Russian troops continue to shell the surroundings of the strategic city of Severodonetsk, in the east of the country, as well as the border region of Kharkiv. The United States also supported Lithuania in the face of Russian threats. Franceinfo looks back on the highlights of the day on the war front in Ukraine.
Russian shelling kills 15 in Kharkiv region
Fifteen people were killed and sixteen others injured by strikes from Moscow in the Kharkiv region, including an eight-year-old child, according to Governor Oleg Synegoubov on Telegram. “It’s terrorism. These are crimes against humanity that must be punished”added the manager.
He explains that Russian forces shelled Chuguiv, a town about 30 kilometers southeast of Kharkiv, killing six and injuring four. Five other people were killed and 11 injured in Kharkiv itself, and an eight-year-old boy was killed and his mother injured in an attack in the suburbs. Three people were killed in Zolotchiv, a small town 40 km north of Kharkiv.
Kharkiv, which is 50 km from the Russian border, came under heavy shelling at the start of the invasion, but Ukrainian forces regained control after fighting that caused significant destruction. Many residents who had fled the region at the start of the invasion began returning to their homes after Russian forces’ offensives on the country’s second-largest city were repelled.
Russian forces strike Lysychansk and “completely control” the village of Tochkivka
The Russian army is also advancing in the east of the country. His troops “completely control” the village of Tochkivka, located a few kilometers south of the strategic locality of Severodonetsk, according to district head Roman Vlasenko. “The entire Luhansk region is now the epicenter of the confrontation between Ukrainian and Russian armies”added the Ukrainian official.
In Lyssytchansk, separated from Severodonetsk by a single river, the Russian bombardments provoked “catastrophic destruction”, according to the governor of the Luhansk region, Sergey Gaïdaï, on Telegram. He adds that “the strikes on the (three) bridges connecting Severodonetsk and Lysychansk already destroyed” continue, further isolating the city from the rest of the territories controlled by kyiv.
Ukraine says Russian oil rigs it attacked contained military ‘installations’
A fire was still going on, more than 24 hours after the events, on one of the two offshore drilling platforms installed off the coast of occupied Crimea, which Ukraine attacked with anti-ship missiles and drones, Monday, June 20. The Russian army says it retaliated by destroying weapons hangars on an airfield near Odessa, with cruise missiles.
“At this site, Russia organized small garrisons, stored anti-aircraft defense equipment there, including radars”said the spokesman for the Odessa region, Serguiï Bratchouk, during an online press conference to justify this attack. “That is to say, these platforms have turned into facilities that have helped and are helping the Russians to strengthen their total control of the northwestern part of the Black Sea”said the representative.
Moscow threatens Lithuania, backed by Washington
Russia promised to “serious” reprisals against Lithuania. The small country has restricted the movement of certain goods which usually pass through its territory to reach the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, in application of European sanctions. US Foreign Ministry spokesman Ned Price reiterated the “support” from the United States to Lithuania and to Article 5 of NATO, which provides “that an attack on an allied country is an attack on all”.
The United States considers it “appalling” that Russia evokes the death penalty for the two Americans captured in Ukraine
“It is appalling that a Russian government official is suggesting the death penalty for two American citizens who were in Ukraine”said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby. These two former American soldiers, who fought in Ukraine, were captured by the separatist forces of Donbass, according to Russian media.
“They are mercenaries and they were involved in illegal activities on the territory of Ukraine”, the Russian spokesperson justified on the American channel NBC News on Monday. Asked about the possibility of the death penalty, he replied: “It will depend on the investigation”. Washington also confirmed that a second American national had been killed in action in Ukraine, before calling once again on its citizens not to go and fight there.
US Attorney General promises to help prosecute war criminals
Ln a surprise visit to Ukraine, Merrick Garland promised to explore “all possible options” to prosecute war criminals and perpetrators “atrocities” in the country. “I am here to express the unwavering support of the United States for the Ukrainians in the face of Russia’s unjust and unjustified invasion”, said, filmed near the Polish border by Fox News. The American minister then went to Paris in the evening for a meeting with his European counterparts.