There is a ruined tower at the southern end of the island and burned areas at the northern end. Russia says it has repulsed an attempt by Ukraine to retake the Black Sea island occupied by Russian forces on the first day of the invasion. A ruined tower is seen at the southern tip of Snake Island in a satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies on June 21. Photo: Satellite image © 2022 Maxar Tech / AFP / Getty Images Burning marks can be seen at the northern tip of Snake Island. Photo: Satellite image © 2022 Maxar Tech / AFP / Getty Images Russia says it has repulsed a Ukrainian attempt to retake Snake Island, a small Black Sea area occupied by Russian forces on the first day of the invasion. Photo: Satellite Image © 2022 Maxar Tech / AFP / Getty Images

Ukraine launches strikes on Snake Island

The Ukrainian military says it has launched airstrikes on the island of Zmiinyi, also known as Snake Island, causing “significant losses” to Russian forces. In a Facebook post, the army’s southern operations command said it had used “targeted blows using various forces” on the island. The command added: The military operation continues and demands information silence until it is over.

Summary and welcome

Hello, Samantha Lock is back with you as we continue to report all the latest news from Ukraine. Here are all the other important developments from 8 am in Kyiv.

The military situation for Ukrainian defenders in eastern Donbass is “extremely difficult,” officials said. There are 568 civilians believed to be trapped in Sievierodonetsk’s Azot chemical plant as Russian attacks intensify in an attempt to seize Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk. Serhiy Haidai, governor of the Luhansk region, said Lysychansk was being bombed “en masse”.

Russian forces have occupied several settlements near Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk. The head of the military administration of the Sievierodonetsk region, Roman Vlasenko, said that the village of Toshkivka on the front line had not been under Ukrainian control since Monday. Russian forces also occupied Pidlisne and Mala Dolyna, southwest of Sievierodonetsk, and were successful near the settlement of Hirske in Luhansk.

At least 15 civilians were killed in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region by Russian bombardment on Tuesday, according to Governor Oleh Synegubov.

Mass mobilization is set to take place in Russia with the Kremlin recruiting people into poorer areas to fight in Ukraine, according to Western officials. Officials also said there had been “more talk” of Vladimir Putin’s health and “more speculation” about who would replace him in Russia. However, there does not appear to be an “immediate threat” to the Russian president’s position from the elite or the general population, they said.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland visited Ukraine on Tuesday to discuss Russia’s war crimes, a Justice Department official said. Garland met with Ukraine’s attorney general, Iryna Venediktova, and announced a war crimes accountability team to locate and prosecute the perpetrators. “There is no hiding place for war criminals,” Garland said.

German self-propelled grenades have arrived in Ukraine in the first delivery of heavy weapons promised by Berlin. “We have a replacement!” The Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Oleksii Reznikov, announced. “The German Panzerhaubitze 2000 with trained Ukrainian crews joined the family of Ukrainian artillery.”

Turkey should be careful about delivering more weapons to Ukraine, said the head of Turkey’s arms production service. Ismail Demir’s statements to the Wall Street Journal show that Ankara is playing more and more on both sides of the war. Turkish-made drones have played a crucial role in Kiev’s defense.

The Turkish military delegation will travel to Russia this week to discuss a possible safe sea corridor in the Black Sea for the export of Ukrainian grain, according to sources in the Turkish presidency. A meeting between Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and the United Nations will take place in Istanbul in the coming weeks, possibly with the participation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, sources said.

European countries are united in their support for granting Ukraine EU candidate status, said the Luxembourg Foreign Minister. Jean Asselborn told reporters: “We are working to the point where we will tell Putin that Ukraine belongs to Europe, that we will also defend the values ​​that Ukraine stands for.”

The British government is “determined” to impose further sanctions on Russia and will continue to do so until Moscow withdraws completely from Ukraine, said British Foreign Secretary Liz Truz. He told parliament he would travel to Turkey on Wednesday to discuss options to help grain emerge from Odessa. Boris Johnson also warned of the need to resist the “growing fatigue” surrounding the war, saying any concessions to Vladimir Putin would be a “disaster.”

Estonia summoned the Russian ambassador on Tuesday to protest an “extremely serious” violation of its airspace by a Russian helicopter. The Estonian Foreign Ministry said the helicopter flew over a point in the southeast without permission on June 18.

A Ukrainian soldier with a dog was seen in the ruined city of Sievierodonetsk in eastern Ukraine. Photo: Reuters