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Ukraine Invasion Day 1,210: strikes by missiles and drones. At G7, Krasnov lies about UKR [1]
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Date: 2025-06-16
Russian forces conducted a series of drone strikes against Ukraine on the night of June 15 to 16.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian forces launched 138 Shahed and decoy drones from the directions of Kursk, Oryol, and Bryansk cities and Shatalovo, Smolensk Oblast.[83] The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Ukrainian forces shot down 84 drones and that 41 were "lost" or suppressed by Ukrainian electronic warfare (EW) systems. Ukrainian officials stated that Russian forces struck Zaporizhia, Cherkasy and Kyiv oblasts.[84] www.understandingwar.org/... Ukrainian Air Force reported that Ukrainian forces shot down 84 drones and that 41 were "lost" or suppressed by Ukrainian electronic warfare (EW) systems. according to current estimates, Moscow can now produce about 2,700 Shahed drones per month, as well as some 2,500 decoy drones “These numbers are allowing Russia to more frequently launch over 300 or even 400 drones in just one night,” After more than a year of speculation and unofficial commentary, two of Ukraine’s top officials have now publicly confirmed what many analysts long suspected: the United States has asked Ukraine not to strike Russian oil and energy infrastructure. The first acknowledgment came from President Volodymyr Zelensky following a large-scale Russian missile, drone, and ballistic attack on Ukraine’s energy facilities. Speaking after the attack on Kremenchuk, Zelensky said, “It happened right after Putin’s conversation with Trump. After the Americans asked us not to strike Russian energy facilities.” He described the timing of the Russian assault as “a spit in the face” to global efforts aimed at ending the war. The statement marked the first direct confirmation from Ukraine’s head of state that the country’s Western allies, particularly the United States, have placed restrictions on targeting Russia’s energy sector—despite the fact that Russia has made Ukrainian energy infrastructure a central focus of its wartime campaign. Hours later, Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko reinforced the message in a statement of her own. “Some allies have asked us not to strike Russian energy infrastructure—even as Russia wages all-out war on ours: targeting power plants, oil and gas infrastructure, hydroelectric dams—every form of energy we rely upon.” The comments provide the clearest public evidence to date that Kyiv has been operating under external pressure to avoid actions that could destabilize global energy markets, even as its own grid, heating infrastructure, and fuel reserves face repeated attacks. kyivinsider.com/...
Trade and US aid to Ukraine: Trump made other false claims in his Monday remarks at the G7. Speaking to reporters alongside UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump erroneously described his trade deal with the UK as a deal with the European Union, which the UK does not belong to. Trump then twice repeated his long-debunked assertion that former President Joe Biden had given “$350 billion” in aid to Ukraine. The figure is not close to correct. According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German think tank that closely tracks international aid to Ukraine, the US had committed about $138 billion in military, financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine from late January 2022, just prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion, through April 2025. (That period includes more than three months of Trump’s current presidency.) It’s possible to arrive at different totals using different counting methodologies, but there is, regardless, no basis for Trump’s “$350 billion” figure. The US government inspector general overseeing the response to the invasion of Ukraine says on its website that the US had appropriated about $185 billion for the response through March 2025, including about $90 billion actually disbursed – and that includes money spent in the US or sent to countries other than Ukraine. edition.cnn.com/...
- In the Pokrovsk sector, the occupants have attempted to advance to the positions of Ukrainian troops 42 times since the beginning of the day. The enemy attacked in the areas of Popov Yar, Myroliubivka, Shevchenko Pervoe, Promin, Udachne, Novosergiivka, Horikhove, Kotlyarivka, Novopavlivka, Andriivka and Oleksiivka. Three firefights are still ongoing.
According to preliminary data, 221 occupants were neutralized in this sector today, 144 of them were irrevocably eliminated. Ukrainian troops also destroyed an armored combat vehicle, six vehicles, a dune buggy, five motorcycles, an ATV, two UAVs, two satellite communication terminals, a personnel shelter and a UAV control antenna; an occupant's vehicle and a motorcycle were also damaged.
- In the Novopavlivka sector, the enemy tried 22 times to break through the defenses of our troops in the areas of Novosilka, Vilne Pole, Bahatyr, Burlatske and towards Zaporizhzhia and Shevchenko. Two firefights are still ongoing. Enemy aircraft attacked Maliivka and Berezove.
- In the Huliaypillia sector, our defenders repelled two offensives by enemy units near Malynivka.
- In the Orikhivsk sector, the aggressor attacked our troops' positions once near Nesterianka. Novoselivka came under an air strike.
