As the war enters its 853rd day, these are the main events.
Here is the situation on Thursday, June 27, 2024.
Struggle
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited soldiers defending the eastern region of the Donetsk front and introduced Brigadier General Andriy Hnatov, the new commander of the joint forces. Hnatov's main tasks include “preserving the lives of as many fighters as possible” while pushing back invading Russian forces, Zelenskyy said in a video. The clip was recorded in front of the Pokrovsk sign, where five people were killed and dozens wounded in Russian strikes earlier this week.
- Five Lithuanians were wounded when their vehicle was fired upon while delivering aid to troops in Pokrovsk, officials and team members said. “All five of us are in the hospital,” Sigitas Maliauskas, one of the Lithuanians, told the AFP news agency via Facebook. One of the volunteers had an amputated leg, a colleague said.
- Oleh Syniehubov, governor of the northeastern region of Kharkiv, said the situation in the border town of Vovchansk was “volatile” amid intense fighting with invading Russian forces. He said several dozen Russian soldiers were blocked inside an industrial facility in the city and that Moscow was also using planes to attack Vovchansk, which is about 5 kilometers (three miles) from the border.
- A Russian missile attack hit the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa, damaging an administrative building, regional governor Oleh Kiper said. No victims were reported.
Politics and diplomacy
- Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich was tried behind closed doors in Russia on espionage charges. Gershkovich, an American national, appeared on a glass-walled pier with his head shaved. He and the Journal have strenuously denied the allegations. The United States has described the journalist as “unjustly detained.” The next hearing will take place on August 13.
- Russia said it had ordered Carola Schneider, chief Moscow correspondent for Austrian broadcaster ORF, to leave the country in what it said was a “forced retaliatory measure” after Vienna's decision to revoke the chief correspondent's accreditation. from the state news agency TASS in Austria.
- The European Union announced sanctions against Belarus “to close the largest loophole in our sanctions regime” against Russia, the EU presidency said in a statement. The bloc this week adopted its 14th package of sanctions against Russia over its large-scale invasion of Ukraine.
- The U.S. Justice Department said it charged Russian Amin Timovich Stigal, 22, with conspiring to hack and destroy computer systems and data in Ukraine and allied countries, including the United States, and announced a $10 million reward for information about his whereabouts.
- NATO has chosen Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as the organization's next secretary general, replacing Jens Stoltenberg. Rutte, who is a strong supporter of Ukraine, will take up his new position on October 1.
- Russian pranksters using the aliases “Vovan and Lexus” released footage of a video call with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron after tricking him into believing they were speaking to former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko. The Foreign Office did not comment on the authenticity of the video, but acknowledged earlier this month that the call had taken place. “Vovan and Lexus” are well known within Russia for having deceived a number of Western politicians over the years, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Weapons
- The EU is expected to sign a security agreement with President Zelenskyy on Thursday. The agreement will set out the EU's commitment to assist Ukraine in nine areas of security and defense policy – including arms deliveries, military training, defense industry cooperation and demining – according to a draft seen by the agency. Reuters news.
