A tram depot destroyed by a Russian missile strike on Kharkiv city in northeast Ukraine, June 18, 2022 (Vitalii Hnidyi/Reuters)

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Saturday’s Coverage: Ukrainians Signal Battle to Reclaim South

Source: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1324 GMT:

The death toll from the Russian strike on the apartment block in Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region (see below) has been raised to at least 15.

Up to 24 people are trapped, three of whom are talking with rescuers.

A resident said of the Russian attacks::

We ran to the basement, there were three hits, the first somewhere in the kitchen.

The second, I do not even remember, there was lightning. We ran towards the second entrance and then straight into the basement. We sat there all night until this morning.

UPDATE 1045 GMT:

A Russia strike on an apartment block has killed at least 10 people, with five wounded and fears of 34 trapped, in Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said Russian Uragan rockets struck the five-story building on Saturday night.

Chasiv Yar is about 20 km (12 miles) southeast of the city Kramatorsk.

UPDATE 0700 GMT:

Teachers in Russian-occupied areas of southern Ukraine say occupation authorities are threatening parents and educators to ensure cooperation with schools using a Russian curriculum.

The sources claim parents are being told that they could lose their rights if they do not acquire Russian passports and send their children to the designated schools.

Serhiy Shyshkovskiy, a history teacher in the Kherson region, said, “Locals don’t want to send their children to these schools, but they are scared. People are afraid of losing their children and don’t know how to respond to these demands.”

A teacher in Enerhodar in the northwest of the Zaporizhzhia region, echoed, “There has definitely been pressure on parents and children regarding complying with [Russian] laws for the coming academic year.”

However, the teacher added, the Russians are facing difficulties with staff refusing to work.

The same teacher said the occupation authorities are recruiting teachers and other personnel for the schools they are setting up.

They are looking for personnel, but I’d like to note the lack of cooperation from our teachers. We can be proud of this.

They currently have a shortage of teachers. I have been told they have been calling teachers and even visiting their homes.

UPDATE 0651 GMT:

Granting a sanctions exemption, Canada is permitting a Russian turbine to be sent back to Germany for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.

Russia has used the maintenance as a pretext to reduce gas through the pipeline, The turbine is undergoing maintenance work at a Canadian site of the German manufacturer Siemens, with a 10-day session scheduled to begin on Monday.

Canadian Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said the “time-limited and revocable permit” will support “Europe’s ability to access reliable and affordable energy as they continue to transition away from Russian oil and gas”.

German officials had pressed the Canadians for the sanctions exemption. Ukrainian counterparts asked Ottawa to transfer the turbine to Kyiv, saying “we will pass it on to the Russian Federation — maybe — after victory”.

Balancing the move, Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said Ottawa intends to sanction Russian industrial manufacturing, including “land and pipeline transport and the manufacturing of metals and of transport, computer, electronic and electrical equipment, as well as machinery”.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Russia is signalling its intention to annex occupied areas of the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine.

The Kremlin seized and annexed Crimea in 2014. Its recognition of the “independence” of proxy areas in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine was declared days before Vladimir Putin’s invasion. Russian officials are taking administrative, poliical, and social steps for the annexation of territory in the south occupied during the invasion.

Now, having failed to overrun Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv, officials in occupied parts of the region — which is on the Russian border — have announced that Kharkiv is an “inalienable part of Russian land”. The occupation government displayed a new flag, with the Russian imperial double-headed eagle and symbols from the 18th-century Kharkiv coat of arms.

On Wednesday, the occupation set up a civilian administration. Two days later, it introduced martial law.

The Russians are continuing to shell Kharkiv city. Ukrainian MP Kira Rudik announced casualties on Saturday.

However, the invaders are facing Ukrainian counter-attacks which have some areas near the city, pushing back the Russians towards the border.

The Russians are also facing difficulty holding occupied land in the south in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. On Friday, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk asked all residents to “evacuate by all possible means”. She said there will be a “harsh battle” as the Ukrainian army will be “de-occupying these territories”.