Date—June 15, 2022

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Stories

1. Zelenskiy: We keep telling our partners that Ukraine needs modern anti-missile weapons. Our country does not have it at a sufficient level yet, but it is our country in Europe that needs such weapons most right now. Delay with its provision cannot be justified. I will constantly emphasize this when talking to our partners. We made the first requests for anti-missile systems long before the full-scale invasion. And this week there will be many different important talks – and not only with European politicians who are able to provide Ukraine with modern anti-missile systems. (Source: Telegram).

Announcements

1. Rammstein-3 will take place today. (Source: In Features).

War

1. Western partners supplied Ukraine with only about 10% of the promised weapons that Kyiv requested to achieve military parity with Moscow. It was announced by the Deputy Minister of Defense of the country, Anna Malyar: “No matter how much effort Ukraine makes, no matter how professional our army is, without the help of partners, we will not be able to win this war <…> From what Ukraine has stated, from the fact that we need, we got about 10%”. She stressed that the West must speed up the provision of military assistance to Ukraine since every day of delay is “the lives of Ukrainian soldiers, the lives of Ukrainian citizens, the civilian population, these are destroyed Ukrainian cities and, as we already see, these are temporarily occupied territories.” (Source: Telegram).

2. The Russian Ministry of Defense proposed that Ukrainian formations on the territory of the Azot chemical plant in Severodonetsk, Luhansk region of Ukraine, lay down their arms. From 8:00 to 20:00 on June 15, the Russian Ministry of Defense will open a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians at the Azot plant to the city of Svatovo, which the “LPR” controls. The Ukrainian side offered to evacuate to Lysychansk, which is under the control of Kyiv. The Russian military offered the Ukrainian forces from 8 am on June 15 to stop any hostilities “and release the civilians they are holding through this humanitarian corridor, as well as stop senseless resistance and lay down their arms.” Russia “guarantees the preservation of life and compliance with all the norms of the Geneva Convention on treating prisoners of war, as happened with those who had previously surrendered in Mariupol. The hoisting of white flags indicates the actual readiness of the Ukrainian side to start a humanitarian operation,” said Mezentsev, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense. On the territory of “Azot,” a group of Ukrainian forces retreated to the plant after several days of fighting in Severodonetsk. According to the “LPR” authorities, up to 2,500 Ukrainian military and mercenaries are at the plant. The head of the Lugansk regional military administration, Sergei Gaidai, said there were about 500 civilians on the plant’s territory. The part of “Azot” is constantly shelled, and fighting occurs on the adjacent streets. On June 10, the LPR ambassador to Russia, Rodion Miroshnik, said RF blocked a group of Ukrainian soldiers at the Azot plant in Severodonetsk. He claimed that individual representatives of the Ukrainian forces tried to negotiate. (Source: Meduza).

Military Help

1. The United States intends to transfer intelligence information to Ukraine for strikes using multiple launch rocket systems. The United States Department of Defense stated it. Now the Ukrainian military is completing training on using HIMARS and MLRS systems. The US admitted that so far, Moscow has more artillery than Kyiv. Washington once again said that it intends to provide the Ukrainian army with everything necessary to hit targets on the territory of Ukraine. Theoretically, HIMARS and MLRS can reach the goal in Russia. At the same time, the President of Ukraine, in a conversation with Danish journalists, said that the Ukrainian army would not fire at civilian targets in a neighboring country. The US has stated that the range of HIMARS supplied to Kyiv will not exceed 80 kilometers. (Source: Svoboda).

Invasion Damage

1. Office of the Prosecutor General: In Ukraine, 313 children were killed and more than 579 were injured in Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Just a day ago, juvenile prosecutors reported 288 children killed. The most affected children were in Donetsk region – 291, Kharkiv region – 169, Kyiv region – 116, Chernihiv region – 68, Luhansk region – 54, Kherson region – 52, Mykolaiv region – 48, Zaporizhia region – 30, Sumy region – 17. (Source: SPRAVDI).

