As the war enters its 839th day, these are the main events.
Here is the situation on Thursday, June 13, 2024.
Struggle
- At least nine people were killed and 29 injured, including five children, after Russian missiles hit an apartment block in Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
- Ukraine's air force said it shot down more than two dozen aerial targets, including cruise missiles, a Kinzhal ballistic missile and Shahed drones that Russia launched across Ukraine. The governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region said the attack injured three people and damaged nine private homes, while the governor of the kyiv region said more than 100 people were working to extinguish a fire started by the attack.
- Ukraine's military said it had attacked three Russian surface-to-air missile systems in Russian-occupied Crimea, near Belbek and Sevastopol. The Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol said air defenses repelled the missile attack and no damage had been done.
- The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, Chief of the Military Staff General Valery Gerasimov and commanders of Russia's five military districts, who presented him with “plans to continue the hostilities”.
Politics and diplomacy
- The United States dramatically expanded sanctions on Russia, targeting more than 300 individuals and entities in Russia and beyond, including in Asia, Europe and Africa, along with China-based companies that allegedly sell semiconductors to Moscow. The US Treasury said it was also increasing “the risk of secondary sanctions for foreign financial institutions dealing with Russia's war economy”, effectively threatening them with losing access to the US financial system.
- National security adviser Jake Sullivan said US President Joe Biden and Zelenskyy would sign a bilateral security agreement between the US and Ukraine when they meet on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy on Thursday.
- British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will announce up to 242 million pounds ($309.7 million) in bilateral assistance to Ukraine at the summit to support Ukraine's immediate humanitarian, energy and stabilization needs, his office said.
- Zelenskyy made an unscheduled visit to Saudi Arabia, where he said he held “productive and vigorous” talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, focusing on preparations for the June 15-16 peace summit in Switzerland, as well as the bilateral relations. Zelenskyy said he was grateful for Saudi Arabia's support, but did not say whether the crown prince would attend the summit. About 90 delegations are expected.
- Ukrainian lawmakers announced a bill that would allow companies to exempt their employees from military service by paying $500 a month for each exempt worker.
Weapons
- Hungary agreed not to block NATO financial and military support to Ukraine, but said it would not participate either. Earlier this year, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said the security alliance wanted to guarantee long-term arms deliveries to kyiv and establish a 100 billion euro ($108 billion) arms fund. . The Hungarian agreement paves the way for an agreement on the package at next month's NATO summit in Washington.
- Russia said soldiers and sailors from its northern Leningrad military district, which borders NATO members Norway, Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, joined exercises to deploy tactical nuclear weapons that began with Belarus this week. The move appears to expand the revealed geography of the exercises to include soldiers from military districts along almost all of Russia's European border, which stretches from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea.
