A sale punctuated by applause. The Russian editor of the dayindependent investigation nal Novaya Gazeta, Dmitry Muratov auctioned his Nobel Peace Prize medal for $103.5 million on Monday June 20 in New York. The amount will be refunded to UNICEF’s program for Ukrainian children displaced by war, according to Heritage Auctions, which handled the sale. Follow our live.
Moscow says the two Americans captured in Ukraine committed “crimes”. “They are mercenaries and they were involved in illegal activities on the territory of Ukraine”Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday in an interview with the American channel NBC News, in English. “They were involved in shooting and shelling” Russian soldiers and “they put their lives in danger”he continued. This is the first comment from the Kremlin on the case of these two former American soldiers, Alexander Drueke and Andy Huynh, according to NBC.
Russia is stepping up its bombings in eastern Ukraine, according to kyiv. PSeveral cities are preparing for an advance of Russian troops. “The front has come closer in recent weeks, up to 15-20 kilometers”explained Monday to AFP Vadym Lyakh, mayor of Sloviansk, in the oblast of Donetsk, who hopes that “the new weapons our army needs will arrive soon”.
Moscow accuses kyiv of bombing oil rigs off Crimea. Russia has accused Ukraine of hitting three oil rigs off Crimea on Monday morning. “There are three injured and seven missing”, said on Telegram the governor installed by Moscow after the annexation in 2014 of the peninsula, Sergei Aksionov. According to him, 94 people were evacuated. This is the first reported strike against offshore hydrocarbon infrastructure in Crimea since the start of the Russian invasion.