Summary of Russia's war in Ukraine on June 15

Video summary of the war Ukraine - Russia: June 14 16:08

(CNN Spanish) --

Russia intensified its attacks in eastern Ukraine in the last few hours, the center of the war that is on its way to completing four months since that February 24, when Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of his neighboring country.

In that framework, intelligence services have warned that the Ukrainian military is running out of Soviet-era ammunition that fits older systems, as the country begs the West to send more heavy weapons and Russia builds up a significant artillery advantage in around two strategically important cities in eastern Ukraine.

Look at the main news of the war this Wednesday, June 15:

Fighting in eastern Ukraine "gets tougher", says Luhansk region leader

A Ukrainian artilleryman prepares near the city of Lisychansk in Ukraine's Luhansk region on June 14.

(Photo: Anatolii Stepanov/AFP/Getty Images)

The defense of the Ukrainian army in the eastern Luhansk region is becoming more difficult, the head of the military administration of that region said on Wednesday morning.

"It is getting more and more difficult, but our military is containing the enemy from three directions at once," Serhiy Hayday said via Telegram.

"They are defending Severodonetsk without allowing the enemy to advance towards Lysychansk. However, the Russians are close, the population suffers and houses are destroyed."

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Hayday said Russia was again attacking the Azot chemical plant, where just over 500 civilians are said to be sheltering.

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"Tall buildings located near the chemical giant are being destroyed," he said.

"The enemy is weaker in street battles, so they use artillery fire, destroying our houses."

The Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday called on Ukrainian fighters at the Azot plant to lay down their arms, saying it would open a "humanitarian corridor" on Wednesday from the Ukrainian-controlled plant to Russian-controlled territory to the north.

Ukrainian officials have not commented on that proposal.

"Nearly two-thirds of Ukraine's children are displaced," says Unicef ​​regional director

A girl rides a scooter past a destroyed residential building in the village of Horenka, Kyiv region, on June 4, 2022, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

(Photo by SERGEI CHUZAVKOV/AFP via Getty Images)

The Russian invasion has forced the vast majority of Ukrainian children from their homes, a regional director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) told a news conference in New York.

"Nearly two-thirds of Ukrainian children are displaced, either within the country or those who have fled across borders as refugees," said Afshan Khan, regional director for Europe and Central Asia, according to remarks prepared for delivery.

"Children are forced to leave their homes, their friends, their toys and most precious belongings, their relatives and face uncertainty about the future."

Khan said according to UN figures, 277 children were killed and 456 wounded over the course of the war, and the fighting has damaged or destroyed one in six UNICEF-supported "safe schools" in the east of the country.

The Ukrainian government cites an even higher figure: the prosecutor general says 313 children were killed and 579 injured.

As these figures show, the war in Ukraine is a child rights crisis, and UNICEF is working to support children and families everywhere in the country," Khan added.

He said attacks on populated areas and civil infrastructure "clearly must stop".

"UNICEF continues to call for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and for all children to be protected from harm. Every day that this war continues, it increases the lasting and devastating impact on children, in Ukraine, in the region and around the world. world."

US to Give Additional $1 Billion in Military Aid to Ukraine

The US government on Wednesday announced an additional $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine to fight Russia, a package that includes shipments of additional howitzers, ammunition and coastal defense systems.

President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday before the announcement.

According to a US official, the latest package includes 18 howitzers, 36,000 rounds of howitzer ammunition and two Harpoon coastal defense systems.

"I informed President Zelensky that the United States is providing an additional $1 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, including additional artillery and coastal defense weapons, as well as artillery ammunition and advanced rocket systems that the Ukrainians need to support their defensive operations in Donbas," Biden said in a statement after the call.

"We also discussed Secretary Austin's efforts in Brussels today to coordinate additional international support for the Ukrainian armed forces," he said.

Speaking in Brussels, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the United States and Ukraine are "working in unison to meet Ukraine's requests for new capabilities, especially its need for long-range fire, armor and coastal defense."

The latest weapons package comes at a time when the Ukrainian military is running out of Soviet-era ammunition, while Ukrainian officials have begged the West to send more heavy weapons as the war with Russia drags on.

Western military and intelligence services believe the war is at a critical phase that could determine the long-term outcome of the conflict, while Russia has built up a significant artillery advantage around two key cities in eastern Ukraine.

Severodonetsk is getting closer to Russian control 3:12

The package is expected to include weapons and supplies that can be shipped quickly from existing US stockpiles, as well as the issuance of new long-term supply contracts for Ukraine.

