According to Ukraine, Russia's pressure in the Donbass is not enough - Putin, on the other hand, says: "Everything according to plan"
Created: 06/30/2022Updated: 06/30/2022 09:24
By: Patrick Mayer
There is an exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia.
According to Putin, the "special operation" succeeds.
The news ticker on the military situation.
Soldiers from Azovstal
among
them: Ukraine and Russia exchange prisoners.
Between
Lysychansk
and
Bakhmut
: Ukrainian troops apparently hold highway T1302.
Bombs
on
shopping center
: Volodymyr Zelenskyj calls for punishment for "terror state" Russia.
This
news ticker
on the military situation in Ukraine
is continuously
updated
.
Update from 9.10 a.m .:
Despite western arms deliveries, the situation of Ukrainian troops in the heavily contested areas in the east of the country remains extremely difficult, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"We are doing everything we can to equip our military with modern artillery systems and to respond appropriately to the occupiers," said Zelenskyy in his daily video address.
The Russian military is relying on massive artillery fire in the Donbass industrial area to weaken Ukrainian positions.
Ukrainian artillery is outnumbered despite some modern guns arriving from the west.
Fighting is currently going on for the city of Lysychansk, and Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from neighboring Sievjerodonetsk.
The previous pressure on Russia is not enough, said Zelenskyj, pointing out that ten Russian rockets were fired at the Ukrainian city of Mikolajiv on Wednesday alone.
"And all were aimed at civilian targets," he said.
Ukraine news: Putin says Russia's invasion is 'going according to plan'
Update from June 30, 6:59 a.m
.: More than four months after the start of the Russian war of aggression, Putin again claimed that the combat operations were going according to plan.
"The work is quiet, rhythmic, the troops are moving and reaching the lines that have been set for them as milestones," he told reporters in the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat.
"Everything is going according to plan." The war is officially described by Russia as a "special operation".
On February 24, Russian troops invaded Ukraine from several directions.
Having failed to reach the capital, Kyiv, they are concentrating on the Donbass industrial area in eastern Ukraine.
According to Western experts, the Russian military is advancing, but is suffering high casualties and is using up its artillery ammunition at a rapid pace.
Vladimir Putin during his visit to Tajikistan in June 2022 © Alexander Shcherbak/Imago
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Ukraine News: More than six million people have fled since Russian invasion
Update from June 29, 9:30 p.m.:
According to the latest data, 6.3 million people had to flee to other areas of Ukraine during the war with Russia.
Another 5 million Ukrainians initially fled, but have now returned to their respective home regions.
Between Lysychansk and Bakhmut: Ukrainian troops are apparently holding the T1302 highway
Update from June 29, 8:55 p.m .:
The T1302 trunk road between Lysychansk and Bakhmut is apparently still fiercely contested.
That explains the Ukrainian general staff in a situation report.
Russian troops would therefore try to completely encircle Lysychansk.
In the village of Verkhnyokamyanka, west of the city with a population of almost 100,000, the attackers were successfully repulsed, according to sources in Kyiv.
Russian units also tried unsuccessfully to advance through the village of Spirne towards the town of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast.
Lysychansk is the last position of the Ukrainian army in the Luhansk region.
Battles reported in north-eastern Ukraine: Fighting raging near Izyum and Kharkiv
Update from June 29, 7.50 p.m .:
As the
Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ)
reports, the Russian invasion troops are continuing their attacks, especially south and southwest of Lyssychansk.
The city, which used to have 100,000 inhabitants, is largely surrounded.
Ukraine war: Zelenskyj addresses the world via video
View photo gallery
According to pro-Russian separatists, Ukrainian forces are pulling out of the city.
Lysychansk is the last unoccupied city in Luhansk Oblast.
Just recently, the neighboring city of Severodonetsk fell after weeks of bitter fighting.
Clashes were also reported on Wednesday near Izyum and near Kharkiv in north-eastern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian army was recently able to repeatedly repulse the attackers here.
Soldiers from Azovstal among them: Ukraine and Russia exchange prisoners
Update from June 29, 6:50 p.m .:
According to their own statements, the Ukrainian army and the Russian side exchanged a total of almost 300 prisoners.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense in Kyiv reported on Wednesday evening that 144 Ukrainian soldiers were free again.
