network, running water or electricity.
The analysis – Bread or cannons, the moral dilemma of the West
The background – How difficult it is to leave Putin: Western companies at the crossroads
Giannini’s editorial – The willing executioners of national disunity
How to donate – Mirror of the Times Foundation
Updates hour by hour:
07.30 – Johnson: preparing for a long war, time a vital factor
“I fear it is necessary to prepare for a long war, as Putin is resorting to a campaign of attrition, trying to crush Ukraine with brutality.” The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, says this – in line with the NATO Secretary General, in his speech on Sunday Times. «Time – he highlights – is a vital factor. Everything will depend on the fact that Ukraine manages to strengthen its ability to defend the territory faster than Russia can renew its attack capacity ».
07.00 – The Kremlin: almost two million people evacuated
Russia has evacuated nearly 2 million people from Ukraine, including 307,000 minors, since the start of the “special military operation”. This was announced by the head of the Russian National Defense Management Center, Mijai’l Mi’zintsev, collected today by the agency Sputnik. Today alone, 29,733 people from dangerous areas were evacuated “without the participation of the Ukrainian authorities” and from the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Donbas Lugansk. Mi’zintsev added that Russia has sent over 33,000 tons of humanitarian aid to civilians.
01.00 – Russian entrepreneurs arrive in Kherson
The head of the military-civil administration of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, announced that “Russian entrepreneurs are coming, without fear of sanctions and risks”. The Russian agency reports Ria Novosti. “Crimean and Donetsk entrepreneur stores are opening. The markets all work, ”she said. During the special operation, the Russian army took control of the Kherson region and the Azov part of the Zaporozhye region in southern Ukraine. Civil-military administrations have been formed in the regions, the ruble has been introduced and Russian television and radio channels are broadcast.
Here’s what happened on Saturday 18 June