Ukraine-Russia war – latest: Kyiv says it has liberated first village in counter-offensive action

Ukraine’s military has claimed to have recaptured their first village since launching counter-offensive actions against Russia.

Ukrainian soldiers were filmed hoisting their blue and yellow flag at a damaged building in what the army said was the village of Blahodatne, in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region in the southeast of the country.

The unverified video was published by the 68th Separate Hunting Brigade of the Armed Forces.

It comes after president Volodymyr Zelensky said that counter-offensive and defensive actions are under way against Russian forces in an apparent confirmation of the long-awaited pushback of Putin’s troops.

The Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has insisted that it is repelling Ukrainian attacks in the Donetsk region.

It said in a statement that Ukrainian attempts at offensive operations on the southern Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia axes of the frontline over the past 24 hours have been “unsuccesful”.

Key Points

• Ukraine claims first counteroffensive success, three villages liberated

• Ukraine ‘penetrates’ first line of Russian defences in some areas

• Russian military attempt to take direct control over Wagner

• Russia and Ukraine swap nearly 200 prisoners

• Ukraine says Russia blew up Kakhovka dam to prevent offensive in south

Ukraine claims first successes of counteroffensive

04:01 , Arpan Rai

Ukraine claimed the first successes of its counteroffensive as it recaptured three villages from Russian forces in the southeast of the country on Sunday.

Unverified footage showed Kyiv’s forces hoisting the Ukrainian flag at a building in the village of Blahodatne in Donetsk region and posing with their unit’s flag in the adjacent village of Neskuchne.

The troops also reportedly retook Makarivka, the next village to the south, and advanced between 300m and 1,500m in two directions on the southern front, deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said in a statement.

“No positions were lost on the directions where our forces are on the defensive,” Ms Maliar added.

Read the full story here:

Ukraine claims first successes of counteroffensive as it recaptures three villages

Mapped: Ukraine claims four villages captured in first gains of counteroffensive

09:26 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukraine claims to have recaptured four villages from Russia in what would be the first territorial gains of its long-awaited counteroffensive.

About a week after Ukrainian forces began advancing at various points along the frontline, Kyiv said it liberated three villages on Sunday in the southeast of the country. Unverified footage showed Kyiv’s forces hoisting the Ukrainian flag at a building in the village of Blahodatne in Donetsk region and posing with their unit’s flag in the adjacent village of Neskuchne.

Then on Monday a photo shared by Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar showed soldiers hoisting the country’s yellow and blue flag at what she claimed was the village of Storozheve in Donetsk, as she thanked the 35th Separate Brigades of Marines for liberating the settlement.

My colleagues Joe Middleton and Arpan Rai report:

Mapped: Ukraine claims four villages captured in first gains of counteroffensive

Chechen force signs contract with Russia's defence ministry that Wagner's Prigozhin refused

09:17 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Monday it has signed a contract with the Akhmat group of Chechen special forces, a day after Russia’s powerful mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin refused to do so.

The signing followed an order that all “volunteer units” should sign contracts by 1 July, bringing them under the control of defence minister Sergei Shoigu as Moscow tries to assert its control over private armies fighting on its behalf in Ukraine.

In return, volunteer fighters would get the same benefits and protections as regular troops, including support for them and their families if they are wounded or killed.

Prigozhin, who has waged a running feud with the defence ministry and accused it of failing to provide adequate ammunition supplies to his Wagner mercenaries in Ukraine, said on Sunday he would refuse to sign any such contract.

He said that Shoigu “cannot properly manage military formations”.

The contract the defence ministry signed on Monday was with the Akhmat paramilitary group that has often been called the private army of Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of Russia’s Chechnya region.

Unlike Prigozhin, Kadyrov has recently refrained from criticising the defence ministry. Members of the two groups have openly sparred, with one of Kadyrov’s close allies on Thursday casting Prigozhin as a blogger who yells all the time about problems.

Akhmat commander Apty Alaudinov, who took part in the signing of the contract, said the unit has “prepared and sent tens of thousands of volunteers” to Ukraine in the past 15 months.

Moscow said on Friday that the Akhmat forces were waging an offensive near the town of Maryinka, in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk.

“I think this is a very good thing,” Alaudinov was quoted as saying by the defence ministry’s website after signing the deal.

Russia’s deputy chief of the general staff, Colonel General Alexei Kim, said after signing the agreement with the Chechens that he hoped other volunteer units would follow suit.

Ukraine says nuclear plant's cooling ponds stable despite depleted reservoir

09:05 , Eleanor Noyce

The water level at the ponds used to cool the reactors at Ukraine‘s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant remain stable and sufficient despite the falling water level of the Kakhovka reservoir nearby, Ukraine‘s environment minister said on Monday.

