News about the Russia-Ukraine war: This happened on Wednesday night (June 22)

Enlarge image

Children's playground among damaged apartment buildings (near Kyiv, on June 21)

Photo: ROMAN PILIPEY/EPA

What has happened in the past few hours

describes

the

in the

region as very difficult.

"The occupiers are exerting strong pressure," he says in a video speech, alluding to the Russian army.

According to the Ukrainian governor, at least

region

.

A Russian statement is not available.

A

has crashed near the

, killing the pilot, according to Russian military sources.

The Sukhoi Su-25 crashed on Tuesday during a training flight in the Rostov region.

According to initial information, the cause could have been a

, the Russian news agencies quoted a press release from the Southern Military District as saying.

That says Kyiv

President Zelenskyj calls for further

EU

against

because of

the war against his country

.

A seventh package of sanctions is needed as soon as possible, he said on Wednesday night.

He emphasized this in talks with various European heads of state and government on Tuesday.

»Russia must feel the increasing pressure as a result of the war and its aggressive anti-European policies.«

Zelenskyi again emphasized the urgency of further arms deliveries.

"The lives of thousands of people depend directly on the speed of our partners," he said.

On the front in the east of the country, the Ukrainian army was able to strengthen the defense of the heavily contested Luhansk region.

In the Kharkiv region there is still heavy shelling by Russian troops.

The area around the city of Cherson occupied by Russian troops is gradually being recaptured, Zelenskyj said.

The

to the Ukrainian President,

, firmly believes that

will win against the Russian aggressor.

"We can win the war," he said on Tuesday evening on the ARD program "Maischberger."

He hopes that the counter-offensive can begin at the end of August or in August.

Aid from abroad would help a lot, would also arrive, but it would take a while before the weapons could be used.

You can't make a lasting peace with Russia anyway, said the adviser: "You can't give in to this illusion." (You can find out more about this here.)

Moscow says so

According to Russian information,

from 16 countries are currently

in

six

.

The

accused Ukraine of not being able to sail unhindered due to Ukrainian shelling and the high risk of mines.

Ukraine, on the other hand, criticizes the fact that Russia is preventing the export of grain by blocking Ukrainian ports, thereby causing a food crisis.

The international community has been demanding that Russia allow the export of Ukrainian grain for weeks.

Ukraine complains that its ports in the Black Sea are blocked by the Russian Navy.

Both countries are among the largest wheat exporters and play an important role in global food security.

In order to clarify questions about grain exports from Ukraine, a Turkish delegation is to travel to Moscow in the coming week, as Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the TASS agency.

humanitarian situation

The White House has sharply criticized

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov's suggestions about a possible

in Ukraine .

That a Russian official should even mention this is

," White House foreign policy spokesman John Kirby said in Washington on Tuesday.

Kremlin spokesman Peskov described the two former US soldiers Alexander Drueke and Andy Huynh in an interview with the US television channel NBC as mercenaries who are not protected by the Geneva Convention on prisoners of war.

When asked if they could face the death penalty, he had said "that depends on the investigation."

The pro-Russian separatists in the so-called Donetsk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine had recently imposed death sentences on two Britons and a Moroccan captured in Ukraine.

Kirby said he didn't know if Peskow actually meant what he said or thought a major power should say something like that.

But whatever the motive behind it: "It's definitely alarming."

International Reactions

EU Council President

proposes

making

and

.

The most recent draft of the final declaration of the forthcoming EU summit states: "The European Council has decided to grant Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova the status of candidate countries." This would mean that the 27 heads of state and government who met on Thursday and Friday in Meet in Brussels, follow the recommendation of the EU Commission.

In addition, the draft from Tuesday, which is available to the dpa news agency, states that they are prepared to grant candidate status to Georgia.

To do this, however, the priorities specified by the EU Commission would have to be met.

economic consequences

In the dispute over restrictions on freight traffic to the Russian exclave of

, the

has taken a protective stance against

.

Moscow had threatened that Russia would "react to such hostile actions."

then said

that Ned Price said Washington stood by its "NATO allies" and thus also by Lithuania.

Price expressly referred to Article 5 of the NATO treaty, according to which an attack on an allied country is regarded as an attack on all.

He stressed that the US commitment to this article was "inevitable."

Kaliningrad is located on the Baltic Sea between Lithuania and Poland and has no direct land connection to Russia.

EU member Lithuania announced last week that it would restrict rail traffic between Russia and its exclave.

Goods that fall under the EU sanctions against Russia can no longer be brought by rail from Russia to Kaliningrad via Lithuania.

These include above all metals, building materials, technology goods and coal.

According to Finance Minister

, Germany is not helplessly at the mercy of Russia, despite “the danger of a very serious economic crisis”.

"No, Putin doesn't have us in his hands, we are the designers of our destiny," he says on ZDF.

Germany can diversify its energy supply, close other supply chains and act freely.

In addition, one can use domestic gas and oil deposits.

However, he sees years of hardship ahead of the Germans – especially as a result of the war (you can find out more about this here).

what is happening today

• Government statement

  by Chancellor

  Olaf Scholz

  (SPD) on the upcoming EU, G7 and NATO summits.

  Of course, these meetings will also deal extensively with the war in Eastern Europe and future dealings with Russia.

• Russia

  and

  Ukraine

  commemorate

  Germany's invasion

  of the Soviet Union on

  June 22, 1941

  .

  Russian President Putin will lay flowers.

  The commemoration day is also celebrated in Belarus.

jok/Reuters/dpa