Ukrainian forces carried out a missile attack on a bridge connecting Ukraine’s Kherson region and Crimea, Russian-appointed officials in both regions said on Thursday.
The Chongar bridge, which connects parts of the Russian-held Kherson region with the Crimean peninsula, was hit, officials said, adding that traffic was diverted to another route.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said four missiles were fired at the bridge by Ukrainian forces.
The Russian-appointed governor of Kherson, Vladimir Saldo, said the bridge was likely attacked by Storm Shadow missiles that damaged the road. He added that there were no recorded casualties.
The governor of Crimea, Sergey Aksenov, said that specialists are examining the site to see when traffic can resume on the bridge.
Russia illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, years before the full-scale invasion it launched in 2022.
Here are some of the other developments regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine on Thursday, June 22:
Hundreds of children died in 2022, the UN said
The United Nations has accused Russia of killing 136 children last year during its invasion of Ukraine, German news agency DPA reported.
The report, which has yet to be officially released, also said that around 80 children were killed by Ukrainian troops as a result of being caught in the fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces.
A total of 477 children died last year in fighting, the report said. The deaths of the rest of the children on the list are not certain of any force.
Many of the children were killed in the air strikes.
Scholz urged the NATO summit to focus on improving Ukraine’s fighting strength
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on NATO leaders to meet in Vilnius in July to focus on strengthening Ukraine’s fighting capacity during the ongoing counter-offensive against Russia.
“We have to look at the current situation as good,” Scholz told lawmakers in Berlin on Thursday, adding that Kyiv “has itself said that a NATO membership is out of the question while Russia implements the its war against Ukraine.”
“So I expect that we will focus in Vilnius on what is now an absolute priority – that is, to strengthen the fighting power of Ukraine.”
NATO member countries are debating what to offer Kyiv when alliance leaders hold a meeting in Vilnius on July 11-12.
Ukraine warns Russia that it is considering an attack on a nuclear plant
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that Ukrainian spies have received information indicating that Russia is considering carrying out a “terrorist” attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
Speaking in a video statement on the Telegram platform, Zelenskyy said that Kyiv shared information about the Russian-occupied facility in southern Ukraine with European allies, the United States, China and India.
Zelenskyy did not say what evidence was behind the intelligence agencies’ assertion.
Moscow dismissed the allegations as false, adding that UN nuclear inspectors visited the plant and gave a good account of what they saw there.
Zelenskyy thanked the allies for the new support
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked allies, including the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union, for pledging support packages on the first day of a London-hosted donor conference on Ukrainian recovery. .
In his nightly speech, Zelenskyy said that the conference, which continues Thursday, aims to get international business support for the transformation of Ukraine.
“Ukraine’s task is to transform the moral leadership of our people into the economic leadership of our country,” Zelenskyy said. “All the requirements for this exist, first of all, in our people, in our beautiful strong country.”
The first day of the two-day conference saw the UK announce a $3 billion (approximately €2.75 billion) package over the next three years. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen withdrew the EU executive’s support package for Ukraine of €50 billion over the next four years.
Germany pledged €381 million in humanitarian aid this year, and France €40 million. The United States will provide more than $1.3 billion in additional aid.
The conference, the second to be held since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, was attended by leaders and representatives from more than 60 countries.
Speaking of matters on the ground, Zelenskyy also expressed his gratitude to the Ukrainian troops for “every Russian helicopter shot down.”
He said forces were “advancing in the South,” and defenses were “strengthening in the East.”
Gas explosion rocks Kyiv residential building
A gas explosion destroyed several apartments in a high-rise building in the Ukrainian capital in the early hours of Thursday, the Kyiv City Military Administration said.
Serhii Popko, head of the administration, said the explosion was believed to be caused by a gas leak. The search for the victims continues, said Popko.
Four apartments were destroyed, and six others were destroyed.
The administration shared photos on Telegram showing the affected building, with several middle floors clearly on fire. It is said that there was one victim and 18 people were saved.
More DW coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine
War reporting in the digital age: DW looks at how the flood of video footage from Ukraine’s frontline trenches is making covering the war for journalists more complicated.
Rebuilding Ukraine is a huge undertaking and the final cost is anyone’s guess, not least because Russian forces continue to attack Ukrainian towns and cities. Sonia Phalnikar went to the village of Moshchun and the town of Irpin outside Kyiv to get a picture of the reconstruction efforts. See the report below.
rmt, dvv/rt (AFP, AP, Reuters)
