When the war between Russia and Ukraine reaches its 113th day, let’s take a look at the main events.
These are the key events so far on Thursday, June 16th.
Get the latest update here.
Fighting
- Ukrainian fighters inside the Severodonetsk Azot chemical plant ignored a Russian surrender ultimatum, as the United Nations warned that essential supplies were running out for thousands of civilians trapped in the city, including many refugees at the facility. .
- For both Russian and Ukrainian forces, fighting for key cities and towns like Severodonetsk is being “returned to small groups of troops who usually operate on foot,” the UK defense ministry said.
- The Russian military says it used long-range missiles to destroy a depot in the western Ukrainian region of Lviv, near the border with Poland, where ammunition for NATO-supplied weapons was stored.
- Two U.S. citizens who traveled to Ukraine to fight Russian forces a week ago are missing and are feared to be captured, relatives said. A White House national security spokesman said that if the reports were true, the United States would “do everything possible” to recover them.
Diplomacy
- Washington has announced an additional $ 1 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, including 18 shells, 36,000 rounds of ammunition and 18 tactical vehicles to tow the shells. Russia’s ambassador to the UN has denounced Western countries for supplying weapons to Ukraine.
- French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi have arrived in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, where they will hold talks with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
- The European Union executive is expected to propose on Friday that Ukraine become a formal candidate for membership in the bloc, diplomats and officials said.
- The head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said the war-fueled food crisis in Ukraine should bring the record for displacement to more “surprising” levels.
Economy
- The Black Sea port in the Romanian city of Constanta has become one of the main transit hubs for grain exports from Ukraine.
- Russia’s Gazprom decision to cut off gas supplies to Germany is a wake-up call for Europe’s largest economy next winter, said the head of the German energy regulator Bundesnetzagentur.
- Russian Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov said the ruble was overvalued and that the industry would be more comfortable if it fell from 70 to 80 against the current US $ 57, according to state news agency Tass.
- Russian people and businesses are using Georgian entities to circumvent Western sanctions, Ukrainian lawmakers said during a visit to Washington, DC, but did not provide details or examples. The Georgian embassy in Washington said the allegations were “completely false.”