The Ukraine war has been raging for 485 days. The Russian army launched an overnight attack on Ukraine. Reportedly, the strike was targeting a military airfield in the Khmelnytsky region. Air-defence systems intercepted a drone over Russia’s Kursk region.

Leaders of India and the US signed a statement in support of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, while the EU is set to allow Hungary to cooperate with a Russian company to maintain the Budapest metro as Bloomberg reports.

Klyuchevskaya Sopka, the highest active volcano in Eurasia located in the Kamchatka region, is now erupting.

Read the biggest news that occurred overnight in Novaya-Europe’s 23 June round-up

Ukraine’s Khmelnytsky region attack

The Russian army launched an attack on Ukraine in the early hours of 23 June, using Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles and Shahed kamikaze drones, the Ukrainian General Staff reported.

Air-raid sirens went live in Ukraine’s central and eastern parts.

The Ukrainian air force reported that 13 missiles and one UAV had been downed. According to the military, the attack was targeting a military airfield in the Khmelnytsky region. The launches were conducted at around midnight from the Caspian Sea by four Tu-95 bomber jets.

Residents of the Khmelnytsky region reported multiple explosions in the region online. The authorities noted that air-defence systems were active.

Drone downed over Russia’s Kursk region

Air-defence systems in Russia’s Kursk region located on the Ukrainian border were activated twice in the night. Governor Roman Starovoyt reported the first case around midnight.

“A drone was intercepted over Kursk by our air-defence systems. Thank you to the military for their work! A big request: if you find the debris, do not touch them and notify the authorities,” he wrote.

Starovoyt reported another case of the air-defence efforts “in the Kursk skies” 90 minutes later.

Locals heard loud explosions in the city. Telegram channels published video footage from Kursk.

India, US leaders sign statement in support of Ukraine’s territorial integrity

US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke out in support of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

In a joint statement, they “underscored the serious and growing impacts of the war on the global economic system, including on food, fuel and energy security, and critical supply chains”. The leaders also “called for greater efforts to mitigate the consequences of the war, especially in the developing world”.

Biden and Modi pledged to continue providing humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine. They called for respect of international law, principles of the UN Charter, territorial integrity, and sovereignty.

“From the very beginning of the events in Ukraine, India has laid emphasis on the resolution of the dispute through dialogue and diplomacy… India is completely ready to help Ukraine’s peace efforts,” Modi told a press conference.

EU to greenlight exception for Hungary to cooperate with Russian company in Budapest metro maintenance

The European Union will allow Hungary to work with Russia’s Metrovagonmash company to maintain the Budapest metro as an exception under the current anti-Russian sanctions in place, Bloomberg reports.

Metrovagonmash services trains that are used on the third line of the Budapest metro. In 2017, the Russian company repaired all trains and cars. Reports emerged earlier this year that a quarter of them had already gone out of order, Bloomberg writes.

In 2015, Metrovagonmash and Budapest authorities struck a deal to repair 222 cars. Their expected term of use is estimated to be 30 years.

Exceptions to the new sanctions package for Hungary include underground cars, trams, safety glass, certain mechanisms, and display panels. The EU has also authorised technical assistance.

Russia’s Klyuchevskaya Sopka volcano erupts

Klyuchevskaya Sopka, the highest active volcano in Eurasia, has begun its eruption in the eastern part of the seismically intense Kamchatka region, the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) reports.

According to KVERT, the eruption has been ongoing since 11:23 PM local time on June 22.

“What was recorded at night was not just a glow, but an apex explosive eruption of the Strombolian type. This eruption is not dangerous for anyone for now: neither people nor aviation,” said KVERT manager Olga Girina.

KLyuchevskaya Sopka last erupted in October 2022, while a lava stream eruption was last recorded between October 2020 and March 2021.