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Today’s developments in Russia’s war against Ukraine | Ukraine war news | Al Jazeera

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Today’s developments in Russia’s war against Ukraine | Ukraine war news | Al Jazeera
  • Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian ports and blocking its food exports has fueled fears of a global food crisis amounting to a “war crime”, the EU’s top diplomat said.
  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky believes that Russia is expected to intensify its attacks on Ukraine while Kyiv awaits a decision by the European Union to grant it candidacy status.
  • The governor of eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region has warned that fighting in Severo Donetsk is raging “almost 24 hours a day” as Russia tries to take full control of the strategically important city.
Russian-Ukrainian War
Which powers control the various regions of Ukraine?
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed that Russia is expected to intensify its attacks on Ukraine while Kyiv awaits a decision by the European Union to grant it candidate state status. Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers will discuss how to release millions of tons of food stranded in Ukraine at a meeting in Luxembourg on the 20th. (Al Jazeera)

Here are the latest developments since the war entered today:

Germany claims to be working with Poland, Romania to free trapped Ukrainian grain

German Foreign Minister Belle Burke said Berlin supported Poland and Romania in renovating railways to allow export of millions of tons of grain stranded in Ukraine due to Russia’s maritime blockade.

“The railroad tracks need to be modernized, we need the right wagons – the German government is working with many others,” Bellburke noted when he arrived in Luxembourg for a meeting with EU foreign ministers.

“Obviously we’re definitely not going to be able to get all the food out in the end, but if we do manage to get some of it out in various ways, it’s going to be helpful as we face global challenges.”

Top EU diplomat: Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian grain exports a war crime

EU foreign policy chief Borrell believes that Russia’s blockade of millions of tons of Ukrainian grain exports is a war crime.

“We’re calling on Russia to lift the blockade of (Ukrainian) ports … it’s unthinkable, one can’t imagine that millions of tons of wheat in Ukraine are still at a time when the rest of the world is starving,” he told reporters. blocked state.”

“It’s a real war crime, so I can’t imagine this going on much longer,” he added.

Governor: War in Severo Donetsk continues day and night

Ukrainian troops held their positions in the eastern city of Severo-Donetsk and fought day and night, Luhansk Governor Khaidai said.

“The enemy often uses prohibited ammunition,” Haidai wrote on Telegram.

Mayor Alexander Strucker said that when Russian troops gained control of all residential areas in Severo Donetsk, they were expelling residents of the city.

Ukraine says 323 children killed in war

Ukraine’s attorney general’s office said 323 children were killed and 586 wounded in the war.

An 8-year-old girl was injured in the shelling in the village of Zheleznoye in Donetsk on the 19th, the office said.

In the Kharkiv region, another 13-year-old and a 14-year-old were injured by shrapnel when a shell fell into a pool while swimming, the office said.

A woman covers her ears during a Russian airstrike in the Luhansk region of Ukraine on June 16, 2022 (AP)

Russian official: Ukraine unfit to join EU

The head of the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament), Vyaches Volodin, said Ukraine was not a suitable option for EU membership.

“Total corruption, rampant crime, an oligarchy and a broken economy are the hallmarks of modern Ukraine. Europe understands this very well…but its desire to weaken Russia prevails,” Volodin wrote on Telegram.

Volodin also noted that the EU is ready to grant Ukraine candidate status because Washington and Brussels want to “continue to remain hostile.”

He also added, “The outcome for Ukraine will be sad. The center of decision-making will officially move to Brussels. It will eventually lose its independence.”

UK: Russian Air Force underperforming in Ukraine

The British Ministry of Defence said the Russian air force was underperforming in Ukraine and that Moscow’s operations depended more than originally planned on exhausted ground forces and advanced cruise missiles, which were already in dwindling numbers.

In an intelligence briefing posted on Twitter, the British Ministry of Defence cited the inadequacy of the Russian Air Force as one of the most important factors limiting its success in Ukraine, adding that the Russian Air Force was “unwilling to take risks … very little deep into Ukraine.” rear”.

“While Russia has reasonably modern and well-performing fighter jets, the Russian Air Force has almost certainly failed to develop the institutional culture and skills required by its personnel to meet Russia’s requirements for implementing a more Western approach to modern air operations,” the report added. desire.”

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Police: 3 children in Kharkiv injured in shelling

The head of the Kharkiv regional police force said that three children were injured in the Russian shelling on the 19th.

The person in charge wrote on Facebook that the attack took place in the city of Kharkiv, as well as in Chuhuiv, Lyubotyn, Baranivka, Ivanivka, Korobochkino and other villages and towns.

“In the village of Ivanivka, 3 children were injured,” the official noted. “Due to the increased intensity of shelling in the city … Kharkiv Metro has been opened to the public, where they can wait for the danger to be lifted.”

Von der Leyen confident in Ukraine’s EU candidacy

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has expressed confidence that Ukraine will qualify for a formal candidacy ahead of an important EU summit in Brussels later this month.

