Thursday, June 13

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Illustrative purposes only: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (L) and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrive at a joint press conference in Karmelita monastery, the Prime Minister’s office in Budapest on June 12, 2024. ( Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images)

Ukraine destroyed Russian S-300, S-400 systems’ radars in occupied Crimea, military says. Ukrainian forces destroyed two radars of S-300 and S-400 air defense systems in several areas in occupied Crimea overnight on June 12, Ukraine’s General Staff reported.

FT: Russia posts abducted Ukrainian children on government-linked adoption sites. One of the children had a new Russian name and a different age than the one listed on their Ukrainian document, and another had a Russianized version of their name. None of the information about the children indicated that they came from Ukraine.

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Police find evidence of Russian cluster munitions in Kyiv Oblast. Cluster munitions have been found at the site of a Russian missile attack in Kyiv Oblast, the region’s police reported on June 12.

Russian missile strike hits residential area in Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian officials report. The attack comes just a few hours after Russian forces launched a mass missile attack overnight on June 12, targeting multiple Ukrainian regions.

Military intelligence confirms 2 Russian Su-57 aircraft hit in recent strike. Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) can confirm that two of the Russian Su-57 fighter jets were hit during a strike on the Akhtubinsk airfield in Astrakhan Oblast, but one of them suffered only light damage, the agency’s spokesperson, Andrii Yusov, said on air on June 12.

Russia deploys assault units from 8 brigades in Pokrovsk, Kurakhove sectors, Syrskyi says. Russia deployed the largest number of assault units from eight strike brigades in the Pokrovsk and Kurakhove sectors in Donetsk Oblast, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi said on June 12.

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Ukraine war latest: Russian radar systems in occupied Crimea, military says

Ukrainian forces destroyed two radars of S-300 and S-400 air defense systems in several areas in occupied Crimea overnight on June 12, Ukraine’s General Staff reported.

Photo: Yury Shipilov/Wikipedia

Inside Ukraine’s prison recruitment efforts to bolster front-line troops

New Ukrainian legislation allowing military service for prisoners convicted of certain felonies, including manslaughter, offers a unique opportunity: parole in exchange for joining an assault unit, monthly pay, and social welfare for soldiers, writes Alexander Khrebet in his latest field report.

Photo: Alexander Khrebet / The Kyiv Independent

Human cost of war

At least 9 dead, 29 injured in Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih. At least eight people have been killed, including two children, after a Russian missile strike on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on June 12.

AFP: 16 Sri Lankans reportedly killed, dozens wounded fighting in Ukraine. The Sri Lankan government is stepping up efforts to prevent its citizens from being lured into fighting in Ukraine, after reports of 16 Sri Lankans being killed and 36 injured, AFP reported on June 11.

Russian attacks against Ukraine injure 8 civilians over past day. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted all Russian missiles and drones launched against the capital, but the fallen debris caused damage in Kyiv Oblast and injured one person, the regional military administration said.

International response

US sanctions pro-Russian Moldovan governor. The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Evghenia Gutul, the governor of Moldova’s Gagauzia region, for her ties to pro-Russian oligarch and politician Ilan Shor, the U.S. Treasury announced on June 12.

In rare comments, NATO chief discusses ‘ongoing adaptation’ of alliance’s nuclear arsenal. NATO officials rarely comment on the alliance’s nuclear arsenal, but Jens Stoltenberg said the U.S. was modernizing its nuclear weapons stationed in Europe.

Lithuania to send 14 M113 armored personnel carriers for Ukraine’s demining efforts. Lithuania will send Ukraine 14 M113 armored personnel carriers to assist in the country’s demining efforts, the country’s defense ministry announced on June 12.

G7 agrees on transfer of $50 billion in profits from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine. “We have an agreement,” a French presidency official said, ahead of a summit in Italy, which starts on June 13.

Russian warship, nuclear submarine arrive in Cuba. Officials from both Cuba and the U.S. have said none of the vessels are carrying nuclear weapons, Reuters reports.

Zelensky visits Saudi Arabia ahead of peace summit. President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on social media on the evening of June 12 that he had arrived in Saudi Arabia on a previously unannounced visit.

Slovak defense minister says sending fighter jets to Ukraine was ‘treason,’ files criminal complaint. “Weakening the armed forces in this way, contrary to the constitution, cannot be described in our political dictionary as anything other than treason,” Robert Kalinak said in comments reported by the Czech news outlet iROZHLAS.

US to sign bilateral security agreement with Ukraine at G7. The U.S. and Ukraine will sign a long-awaited bilateral security agreement on June 13 during the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Italy, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told the press on June 12.

Widened US sanctions against Russia to target semiconductor flow, Bloomberg reports. The U.S. will on June 12 announce a widening of sanctions against Russia aimed at cutting off the supply of semiconductors to Moscow’s war industry, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the move.

Rheinmetall, Kyiv agree to start producing Lynx armored vehicles in Ukraine in 2024. “At the conference, it was announced that together with the German arms company Rheinmetall, we will start production of the Lynx vehicles in Ukraine. The first such machine will be produced in Ukraine by the end of the year,” Strategic Industries Minister Alexander Kamyshin told Ukrinform in Berlin.

German Uniper cancels contract with Gazprom after arbitration ruling. An arbitration court awarded the German energy company Uniper the right to terminate a long-term contract with Russia’s Gazprom and more than 13 billion euros ($14 billion) in damages for failed gas deliveries, Uniper said on June 12.

Zelensky, Biden to meet in Italy on June 13. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with his American counterpart Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy on June 13, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on June 11.

Stoltenberg: Hungary won’t join NATO initiatives for Ukraine but won’t block them either. “I expect allies will agree on a leading role for NATO in coordinating and providing security assistance and training for Ukraine. I also expect allies will agree on a long-term financial pledge to provide military support,” Stoltenberg said.

Norway to allocate $257 million to bolster Ukraine’s air defenses. The ministry said that 125 million euros ($134 million) of that sum would be devoted to the re-procurement of Patriot missiles for Ukraine under a German-led initiative.

Netherlands to provide its first F-16s to Ukraine in summer, Dutch minister says. The Netherlands will deliver its first F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine already this summer, shortly after Denmark, outgoing Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said in an interview with European Pravda published on June 12.

Zelensky inspects Patriot battery pledged to Ukraine during Germany visit. President Volodymyr Zelensky on June 11 visited the 21st Surface-to-Air Missile Group in Sanitz, Germany, and met Ukrainian soldiers trained to operate Patriot air defense systems.

Media: Number of Switzerland peace summit participants decreasing. The number of countries and organizations that have confirmed their participation in Ukraine’s global peace summit dropped from 93 to 78, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported on June 11, citing several unnamed EU diplomats.

In other news

9-year-old Ukrainian girl found dead in Germany, police say. Valeria reportedly went missing on her way to school on June 3. The police confirmed that her body was found on June 11 some four kilometers (2.4 miles) away from her home in a forest between the settlements of Hermsdorf and Mahlitzsch.

Russian ‘peacekeepers’ complete withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan says. Several thousand Russian “peacekeepers” were deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh in the fall of 2020 following another escalation of the years-long Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over the region. The withdrawal began in April.

Pletenchuk leaves post as Southern Defense Forces spokesperson. “This was planned from the start. Please, do not look for any hidden meaning,” Dmytro Pletenchuk said on Facebook.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Martin Fornusek, Katya Denisova, Elsa Court, Francis Farrell, Chris York, Nate Ostiller, and Rachel Amran.

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