Weekly Russia-Ukraine war summary: AFU stabilizes defense in Sumy Region, “bloody battles” near Kostiantynivka, air raids on Kyiv

Volodymyr Zelensky appointed General Hennadii Shapovalov as the new commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. Previously, Shapovalov headed the Ukrainian delegation to the NATO Mission to Assist Ukraine and led the Operational Command “South.” The appointment followed the resignation of the previous commander, Mykhailo Drapatyi, who stepped down after a Russian missile strike on a training area in the Dnipropetrovsk Region killed 12 Ukrainian soldiers.

Within the Defense Forces of Ukraine, a Drone Forces Group has been established in order to implement unified approaches in intelligence, planning, and drone tactics, as well as to create a system for automated needs assessment and operational performance analysis.

Mutual strikes and sabotage

The Ukrainian Air Force reported ( 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ) shooting down 579 Shahed-type and other unidentified drones out of 1,109 launched against Ukrainian territory from June 13-20. An additional 389 drones were classified as radar-lost. Additionally, the Air Force reported intercepting 32 out of 51 missiles of various types, while three more missiles were classified as radar-lost.

During this period, the following Russian strikes were reported:

· In Kyiv, 28 civilians were killed in an air attack on the night of June 17, including 23 people in an apartment building hit by a missile, which caused one entire section of the building to completely collapse. Another 134 people were injured. After the attack, submunitions from cluster munitions were found in the city. According to Russian pro-war bloggers, the targets included Patriot SAM system positions at Boryspil and Zhuliany airports, the Kyiv Radio Plant, an armored vehicle factory, and a dormitory of the National Aviation University (1, 2, 3).

· In Odesa, two people were killed and 17 injured during a drone attack on the night of June 17. The attack damaged residential buildings in Odesa’s historic center, along with a kindergarten, an infectious diseases hospital, and a facility for children with special needs (1, 2, 3, 4).

· On the night of June 20, more than 10 drone impacts were recorded in Odesa. A UAV crashed into a 23-story residential building, and another struck a four-story building; both caught fire. One person was killed, and approximately 20 others were injured.

The Russian Ministry of Defense, in turn, reported the destruction of 726 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over Russia and Russian-occupied territory from June 13-20. During this period, Ukrainian forces carried out, among others, the following strikes:

· On June 13, a HIMARS strike using cluster munitions hit a Russian military convoy transporting personnel near Makiivka in the Donetsk Region. Eight Russian soldiers were killed and another 12 were wounded.

· The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that, on the night of June 14, a strike hit the facilities of JSC Novokuybyshevsk Petrochemical Company in the Samara Region — a leading Russian producer of explosive components.

· On June 15, a facility producing Shahed drones in Yelabuga (Tatarstan) came under attack. One person was killed and 13 others were injured; another later died in the hospital. During the attack, workers in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone reported an evacuation.

· On June 18 and 20, Ukrainian drones attacked the JSC Shipunov Design Bureau of Instrument Engineering in Tula, which develops precision-guided weapons. The enterprise has suspended operations.

According to data collected by CIT volunteers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), between 8:00 p.m. on June 11 and 8:00 p.m. on June 19, at least 75 civilians were killed and another 443 injured as a result of strikes against civilian infrastructure on both sides of the front line.

Losses

Over the course of the week, Russia and Ukraine conducted two exchanges of critically ill and severely wounded prisoners of war under the Istanbul agreements (1, 2). Additionally, on June 16, the exchange of the bodies of fallen soldiers was completed. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense’s calculations, the Russian side handed over a total of 6,060 bodies in exchange for 78. Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko accused Russia of sending bodies of Russian soldiers among Ukrainian ones and published a Russian ID as evidence.

On June 13, a Russian Su-25 attack aircraft crashed near Soledar, reportedly due to a structural failure during a sharp maneuver.