A WEEK IN BRIEF
A Week in Brief: Volume IX
A Week in Brief: Sunday, 12 June to Saturday, 18 June 2022
Saturday, 18 June 2022…
Donetsk People’s Republic authorities accuse Ukrainian forces of shelling the Zasyadko coal mine and trapping 77 miners. No substantive evidence has been provided.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, Ukrainian delegate Davyd Arakhamia says that Ukraine is planning to resume ceasefire negotiations with Russia in August.
Friday, 17 June 2022…
Ukrainian authorities say that its forces hit the Russian tugboat Vasiliy Bekh transporting soldiers, weapons, and ammunition to Snake Island with Harpoon missiles.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, stating something that shouldn’t really surprise anyone, has revealed Russia would only use nuclear weapons if the sovereignty of the country is threatened.
Thursday, 16 June 2022…
The Netherlands, on Thursday, 16 June 2022, expelled Sergey Cherkasov. Cherkasov, a Russian military intelligence official, was apparently set to start an internship at The Hague’s International Criminal Court under mysterious circumstances. The Russian military intelligence, according to Dutch intelligence authorities, was using a fake Brazilian identity. The spy, because of his fake identity, will face a criminal trial in Brazil.
Wednesday, 15 June 2022…
The United States announces a new $1 billion military aid package to Ukraine that includes 18 howitzers, artillery rockets, night vision devices, and for the first time, two Harpoon anti-ship missile units.
Tuesday, 14 June 2022…
The European Union, on Tuesday, 14 June 2022, removed Sberbank from the SWIFT international payments system. Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, is an Agricultural Bank and the Credit Bank of Moscow.
The removal, hinted at for the past few weeks, is part of another round of economic sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
“The European Union is disconnecting Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, as well as Rosselkhozbank and Moscow Credit Bank, from the SWIFT interbank system since June 14 as part of the 6th package of sanctions against Russia because of the war in Ukraine,” tweeted Iuliia Mendel.
Monday, 13 June 2022…
Russian forces, having destroyed the last remaining bridge leading to Sievierodonetsk, has made it “impossible to get in humanitarian supplies”.
“It is now fully impossible unfortunately to drive into the city, to deliver something to the city. Evacuation is impossible,” Governor Serhiy Gaidai said. Read More…
Sunday, 12 June 2022…
Alexander Govor, three months after McDonald’s suspended its operations in Russia and sold its 850 restaurants to the restaurateur, rebranded the locations and reopened them as Vkusno & Tochka. All 850 locations, now operating as Vkusno & Tochka, are open for business.
“McDonald’s restaurants reopened in Moscow under a new name ‘Vkusno & Tochka’,” tweeted Reuters, “and Russian ownership a month after the U.S. burger giant said it was pulling out over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
