Russia stepped up its military attacks on Ukraine, the General Staff of the Ukrainian military said in its evening assessment on June 16 as the leaders of Ukraine and its supporters wrapped up a two-day peace conference in Switzerland.
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An estimated 88 combat clashes took place during the day, the Ukrainian General Staff said.
"Throughout the day, the enemy is intensifying its offensive and assault operations, looking for ways to penetrate our defenses and try to drive Ukrainian units out of their positions," the assessment said.
According to the report, the most active area was around the city of Pokrovsk, where the Russian military is attempting to make further advances. Several attacks were ongoing there at the time of the assessment.
"In the Pokrovsk area, the Russian troops are not reducing the pace of their offensive. Since the beginning of the day on this part of the front they have attacked Ukrainian defensive lines 36 times. Twenty-five enemy assaults were unsuccessful, another 11 attacks are ongoing," the Ukrainian military said.
Russian forces twice attached in the Vovchansk area during the day, firing 16 missiles from the Belgorod region in southern Russia.
The Russian military also made 10 attempts to storm Ukrainian positions in the Lyman area and around Kurakhove.
“Three assaults by the invaders were repulsed by the defense forces, and seven more clashes are ongoing," the summary said, adding that two clashes were ongoing in the Kupyansk area.
The General Staff said that since the beginning of the day, Russia lost 54 of its soldiers, one armored fighting vehicle, and a warehouse of ammunition in the Lyman area.
The information could not be independently verified.
Russia intensified its attacks as representatives of nearly 100 countries attended the peace summit in Switzerland. Russia and China were not among them.
Eighty countries and four organizations, including the Council of Europe and the European Commission, joined the the final communique of the meeting.
Switzerland will discuss the results of the meeting with Russia, China, and other countries that did not attend, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignatius Cassis said.
"We have an active embassy in Moscow, and every two weeks we communicate with the minister of foreign affairs, and we also intend to discuss with Russia the results of this conference," Cassis told a news conference.
The Swiss minister said a "detailed discussion" of the results of the conference is planned with those countries that didn’t attend, including China, which refused to participate due to the absence of Russia.
“There are different opinions and ideas about how to continue this path, the path to peace. And these different ideas need to be united in order to find a common way forward," Cassis said.
