The President of Ukraine made the comment during his night speech to the nation, noting that the fighting had a serious impact on the citizens and the army of his country: The human cost of this battle is very high for us. It’s just scary. The battle for Donbass will undoubtedly go down in military history as one of the most violent battles in Europe. A member of the Ukrainian Special Operations Team was spotted in a forest in Kharkov, Ukraine on June 13, 2022. Photo: Anadolu Agency / Getty Images Zelensky, who has expressed fears that he will lose Western support as the conflict continues, has reiterated previous calls for more and heavier military weapons from allies, including the United States and the United Kingdom: We are dealing with absolute evil. And we have no choice but to go ahead and liberate our territory. We draw the attention of our partners on a daily basis to the fact that only a sufficient number of modern artillery for Ukraine will ensure our advantage and ultimately the end of the Russian torture in the Ukrainian Donbas. Zelensky reiterated Ukraine’s desire to liberate its entire territory and “expel the occupiers from all our territories.” “Although now the width of our front is already over 2,500 kilometers, we feel that the strategic initiative is still ours.”
Lithuania to buy shells from France
Lithuania has agreed to buy 18 shells from France, the defense ministers of both sides announced on Monday. Lithuania, a member of the European Union and NATO, will contribute an additional 300 million euros ($ 312 million) to its defense budget for 2022, as the war in Ukraine has heightened security fears. Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas wrote on Twitter along with a photo with his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu: Lithuania will buy 18 Caesar MarktII shells from France. “They will significantly strengthen the defense capabilities of the Lithuanian Armed Forces.” 🇱🇹 will buy 18 Caesar MarktII shells from 🇫🇷. Today my Def colleague DefMin 🇫🇷 @SebLecornu and I signed a letter of intent to acquire the systems. They will significantly enhance the defensive capabilities of @LTU_Army. ✅ It is the largest acquisition project of 🇱🇹 with 🇫🇷. pic.twitter.com/wHNHCl3gEW – Arvydas Anušauskas (@a_anusauskas) 13 June 2022 Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – all members of NATO and part of the former Soviet Union – have defended Ukraine with military equipment and humanitarian aid. Lithuania said it had sent military supplies worth “tens of millions” of euros, including Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, mortars, rifles, ammunition and other equipment. The Lithuanians also co-financed more than five million euros to buy another Bayraktar drone in Ukraine. Updated at 05.50 BST
Summary and welcome
Hello, Samantha Lock is with you again on the Guardian live blog as we cover all the latest developments from Ukraine. The Ukrainian defenders are being pushed further away from Sievierodonetsk – a key eastern city that has become the focus of the wider battle for control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region. Russian forces destroyed all three bridges outside the city, leaving civilians trapped. If you’re just waking up or going to find the latest information, here is a summary of key points you may have missed:
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, stated that the intense battle for Sievierodonetsk has a “terrible” price in Ukraine. “The human cost of this battle is very high for us. It’s just scary. “The battle for Donbass will undoubtedly go down in military history as one of the most violent battles in Europe,” he said in a speech to the nation late Monday. All three bridges to the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk have been destroyed, according to Luhansk Oblast Governor Serhiy Haidai. In a video update, Haidai said Russia had not “fully occupied” the city and that “part of the city” was under Ukrainian control. The Russian artillery was hitting an industrial zone where 500 civilians were taking refuge in a city in eastern Ukraine, Haidai added. Ukrainian troops in the city must “surrender or die,” warned a Russian-backed separatist leader in the self-proclaimed republic of Donetsk. Ukrainian authorities say they have discovered a new mass grave of civilians near Bucha in the Kiev region. Investigators have unearthed seven bodies from makeshift graves in a forest outside the village of Vorzel, less than 10 kilometers from Bucha, the scene of previously alleged Russian atrocities. “This is another sadistic crime of the Russian army,” said Andriy Nyebytov, chief of the Kyiv region police. One man, he said, “has two injuries. He was shot in the knee with a gun. The second shot was in his temple. “ Ukraine called on the West to supply 300 rocket launchers, 500 tanks and 1,000 shells ahead of a major meeting on Wednesday. The request was made public by Mykhailo Podolyak, the president’s key adviser, amid concerns in some quarters that it was pushing its NATO arms demands to the limit. Zelensky accused German Chancellor Olaf Soltz of worrying too much about the implications of his support for Ukraine for Berlin’s ties with Moscow. “We need the assurance from Chancellor Soltz that Germany supports Ukraine,” he said in an interview with the German state television network ZDF. “He and his government must decide: there can be no compromise between Ukraine and relations with Russia.” Local media speculated that Soltz could make his first trip to Kyiv since the start of the war on Thursday. The mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Boychenko, accused the “traitors” of transmitting vital information to Russian forces during the bombing of the southern port city at the beginning of the invasion. Boichenko said the destruction of the city’s critical infrastructure, including power supplies, was well-coordinated because Russia had the coordinates. About 1,200 bodies, including those found in mass graves, have not yet been identified, according to Ukraine’s national police chief Ihor Klymenko. More than 12,000 Ukrainians have been prosecuted, Klimenko said. About 75% of the dead were men, 2% children and the rest women, he said. Russia earned 93 billion euros from fossil fuel exports in the first 100 days of the war, according to a study by the Finnish Center for Energy and Fresh Air Research (Meat). With 61% of these € 56 billion (48 48 billion) exports destined for European Union member states, the bloc of countries remains Russia’s largest export market. Ukraine has lost a quarter of its arable land since the Russian invasion, especially in the south and east, said Deputy Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotskiy. In a press conference on Monday, Vysotsky insisted that food security for the country’s population is not directly threatened: “Planting crops this year is more than enough [and] the current state of crop planting areas… does not pose a threat to Ukraine’s food security “. The head of the UN rights body, Michelle Bachelet, described the “arbitrary arrests” of a “large number” of anti-war protesters in Russia as “worrying”. Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Bachelet also expressed concern about “increased censorship and restrictions on the independent media” in Russia. Mikhail Kasyanov, Russia’s prime minister from 2000 to 2004, has said he expects the war in Ukraine to last up to two years. Kasyanov, who has maintained close ties with the West as prime minister, said he felt Vladimir Putin was not thinking right and that he was convinced that Russia could return to a democratic path. More than 15,000 millionaires are expected to flee Russia this year as wealthy people turn their backs on Putin’s regime, according to an analysis of immigration data by London-based Henley & Partners. The Wikimedia Foundation, to which Wikipedia belongs, has filed an appeal against a Moscow court ruling seeking to remove information related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The foundation argues that people have a right to know the facts of the war and that the removal of information is a violation of human rights.
Aerial view of completely destroyed settlements by Russian shells in northern Saltivka, about 40 km from the Russian border in Kharkov in eastern Ukraine. Photo: Anadolu Agency / Getty Images
