In today's summary:
- The Ukrainian military is reporting progress in several directions;
- Intense fighting unfolded for the settlement of Pyatikhatki in the Zaporozhye region;
- "Military correspondents" write about the attempts of the Ukrainian side to build a pontoon crossing across the Dnieper;
- In two weeks, the RF Armed Forces lost at least nine officers with the rank of no lower than lieutenant colonel;
- Six Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles were fired at Kyiv, all of them were shot down;
- The Russian military demonstrates the same damaged Leopard tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, passing them off as new ones;
- Several countries have announced new military aid packages for Ukraine;
- In the Moscow and Rostov regions, two repair bases for armored vehicles have been built for 9 months.
The situation at the front
According to the representative of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Andriy Kovalev, Ukrainian troops are successfully advancing in several directions and holding all positions where they hold the defense. In particular, they talk about successful offensive operations in the Novodanilovka-Rabotino directions in the Zaporozhye region and Levadne-Staromayorskoe at the junction of the Zaporozhye and Donetsk regions . Also, small successes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Vuhledar and east of the settlement of Stupochki , Donetsk region , are reported.
Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Anna Malyar says that the Russians are concentrating a significant amount of forces and means, as well as reserves from other regions, to the Berdyansk and Mariupol directions . Separately, offensive actions and successes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Bakhmut direction are reported.
The WarGonzo project of the Russian "military correspondent" Semyon Pegov wrote about the advance of Ukrainian troops with up to two companies of personnel, two tanks and five infantry fighting vehicles in the direction of the settlement of Pyatikhatki, Zaporozhye region . At first, the authors of WarGonzo claimed that the attack was repelled by servicemen of the 429th motorized rifle regiment, but later they reported the presence of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the western outskirts of the village.
According to the Russian Telegram channel "Military Informant", a Ukrainian tank and infantry fighting vehicles were able to get to Pyatikhatki . The authors of the channel note the "active work" of the old T-62 and T-54 tanks, which are used as improvised artillery installations.
"Voyenkor" Alexander Sladkov reports that the Armed Forces of Ukraine tried to build a pontoon crossing across the Dnieper , but under fire from Russian artillery, they abandoned these plans. According to Sladkov, the Ukrainian military may have plans to open the "Kherson front" – allegedly the pontoons are stored in several places, and personnel are being trained. On the other hand, he does not exclude that in this way the Ukrainians can divert the attention of the Russian military from other directions.
The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) talks about how Russian "military correspondents" praise electronic warfare (EW) systems, such as Murmansk-BN and Krasukha-4, and explain exactly them work, the successful imposition of a positional struggle on the first line of defense by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Ukrainian military expert Leonid Dmitriev, in a conversation with The Insider, notes that the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is only gaining momentum:
The offensive operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine goes on and on in silence, only gaining momentum. According to data from open sources, it can be judged that the forces of 3 mechanized brigades were involved in active operations. Let me remind you that the Ukrainian "offensive guard" has 12 brigades. Those. neither strategic nor operational reserves have yet been committed to combat.
Blitzkrieg with armored car racing, as was the case with the Kharkov operation, should not be expected, because. The Ukrainian side does not have the factor of strategic surprise, and the rapid advance is held back by echeloned engineering and mine-explosive barriers, and the occupying forces still have a certain air superiority.
Mutual shelling and sabotage
The command of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on the downing of two kamikaze drones of the Shahed family (aka Geran) on the night of June 16, as well as the destroyed Lancet, Orlan-10, Orlan-30, Zala and one unidentified drone. During the day, six Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles and six Kalibr cruise missiles were reported fired across the country. All of them were shot down by Ukrainian air defense forces. The Ukrainian military also destroyed two operational-tactical reconnaissance drones.
In the Kiev region, as a result of a missile attack, 4 residential buildings were destroyed and 15 buildings were damaged. Seven people were slightly injured, two of them were children.
In Novoberislav and Kizomys in the Kherson region , "arrivals" of planning bombs were recorded . There are no casualties, information about the destruction is being specified.
Residential areas of Kherson were subjected to massive shelling: the Tauride and Ship areas, as well as the city center, suffered. Reported damage to a medical facility, a kindergarten, a supermarket, residential buildings, cars and power lines. 23 people were injured, including three children. Three adults are in critical condition.
In the Kursk region, a drone crashed into a textile production building, which led to a fire on an area of 1,500 square meters. meters. The target of the drone could be a communications tower.
"Voyenkor" Yuri Kotenok writes about the shelling with the help of MLRS of the Kirovsky district of Donetsk . It involves the use of cluster munitions for HIMARS installations, which were not supplied to Ukraine. One dead and seven injured were reported.
