Russo-Ukraine War - 17 June 2022 - Day 114
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On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Putin stressed that Moscow's goal is the demilitarization and denazification of the country. The military buildup in preceeding months makes it obvious that the unprovoked and dastardly Russian attack was deliberately planned long in advance. During the intervening time, the Russian government had deliberately sought to deceive the world by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.
"To initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." [Judgment of the International Military Tribunal]
The one hundred and fourteenth day of the Ukrainian nation's heroic confrontation with the Russian military invasion began.
The 25th anniversary St. Petersburg International Economic Forum ( SPIEF ) this year was noticeably inferior to last year both in terms of the number of guests and their, to put it mildly, status. Now delegations from 40 countries have arrived, last time they were from 140 states... In 2017, the forum was visited by the Austrian Chancellor, in 2018 by the President of France, and in 2019 by Chinese leader Xi Jinping. In this - visitors from Namibia, Mali, Ethiopia, Syria ... Do not forget about the Taliban from Afghanistan banned in the Russian Federation. Diplomats in turbans were among the first to come to the plenary session hall to listen to the speech of the Russian leader.
The wait for the head of state was somewhat delayed due to the attack of hackers. Cybercriminals from Ukraine, England, Poland, Romania, and the Czech Republic put down the SPIEF internal pass system. Name badges stopped working, and the guards did not understand who could enter the presidential speech hall and who could not. It took the forum geeks an hour and a half to restore the system. Whether therefore, whether because of epid. restrictions in the hall left a lot of empty seats.
"The EU is not a military organization. We have always said: we have nothing against it. This is a sovereign decision of any country to join economic associations. Let the EU countries themselves decide how expedient it is for them. But if Ukraine does not protect its domestic market, it will finally turn into a semi-colony," the head of the country said.
"Where did the problem of 2014 come from? Yanukovych said he should think about association with the EU. If you read the requirements, they completely killed all the main industries. It was proposed to open the customs gates for cheap and high-quality products from Europe. And so it happened! He didn't say I don't want to. He wanted to think. And in the end, everything was lost. Well, who in the EU needs the Ukrainian aircraft industry? And the motors? All Russian helicopters - civil and military - were with Ukrainian engines. Who needs them, except us?" he asked.
The June 17 decision by the European Commission recommended that Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia be given a "European perspective" -- in other words, announcing for the first time ever that the trio of countries can become European Union members in the future. With Ukraine and Moldova, the commission went even further, recommending that the two countries be granted European Union candidate status, a first step in the long process of accession.
The European Commission has recommended that Ukraine and Moldova be granted candidate status and then fulfill certain conditions before moving along their respective accession paths. But for Georgia, conditions must first be met before its candidate status can even be considered. While the EU is impressed by Ukraine's courage and resilience in the face of war and Moldova's reform-minded government, there are concerns about what is perceived as Tbilisi's "political backsliding" in recent years. In addition to Ukraine and Moldova, the other official candidates to join the EU are North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Serbia, and Turkey.
The UK Ministry of Defence reported that over the last 24 hours, Russian forces continued to attempt to regain momentum on the Popasna axis, from which they seek to surround the Sieverodonetsk pocket from the south. In Russia, the war has accelerated the state’s long-term trajectory towards authoritarianism. In recent weeks, the Duma has started the process to introduce a 20-year sentence for Russians who fight against the Russian Federation. Speaking out against the invasion is also being criminalised. Despite the majority of Russians telling pollsters they support the ‘special military operation’, elements of the population both actively and passively demonstrate their opposition.
The “Freedom for Russia Legion”, recruited from Russians, has almost certainly deployed in combat alongside the Ukrainian military. Some high profile Russian officials have highly likely been side-lined after criticising the war. Scepticism about the war is likely also particularly strong amongst Russia’s business elite and oligarch community. Migration applications suggest that 15,000 Russian millionaires (in US dollars) are likely already attempting to leave the country. Motivations highly likely include both personal opposition to the invasion and an intent to escape the financial impact of the sanctions imposed on Russia. Should this exodus continue, it will likely exacerbate the war’s long-term damage to Russia’s economy.
General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine spokesman Oleksandr Shtupun reported that in the Volyn and Polissya areas, the main efforts of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus are focused on reconnaissance, engineering positions and protection of the state border. The threat of missile and air strikes remains. In the northern direction, the Russians continue to conduct demonstrations. The Russians fired artillery at a unit of the Defense Forces in the border areas of Sumy and Chernihiv regions.
In the Kharkiv direction, the Russian's main efforts are focused on maintaining the occupied borders, preventing the Defense Forces from entering the state border and the rear of the group of troops operating in the Slavic direction. The Russians tried to conduct reconnaissance by fighting in the area of the settlement of Kochubiyivka. Ukrainian soldiers responded with accurate fire and the Russians retreated. In the Slavic direction, the occupiers are concentrating their main efforts on continuing the offensive on Slavyansk. They are conducting reconnaissance in the area of Krasnopillya, the battle continues. The Russians tried to take full control of the village of Bogorodichne. Ukrainian soldiers successfully repulsed the assault.
Trying to create conditions for the development of the offensive on the city of Sloviansk, the Russians used artillery in the areas of the Valley, Krasnopillya, Dibrivno and Vernopil. The Russians did not take active action in the Lyman direction. In the Severodonetsk direction, the occupiers continue to fire from tube artillery and rocket artillery on units of Ukrainian troops, and inflicted an air strike on the settlement of Ustynivka.
