As the war enters its 851st day, these are the main events.
Here is the situation on Tuesday, June 25, 2024.
Struggle
- At least five people were killed and 41 injured, including four children, after a Russian missile attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, according to Donetsk Regional Governor Vadym Filashkin. About 61,000 people lived in Pokrovsk, which is about 24 kilometers (15 miles) from the front line, before Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
- Two people were killed in the northeastern region of Kharkiv when their car hit a Russian anti-tank mine near the border village of Lyptsi.
- A man has been killed in the southern region of Kherson, partially occupied by Russian forces, after a Russian-guided airstrike.
- Four people were injured after a Russian cruise missile hit a warehouse in the southern port city of Odessa, sparking a fire that spread across 3,000 square meters (3,590 square yards), the ministry said. Governor of Odessa, Oleh Kiper.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired Lieutenant General Yuriy Sodol as commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine after he was accused of incompetence and abuse of power, replacing him with Brigadier General Andriy Hnatov.
- The Ukrainian military said it recorded 715 cases of use of munitions containing “dangerous chemical compounds” by Russian forces in May.
Politics and diplomacy
- The Kremlin warned the United States of “consequences” and summoned its ambassador after a Ukrainian attack on Moscow-annexed Crimea killed four people. Russia said the attack was carried out with US-supplied ATACMS long-range missiles and claimed Washington was responsible.
- In response to the Russian claims, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the US regretted any loss of civilian life and that Russia was to blame for the war. “We provide weapons to Ukraine so that it can defend its sovereign territory against armed aggression, that includes Crimea, which, of course, is part of Ukraine,” Miller told reporters. Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said the Ukrainians “make their own decisions.”
- Zelenskyy told Col. Oleksii Morozov, the new head of Ukraine's state guard, to cleanse his ranks of people who brought the service into disrepute after two of his officers were accused of conspiring with Russia to assassinate senior officials. The guard provides security for various government officials.
- Polish President Andrzej Duda said during a visit to Beijing that he hoped China would “support efforts to achieve a peaceful end to the war waged by Russia in Ukraine,” one that respects international law and Ukraine's territorial integrity.
- The United States said it would help print 3 million new textbooks for Ukrainian primary schools, after a Russian attack destroyed the Faktur-Druk printing press in Kharkiv in May.
- The European Union imposed sanctions on 61 more companies, including 19 in China, for allegedly providing “dual-use goods and technology,” which could be used by Russia's defense and security companies to advance its invasion of Ukraine. Other targets were companies from Russia, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, India, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates.
- The EU was due to start membership talks with Ukraine on Tuesday at a ceremony in Luxembourg.
Weapons
- The United States is expected to announce Tuesday that it will send an additional $150 million in urgently needed ammunition to Ukraine. The shipment is expected to include ammunition for high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS), anti-armor weapons, small arms and grenades, and 155mm and 105mm artillery shells, two US officials told the Associated Press news agency.
