In today's summary:
- The Armed Forces of Ukraine are advancing in the Melitopol, Berdyansk and Zaporozhye directions;
- In the Bakhmut area, Ukrainian troops are conducting successful offensive operations on the flanks;
- Kyiv, Zaporozhye, Lviv and Mykolaiv regions were subjected to drone attacks and missile strikes;
- Rescuers in Kherson came under Russian fire, one of them was killed;
- Shoigu said that Ukrainians are thinking about strikes on Russian territory, "including Crimea", with HIMARS and Storm Shadow missiles;
- A Russian soldier was awarded a million rubles for the destruction of a Leopard tank;
- European air defense system SAMP/T put on alert in Ukraine;
- The first photo of Kirill Budanov has been published after reports of his death.
The situation at the front
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu gave an assessment of the Ukrainian counteroffensive in two weeks. According to him, Ukrainian troops "continue to attempt offensive actions" in the South-Donetsk (Ugledarsk) , Zaporozhye and Donetsk directions . Shoigu claims that all attacks were repulsed.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valery Zaluzhny, published a video of a visit to the headquarters of the groupings of troops, "which perform the most difficult tasks in areas where the heaviest battles are taking place." Zaluzhny spoke about the “frantic resistance” that Russian troops are putting up with the advancing units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but stressed that “the operation continues in accordance with the plan.”
The representative of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Andrey Kovalev reported on the progress in the Melitopol and Berdyansk directions :
"Over the past day, in the directions Novodarovka – Priyutnoye , Makarovka – Rivnopol and Novodanilovka – Rabotino , the Ukrainian military had partial success, they are gaining a foothold on the achieved lines."
Oleg Sentsov, a Ukrainian director and now a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, spoke about the progress in the Zaporozhye direction on Facebook. As he writes, his company, having suffered losses, took a new frontier: “Our car was hit, but we were able to get out with the crew. The war for our land continues."
One of the field commanders of the separatist armed formations in the Donbas in 2014, Igor Girkin (aka Strelkov / Runov), claims that after the capture of the village of Pyatikhatky, Ukrainian troops are trying to break into the next village of Zherebyanka . It should be noted that a video of the 128th brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine appeared on the network, where a Russian tank was hit by a Ukrainian ATGM "Stugna-P" just in the Zherebyanok area.
According to the project "military correspondent" Semyon Pegov WarGonzo, artillery is active on both sides in the Kherson direction . In the Uluhdarsky section of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, assault operations continued in the area of Priyutnoye and Rivnopol in the last 24 hours. The report states that the assault actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have not led to success anywhere.
In the Bakhmut direction , according to WarGonzo, Ukrainian forces advanced towards Kleshcheevka and are located less than one and a half kilometers from it, and also tried to reach Yagodnoye and Berkhovka , but to no avail. But after the attack from the village of Orekhovo-Vasilyevka, the Armed Forces of Ukraine occupied several dominant heights and approached a section of the M-03 highway. In addition, judging by the geolocated video , Ukrainian troops came close to the famous village of Sacco and Vanzetti north of Bakhmut .
The Telegram channel of the People's Militia of the DPR reports on the capture of a number of strongholds of the Zverinets fortified area in the Maryinsky direction by assault detachments of the 33rd and 255th motorized rifle regiments of the 20th Guards Motorized Rifle Division. It is alleged that this will seriously complicate the tactical situation in the area for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. "Zverinets" is located between Maryinka and Novomikhailovka .
Mutual shelling and sabotage
According to the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on the night of June 20, kamikaze drones of the Shahed family (aka Geran) attacked military facilities and infrastructure facilities on Ukrainian territory. Air Defense Forces reportedly shot down 32 drones out of 35. Also, the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine once again reported on the destruction of the Russian Ka-52 Alligator helicopter.
The report says that Russian forces fired Iskander-M and S-300 missiles at Zaporozhye . According to the head of the Zaporizhia OVA Yuriy Malashko, the city of Zaporozhye and its suburbs came under fire, "communications, property and equipment of agricultural and farming, as well as a popular vacation spot" were attacked. Residential houses and administrative buildings were destroyed, one person was wounded in the city of Orekhov .
Drones attacked Kiev for the second time since the beginning of the month, as reported by the city's military administration. About 20 UAVs were shot down over the capital of Ukraine.
The head of the Lviv OVA, Maxim Kozitsky, said that the drones attacked a "critical facility", a fire started there.
Three Shahed drones were destroyed by air defense systems in the Nikolaev region , said the head of the local administration, Vitaly Kim.
The head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, wrote that Russian forces fired on Ukrainian rescuers who were clearing silt in Kherson . One person died and eight were injured.
Governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov reported that Belgorod , Volokonovsky and Krasnoyaruzhsky districts , Valuysky , Grayvoronsky and Shebekinsky urban districts had come under fire during the day . Several private households, a warehouse and a power line were damaged. The villages of Zhuravlevka , Sereda and Murom were attacked by drones that dropped ammunition.