Von der Leyen told a reporter from the German Public Broadcasting Corporation on the evening of the 19th, “I firmly believe that we will get a positive decision, we will get support, and the route has been determined.”

“Of course, this is also a historic decision that the European Council must take now, but preparations have been done well,” she said, adding that she was “very confident” in Ukraine’s prospects.

Von der Leyen’s comments came after the European Commission said on Friday that it supported the formal designation of Ukraine and Moldova as candidates for EU membership. The EU’s 27 member states will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to discuss the European Commission’s proposal.

Governor: Two dead in Donetsk region, shelling destroys a market

The Kubyshevsky district of Donetsk, Ukraine, was heavily shelled on the 19th, a residential area was damaged, and the local market was filled with smoke. Currently, the region is controlled by Russian-backed separatists.

Olga Calagodina, the owner of a local store, said: “You said where they would fire and what they would attack, but the fire kept coming at us.”

She also said, “We didn’t open the door today and we haven’t been able to go out since 8am.”

Elsewhere in the Donetsk region, including the villages of Maksimilyanivka and Zaitsevo, Russian troops killed two civilians and wounded 12 others on Sunday, local officials said.

A woman walks past destroyed buildings inside a local market in Donetsk, Ukraine, June 19, 2022 (Reuters)

Ben Stiller appears in Lviv

According to Reuters, Hollywood actor Ben Stiller was spotted on the 18th in central Lviv, western Ukraine, talking on the phone while walking.

According to a post on social media, he is working with the UN refugee agency to support Ukrainian refugees.

Stiller, a UNHCR goodwill ambassador, traveled to the Polish-Ukrainian border to meet with refugees who were forced to flee Ukraine, “to share their stories and strengthen calls for solidarity,” UNHCR noted on Twitter. He was later seen crossing Lviv’s central square.

The actor also announced on Twitter that he “arrived in Poland ahead of World Refugee Day to meet people whose lives have been affected by the war in Ukraine.”

British Army chief: Britain must have a military capable of defeating Russia

The UK must have an army capable of fighting in Europe and defeating Russia, local media quoted the new army chief as saying to the army.

According to the British “Independent” report on the 19th, the British Army Commander Patrick Sanders, who took office this month, told his troops, “I am the first since 1941 to take over under the shadow of the involvement of a continental power in land warfare. Chief of General Staff of the Army.”

He also said, “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine underlines our core goal of protecting Britain by preparing to fight and winning a land war.”

Russian troops shell Ukrainian border

Russian troops shelled a town in Sumy on the Ukrainian border repeatedly on the 19th, destroying at least 10 private buildings, the regional governor said.

“They fired mortars at the residential area of ​​Seredyna Buda town. At least 10 civilian private homes and outbuildings were damaged. One house was set on fire,” the governor said on Telegram. burn.”

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Later in the day, the official also said preliminary data showed no casualties, but that was still being verified.

A screenshot from a video released on June 19, 2022 shows a building on fire after being shelled in the town of Seredina-Buda, in Ukraine’s Sumy region (Reuters)

Russia pledges to continue gas deliveries to Hungary

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Sialto said in an interview with Public Service Radio that Russia has pledged to continue sending natural gas to Hungary, and that Moscow’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom will honor its contractual obligations to Hungary.

Sialto said on the 19th that the CEO of Gazprom and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Novak assured him on the phone. But the minister did not say when the phone call took place.

Under an agreement signed with Gazprom last year, Hungary receives 3.5 billion cubic meters of gas a year through Bulgaria and Serbia, and another 1 billion cubic meters through a pipeline in Austria.

Gazprom has cut off contracts to supply gas to Germany through Denmark’s Oster and Shell Energy in response to Western sanctions on Russia following its military campaign against Ukraine. It also cut off supply to Dutch gas trader Terra and to Bulgaria, Poland and Finland after they refused to pay for Russian gas in rubles under a new requirement.

Top EU human rights official conducts fact-finding investigation in Ukraine

A top EU human rights official said there would be a thorough investigation into war crimes committed by Ukraine.

Eamon Gilmore, the European Union’s special human rights representative, noted, “When we talk about war crimes, we’re not just talking about those who committed them … of course they are responsible. But we’re also talking about those who People in the chain of command, even the top leadership if necessary.”

Gilmore spoke after walking around the rubble and damaged cars in the town of Irbin near Kyiv, which saw heavy fighting early in the military campaign.

The trip to Irbin was aimed at highlighting what Ukraine and its supporters say were mass atrocities committed by Russian troops, with German Chancellor Schultz describing the scene as “unimaginable cruelty” and “senseless violence.”

Report: Japanese PM eyeing engagement with leaders of South Korea, Australia, New Zealand

According to Japan’s “Yomiuri Shimbun”, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is considering holding a summit with leaders of South Korea, Australia and New Zealand during the NATO meeting in June this year to demonstrate the four countries’ solidarity stance on China.

The leaders of the four Asia-Pacific countries were invited to a NATO meeting in Madrid in June, convened by members of the alliance to send a signal of international solidarity over the Ukraine crisis.

