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Counteroffensive progress ‘slower than desired’ says Zelenskiy
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said battlefield progress in Kyiv’s counteroffensive against Russian forces had been “slower than desired”, the BBC reported on Wednesday.
“Some people believe this is a Hollywood movie and expect results now. It’s not,” it quoted the Ukrainian president as saying in an interview.
Ukraine has reported recapturing eight villages in the south in the last two weeks.
Though small, the advances are the biggest by its forces since November as they push into heavily fortified and mined Russian-held areas.
Key events
Putin says Russia’s new Sarmat nuclear missiles soon ready for deployment
Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia’s new generation of Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles, which are capable of carrying 10 or more nuclear warheads, would soon be deployed for combat duty, Reuters reports.
In a speech to new graduates of military academies, Putin stressed the importance of Russia’s “triad” of nuclear forces that can be launched from land, sea or air.
“The most important task here is the development of the nuclear triad, which is a key guarantee of Russia’s military security and global stability,” he said.
“Already about half of the units and formations of the Strategic Missile Forces are equipped with the latest Yars systems, and the troops are being re-equipped with modern missile systems with the Avangard hypersonic warhead.”
The first Sarmat launchers would be put on combat duty “in the near future”, the Russian president added.
Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, meanwhile, has told graduating military academy students that the “collective West” was waging a “real war” against Russia.
A UN official said on Wednesday that the mines dislodged by the flood waters from Kakhovka dam in Ukraine could float downstream and reach as far as Black Sea beaches, Reuters reports.
Paul Heslop, head of UN Mine Action at the United Nations Development Programme in Ukraine, told reporters in Geneva that PMF-1 mines, also known as “butterfly” mines, were light enough to float downstream for a large distance.
He said:
I would not be surprised to see that those mines have either got down as far as the sea or over the coming months, as the water is continuing to flow, will be transported down there. Unfortunately, we could see anti-personnel pressure mines washing up on beaches around the Black Sea.
The collapse of the Russian-held dam on 6 June unleashed floodwaters across southern Ukraine and Russian-occupied areas of the Kherson region, killing more than 50 people and destroying homes and farmland.
Poland’s ministry of foreign affairs has tweeted that it has prepared a law enabling the extension of insurance coverage for the transport of goods to and from Ukraine, as well as investment activities.
Britain, the US and the EU pledged billions of dollars of extra help to rebuild Ukraine on Wednesday.
💬 Our government has prepared a law enabling the extension of insurance coverage for the transport of goods to and from Ukraine, as well as investment activities. On this basis, 🇵🇱 will create a program of rebuilding Ukraine.
| FM @RauZbigniew during Ukraine Recovery Conference pic.twitter.com/1fZvHclRPg
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs 🇵🇱 (@PolandMFA) June 21, 2023
Lisa O’Carroll
European Commission chiefs want Hungary to answer urgent questions over claims that Ukrainian prisoners of war were transferred there from Russia without the involvement of Kyiv.
Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, has forged strong political and economic ties with Moscow and said earlier this month that Budapest had received a group of 11 Ukrainian prisoners of war from Russia.
Ukraine repatriated three of them on Tuesday and is demanding access to the remainder accusing Orban of a publicity stunt.
Hungarian and international media quoted Orban’s chief-of-staff, Gergely Gulyas, as saying the soldiers arrived in Hungary of “their own free will” and that Kyiv was informed after their transfer.
“It’s very important that they relevant Hungarian authorities explain to their Ukrainian counterparts. We are seeking asnwers,” said a spokesperson for the European commission.
Counteroffensive progress ‘slower than desired’ says Zelenskiy
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said battlefield progress in Kyiv’s counteroffensive against Russian forces had been “slower than desired”, the BBC reported on Wednesday.
“Some people believe this is a Hollywood movie and expect results now. It’s not,” it quoted the Ukrainian president as saying in an interview.
Ukraine has reported recapturing eight villages in the south in the last two weeks.
Though small, the advances are the biggest by its forces since November as they push into heavily fortified and mined Russian-held areas.
Rishi Sunak met Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, as well as Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London.
A Downing Street spokesperson said:
The prime minister met with the president of the European commission, president of Estonia, prime ministers of Latvia and Ukraine, and the US secretary of state this morning.
The prime minister thanked the leaders for attending the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London and for their strong and ongoing support to Ukraine.
