By This was CNBC’s live blog tracking developments on the war in Ukraine on June 20, 2023. See here for the latest updates.
Air raids sounded across Ukraine in the early hours of Tuesday morning amid Russian attacks on Kyiv and Lviv, a city in the western part of the country, and the southern region of Zaporizhzhia.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said preliminary information showed that Ukraine’s air defense systems had shot down 32 of 35 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russia. Ukrainian military and infrastructure facilities were targeted, the military said. Missiles had targeted the southern Zaporizhzhia region, it added.
The Lviv Regional Military Administration wrote on Telegram that preliminary information suggested that a critical infrastructure object was hit in Lviv but that people were not injured in the attack.
In other news, a top Ukrainian defense official conceded Monday night that it is “quite difficult” for Ukrainian forces to advance in their counteroffensive amid strong Russian resistance and deep defenses.
Defense firm Raytheon Technologies (RTX) is expecting another $3 billion in arms sales as countries look to restock their arsenals amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“We are going through the warcraft, we are going through the munitions at a rate none of us expected,” RTX CEO Greg Hayes told CNBC’s Phil LeBeau on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show.
“We have seen $2 billion of orders related to Ukraine restocking. We expect another $3 billion this year but there are probably a multiple of that we will see over the three or four years,” Hayes added.
The United States has provided the lion’s share of security assistance to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s war. Last week, the Biden administration approved its 40th weapons package for Ukraine worth $325 million bringing the U.S. security assistance to more than $40 billion since Russia’s full-scale invasion last February.
— Amanda Macias
One ship departed Ukraine carrying 63,000 metric tons of wheat destined for Egypt, according to the organization tracking exports related to the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
The Black Sea grain deal, which established a humanitarian sea corridor between Ukraine and Russia, is set to expire next month unless it’s renewed by all signatories. The agreement was last renewed on May 16 just hours before its expiration.
Over the weekend, one ship departed Ukraine’s port of Chornomorsk carrying 63,336 metric tons of corn and is headed for China.
— Amanda Macias
The United Nations said at least 9,083 civilians have died in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s war late last February. The same U.N. office adds that at least 15,779 people have been injured.
“The actual figures are considerably higher, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration,” the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, or OHCHR, said in a release.
The OHCHR said the death toll is expected to be higher in areas like Mariupol, Lysychansk, Popasna and Sievierodonetsk.
— Amanda Macias
U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin is prepared to begin modifications on F-16 fighter jets for use in Ukraine when the final details of the arrangement are worked out between Kyiv and Washington.
“Lockheed Martin stands ready to modify aircraft and provide training solutions as we have for 16 other nations and provide sustainment of those platforms and as necessary build new F-16s to backfill those that are donated,” Chief Operating Officer Frank St. John told CNBC’s Phil LeBeau on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show.
St. John also told LeBeau that Lockheed Martin is expecting to ramp up production rates due to higher demand as Russia’s war in Ukraine marches into its 500th day.
“What we have seen, especially in the last 16 months, since the invasion of Ukraine, is a steady increase in demand not only here in Europe, but also around the world. We are starting to see contracts come in now that are going to see us ramping up our production rates over the next two to three years all across the portfolio,” St. John added.
— Amanda Macias
EDITOR’S NOTE: This post contains graphic content depicting death in Kherson region.
Waters slowly recede in the Hola Prystan area of Kherson in eastern Ukraine following the collapse of Nova Kakhovka dam. Volunteers and municipal workers begin the gruesome task of clearing bodies in the Russian-controlled territory of the Kherson region after flood waters receded. Kyiv and Moscow both blame each other for the dam’s explosion.
— Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
One person has been killed and seven others injured after Russia fired on rescue workers in Kherson, a Ukrainian official said.
“The Russian army fired at rescue workers in Kherson who were clearing mud,” Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, wrote on Telegram. “As a result of the shelling, one employee of the state emergency service was killed, and seven more employees were injured. Six are in serious condition.”
CNBC has not independently verified the information. Kherson, in eastern Ukraine, suffered flooding and massive mud buildup as a result of the Nova Kakhovka dam explosion on June 6, which Kyiv and Moscow both blame on each other.
— Natasha Turak
A Moscow court fined the companies that own the popular messaging apps Telegram and Viber, citing their failure to remove certain content Russia deems to be “illegal”, in particular content on the war in Ukraine.
Telegram, whose operational center is in Dubai, was ordered to pay a 4 million ruble fine ($47,525), while Viber’s owner, the Japanese multinational company Rakuten, was fined $1 million rubles, according to Russian news agency Interfax.
Telegram is very widely used in both Russia and Ukraine by political leaders, the military, journalists, activists and ordinary citizens. It was founded by Russian-born brothers in 2013.
