As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 119th day, we take a look at the main developments.
Here are the key events so far on Wednesday, June 22.
Get the latest updates here.
Fighting
- Russian shelling killed at least 15 civilians in the eastern Kharkiv region on Tuesday, including five in the city of Kharkiv, the regional governor has said, as Russia steps up attacks in the region.
- Russian forces have pushed deeper into the Donbas region, with Ukrainian officials announcing the fall of the front-line village Toshkivka, near the strategically important cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.
- The UK’s defence ministry said it is highly likely that Russia is preparing to deploy a large number of reserves to the front lines of the Donbas.
- A Ukrainian photojournalist and a soldier who was accompanying him when they were killed in the first weeks of Russia’s invasion appear to have been “coldly executed”, Reporters Without Borders has said, after an investigation into their deaths.
Diplomacy
- Russia on Wednesday will mark the anniversary of the day Nazi Germany’s forces invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, with President Vladimir Putin due to lay flowers to honour the dead.
- Indonesian President Joko Widodo will visit both Ukraine and Russia next week to meet his counterparts and push for a peaceful resolution to the conflict, the Indonesian foreign minister said.
- Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said his office has not received any requests from Washington about the two Americans captured in Ukraine, according to Moscow’s state TASS news agency.
- Ukraine is set to become an official candidate for European Union membership on Thursday in a symbolic but morale-boosting decision following Russia’s invasion, ministers and diplomats have said.
Economy
- Russian businesses are increasingly relocating from Switzerland – long home to middlemen helping to match Russian producers with international buyers – to Dubai due to sanctions.
- Turkey is planning to host Russian, Ukrainian and United Nations officials for talks in the coming weeks aimed at resuming the export of grain that is currently stuck in Black Sea ports, according to media reports.
- EU leaders aim to maintain pressure on Russia at a summit this week by committing to further work on sanctions, a draft document showed, with gold among assets that may be targeted.
- Germany faces a certain recession if already faltering Russian gas supplies completely stop, an industry body warned.
