In today's summary:
- In Kramatorsk, a rocket hit a restaurant: 11 people were killed, more than 60 were injured;
- Prigozhin intended to capture Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov;
- Some Russian generals probably knew about the preparation of the Wagner PMC mutiny and were going to participate in it;
- The Armed Forces of Ukraine took control of the dam on the Seversky Donets-Donbass canal south of Bakhmut;
- Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov says the main events of the counteroffensive are ahead;
- In the Zaporozhye direction, the Russians knocked out six more American Bradley infantry fighting vehicles;
- The new US military aid package includes armored vehicles and anti-missiles;
- Switzerland has not issued permission to transfer old Leopard 1A5 tanks to Ukraine.
Mutual shelling and sabotage
The night before, Kramatorsk was hit by a rocket attack that hit a restaurant full of customers. According to the latest data , 11 people died, including three children. A total of 61 people were injured. Among them are three citizens of Colombia – deputy Sergio Jaramillo, writer Hector Abad and journalist Catalina Gomez, who at the time of "arrival" had dinner in a cafe with the Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina who accompanied them (she is in serious condition).
It is reported that the strike was carried out by missiles of the Iskander complex. According to the SBU, they managed to detain the gunner – he turned out to be an employee of the Kramatorsk gas transportation company.
Z-channels try to justify the strike ( 1 , 2 , 3 ) by saying that the restaurant was visited by "foreign instructors" and members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As evidence, in particular, a photograph is cited from the scene of the tragedy, which depicts people in military uniforms and bulletproof vests. It is also said that military vehicles with tactical signs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stood in the parking lot in front of the institution, and English is heard on the videos taken after the strike. The Rybar Telegram channel associated with the Russian Defense Ministry notes that three foreign volunteers were identified on the footage.
Even if this is true, a visit to a public catering establishment by combatants does not make it a legitimate military target, and the number of injured civilians and journalists makes it possible to classify this strike as indiscriminate (according to Article 51 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1949), that is, entailed "loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects, or both, which would be excessive in relation to the specific and immediate military advantage thus intended to be gained."
As The Insider wrote earlier, statements by Russian media and officials about the missile hit the Kramatorsk Hotel, where foreign mercenaries were allegedly "accommodated", are not true. The blow fell not on the hotel building, but on the shopping center adjacent to it, in which the restaurant was located. It is also impossible to verify the report that Kramatorsk was closed to ordinary guests, and, given the place where the missile hit, this is completely unimportant. The restaurant itself, according to Financial Times correspondent Christopher Miller, was popular with foreign journalists.
In turn, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that as a result of a missile attack on Kramatorsk , the stationing point for the commanders of the 56th motorized infantry brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was destroyed, apparently meaning either a restaurant or a hotel.
According to the command of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on the night of June 28, Ukrainian air defense forces shot down six kamikaze drones of the Shahed family (aka Geran), launched from a southeast direction.
A series of blows were inflicted on Melitopol . The occupation administration reported on the work of air defense and that "fragments of downed missiles" damaged the residential buildings of the dacha cooperative of the village "Mirny" . There were no casualties.
The occupied Yasinovataya in the Donetsk regionwas shelled . It is reported that one woman was wounded, as well as that the shelling was carried out with the help of four MLRS rockets.
The consequences of the Wagner PMC mutiny
The Wall Street Journal published an article about the circumstances of the preparation and conduct of the armed uprising of the Wagnerites. Yevgeny Prigozhin allegedly planned to capture Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff, Commander of the Group of Forces in Ukraine Valery Gerasimov. But the FSB knew about the rebellion in advance, which is why the head of the Wagner PMC had to change his plans and start acting earlier. If before that he was going to capture the military command of the Russian Federation during a trip to the southern regions of Russia, then on the night of June 23-24 he sent one column to Moscow , and the other to Rostov-on-Don . These circumstances could also have contributed to the failure of the rebellion.
In this context, the post of blogger Alexander Arutyunov (known as Razvedos) is very interesting, where he cites the testimony of, apparently, an employee of one of the Russian special forces, from which it follows that they began to prepare for the upcoming events on the night of June 21-22. The more indicative is the complete unpreparedness for a rebellion, which most of the Russian security forces demonstrated on June 23 and 24.
The New York Times hints that the commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces Sergei Surovikin, as well as some other generals, could know about Prigozhin's plans. Sources of the publication note that the head of the Wagner PMC would not have raised an uprising if he had not enlisted the support of the people in power. The Rybar Telegram channel associated with the Russian Defense Ministry called the publication part of a campaign to “settle scores” and “denigrate” “uncomfortable figures.” At the same time, “military commander” Vladimir Romanov and The Moscow Times sources reported that Surovikin had been arrested, but this information has not been confirmed at the time of preparation of the report.
According to the Dossier Center, in 2017 Surovikin became an honorary member of the Wagner PMC with a personal token under the number M-3744. The status of an honorary member of this group had more than 30 Russian generals.
Meanwhile, a video appeared on the GRAY ZONE Telegram channel close to Wagner PMCs, in which a Wagnerian with the call sign "Brest" talks about the fact that the group continues to work and "a new combat direction is opening up for it – Belarus." In his speech, he mainly talks about planning a new attack on Ukraine from Belarusian territory and recalls that elections will be held in Russia in 2024. At the same time, he confirms that the mercenaries will hand over the equipment to the RF Ministry of Defense.
