Here is the situation on Wednesday, June 12, 2024.

Fighting

• Ihor Terekhov, the mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, noted that the number of Russian attacks had decreased since Ukraine’s forces attacked missile launch sites in Russia. Despite ongoing missile and drone strikes, Terekhov mentioned to Reuters that targeting across the border had brought a relative “calm”.
• According to Russia's state TASS news agency, citing the Ministry of Defence, Russia asserted control over two additional Ukrainian villages—Myasozharivka in Luhansk and Tymkivka in northeastern Kharkiv.
• India’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported the recent deaths of two Indian nationals recruited by the Russian army and urged the Russian ambassador in New Delhi and authorities in Moscow to expedite the release and return of all Indian nationals enlisted by the Russian military.

Politics and diplomacy

• John Kirby, a White House spokesperson, announced forthcoming “impactful” sanctions and export controls targeting entities and networks aiding Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine. These measures, to be disclosed during the G7 summit in southern Italy, aim to escalate the costs for the Russian war machine.
• China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jin reaffirmed Beijing’s opposition to all unilateral sanctions in response to new G7 warnings to small Chinese banks regarding their ties with Russia.
• Germany’s far-right AfD and far-left BSW parties boycotted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's parliamentary address, where he warned that pro-Russian rhetoric increasingly endangered the European Union. Both parties, opposing military support for Ukraine, made significant gains in the EU parliamentary elections.

• The United Nations’ annual Children in Armed Conflict report disclosed that, in 2023, the Russian army and its affiliated groups were responsible for the deaths of 80 children and injuries to 339 in Ukraine. The report, set for release on Thursday but previewed by multiple news agencies, stated that violence against children in armed conflict reached “extreme levels” in 2023.
• The Moscow Regional Court upheld a decision requiring 19-year-old Maksim Lypkan to remain in a psychiatric hospital and undergo compulsory treatment. Arrested in February 2023 for planning a protest against the invasion of Ukraine, Lypkan was charged with disseminating “fake [information] on the Russian army,” as reported by SOTA independent media.
• A decree revealed that President Vladimir Putin will keep demoted ally Nikolai Patrushev, an architect of the Kremlin's national security strategy, on Russia’s national Security Council. The council, chaired by Putin, serves as a consultative body.

Weapons

• President Zelenskyy urged allies to enhance their air defense support to safeguard Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Speaking at an international conference on Ukraine’s reconstruction, he stated that at least seven Patriot missile systems were necessary.
• The US State Department, after a serious review of Ukraine’s Azov brigade, found “no evidence” of human rights abuses, allowing the unit to receive training and weapons from the US. Washington noted that the brigade now is distinct from the original "Azov battalion," which was formed ten years ago, disbanded in 2015, and criticized for having members with extreme right-wing views.