Bob Homans June 26
Ukraine – 6/26 Sitrep
Compiled by: Robert Homans
Twitter: @rhomansjr
June 26, 2022
Patriarch Kirill Busts His Buns
To paraphrase Clint Eastwood, playing Detective Harry Callahan in the movie classic, “Dirty Harry,” this video of Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate, aka “The Tobacco Metropolitan,” from his days controlling cigarette smuggling when he was Metropolitan of Kaliningrad, made my day. According to reports, Kirill slipped on spilled holy water. If the person responsible for spilling the holy water can be identified, Ukraine should immediately offer him Ukrainian citizenship, and confer the Order of Yaroslav the Wise.
This video also reminds me of that song by Jan & Dean, one the Southern California surfer groups of the 1960’s, particularly their song entitled “Sidewalk Surfing,” where the refrain was “Bust Your Buns, Bust Your Buns,” referring to what happens when your skateboard hits a crack in the pavement. I can imagine – Kirill on his skateboard, flying through the air in his full vestments.
Latest Denys – Russian Missile Strikes in Kyiv and Elsewhere
On a more serious note, in Denys’ latest video, there is a photograph of the damage to a residential building in Kyiv from last night’s Russian missile strike on Central Kyiv. According to reports, the missiles were launched by Russian strategic bombers flying over the Caspian Sea. Early Saturday morning, approximately 44 missiles hit cities throughout Ukraine. Most of these were fired either from Belarusian airspace or over international waters in the Black Sea.
The leaders of the G-7 are currently meeting in Germany. Perhaps it is time to use this occasion to revisit the suggestion of Gen. Wesley Clark of more direct NATO intervention to support Ukraine, not unlike what Gen. Clark described as having taken place in Bosnia in 1994. The emphasis might be on bolstered air defense of Ukrainian cities, perhaps including moving Patriot missile batteries into Ukrainian territory. Forcing open Ukraine’s Black Sea ports should also be part of the intervention.
INTERNATIONAL
Foreign Policy: U.S. Congress seeks to recognize Russian war crimes in Ukraine as genocide.
President Emmanuel Macron announced the goals of France at the G7 summit: actions in the conditions of war in Ukraine, ensuring food and energy security, solving climate problems
Independent: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will use the G7 and NATO summits to call on France and Germany to provide more military support to Ukraine.
Sunday Times: The British Prime Minister plans to invite the Ukrainian President to make a state visit to the kingdom in October. There is the possibility of organizing a personal meeting between Zelenskyі and Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.
BBC: British Prime Minister would resign if he had to withdraw further support for Ukraine. "If I were told that we should abandon the Ukrainian cause, because it is becoming too complicated, and the price of supporting this people is too high in terms of inflation, economic harm, I would admit that I lost a very important argument, and I, I would have left,” said the British Prime Minister.
Reuters The G7 leaders tentatively agree to impose an embargo on Russian gold.
U.S. President Joe Biden announces a ban on Russian gold import, which brings the Russian Federation tens of billions of dollars.
TASS: A cortege with Vladimir Putin arrived at the Kremlin at 23.00 June 25. Peskov denied suggestions that Putin arrived at the Kremlin in the evening to allegedly make some kind of emergency statement
Rosneft propagandist and spokesman compared Russia to Nazi Germany. He called Hitler a "great strategist". Fascist Germany lost only because it started mobilization late.
Israel suspends visa free travel for Ukrainians. In response to Israel's decision, the Ambassador of Ukraine to Israel Ukraine may also suspend visa-free travel for citizens of this country. This is Israeli know-how: not a single country in the world thought of introducing visas for Ukrainians after February 24," Korneichuk said, adding that Israel left visa-free for Russians. Now the abolition of the visa-free regime will be imperceptible, but by Rosh Hashanah the Israeli government will feel it, the Ukrainian ambassador shared his opinion.
Polish Radio: Polish Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs said that the Polish consul in Smolensk appealed to the Russian authorities demanding an explanation after the Polish flag was removed from the memorial in Katyn in the Smolensk region
In Warsaw, thousands of people are participating in a pride organized by the LGBT communities of Ukraine and Poland. This time, anti-war slogans have been added to the traditional slogans in defense and support of the LGBT community.
Russian mass media: President of Russia Vladimir Putin at a meeting with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said that all issues on the Union State have been agreed.
● Putin told Lukashenko that in Europe the Americans have 200 nuclear tactical ammunition in 6 NATO member states, 257 aircraft have been prepared for their use.
● Lukashenko offered Putin to take mirror measures in the military sphere on the actions of the West.
● Putin also stated that in the coming months the Russian Federation will hand over Iskander-M complexes to Minsk.
