Situation as of 8:00 a.m. on June 12, 2023
● Ukrainian troops have launched offensive operations in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions and are gradually advancing on several areas of the front.
● As a result of the detonation of the Kakhovka Dam by the Russian military, a large-scale humanitarian disaster is taking place on the territory of the Kherson region, about 80 settlements were inundated. The destruction of the dam will have catastrophic ecological consequences, in particular, it threatens to turn into a desert the territories in the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions that received water from the Kakhovka Reservoir.
OPERATIONAL SITUATION
The Armed Forces of Ukraine switched to offensive operations in the Southern direction, actively using artillery to defeat Russian positions and using military equipment received from partners. They are forced to storm the powerful defense line built by Russian troops over the past year in the temporarily occupied territories. Despite the losses, the Ukrainian military is gradually moving forward, clearing minefields and trying to break through the first line of Russian fortifications. The main battles are recorded in the area of Orikhiv (Zaporizhzhia region) and Velyka Novosilka (Donetsk region), where several settlements have been liberated. Also, the Ukrainian military continues its attacks in the Bakhmut area of the Donetsk region, where it managed to advance to the south and north of the city. The Russian terrorist attack on the Kakhovka Dam caused the Dnipro to overflow and prevented active combat operations in the Kherson region for several weeks, which allows the Russian command to transfer combat-capable units from this area to other areas of the front.
Offensive actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are accompanied by strikes on the logistics and locations of Russian troops in the temporarily occupied territories, in particular in Zaliznyi Port, on the Arabat Spit, in Berdiansk, Tokmak, Donetsk (where, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, it was possible to inflict significant losses on the Akhmat unit of the National Russian Guard unit “Akhmat”). The intensification of drone flights over the territory of Russia has been recorded. In Voronezh, an unmanned aerial vehicle intercepted by Russian electronic warfare equipment crashed into a high-rise building. Several drones fell in the Belgorod, Kursk, and Kaluga regions of the Russian Federation.
The Russian command is trying to hinder the offensive of the Armed Forces by continuing strikes on the territory of Ukraine. On the night of June 6, a large-scale missile attack was carried out on the territory of Ukraine, but the Ukrainian military reported the destruction of all launched missiles (35 units). On the night of June 9, Russian troops again attacked Ukraine with missiles and drones. Civil infrastructure objects were hit in the Zhytomyr region (where at least 1 person died) and in Uman (where 8 people were injured). On the night of June 10, as a result of an attack by kamikaze drones, a residential building in Odesa was damaged, 3 people died and at least 31 people were injured. A missile attack was also carried out on the military airfield in the Poltava region. On the night of June 11, drones attacked the frontline areas of the Kharkiv and Sumy regions.
As a result of the Russian strikes, the loss of civilians in the front-line regions of Ukraine amounted to at least: in the Donetsk region – 8 people were killed and 29 people were wounded; in the Kherson region – 6 people were killed and 35 people were injured (the data do not take into account the victims of the flood caused by Russia’s detonation of the Kakhovka Dam); in the Kharkiv region – 2 people were killed and 20 people were injured. At least 2 people died in the Sumy region, and 1 person was injured. As a result of shelling of a hospital in Huliaipole (Zaporizhzhia region) on June 9, 2 people were killed and 2 more people were injured.
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION, POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS
On the morning of June 6, Russian troops blew up the Kakhovka Dam, which resulted in significant flooding of the Kherson region areas. Part of the city of Kherson was under water, as well as about 80 settlements on both banks of the Dnipro. Currently, 5 people are known to have died, 35 more people are considered missing, including 7 children. Russian troops are not evacuating the temporarily occupied territories of the Left Bank, and are hindering the efforts of Ukrainian rescuers to help the civilian population with shelling. According to UN data, about 700,000 people were left without drinking water due to the explosion of the Kakhovka Dam. The destruction of the hydroelectric power plant has far-reaching consequences, as it affects the water supply and irrigation of significant territories of Ukraine – the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk regions, as well as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The terrorist attack threatens global food security, as it destroys the potential of agricultural regions. It can also lead to a nuclear disaster due to a decrease in the level of water in the Kakhovka Reservoir necessary for the cooling system of the reactors of the Zaporizhzhia NPP.
On June 5, the Tolyatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline was depressurized as a result of shelling in the Kharkiv region, which poses an additional threat to the environment and human health. On June 6 and 11, the shelling of the ammonia pipeline was repeated. The Russian Federation demands the restoration of supplies through the Tolyatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline in exchange for approval of the continuation of the “Grain Initiative”, the current agreements on the operation of which are valid until July 17.
As a result of another exchange of prisoners, Ukraine returned 95 people, including soldiers of the Armed Forces, National Guard and border guards.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyi imposed sanctions against 178 Russians, including judges of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. In particular, the list of sanctioned persons includes the head of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation Valery Zorkin and his deputy Sergey Mavrin.
FOREIGN POLICY AND INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT
The international community reacted to the undermining of the Kakhovka Dam. In particular, Ukraine initiated an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the consequences of the terrorist act. The OSCE is ready to join in overcoming the results of the dam explosion. The NATO-Ukraine Commission held a meeting at the initiative of the Ukrainian side to consider the situation that developed after the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam. In turn, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, stated that the destruction of civil infrastructure by the Russian invaders is a war crime. The US president expressed readiness to provide the necessary assistance to Ukraine after the Russians blew up the Kakhovka Dam. Leaders of the Council of Europe, heads of foreign affairs of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, Prime Minister of Great Britain Rishi Sunak, Federal Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz and others strongly condemned the explosion of the Kakhovka Dam. For the first time since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization has officially reacted to the situation, expressing concern about the consequences of blowing up the Kakhovka Dam.
Partner states are increasing military and defense assistance to Ukraine to counter enemy attacks and increase the effectiveness of counter-offensives. The United States of America has provided a new package of defense support to Ukraine in the total amount of 2.1 billion dollars, which will be financed within the framework of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI). This package will provide the Ukrainian military with additional Patriot missiles, anti-aircraft missile systems and HAWK missiles, 105 mm and 203 mm caliber shells, Puma UAVs, and laser-guided missiles. In addition, training of the personnel of the Armed Forces, technical maintenance of the equipment will be provided. Canada announced a new package of military aid to Ukraine in the amount of 500 million Canadian dollars (about 400 million US dollars), which includes AIM-7 missiles for air defense, 105 mm projectiles, and also provides training for the Ukrainian military. The federal government of Belgium decided to allocate 32.4 million euros for the purchase of 105 mm caliber ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
International partners continue to visit Ukraine, demonstrating solidarity with the Ukrainian people. This week, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi held a meeting with the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau. The leaders discussed the situation on the battlefield, the state of affairs in the south of Ukraine, the need for military assistance, and the Joint Declaration of Ukraine and Canada was signed. As a result of bilateral negotiations, Canada officially joined aircraft coalition, and also became the 20th country of the alliance (out of the 31st) that supports Ukraine’s membership in NATO.
Also this week, the President of Ukraine held talks with the Minister of Climate Change and the Environment of the United Arab Emirates, Mariam Almheiri, with the special representative of Pope Francis, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, and with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Great Britain, James Cleverley, who were on a visit to Kyiv.
In addition, the head of state had telephone conversations with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte, the Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida, the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron, the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Director General of the IAEA Rafael Grossi, informing international partners about the current situation in the affected territories as a result of the Russian occupiers undermining the Kakhovka Dam.
The information in the newsletter is collected from official sources—reports of state authorities of Ukraine, Ukrainian and international news agencies. The accuracy of the data is carefully checked by the project team and corrected in case of fake news.