As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 115th day, we take a look at the main developments.
Here are the key events so far on Saturday, June 18.
Get the latest update here.
Fighting
- Russia heavily shelled the eastern city of Lysychansk, killing several people and making a key highway out of the city impassable, according to Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai.
- Russian media broadcast what it said were images of two US citizens captured while fighting for Ukraine. US President Joe Biden said he had been briefed about the missing Americans but was unaware of their whereabouts.
- Ukraine said its forces hit a Russian naval tugboat with two Harpoon missiles in the Black Sea, the first time it has claimed to have struck a Russian vessel with Western-supplied anti-ship weapons.
- Russia has freed a Ukrainian medic whose footage was smuggled out of Mariupol by an Associated Press team, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced.
Diplomacy
- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson offered military training for Ukrainian forces as he met Zelenskyy in Kyiv on his second visit to Ukraine since the start of the war.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West of colonial arrogance and trying to crush his country with “stupid” sanctions that amounted to an economic “blitzkrieg”.
- Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba urged the West not to “suggest peace initiatives with unacceptable terms”, apparently referring to remarks by French President Macron that a diplomatic solution requires not humiliating Russia.
- A US plan to sell four large, armable drones to Ukraine has been paused for fear its sophisticated surveillance equipment might fall into enemy hands, two sources told Reuters news agency.
Economy
- Lithuania has told Russia’s Kaliningrad region it will block the import and export of a large number of goods by rail because of Western sanctions, the regional governor said.
- Italy may declare a heightened “state of alert” on gas next week if Russia keeps curbing supplies, two government sources said, after energy company Eni reported a shortfall in flows from Moscow for a third day.
- Gas flows from Germany to France have stopped since Wednesday after what German officials called Russia’s politically motivated decision to reduce supplies to the EU.
- A top US Treasury official warned bankers of elevated cyber-threats in the wake of Russia’s invasion and underscored the department’s commitment to sharing real-time intelligence.