Russia-backed militants: Surrendered Ukrainian fighters testify against comrades

Ukrainian militants who surrendered to Russian-backed forces in the Metyolkine settlement are testifying against their comrades who were hiding in a chemical plant in the eastern city of Severo Donetsk, according to Russian state news agency TASS. Moscow said Mayorkin was now under its control.

According to reports by Russian news agencies, the militias of the Russian-backed “Luhansk People’s Republic” said on the 19th that Ukraine was stationed at the Edar Battalion in Luhansk during the Russian occupation of Meyokin on the outskirts of Severo Donetsk Aidar soldiers surrendered to the militia on the 18th, but did not disclose how many Ukrainian troops surrendered, only claiming that they included the commander of the unit.

Citing sources close to the militia, TASS news agency reported on the 20th that the Russian-backed separatists were now using information provided to them by the Edar battalion to negotiate with Ukrainian soldiers still at the Azot chemical plant.

Hundreds of civilians and some Ukrainian soldiers have been hiding inside the chemical plant in Severo Donetsk. The governor of Luhansk said that the Russian army was bombing the factory every day.

Russian official and close Yeltsin aide Burbliss dies at 76

Gennady Burbulis, a top aide to former Russian President Boris Yeltsin who helped craft and sign the treaty that led to the formal collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991, has died at the age of 76.

As Russia’s secretary of state and first vice-president from 1991 to 1992, Burbliss played an important role in leading the newly formed post-Soviet state.

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He and Yeltsin were signatories of the agreement between Russia and Ukraine and Belarus to dissolve the Soviet Union on December 8, 1991. The agreement was signed in Belovezh, in what is now Belarus.

Bullbliss, the third key figure in the deal, has died in the past few weeks. Former Ukrainian President Kravchuk and former Belarusian President Shuskovich also died in May this year.

Burbliss is pictured during an interview in Moscow, Russia, August 16, 2021 (The Associated Press)

Ukraine investigates Russian soldiers for sexual violence

Ukraine’s deputy prosecutor noted that Kyiv had brought 19 criminal charges against Russian soldiers for raping at least 14 women in temporarily occupied territory.

“Every criminal must be punished,” the Ukrainian official tweeted.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has verified cases of sexual violence against women and men in Ukraine, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Usnate Lubrani, said on Tuesday.

“Due to active hostilities, large-scale internal displacement, stigma associated with sexual violence, and disruptions to diversion routes, survivors are often unable or unwilling to report such incidents to law enforcement authorities or service providers,” Lubrani said. .”

Zelensky visits front, UK, NATO warn Ukraine war will continue for a long time

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned Western allies to prepare for a prolonged war in Ukraine.

When Johnson and Stoltenberg issued separate warnings on the 18th, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky inspected the front lines in the Nikolayev and Odessa regions in the south of the country and declared locally that Ukrainians “Definitely” defeats the invading Russian army.

Writing in The Sunday Times, Johnson called for continued support for Ukraine, saying the country’s foreign backers should remain courageous and ensure Ukraine has “the strategic stamina to survive and ultimately win”.

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EU seeks to free Ukrainian grain trapped in Russia’s maritime blockade

EU foreign ministers will meet in Luxembourg on the 20th to discuss how to release millions of tons of grain stranded in Ukraine due to the blockade of Russia’s Black Sea ports.

The EU supports a UN-brokered deal to resume Ukrainian maritime exports in exchange for Russian food and fertilizer exports, but that would require approval from Moscow.

Turkey, which has good relations with both Kyiv and Moscow, said it was ready to play a role in the “observation mechanism” in Istanbul if a deal was reached. It is unclear whether the EU will engage in military action to secure such a deal.

“Whether there will be a need to escort these merchant ships in the future, that’s a question mark, and I don’t think we’re there yet,” an EU official told Reuters.

Russia advances in battle for key eastern Ukraine city

Russia said Russian troops had seized a village near the Ukrainian industrial city of Severo Donetsk, a key target for Moscow’s control of eastern Ukraine.

Japan’s defense ministry said on the 19th that it had won the victory over Metyolkine, a settlement with fewer than 800 inhabitants before the war broke out. Russian state news agency TASS reported that many Ukrainian militants had surrendered there.

Moscow said on the 19th that its offensive to capture Severo Donetsk had been successful.

Luhansk Governor Khaydai told Ukrainian TV reporters that the fighting made it impossible to evacuate people from the city, but “all claims by the Russians that they control the city are lies. They control the main part of the town, but not the entirety.” town.”

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Zelensky expects Russia to step up attack on Ukraine

Zelensky said Russia is expected to intensify its attacks on Ukraine as Kyiv awaits a decision by the European Union to grant it candidacy status.

“Obviously this week we should expect an intensification of Russian hostilities,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

“And not just for Ukraine, but also for other European countries. We are preparing. We are ready.”


Click here to see all the important developments for Sunday, June 19.

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