These are the major developments as the war enters its 477th day.
This is what happened on Thursday, June 14, 2023.
struggle
- Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, Hannah Malial, said its soldiers had achieved “partial” success in a counter-offensive amid “extremely intense” fighting with Russian troops.
- Russia said it had pushed back Ukrainian troops on three fronts, including Zaporozhye, and targeted Ukrainian arsenals in the past 24 hours.
- NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said it was still early days for Ukraine’s counteroffensive and it was too early to tell whether it would be a “turning point in the war”.
- UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi has postponed a visit to the Russian-controlled Zaporozhye nuclear power plant for security reasons.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine would “bring Russia to the border” after overnight missile strikes in the Odessa and Donetsk regions killed six people. evil from our land”.
- There are conflicting reports about the fate of Chechen senior commander Adam Dlimkhanov. Russian Defense Ministry TV channel Zvezda reported that he was wounded in the fighting, while Ukrainian media said he may have been killed. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov later denied the reports, saying Dlimkhanov was “alive and in good health”.
- More than 20 Ukrainian soldiers from the Azov battalion captured in the battle for Mariupol are on trial in southern Russia. They are accused of being part of a “terrorist” group and taking part in an operation to overthrow Russia-backed authorities in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
- Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Russia’s Wagner Group, reiterated that his mercenaries would not sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense, a day after President Vladimir Putin said an agreement was a requirement.
- The lower house of Russia’s parliament initially supported allowing suspected or convicted criminals to fight for Russia in Ukraine.
diplomatic
- Germany announced its first-ever National Security Strategy (NSS) and called Russia the greatest threat to peace in the Euro-Atlantic region.
- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says it has visited 1,500 prisoners of war on both sides of the conflict in Ukraine, often sharing desperate news with their families.
- Six African leaders are expected to travel to Poland on Thursday before taking a train to Kiev as part of an ongoing effort to persuade Ukraine and Russia to negotiate an end to the war.
- Bulgaria accuses Russian ambassador to Sofia Eleonora Mitrofanova, Spreading “propaganda and disinformation” after she claimed the country would deploy troops to Ukraine. Bulgaria has repeatedly denied such claims by Russia.
arms
- Jim Risch, the ranking Republican on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he would block a $735 million arms sale to Hungary because of Hungary’s refusal to approve Sweden’s NATO membership.