● There is no need to mirror the training flights of NATO planes with nuclear charges over Belarus - Putin
El Pais: Nato Secretary General insists that Russia's war against Ukraine is aggressive, and Ukrainians must decide for themselves what is acceptable to them in negotiations with Russia.
Ukrainian Ministry of Energy: Ukraine’s petition to deprive Russia and Belarus of observer status in the Energy Charter was accepted and approved.
Lithuanian President on Facebook: They (Russia), deserve international isolation. The Lithuanian government should immediately start consultations with the European Commission on the implementation of sanctions on Kaliningrad transit.
Government website: German Chancellor proposes to create an international climate club that will work to stop man-made climate change.
Рollska Times: Poland at the NATO summit in Madrid will advocate for an increase in the presence of the Alliance in the country against the backdrop of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Polish Defense Minister said in an interview. The upcoming NATO summit in Madrid "will be of particular importance, as Russian aggression against Ukraine has definitively changed the global security system," he said.
Reuters: Poland and Ukraine are ramping up production of thermal coal, the world's most polluting fossil fuel, this year in preparation for the colder months as Europe grapples with a deepening energy security crisis in the Ukraine war .
Deputy head of Russia’s national security council accused Moldova of hating Russia. He criticized the country for banning the St. George Ribbon, forgoing Russian state media, and arresting the opposition.
Prime TV: Moldovan President announced that she plans to visit Kyiv. "It's in the plans. But I will tell you the details when we confirm all the points".
NATIONAL
On the night of June 25, a massive missile and bomb strike was carried out on the territory of Ukraine. Reportedly, Russian strategic bombers worked directly from the territory of Belarus, over the Caspian Sea and in international waters and airspace in and over the Black Sea.
British intelligence reports that since the beginning of June, the Russian high command has likely removed several generals from command positions in the war against Ukraine.
● Commander of the Airborne Forces (VDV), Colonel General Andrey Serdyukov
● Commander of the Southern Military District (SMD) of the RF Armed Forces, General of the Army Alexander Dvornikov
● The command of the Southern Military District will probably go to Colonel General Sergei Surovikin.
State Security Service: The Security service of Ukraine is blocking Russian web resources. To date, about 500 pro-Russian Youtube channels with an audience of over 15 million subscribers have been blocked. 1529 Telegram channels and bots, 426 accounts on Instagram, 93 on Facebook, 1050 on TikTok were transferred for blocking.
INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF WAR
● The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the leadership of its central and southern groups of forces fighting Ukraine has changed, confirming ISW’s previous assessment that the Russian high command is restructuring the leadership of operations in Ukraine.
● Ukrainian intelligence officials emphasized that Belarus remains highly unlikely to join the war in Ukraine.
● Ukrainian sources confirmed that Russian forces have taken full control of Severodonetsk and are fighting within Lysychansk.
● Russian forces made measured gains to the north and southeast of Bakhmut.
● Russian forces continued unsuccessful attempts to advance southeast of Izyum toward Slovyansk.
● Russian forces continued positional battles north of Kharkiv City.
● Russian forces attempted to strengthen their defensive lines and recapture lost positions on the Southern Axis.
*⚡️Operational report of the General Staff* :
07:39 June 26
● In the Sloviansk direction, the Russians focused on conducting an offensive in the settlements of Dovhenke and Mazanivka.
● Fighting is going on in the Avdiivka, Kurakhove, Novopavlivske and Zaporizhzhia directions; the Russians are systematic attacking.
● In the Donetsk direction, the Russian troops focus on the Lysychansk direction and the attempts to encircle the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Lysychansk region.
● In the Pivdennyi Buh direction, the Russians focused on keeping the occupied frontiers. Ukrainian aviation carried out strikes against concentrations of Russian troops in the respective sections.
19:30 June 25
● In the Sloviansk direction, Ukrainian soldiers stopped the Russian offensive in the area of Bogorodychnyi and stormed in the direction of Mazanivka. The Russians withdrew with losses.
● The Ukrainian military successfully repulsed all offensive and assault actions of the Russian Federation in the directions of the settlements of Pokrovske, New York and Marynka. The Russians have left.
● After the withdrawal of units of the Ukrainian troops, the army of the Russian Federation is consolidated in the areas of the settlements of Severodonetsk, Syrotyno, Voronovo and Borovske.
● In the waters of the Black and Azov Seas, the Russians are holding two high-precision weapons carriers in readiness to launch missile strikes on objects on the territory of Ukraine. The total volley is up to sixteen cruise missiles "Caliber".
The press service of «Enerhoatom» reports a possible next act of nuclear terrorism. At 6:00 a.m., a Russian missile flew critically low over the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant. Any damage to the power unit would have grave consequences and could threaten the world with a terrible nuclear catastrophe.
