Daily Briefing from Ukraine

Your news for the morning of Monday, June 19 – Day 481 of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.

·      Top 5 Headlines

·      Ukraine Summer Offensive Summary

·      President Zelensky’s Message of the Day 

Top 5 Headlines

1.     Ukrainian forces have recaptured the village of Pyatykhatky on the southern front, Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Maliar said on social media on Monday. Maliar said "eight settlements have been liberated" in total this month since the start of a counteroffensive, with 113 square kilometres of territory recaptured. British intelligence said Russian losses are “likely the highest since the peak of the battle at Bakhmut in March.”

1.     Five Ukrainian civilians died during Russian attacks yesterday. In Sumy region, a father and son were killed yesterday afternoon in a Russian artillery attack on Bilopillia village. The father was a detective with the local police. In Kherson region, Russian bombing and artillery strikes overnight killed at least one person died. In Donetsk region, near Vuhledar, two Ukrainian civilians were killed yesterday during a Russian assault. Missiles and drones shot down in several regions tonight including Kharkiv, Donetsk, Luhansk, Odesa and Mykolaiv.

2.     The United Nations accused Moscow of not permitting it to provide assistance to Russian-controlled areas impacted by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam. Seventeen people have been thus far reported as dead by the floods caused by Russian forces’ destruction of the dam.

3.     Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner said there are about 240 incidents when social services in EU countries have removed children from Ukrainian refugee families. Iryna Suslova said that “this could happen when the mother had to stay and work in Ukraine, sending her child abroad with their grandmother. If the grandmother does not have the power of attorney to represent her interests and is not considered a relative of this child under European law, social services can involve the police and remove the child from the family.”

Other Topics of Interest

What if Russia Wins?

For fear of nuclear escalation, we have accelerated nuclear proliferation.

4.     Wagner Group’s Yevgeny Prigozhin said that 32,000 former convict fighters from his private military company have returned home after their contracts came to an end. Wagner has now left the main battlegrounds in Bakhmut.

Ukraine Summer Offensive Summary

·      Ukrainian forces appear to have taken the village of Pyatyhatka in the western Zaporizhzhia region, according to the governor of the Russian occupation administration.

·      British intelligence said that Russian forces in southern Ukraine “often conduct relatively effective defensive operations,” but are experiencing loss levels not seen since the peak of the Bakhmut battle in March.

·      A Ukrainian advance of up to one kilometer was claimed near Avdiivka in Donetsk.

·      Potential behind-the-lines activity continued with explosions at: an ammo dump in Rybove in occupied Zaporizhzhia; a military hospital being constructed in Bryansk, Russia; and, an apartment building in Belgorod, Russia.

Ukraine’s Claims

·      President Zelensky denied Russia has destroyed any Patriot missile systems, following Vladimir Putin’s allegation that five had been destroyed near Kyiv.

·      Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavsky, Commander of the Tavria Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which covers southern Ukraine, stated that Russian losses in this area amounted to over four companies and 77 units of enemy military vehicles in the last 24 hours.

·      Ukrainian military authorities said they destroyed two Russian Ka-52 attack helicopters, including one by Ukrainian Marines serving on the Zaporizhzhia / Donetsk boundary area, and 12 drones over the course of June 17-18.

A.    TO518 / Mokri Yaly River Axis - boundary of the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions

·      ISW noted that Ukrainian forces continued their offensive operations south, southwest and southeast of Velyka Novosilka close to the administrative border between the two regions. 

B.    Western Zaporizhzhia

·      Pyatyhatka has possibly been taken by Ukrainian forces. If confirmed this would take the number of liberated villages during the offensive to eight or nine, as Makarivka in Area A appears to be still contested.

·      Russian military officials later denied that Pyatyhatka was under Ukrainian control, but Russian milbloggers, such as WarGonzo, indicated that Russian forces had been pulled out. Ukrainian officials maintained their policy of not commenting on operational matters.

·      Ukrainian forces also conducted offensive actions southwest and southeast of Orikhiv in the western part of Zaporizhzhia Region. There was intense combat near Robotyno, and a Russian ammo dump near Rykove was destroyed.

·      Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar claimed that Ukrainian forces advanced up to two kilometers on several fronts in southern Ukraine.

A.    Bakhmut

·      Deputy Defense Minister Malyar confirmed Ukrainian forces are continuing offensive operations near Bakhmut, while Russian sources said Ukrainian forces attacked the northern and southern outskirts of Bakhmut.

·      A soldier with a Ukrainian unit claimed that a strategic ridge near the Berkhivska reservoir has been taken.  

B.    Other Theaters/Activity

·      Local military officials claimed that Ukrainian forces advanced more than one kilometer in the vicinity of Avdiivka.

·      Russian media outlet MediaZone said it has confirmed that, in the last four weeks, the Russian army has lost one general, five colonels and four lieutenant-colonels in combat. The confirmed number of high-ranking officers to have died during the full-scale war is now 251, according to the independent service.

President Zelensky’s Message