June 27, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Civilians in Lysychansk have been urged to leave immediately, as Russian forces gain ground in the last remaining city Ukraine holds in the eastern Luhansk region.

"Due to the real threat to life and health, we call for an evacuation immediately. The situation in the city is very difficult," Serhiy Hayday, the head of the Luhansk regional military administration, said on Telegram.

He promised civilians they would be taken care of in other Ukrainian cities.

Videos from Lysychansk suggest that some civilians are reluctant to leave their homes, regardless of who controls the city.

There are about 10,000 to 15,000 people still in Lysychansk, with only around 50 people leaving each day, according to Shybiko Valerii, the head of the Ukrainian Lysychansk Military Administration.

Forces from the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), which is fighting alongside the Russian military, said Monday they are developing "a successful offensive in the area of Lysychansk with the fire support of the Russian army."

"The enemy suffered heavy losses in manpower and armored vehicles," it said on its Telegram channel.

"The people's militia continues to liberate territory occupied by Kyiv," the LPR added, claiming that the village of Borivske, within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of Lysychansk, is now under its control.

Officers of the LPR militia claimed they had cut off two evacuation routes for Ukrainian troops from Lysychansk, according to a reporter from the Ria Novosti state-owned news agency.

There has been heavy fighting south-west of Lysychansk around Vovchoyarivka, close to the main highway leading west as Russian forces aim to complete the city's encirclement.

Western leaders gathering at the G7 have decided to try capping the price of Russian oil, officials say.

It's the latest step toward punishing Moscow while attempting to mitigate the economic effects of the war in Ukraine.

How, when and by how much the price of Russian oil will be capped remains to be seen. Officials said the precise mechanism for accomplishing the cap was still being worked out.

Leaders said they will instruct their teams to work toward finding a way to limit the price at which Russia can sell its oil, depriving Moscow of a key revenue source.

As oil prices have skyrocketed, Russia's oil revenues are actually up despite global import bans. Leaders want to use their collective leverage to cut the revenue Russia receives from the countries still purchasing its oil. 

How, exactly, is not clear. An official suggested the G7 nations have leverage through oil transportation networks that could help toward applying the cap.

More sanctions: G7 leaders also plan to announce a lengthy set of new sanctions, including on Russian defense supply chains, Russians responsible for human rights abuses and war crimes, private military companies and new visa restrictions on 500 officials.

New funding: The US will also announce $7.5 billion in new funding for Ukraine, part of a broader commitment from G7 nations to help the country make up its budgetary shortfalls.

Russian forces are arguably having their best spell since the invasion of Ukraine began four months ago.

They have eliminated most Ukrainian defenses in the Luhansk region, consolidated control of a belt of territory in the south, improved their logistics and command structure and blunted the effectiveness of Ukrainian attack drones.

Within the last week, the Russians have been rewarded for their intense – some would say merciless – bombardments of the remaining parts of the Luhansk region held by Ukrainian forces, which have finally given up Severodonetsk and lost territory south of Lysychansk.

The head of the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic, Leonid Pasechnik, predicted last Friday that Russian forces would completely encircle Lysychansk within two or three days. So far they haven’t, but the city is in imminent peril.

The Russian hierarchy also been reorganized, with new commanders for the southern and central forces committed to Ukraine under the overall leadership of Deputy Defense Minister Gennady Zhidko.

Read the full analysis here.

Another official collaborating with the Russian occupation of Kherson has been the target of an assassination attempt.

The Russian state news agency TASS said that a car belonging to Irina Makhneva had been blown up in the town of Kakhovka.

TASS said Makhneva is "in charge of education and culture issues in the new administration."

It said she was not hurt. 

Assassination attempts: On Friday, Dmitry Savluchenko, head of the Kherson military-civilian administration’s family and youth department, was killed in a car blast. There have been several attempts in recent weeks to kill officials in the Russian-backed Kherson administration.

The region has been under the control of Russian forces since the early days of the invasion. 

A Ukrainian official, Serhii Khlan, confirmed the attempted assassination of Makhneva.

