ISW: Russia’s deployment of forces to Ukraine’s south likely enabling Ukrainian counterattacks

In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, Anna Belokur examines the surprising return of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich to the center of efforts to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Ukraine's military reportedly struck an oil terminal in occupied Crimea overnight on June 21, Telegram media channels reported, citing resident accounts.

"Fuel will only be dispensed to state services that ensure the vital activities and security of the Republic of Crimea," Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian-appointed governor of occupied Crimea, said in a video address on the morning of June 21.

Russia launched 105 long-range kamikaze Shahed-type drones and four ballistic missiles overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said.

Russian forces launched a missile attack on the city of Poltava on the evening of June 20, injuring 11 people, including five children, officials reported.

The number includes 1,290 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

Russian forces launched nine glide bombs on the regional capital, according to preliminary information, Governor Ivan Fedorov said. One victim's body was recovered from the rubble of a destroyed home.

According to the outlets, the date of death is known in 209,300 cases, accounting for 92% of confirmed casualties.

"Tonight and in the coming hours, we must pay particularly close attention to air raid alerts," Zelensky warned Ukrainians in his evening address on June 20.

Sending the medal back via Nova Post, Ukraine’s leading postal service, President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the Polish people for their support and solidarity during Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Ukrainian forces hit four gas compressors in Russian-occupied Crimea and an oil refinery in the Siberian city of Tyumen on June 20.

The scheme involved men pretending to be musicians going on charity tours abroad, with the former minister signing documents to the State Border Guard permitting them to cross the border.

The decision by Viktor Orban's Fidesz party to block 12 Ukrainian newspapers in September 2025 only sought to deepen divisions between Kyiv and Budapest, said Hungarian Social Relations and Culture Minister Zoltan Tarr.

In the city of Kharkiv, two people were killed and 10 were injured, including a child and a teenager, after Russian drones and glide bombs struck apartment buildings in an overnight attack, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Synehubov wrote on his Telegram channel.