In social networks, under the guise of a strike on boats with enemy infantry, a record of a probable war crime diverges. Back on June 14, the American video blogger Dylan Burns, who recorded the consequences of the explosion of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station , reported on the shelling of boats of foreign rescue volunteers evacuating local residents. As a result, two of them were injured. Now, in a video released by Z-Channel Hateful 8, you can see how this shelling took place. The channel calls the rescuers "enemy infantry."
Losses
According to estimates by Mediazona and the BBC Russian Service, obtained from open sources, it was possible to confirm the death of 9 Russian military men in the rank above lieutenant colonel over the past two weeks. Among them is one general, chief of staff of the 35th Combined Arms Army Sergei Goryachev. In general, it was possible to confirm the death of 25,528 Russian military, volunteers and mercenaries since the start of the war.
The Telegram channel of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine published a video showing the defeat with the help of HIMARS (apparently, M31A1 shells) of two Russian systems: the Zoo-1 artillery reconnaissance complex and the Borisoglebsk-2 electronic warfare station. It is possible that in fact it was not Borisoglebsk-2 that was hit, but the R-330Zh Zhitel complex.
A recording with the defeat of the Ukrainian electronic warfare complex Bukovel-AD is being distributed on Russian Telegram channels.
A photo of a damaged Leopard 2A4 tank appeared . It is noted that his turret was pierced exactly above the gunner's seat, who probably died as a result of the impact if he was on it. In addition, the commander's panoramic sight PERI R17 and the gunner's sight EMES-15 were damaged.
After the “military correspondents” complained to Putin that the Russian Defense Ministry did not pay the premiums due for knocked out enemy equipment, the department presented an impressive report on such payments. According to this information, 7,064 military personnel received awards for the destruction of 11,586 units of military equipment. Payments are made on the basis of reports from unit commanders and are transferred to the personal accounts of the servicemen who allegedly knocked out all this equipment. It is reported that they are made even for the interception of missiles of the Alder, Smerch and Uragan multiple launch rocket systems.
In addition, at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Putin announced the destruction of as many as five American Patriot air defense systems. To date, it is known about the delivery to Ukraine of only two Patriot batteries and several additional launchers for them. It is worth noting that on May 17, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported (without confirmation) on the destruction of a radar station and five Patriot launchers (all of which may be part of one complex).
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that when reporting huge APU losses of German Leopard tanks and American Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, the Russians are simply showing the same five vehicles from different angles. About how and why annotations are made in reports on the destruction of equipment, Dmitry Mishov, a pilot of the Russian Aerospace Forces who fled from Russia, spoke in an interview:
Let's say there is a damaged tank. And several helicopters shoot at him several times, and the gunner confirms each time for a small amount that a new piece of equipment has been destroyed. And all payments for one tank.
The Fighterbomber channel, associated with the Russian Aerospace Forces, writes that on paper the idea with payments looks great, but in reality the infantry takes over the equipment already knocked out by aircraft, then aircraft arrives and hits it several more times – and not necessarily on enemy equipment, it can be and long abandoned. Like Mishov, the author of the channel claims that advanced air gunners (PANs) demand a share for confirming a hit.
Armaments and military equipment
The first photo of the Swedish CV9040C infantry fighting vehicles appeared on social networks, as stated, on the territory of Ukraine. In total, it was reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine would receive 50 vehicles of this type.
The infantry fighting vehicle is equipped with a Barracuda camouflage kit that reduces visibility in the thermal and radar ranges (an analogue of the Russian KSSZ Nakidka, which is installed, in particular, on T-90M tanks ).
In addition, Sweden will provide Ukraine with a new military aid package. It will include the training of Ukrainian pilots and aviation personnel in the handling of JAS 39 Gripen fighters, as well as the purchase of unnamed military and training equipment, ammunition, fuel, medicines and long-range UAVs.
Germany handed over to Ukraine two Wisent 1 armored demining vehicles, as well as two tractors with trailers for transporting heavy equipment and 16 Zetros trucks. It is also planned to supply 64 missiles for the American Patriot air defense systems.
Spain is donating a Role 2 plus field hospital, 20 armored personnel carriers and four Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ukraine. Armored personnel carriers will arrive in Poland on June 19, and the tanks will arrive after they are finished repairing.
The Russian troops are receiving supposedly domestic Sibiryachok-1 drones, the cost of which, as the military correspondents write , can be up to 2.5 million rubles. At the same time, parts for them are purchased on AliExpress in the amount of 200 thousand rubles, and, apparently, money is “sawed” on deliveries. You can read about how UAVs for the front are made from Chinese components in The Insider .
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation nine months ago obtained an order from the Government on the construction of two repair bases for Russian armored vehicles in the Moscow and Rostov regions. Since then, there has been no news of them. It is only known that in winter they tried to recruit personnel with a salary of 15-20 thousand rubles a month for one of them.
About the main events of the war on June 15 – in the previous report: “The Armed Forces of Ukraine continue the offensive, the fighters of Akhmat in the Belgorod region. What's Happening on the Frontline