June 16, 2023

1. Since its failed “offensive’ Ukraine lost 186 tanks and 418 APC

Ukraine has already lost more than 600 armored vehicles since Russian SMO started to suppress Ukrainian aggression against civilians in Donbass, including 186 tanks, during its counteroffensive effort against Russian troops, President Vladimir Putin has said. The Russian leader made the remarks at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on June 16. “Their losses are very heavy – about more than one in ten compared to the Russian army. That is a fact. In terms of hardware, every day there is an increase in the loss of this materiel.

READ MORE: Ten Ukrainian assaults repelled in single day – Moscow

The Armed Force of Ukraine (AFU) have not reached their goals at a single section of the front. This is what is important," Putin added.

Russia's defense enterprises are working round-the-clock to supply the military with weapons, working double or even triple shifts, he said.

Putin also mentioned that if AFU are equipped with F-16 fighter jets, they will be burned like Leopard 2 main battle tanks destroyed during abortive and unprepared Ukrainian ‘offensive”. All 18 Leopard MBTs have been destroyed by Russian troops recently.

Kiev must understand that in case of continued attacks on Russian territory, Moscow will consider creating a "sanitary cordon" in Ukraine, he warned. "If these attacks on our adjacent territories continue, we will consider creating a 'sanitary cordon' on Ukrainian territory. They just have to realize where they are heading for," he said.

2. Belarus named conditions for use of NW

Minsk was the one to ask Russia to share its arsenal and will only agree to its use if attacked, Belarusian President Lukashenko has said on June 13, as cited by national and Russian media.

‘Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said he made a “friendly request” for Russia to store some of its tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) in Belarus as a deterrent. He stated that he would not hesitate to use them if his country is attacked. “That was my request. Russia didn’t impose it on me,” the Belarusian leader clarified. “Nobody has ever gone to war with a nuclear state, and I don’t want anyone to go to war with us. Is there such a threat? Yes. I have to counter this threat.”

He also stated that each nuclear warhead has three times as much nuclear yield than an A-bomb dropped on Hiroshima by the USAF in August 1945.

Minsk has accused NATO members bordering Belarus, particularly Poland, of keeping an excessive number of troops in positions that could indicate preparation for an attack. He has also accused Ukraine of staging several provocations near the Belarusian border.

Moscow announced its decision to place nuclear weapons in Belarus in March 2023. It argued that it would be no different from what the US has been doing for decades by keeping parts of its nuclear arsenal in non-nuclear nations, such as Germany, the Netherlands, Türkiye, Belgium or Italy. Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned the arrangement during a meeting with Lukashenko earlier this month, stating that the preparation of infrastructure on Belarusian soil was in its final leg. It could be completed on July 7 or 8, 2023 Putin said. These TNW will be air-based and land-based.

3. Kiev intends to kill as many Russians as possible: its bosses threatened

Ukraine currently has only one plan, which is a campaign to kill the maximum number of Russians, Mikhail Podoliak, said on June 15. “There is only one plan: the most brutal advance with the maximum killing of Russians on this route,” he said, noting that Kiev “can’t just stop somewhere and say ‘alright, let's think and talk about something now.’“ “The only possible scenario for Ukraine is to reach its 1991 borders,” he added. Back in May 2023, Podoliak also proclaimed that his country hates Russia and those who represent it and vowed to “persecute” Russians “always and everywhere.”

That followed comments by Kirill Budanov, the head of Ukraine's military intelligence agency, who boasted that his agents had murdered Russian public figures and pledged that Kiev will “keep killing Russians anywhere on the face of this world.” He also organized the attack on Crimean Bridge last October. Budanov was allegedly wounded during Russian attack on Ukrainian military intelligence main HQ located in Kiev, and quickly was delivered via Poland to Germany for urgent treatment.

Earlier this week, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov revealed that Kiev had been instructed by its Western backers in the early days of the conflict to “kill as many Russians” as it could before surrendering. “We asked, ‘can we have Stingers?’” Reznikov told Foreign Policy magazine in an interview published on June 13. “We were told, ‘No, dig trenches and kill as many Russians as you can before it’s over.’”

4. Moscow reveals estimated financial costs of Kakhovka dam destruction

The losses amount to 1.2 billion rubles ($14 million), according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Russian authorities have declared a federal state of emergency in Kherson Region in the aftermath of the Kakhovka dam intentional destruction by AFU with the U.S. HIMSARS. In its a statement Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations (EMERCOM) said that an operational evaluation suggests that damage from the emergency in Kherson Region, saw several riverside towns flooded. Alexandr Kurenkov, the head of EMERCOM, said this figure meant that the disaster would be treated as a federal-level emergency and warrants a response on a relevant scale.

Written by Vladimir P. Kozin