The Central News Agency reported that the governor of Luhansk region (Severodonetsk), Sergiy Gaiday, said on June 20 that the Ukrainian army had lost control of Medio, a neighboring village of Severodonetsk. The control of the village of Erkinje, which had a population of about 1,000 before the war, became the latest village to fall around Severodnetsk. Severodnetsk has been at the heart of weeks of intense fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russian forces.
The mayor of Severodnetsk, Oleksandr Stryuk, told Ukrainian television that street fighting continued day and night. We are putting more and more manpower into this offensive, storming the city, trying to push our troops back.”
The Azot chemical plant in the city of Severodnetsk was “constantly” bombarded by Russian troops, where hundreds of civilians were said to be hiding, Gede said. The evacuation has been impossible for several days after the last remaining bridge between Severodnetsk and Lysychansk was bombed.
According to foreign media reports, Lisichansk also showed signs of preparing for “street fighting”, with Guede saying: “There is a saying that as long as we prepare for the worst, the best will happen, and of course we have to prepare. “
In addition, Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, was hit by Russian missiles, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov also confirmed this, and Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Vadym Denysenko Said that Russia wants to turn Kharkiv into a front-line city again.
Attacks off the coast of Crimea reported for the first time since Russia-Ukraine war
Sergei Aksyonov, the leader of the Russian-controlled Crimea peninsula, said on Telegram on the 20th that Ukraine had attacked the oil rig of the oil and gas company Chernomorneftegaz off the coast of Crimea, the Central News Agency reported. Crimea was annexed by Moscow in 2014.
Aksenoff said five people were rescued, three of them injured. “I am in contact with our colleagues in the Ministry of Defense and the FSB (Russian Federal Security Service), and we are trying to save people.”
This is the first attack on energy infrastructure off the coast of Crimea since the Russian-Ukrainian war on February 24. Aksenoff did not specify which rigs were affected, although the company operates several gas and oil fields in the Black and Azov Seas.
The bad film of the Russian front line reveals anxiety?Putin once again liquidated the general’s first use of new high-precision missiles
Battalion Tactical Group (BTG) is a joint arms mobile unit of the Russian Army. Each BTG has about 600-800 officers and soldiers. It suffered heavy losses in this Russian-Ukrainian war. The General Intelligence Service of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense (GUR) posted an intercepted telephone communication of the Russian army on the official Twitter PO. Two soldiers were discussing the terrible situation in their unit. One soldier angrily mentioned how the commander forced the soldiers to go to the battlefield. The collapse called out that there were only 10 to 15 people left in the BTG he belonged to, “This is a desperate situation, do you understand?”
Another soldier criticized the fact that the statistics posted on the wall of the brigade finger said that the unit’s available combat power still has 87% of its establishment. “Can you believe what these other X’s are doing?!” He said dissatisfiedly. : “We don’t even have 10% here! Fuck this shit!”
The two complained that their units had almost nothing, stressed a reluctance to continue fighting in Ukraine, and hoped the commander would allow them to return home.
In addition, the Twitter account “@KilledInUkraine” stated in a Twitter PO post that Major Khlebko Alexandrovich of the 7th Independent Reconnaissance Battalion of the 47th Armored Division of Russia was killed in Ukraine. The news of his death was also confirmed by Russian officials.
According to foreign media reports, the Ukrainian army shot down a Russian Su-25 attack aircraft on the 19th, and it was reported that the pilot, former Russian Air Force Major Andrey Fedorchuk, was captured. Fedochuk admitted during the interrogation that he was a member of the Wagner mercenary. The price of fighting in Ukraine was a monthly salary of 205,000 rubles. He had participated in the bombing of Ukrainian cities. This time he was shot down during an attack on a Ukrainian army base. In addition, he complained that the Russian Air Force’s onboard navigation equipment was very inaccurate, and that his own Garmin navigation system and the ProNebo navigation software for his smartphone were more accurate than it.
The Russian army suffered heavy losses in the war, and Putin was outraged by this. Many top Russian generals were liquidated. Foreign media reported that it was reported that the commander of the Russian Airborne Forces General Serdyukov (Andrey Serdyukov) was dismissed due to the mass casualties of paratroopers. Russian sources suggest that the Russian army has lost nearly 50,000 soldiers in Ukraine.
Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesman for the Odessa Regional Military Administration, claimed that Putin had appointed the current chief of staff of the Central Military District, General Mikhail Teplinsky, to succeed Serdyukov and appointed him as The deputy commander, Teprinski, from the Donetsk region, is considered the “butcher of the Butcha incident”.
The Russian “Satellite News Agency” quoted military sources as revealing on the 19th that high-precision guided air-to-ground missiles code-named “305” have been used, mounted by the Air Force Mi-28NM attack helicopters, targeting the Ukrainian military ammunition depot and fuel depot. and other important goals.
The source said the “305” air-to-surface missile was developed by the Kolomna Engineering Design Bureau, with an accuracy margin of error of no more than 2 meters, a range of 14.5 kilometers and a launch weight of 105 kilograms. The missile, which made its debut last year at the “Army-2021” exhibition in Russia, is tentatively named Izdeliye 305 (meaning “Product 305”), and the official name has not yet been decided.
Not only was the Russian frontline unfavorable, the Eastern European online media “NEXTA” released a video on the Telegram channel with the title “The great and invincible leader of this superpower is bored and bites his nails.”
The video shows Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on the 17th, which was delayed by nearly two hours due to a cyber hacking attack. In his speech, he criticized the West for trying to bring down Russia with an economic “blitzkrieg”. However, when Putin attended the meeting, the strange picture of “biting nails” came out, which accidentally triggered a topic. Some netizens were hotly discussing that when they were nervous, anxious, and depressed, some people would unconsciously use nail biting to relieve mental pressure and distress; some Netizens believe that it looks like picking teeth or booger with hands, and it seems that the hygiene habits are not good.