Ex-Prime Minister of Sweden, co-chairman of the European Council on Foreign Relations: Rocket strikes on Kyiv should be regarded as a deliberate escalation. According to him, the shelling of residential areas of the capital is a signal for the G7 summit, which started today in Bavaria.
Reuters: Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry: Ukrainian troops withdrew from the destroyed Severodonetsk in the direction of Lysychansk The actions taking place in the area of Severodonetsk are a tactical regrouping of our troops. This is a retreat to advantageous positions to gain a tactical advantage. Ukrainian forces are moving to higher ground to continue defensive operations.
● Belarus can transfer saboteurs to the territory of Ukraine during exercises with the Russian Federation. Some special units of the Russian Federation are conducting joint exercises with units of special operations forces of Belarus and are working on the transfer of these special units from the territory of Belarus to the territory of Ukraine.
● Missile strikes from the territory of Belarus are a large-scale provocation of the Russian Federation with the aim of further drawing Belarus into the war against Ukraine.
The Vice Prime Minister, Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories said that deported Ukrainians who can reach the border with Ukraine will be allowed to pass without documents.
A bill has been introduced in the Verkhovna Rada, in which it is proposed to allocate a large share of land along the border on which to equip means of protection and defense, including minefields.
State Security Service: Intercepted Communication: My APC (armored personnel carrier) burned down. 80 people escaped. There are 6 of us left here," - a Russian soldier tells another about the state of affairs in his unit and the attempts of Russian soldiers to attack the positions of the Armed Forces in Kharkiv region.
Hackers are distributing dangerous emails with the subject "Free Primary Legal Aid," reports Derzspetssvyaz. The letters come from a possibly compromised e-mail address in the gov. ua domain and have attachments "Algorithm for the actions of family members of a missing soldier LegalAid.rar". The specified RAR archive contains the ""Algorithm_LegalAid.xlsm"" document, the opening of which will eventually download and run the malicious program.
Deputy Minister of Infrastructure: The date of signing the Special Agreement on the liberalization of road transport with the EU, which is also called "transport visa-free" has been determined. The signing is scheduled for June 29. From June 29 or starting from the beginning of July, our motorists will not require any permissions to cross the border towards the countries of the European Union or between EU countries.
Air Force Command: Russia has resumed launches of Iskanders from the territory of Belarus and for the first time used Tu-22m3 long-range bombers from the airspace of this country.
Ministry of Culture and Information Policy : Over the course of more than 4 months of the war, Russians have committed at least 396 episodes of war crimes against Ukrainian culture. In total, Russian soldiers damaged 123 cultural heritage sites.
Ukrainian Ministry of Finance: Ukraine will receive a grant of 1 billion euros from Germany. The Ministries of Finance of Ukraine and Germany signed an agreement to provide Ukraine with 1 billion euros in grant funding. The funds will be directed to the state budget of Ukraine to finance priority social and humanitarian spending during martial law.
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: M142 HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems are already working in the interests of the defense of Ukraine.
CHERNIHIV
Social Media A Russian missile strike on Desna, Chernihiv region hit the monument to the heroes of the Second World War.
SUMY
Regional Military Administration:
● The Krasnopol community suffered during the day.
● Two Russian helicopters, not flying into the territory of Ukraine, fired 6 missiles at one of the villages. As a result, civilian infrastructure was destroyed and damaged: a hospital, a cultural center, a library, a school. Previously no casualties.
● Around 8:30 am, June 26 the Russians opened mortar fire on the Shalyhyne territorial communities. 14 explosions. The information about the casualties and destruction is not specified.
● Between 5 and 6 am, the Russians 10 times opened mortar fire on the Yunakivka territorial communities. No casualties.
KHARKIV
Regional Military Administration: The first 45 buildings in the Kharkiv region, damaged as a result of Russian shelling, have been identified, where emergency and restoration work will be carried out at the expense of the reserve fund of the state budget.
● Around 13:00 today, June 25 the Russian army shelled the village of Rogan in the Kharkiv region, one of the shells hit the courtyard of a private house. There are no preliminary casualties.
Derzhatomreguliuvannia: (State Nuclear Regulator) ⚡️As a result of shelling, the occupiers damaged the nuclear subcritical installation "Source of Neutrons" in Kharkiv (experimental nuclear reactor).
LUHANSK
Regional Military Administration:
● In Severodonetsk, civilians will not leave Azot until the end of hostilities.
● There are more than 500 people on Azot, 38 of them are children. Due to the super-powerful attacks of the Russians, the residents are effectively held hostage and cannot safely leave the vault, he said.
● Severodonetsk is completely under Russian occupation. It is now possible to leave the city only for the occupied territory. The Russians have appointed their commandant, and are also shooting propaganda videos with residents of Severodonetsk, who were hiding from the shelling at the Azot plant.