2. According to the UN, by June 12, 4395 civilians had died in Ukraine since the beginning of the war. Another 5,390 people were injured. The most common cause of tragedies was the use of explosive devices with a wide area of destruction. In particular, the conduct of shelling from heavy artillery, multiple launch rocket systems, and rocket and air strikes. The UN stressed that the actual number of dead and injured is much higher. In the report, the experts were only able to mention documented and confirmed cases. (Source: CT).

3. By the end of 2022, the outflow of dollar millionaires from Russia will exceed 15% and amount to 15,000 people, according to the British company Henley & Partners, which advices on obtaining foreign citizenship by investment. For comparison: in 2019, 5,500 rich people left the country. According to the company, there are more than 101,000 people in Russia, whose wealth is estimated at millions of dollars. Russia predicted the flight of dollar millionaires

Among the leaders in the outflow of millionaires is Ukraine. The British company predicted that 42% of Ukrainian rich people (2800 people) would leave the country due to a special military operation. Also, a record number of dollar millionaires will leave China (13,000), India (8,000), Brazil (2,500), and the UK (1,500), analysts say. According to Henley & Partners, the largest influx of wealthy immigrants is expected in the UAE (4000), Australia (3500), Singapore (2800), Israel (2500), and Switzerland (2200). After the war against Ukraine and the imposed sanctions, the number of millionaires in Russia decreased from 123 to 88, and their total wealth decreased from $606 billion to $353 billion. The richest people in Russia also suffered. The main owner of NLMK, Vladimir Lisin, lost $7.8 billion (his fortune reached $18.4 billion), and the largest shareholder of Norilsk Nickel, Vladimir Potanin, lost $9.7 billion (now his fortune is $17.3 billion). (Source: SF).

Foreign news

1. Chinese President Xi Jinping has signed a directive on the “non-military” use of armed forces. This raises concerns that Beijing may be preparing to invade Taiwan under the guise of a “special operation.” The decree comes into force on June 15. The six-chapter document stated goals are “maintaining national sovereignty, regional stability, and regulating the organization and conduct of peaceful military operations.” The message came shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for a diplomatic solution to the threat of military action in the Taiwan Strait in a recent video address at the Shangri-La Dialogue Security Forum. Taiwan has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party or part of the People’s Republic of China, but Beijing insists the island is part of its territory. The West and Japan believe that China can use the Russian scenario of an attack on Ukraine to resolve disputes with Taiwan. (Source: Svoboda).

2. Arnold Schwarzenegger, an American actor and former Austria-born governor of California, spoke at the Austrian World Summit in Vienna. He called on European countries to abandon the purchase of Russian energy, calling it funding for Russia’s hostilities in Ukraine. It is not Schwarzenegger’s first appeal related to the war in Ukraine. Earlier, he called for an end to the Russian invasion of the country. (Source: Meduza).

3. Gazprom has cut gas supplies to the EU through its main Nord Stream-1 pipeline by a third since early June, with a sharp decline on Monday, and a Russian gas monopoly warned 14th of June that the new cut appears to be long-lasting. He referred to the technical problems of the Portovaya compressor station, as a result of which Rostechnadzor banned the company from operating part of the gas-pumping units. The repairs were carried out by Siemens from Germany, where Nord Stream leads. The German concern cut off cooperation with Russia after it invaded Ukraine. Due to the untimely return of gas pumping units from repair by Siemens, the development of the GPA’s overhaul resource, and the identified technical malfunctions of the engines, gas supplies to the Nord Stream gas pipeline can now be up to 100 million cubic meters. meters per day.” Siemens Energy said in the evening that one of the gas turbines for Nord Stream 1 could not be returned to Germany from Montreal after repairs due to Canadian sanctions. By May, several European countries had refused to pay for Russian gas under a scheme proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, which the Russian authorities call payment in rubles. Gas supplies to them have stopped. The EU imposed a deferred partial embargo on Russian coal and oil and planned to cut gas purchases by two-thirds by the end of the year, but first planned to replenish gas storage facilities for the upcoming heating season. Cutting Nord Stream supplies could jeopardize those plans and threaten a new round of rising gas prices in Europe. (Source: BBC).