Key developments on June 16:

• Russia ramps up its summer season offensive in a number of instructions, Ukraine's army says
• Ukraine receives 1,245 our bodies of fallen troopers and residents, concluding Istanbul repatriation deal
• 'Russians lie about every thing' — Ukraine hits out at Kremlin claims after yet one more drone strike on Kyiv
• Russia to demand Ukraine destroy Western weapons to finish battle, senior Kremlin official says

Russian forces have intensified offensive operations throughout a number of front-line areas, mentioned Victor Tregubov, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Khortytsia group of forces, on June 16.

In keeping with Tregubov, Russian troops have ramped up assaults, significantly within the Novopavlivka and Kharkiv sectors, which is an uncommon improvement for these areas.

Ukraine’s Basic Employees reported that Russian forces launched assaults in 12 instructions, leading to 99 recorded clashes. Ukrainian troopers repelled 17 assaults within the Novopavlivka sector alone, in response to the newest replace.

"This alerts that we’ve the anticipated summer season improve in exercise," Tregubov mentioned.

Talking on nationwide tv, he mentioned that the surge in exercise close to Novopavlivka suggests Russian forces try to push into Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, which neighbors the embattled Donetsk Oblast.

"However they (Russia) have didn’t succeed," the spokesperson added.

In Donetsk Oblast, Russia is attempting to encircle Kostiantynivka, one of many key Ukrainian logistics hub within the area because the begin of the full-scale invasion, by attacking town from three instructions, in response to Tregubov.

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Ukraine receives 1,245 our bodies of fallen troopers and residents, concluding Istanbul repatriation deal

Ukraine has acquired the our bodies of one other 1,245 fallen Ukrainian troopers and residents below agreements reached throughout latest peace negotiations in Istanbul, the Coordination Headquarters for the Therapy of Prisoners of Battle (POWs) introduced on June 16.

The most recent repatriation marks the ultimate stage of the change settlement, bringing the whole variety of Ukrainian our bodies returned below the deal to six,057.

"Every of them undergoes identification. As a result of behind each certainly one of them is a reputation, a life, a household ready for solutions," Protection Minister Rustem Umerov wrote on Fb.

"We aren’t stopping. Forward lies the following stage: we proceed the battle to convey again our prisoners of battle. We convey them again. We keep in mind…"

The operation was coordinated by Ukraine's Safety Service (SBU), the Ombudsman's Workplace, the army, the Inside Ministry, and different state and protection establishments, with help from the Worldwide Committee of the Purple Cross.

Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin and member of the Russian delegation on the Istanbul talks, claimed that Russia acquired the our bodies of 78 deceased servicemen.

Inside Minister Ihor Klymenko mentioned on June 16 that Russia has handed Kyiv the our bodies of its personal troopers blended in with these of Ukrainian troopers throughout latest repatriation of the fallen.

"This might have been accomplished by the Russians on objective to extend the variety of our bodies transferred and to load our (forensic) specialists with work, including to all this cynical data strain. Or it may very well be their traditional negligent angle towards their very own individuals. In any case, we additionally establish these our bodies," Klymenko mentioned.

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'Russians lie about every thing' — Ukraine hits out at Kremlin claims after yet one more drone strike on Kyiv

Ukraine has accused Russia of "mendacity about every thing" after yet one more drone assault on Kyiv injured two individuals in a single day on June 16, saying the strike as soon as once more rubbished Kremlin claims that solely army objects are being focused.

The strike hit Rusanivka Gardens, a non-public neighborhood within the capital’s Dniprovskyi District, making a crater close to civilian houses, and injuring a 20-year-old man and a lady, Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv Metropolis Army Administration, mentioned.

"The Russians lie about every thing. Once they declare to have hit army targets, they’re really concentrating on our houses and our individuals," he wrote on Telegram.

"It is a deliberate tactic of terror."

"Miraculously, important injury and casualties have been averted," Tkachenko mentioned.

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Russia to demand Ukraine destroy Western weapons to finish battle, senior Kremlin official says

Moscow will insist that Ukraine dismantle and destroy all Western-supplied weapons as a part of any ceasefire deal, Russian Deputy Overseas Minister Alexander Grushko mentioned in an interview with the state-run newspaper Izvestia printed June 16.

"All these surpluses should be destroyed. All worldwide algorithms are identified. They should be diminished, disposed of, and assured," Grushko mentioned, with out providing specifics.

The remarks replicate Moscow's rising listing of maximalist calls for introduced in its so-called "peace memorandum" throughout latest negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul on June 2.

The doc requires Ukraine to acknowledge Russia's annexation of Crimea and 4 partially occupied areas — Kherson, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk — and calls for full Ukrainian troop withdrawal and demobilization.

Grushko argued that Western weapons assist threatens not solely Russia but additionally Europe, warning that arms may find yourself on black markets.

"It's loopy how reckless some politicians are, nonetheless flooding the market with weapons," he mentioned.

There isn’t any credible proof that Kyiv has diverted Western weapons or fueled arms trafficking — a story promoted by Russian propaganda to undermine assist for Kyiv.

Unbiased oversight by associate states and establishments has persistently discovered that Ukraine makes use of Western weapons to defend itself in opposition to Russia's full-scale invasion.

Notice from the writer:

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