As the war enters its 852nd day, these are the main events.
Here is the situation on Wednesday, June 26, 2024.
Struggle
- One woman was killed, four people were injured and dozens of buildings were damaged in multiple Ukrainian drone strikes in the Belgorod region of southern Russia, according to Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the border area with Ukraine.
- Vadym Filashkin, governor of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, ordered the evacuation of children and their parents or guardians from several frontline cities and towns due to advancing Russian forces. Filashkin has been urging civilians to leave the country in recent weeks amid an increase in deadly Russian bombing.
- The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, said Russian forces were attempting to “achieve significant tactical and operational advances” before long-awaited supplies of Western weaponry arrived at the front.
- Russia dropped 42 glide bombs in the northeastern region of Kharkiv over a 24-hour period, according to local authorities. No injuries were reported.
- Ukraine said it had attacked an ammunition depot in the Olkhovatsky district of Russia's Voronezh region, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the border with Ukraine. Voronezh Governor Alexander Gusev reported a fire at the site, but there were no casualties.
Politics and diplomacy
- The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and army chief General Valery Gerasimov for attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
- The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found Russia guilty of systematic human rights violations in the Crimean peninsula, which it invaded and seized in 2014.
- Russia and Ukraine each returned 90 prisoners of war, with the United Arab Emirates acting as intermediaries in the exchange.
- The defense chiefs of the United States and Russia spoke by phone for the first time in more than a year. The Pentagon said U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov discussed the importance of open lines of communication. Russia's Defense Ministry said Belousov warned Austin about the dangers of the United States continuing to supply weapons to Ukraine.
- Russia said it was banning access inside Russia to 81 different European Union media outlets, including the AFP news agency, the Politico digital outlet and Ireland’s RTE, in retaliation for an EU ban on several Russian media outlets. Moscow accused the organisations of “systematically distributing inaccurate information” about the war in Ukraine.
- The EU began accession talks with Ukraine. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, addressing the meeting in Luxembourg by video conference, said the start of talks was a historic moment. “For our nation, the European Union means much more than a physical space,” he said. “It represents values and home.”
- Two key advisers to presumptive US Republican nominee Donald Trump have presented him with a plan to end Russia's war in Ukraine – if he wins the November 5 presidential election – that involves telling Ukraine that it will only get more American weapons. if he starts peace talks. Washington would at the same time warn Moscow that any refusal to negotiate would result in greater US support for Ukraine, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, one of Trump's national security advisers, told the Reuters news agency in an interview. .
Weapons
- The commander of the Ukrainian Air Force said kyiv had shot down 1,953 Shahed drones out of 2,277 launched by Russia this year.
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Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said the first shipment of ammunition under a Prague-led initiative to buy ammunition with funding from NATO allies had arrived in Ukraine “some time ago.” The Czechs said in May that the first 50,000 to 100,000 artillery shells would arrive in June.
