What the war looked like on 14 June 2023

What did the security picture in southern Ukraine look like on 14 June 2023? The reports from the preceding days point to a region under pressure from several directions at once: strikes on cities, a flooding disaster, and the first signs of Western armour on the battlefield.

Flooding on the Dnipro

The Kakhovka Dam was breached in the early hours of 6 June 2023, causing extensive flooding along the lower Dnipro in Kherson Oblast. The dam had been under the control of the Russian military, which seized it in the early days of the invasion. Many experts concluded that Russian forces had likely blown up a segment of it to hinder the planned Ukrainian counter-offensive. Ukraine specifically blamed Russia's 205th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, while Russian authorities denied the accusations.

On 10 June 2023, Canada's Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, announced a $10 million humanitarian aid package to help victims of the dam collapse.

Strikes on Odesa

Also on 10 June 2023, Russian forces attacked Odesa with drones and missiles. Three civilians were killed and 27 others were injured.

Arms and armour

The same Canadian announcement included a $500 million military aid package for Ukraine, among it 288 AIM-7 missiles.

On 8 June 2023, the Russian Defence Ministry said it had destroyed several Ukrainian army tanks in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, including a Leopard 2 main battle tank. It described this as the first Western-made tank destroyed by Russian forces in the war. A video released by the ministry showed a column of tanks being hit in a field, with one of them confirmed to be a Leopard 2.

Taken together, the reports from 8 to 10 June 2023 show a front in the south where humanitarian crisis, air attacks and foreign military support were all unfolding at the same moment, in the run-up to 14 June 2023.