The US will also provide $225 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, which Biden said will go toward "providing clean water, critical medical supplies and health care, food, shelter, and cash so families can buy essential items." essential".

The US has sent several arms shipments to Ukraine since Russia invaded the country in February, adding to the capabilities it has provided to the Ukrainian military as the conflict has raged.

However, Ukrainian officials have been pushing for more heavy weaponry and have expressed frustration that ammunition appears to be reaching the fight piecemeal.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar stated on Tuesday that the country has only received 10% of the military aid that Kyiv has requested from the West.

"Whatever our efforts, however professional our military may be, without the help of our Western partners Ukraine will not be able to win this war," Mailar said.

The war reaches a crucial moment that could determine the long-term outcome, according to intelligence services

The Ukrainian military is running out of Soviet-era ammunition that fits older systems, as the country begs the West to send it more heavy weaponry and Russia builds up a significant artillery advantage around two strategically important cities in the eastern Ukraine.

Western military and intelligence officials believe Russia's war in Ukraine is at a critical stage that could determine the long-term outcome of the conflict, according to multiple sources familiar with US and other Western intelligence.

This pivotal moment could also force a tough decision on Western governments, which have so far offered their support to Ukraine at an ever-increasing cost to their own economies and national weapons arsenals.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is set to lead a task force of nearly 50 countries to discuss the crisis on Wednesday, as the US expects further announcements of weapons and equipment packages for Ukraine, according to a senior US defense official.

Ukrainian officials have expressed frustration that these vital munitions appear to be coming to the fight piecemeal, raising fears that Western engagement will soften at a decisive moment.

"I think we are about to get to the point where one side or the other will succeed," a senior NATO official said.

"Either the Russians will get to Slovyansk and Kramatorsk or the Ukrainians will stop them here. And if the Ukrainians are able to hold the line here, in the face of this number of forces, that will matter."

See the full note here.

The Kremlin says it will be impossible to return to the hopeful spirit of last year's summit with the US.

Moscow has said the "hopeful spirit" seen at last year's Russia-US summit will be impossible to recapture in future communications.

The historic first meeting between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin in June 2020 was widely seen as positive, with both sides acknowledging that the talks were constructive.

"Is it possible to return to the spirit of Geneva, when there was hope? Hardly," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday, but added that it is "essential to continue communication."

Although Russia had "certain hopes" at last year's summit that are now gone, Peskov said there might still be hope for talks in a new format.

United States President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands outside Villa La Grange in Geneva, Switzerland, just before entering their meetings, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times)

"It is unlikely that we will have the same hopes. However, there may be new hopes. It will be a completely different mode of communication. But communication is essential," Peskov said, adding: "America is not going anywhere, Europe is not going nowhere. We'll have to communicate somehow."

A new format of communication between Russia and the United States, Peskov went on to say, will only be possible if it is based on the "principles of mutual respect, indivisibility of security, consideration of mutual concerns and mutual benefit."

This Thursday marks one year since the first face-to-face meeting between Biden and Putin as presidents in Geneva, where issues of security and strategic stability were discussed.

According to Peskov, "Then, the world already felt the symptoms of what we are now witnessing in a concentrated way. We were on the threshold of those tectonic changes that are taking place now."

Macron assures that negotiations with Russia on Ukraine are inevitable

Ukraine and Europe "will have to negotiate" with Russia on the Ukrainian war at some point, "it is the reality of things," French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday.

"The only desirable end to the conflict is a Ukrainian military victory or talks at some point, because the fighting has stopped, so at some point we will have to talk," he said while visiting French troops at the Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase in the east of the country.

"We Europeans will be around the table to negotiate, at some point that will happen," he added.

The French president, on a two-day visit to Romania and Moldova, stressed that France is not at war with Russia, despite European support for Ukraine.

"The difficulty we all found ourselves in is that while we condemn and sanction, we support the Ukrainians in their struggle, but we are not at war with Russia," he said.

Macron also said that the current deployment of French forces on NATO's eastern flank "will increase in strength", without elaborating.

According to the French armed forces, France has some 500 troops deployed in Romania, under NATO command, as well as combat and surveillance aircraft, in addition to some 300 troops, in Poland and Estonia.

NATO allies will continue to supply advanced weapons to Ukraine, says Stoltenberg

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that the alliance will continue to supply weapons to Ukraine and further military support will be discussed with Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov later in the day.

"We are very focused on stepping up, providing more support, more advanced weapons and also doing it in the best possible way for the Ukrainians, because we support them in their just fight against the brutal Russian invasion," Stoltenberg told a news conference in Brussels before of a meeting of NATO defense ministers.

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