Putin calls the restoration of relations between Russia and Ukraine “inevitable”, ally Kazakh slaps in the face in public: does not recognize the two independent republics of Ukraine and East
“CNN” reported that Putin said at the “St. Petersburg International Economic Forum” on the 17th that based on the fact that the situation will “normalize” sooner or later, Russia looks forward to co-prosperity with neighboring countries. inevitable”.
Putin also said that he does not oppose Ukraine’s accession to economic unions such as the European Union, but he opposes Ukraine’s continued development of military forces and threatens Russia’s national defense, so he does not agree with Ukraine’s participation in military organizations such as NATO; The European Union, then in the end it will only be a “half colony of the West”, adding “this is just my opinion”.
“Bloomberg” also reported that Putin once again tried to rationalize Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine during his speech at the forum. However, when it comes to the pro-Russian forces in Ukraine who declared their independence on their own, Donetsk and the Luhansk People’s Republic, the Russian tradition of attending the talks. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, an ally, directly slapped Putin in the face, saying that Kazakhstan does not recognize the independence of the two regions, and said that if the right to self-determination was implemented around the world, the United Nations would have more than 600 countries, instead of the current 193 One, “will be chaotic”.
Kazakhstan is Russia’s traditional military and political ally and a member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), which Moscow spearheaded to counter the European Union. Large-scale unrest broke out in Kazakhstan in January this year, and Putin also sent troops into the country to help calm the unrest at Tokayev’s request.
Ukraine has set a counter-offensive target and may resume the Russia-Ukraine peace talks at the end of August, and the Congress will pass two laws banning Russian books and music
Regarding the situation in Russia and Ukraine, “CNN” interviewed US officials and pointed out that people are increasingly worried that if Russia and Ukraine do not return to the negotiating table to reach an agreement, the war may continue to prolong or even evolve into a situation of several years. The Biden administration believes that there is no prospect of any diplomatic breakthrough or ceasefire in the short term.
At present, the Ukrainian army is bravely resisting the Russian army’s offensive in the east of Uzbekistan, and also launched a counter-offensive in the south of Uzbekistan, trying to recover the occupied homeland. The head of the Ukrainian negotiating delegation, David Arakhamia, revealed in an interview with VOA on the 17th that Ukraine is expected to resume peace talks with Russia after the counter-offensive reaches a stage at the end of August. After the counter-offensive, we can get better bargaining chips.” He also mentioned, “We can consider some political treaties, such as the one proposed in Istanbul, for example, we will not touch the Crimea issue for several years, We will not do it militarily, but diplomatically.”
In addition, foreign media reported that the Ukrainian parliament voted on the 19th to pass two laws, one of which will prohibit Russian citizens from printing books and prohibit the commercial import of books printed in the occupied territories of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. To import Russian books from any other country, special permission must first be obtained.
Another law prohibits the use of music played by people who have obtained Russian citizenship after 1991 in the media and public transport, and will increase the proportion of Ukrainian content and music on television and radio.
Although the two laws have yet to be signed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, there is no indication that he will object. The bill also received general support in Congress, including many pro-Russian members. Ukraine says the moves, which used to be called “decommunisation” and are now more commonly known as “derussification”, have also asked hundreds of sites in the capital Kyiv to be renamed to get rid of Links with Russia.
Blockade of Ukrainian grain exports was condemned for war crimes Russia did not expect to be blocked by Lithuania
The European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Josep Borrell, told a meeting of EU foreign ministers on the 20th that Russia would be held accountable if it continued to block much-needed grain exports from Ukraine, Agence France-Presse reported. “While the world is suffering from famine, it is unimaginable that millions of tons of grain are still in Ukraine and cannot be exported. This is a real war crime.”
The West has demanded that Moscow stop blocking Ukraine’s Black Sea ports so that the massive stockpiles of grain can be shipped to global markets to avoid a food crisis.
Moscow claims that rising food prices and shortages in the Middle East and Africa are due to EU sanctions against Russia. The EU has pushed back against Moscow’s claims, with Porrell saying: “I will insist that European sanctions did not lead to this crisis – our sanctions are not on food, not on fertilizers. The problem is Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian grain exports.”
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on the 20th that Germany supports Poland and Romania in modifying railways so that grains stuck in Ukraine can be sent out, and Germany is working with all parties to handle this matter.
“It’s clear that in the end we’ll never be able to get all the grain out, but even exporting some of it through multiple pipelines can help us face this global challenge,” Bellburke said.
No progress has been made so far, despite the EU backing the UN to act as an arbitrator to get Ukraine, Russia and Turkey to coordinate a package that would allow the grain to be exported.
Russia ignored the international community’s call to stop blocking Ukrainian grain exports to the world. The Central News Agency reported that the Russian Foreign Ministry asked the Lithuanian authorities on the 20th to immediately lift the blockade restrictions on the transfer of goods on the railway in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
“Russia reserves the right to take action in order to defend the country’s interests if the transshipment of goods via Lithuania in the Kaliningrad region and other parts of the territory of the Russian Federation cannot be fully resumed in the near future,” the Russian foreign ministry said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the Kremlin had summoned the Lithuanian Chargé d’affaires in Moscow to protest the “provocative” and “openly hostile” measure.
Kaliningrad is Russia’s westernmost territory, not connected to the Russian mainland, but bordered by Poland and Lithuania.
Lithuania announced last week that it would ban Russian railways from transporting EU-sanctioned goods to Kaliningrad. The product list includes coal, metals, construction materials and advanced technology.
According to Kaliningrad Governor Anton Alikhanov, the ban will affect about 50 percent of all imports in the state.