Khlan, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian Kherson civil military administration, also said, "The occupiers continue to terrorize the population and put pressure on doctors and educators." 

The director of a school in Nova Kakhovka had been abducted on Sunday, he claimed.

The Russians had opened their own bank and created a "tax office" he said. He also claimed that workers were being pressured to get a Russian passport and accept rubles in payment.

Russian forces continue to shell the city of Lysychansk and settlements to the south and west of the city as they try to cut off a main highway, according to Ukrainian officials.

Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk regional military administration, said on Monday that Lysychansk was being attacked from the south and was heavily damaged.

Villages in the surrounding area were also being shelled, he said. Three settlements to the west and southwest of the city, close to the highway to Bakhmut, were under fire.

Further west: Russian efforts to encircle the troops defending Lysychansk continued with artillery attacks and an attempted ground assault northwards towards Bakhmut, which the Ukrainian military's General Staff said had been repulsed.

Sloviansk: The General Staff said on Monday that heavy shelling persisted in many areas and the Russians had made minor advances north of the city of Sloviansk, a key target in their offensive operation.

It said that in the Sloviansk direction, the Russians were concentrating efforts on taking the village of Dolnya and were advancing toward another village in the area. This rural area near the Siverskyi Donets river has seen constant fighting for well over a month but the Russians have been unable to make a breakthrough towards Sloviansk.

Chernihiv: Elsewhere, cross-border shelling has continued in the Chernihiv region, according to the General Staff, and there has been an airstrike against Slavhorod in Sumy region.

Kharkiv: The Russians have used tanks, artillery and mortars to shell areas north of the city of Kharkiv, but an assault on the ground near the settlement of Dementiivka — 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Kharkiv — failed, the General Staff said.

US President Joe Biden and fellow world leaders, huddled in the Bavarian Alps, will hear Monday from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as they mull over the next phase of his country’s grinding war with Russia.

The conflict has been at the center of the Group of 7 summit.

Leaders have decided on new steps to isolate Russia’s economy, including a ban on new imports of Russian gold, and are pledging support for Zelensky as his country suffers setbacks in the east.

There are other important topics on the agenda, including a new effort to counter China’s infrastructure investments in the developing world that have extended Beijing’s influence across the globe.

But how much longer the Western front can remain united against Russia is the question looming over these talks.

Zelensky, who is also planning to address this week’s NATO summit in Madrid, has pressed the West for accelerated sanctions on Moscow and heavy artillery to beat back the Russian invaders.

Read the full story here.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to virtually address the G7 Summit on Monday as he works to reinforce western support for his country over Russia’s grinding invasion.

Here are the latest headlines in the war on Ukraine:

Allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin to succeed in his invasion of Ukraine would have "absolutely catastrophic" consequences for the world, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned in a CNN interview on Sunday.

Speaking to Jake Tapper on CNN's "State of the Union" hours after Russian missiles hit Kyiv, Johnson urged Americans, Britons and others in the West to maintain resolve in punishing Moscow, despite the effect the war has had on global oil prices.

He earlier promised further financial support for Ukraine — including another $525 million in guarantees for World Bank lending later this year, according to Downing Street.

Johnson also cautioned against fatigue over the war, saying "Now is not the time to give up on Ukraine."

Read the full story here.

The US plans to announce as soon as this week that it has a purchased an advanced medium-to-long range surface-to-air missile defense system for Ukraine, a source familiar with the announcement told CNN. 

US President Joe Biden, who is currently meeting with G7 leaders in Germany for a summit primarily focused on Ukraine, announced earlier this month that the US would provide Kyiv with "more advanced rocket systems and munitions" as its war with Russia grinds on. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to virtually address Biden and other G7 leaders on Monday. 

What's being announced?

In response to requests by Ukrainian forces, other military assistance is also likely to be announced this week, including additional artillery ammunition and counter-battery radars.

Ukrainian officials have asked for the missile defense system, known as a NASAMS, given the weapons can hit targets more than 100 miles away, though the Ukrainian forces will likely need to be trained on the systems, a source said.

Read the full story here.