All Russian national media commemorated Silvio Berlusconi and devoted words to the positive relations between Berlusconi and Putin and how Berlusconi when he was in government weaved positive relations for Europe with Russia.
Ahead of the summit on 15 June in Brussels, which will host the 13th meeting of the Contact Group on the Defence of Ukraine, where, it is learnt, discussions will take place on when and how many aircraft will be supplied and where pilots will be trained, and also on the further supply of air defence systems, the supply of artillery and tank ammunition, and the establishment of maintenance and repair centres for military equipment and weapons, both in Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, and on the territory of Ukraine in Ukraine fighting continues.
After the destruction of the Leopards near Zaporozhzhia, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk demands new tanks from Germany. This time, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnik said that the Germans could ‘deliver more tanks than the 18 combat vehicles already delivered from its stockpiles’, in practice tripling them. In addition, Melnyk asked Berlin to transfer 60 more Marder infantry fighting vehicles, Taurus cruise missiles and fighter planes to the Ukrainian armed forces, as well as to train Ukrainian pilots.
This is not the first time Ukrainian diplomats have demanded the shipment of arms in the form of an ultimatum. Before this, Melnik proposed creating a tank alliance in the EU to help Kiev.
On the contact line over the weekend, it was reported that as a result of the negotiations, 94 soldiers of the Russian army returned from Ukrainian captivity. And just as many youths from Transcarpathia returned home to Ukraine and Hungary. Premier Volodymyr Zelensky and President Vladimir Putin admitted that the counter-offensive had begun.
In the direction of Donetsk in the Avdiivka sector, Russian fighters counter-attacked in the Severny area. Meanwhile, in Maryinka, after artillery preparation, the assault on the western periphery continues.
Zaporozhzia direction. In the Orekhov sector, the Russian army is fighting near Lobkovsky and Pyatikhatka. On the Vremievsky ledge, the Russians have retreated beyond Makarovka and towards Harvest. In addition, Russian fighters repelled militant attacks in the vicinity of Novodonetsk and Novomayorsky. According to the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, a Ukrainian Su-25 was shot down near Osokorovka in the Kherson region.
During the morning of 12 June, we learn from the social sphere that the 127th Division launched a powerful counter-attack on the Ukrainians at Vremevsky. Russian troops in Massir with air support attacked Neskuchnoye and pushed the Ukrainians back from Makarovka. Cannons and rocket artillery are actively working. Soldiers in this sector of the front are telling the tale.
The Zaporozhzhia nuclear power plant can still draw water from the Kakhovka reservoir for cooling. After the destruction of the Kakhovka HPP, the water level at the Zaporozhzhia TPP, where the pumps are located, dropped from 17 to 11.27 metres and the water pumps in the Zaporizhzhia TPP area continue to operate. The water reserves will be sufficient for cooling for several months, the IAEA said. Now the water level in the reservoir cooling the ZNPP is decreasing after the destruction of the Kakhovskaya HPP. The Russians at the weekend showed a fragment of an American M777 howitzer shell found on the territory of Zaporizhzhia as evidence of shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces.
In the Serebryansky forestry area, the Russian army revealed the movement of Ukrainian militants and struck: the Ukrainians suffered significant losses. The Ukrainian armed forces moved with BMP, said the head of the press centre of the ‘Centre’ group Alexander Savchuk. He explained that the Russian armed forces attacked the Ukrainian army under the cover of the air force.
During the fight against the battery, in turn, the Russian gunners destroyed the D-30 howitzer, mortars and an ammunition transport vehicle. The air defence systems, in turn, shot down the HIMARS shells, as well as the drone, and the Solntsepek destroyed the armoured vehicle of the Ukrainian armed forces
Finally, the Russians began to destroy Starlink antennas in Krasnogorovka, a sign that soon, after the destruction of the position detectors, there will be an offensive in the area.
In Russia, on 12 June, the Belgorod region was attacked by the Ukrainians, a goods train derailed and hit by a kamikaze drone.
Meanwhile, the situation in the Kherson region remains tense, despite the gradual decline in water resources.
Graziella Giangiulio