Reflecting on the work that had already begun in Ukraine to recover and rebuild, the Prime Minister said it is inspiring to see that progress happening at the same time as the armed forces of Ukraine pushed back Russian forces.
Discussing the important role of the private sector in the rebuild of Ukraine, the prime minister said it was fantastic to see so many companies and businesses attend the London summit.
Officials and business leaders at the Ukraine Recovery Conference should ensure that any “Marshall Plan” for the war-ravaged country includes ensuring children are not separated from their families, Disability Rights International, Hope and Homes for Children, Human Rights Watch and Lumos say.
The groups said replacing Ukraine’s institutional care system with modern social services, that strengthen families to help keep them together, should be a key feature to the reconstruction plans.
Mark Waddington, CEO of Hope and Homes for Children, said:
There’s a hidden humanitarian crisis playing out in Ukraine, where millions of families are displaced, social services are in tatters, unemployment is growing, food prices are rocketing, daily air raids are the norm and trauma from Russian occupation is widespread.
As a result, many parents are struggling to cope, and thousands of children are at risk of being placed in harmful institutions.
Now, at a time of war, children need loving and comforting families more than ever. The Ukraine Recovery Conference offers an incredible opportunity to talk about physical reconstruction of buildings, roads and infrastructure, but it must also address social reconstruction that directly serves families and children.
This must include a commitment to closing every last children’s institution in Ukraine, and creating a modern care system that helps to keep families together. Families are the future of Ukraine, and leaders at the recovery conference must not ignore this.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that Ukraine has succeeded in making the EU as united “as it has never been before”, with his country “activating the moral force of Nato”.
Ukraine’s president is pushing for Ukraine to join Nato and the EU.
Ukraine has succeeded in making the EU as united as it has never been before.
This is truly a unity of values, which is reflected in many political, economic, sanction and humanitarian decisions. 🇺🇦 has activated all that power of solidarity for which the 🇪🇺 was conceived.And… pic.twitter.com/5hk6bEtL8x
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 21, 2023
Russian investigator says over 30 Ukrainian ‘nationalists’ jailed for war crimes
Russia’s top investigator has said that more than 30 Ukrainians had been given long jail terms in Russian-held Ukraine for committing what he described as serious crimes such as killing civilians, Reuters reports.
The comments were made by Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee, Russia’s equivalent of the FBI in the US.
He was reported as saying the courts operating on territory in parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions controlled by Russian forces had been working hard to jail people who had fought on the Ukrainian side against Russia.
“After the liberation of Mariupol and other settlements, many Ukrainian nationalists surrendered. In the course of further work, we began to establish their involvement in crimes against peace and human security, including the killing of civilians,” Bastrykin told Russia’s Tass news agency.
He said 90 criminal cases had been sent to courts.
“Based on the evidence gathered, courts have already convicted more than 30 defendants, sentencing them to long terms of imprisonment and some to life imprisonment,” Bastrykin added.
The alleged war crimes referred to by Bastrykin could not immediately be independently verified.
Russia is itself under pressure for alleged war crimes, with the international criminal court having issued an arrest warrant in March against Vladimir Putin, accusing him of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. The Kremlin has rejected the allegation as false.
The French foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, has set out a new war insurance mechanism to support Ukraine’s recovery, Reuters reports.
“I’m announcing today the establishment of an insurance mechanism to cover investments in Ukraine against war-related risks via the French public investment bank,” Colonna said at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London on Wednesday.
She added that the French government’s plan was consistent with the insurance mechanism proposed by Britain and Ukraine.
The comments come as the UK is introducing new laws that will allow ministers to maintain Russian sanctions until compensation is paid to Ukraine, thus introducing a way for frozen Russian assets to be donated to Ukrainian reconstruction.
Summary of the day so far…
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Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged western leaders to help rebuild his war-torn country, as he hailed the reconstruction project as a crucial part of its fight for freedom.
The Ukrainian president addressed the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London via video-link on Wednesday, as Rishi Sunak and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, reiterated their support for the country. -
Sunak outlined how Ukraine must be supported to fast track recovery and support this “help Ukraine unleash its potential”. “It’s clear Russia must pay for the destruction that they’ve inflicted. So we’re working with allies to explore lawful routes to use Russian assets,” the prime minister said at the conference.
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Two drones have been intercepted on their approach to military warehouses in the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, the governor of the area, has said, according to Reuters.
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Ukrainian forces are “very actively destroying the enemy, physically clearing Ukraine,” President Zelenskiy said in his latest evening address.
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