UKRAINE WAR BRIEF DAILY DRAFT
For: 2024-06-21
Slava Ukraini! In early 2022 I began a Telegram channel aggregating news from a number of sources daily on the war in Ukraine. Since June 2023 I have provided a daily draft for the Ukraine War Brief Podcast collecting news from over 60 sources daily, much of which forms the basis of the script. While the Podcast is on hiatus I will make this Draft available here both on my own Substack and The People’s Media for those who wish to keep up with events on a daily basis.
ALONG THE CONTACT LINE
GSAFU Morning Report
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in its Operational Information update at 23:00 onJan 20 stated that day 849 of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation against Ukraine was about to begin.
During the past day, 128 combat engagements took place. Over the past 24 hours, the enemy carried out 2 missile strikes, 36 air strikes, 373 drone strikes and 2,634 artillery strikes across the positions of Ukrainian forces.
At the same time, Ukrainian soldiers continue to inflict losses in manpower and equipment on the occupying troops, exhausting the enemy along the entire front line and continue to disrupt the plans of Russian occupiers to advance deep into the territory of Ukraine.
Air Force Daily Report
On the night of June 21, 2024 the occupiers struck from tactical aviation aircraft controlled by H-59 / H-69 missiles.
All missiles were shot down by anti-air defence in Kirovohrad and Kherson regions.
The Khortytsia operational-strategic group
(Responsible for the northeastern part of Ukraine. )
Kharkiv axis: The enemy, supported by aviation, several times unsuccessfully attacked in the areas of Lyptsi Vovchansk and Tykhe
-
Kupyansk axis: The enemy attacked Ukrainian positions 16 times in the vicinity of Synkivka, Stepova Novoselivka and Stelmakhivka. The situation is intense.
Lyman axis: The enemy attacked Ukrainian positions 6 times in the vicinity of Nevske, the Serebryanskyy Forest and Hryhorivka. None were successful but the battle continues.
Siversk axis: The situation has not experienced significant changes.
Kramatorsk axis: The situation has not experienced significant changes.
Toretsk axis: The enemy attacked Ukrainian positions 7 times in the vicinity of Shumy and New York. the fighting continues.
The Tavria operational-strategic group
(Responsible for the central-eastern and southeastern part of Ukraine.)
Pokrovsk axis: This continues to be the most severe area of attack.The enemy conducted 48 attacks against Ukrainian defences in this area over the last day with the most intense assaults in the Ocheretyne section of the front.
Kurakhove axis: The enemy conducted 13 assaults in the vicinity of Krasnohorivka, Heorhiivka, Pobjeda, Kostiantynivka and Paraskoviivka. All attacks were repelled. Measures are being taken to prevent the advancement of the enemy.
Vremika axis: The situation has not experienced significant changes.
Orikhiv axis: The situation has not experienced significant changes.
The Odesa operational-strategic group
(Responsible for Kherson, Qırım, (also known as Crimea) and the Black Sea.)
Prydniprovsk axis: The enemy made 6 attempts to breach the defences of Ukrainian forces on the left bank of the Dnipro.
TEMPORARILY OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Nothing to report.
THE HOME FRONT
Ukraine in talks with EU on return of draft-age men who illegally crossed the border
Ukraine negotiates with European Union countries regarding the potential return of Ukrainian men of conscription age who illegally crossed the border, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said in an interview with Radio Liberty.
“We are conducting consultations with our colleagues from the European Union. These negotiations will continue – about the possible return of our citizens if they illegally crossed the border,” he said.
Klymenko clarified that each EU country acts according to the laws and rules of the European Commission.
The minister explained that while EU representatives are not currently inclined to return Ukrainian men en masse, discussions are ongoing. He also disclosed that dozens of men attempt to leave the country illegally every day to avoid mobilisation.
“This is quite a large percentage – about 15% of our citizens. Those who want to swim across the river Tysa, cross mountains, and those who try to pass through checkpoints with forged documents,” Klymenko reported.
Under martial law, men aged 18 to 60 are restricted from leaving Ukraine. On 18 May, a new mobilisation law came into force, strengthening mobilisation measures. The Cabinet of Ministers recently approved a package of resolutions establishing procedures for mobilisation and military registration.
According to a Cabinet decree, men of conscription age who left the country and resided abroad must register for military service by 17 June. Those who did not update their data may face restrictions on consular services.
Zelenskyy appoints new State Security Administration head
President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Oleksii Morozov as the new head of Ukraine's State Security Administration (UDO), the Presidential Office announced on June 21. The Kyiv Independent reported.
The UDO's main tasks include ensuring the security of the president of Ukraine and high-ranking officials of the state, as well as the protection of administrative buildings and objects of state authorities of Ukraine.
Serhii Rud, Morozov's predecessor in office, was dismissed on May 9, shortly after the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) claimed to have uncovered a network of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) agents who were plotting to assassinate Zelensky and other high-ranking officials in Ukraine.
Two colonels of the UDO accused of leaking classified information to Russia were reportedly detained.
