News and information from Ukraine

Reports from Ukraine. Day 856.

Dnipro. One civilian killed by Russian missile, six injured Attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on June 28th. The rocket hit a nine-story residential building in the center of Dnipro.

Donetsk region. One person was killed and seven injured in a Russian attack on the city of Toretsk in eastern Donetsk province.Regional Governor Vadym Filashkin said on June 27: In the nearby town of Selydove, Moscow forces dropped an aerial bomb on a residential area, damaging about seven apartment buildings and five private houses. Six people were injured. “Another troubled day in Donetsk Oblast is another example of Russian atrocities,” Filashkin added in a Telegram social media post, urging remaining citizens to evacuate.

Kharkiv region. Russia attacked the town of Derhachi in the northeast of Kharkiv Oblast with guided aerial bombs on June 26.Regional Governor Oleg Sinegubov saidPrivate houses were hit in Derhachi, 13 kilometers from Ukraine’s second largest city. in the bombing. Ten civilians were injured, including two boys aged 12 and 15 and a 17-year-old girl.

Ukraine and Russia conducted a 90-for-90 exchange of prisoners of war on June 25., Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirms. Those released include Ukrainian soldiers from the National Guard, conventional military units, the Territorial Defense Forces and the Border Guard. They are men who defended the city of Mariupol and the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and fought on the Kherson, Donetsk, Kharkiv and Zaporizhia fronts. “We remember all our people in Russian captivity,” Zelensky said. “We continue to work for the release of each and every one of them.” This was the 53rd official exchange of prisoners of war between the fighters; it was brokered by the United Arab Emirates.

Russia has sent 10,000 new immigrants to the Ukrainian front, said Alexander Bastrykin, head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, the equivalent of the American FBI, during a conference on June 27. The country has made military service a prerequisite for naturalization, with no language skills or five-year residency requirements. But in raids across the country, authorities have identified 30,000 new citizens who had not reported for military service, including the 10,000 who have already been mobilized. Bastrykin said Ukraine’s recently naturalized immigrants are digging trenches and building fortifications rather than going into battle, but losses on the Russian front are mounting rapidly. The small territorial gains Russia has made in Ukraine in recent months have exacted a heavy human cost: In May, an estimated 1,200 Russian soldiers were dying every day, according to British and other Western intelligence reports, bringing the total number of Russian military losses since the invasion of Ukraine began to 500,000.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found the Kremlin guilty of violating human rights and freedoms in Crimea and Sevastopol. Ukraine Commissioner Margarita Sokorenko said on June 25. According to Sokorenko, this decision sets a precedent for an international court holding Russia responsible for systematic violations in the Ukrainian territories it occupies. “This is an important step towards holding the aggressor accountable under international law,” Sokorenko said. With this ruling, supported by evidence presented by Kyiv, the ECHR recognized the illegal detentions of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars by the Russian occupation authorities, the ongoing forced naturalization of Ukrainian citizens in Russia in Crimea, the ongoing discrimination against Crimean Tatars and the violation of the rights of political prisoners and their ill-treatment. The Ukrainian Human Rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets noted that this decision is the result of a decade of work following a complaint filed by Kyiv against Moscow in 2014. “This decision is proof that the Russian Federation is shamefully lying about the observance of human rights in occupied Crimea!” the Ombudsman added.

Denmark has pledged an additional grant of 4.7 million euros (5 billion US dollars) to Ukraine’s Energy Support Fund., The Ministry of Energy of Ukraine announced on 26 June. The funds are earmarked for the repair and reconstruction of critical infrastructure facilities in Mykolaiv and Kharkiv oblasts, frontline areas where tens of thousands of civilians remain. “Denmark became the first sponsor of the fund and contributed to the reconstruction of Ukraine’s energy sector already in April 2022,” said Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko. “The funds are especially needed for the frontline regions, whose energy facilities are exposed to enemy attacks on a daily basis.” The Energy Support Fund for Ukraine is an important tool for coordinating international assistance to keep Ukraine’s energy sector operational. Since its creation in spring 2022, countries such as Germany, Australia, the United Kingdom and Austria have contributed or pledged a total of 551 million euros (590 million US dollars) to the fund.

Cultural front.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on 25 June that it invited Ukrainian journalist Mstyslav Chernov to join them. Chernov won an Oscar this year for his documentary film “20 Days in Mariupol.” Chernov, along with field photographer Yevhen Maloletka and producer Vasylisa Stepanenko, was among the last remaining reporters in the city of Mariupol when it was besieged by Russian troops in February 2022, vividly capturing the horrors as they unfolded. If he accepts the Academy invitation, Chernov will have a say in selecting the winning entries in the Best Documentary category.

The British Royal Academy of Arts opened an exhibition dedicated to Ukraine entitled “In the eye of the storm,“ on June 28th in London. The exhibition celebrates Ukrainian modernist artists from 1900 to 1930 and features about 65 works by artists such as Kazymyr Malevych, Sonia Delaunay and Alexandra Exter. “The modernist movement in Ukraine unfolded against the backdrop of collapsing empires, World War I, the struggle for independence and the eventual creation of Soviet Ukraine,” the exhibition description states. “Despite these profound upheavals, this became a time of bold artistic experimentation and a true flowering of art, literature and theatre in Ukraine.” The exhibition is on view until October 13.

By Daria Dzysiuk, Karina Tahiliani