The fine for Telegram, Russian state media agency TASS reported, was for not deleting 32 channels publishing what Moscow described as “false information” about the war in Ukraine, which it calls its “special military operation.”
Shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, the Kremlin announced a law that banned any “discrediting” of Russia’s armed forces, with penalties of up to 15 years’ imprisonment. Numerous critics of the war have been arrested and jailed.
— Natasha Turak
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has outlined a 50 billion euro ($54.6 billion) aid package for Ukraine for the next four years. It would be in the form of a budget reserve from the EU’s 2021-27 budget, and was proposed ahead of an international conference being held in the UK aimed at raising more funds for Ukraine’s reconstruction.
“This financial reserve will allow us really to calibrate our financial support according to the evolution of the situation on the ground,” von der Leyen said.
“We have exhausted all flexibility in our EU budget to deal with crisis after crisis,” von der Leyen wrote in a tweet. “Now we come with a targeted proposal to better act on the most pressing issues,” the post read, listing “Ukraine,” “migration and external challenges,” and “strengthening our competitiveness.”
— Natasha Turak
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on China to use its influence on Russia over the Ukraine war, and urged against letting it become a “frozen conflict.”
Scholz made the remarks while speaking alongside Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who was in Berlin for bilateral talks. The German leader stressed that China should not supply Russia with weapons.
China remains a firm ally of Russia, and has refrained from condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine. Washington has also warned Beijing against supplying weapons to Russia, but so far says there is no evidence that it is doing so.
Before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Beijing and Moscow announced a “no limits” strategic partnership they said was intended to counter U.S. influence. China’s position has been to ultimately blame the U.S. and NATO’s eastward expansion for the conflict, and Chinese officials have called Russia their country’s “most important strategic partner.”
— Natasha Turak
It’s becoming clear that Ukraine could have a long and bloody slog ahead of it when it comes to its counteroffensive aiming at recapturing Russian-occupied territory in the south and east of the country.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive has produced only limited gains so far, with eight settlements reclaimed in the last two weeks. Ukrainian officials are the first to admit that the country’s armed forces face a “tough duel” with Russia in the weeks and months ahead.
“We knew from before we started [the counteroffensive] that this wasn’t going to be a walk in the park,” Yuriy Sak, a senior advisor in Ukraine’s defense ministry, told CNBC Tuesday.
“We knew that Russians had months to prepare for it, we knew that they have built very, very strongly-fortified defense lines, that they have laid millions of mines along the front line. They’re dug in so deep, that we already had a very good idea that this will be not an easy task,” he added.
Read more on the story here: ‘Tough duel’ ahead for Ukraine as Russia mounts fierce resistance to counteroffensive
— Holly Ellyatt
The Kremlin said Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to dialogue on Ukraine but claimed that Kyiv’s current “position” did not provide a basis for negotiations.
Speaking to reporters, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said “Putin is open to dialogue, he is open to contacts. A very, very productive conversation took place on Saturday with the African delegation, and this dialogue will continue,” according to comments reported by Tass.
He added, however, that “the potential impact of such a conversation” needed to be assessed and that “in the context of the position currently taken by the Ukrainian regime, and the prehistory of this position, it is hardly necessary to talk about at least some stable ground for such eventual negotiations.”
Both Putin and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met a group of African leaders in recent days, with discussions centering on whether there could be any grounds for peace talks.
Ukraine reiterated that it is not willing to hold talks, or to “freeze” the conflict, while Russian troops remain on its territory, saying Moscow could use the time to regroup its forces.
— Holly Ellyatt
Russian-installed officials in the flood-hit town of Nova Kakhovka in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region accused Kyiv of targeting the town with attack drones Tuesday.
Three civilians were wounded in the purported attack and one was left in a serious condition, the headquarters of the city district told reporters, news agency Tass reported. It did not provide evidence for the claim and Ukraine has yet to respond to the report.
Nova Kakhovka found itself at the center of international news in early June when the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam in the Russian-occupied town was largely destroyed, sending a massive volume of water downstream in Kherson.
Numerous villages on either side of the Dnipro River, and in both Ukrainian and Russian-controlled territory, were flooded and thousands of people displaced.
Tass cited Russian emergency services as saying Tuesday that 38 people were now known to have died in the flooding, and 115 had been injured. Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said Monday that 18 people are now known to have died and 31 are missing.
“The water continues to recede. But 39 settlements and 818 houses still remain flooded,” the ministry said on Telegram. It added that 3,773 people and 284 animals were evacuated.
Russia and Ukraine blamed each other for blowing up the dam and preliminary evidence points to Russia having undermined the structure, although it denies this.