The FSB network aimed to find perpetrators among the military close to Zelensky's security, "who could take the head of state hostage and then kill him."
Just a few weeks before, SBU officials and Polish law enforcement worked to detain a Polish citizen who allegedly offered to Russia to assassinate Zelensky.
RUSSIAN WORLD
Ukraine attacks 4 refineries, Shahed drone storage sites in Russia
In a sign Ukraine is ramping up attacks on Russian infrastructure Ukrainian drones attacked four refineries in Russia's Krasnodar Krai and Astrakhan Oblast, as well as sites where Russian Shahed-type drones are stored overnight on June 21, Ukraine's General Staff reported, according to The Kyiv Independent
Russia claimed to have shot down more than 100 drones in a mass strike on occupied Crimea, Krasnodar Krai, and Volgograd Oblast at night. Russian Telegram channels claimed that drones targeted a military airfield in Yeysk during the attack on Krasnodar Krai.
Afipskyi, Ilskyi, and Krasnodarskyi oil refineries came under attack in Krasnodar Krai, as well as the "Astrakhan oil refinery" in Astrakhan Oblast, the Ukrainian military said. The Astrakhan refinery may have referred to the city's gas processing plant.
Ukrainian forces also hit Russian radar stations and electronic intelligence centres in occupied Crimea and Russia's Bryansk Oblast, the General Staff said.
Shahed-type attack drone storage and preparation sites, training buildings, and command and communications centres of these drones located in Krasnodar Krai were also attacked, the military reported.
"As a result of the operations, a series of explosions and a fire with subsequent detonation were recorded overnight," the General Staff said. The full consequences of the attacks are being determined.
A source in security and defence forces confirmed for the Kyiv Independent that a joint attack by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Navy's missile forces targeted the 167th training centre at the Yeysk military airfield, where Shahed drones were stored.
Several blasts and secondary explosions were recorded at the base, the source said. SBU drones also targeted the Afipskyi, Ilskyi, and Krasnodarskyi oil refineries, according to the source.
The attacks on the refineries will allegedly complicate deliveries of lubricant products. The source did not mention the Astrakhan refinery.
Russian-American woman goes on trial for treason after donating funds to Ukraine
A Russian-American woman arrested earlier this year while visiting family in Russia went on trial for alleged treason on Thursday after authorities accused her of raising money to send to the Ukrainian army. Reuters reports.
Karelina, who was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago, faces a sentence of 12 years to life in prison if found guilty.
Her trial will be held behind closed doors, as is customary in such cases in Russia. Treason acquittals are rare there.
The court in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg published a short video of Karelina sitting in a glass cage, wearing jeans and a green plaid shirt. She smiled faintly as reporters snapped photographs.
A notice on the website of the court posted later on Thursday said the trial had been adjourned until Aug. 7. It did not state a reason.
Putin threatens to nuke the west if Russian loses in Ukraine
The Institute for the Study of War in its June 20 Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment stated that Putin implicitly threatened to use nuclear weapons if the West enables Ukraine to decisively defeat Russia in order to undermine the international community's cohering strategic vision of support for Ukraine.
Putin stated in a press conference on June 20 following his trip to North Korea and Vietnam that Russia is considering making changes to its nuclear doctrine, claiming that Russia is aware that an unnamed “potential adversary” is working on new elements “related to lowering the threshold nuclear weapon use."
Putin’s statement was likely partly in response to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s June 17 remarks that NATO members are discussing increased nuclear readiness in the face of growing threats from Russia and China, even though Stoltenberg did not discuss lowering the threshold for nuclear weapon use.
The Russian nuclear doctrine calls for Russia to only use nuclear weapons in the event of “exceptional cases” of threats to Russia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and Putin notably defined Russia’s possible strategic defeat in Ukraine as the “end of [Russia’s] statehood” following his mention of lowering thresholds for nuclear weapon usage.
Putin added that a defeat on the battlefield would signify the end of the “thousand-year history” of the Russian state and that Russia is better off fighting until the end. Putin’s rhetoric deliberately aims to present Russia’s aggression in Ukraine as an existential war for Russia’s sovereignty, and Putin likely invoked the possibility of lowering the threshold for nuclear weapon use to imply that he reserves the right to use nuclear weapons if his forces are decisively defeated on the frontlines in order to deter Ukraine’s allies from reaching a common strategic objective of decisively defeating Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — an outcome which is in the West’s interests.
NEWS WORLDWIDE
EU passes 14th sanctions package in first major move against Russian gas
EU ambassadors have agreed for the first time ever to impose sanctions on Russia's gas industry, in a move that could deprive the Kremlin of hundreds of millions of dollars, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union announced on June 20. The Kyiv Independent reports.
"This hard-hitting package will further deny Russia access to key technologies," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
The new measures include a ban on transshipment of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) and a plan to hold EU operators liable for violations of sanctions by their subsidiaries and partners in third countries.
The unprecedented move comes after weeks of debate among the 27 EU member states, with opposition coming from Hungary and Germany.
