June 22, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The Ukrainian military's General Staff said Russia held up to three battalion tactical groups and airborne units in border areas as potential reinforcements.

It said there had been intense shelling of settlements near Kharkiv, in the northeast. On Tuesday, 15 people were reported killed by artillery strikes in the area.

In the Donetsk region: The General Staff said Russian forces were using multiple launch rocket systems "in order to create conditions for the resumption of the offensive on the city of Sloviansk."

Bakhmut: It also said that Ukrainian units had prevented the Russians advancing towards Bakhmut from the south. 

The front lines: Elsewhere along active front lines that extend for more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), the Ukrainians reported shelling of settlements in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

The head of the Donetsk regional military adminstration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said six children had been wounded and one person killed in shelling of Chasiv Yar. He said cluster munitions had landed at a beach on a lake in the town. 

Ukrainian officials have acknowledged the loss of several communities near the city of Lysychansk, the only conurbation in Luhansk region they still control.

Hayday said it was "difficult" in the area south of Lysychansk. "The enemy entered Toshkivka, which allowed it to increase fire on other settlements."

Russian forces were entrenched in several villages immediately to the south of Lysychansk, including Ustynivka, Pidlisne and Myrna Dolyna, and were advancing at Bila Hora.

His comments suggest that Ukrainian defenses around Lysychansk have begun to succumb to much greater Russian firepower, after weeks of bombardment.

Hayday said "street fights continue in Severodonetsk," where Ukrainian defenders still occupy a part of the Azot chemical plant.

But he said the Russians were trying to surround Ukrainian units in some localities (such as Borivske) near Lysychansk and Severodonetsk. Military analysts have said the risk of a Russian advance from the south is that some Ukrainian troops could be cut off.

Some context: Throughout its campaign, Russia has used the tactic of intense bombardment before trying to take territory.

The Ukrainian Army said it has launched "aimed strikes" on Zmiinyi Island, also known as Snake Island, where Russian forces and infrastructure are stationed.

Here are the latest headlines on Russia's war in Ukraine.

Large burn marks and a damaged tower have appeared on Snake Island after the Ukrainian Army said they conducted "aimed strikes," a new satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows.

The burn marks are visible in three parts of the island in the satellite image, taken on June 21. One is near a tower structure on the southern side of the island. The other two are closer to the main building complex.

In the past two months, Ukrainian forces have repeatedly hit Russian forces and infrastructure stationed on the island. They've also knocked out a Russian helicopter and a number of naval craft located offshore.

Snake Island, or Zmiinyi Island, was the scene of one of the opening salvos of the war in Ukraine and is of strategic importance to both sides. During the opening days of the war, it was the site of a demand from a Russian warship to Ukrainian defenders to surrender. They replied, infamously, with "Russian warship, go f**k yourself” — a phrase that become a motif of Ukrainian resistance.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a “seventh package of European Union sanctions is needed as soon as possible,” in his nightly address on Tuesday. 

It came as the 27 EU leaders are meeting this week to make a final decision on formally giving Ukraine candidate status.

Zelensky also spoke of Russia’s “anti-European policy,” and Moscow's response to Lithuania blocking sanctioned goods from Europe into Russia's European exclave of Kaliningrad.

Where is Kaliningrad? The exclave is Russia's westernmost territory, and the only part of the country surrounded by EU states. Lithuania stands between it and Belarus, a Russian ally, while Poland borders it to the south.

CNN reported on Monday that Lithuanian Railways, the state-owned railway company, had notified Russia that transit trains with goods subject to EU sanctions would no longer be allowed to pass through.

Russia's reaction: Moscow has responded furiously to Lithuania’s move.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday called the action unprecedented and illegal.

The Charge d'Affaires of Lithuania in Moscow was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry and told that if freight transit to the Kaliningrad region was not fully restored, Russia reserved the right to take action to protect its national interests.

But the EU, whose sanctions Lithuania is enforcing by blocking transit, has backed its member state.

Read more on the situation here.

Luxembourg has committed 15% of the nation’s annual defense budget to support Ukraine’s war efforts, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

According to NATO figures, Luxembourg spent $462 million on defense in 2021.

Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel visited Kyiv on Tuesday to show "Luxembourg’s solidarity with the people of Ukraine."

Bettel visited Bucha, Borodyanka and Irpin, all places that have been heavily impacted by the war. 

The Prime Minister called Borodyanka “a symbol of senseless cruelty and violence.”

US President Joe Biden says he isn't afraid of the Western alliance fracturing as Russia's war in Ukraine grinds ahead.

But he did warn of a protracted conflict and said he would discuss the way forward with allies at next week's NATO summit in Madrid

Biden departs Saturday for a G7 summit in Germany followed by the NATO gathering in Spain.

The Military Administration of Kharkiv said 15 people were killed and 16 others injured in Russian attacks across the region.

In a post on Telegram, Oleh Syniehubov said the dead included six in Chuhuiv, five in Kharkiv, three in Zolovhiv and an 8-year-old girl from Derhachi.

Russian forces shelling Ukraine’s second largest city of Kharkiv targeted residential and industrial zones across the city, according to Serhii Bolvinov, head of the Investigative Department of National Police in Kharkiv.

Russia will "absolutely not" go back to the pre-war status quo, a senior State Department official told reporters Tuesday.

This official did not speak explicitly to the future of diplomatic relations with Russia, noting they were already strained prior to the war starting in February. They said US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan speaks less frequently with the Russian Foreign Ministry than before, but there is still contact on the issues of the US Embassy's "staffing woes" and the detained Americans.

The official also explained how challenging it is to work with Moscow on the issue of detained Americans, because the Russians put convoluted processes in place that prevent any quick contact with the detainees.

Sullivan has not "engaged on Ukraine policy with the Russian government since mid-February,” the official explained.

The official spoke of the commercial impact the war has had in Russia, noting there were more than 1,000 US companies that did business in Russia last year and "it's a fraction of that now."