Timeline: day 113 of Ukraine's defense against russia's aggression
Today is June 16. russia's military attack on Ukraine has been going on for 113 weeks. We're reporting on the current news. The article will be updated.
What about today?
Key points
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi states that the occupiers are attacking the Luhansk region from nine directions. The enemy concentrated its main strike forces in the north of the Luhansk region. The ruscists used aircraft, multiple-rocket launchers, and artillery to oust our military. Sievierodonetsk is a critical point in the defense operation system of the Luhansk region. The city can not be considered otherwise.
"Everyone who is in line today is a hero. Thank you for your service! Thank you to everyone who supports and believes in the Armed Forces of Ukraine! Eternal memory and glory to the fallen soldiers! We will fight back! We will win!" Zaluzhnyi stressed.
Ukrainian defenders hold the fort and continue to deter the aggressor in the area of responsibility of the East operational and tactical grouping. Yesterday, June 15, our soldiers destroyed:
- 34 russian soldiers;
- one IFV;
- one APC;
- one MT-LB vehicle;
- one SPG gun;
- three artillery systems;
- two AT-T;
- two ammunition depots.
In the Zaporizhzhia direction, the Ukrainian military is conducting a defensive operation and holding back the russian army. At the same time, the Ukrainian troops inflict significant losses on the occupiers, both in equipment and personnel. During the past 24hrs, the Ukrainian forces destroyed:
- eight russian soldiers and 14 were wounded;
- seven 2S3 Akatsiya self-propelled guns;
- two enemy ammunition depots;
- one enemy position;
- one observation point.
The losses of the russian federation are approaching 33,000 soldiers.
By the Decree of the President of Ukraine on June 15, seven military units were awarded the honorary "For Courage and Bravery." These are the following military units of Ukraine's Air Force:
- 40th tactical aviation brigade;
- 831st tactical aviation brigade;
- 96th Kyiv Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade;
- 160th Odesa anti-aircraft missile brigade;
- 11th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment;
- 223rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment named after Ukrainian Sich Riflemen;
- 14th Bohdan Khmelnytskyi Radio Engineering Brigade.
Volodymyr Zelensky will participate in the G7 summit in Germany and the NATO summit in Madrid. "I gratefully accepted partners' invitation to participate in key international events: from Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the G7 summit in Germany, from NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the NATO summit in Madrid," Zelensky wrote on his Twitter page.
Humanitarian missions
Negotiations on the release of captured defenders of Mariupol continue. Most of them are being held by the russians in the temporarily occupied territory of the Donetsk region. Still, it is unknown whether all the prisoners are there, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksii Danilov said.
Who's coming to Ukraine?
On financial and information aid, weapons and politicians
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi arrived in Ukraine. "Today's train was the third one in a row. Not only I spent tonight on the train," said Ukrzaliznytsia Chairman Oleksandr Kamyshin, adding photos of the heads of France, Germany, and Italy.
At a train station in Kyiv, French President Emmanuel Macron said he had brought a message of unity and support to Ukrainians.
The plan of the visit of European leaders will include a trip to Irpin. "We will meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky to go to the site of the fighting where the killings took place and hold scheduled meetings. This city is Irpin," French President Emmanuel Macron told BFMTV.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis arrived in Kyiv with Macron, Scholz, and Draghi.
Yesterday, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin revealed the details of a new US military aid package at a briefing. It will include:
- 18 155-mm howitzers;
- 36,000 155-mm rounds of ammunition;
- 18 tactical vehicles for towing howitzers;
- additional shells to HIMARS;
- four cars for the repair of equipment;
- two coast guard systems with Harpoon missiles;
- thousands of protected radio stations;
- thousands of optical devices, including night vision.
Ukraine will receive American MLRS by the end of June, says General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a briefing at NATO Headquarters in Brussels. "By the end of this month, we will transfer HIMARS systems, ammunition, trained crews for operational use in the defense of Ukraine," the general said. Milley also added that to date, they had trained 420 Ukrainians on the M777 howitzer, 300 Ukrainians on the self-propelled M109, 129 on the 113 armored personnel carrier, and 100 on unmanned aerial systems, and 60 most recently, graduating on June 15, on the HIMARS.
A new aid package to Ukraine was also approved in the Czech Republic. Ceske Noviny reported this. The Czech government will transfer over 8 million korunas ($350,000) to Ukraine. The new military aid package will also include ammunition and chemical protection.