● After capturing Severodonetsk, the enemy army concentrated all its forces on capturing the last fortress of the Luhansk region - Lysychansk
● Lysychansk suffers from air strikes, and the Russians have entrenched in Sievierodonetsk, Syrotyne, Voronove and Borivske.
● The Russians launched airstrikes on the city and the area of Bila Hora. There is a lot of destruction in Lysychansk - the city is almost unrecognizable. A TV tower just lay on the ground, car bridge was seriously damaged, shells hit houses, SSU buildings and so on
DONETSK
National Police: Russians shelled seven villages and killed and wounded civilians. Fourteen civilian objects - 9 residential buildings, two schools, a company, and electrical networks - were destroyed. Avdiivka, Sloviansk, Toretsk, Kostiantynivka, Niu-York, Pervomaiske and Maiaky villages suffered from the Russian fire.
● During June 25, the Russians killed 3 civilians of Donbas: in Bakhmut, New York and Pervomaisky. 2 more people were injured.
Advisor to the mayor of Mariupol: The church of Petro Mohyla, which townspeople had built, is included in the Guinness Book of Records of Ukraine for having the largest Petrykivka painting. (a traditional Ukrainian form of stucco painting). Russians are preparing either to demolish the church or to reformat the Russian Orthodox Church. The Russians burned books from the library of the Petro Mohyla church at the request of the Russian Orthodox Church. Some unique copies of Ukrainian-language editions are now lost forever.
● In occupied Mariupol, they are spreading 'secret' information about houses that are planned to be demolished. In this way, the Russians want to force people who have left the city to return to the city. At least 30% of the houses on this list have no damage.
● In Mariupol, due to the reduction of humanitarian aid, there is a critical lack of food. People stand in thousands in queues for bread
ZAPORIZHIA
Berdyansk City Council: A Russian dry cargo ship entered the port of temporarily occupied Berdyansk."Most likely, our city will get rid of the last stock of grain," the report says.
KHERSON
Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense: Visible results of the counter-offensive in the occupied Kherson region should be in August. According to him, a counterattack on Kherson would be difficult, but not impossible.
In the Kherson region, the Russian military abducted the chairman of the Stanislav community Ivan Samoylenko. According to information from social networks, on the evening of June 24, Samoylenko went with workers to repair a damaged power line, and it was then that he was kidnapped by the invaders.
DNIPRO
Operational Command Pivden (South) Russian military shelled Kryvyi Rih with multiple rocket systems: houses and social infrastructure are damaged
● Operational command Pivden (South) destroyed the Russian UAV in the morning.
MYKOLAIV
Mykolaiv Regional Council: People are hiding and live in basements": a volunteer showed how people live in the temporarily occupied Snihurivka of the Mykolaiv region. People are forced to live in basements with whole families and children, hiding from the shelling of the Russian army.
● Over the past day (June 24, 2022) in the Mykolaiv region, 7 people were injured due to Russian shelling, there are no children among the victims.
Operational Command Pivden (South): In the morning, a massive missile strike was again inflicted on Mykolaiv and the suburbs by 9 Onyx-type missiles fired by the Russians from the Bastion coastal complex located in the temporarily occupied Crimea.
CRIMEA
Mass media: In occupied Evpatoria, three Russian servicemen stole a local resident's car, took the car out into the field and burned it. Locals say that soldiers in a state of intoxication, stole the Lada to ride, then ""sweeping"" the traces set fire to the car.
KYIV
Head of the National Police: Five people were wounded due to the shelling of a house in the Shevchenko district of Kyiv
● A woman was rescued from under the rubble of the destroyed house in Kyiv. A girl, who was rescued from the rubble, is good. She did not suffer serious injuries - her grandmother says.
Mayor: Twenty-five residents were evacuated from a house in the Shevchenko district of Kyiv, where a rocket hit. A total of four victims were hospitalized.
Air defense shot down one missile in the Kyiv region. The wreckage fell in the vicinity of one of the villages. There is no destruction or injuries.
CHERKASY
Regional Military Administration: Confirmed the explosions in Cherkasy.
RIVNO
Regional Military Administration: In Sarny, Russian missiles killed three people, hit a service station with a car wash and a car repair complex. Four people in the hospital. Two are in critical condition. There may still be people under the rubble. Later under the rubble was found another dead. Thus, the number of victims of yesterday’s Russian missile attack on civilian objects increased to four people. Two more people are in serious condition.
Comparing Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to Russian invasion of Ukraine using Wikipedia and Ukraine Ministry of Defense Daily Bulletins. Soviet and Russian military losses not including captured equipment.
SOURCES
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/
https://euromaidanpress.com/
https://invite.viber.com/?g2=AQBD3wxTrZ6XUU7IdXeHUfjVCydekezQCCGuwYnT6qPd1r7n1aVbFIewa6ng6Lis