Below is the update for Wednesday, June 19, 2024.

Combat

• Ukrainian drones ignited multiple oil storage tanks in Russia’s Rostov region overnight, as reported by Kyiv defence sources to AFP and Associated Press. Vasily Golubev, the local governor, confirmed a fire at a storage site, and a video from Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations displayed thick smoke and flames pouring from several storage tanks at an unknown location.
• Ukraine’s grid operator Ukrenergo indicated that there would be rolling blackouts on Wednesday due to a series of Russian attacks on Ukrainian power stations, to ensure the power supply.
• According to the Ukrainian Air Force, air defence units shot down all 10 drones launched by Russia overnight, aimed at the Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, with no reported damage or injuries.

Political and diplomatic developments

• Russian President Vladimir Putin reached Pyongyang for his first visit in 24 years, with suspicions that North Korea is providing weapons to Moscow for use in Ukraine. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un welcomed Putin at the airport, with state media highlighting both countries' commitment to establishing a “new multi-polar world”.
• Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin announced an investigation into the suspected beheading of a Ukrainian soldier by Russian forces in occupied eastern Donetsk after aerial surveillance showed what seemed to be a severed head on an armoured vehicle.
• A man in eastern Donetsk has been sentenced to 15 years for high treason after he was found guilty of relaying sensitive military details to Russian forces. The prosecutor’s office reported that he provided information about Ukrainian troop positions in the area.
• Estonian courts sentenced Viacheslav Morozov, a Russian citizen and ex-political theory professor at the University of Tartu, to six years and three months for espionage. Morozov, detained in January, allegedly collected details on Estonia’s internal, defence, and security policies, as well as related individuals and infrastructure, as reported by the public broadcaster ERR.
• Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff to the Ukrainian president, disclosed that preparations are underway for a second peace summit, following last weekend’s initial conference in Switzerland. Over 90 delegations attended the first event, though Russia was not invited, and some non-aligned countries didn’t endorse the final statement.