In today's summary:
- Judging by official reports from both sides, there is a lull at the front;
- Some “military correspondents” claim that Russian troops drove the Ukrainian Armed Forces out of Pyatikhatki, others that the Ukrainians advanced to Zherebyanki;
- Zelenskiy says the counteroffensive is slower than some would like;
- Three drones fell in the Moscow region, two of them almost flew to the location of the Taman division;
- Putin "nailed" almost a thousand units of armored vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the Ukrainian counteroffensive;
- Having received a million rubles for the destroyed Leopard, the Russian military could hardly really knock out this tank;
- The Pentagon overestimated the cost of deliveries of military equipment to Ukraine by $6.2 billion;
- Latvia is going to transfer to Ukraine all available helicopters.
The situation at the front
Representative of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Andrei Kovalev reported on successful offensive operations in the Melitopol and Berdyansk directions , in particular, at the Novodanilovka-Rabotino , Malaya Tokmachka-Verbovoye , Volnoe Pole-Makarovka lines. According to him, the enemy is mainly on the defensive in order to prevent the advance of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Particularly heavy fighting was noted in the Limansky direction and in the area of the Serebryansky forestry of the Donetsk region . On the direction of Belogorovka – Shipilovka, the Armed Forces of Ukraine had "partial success".
Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Anna Malyar spoke about the “invariance” of the situation near Bakhmut . According to her, the front line here is stable, several clashes were noted.
The project of the "military officer" Semyon Pegov WarGonzo writes about the advancement of Ukrainian troops towards Zherebyanki (located on the road towards Vasilyevka ) and Rabotino (south of Orekhov ). It is noted that less than 3 km separates Ukrainian units from Rabotino .
OSINT analyst, known by the nickname Def Mon , cites the words of Igor Girkin (aka Strelkov / Runov), according to which Ukrainian troops, after the liberation of Pyatikhatki in the Zaporozhye region , continue to move towards Zherebyanka . This, according to Def Mon, is confirmed by fresh satellite images. Also relying on satellite data, he talks about the capture of the Ukrainian Armed Forces of several Russian positions north of Rabotino and the advance of the Ukrainians 2.5 km in the direction from Levadnoe .
In the evening, the Rybar channel, connected with the Russian Ministry of Defense, wrote that the Russian military had allegedly returned Pyatikhatki under control and were “successfully repulsing the surges” of the Ukrainian military.
A video of a tank attack by the Russian Armed Forces in the Liman-Kremennaya direction is published. Judging by the footage, it was repulsed with the help of Ukrainian artillery fire. Meanwhile, the "military officer" of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company Yevgeny Poddubny reports on the concentration of units of the 42nd and 95th brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Liman direction .
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged that the counteroffensive is slower than some would like. “Some people think this is a Hollywood movie and are waiting for the results now. This is not so, ”he said and noted that people’s lives are at stake. Zelensky also noted that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will advance on the battlefield in the way "which is considered the best."
Mutual shelling and sabotage
According to the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on the night of June 21, the Russian military attacked the territory of Ukraine from the north with the help of six kamikaze drones of the Shahed family (aka Geran). All of them were shot down by air defense systems of the Khmelnytsky region . It is also reported about the destruction of four reconnaissance UAVs.
Radio Liberty journalist Mark Krutov geolocated the site of the recent Ukrainian strike on Volnovakha and found a Russian training base there.
Two drones fell near the permanent deployment point of the 15th motorized rifle regiment of the Taman division (military unit 23623) in the village of Kalininets, Moscow Region . According to Governor Andrey Vorobyov, these are two aircraft-type UAVs that fell at 5:30 and 5:50 in the morning near the warehouses of the military unit. Telegram channel "Rybar", associated with the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, notes that so far Ukrainian drones have not been able to successfully hit targets in the Moscow region , but this time they almost managed to reach the targets. The authors of the channel complain that information about the factories for assembling such UAVs was transferred to the Ministry of Defense, but the military is in no hurry to strike at them.
Another drone exploded in the air near the village of Lukino in New Moscow . Later, according to TASS sources in law enforcement agencies, it became known that all three UAVs were suppressed with the help of electronic warfare.
A drone hit a residential building in Donetsk . "Voenkor" Semyon Pegov wrote that the blow fell on an apartment located on the 20th floor of a high-rise building on Mayakovsky Street. No one was inside at the time, and there were no injuries.
The village of Rozovka in the part of the Zaporozhye region occupied by Russian troops, according to "military correspondents", was attacked with the help of HIMARS MLRS missiles. One civilian was injured, several buildings were destroyed. No other injured or dead were reported.
In the area of Feodosia in the annexed Crimea , the railway track was damaged. The "head" of the Crimean occupation administration, Sergei Aksyonov, promised that traffic would be restored in two hours. It was reported that two trains were canceled due to the incident. There were no casualties.