According to Shot, air defense systems shot down a Ukrainian aircraft-type drone over Tulyanka in the Belgorod region . The Telegram channel also reports that another drone dropped four ammunition on the village of Gordeevka, Korenevsky district, Kursk region .
In the Bryansk region, the village of Brakhlov , Klimovsky district, was fired from barrel artillery. 10 shells of 120 mm caliber were fired, without casualties or destruction.
Satellite photographs of the aftermath of a strike on an ammunition depot in the village of Rykovo in the south of the Kherson region (105 km from the nearest Ukrainian positions) have appeared. It is possible that the railway track was also damaged, which should for some time complicate Russian logistics in the Zaporozhye direction.
Sergei Shoigu said that the Ukrainian leadership plans to launch strikes on Russian territory, "including Crimea ", with HIMARS MLRS missiles and Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles. According to the Minister of Defense, this "would mean the full involvement of the United States and Great Britain in the conflict and would entail immediate strikes on decision-making centers on the territory of Ukraine."
Military expert Alexander Kovalenko, in an interview with The Insider, called Shoigu's statement absurd:
“Multiple rocket launchers, such as the M142 and M270 HIMARS, do not have sufficient range to hit targets on the territory of the temporarily occupied peninsula of Crimea, which is perceived by the international community as the legal territory of Ukraine. On the territory of the Russian Federation, Ukraine will not strike with such systems as Storm Shadow and HIMARS.
Shoigu's statements are due to the stalemate that is now looming for the Russian contingent in the occupied territories of the left-bank Kherson region and the Zaporozhye region. Shoigu is incompetent as a military leader, but he still understands that in these territories the Russians will not be able to hold positions on the defensive for a long time. If they cannot hold their positions on the defensive, then they will have to flee, and the Ukrainian defense forces, among other things, will deliver regular and fairly accurate strikes against the rear areas where the Russian occupiers are located.”
According to Kovalenko, the Russian Defense Ministry is trying to put pressure on Ukraine's Western partners to limit Kyiv in the use of weapons, which the Russian army has nothing to counter:
“It has been said more than once that all reports from <head of the press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation Igor – The Insider> Konashenkov that M142 and M270 rockets of the HIMARS systems, M-31A1 and M-31A2 shells are successfully shot down, about how Storm Shadow is successfully intercepted – this is nothing more than an invention of Konashenkov himself. To date, Russia does not have full-fledged air defense systems that could intercept both Storm Shadow cruise missiles and rockets for the M142 and M270.
Losses
Russian soldier Andrei Kravtsov was awarded a million rubles for the destruction of a Leopard tank, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. The award was established by the foundation of entrepreneurs "Care of Siberia", and a certificate for the specified amount was presented by Senator Alexander Karelin. He visited Kravtsov at the medical center of the Ministry of Defense in the Moscow region. Judging by the published video, the soldier lost his right arm.
Armaments and military equipment
French President Emmanuel Macron said that the Franco-Italian SAMP / T air defense system, transferred to Ukraine in February, has already been put on combat duty, RFI radio reports . According to him, the system "protects key objects and lives." SAMP / T is designed, among other things, to counter attacks using ballistic missiles.
Ukraine has successfully used a drone of its own production with a flight range of a thousand kilometers. This was announced by the press secretary of Ukroboronprom, Natalya Sad, without specifying whether it was a test or the drone had already completed its combat mission.
The Ukrainian military publishes a video of the combat work of the American BMP M2 Bradley, which is firing at a forest plantation. In another video , filmed from inside the Bradley, night-time TOW missile launches are visible in the thermal imager.
The pro-Russian Telegram channel AMANAT published a photo of a motorcycle with an anti-tank missile system installed on it. The "Apparatus" was bought with the money originally raised to buy a buggy. “Efficiency and portability exceeded our expectations,” the report says.
The Russians continue to improve the tactics of using "jihadi tanks". The pro-Russian Telegram channel “Military Informant”, which publishes a new video of the use of an improvised explosive device based on armored vehicles, claims that this time the MT-LB tractor loaded with explosives managed to reach the landing site with the Ukrainian military and successfully explode there.
Budanov Photos
Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Emine Dzhaparova posted a joint photo on Facebook with the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate Kirill Budanov and Japanese Ambassador to Kiev Matsuda Kuninori. This is the first photo of General Budanov, which appeared after the Russian media and Telegram channels spread reports of his death or serious injury.
The day before, the Kyiv Post newspaper published an interview with Budanov, in which he commented on the rumors about his death:
“Now a special detachment of immortal commanders is being created in Ukraine – Valery Zaluzhny, myself, Stepan Bandera, Symon Petliura, Ivan Mazepa. <…> A detachment of immortals will come at night in a dream to the Russian inhabitants who sought to seize Ukraine, and nightmare them.
About the main events of the war on June 19 – in the previous report: “The Armed Forces of Ukraine are advancing in Zaporozhye, the Russians are using“ jihadi tanks ”, Peskov“ demilitarized ”Ukraine. What's happening on the front line .