Daily Flyer - June 27, 2023
A voice of Ukraine to the West
Ukraine might get "The Iron Dome"
In the address of the US senators, it is said that one battery of the "Iron Dome" complex is capable of providing protection on an area of about 150 square meters. km The US is not asking Israel to hand over these complexes but will only allow the States to hand over their batteries.
Former Ukroboronprom official charged with state funds embezzlement
The Khmelnytskyi police charged the ex-director of an enterprise within Ukraine's defense concern Ukroboronprom with embezzling almost Hr 500,000 ($13,500) of budget funds.
According to the pre-trial investigation, the suspect misused the state-owned enterprise's funds during his tenure in 2014.
If convicted, the ex-official may face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property. A preventive measure for the suspect is currently being decided.
This is not the first case when an employee of Ukroboronprom, Ukraine's main defense company, has been accused of wrongdoing.
On Feb. 1, Ukraine's Security Service detained a 48-year-old employee of Ukroboronprom, suspected of collecting data on Ukraine's military for Russia.
The suspect had allegedly collected data on Ukrainian weapons used by the Armed Forces in the east and south and prepared "reports" on the aftermath of Russian missile strikes on Kyiv.
In January, six executives of Ukroboronprom were charged with embezzlement and abuse of power. According to the investigation, they concluded contracts to purchase low-quality equipment worth about $146,000 for the military in March 2022.
Russian forces struck Kremenchuk on the anniversary of the Amstor shopping mall attack
Russian troops targeted Kremenchuk on June 27 with the same missiles that hit local shopping mall Amstor exactly a year ago, according to Poltava Oblast Governor Dmytro Lunin. The Kremenchuk shopping mall attack killed more than 20 people and injured 59.
Today’s missile strike hit a dacha (country house) neighborhood in the Kremenchuk district, said Lunin. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties.
On June 27, 2022, a Russian Soviet-era Kh-22 missile carrying over 900 kilograms of explosives struck the Amstor shopping mall in Kremenchuk.
At the moment of the attack, more than 1,000 people were inside the building, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Russian Defense Ministry claimed that its military struck warehouses with Western-provided weaponry next to the shopping mall and alleged detonation of ammunition purportedly caused a fire in the mall. Moscow also falsely claimed that the mall “was not working” then.
Zelensky said the strike was deliberate, calling it “one of the most daring terrorist acts in European history.” Foreign leaders also condemned Russia’s shopping mall attack, emphasizing that indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians constitute a war crime.
Kremenchuk, home to 219,000 people, lies several hundred kilometers from the frontlines and some 330 kilometers south of Kyiv.
Russian occupation authorities have demolished over 300 buildings in Mariupol since May 2022
More than 300 houses have been completely demolished after the occupation of Mariupol, exiled advisor to city mayor Petro Andriushchenko reported on June 26. He added that Russian occupation authorities have recently destroyed two high-rises at 77 and 79 Metallurhiv Ave.
"Now, instead of apartments and life, there are ruins," Andriushchenko wrote on his official Telegram channel.
Throughout Russia's siege of Ukraine's southern city of Mariupol, over 2,000 residential buildings were heavily damaged, with around half of them now destroyed, Andriushchenko reported earlier.
In a city once home to more than 400,000 people, the UN estimates that up to 90% of its multi-story residential buildings have been damaged or destroyed.
Google Map imagery published on April 26 shows before-and-after comparisons of Mariupol, revealing the extent of devastation brought to the once-peaceful city.
Russian forces heavily bombed Mariupol from the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. The city has been occupied by Russian forces since May 2022.