Air raid warning sirens went off across Ukraine on the night of Thursday June 23 to Friday June 24, reports the Ukrainian Air Force on Telegram, quoted by The Kyiv Independent. Alarms were heard in Kyiv and in all oblasts of the country from 3 a.m. (local time). The governor of Kursk Oblast claimed that the air defense had shot down a drone, but did not provide details. In Sumy Oblast, 147 blasts have been identified. Follow our live.
The EU wants the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes. The assembly urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban the participation of these athletes in the next Olympics and to “all other major sporting events”. For its part, the IOC recommended the reinstatement of these athletes in international competitions, under a neutral banner and “individually”if they did not actively support the war in Ukraine.
A damaged bridge between Crimea and Ukraine. “A strike hit the Tchongar bridge. There were no casualties”said the Russian governor of annexed Crimea on Thursday, adding that the damage was being assessed. Crimea serves in particular as a logistics rear base for the Russian forces deployed in southern Ukraine.
Russia is preparing an “attack”, according to Zelensky. “Our intelligence has obtained information that Russia is considering the scenario of a terrorist attack at the Zaporizhia power plant, an attack with the release of radiation. They have prepared everything for this”he said on Telegram. “The world is warned, the world can and must act”.
Russia on the “list of shame” vis-à-vis children’s rights. Russian armed forces and ‘affiliated’ armed groups, which have killed dozens of children in Ukraine, are now on the UN’s ‘list of shame’ on the rights of children in conflict, according to a copy of a forthcoming report. This report lists those responsible for these violations, which include killed and maimed children, recruitment, kidnapping or sexual violence.