- In the Prydniprovskyi sector, Ukrainian troops repelled an attack by the occupants in the area of Antonivskyi Bridge.
- In other sectors, the situation remained unchanged.
**Today, it is worth mentioning the soldiers of the 79th Border Guard Detachment of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine and the 31st Separate Mechanized Brigade, who are effectively destroying the enemy, causing significant losses in manpower and equipment.**
Glory to the Ukrainian defenders!
Glory to Ukraine! x x YouTube Video
Key Takeaways: Ukraine and Russia conducted an exchange that included the bodies of soldiers killed in action (KIA) on June 16 in accordance with agreements reached during talks in Istanbul on June 2.
Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service (SZRU) reported that the Kremlin is spreading narratives about the POW and KIA exchanges in order to sow panic in Ukraine and discredit Ukraine in the international community – in line with ISW’s recent assessments.
Russia’s consumption of its Soviet-era tank stores appears to be slowing, possibly due to Russia's increasing transition to using motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) on the battlefield.
Russia continues to set conditions to pose a long-term strategic threat to the United States and its Western allies even after the end to Russia's war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Borova and in Zaporizhia Oblast, and Russian forces recently advanced near Siversk, Toretsk, and Novopavlivka.
Russia’s consumption of its Soviet-era tank stores appears to be slowing, possibly due to Russia's increasing transition to using motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) on the battlefield. A social media source tracking equipment at Russian military depots via satellite imagery shared an updated assessment of smaller Russian tank and armored vehicle storage facilities on June 15 and assessed that Russia still has 46 percent of its pre-war tank reserves, 42 percent of its pre-war infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) reserves, and 48 percent of its pre-war armored personnel carrier (APC) reserves as of a recent unspecified date.[11] The source stated that imagery of eight Russian military depots appears to show that Russia has emptied most of the depots of their vehicle reserves and assessed that Russia will likely deplete its remaining tank and armored vehicle reserves by the end of 2025.[12] The social media source assessed in late December 2024 that Russia had 47 percent of its pre-war tank reserves, 52 percent of its pre-war IFV reserves, and 45 percent of its pre-war APC reserves remaining in storage.[13] (The source noted on June 15 that they updated their previous assessments of Russia’s pre-war reserves and found that Russia had 241 more tanks, 174 more IFVs, and 687 more APCs before the full-scale invasion than the source previously assessed, which likely accounts for the increase in Russian APCs stores from 45 percent in the December 2024 assessment to 48 percent in June 2024.[14]) The social media source also stated that satellite imagery analysis indicates a ”dramatic” increase in ”almost all” types of equipment deployed to a Russian military base near Petrozavodsk, Republic of Karelia, located roughly 373 kilometers from the international border with Finland.[15] Russia may have additional armored vehicles and tanks in covered storage that are not visible in satellite imagery. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on April 27 that a senior Finnish military official stated that Russia is sending "almost none" of its newly produced tanks to the frontline in Ukraine but is stockpiling the."[16] The social media source's data suggests that Russia's consumption of Soviet-era tank stocks has slowed in recent months, an observation consistent with ISW’s study of recent battlefield combat footage which shows that Russian forces are increasingly using motorcycles and buggies in place of armored vehicles along the frontline in Ukraine. Russian forces have been increasingly using unarmored civilian vehicles, mainly motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), throughout the theater in Ukraine since late Fall 2024.[17] ISW previously noted that Russia's increased use of motorcycles is an adaptation in response to pervasive Ukrainian drone strikes against Russian armored vehicles and the unsustainable armored vehicle losses that Russian forces suffered in late 2023 and 2024.[18] Ukrainian drone operations have significantly complicated how to tactically employ tanks, as large and slow-moving armored vehicles and tanks are vulnerable to drones. Russian forces appear to be leveraging faster-moving motorcycles and buggies to advance through the contested "gray zones" that Ukrainian and Russian drone operators have created along the frontline. Russia's adaption has succeeded in granting Russian forces marginal tactical gains at the expense of significant infantry losses.[19] ISW previously assessed that Russian armored vehicle losses are unsustainable and are undermining Russia’s ability to sustain a protracted high-intensity war, but it remains unclear if Russia’s increased reliance on motorcycles and buggies will be sufficient to offset these losses in the medium- to long-term.[20] www.understandingwar.org/... www.understandingwar.org/... www.understandingwar.org/... www.understandingwar.org/... www.understandingwar.org/... www.understandingwar.org/...
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