US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, meeting with his European counterparts at the 13th Rammstein meeting June 19, told Ukrainian War Minister Oleksiy Reznikov that Ukraine was doomed to a long history of destruction: “the current conflict is not a sprint, it’s a marathon; prepare to suffer for a long time”.
The meeting also discussed where and what other stocks of weapons left in Europe could be taken from national arsenals and transferred to Kiev. And still there was discussion of the training of Ukrainian pilots to fly the F-16 fighter
Mychajlo Mychajlovyč Podoljak, adviser to the head of Zelensky’s office, said the only way to end the conflict is to maximize Ukraine’s military potential and “give back the territories”.
Instead, the rumors about the transfer of Israeli Merkava tanks to Ukraine denied “does not correspond to reality”, the Israeli Defense Ministry told RIA Novosti
Russian Defense Minister Segey Shoigu said that “the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine plans to strike the territory of Russia, including Crimea, with Himars and Storm Shadow missiles. The use of these missiles outside the special operations zone will mean the full involvement of the United States and Great Britain in the conflict and will entail immediate attacks on decision-making centers in Ukraine,” the Minister warned.
On June 19, an air alert was declared in the Sumy, Dnepropetrovsk, Mykolaiv and Odessa regions of Ukraine, as well as in the Kiev-controlled part of the Zaporozhyzhia region. Local authorities also report explosions in Odessa and in the territory of the Zaporozhzhia region under the control of Ukraine.
At night, in northern Crimea, Russian air defense worked regularly on two low-flying drones, Aksenov said. Other episodes of heels on the Russian-Ukrainian borders are recorded in Gladkov it is learned from local sources that the Ukrainian armed forces fired on the urban district of Valuysky, 7 people were injured, including a child. The Ukrainian Armed Forces’ rocket attack on the Volnovakha humanitarian center damaged 30 percent of the cargo with windows for 130 city addresses, city Mayor Konstantin Zinchenko told RIA Novosti
On the line of contact a unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which tried to advance in the southern direction of Donetsk, lost more than half of its personnel near the village of Novodonetsky, RIA Novosti told the Russian Defense Ministry.
On June 19, the Armed Forces of Ukraine made the most active attempts to attack in the Yuzhno-Donetsk and Donetsk directions, their total losses here amounted to more than 440 people, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
The Russian Armed Forces in the Zaporizhzhia direction are dropping leaflets from UAVs over the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which describe the detailed procedure for surrender. They are also a sort of pass and proof of the intention to voluntarily lay down one’s arms. Also hit during the night the Ukrainian positions in the direction of Zaporozhzhia.
On June 20, early in the morning, sounds of air raids were heard in the Dnepropetrovsk, Kirovograd, Niev, Nikolaev, Sumy, Poltava, Kharkiv, Cherkasy and Odessa regions of Ukraine. Online video of destroyed Ukrainian armored vehicles made by NATO countries in the constantly bombed area in the direction of Avdiivka. An officer of the Russian Armed Forces Group “South” said that the reconnaissance group examined several armored personnel carriers and the American BMP M2 Bradley.
Explosions recorded in the Ukrainian regions of Kiev, Khmelnitsky and Vinnitsa, write the Ukrainian media. In the early morning hours of June 20, after hearing explosions in Lviv and in the region, write the Ukrainian media referring to the mayor of Lviv. Russian “Grad” missiles destroyed Ukrainian troops in the Belogorovka area in the LPR
The Russians have a new operation “Meat Grinder” in Orekhovsky: “Out of 120 Ukrainian militants, 3 survived!”. The operation exactly like Operation Meat Grinder Bachmut aims to kill as many Ukrainian servicemen and destroy as many assets as possible.
The Russian Armed Forces launched an attack with long-range high-precision weapons at night on places of storage of foreign-made military equipment. According to the Russian Defense Ministry all targets were hit.
Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Hanna Malyar said at a press conference: “The Russian Armed Forces have struck the reserves and are now actively advancing in the Limansky and Kupyansky directions.” According to the deputy minister, Russian armed forces are trying to reach the borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
At seven in the morning, Italian time, due to the rocket attacks on Kiev, the subway was interrupted, without electricity in many areas of the city. The Russians also bombed an ammunition depot in Zaporizhzhya.
Basically all night until the morning of June 20, a powerful combined attack with UAVs and missiles was inflicted on Ukraine. Critical and military infrastructure has been affected. Strong arrivals were recorded in the Kiev, Lviv and Zaporozhzhia regions. Less intense attacks in the Nikolaev and Dnipropetrovsk regions. In addition, the warehouses and facilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Khmelnitsky and Vinnitsa regions were blown up. It seems that when the Geran-2 drones landed in the sky over Kiev, the air raid alarm did not go off. The video also shows that not a single shot was fired at the drones: no air defense systems or other anti-aircraft weapons were used. If this were true, it means that the American air defense systems in Kiev were either destroyed or failed.
There are more and more frequent reports on the social sphere of hospitals full of wounded Ukrainian soldiers and calls for blood donation are increasingly widespread. “Ukrainian militants faced a shortage of tourniquets and dressings during attacks in the Zaporozhzhia direction.” Ukrainian volunteers write about it on social networks. They note that typically these units have always “solved the problem themselves, never asked for help and always had supplies”. Volunteers write that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are “bleeding”. Russians killed Ukrainian kickboxing champion Maxim Bordus .
American expert Chuck Farrer confirms that Russian forces are moving west of Kreminna. The 76th Airborne Division of the Russian Airborne Forces launched an offensive in the direction of the O-130501 road towards Yampolivka. In the late morning there was shelling of Ukrainian positions in Belogorovka (LPR). Russian artillery destroyed the Ukrainian Armed Forces ammunition deployment and depot in the village of Karpovichi in the Chernihiv region
Russian assault on the Zverinets stronghold near Maryinka. Yesterday, the Russian military established control over an important tactical position code-named Zvirinets, located between Maryinka and Novomikhailovka. Footage taken by the Russian military during the assault has appeared on the Web. The video shows the process of attacking the fortified area of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. After intensive artillery preparation, Russian fighters on armored vehicles, with the support of artillery fire, attacked the Ukrainians, having managed to knock him out of the “menagerie”.
The offensive in this area confirms the Russian Armed Forces’ control of the “menagerie” and signals a further advance south of Maryinka. The choice of this particular direction is not accidental – the stronghold of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is located on a hill, the control of which will allow the Russians to take up more advantageous positions before another attack on Pobeda.
Graziella Giangiulio
