President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his address that Sievierodonetsk by the end of that day, the 105th day of the full-scale war already, is still the epicenter of the stand-off in Donbas.
"This is a very cruel fight, a very hard one. Perhaps, one of the hardest ones during this whole war. I'm grateful to every man and woman who is fighting in this direction. In many ways, this is where the fate of our Donbas is being decided," – the President of Ukraine reported.
The European Parliament recommended providing Ukraine with EU candidate status.
Also, the EU Parliament recommended that the European Union "with no delay provides weapons according to needs expressed by the Ukrainian authorities". Using this tool the EU has already allocated 2bn euros to buy weapons for Ukraine.
More on the European Parliament recommendations – in our news story.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that the Ukrainian Forces inflicted considerable losses on the russian occupiers during the enemy assault near Berestove in the Zaporizhzhya region. The invaders lost a lot of manpower and equipment.
The fighters of the Joint Forces Task Force repulsed 7 enemy attacks during the day.
According to the Luhansk Regional Military Administration Serhii Haidai, russian occupiers control most of Sievierodonetsk. The fighting is taking place not in the industrial zone, although it's being shelled but on the city streets.
The Ministry of Defence spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk reported that the enemy deployed an "Iskander-M" division near the administrative border with the Kherson region and dozens of tanks 35 kilometers from Zaporizhzhya. The occupiers drove another battalion tactical group to the Kharkiv region.
Over the day, Ukrainian defenders eliminated 140 occupiers and 13 armored vehicles.
Overall combat losses russian forces as of 8 June are 31500 (+140) personnel, the General Staff reported. The enemy suffered the most losses in the Slovyansk direction. More on the other combat losses – in our news story.
During the day, the enemy didn't stop shelling the Sumy region. According to the Operational Command North, in the morning, the russian forces shelled the border area of the Sumy region from the rf's territory using artillery.
As a result of the shelling, six private houses, a household building, a car, and a power line were damaged.
At around noon, russian forces shelled a village of the Shostka district near the border, firing from the russian border checkpoint Troiebortne.
They destroyed a border crossing point's building that hadn't been used recently.
The shelling went on in the afternoon. "At around 3 p.m., 6 arrivals. Mortar fire at the territory of the Seredyno-Budska community. Also, machine-gun fire was heard. A civil household building came under fire," – the Sumy Regional Military Administration head Dmytro Zhyvytskyy wrote on his Telegram.
After 4 p.m. the enemy aircraft carried out two air strikes at the Krasnopillia community, a person was injured and a car was destroyed.
Around 1 p.m. on 8 June, the russian army once more shelled a border area of the Chernihiv area.
The border guards documented four explosions, according to preliminary information, caused by artillery.
Norway transferred to Ukraine 22 self-propelled artillery pieces M109 with the equipment and spare parts as well as artillery ammunition.
"The war developments in Ukraine show that now we also need to donate heavier equipment and weapons systems," – the country's Defence Minister Bjørn Arild Gram.
Since the war started, the Security Service of Ukraine has discovered more than 160 reconnaissance and sabotage groups and reported suspicion to thousands of people of crimes against national security.
The SSU also reported on the recent operations to neutralize the occupiers’ sabotage groups.
Надзвичайний і повноважний посол України в Туреччині Василь Боднар stated that Ukraine hasn't seen russia's readiness to unblock seaports so far. Russians must stop "playing games" but retreat and unblock the seaports. After that, Ukraine may discuss demining, ships leaving the ports, and safe grain export.
The President of Poland Andrzej Duda on Wednesday started a tour around the South Europe countries to persuade them to support granting Ukraine the EU candidacy status.
Besides Ukraine's prospects to join the EU, Duda is going to discuss the issue of food exports from Ukraine.
The Office of the President of Ukraine's head advisor Mykhailo Podolyak mentioned that russia's wish to cancel Lithuania's independence is proof that the aggressor state will not stop in Ukraine.
Podolyak emphasized that "the path toward peace lies through providing Ukraine with heavy weapons".
It has become known that the russian State Duma received a law draft on russia canceling Lithuania's independence claiming it "violated" the USSR legislation.
The Deputy Minister of Healthcare Oleksiy Yaremenko stated that the situation in the temporarily occupied territories is deteriorating due to the absence of the humanitarian corridors to deliver medicine and medical equipment.
The enemy does not allow the opening of humanitarian corridors.
The "Diia" application received 195 thousand applications regarding property damaged because of the war, the Director of e-Services Development Directorate at the Ministry of Digital Transformation Mstyslav Banik reported.
At least 540 thousand locals lost their homes or suffered damage because of military aggression. In the future, "Diia" will be a tool for local authorities to communicate with citizens regarding property compensation and reconstruction.
The Eighth Appeal Administrative Court banned the activities of the "Opposition Bloc" political party.
According to the court's order, the property of the party and all its branches will be handed over to the state. However, the decision can still be appealed to the High Court.
On the State Bureau of Investigation's initiative criminal proceedings were initiated against the member of Ukraine's parliament Oleksiy Kovalyov regarding collaborationism.
The same day, Kovalyov posted on Facebook about negotiations with the occupiers on selling grains and industrial crops harvested in 2021. More details are in our news story.
The most complete picture of the day is on our website.
Let's hold on and bring the Victory closer!
