Russian President Vladimir Putin warned South Korea that sending weapons to Ukraine would be a “big mistake” after South Korea said it would consider doing so in response to a pact between Russia and North Korea to help each other in case of attack. “As for the supply of lethal weapons to the combat zone in Ukraine, it would be a grave mistake. I hope that doesn’t happen. If he does so, then we will also make our respective decisions, which the current leadership of South Korea is unlikely to be satisfied with,” Putin said at a press conference during his visit to Vietnam, Sputnik reports.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a PBS interview that Ukraine can strike “anywhere Russian forces cross the border from the Russian side to the Ukrainian side to try to take additional Ukrainian territory.” “It’s not about geography. It’s a matter of common sense,” Sullivan told PBS. He argued that allowing Ukraine to retaliate against forces attacking it from across the border is logical.
Le Monde reports on the limited support of Jordan Bardella, candidate for prime minister of the French right, for the defense of Ukraine. With less than ten days to go until the first round of parliamentary elections, the Rassemblement National seeks to outline its commitment to the conflict in Ukraine, while highlighting its differences with Emmanuel Macron. Bardella assured that he wanted to maintain military support for Ukraine, but said that there were “red lines” and that any risk of escalation must be “avoided (…) I will not question the commitments undertaken by France on the international scene”, Bardella said about NATO.
“Sending our instructors to the battlefield carries the risk of them being targeted… The question arises: if one day, as would be a tragedy, we lose French soldiers sent to Ukraine, what will we do next? What will France’s reaction be? As you can see, we are immediately heading towards an escalation that we do not want,” echoed Marine Le Pen, French presidential candidate.
The Slovak government has accused its predecessors of treason and abuse of office in connection with sending military aid to Ukraine, Bloomberg reports. The Ministry of Defense initiated criminal proceedings against the previous government, in particular against former Defense Minister Jaroslav Nagy. The Defense Ministry believes that the interim cabinet had no right to make such a fundamental decision, which left Slovakia without air defense after sending all 13 of its MiG-29 aircraft to Ukraine.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico vowed to end military aid to Kiev after returning to power last year. The previous administration, led by Eduard Heger, had failed to get a vote of confidence in parliament and was interim even before the decision to send military planes to Ukraine was made. “I personally believe that Yaroslav Nad is a traitor and he should not get away with it,” Deputy Defense Minister Igor Meliher said.
Rheinmetall, the German arms manufacturing giant, has announced the largest contract in the company’s history. This is a Bundeswehr framework contract for the supply of 155 mm artillery ammunition, signed on 20 June.
This is a contract with a maximum value of 8.5 billion euros: supply of over one and a half million units of artillery ammunition from the beginning of 2025.
Germany is the main customer under this deal, a part of this ammunition will be sent to Ukraine as part of military aid. “In addition, the partner countries Netherlands, Estonia and Denmark are also participating in the order,” Rheinmetall reports. According to the chairman of the board of directors of Rheinmetall AG, Armin Papperger, this contract will mainly concern the new factory they are currently building in Unterluess in Lower Saxony.
The UK has imposed sanctions on the shadow fleet used by Russia mainly for oil trading. The Liberian Maritime Authority reported that Ingosstrakh “no longer has the right to issue insurance certificates to any vessel flying the Liberian flag.” This certificate is mandatory for entry into the port. The Liberian ship registry is the largest by tonnage, over 257 million gross tons; this is 16% of the world’s merchant fleet.
In Belarus, a sudden check on the readiness of military units was initiated; many units of the special operations forces, missile forces, artillery, air force and air defense forces involved.
Kiev is negotiating with EU countries to return men who crossed the border illegally to Ukraine. But so far the European Union’s position is unanimous: they will not repatriate anyone.
And now a look at the front updated at 12pm on June 21st.
During the night, the Ukrainians attacked the Crimean peninsula with UAVs; more than 30 drones, according to Russian sources, were destroyed. In the morning the raids continued in Crimea: Cape Fiolent was attacked. In the Black Sea, Kiev’s UAVs were shot down; The Krasnodar Territory was also attacked: after crossing the Sea of Azov, Ukrainian drones were shot down over Yeysk, Kozetsk and Enem in the Krasnodar Krai, again targeting Russian military fuel depots and airports. At least five explosions were recorded in the area of the Enemsk oil depot, after which a fire broke out. Damage to the Russian fuel depot in Tambov oblast was also confirmed. At least one tank with petroleum products was damaged. There were also the first reports of explosions in the Volgograd region and Adygeya.
The raid was carried out in several successive waves. The drones were launched from more than six directions: from Odessa, Illichivsk, Nicolaev and Krivoy Rog.
In the direction of Kharkov, fierce fighting in Volchansk. Russian units advanced in a southwesterly direction, pushing the Ukrainians back to the Volchya River. Ukrainian attempts to bring in reinforcements were blocked by heavy artillery fire. In the eastern part of the city, the Ukrainian armed forces resumed their offensive. In the Liptsy direction, at night, Ukrainians attacked Russian positions four times in small groups near the village of Glubokoye.
In the eastern Kanal microdistrict of ChasovYar, fighting continues in multi-storey buildings.
In the direction of Avdeyevka, fighting continues in Arkhangelskoye and Novoaleksandrovka, as well as on the Sokol – Novopokrovskoye line. The Russians would be advancing west of Netaylovo, skirting the Karlovskoye reservoir.
On the Vremyevka ledge, Russian forces repelled Ukrainian attacks on Staromayorskoye from the north and fought at Urozhaynoye.
The Zaporozhye front is without significant changes. There are battles north of Rabotino, Russian troops strike Ukrainian positions in the Malye Shcherbaki area. While the Ukrainians attacked the substation of the city of Energodar with UAVs.
In the direction of Kherson, there are battles in the Dnieper island area, north of the Krynki villages and Cossack camps.
In the Belgorod region, Rzhevka and Pankov in the Shebekinsky urban district, Murom in the Shebekinsky urban district and Petrovka in the Belgorod urban district were attacked.
In the Bryansk region, an aircraft-type UAV was shot down on the territory of the Klintsovsky district.
In the Kursk region, Gordeyevka, Korenevsky district, the Tyotkino checkpoint, the settlements of Tyotkino and Novy Put, the village of Yelizvetovka, Glushkovsky district, and the Oleshnya farm, Sudzhansky district were affected. Ukrainian drone strikes recorded near the settlements of Tyotkino and Novy Put, the village of Novaya Nikolayevka in the Rylsky District, the Oleshnya farm and the Kucherov farm, in the Belovsky District. Russian Electronic Warfare reports the elimination and suppression of 13 Ukrainian drones in border areas during the day.
In the DPR, civilians were injured following Ukrainian attacks on Donetsk and Makeyevka.
Antonio Albanese
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