Fighting continues for complete control over the city of Severodonetsk. The Russians moved in the direction of additional units of rocket artillery. In the Bakhmut direction, the defenders of Ukraine repulsed an Russians assault in the direction of the settlement of Zolote. The Russians retreated. The occupiers tried to advance in the direction of Vasylivka and Berestove. Ukrainian soldiers fired and forced the Russians to flee. No active offensive actions of the Russians were recorded in the Avdiivka, Kurakhiv, Novopavliv and Zaporizhzhya areas. The Russians launched air strikes near New York, Avdiivka and Pobeda.
In the South Bug direction, the Russians used artillery and rocket-propelled grenade launchers in the areas of the settlements of Kulbakino, Mykolaivka, Stepova Dolyna, Murakhivka, Novopavlivske, Shevchenkove, Zorya, Partizanske, Kvitneve, Novohryhorivka, Kiselivka, Kniazivka, Osokorivka, Lupareve and Posad-Pokrovske. Ukrainian aircraft struck at Russians clusters in Kherson, Kakhovka and Beryslav districts of Kherson region.
The Russians continued to block civilian shipping in the northwestern Black Sea. In its waters are two carriers of cruise missiles naval base type "Caliber" The Russians continues to suffer losses in personnel, weapons and equipment. During the day, in the Donetsk region, soldiers of the Territorial Defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine shot down a Mi-35M helicopter. There are successes in Zaporozhye as well. In the Kherson region, the Russians has significant losses in manpower.
The Russian tug "Vasily Bekh", which was hit by the Ukrainian military today, sank, said the head of the Odessa regional military administration Maxim Marchenko. "This morning, our naval forces struck the Black Sea Fleet's support vessel, Vasily Bekh, with the Thor anti-aircraft missile system on board. It later became known that he had sunk, "he said in a video message. Marchenko hopes that the Ukrainian military will create an "underwater brigade of ships at the bottom of the Black Sea" in the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that the Russian tug Vasily Bekh was hit in the Black Sea. This happened while he was transporting ammunition, weapons and personnel of the Black Sea Fleet to Snake Island. The Navy noted that the tug "Vasily Bekh" built at the Astrakhan shipyard with a displacement of 1,605 tons was accepted into the Russian Black Sea Fleet in 2017.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valery Zaluzhny, called Severodonetsk a key point in the defense system of Luhansk region. He also said that Russian troops were trying to attack Luhansk region in nine directions at the same time. Russian officials have repeatedly announced the capture of Luhansk region "in the near future", but Russian forces have so far failed.
The head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration Serhiy Haidai said that all settlements in the region are under mass shelling. "The hottest spot is Severodonetsk. Street fights continue in the regional center, orcs control most of the city. Russian soldiers are dying en masse, but more and more assassins are coming to replace them every day. Severodonetsk is being destroyed "to zero", - he declared. According to the head of the Luhansk region, evacuation from Severodonetsk and the Azot plant is still impossible: "It's dangerous, we can't risk our residents. Security guarantees from the Russians are nothing. They never kept their word. " At the same time, Lysychansk remains under the control of Ukrainian troops, Gaidai adds. The Lysychansk-Bakhmut highway is not controlled by the Russian military, but is constantly under fire, and the road is impassable.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced the destruction of the headquarters of Ukrainian nationalists from the Azov battalion, located in the Kharkiv region. The corresponding statement was made as part of a regular morning briefing on June 17 by the official representative of the department, Igor Konashenkov. The Major General explained that the attack on a military facility near the settlement of Pesochin was delivered by high-precision air-launched missiles launched by Russian aircraft.
A total of 18 areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment were hit, as well as ten firing positions of Ukrainian artillery and mortar batteries, including six batteries of the Grad MLRS in the areas of Zaitsevo, Kurdymovka, Dzerzhinsk, Bakhmut, Artyomovo and Ocheretino of the DPR. The expert explained that Grad rocket launchers were eliminated near Zaitsev, Kurdimovka, Dzerzhinsk, Bakhmut, Artemovo and Ocheretino in the Donetsk People's Republic. Near the villages of Spornoe and Vyemka, there are two Ukrainian depots of rocket and artillery weapons and ammunition.
During a visit to Kyiv on June 17, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson proposed a large-scale training operation for the Ukrainian military, with up to 10,000 troops trained every 120 days. "My visit today is to send a clear and simple message to the Ukrainian people: Great Britain is with you, and we will be with you until you finally win. I proposed to President Zelensky a new major military training program that could change the balance of this war, using this most powerful force, Ukraine's determination to win. And I know that unshakable determination will survive President Putin's futile ambitions for a long time," said Boris Johnson.
"We congratulate the heroism of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the courage and bravery of your Armed Forces. I absolutely understand, Vladimir, why you and your people are not ready for any compromises with Putin, "Johnson told a news conference in Kyiv. However, he noted that there are all signs and evidence that the Russian troops themselves are under "heavy pressure."
"They are also suffering heavy losses and they are simply wasting their weapons. In the 114 days of the attack on Ukraine, they have not yet achieved the goals set for the first week, "said the British Prime Minister. "We are here to emphasize once again that we are with you, we want to provide you with strategic endurance. We will work to intensify sanctions against this regime, we will strengthen the world coalition in support of Ukraine, "Johnson said.
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