Russian troops do not advance while Ukraine receives military and financial aid | News on the war between Russia and Ukraine

Since there was a widespread standstill between Ukraine and Russia’s armed forces last week, they sought international military agreements.

Russia has failed to make any progress in eastern Ukraine and has even lost ground in its recent advance in the northern Kharkiv region, aimed at distracting Ukrainian defenders.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian troops recaptured positions southwest of Vovchansk, the main section of the Russian incursion into Kharkiv, and reportedly also retook the settlement of Tyche west of Vovchansk.

On Wednesday, Colonel Yuriy Povkh, spokesman for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Kharkiv, said that “dozens” of Russian soldiers were stuck in the center of Vovchansk. Other reports put the number at 200 Russian soldiers.

On June 13, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had signed 10-year security agreements with Japan and the United States at the G7 summit in Puglia, Italy. The agreement with Japan will provide Ukraine with $4.5 billion in military, humanitarian and financial assistance this year alone, he said.

The value of the defense agreement with the United States for the next ten years was not mentioned.

The White House said it would “support Ukraine in all of its defense needs now and for the long term by helping it win the war.”

The U.S. Congress has approved $61 billion in military aid to Ukraine this year, and U.S. President Joe Biden, who is running for election in November, is reportedly trying to force any future administration to maintain aid to Ukraine. The G7 agreement was made by the executive branch, is not a ratified treaty, and could be overturned by a future president.

Although Ukraine has signed agreements with 15 countries and is currently negotiating 15 more such agreements, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance was considering making aid to Kyiv mandatory to ensure it remains “reliable and large-scale.”

The purpose of these protective measures is to protect Ukraine from changes in government and to keep outsiders to the alliance in check, such as Hungary, which refuses to provide military assistance to Kyiv’s armed forces.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on May 24 that Hungary was “working hard to figure out how to avoid participating in a war (between NATO and Russia) and still remain a NATO member,” according to the Russian state news agency Tass. “Our lawyers and our military are currently working on this.”

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday, which he said also includes “mutual support in the event of aggression.”

Putin, who traveled to Pyongyang to sign the agreement, said he did not rule out “the development of military-technical cooperation” with North Korea.

During his visit to Russia in September, Kim expressed interest in ballistic missile technology and wanted Russian help in launching satellites.

US security spokesman John Kirby said Washington was concerned about closer cooperation between Russia and North Korea.

In addition, other forms of assistance for Ukraine were also announced.

The G7 summit pledged to break new ground in aid to Ukraine by providing $50 billion in a US loan this year. The loan will be covered by interest on $300 billion of Russian assets frozen on the territory of Ukraine’s allies, primarily the European Union.

Last month, the EU announced it would transfer around $3 billion annually to Ukraine in interest from Russian assets on its territory. It was initially unclear whether this amount would be included in the US loan. Russia has threatened to retaliate against any direct seizure of its assets on Western territory.

The US also announced new sanctions against 300 individuals and companies in Russia and China to close loopholes in existing measures. The sanctions affected the Russian banks Sberbank, VTB Bank and Tochka Bank as well as the Russian defense company Rostec.

Mikhail Zvinchuk, founder of a Kremlin-affiliated channel on the Telegram platform, told the Bosnian news service BanjaLuka.net that the sanctions would have an impact on the Russian arms industry and war economy.

Last weekend, Ukraine’s allies and neutral countries met in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, for the first international peace conference on the Ukraine war.

More than 80 countries agreed that the threat of using nuclear weapons and the use of food as a weapon – both of which Russia is accused of – were unacceptable. Russia and China did not take part in the talks, but Moscow has previously said it rejects Zelensky’s peace terms, including a full Russian withdrawal from the occupied territories.

Ukraine continued its attacks on Russian energy facilities during the week, pursuing a policy it began in January.

Geolocated images showed a burning Russian oil terminal in Azov on Monday and Tuesday. Ukraine also hit an oil facility in Chushka.

Ukraine has not been allowed to use American tactical missile systems (ATACMS) against targets in Russia, except in the areas immediately north of Kharkiv, where the new attack began on May 10. Biden reiterated this policy last week.

The Kharkiv region lies on the border with Russia and its capital, also called Kharkiv, is 30 kilometers from the border.

Ukraine uses its own-made drones and announced last week that it also used its own Neptune missiles on Russian soil last week to attack the Chushka oil facility on the eastern side of Crimea, and in the nearby Caucasus on May 31.

Ukraine sank the Russian missile carrier Moskva with Neptune missiles in April 2022.

Ukraine also clarified that it damaged two Sukhoi-57 fighter jets this month in an attack more than 500 kilometers from the front line, and not just one as initially reported.

Ukraine’s attacks on air defense systems in Crimea were particularly successful. According to Ukrainian military intelligence, Ukraine destroyed 15 systems there – three of them in the past two weeks.

Intelligence chief Kyril Budanov said Russia had now decided to station an experimental S-500 system there.