Lisichansk Blocked

1 Europe

The EU Parliament adopted a resolution, supporting the granting of Ukraine and Moldova the status of EU candidates. The resolution is advisory in nature. A decision on granting the candidate status to the EU, for Ukraine and Moldova, will be made at the EU summit, on 23rd of June. After the decision of the summit, it must be formally certified by the European Parliament. The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, expressed his confidence that the EU summit will give the candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova. On 17th of June the European Commission recommended giving such status to Ukraine and Moldova, and postponing such decision on Georgia. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stated that in order to move further along the path of joining the EU, Ukraine will firstly have to carry out serious reforms, and remove the oligarchs from the country.

2 The Donbas Republics

The Ukrainian nationalists fired about 40 shells per hour at Donetsk. The Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Center reported that the Ukrainian forces use the NATO artillery. The Kuibyshevsky District is under fire. The Kievskiy district is under fire as well — 1 civilian was injured. A local gymnasium and some apartment buildings were damaged. The LPR reported about a major break-through on the frontline. A strong fortified area in Popasnaya, created by Ukraine over a few years, was taken. The LPR and the Russian forces attacked from all directions. The Ukrainian forces were pushed out from 5 settlements into one location. About 2,000 people, including foreign mercenaries, are surrounded at the moment.

3 The LPR

About 2,000 Ukrainian servicemen are located in the village of Gorskoe, in the LPR. Supposedly they have started to surrender. Many of them hid in the building of the local children’s boarding school, and a local mine. Earlier it was reported that the LPR forces took control of parts of the town of Zolotoe, and forced the Ukrainian forces to flee from their positions. The LPR forces began to control the airspace over Lisichansk and Severodonetsk — the official representative of the People’s Militia of the LPR, Ivan Filiponenko, reported. According to him, both towns are in an operational encirclement. The terms of a full blocking weren’t clarified.

4 Russia

The Russian Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, stated during a meeting with the Belarusian Defense Minister, Viktor Khrenin, that the regional troops and the air defense systems of the Union State need a swift action to increase their combat readiness. Sergei Shoigu added that this issue is becoming more and more urgent, and Russia is ready to «provide any support to the Belarusian friends». Back in May, the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, reported that Minsk purchased the right amount of ’’Iskander’’ missile systems and ’’S-400’’ anti-aircraft missile systems from Moscow.

5 Iran

Israel carried out a strike on a civilian airport in Syria, which led to the disruptions in the delivery of humanitarian supplies — the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, stated on 23rd of June in Tehran. He added that due to the Israeli strike, the Damascus airport was closed for several weeks. It is currently impossible to deliver the humanitarian cargo by air. According to him, Russia sent a related message to Israel, and raised the question in the UN Security Council about the need for all countries to comply with the resolution 2254. Moscow will continue to uphold such position in contacts with Israel and other countries, involved in one way or another in the Syrian settlement.

6 Yemen

A terrorist detonated a bomb in an administrative building in south of Yemen — the ’’Belqees TV’’ reported on 23rd of June. According to the journalists, the explosion took place in the Al-Mahadar district, in the province of Ibb. The terrorist came to the administrative building, entered the meeting room, and set off an explosive device. It was noted that as a result of the attack, 8 people were killed. 6 were injured. The reasons of the attack have yet to be established. According to the preliminary data, one of the international terrorist organizations, operating in Yemen, may be behind the attack. Constantine Reztsov, specially for the ANNA NEWS