News from partners
EU candidate status for Ukraine is a priority for the Czech Republic. Prime Minister Petr Fiala stated this in his country's parliament. From July 1, the Czech Republic will hold the EU presidency, so he stressed that during this period, the Czech Republic has two goals: to grant Ukraine candidate status as soon as possible and to support the strictest sanctions against russia.
Life considering hostilities
Almost 2.5 million citizens have already returned to Ukraine. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, about a third of those forced to leave Ukraine as a result of russia's full-scale invasion have returned to Ukraine.
Kyiv and the region
Italian companies will help rebuild Irpin. The city council signed a memorandum with the University of Architecture of Venice and the Association of Italian Industrialists representative office.
Donetsk and Luhansk regions
In the Luhansk region, the russian army is pressuring the Ukrainian troops in Sievierodonetsk and Toshkivka and burning the villages of the Hirske and Popasna communities. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are holding back the enemy with all their might, Serhii Haidai, the head of the Luhansk Regional MilitaryAdministration, said. "The russian army is losing hundreds of fighters, finding reserves, and continuing to destroy Sievierodonetsk. Yesterday they hit the fiberglass enterprise's territory and the former measuring instrument plant."
In the Donetsk region, active hostilities are taking place along the entire front line; last night, russians conducted missile strikes on remote settlements, damaging and destroying houses, a meteorological station, an industrial enterprise, and a pig farm. One person was killed, and 13 were injured in one day.
Yesterday, a russian rocket hit a car with humanitarian aid from the World Cental the Kitchen, which was supposed to feed Mariupol residents at the YaMariupol centers. Mariupol Mayor's adviser Petro Andriushchenko reported about it.
Kharkiv region
Oleh Syneghbov, the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, informs about the night in the Kharkiv region:
- At night, the enemy struck with MLRS on the infrastructure of Kharkiv's Industrialnyi district. There are no victims.
- In the region, the occupiers fired on the settlements of Kharkiv, Chuhuiv, Bohodukhiv, Izyum, and Lozova districts.
- In the village of Lebiazhe, Chuhuiv district, residential buildings, and outbuildings were damaged by shelling. From the hit of the russian ammunition, there were fires in Zolochiv; the russians destroyed farm constructions and cars.
At the initiative of the Security Service of Ukraine, the authorities seized assets of russian companies worth UAH 40 million in the Kharkiv region. These are the property of 4 local enterprises, the founders and final beneficiaries of which are citizens and legal entities of the aggressor country.
Two of these companies are interconnected and trade in russian balancing and measuring equipment. The other two are engaged in wholesale and retail business in Ukraine.
The russians took two American volunteer fighters prisoner near Kharkiv, The Telegraph reports. According to the publication, it is about 39-year-old Alexander Drueke and 27-year-old Andy Huynh, who served as volunteers in one of the units of the Ukrainian army. They became the first Americans in the war to be captured by orcs.
Sumy region
The Sumy region is again under attack by a terrorist country russia. At night, the enemy launched a missile strike on the territory of the Sad community, Sumy district. Four people were killed, and at least six were injured. Information about the destruction and damage will be evaluated later.
At about 5 a.m., the russians launched one missile strike on the Krasnopillia community. Then they opened fire from their territory and shelled with mortars with a total of 26 strikes. As a result of the shelling, an outbuilding and a Daewoo Sens car caught fire, Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, head of the Sumy Regional Military Administration, said.
The occupiers fired helicopters at Hlukhiv in the Sumy region. Previously, the authorities recorded three missile launches, the North Operational Command informed.
Zaporizhzhia region
The opening of schools by the invaders in occupied Berdiansk is complicated by the resistance of Ukrainian teachers who refuse to teach according to russian programs, the Institute for the Study of War reports.
Kherson region
All children born in the Kherson region after February 24 automatically receive russian citizenship. Collaborator Kyrylo Stremousov stated this. "In the Kherson region, children born after February 24 automatically acquire russian citizenship. Orphans (living in the region) have already received citizenship," Stremousov said. russia continues to instill its citizenship in the region. Adults didn't want to take russian papers, so the occupiers began to correct the statistics at the expense of children.
Mykolaiv region
The russian invaders fired at the residential quarter of Mykolaiv from MLRS and aimed at the four-storeyed apartment house. The shelling continues in the Bereznehuvate community. russians also fired on the Shyroke community.
During the day, the russians fired on the village of Lymany of the Halytsyne community, resulting in two houses burning down; others have broken windows and doors. Because of enemy shelling, a house burned down in the village of Zasillia, the Pervomaiske community. The town of Pervomaiske was also shelled, because of which a residential building caught fire.
