While satellite images show the Ukrainian Target Bank expanding its target bank to isolate Russian supply networks and target 30 vital energy sites from the Baltic waters in the north to the Black Sea in the south, Western diplomatic activity is escalating at the G7 summit in France to tighten the noose on Moscow's economy, taking advantage of the expected breakthrough in the Strait of Hormuz following the US-Iranian understandings.
On the other hand, the features of a new international crisis are emerging with the revelation of declassified documents about Washington's funding of biological laboratories containing dangerous pathogens in Ukraine, putting previous US statements in direct confrontation with emerging intelligence confessions.
Ukraine's drones target Russian energy arteries
The first half of June witnessed a significant escalation in Ukrainian attacks targeting Russian depth with suicide drones.
Satellite imagery and analysis by the Al Jazeera Open Source Unit revealed that about 30 strategic locations were hit directly in a wide geographical area stretching from the waters of the Gulf of Finland in the north to the shores of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov in the south, narrowing the "safe" spaces behind the front lines.
According to Ukrainian field sources, the first type of strikes focused on paralyzing land bridges and logistical crossings that the Russian army relies on to transport fuel, ammunition and personnel to Crimea and the axes of the southern front, where the main land bridge of "Chongar" (which crosses Lake Siavash and is the main artery connecting with Crimea) was subjected to intense pressure and concentrated strikes on the nights of 6, 7, 8 and 9, and then retargeted on June 15.
Satellite imagery showed severe damage to its concrete surface, and Ukrainian military sources attributed the attacks to the Phalanx Multi-Domain Operations Center in cooperation with the 1st Separate Assault Regiment named Dmytro Kutsyubaylo and the 475th Regiment ("CODE 9.2"), confirming the use of FP-2 drones that temporarily decommissioned the bridge and restricted the movement of trucks to alternative floating crossings.
Fires at power facilities and Azov Sea ports
The second pattern of Ukrainian attacks extended to oil and export facilities deep inside Russia at distances of more than 1,100 kilometers from the border, as satellites on June 3 documented a huge cloud of black smoke rising over the piers and tanks of the St. Petersburg oil terminal on the Gulf of Finland (Baltic Sea), which manages a passing capacity of 12.5 million tons per year, and carried a symbolic dimension to coincide with the launch of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. The attacks also targeted a depot in Rybinsk in Yaroslavl Oblast, the Temp depot, the Balkimo pumping station in Tatarstan, the Vladimir-Vladimir Voorvo and Lubkovo gas stations, a fuel tank in Melerovo in Rostov Oblast, and the Kuibyshev station in Samara.
In the Krasnodar Krai region and ports around the Sea of Azov, satellite imagery on June 6 showed extensive damage to the Ust-Labinsk oil depot and damage to the Ilsky refinery pipelines, the Avibsky oil terminal, the strategic Tamanivtigas terminal and the Lukoil depot in the town of Stanitsa Poltavsky.
Navy, the drones hit military installations in Sevastopol's Strelitska Bay, and the ports of Timryuk and Caucasus, in addition to shelling supply facilities and cargo ships in the port of Mariupol, killing 5 Azerbaijani sailors and wounding 3 others, according to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. In the face of this expansion, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak acknowledged that the energy sector has been affected and oil production has declined, justifying this as "unplanned maintenance work that several refineries are currently undergoing."
Ukraine's biological laboratory file sparks controversy
A report published on the website of the Russian Strategic Culture Fund has highlighted recently declassified documents confirming US funding for 120 biological laboratories in 30 countries, including 40 laboratories that have been operating for years across Ukraine.
The test tubes at these facilities contain high-risk pathogens such as anthrax, tularemia, tuberculosis, swine fever, plague, Marburg fever and Ebola.
Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych formed a committee in 2013 that suspended the work of these laboratories due to their danger to national security, but resumed their activity immediately after the events of February 2014 in Kyiv. The admissions put Washington in an awkward position given the previous categorical denials issued in 2022 by White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki and communications coordinator John Kirby, who called the Russian accusations "ridiculous lies."
The shocking assertion came from Tulsi Gabbard, the outgoing director of U.S. intelligence, who acknowledged the existence of dangerous pathogens stored in U.S.-funded Ukrainian labs whose information had been deliberately concealed.
This was supported by an earlier statement by presidential candidate Robert Kennedy in 2023 in which he confirmed the development of biological weapons in Ukraine and the collection of "Russian and Chinese DNA" to target people ethnically, amid Russian accusations that the goal was to spread a deadly virus similar to COVID-19 to annihilate the populations of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
Washington's admission is a first step by the Trump administration to take responsibility for years of political manipulation, calling on it to cut off weapons and money from Kyiv to establish peace.
G7 summit: Increase in Ukrainian armament
On the Western diplomatic front, the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries adopted a joint statement at the end of their meeting in the French city of Evian-les-Bains in which they affirmed "unwavering support for Ukraine to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity", praising the new military momentum achieved by Kyiv on the front lines. The leaders pledged to increase the delivery of weapons, anti-aircraft systems, and long-range missile capabilities, and to expand the granting of joint military production licenses to secure the US Patriot systems that Kyiv needs, with a comprehensive financial commitment from Europe is €200 billion (plus a €90 billion loan flowing this month), and a US contribution of €115 billion.
On the economic front, the leaders announced their readiness to tighten the noose on Russia's war economy by strengthening sanctions on the oil and gas sectors and targeting sales of the "shadow fleet", coinciding with the 21st package of sanctions recently approved by the European Union.
For his part, US President Donald Trump stated that Washington will soon be in a position to reimpose tough sanctions on Russian energy exports (which have been temporarily suspended to protect the global market), noting that the framework of the recent agreement between the United States and Iran will safely reopen ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, easing the global energy crisis and pulling the oil pressure card from Moscow, while pledging to support Ukraine's energy sector to face the coming winter.
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