Russia-Ukraine War: List of the most important events, day 846 | News about the Russia-Ukraine War

Here is the situation on Thursday, June 20, 2024.

Battle

• At least two people were injured and residential buildings damaged in the western Ukrainian region of Lviv after a wave of Russian drone strikes targeted energy infrastructure in six regions of the country. The air force said it destroyed 19 of 21 drones launched by Russia.
• The Ukrainian military said Russian forces had “intensified” their attacks near Toretsk on the front line in the eastern Donetsk region, “launching five offensive operations simultaneously” targeting surrounding towns and villages. The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces had “improved” their positions around Toretsk, which had a population of about 32,000 before the war.
• Rostov Region Governor Vasily Golubev said a fire caused by a Ukrainian drone attack on an oil terminal in southern Russia continued for a second day despite firefighters’ efforts to extinguish the fire. The facility was hit on Tuesday.
• Viktoriia Litvinova, Ukraine’s deputy prosecutor general, said the country had set up a national registry to document cases of sexual violence allegedly perpetrated by Russian forces. Litvinova told the Associated Press that 303 cases of conflict-related sexual violence had been registered since the start of the large-scale Russian invasion, of which 191 involved women and 112 men.

Politics and Diplomacy

• During Putin’s first visit to Pyongyang in 24 years, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed on a new comprehensive strategic partnership treaty. Putin thanked Kim for his “unwavering” support in Ukraine, while Kim pledged “full support and solidarity” for the Russian invasion.
• Putin then traveled on to Vietnam. In an opinion piece on the occasion of the visit, he praised Hanoi for supporting a “pragmatic way to resolve the crisis” in Ukraine. Vietnam has not condemned the Russian attack on Ukraine, but has formed alliances with the United States, its largest export market, and the European Union.
• French far-right politician Jordan Bardella said he supports Ukraine’s right to defend itself against Russia, but if he is elected prime minister in elections on June 30 and July 7, he will not supply Kyiv with missiles that would allow it to attack Russian territory. Bardella also said he would stand by France’s commitments to the NATO military alliance if he becomes prime minister.
• The Ukrainian secret service SBU has detained a resident of Kharkiv who was allegedly recruited by Russian agents on an online dating platform. He is accused of trying to provide Moscow with confidential information about Ukrainian military facilities and equipment. If convicted, the man faces up to eight years in prison, it said in a statement.
• In addition, the SBU said that a man who was arrested in March last year on suspicion of being a Russian domestic intelligence agent was sentenced to 15 years in prison for helping Russia identify targets for attacks in the southern Odessa region.

weapons

• Mykhailo Podoliak, a senior adviser to the Ukrainian president, said North Korea was “actively cooperating with Russia” militarily and called for greater international isolation of both countries. “There is no doubt that North Korea … is deliberately allocating resources to the mass murder of Ukrainians,” he told AFP. United Nations sanctions monitors said in their last report before Russia blocked the extension of their mandate that North Korean missile fragments had been found in Kharkiv.