The conference on peace in Ukraine will be held in Switzerland in mid-June. The Swiss government made it official. The conference will be held on June 15 and 16 in a luxury hotel in central Switzerland, authorities announced. "The conditions for a conference to give impetus to a peace process have been sufficiently fulfilled. The first step will be to develop a common understanding among the participating States on the path to comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine," he said the government in a press release.
Russia, however, will not participate in the conference. This was announced by the Swiss Foreign Minister. Moscow "has no intention of coming," Ignazio Cassis said at a press conference, while asserting that "a peace process cannot be achieved without Russia, even if it will not be present at the first meeting."
Russia branded the conference in Switzerland "on peace in Ukraine" as an "American" project. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that "behind" the peace conference in Switzerland "are American democrats who need photographs and videos of events that would indicate that their 'Ukraine' project is still at afloat."
"The fact that they will kill thousands more Ukrainians does not bother anyone. The US elections are everything, Ukraine is nothing - this is the main criterion of current American policy," said Russia's diplomatic spokeswoman.
And subsequently the Russian embassy in Switzerland informed that the Swiss authorities had not invited Moscow to the peace conference in Ukraine, adding that if an invitation were to arrive it would refuse it.
Tajani, 'Russia does not want peace'
"Russia's absence at the Peace Conference in Switzerland on Ukraine is not a good sign: it means that it does not want peace. It is on the wrong side, the one in which the stronger suffocates the weaker, who does not could be the rule."
This was stated by the deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, arriving at the national assembly of Cifa Italia.
According to Kiev, there are at least 450,000 Russian soldiers dead or wounded since the invasion began
Over 450,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or injured in Ukraine since the conflict began on February 24, 2022: the Kiev Army General Staff announced this on Facebook, underlining that only in the last 24 hours have they been killed or injured 830 men. Ukrinform reports it.
In 2024 the Russian Federation plans to recruit around 400,000 contract servicemen. It is the estimate of the British Ministry of Defense which publishes intelligence estimates on X. “Russia aims to recruit around 400,000 contract soldiers in 2024. This is necessary to support its troops in Ukraine, which have suffered huge losses, and to support announced plans to increase the size of the armed forces to 1.32 million troops 'year and 1.5 million in the future", adds GB intelligence.
At least six dead under Russian bombs
At least three people - including a 14-year-old girl - died in the Russian attack that hit the village of Lyptsi in the north-eastern Kharkiv region today. "As a result of the bombing in Lyptsi, three people died: a 14-year-old girl, women aged 43 and 59. A 16-year-old boy and a 34-year-old woman were injured," regional governor Oleh Sinegubov reported on Telegram. , explaining that a pharmacy was hit in the raid. In another attack, two guided bombs destroyed a clinic in Vovchansk, wounding one person, Sinegubov said.
The death toll from yesterday's Russian attack on Kostyantynivka, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, has risen to three: the State Emergency Service announced this on Telegram, as reported by Ukrainska Pravda. The rescue teams, we read in the message, extracted the bodies of a 43-year-old woman and her 12-year-old son from the rubble this morning. Yesterday the body of a 60-year-old was found. According to the Emergency Service, a two-storey house was hit by a bomb and was partially destroyed.
Meanwhile, Russian forces have captured the village of Pervomaiske - in the Donetsk region, in eastern Ukraine - where fighting had lasted for a year and a half. The NGO DeepState announced this on Telegram, as reported by Ukrainska Pravda.
"Strong and indomitable people, warriors, the city of heroes. Despite the Russian bombings, no one surrenders, everyone is ready to prevent the enemy from succeeding in terror": the head of the Ukrainian presidential cabinet, Andry Yermak, wrote on Telegram, referring to the residents of Kharkiv. Yesterday President Volodymyr Zelensky was in Kharkiv, a city under Russian fire for weeks, where he also met with local authorities. "They talked about strengthening defense, air/anti-missile defense and also about helping the inhabitants of Kharkov, entrepreneurs and the military - Yermak reported -. We must break the backbone of Russia. Let's persevere. We will win."
The Ukrainian air defense forces shot down a Russian drone this morning in the Dnipropetrovsk region, in south-eastern Ukraine: the head of the regional military administration, Serhii Lysak, announced this on Telegram, as reported by Ukrinform. "Our troops worked in the Dnipro district. The defenders destroyed an enemy drone. Thank you for your protection!" Lysak wrote.
Russian forces launched 5 missiles and 17 kamikaze drones on Ukraine last night and during the night: the Kiev Air Force announced this on Telegram, adding that two missiles and 14 unmanned aircraft were shot down.
Two Kh-59 guided missiles launched in the direction of Odessa were intercepted last night around 7pm, while the 14 drones were shot down during the night in the regions of Mykolaiv and Odessa itself. All the drones came from Cape Chauda, in annexed Crimea. Furthermore, the Russians launched two Iskander-K cruise missiles and one Iskander-M ballistic missile last night from Crimea.
Meanwhile, two people were injured in a Russian attack this morning in the Odessa region - in southern Ukraine - which hit critical and logistical infrastructure, damaging an energy plant: Kiev's southern defense forces announced this on Telegram, as reported by Ukrinform. The region was attacked at dawn, also with ballistic missiles: the wounded were two employees of a transport company. In addition to the power plant, a house and several cars were damaged.
Zelensky, 'Putin must lose the terror bet'
"If no one wants Putin to drag the planet into World War III, we must win. Putin must lose the terror bet": this was declared by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking with a live link at the opening of the ninth edition of the Delphi economic forum, underway in the Greek city of Delphi, as reported by Ert news.
"Their basic narrative is that the West is evil: there is no point in dealing with Russia now, they hate everything that goes beyond their borders. We must isolate them completely," Zelensky added, calling for more armaments by the West. "Without armament support, Ukraine will lose territory. If we lose one region after another, we will lose the country," he added. Zelensky then called on the West to put more pressure on Russia by adopting even more severe sanctions without delay: "Time gives life, do not hesitate to make decisions," he said. Asked about the possibility of ceding territories in a possible peace negotiation, as Donald Trump seems to intend to do in the event of his re-election, the president of Ukraine limited himself to saying that he had not had the opportunity to discuss with Trump on how to end the war.