— Holly Ellyatt
The latest attack on the western Ukrainian city of Lviv shows that much of the country remains vulnerable because Ukraine lacks an adequate air defense system covering the whole country, an official said Tuesday.
“Today, air defense systems are deployed where they are most needed, to protect large cities, infrastructure facilities, nuclear power facilities, and the front line. We don’t have enough air defense systems, to put it mildly, to cover such a [big] state as Ukraine with a dome, as Israel did,” Yuriy Ihnat, spokesperson for the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, told Radio Liberty, according to a report on news outlet Ukrinform.
Ihnat’s comments come after Lviv was targeted with Iranian-made “Shahed” drones overnight, with three of the unmanned aerial vehicles hitting an infrastructure facility.
— Holly Ellyatt
Fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces is increasingly intense as Ukraine conducts counteroffensive operations in at least three sectors of the front line spanning southern to eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar announced Monday that over the past week, Ukrainian troops in the Zaporizhzhia direction have advanced up to 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) and liberated 113 square km of territory, including eight settlements.
But in later comments last night, Maliar conceded that it “is quite difficult for our defenders to advance, because the enemy threw all their forces to stop the offensive” and added that the fighting “is hot both in the east and in the south” of Ukraine.
“Despite the fact that our troops are advancing in several directions of the south, the enemy is concentrating a lot of his efforts in the east and continues to advance there,” she noted in comments translated by Google.
“The enemy will not give up positions easily and we must prepare for the fact that it will be a tough duel. Exactly what is happening now,” she said.
Still, she added, “the ongoing operation has several tasks and the military is carrying out these tasks. They move as they were supposed to move. And the biggest blow is yet to come,” she said without elaborating.
Ukraine’s armed forces said it had “eliminated” 1,010 Russian troops in the past day alone amid fierce fighting as Ukraine’s counteroffensive continues, but with a reportedly high level of attrition for both sides.
CNBC was not able to verify the information in the report and both Ukraine and Russia have looked to minimize their own reported losses while looking to accentuate their opponent’s.
— Holly Ellyatt
Air raids sounded across Ukraine in the early hours of Tuesday morning amid reports of Russian attacks targeting cities Kyiv and Lviv, in the western part of the country, and the southern region of Zaporizhzhia.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said preliminary information showed that Ukraine’s air defense systems had shot down 32 of 35 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russia. Ukrainian military and infrastructure facilities were targeted, the military said. Missiles had targeted the southern Zaporizhzhia region, it added.
Ukraine’s capital Kyiv was spared a drone attack the last 18 days, with last night’s attack being only the second since the start of June, Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app.
“According to the usual tactics for mass UAV [unmanned aerial vehicles] attacks, drones entered the capital in waves, coming from different directions. The air alert lasted more than three hours. About two dozen enemy targets were detected and destroyed by the forces and means of our air defense in the airspace around Kyiv,” he said. Information about casualties and damage is still being gathered.
The Lviv Regional Military Administration wrote on Telegram that preliminary information suggested that a critical infrastructure object was hit in Lviv but that people weren’t injured in the attack.
In Zaporizhzhia, the military administration said, it recorded 72 attacks on 19 cities and villages in the region using drones and artillery. “So far, 50 reports of destruction have been recorded: apartments, houses, cars, administrative and commercial buildings,” the administration said, with at least one person reported to have been injured. CNBC was unable to immediately verify the information.
— Holly Ellyatt
French President Emmanuel Macron announced Monday that Europe’s first medium-range anti-missile system, jointly developed by France and Italy, has been delivered and is operational in Ukraine, according to a report from French newspaper Le Monde.
The SAMP/T system, known as Mamba, is the only European-made technology that can handle ballistic missiles, Reuters reported in February. It is intended to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian drones, missiles and planes. Le Monde compared it to the Patriot, an American missile defense system.
Macron delivered the news at a meeting of defense ministers in Paris.
The announcement comes four months after France and Italy said the technology was ready. In February, the two countries said they would deliver the missile system to Ukraine this spring, according to Reuters.
“It really is Europe protecting Europe,” Macron said at the meeting, according to The Associated Press.
— Rebecca Picciotto
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC News on Monday that his visit to Beijing was an “important start” to repairing U.S.-China relations, especially after the strain brought by an alleged Chinese spy balloon reported in February.
He had postponed the trip after the U.S. military discovered the spy balloon over the U.S. So long as no more spy balloons are found in the skies above the U.S., Blinken wants to leave the incident in the past so that the two economic superpowers can strengthen ties.
“That chapter should be closed,” Blinken said in an NBC interview before leaving Beijing. During his trip, he spent two days in meetings with senior Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping.
The two countries have yet to reestablish military communication channels, though Blinken says it is necessary and is “not something we’re going to drop.”