While resistance from the former was expected given Budapest's consistent opposition to sanctions against Russia, Berlin's was more controversial.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was forced to defend his country against accusations it was "the new Hungary."
"Yes, that's a great line, but it's complete nonsense," he said earlier this month, insisting opposition to the new sanctions was about making sure small businesses would not be harmed by the measures.
Despite Brussels' target to be free of Russian fossil fuels by 2027, several EU members remain heavily reliant on Russian gas, and imports of LNG from Russia reached record highs last year.
In mid-April, the European Parliament voted to pass rules allowing member states to ban imports of Russian LNG as part of Brussels' strategy to reduce the bloc's energy dependency on Moscow.
US Senate wants to recognise Russia as sponsor of terrorism following Putin's pact with Kim Jong Un
Senators from the two leading parties in the US Congress, Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal, have introduced a bill to designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism following Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s strategic partnership agreement with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. CSPAN reports.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said that in addition to Russia’s crimes in Ukraine and other countries around the world, Putin’s visit to North Korea is a new challenge, and now is the right time to pass the bill designating it as a state sponsor of terrorism.
"The fact that he [Putin] would be bold enough to do a defence agreement with North Korea [...], one of the most oppressive regimes on the planet, means that we have lost to terrorists. [...] I would urge the administration, given what Putin has done yesterday, let us go all in in designating his regime for what it is: a state sponsor of terrorism."
In his turn, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal noted that the agreement signed between Putin and Kim Jong Un is deeply frightening and hostile to the United States, peace, freedom and justice around the world.
The senators said that the illegal invasion of sovereign Ukraine in 2022, which led to the brutal murder of thousands of innocent civilians, was among the actions that qualify Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.
They suggested that the evidence of Russia’s terrorist activities includes the poisoning of Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko in 2004, the poisoning of former Russian FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko in 2006, the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 350 in Donetsk Oblast in 2014, Russia’s involvement in the bombing of Aleppo in Syria in 2016, the poisoning of former Russian military officer and British double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK in 2018, and the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in 2024.
EU to Open Membership Talks With Ukraine, Moldova Next Week
The European Union formally agreed to open negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova over membership in the bloc, an important symbolic step in a process that will take years to play out. Bloomberg reports.
EU member states cleared the final hurdle Friday and formal accession discussions can begin on June 25 in Luxembourg, according to Belgium, which holds the bloc’s rotating presidency.
Hungary had been blocking the move, citing concerns including the protection of Hungarian minorities in Ukraine, a longstanding demand that Brussels and Kyiv insist has been addressed.
Back in March, the European Commission proposed a negotiating framework to establish guidelines and principles for accession negotiations, following a decision by EU leaders to open membership talks with Ukraine in December.
The process ahead for Ukraine and Moldova will be lengthy and complicated, particularly amid the ongoing Russian invasion. Croatia was the last country to join the bloc and its application lasted 10 years before it was formally accepted in 2013.
MILITARY & TECH
Russia uses first time a massive FAB-3000 guided bomb in Kharkiv Oblast
Russian forces used a guided FAB-3000 M-54 aerial bomb, equipped with a unified planning and correction module (UMPC), to target Ukrainian positions in Kharkiv Oblast for the first time, revealing Russian enhanced destructive capabilities. Euromaidan Press reported.
Despite landing 10 meters (32 ft) away from its intended target, the FAB-3000 M-54 bomb used by Russian forces caused substantial damage to a three-story building serving allegedly as a temporary deployment point for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Lyptsi, Kharkiv Oblast.
Russian sources widely circulated footage on Telegram of the strike on June 20.
Although the bomb did not achieve a direct hit on the building, it still marks the first combat use of a bomb of this caliber with UMPC in human history. The FAB-3000 has a reported radius of continuous destruction of 230 meters (754 ft), with fragments retaining their lethal force at a distance of 1,240 meters (4068 ft), according to Russian military channels.
Rheinmetall Receives the Largest Contract in Its History, Including Shells for Ukraine
German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall has announced the largest contract in the company's history. It is a framework contract from the Bundeswehr for the supply of 155 mm artillery ammunition, which was signed on Thursday, June 20, in the presence of company representatives and President of the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support Annette Lehnigk-Emden. Defense Express reports.
It is about a really large-scale order worth up to € 8.5 billion. We are talking about supplying over one and a half million units of artillery ammunition. It is noted that deliveries under this agreement should start in early 2025.
Germany is the main customer under this agreement. Rheinmetall will take an active part in replenishing the German ammunition stocks. At the same time, some of this ammunition will be sent to Ukraine as part of military aid.
"Additionally, the partner countries of the Netherlands, Estonia and Denmark are also participating in the order," Rheinmetall reports.
According the Chairman of the Executive Board of Rheinmetall AG, Armin Papperger, this contract will primarily load the new factory they are currently building in Unterluess site in Lower Saxony.
That’s it for today’s Draft folks if you would like to keep up with events in Ukraine daily please consider subscribing, its free!
Feel free to share this update with your friends. Heroyam Slava!