Russia says it has stopped the counterattack; Ukraine says it has not launched its 'biggest blow' yet

Chiến sự đến tối 20.6: Ukraine vẫn còn ‘đòn lớn nhất’; Nga nói 'đã ngăn cản NATO’ - Ảnh 1. — Ukrainian soldiers on a road near the front line in Donetsk

TASS news agency on June 20 quoted Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Sergey Naryshkin as saying that the country's forces were preventing a counterattack by "a NATO task force using Ukrainian soldiers as manpower."

"I think it would be more correct to say that our soldiers are stopping the counterattack of the so-called NATO battle group," he said at the Russian Historical Society, of which he is also president.

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According to Andrey Marochko of the militia of the self-proclaimed "Luhansk People's Republic" (LPR), Ukraine suffered losses of about 2,300 soldiers and mercenaries in the past week, including 1,500 in Donetsk.

In addition, the Ukrainian side also lost 60 vehicles, more than 30 armored vehicles and 40 artillery pieces, Mr. Marochko said.

NATO and Ukraine have not commented on the above information.

Ukraine's "biggest blow"?

Reuters on June 20 quoted Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar as saying that Kyiv has yet to launch its "biggest blow", although it acknowledged the difficult campaign as Russia sought every way to counter it.

"The other side will not give up their positions easily, and we must prepare ourselves for a tough fight. In fact, that is what is happening," she said.

"The operation has a number of objectives and the army is completing these tasks. And the biggest blow is yet to be delivered," said Deputy Minister Maliar.

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After more than a week of silence about the operation, the Ukrainian army announced minor victories, including the recapture of several small settlements in an announcement on June 19.

Ms. Maliar said that while Ukrainian forces were advancing in multiple directions in the south, Russian forces were pushing forward in the east, concentrating their efforts there. “So (the fighting) is heating up both in the east and the south,” Ms. Maliar said.

In another development, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on June 20 that Ukraine was preparing to attack Crimea - an area Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 - with high-mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) and long-range guns, Storm Shadow missiles.

He warned that Russia would retaliate. Such attacks, which Russia considers to be outside the zone of special military operations in Ukraine, would mean the US and Britain would be fully involved in the conflict, Mr Shoigu said.

Ukraine has not commented on the allegations.

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Russian mercenaries demand medals

The founder of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, complained on June 20 that most of his fighters had not received medals as promised by President Vladimir Putin.

Mr Prigozhin's private forces led an assault on the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut and took control in May, after nine months of fighting.

President Putin congratulated Wagner, the Russian military at the time, and said that all outstanding people would receive state awards.

Mr Prigozhin, who has publicly criticised the Russian defence ministry for failing to provide timely supplies for Wagner's Bakhmut operation, said most of his fighters had not been awarded.

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"Of the state awards for (the efforts) in Bakhmut, only the title of Hero of the Russian Federation was awarded. Nothing else was awarded to the majority of the gunmen," he said.

The Russian Defense Ministry has not commented.

EU provides 50 billion euros in aid to Ukraine

According to informed sources, the European Union (EU) is about to announce a 50 billion euro aid package for Ukraine.

The figure is expected to be announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and comes after a review of the EU's 2021-2027 budget, ahead of an international conference in the UK on raising funds to rebuild Ukraine.

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A senior EU official said the amount includes €33 billion in macro-financial assistance to help replenish Kyiv’s state budget. For 2023, the EU has provided €18 billion in such assistance to Kyiv.

The World Bank estimates that rebuilding Ukraine will cost more than $400 billion, three times the country's gross domestic product.

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