In the hard-fought east, Ukrainian troops are able to hold a chemical plant that has been attacked. In the west, Russian rockets fall on an arms depot and also destroy houses. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Ambassador Melnyk is demanding that Chancellor Scholz deliver on German promises. The 109th day of the war at a glance.
Moscow reports destruction of weapons cache
According to the Russian army, it has destroyed a weapons depot in western Ukraine, which is said to have stored weapons delivered from the west. The “large deposit with anti-tank missiles, portable air defense systems and grenades” near the city of Chortkiv was attacked with Kalibr cruise missiles, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said. Ukraine reported 22 wounded in Russian attack in Chortkiv. According to Russian sources, the attack on the weapons depot was carried out using Kalibr cruise missiles fired from the sea.
Ukrainian regional authorities said Chortkiv was hit by four Russian rockets launched from the Black Sea the night before. The attack injured 22 people, including seven women and a 12-year-old child. In addition, a military facility was partially destroyed and several residential buildings were damaged. All 22 injured were taken to hospitals, said regional governor Volodymyr Trush at a press conference broadcast on Facebook. Chortkiv is around 140 kilometers north of the border with Romania. Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the city had almost 30,000 inhabitants.
Chemical plant under Ukrainian control
The center of the heaviest fighting in eastern Ukraine remains the city of Sievjerodonetsk in the Luhansk region. According to the regional governor, the situation there is the worst in the country. “It’s impossible to count the shelling,” said Serhij Hajdaj. Many towns in the region are under fire. In Sievjerodonetsk, the Azot chemical plant was shelled, but it is still under Ukrainian control. “Azot is not blocked. Fighting is taking place in the streets next to the factory,” Hajdaj said. According to Ukrainian sources, hundreds of civilians had found refuge in the facility. The pro-Russian separatists, on the other hand, announced that civilians who had fled to the bunkers under the industrial plant had left the factory premises.
According to Hajday, Russian forces destroyed another of the three bridges between Sievjerodonetsk and its twin city Lysychansk. This eliminates another possible escape and retreat route via the Siwerskyj Donez river. According to the mayor of Sieverodonetsk, Olexander Strjuk, Ukrainian troops hold a good third of the city area.
The General Staff in Kyiv reported a large number of fighting also in the Sloviansk region of the Donetsk region. Again and again there are air attacks against civilian infrastructure. According to Ukrainian information, the Russian troops in the area of ??the important traffic junction of Bakhmut have been pushed back during the ongoing heavy fighting in the Donbass. Up to 150 attackers were “destroyed”. This information could not be checked independently.
Connection established with Zaporizhia nuclear plant
According to Ukrainian information, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has regained contact with Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia. The connection between the data servers in Zaporizhia and the IAEA has been “restored”, the Ukrainian atomic energy agency Energoatom announced on Telegram. “Thanks to the joint efforts” of Energoatom and the mobile network operator Vodafone it was possible to restore data transmission. Vodafone has a contract with the IAEA to transmit data from Zaporizhia. Since the end of May, all data has been stored on secure servers and immediately transferred to the IAEA after the connection has been restored, Energoatom said. Zaporizhia nuclear plant has been occupied since early March by Russian troops, who took control of it days after they began invading Ukraine. In 2021, the power plant contributed around a fifth to electricity production in Ukraine.
Melnyk wants commitments from Scholz
The Ukrainian Ambassador Andriy Melnyk is demanding concrete commitments from Chancellor Olaf Scholz for the planned trip to Kyiv. “We hope that during his visit to Kyiv the chancellor will finally keep the German promises regarding arms deliveries and Ukraine’s accession to the EU,” he told Der Spiegel. Melnyk criticized that they are still waiting for the delivery of heavy weapons such as the Panzerhaubitze 2000 and the Gepard anti-aircraft tank. Announcements alone are no help against the invaders in war. It is therefore hoped that the chancellor will provide concrete data on when the weapons will arrive. “Especially since the promises were made months ago.”
According to a media report, Scholz wants to travel to Kyiv later this month. The SPD politician is planning a visit with French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi before the summit of the G7 countries at the end of June, reported “Bild am Sonntag”, citing French and Ukrainian government circles. The federal government has not yet confirmed the report.
Stoltenberg takes Turkey’s concerns seriously
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed understanding for Turkey’s objections to admitting Sweden and Finland to the defense alliance. Turkey’s concerns, which have suffered more terrorist attacks than any other NATO member, must be taken seriously, says Stoltenberg during a visit to Finland. Turkey accuses Sweden and Finland of harboring people linked to terrorist groups. In this context, she had named the Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK and supporters of the preacher Fethullah Gülen.
Zelenskyj receives award
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy was honored for his bravery in the fight for the country’s freedom. The President of Ukraine received the award from the Nemtsov Foundation, which is named after the murdered Kremlin opponent Boris Nemtsov and is run by his daughter Zhanna Nemtsova. “There is no doubt that Volodymyr Zelenskyy showed incredible courage,” Nemtsova told the Internet portal Meduza, which is critical of the Kremlin. It cannot be taken for granted that Zelenskyy stayed in the country after Russia attacked Ukraine. He bravely defended the country alongside his people, demanded weapons and didn’t care about his safety, Nemtsova said.
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