It is the largest exchange of prisoners since the beginning of the war more than four months ago.
The separatist leader Denis Puschilin, on the other hand, spoke of 144 pro-Russian and Russian fighters who had been released from Ukrainian captivity.
According to information from Kyiv, among the released Ukrainian soldiers are 95 fighters who, until a few weeks ago, were defending the hard-fought Azovstal steel works in the port city of Mariupol, which has since been conquered by the Russians.
Another 43 of them are said to belong to the Azov regiment.
Allegations by the United Nations: UN accuses Russian army of illegal warfare
Update from June 29, 5:05 p.m.:
According to Russian reports, the Ukrainian defenders in the east of the country continue to suffer high losses (
see previous update
), the United Nations have accused the Russian army of illegal warfare.
Ukrainian forces appeared to have broken international humanitarian law "to a much lesser extent," Matilda Bogner, head of the UN human rights commission in Ukraine, said in Kyiv on Wednesday.
In violation of international law, densely populated areas are being shelled with heavy artillery and multiple rocket launchers and attacked from the air by aircraft and rockets.
"Cluster munitions were also used several times," said Bogner.
So-called extrajudicial killings by the Russian army in more than 30 locations in the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Kharkiv regions in February and March are worrying, Bogner said.
At least 50 civilians were unlawfully killed in Bucha near Kyiv alone.
In addition, officials, journalists, activists and other civilians were arbitrarily arrested or disappeared by the Russian forces in 248 cases, she said.
Eight of them were found dead.
Twelve cases of disappearances previously targeted by Ukrainian security forces are also documented.
Ukraine may suffer significant casualties defending Lysychansk
Update from June 29, 12:48 p.m
.: Ukrainian troops loyal to the government suffered significant losses in the fighting at an oil refinery in Lyssychansk in eastern Ukraine: Of the 350 men in a mountain infantry brigade, only 30 soldiers remained alive.
This is what the Russian Ministry of Defense has now announced.
The information could not be checked independently.
In addition, 100 militants were killed and military equipment destroyed near Pytomnyk in the Kharkiv region.
In addition, a training base for foreign mercenaries near Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine and four command posts were destroyed.
Moscow did not report any major gains in land.
Putin missiles at shopping center: Even Western secret service suspects "accident"
First report from June 29
: Kiev/London - Volodymyr Zelenskyj sees the bloody attack on the shopping center in Kremenchuk as part of Moscow's overall strategy.
The target is civilian objects, the Ukrainian President said in his daily video address.
In the Kremenchuk case, however, the British secret service judged differently.
The missile attack, which killed at least 20 people, may have been an accident, the UK Defense Ministry said in an update.
It is quite realistic that the attack on June 27 was intended to hit a nearby infrastructure target.
Threat from Moscow: London fears further "high collateral damage"
Moscow's long-range missile attacks have also been inaccurate in the past, leading to a high number of civilian casualties - such as the shelling of the train station in the city of Kramatorsk in April.
Moscow is ready to accept "high collateral damage".
Since Russia has a lack of modern precision weapons and significant weaknesses in planning its targets, further attacks must be expected to result in more civilian casualties, it said.
Bombs on shopping center: Selenskyj demands punishment for "terror state" Russia
London usually uses sharp words against Russia under Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin.
In a surprising message to the UN Security Council, Zelenskyy accused Moscow of “terrorism” primarily against Ukrainian civilians.
Moscow had denied that the shopping center had been shelled.
Combat zone in eastern Ukraine: civilians die when car repair shops are shelled
Meanwhile, the fighting in eastern Ukraine continues with undiminished intensity.
Two bodies were found in the big city of Dnipro: under the rubble of a company destroyed by an enemy missile, rescuers found two dead - a man and a woman, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region said on Telegram.
The rockets hit a peaceful company that has nothing to do with the military.
Media reports spoke of an auto repair shop.
Representatives of Russia emphasize attacking only military targets.
Ukraine-News: Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine is heavily contested
An important supply route for Lysychansk is also heavily contested.
The city was constantly being shelled with mortars and other artillery, the general staff said.
Representatives of the pro-Russian separatists reported fighting already in the city area.
(AFP/dpa/frs)