China cut those lines of military communication last year after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, which is self-governing though Beijing claims it as its own territory. President Joe Biden said that a deal to reopen the communication had stalled due to the spy balloon.
Though military communication between the U.S. and China is currently on pause, Blinken said that he was assured in the meeting with Jinping that China had no intentions of providing aid to Russia in the war against Ukraine.
Blinken said he brought up the surveillance issue multiple times in his meetings with Chinese officials and is something that the U.S. government “will continue to watch.”
Read more on the story here: Xi tells Blinken in high-stakes meeting: World needs stable U.S.-China relations
— Rebecca Picciotto
The Kremlin said Monday it is too unsafe to send the United Nations’ humanitarian aid workers into areas impacted by the recent Kakhova Dam collapse where civilians are stranded.
Dmitry Peskov, press secretary for the Kremlin, said in a call with reporters that the war has made humanitarian visits too risky, though he did not say outright that Russia had obstructed the U.N.’s aid, according to The Associated Press.
The Kremlin’s comments come a day after the U.N. condemned Russia for interfering with its humanitarian efforts.
On Sunday, U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator Denise Brown said in a statement that Russia has denied the U.N.’s request to send aid to the Kakhova Dam area, which is located in southern Ukraine and is currently under Russian military control.
“We urge the Russian authorities to act in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law,” Brown said in the statement.
Survivors of the dam flood have faced a shortage of food, water and electricity, all while attacks continue in the area. Some rescuers from Ukraine have endured the risk of Russian snipers to evacuate stranded Ukrainians.
—Rebecca Picciotto
After a high-profile meeting with the Chinese president on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had received assurances that Beijing was not providing lethal aid to Russia, nor had any intentions to do so in future.
There have been long-standing concerns that Beijing could provide weapons to its ally Moscow that could be used in the war against Ukraine. China has repeatedly insisted it has no plans to do so.
“With regard to lethal aid to to Russia for use in Ukraine, we and other countries have received assurances from China, that it is not and will not provide legal assistance to Russia for use in Ukraine,” Blinken told a press conference Monday after meeting Chinese President Xi in Beijing.
Blinken said the U.S. had not “seen any evidence that contradicts that.”
“What we do have ongoing concerns about though are Chinese firms, companies, that may be providing technology that Russia can use to advance its aggression in Ukraine. And we have asked the Chinese government to be very vigilant about that,” Blinken said.
Blinken and Xi Jinping’s meeting comes at a low point in Sino-U.S. relations, with tensions rife over trade, tech and geopolitics, including Beijing’s close relationship with Moscow.
At this latest high-stakes meeting, China’s president stressed the importance of steady relations between China and the U.S.
Read more on the story here: Xi tells Blinken in high-stakes meeting: World needs stable U.S.-China relations
— Holly Ellyatt
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Monday as London prepares to host the Ukraine Recovery Conference this week.
During the call, Sunak “paid tribute to the bravery of the Ukrainian soldiers on the front line of the counteroffensive and said it was clear they were making good progress,” a statement from Downing Street noted.
“Looking ahead to the NATO summit next month, the Prime Minister told President Zelenskyy that he believed NATO members would demonstrate a strong signal of support for Ukraine at the Vilnius meeting,” the statement added.
The conference, which begins Wednesday, is “a unique opportunity to underline the strong public and private sector support for Ukraine, and demonstrate the country’s transformation and ongoing reform,” the leaders agreed, Downing Street said.
The Ukraine Recovery Conference will focus on mobilizing international support for Ukraine’s economic and social stabilization and recovery from the effects of war, organizers say, “including through emergency assistance for immediate needs and financing private sector participation in the reconstruction process.”
— Holly Ellyatt
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the country’s armed forces are making gains in their counteroffensive.
“Our troops are advancing, position by position, step by step, we are moving forward,” he said in his nightly address Sunday.
Zelenskyy’s comments come as Ukraine’s counteroffensive continues into its third week. Unlike several previous counteroffensives that saw Ukraine recapture an impressive amount of territory relatively quickly, this counteroffensive has been different, with Ukraine recapturing just a handful of settlements and progress expected to be limited by deep Russian defenses.
Ukraine met with its international allies last week to discuss Kyiv’s military progress and ongoing needs but Zelenskyy said Sunday that “the main thing is the speed of supply” of weaponry after a series of delays in decision-making over weapons, and their supply to Ukraine.
“Next week, we will have new important communications with our partners, for the sake of our movement, for the sake of weapons, for the sake of our warriors having everything they need,” he said Sunday.
— Holly Ellyatt
Ukraine says it’s recaptured 8 villages during counteroffensive; China looks to reassure U.S. over Russia