Losses
Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to talk about the colossal losses of equipment by Ukrainian troops. Answering a journalist's question at a meeting with the military, he announced that since the beginning of the counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russian "men" had "pricked" 245 Ukrainian tanks and 678 various armored vehicles. If this information were true, then in a couple of weeks Putin could finally announce the complete demilitarization of Ukraine.
At the same meeting, the navigator of the Su-24M shot down in Ukraine, Alexander Antonov, read to the President of the Russian Federation poems of his own composition, ending with the words "meet dad, bitches."
Meanwhile, Russian social networks are circulating videos and photos with a single fully captured (that is, towed to the rear) American mine-protected Oshkosh M-ATV armored vehicle. It was reportedly captured by an assault detachment of the 40th Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet during the battle for Novodonetskoye .
A new turn took place in history with a million rubles awarded for a wrecked Leopard tank. The wounded Andrey Kravtsov, whom Putin issued the Order of Courage in a hospital near Moscow on June 12, could hardly have destroyed a German combat vehicle. Apart from reports from the Russian Ministry of Defense about the destruction of harvesters masquerading as Leopards, the first confirmed case of the loss of one of these German tanks was recorded on 8 June. It turns out that if Kravtsov was wounded then, he was taken to the Moscow region, and then his arm was amputated there, then it took him four days to recover – and this is not counting the fact that those meeting with Putin are required to undergo a two-week quarantine.
OSINT researchers also found that all the soldiers who were in the hospital with Kravtsov and Putin served in the Buryat 37th Brigade. It is known that they were the first to take the blow of the Ukrainian troops on June 5. It turned out that these people had repeatedly taken part in Russian propaganda reports. Kravtsov, on the other hand, was given a cash reward on June 20, and it is not very clear why the fact that he shot down Leopard could not be announced on June 12, when Putin visited him. It is worth adding that the 37th brigade of the RF Armed Forces operates in the area of the Vremevsky ledge , and the 47th brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which is armed with Leopards, is in the Orekhovo area, almost 80 kilometers to the west.
The BBC Russian service published Ilya Barabanov's material about General Arkady Marzoev, which tells that even a failed command and the serious losses associated with it do not become an obstacle to career growth in the RF Armed Forces. Last year, the publication wrote about Lieutenant Colonel Denis Lapin, who received an award from the father of Colonel General Alexander Lapin after the 1st Tank Regiment entrusted to Lapin suffered heavy losses in northeastern Ukraine.
Armaments and military equipment
The German concern Hensoldt will install on-board protection systems AMPS (Airborne Missile Protection System), neutralizing threats from surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles on Ukrainian helicopters. A total of 16 such systems will be delivered. The principle of their operation is based on the early and accurate detection of the launch of enemy missiles, as well as calculating the speed of the missile, the distance to it and screening out false targets.
The Portuguese Ministry of Defense announced plans to transfer to Ukraine 14 more M113 armored personnel carriers and a battery of 105-mm howitzers (probably M101A1). Earlier, Portugal has already transferred to Ukraine 45 M113 armored personnel carriers from its armed forces.
The Pentagon overestimated deliveries within the framework of the PDA (that is, from stocks) by $6.2 billion. This is evidenced by the data of the audit. Thus, the department will be able to expand the supply of military aid to Ukraine. It is worth noting that earlier, according to the preliminary results of the audit, it was said that there was a revaluation of at least $ 3 billion in the region. As a result, this “accounting error” can compete with the UK for second place in the total cost of military assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine published a photo of a MiG-29 fighter with a suspension for an unknown type of weapon (probably JDAM ammunition).
According to the statement of the Prime Minister of Latvia, Krisjanis Karins, the country is transferring all its combat helicopters to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He writes that now the last cars are being prepared before being sent to Ukraine. It is known that the Latvian Air Force has at least four Mi-17 helicopters and three non-flying Mi-2 helicopters. It is not yet clear whether Karins' statement refers to the three American UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters received by Latvia.
Germany has handed over a new package of military aid to Ukraine. It consists of a thousand conventional 155-caliber artillery ammunition and an unspecified number of guided ones. In addition to them, Ukraine is receiving two MAN HX81 tank tractors and trailers for them, and six border patrol vehicles.
Bulgaria announces the imminent transfer of its military aid package for Ukraine. What can be included in it is not specified, but the country has considerable stocks of Soviet equipment in warehouses. For example, Bulgarian tandem HEAT rounds for RPG-7, 82mm mortar shells , anti-tank missile systems and even possibly T-72M1 tanks have been seen in the Armed Forces of Ukraine earlier.
Ukrainian pilots note that modern Russian Su-35s shoot down old Su-25s of the Armed Forces of Ukraine due to technical superiority. Since Russia still maintains air superiority, Ukraine needs F-16s as soon as possible.
About the main events of the war on June 20 – in the previous report: “The Armed Forces of Ukraine are moving north and south of Bakhmut, a million rubles were awarded for the destroyed Leopard tank. What's happening on the front line .