Friday, June 28

Russia’s war against Ukraine

The 28th Brigade of the Ukrainian army continues training with an FV103 Spartan armored personnel carrier armed with a Browning machine gun on June 27, 2024. (Jose Colon/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Zelensky arrives in Brussels to sign EU-Ukraine security agreement. “It (the agreement) will for the first time establish the commitment of all 27 member states to provide Ukraine with broad support despite any internal institutional changes,” Zelensky said via his Telegram channel.

Ukraine repels Russian troops from eastern Chasiv Yar neighborhood, military says. Ukrainian troops pushed Russian forces out of the Kanal neighbourhood in the town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast, Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson for the Khortytsia group of forces, told Interfax Ukraine on June 21.

Zelensky: ‘Ukraine doesn’t want war to last for years,’ looking ahead to 2nd peace summit. “We don’t have much time. We have a lot of injured, killed, both military and civilians. So we do not want this war to last for years. Therefore, we have to prepare this plan and put it on the table at the second peace summit,” President Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists in Brussels on June 27.

Source: Military intelligence stops traffic on Kerch bridge, collapses accounting systems in Crimea. The attacks targeted the servers of propaganda media, telecom operators, and the system for registering and controlling traffic on the Kerch Bridge, according to the source.

Russian official calls for total destruction of ‘everything Ukrainian.’ There can be “no truce” with Ukrainians, Dmitry Rogozin said, because “any truce, let alone reconciliation, is certain death for our children and grandchildren.”

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Russian chemical plant reportedly targeted by drone attack. Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed on June 27 that Tver Oblast came under drone attack overnight, hours after Russian Telegram channels claimed a major chemical research plant in the region had been targeted.

Russia has sent around 10,000 immigrants who recently received citizenship to join military fighting in Ukraine, official says. In October 2023, Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin suggested that individuals who recently received Russian passports but declined to serve in the military could have their citizenship revoked.

Sanctioned Russian Interior Minister attends UN meeting in New York. The U.S. announced sanctions against Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev and other top Russian officials on Feb. 25, 2022, the day after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. Despite being sanctioned, Kolokoltsev does not appear on the U.S. Treasury’s list of individuals barred from entering the U.S.

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Ukraine war latest: Ukraine signs security agreements with EU, 2 Baltic states

President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a security agreement with the European Union on June 27 during the EU leaders summit in Brussels. The document was signed by European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the side of the EU.

Photo: Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Human cost of war

2 killed, 2 injured after Russian shelling of Kurakhove. A woman and a man, both aged 40, were killed in Russia’s attack on Kurakhove, while two more people were hospitalized with injuries, Donetsk Oblast Governor Vadym Filashkin said.

Over 1,000 Russian soldiers killed or wounded on average each day in May in Ukraine, NYT reports. “May was a particularly deadly month for the Russian army in Ukraine,” the article read.

Russia attacks Kharkiv with FAB-500 gliding bomb for first time, injuring 4. Russian troops attacked the city of Kharkiv with a FAB-500 bomb on June 26 for the first time since the beginning of the full-scale war, said Oleksandr Filchakov, head of the regional prosecutor’s office. At least four people were injured and two more suffered from shock.

Russian attacks in Donetsk Oblast kill 1, injures 7. Civilian casualties were reported in Toretsk, Selydove, and the village of Yasenove, Governor Vadym Filashkin said.

International response

Poland, Czechia, Germany ask EU to help cover expenses for hosting refugees from Ukraine, Bloomberg reports. The leaders of three states sent a joint letter with their request for funding to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Czechia has sent first 50,000 shells to Ukraine, minister says. A total of 50,000 shells are the first batch of 180,000 rounds of ammunition financed by Germany, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said.

FT: Ukraine, US, Israel in talks to send up to 8 Patriot systems to Kyiv. The outlines of the deal, which is not yet finalized, have been discussed between ministers and senior officials of the three nations, unnamed sources told the Financial Times. It may include Patriot systems being sent from Israel to the U.S. and then to Ukraine.

Ukraine signs long-term security deals with Estonia, Lithuania. The two nations have joined 17 countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Germany, and France, that have signed similar bilateral treaties to help Kyiv repel Russia’s aggression.

Ukraine receives another $2 billion tranche from EU’s Ukraine Facility, PM Shmyhal says. The total budgetary support for Ukraine from the EU so far in 2024 has “reached nearly 8 billion euros ($8.6 billion),” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said, adding that there is “more to come.”

Ukraine, EU sign security agreement in Brussels. President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a security agreement with the European Union on June 27 during the EU leaders summit in Brussels.

Poland grants Ukrzaliznytsia license for freight transport. State-owned railway company Ukrzaliznytsia has been granted a license by the Polish Railway Transport Authority, allowing it to enter the European railway freight transportation market, the company announced on June 27.

In other news

Forbes Ukraine: Ikea decides to reopen store in Kyiv. Swedish furniture giant Ikea decided in May to make plans to reopen its store in Kyiv, Forbes Ukraine reported on June 27, citing two managers of shopping centers and two commercial real estate consultants.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Dinara Khalilova, Nate Ostiller, Elsa Court, Francis Farrell, Kateryna Denisova, Kateryna Hodunova, Olena Goncharova, and Abbey Fenbert.

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