The situation at the front
According to Andriy Kovalev, a representative of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ukrainian troops conducted successful offensive operations in the Bakhmut direction in the areas of the settlements of Razdolivka , north of Soledar , south of Paraskoveevka , Zaliznyansky , Berkhovka , Kleshcheevka , Kurdyumovka .
There was video evidence that the Armed Forces of Ukraine took control of the dam on the Seversky Donets-Donbass canal in the Kurdyumovka area south of Bakhmut . Kurdyumovka itself came under the control of the Wagner PMC at the end of November 2022.
The Rybar Telegram channel writes that the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to hold a bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnieper , despite shelling from the Russian side, and are also trying to gain a foothold in the gray zone on the islands south of Kherson , where Russia cannot confidently control the territory.
Propagandist Anastasia Kashevarova wrote about the delivery of drinking water to the front. According to her, its reserves are running out quickly, and it is still not enough, despite the fact that the initiative groups are trying to close the need for troops in water. She called for solving the water problem “at the state level”.
In an interview with the FT, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that the main events of the counteroffensive are yet to come. He once again confirmed that the main strike groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are not yet involved in hostilities. Reznikov compared the offensive to a snowball – "the bigger it gets, the faster it rolls."
Losses
The governor of the Pskov region, Mikhail Vedernikov, spoke about the losses of military personnel from his region during the battles near Shebekino in early June. According to him, during the raid of the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Legion “Freedom of Russia” fighting on the side of Ukraine on the Belgorod region , at least 14 Pskov military personnel were killed, and ten were captured. Three prisoners managed to return home. Earlier it became known about the death and capture in the region of mobilized Pskov military personnel from the 1009th motorized rifle regiment and the death of the commander of this unit, which we wrote about in one of the previous reports.
The death of the crews of two military aircraft – the Il-22 aircraft and the Ka-52 helicopter – was confirmed during the Prigozhin mutiny. In total, at least 10 soldiers were killed. Z-channels ask rhetorical questions about who is responsible for their deaths.
Photo and video materials of new losses of the Bradley BMP near the village of Malaya Tokmachka appeared . Judging by them, a total of six cars were hit – four in one place and two more in another. In addition, the footage shows the IMR-2 engineering obstacle blocking vehicle. It is reported that the Ukrainian military suffered these losses near the place where another mechanized column was already defeated at the beginning of the counteroffensive.
At the same time, the well-known video blogger Valery Markus, who holds the position of chief sergeant in the 47th mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which is armed with Bradley, reported on further progress and mentioned that the fighters of the unit have to sleep on the corpses of the Russian military.
Armaments and military equipment
The composition of the next package of US military aid has been officially announced . It is allocated within the framework of presidential instructions (PDA) – that is, from availability. First of all, they talk about the transfer of 30 Bradley and 25 Stryker infantry fighting vehicles, which may indicate the intensity of the fighting, since it is likely that this equipment is being supplied to replace the retired one. The aid package also includes anti-missiles for NASAMS air defense systems, cartridges, shells, as well as other field equipment and spare parts for it. Russian military expert Ilya Kramnik believes (apparently based on estimates of losses close to official Russian data ) that if the Armed Forces of Ukraine "continue to break into the foreground of the Russian defensive position", new supplies will not help them, but "it will be possible to continue fighting."
Lithuania is donating 10 M113 armored personnel carriers and ammunition to Ukraine, as well as thousands of anti-tank rounds for grenade launchers. The total cost of the military assistance package will be more than 500 million euros. Lithuania is also going to purchase two NASAMS SAM launchers, which will be delivered to Ukraine in the next three months.
Photos of T-72 modifications and Polish PT-91 Twardy tanks in service with the 22nd Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have appeared on social networks. The upgraded T-72s are equipped with a TPN-1-49-23 gunner's night sight with a thermal imager, a modern Lebed-K-2RB radio station, and Bazalt navigation equipment. Tanks are equipped with dynamic protection "Contact-1" on the sides and front of the hull and anti-cumulative grilles. It is noted that the tank rollers were removed from the old T-55-/T-62, which indicates a lack of spare parts for the T-72.
As for the PT-91 Twardy, they represent a deep modernization of the licensed T-72M, which began in the Polish People's Republic and was completed after the dissolution of the socialist camp using Western components. The tanks are equipped with new Polish-made ERAWA dynamic protection, reinforced engines, thermal imaging sights and computerized fire control systems. You can learn more about the history of this tank, its advantages and disadvantages, for example, from this informative video .
According to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, despite a legislative amendment allowing the re-export of weapons to Ukraine, Switzerland rejected the application of the local company RUAG to sell 96 Leopard 1A5 tanks to Kiev. According to the official wording, "such a sale would be contrary to the law on military equipment and would lead to a departure from the Swiss policy of neutrality." These tanks were in service with the Italian army, after which they were decommissioned and stored in Italy.
A new medical protected vehicle of the RF Armed Forces has been spotted in Ukraine. It is probably assembled on the Kamaz-43501 chassis used in the Patrol family of vehicles.
Also appeared photos of the next Russian "shushpantser" – probably the most protected MT-LB in history.
About the main events of the war on June 26 – in the previous report: “86 billion rubles from the budget were spent on the Wagnerites in a year, minefields hinder the advancement of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. What's happening on the front line .
