Missile attack on Dnipro, Ukrainian civilians' return from Russian captivity - Friday brief

Russia's war against Ukraine: Latest

• Russia may have lost entire brigade in Vovchansk - Forbes
• Ukrainian soldiers destroy Russian Su-25 aircraft with portable air defense
• UK Intelligence outlines impact of successful Ukrainian strikes on Russian airbases
• Russia starts using multiple drones for reconnaissance - Ukrainian Air Force
• Russia relentlessly attacks Chasiv Yar, situation critical

Russian army strikes nine-story building in Dnipro: Casualties reported

Last night, on June 28, Russian troops launched a missile attack on a high-rise building in Dnipro.

The occupiers destroyed four floors of the building. The attack killed one person and injured 12 others. Among them are a 7-month-old baby and a pregnant woman. Two people have not been contacted.

At the same time, according to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Ihor Klymenko, there may be more victims.

In addition, part of the house damaged by the missile strike collapsed.

Ukraine returns 10 of its civilians from Russian captivity: Deputy Chairman of Mejlis among them

The deputy head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people (the only higher authorized representative and executive body of the Crimean Tatar people), Nariman Dzhelal, who was captured in 2021, has been successfully released from Russian captivity, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced.

Here is the list of those who have been successfully returned:

1. Nariman Dzhelal - Deputy Head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, captured in Crimea in 2021.
2. Olena Pekh and Valerii Matyushenko - civilians held captive since 2017-2018.
3. Bohdan Heleta and Ivan Levytskyi - Ukrainian Greek-Catholic priests captured in Berdyansk for resisting Russian forces.
4. Five other civilians were captured in Belarus and deprived of their freedom: Mykola Shvets, Natalia Zakharenko, Pavlo Kupriienko, Liudmyla Honcharenko, and Kateryna Briukhanova.

According to Zelenskyy, all of them have been released and are now back home in Ukraine.

According to the Headquarters, these Ukrainians were returned as part of a previous exchange that took place on June 25. This indicates that a total of 100 Ukrainian citizens were successfully returned home as part of the 53rd exchange. Overall, 3,310 Ukrainians have been released from Russian captivity.

International Monetary Fund approves $2.2 billion tranche for Ukraine

Ukraine will soon receive another tranche of $2.2 billion from the International Monetary Fund.

According to the Ministry, the IMF Executive Board has completed the fourth review of the extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility program for Ukraine. This made it possible to allocate about $2.2 billion to Ukraine, which will be used for budget support.

"Ukraine’s performance remains strong under the EFF despite challenging conditions. All quantitative performance criteria for end-March were met, and all structural benchmarks through end-June were implemented on time or with a short delay," the IMF said.

According to the Fund, even though the outlook remains extremely uncertain, the Ukrainian economy continues to be resilient.

Zelenskyy on negotiations with Russia: Ukraine to prepare peace plan by end of year

Besides being strong on the battlefield, Ukraine also needs to develop a clear peace plan. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated during a briefing with his Slovenian counterpart, Nataša Pirc Musar, that the plan should be ready by the end of this year.

As the president noted, after the peace summit, Kyiv is working on three detailed plans concerning energy, food security, and exchange. Plans for these areas will be prepared soon. Specifically, a comprehensive plan will also be developed for other points of Ukraine's peace formula, which will later be presented to partners.

"For us, it is very important to show a plan to end the war that will be supported by the majority of the world. This is a diplomatic path we are working on. Besides this, as I said, not everything depends on us," he added.

Slovenia to allocate millions of euros for humanitarian aid to Ukraine

Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar, in an interview with RTV stated that Slovenia will allocate financial aid to Ukraine for humanitarian needs, amounting to 5 million euros.

The President of Slovenia arrived in Kyiv on a working visit and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. She announced that her country would provide Ukraine with additional funds for humanitarian aid.

Denmark completes training of first group of Ukrainian specialists to service F-16s

Denmark has completed the training of the first 50 Ukrainian specialists to maintain F-16 fighter jets, says Major General Jan Dam, Commander of the Royal Danish Air Force.

Most of the aforementioned specialists have already returned to Ukraine and are waiting to receive the first fighters at air bases. In particular, he added that the next group of 50 Ukrainians will also start training soon.

According to Dam, the first group of Ukrainian pilots is also currently being trained. The latter are learning to fly at night.

In general, pilot training is expected to last six to eight months.