Story By: Ana Marjanovic, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency: Newsflash
This is the moment the Russian military fires several ballistic missiles from a mobile missile system and reportedly destroy Ukrainian command posts and weapons depots.
The Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) said they used the Iskander-M short range ballistic missile system to blast several enemy targets.
The Russian MoD said on 19th June: “Surgical precision: combat work of the Iskander-M.
“During the special military operation, Iskander-M tactical missile systems destroy command posts, communication centres, air defence facilities, and enemy weapons and ammunition depots.”
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is calling a “special military operation” to “liberate the Donbass”. Today marks the 117th day of the invasion.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 20th June, Russia had lost about 33,800 personnel, 1,477 tanks, 3,588 armoured combat vehicles, 749 artillery units, 235 multiple launch rocket systems, 98 air defence systems, 216 warplanes, 181 helicopters, 601 drones, 130 cruise missiles, 14 warships, 2,527 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 55 units of special equipment.
Washington has told China it risks ending up on the “wrong side of history” following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s assurance to Russian President Vladimir Putin that Beijing supports Russian “sovereignty”.
Thousands of civilians remain trapped in the key eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk, where the water supply is reported to be dwindling. Hundreds of civilians are taking shelter in the bunkers beneath the city’s Azot chemical plant.
Luhansk Oblast governor Serhiy Haidai said all three bridges into Sievierodonetsk had been destroyed, making delivering supplies and evacuating civilians impossible.
United States President Joe Biden has promised Kyiv another USD 1 billion in security assistance and weapons. And US General Mark Milley says Russia has lost around 20 to 30 per cent of its armoured force during the ongoing invasion.
Former Russian president and staunch Vladimir Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev has derided French, German and Italian leaders visiting the Ukrainian capital Kyiv as “fans of frogs, liverwurst and spaghetti”.
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi arrived in the Ukrainian capital by train from Poland for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 16th June.
On 8th June, the European Parliament adopted a resolution recommending that the European Union grant Ukraine the status of candidate country for EU membership. Some 438 MEPs voted in favour of the resolution, with 65 voting against and 94 abstaining.