The water level at the reservoir has fallen dramatically since the destruction of the Kakhovka dam last week.

New Zealand public radio apologises for publishing ‘pro-Kremlin garbage’ after wire stories altered

09:00 , Eleanor Noyce

The head of New Zealand’s public radio station apologised Monday for publishing “pro-Kremlin garbage” on its website after more than a dozen wire stories on the Ukraine war were found to have been altered.

Most of the stories, which date back more than a year, were written by the Reuters news agency and were changed at Radio New Zealand to include Russian propaganda. A digital journalist from RNZ has been placed on leave pending the result of an employment investigation.

Paul Thompson, the chief executive of taxpayer-funded RNZ, said it had found issues in 16 stories and was republishing them on its website with corrections and editor’s notes. He said he was commissioning an external review of the organization’s editing processes.

“It is so disappointing. I’m gutted. It’s painful. It’s shocking,” Thompson said on RNZ’s Nine to Noon show. “We have to get to the bottom of how it happened.”

Nick Perry reports:

New Zealand public radio apologizes for publishing 'pro-Kremlin garbage' after wire stories altered

The global nuclear arsenal grew last year, SIPRI says

08:45 , Eleanor Noyce

The number of operational nuclear weapons rose slightly in 2022 as countries implemented long-term force modernisation and expansion plans, a leading conflict think-tank said on Monday, warning that the world was entering a dangerous phase.

The estimated number of warheads in military stockpiles for potential use rose by 86 to 9,576, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a statement, continuing a trend seen in the last couple of years.

“We are drifting into one of the most dangerous periods in human history,” SIPRO Directo Dan Smith, SIPRI Director.

“It is imperative that the world’s governments find ways to cooperate in order to calm geopolitical tensions, slow arms races and deal with the worsening consequences of environmental breakdown and rising world hunger.”

The nine nuclear-armed states continued to modernize their nuclear arsenals and several deployed new nuclear-armed or nuclear-capable weapon systems in 2022, SIPRI said.

Russia and the United States together possess almost 90% of all nuclear weapons but the think tank said the sizes of their respective arsenals appeared to have remained relatively stable in 2022.

Overall, the number of nuclear warheads in the world continued to decline, primarily due to the USA and Russia dismantling retired warheads.

Major air defence exercise begins in Germany

08:27 , Eleanor Noyce

An air deployment exercise billed as the biggest in Nato’s history is getting under way in Germany.

The Air Defender 23 drill, set to run until June 23, has long been planned and serves to showcase the alliance’s capabilities amid high tensions with Russia.

Some 10,000 participants and 250 aircraft from 25 nations will respond to a simulated attack on a Nato member.

The United States alone is sending 2,000 US Air National Guard personnel and about 100 aircraft.

German air force chief Lt Gen Ingo Gerhartz told ZDF television: “The exercise is a signal - a signal above all to us, a signal to us, the Nato countries, but also to our population that we are in a position to react very quickly ... that we would be able to defend the alliance in case of attack.”

Lt Gen Gerhartz said he proposed the exercise in 2018, reasoning that Russia’s annexation of Crimea underlined the need to be able to defend Nato.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has jolted Nato into preparing in earnest for the possibility of an attack on its territory.

Sweden - which is hoping to join the alliance - and Japan are also taking part in the exercise.

Assessments of the extent to which the exercise will disrupt civilian flights have varied widely.

Ukraine reclaims village in Donetsk, says deputy defence minister

08:12 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar posted on Monday a photo showing soldiers hoisting the Ukrainian flag at what she said was the village of Storozheve in Donetsk, and thanked the 35th Separate Brigade of Marines for liberating it.

Reuters could not verify the report and it was not immediately clear when the village was reclaimed.

On Sunday, Ukraine said its troops had made advances on three villages in Donetsk: Blahodatne, Neskuchne and Makarivka. Storozheve is located between Blahodatne and Neskuchne.

Russia suffers significant losses in Bakhmut, says Ukraine’s general staff

06:56 , Arpan Rai

Ukraine’s top military command has said its forces were engaged in heavy battles across a wide arc of frontline hot spots, and some significant losses have been served to the Russian forces, in a battlefield report this morning.

The country’s armed forces general staff said that some 25 battles had taken place over the past day near the eastern town of Bakhmut, and further south near Avdiivka and Maryinka, all in the Donetsk region, but also near Bilohorivka in the Luhansk region.

This comes a day after Kyiv said it had made the first modest gains in reclaiming territory from Russia as part of its counteroffensive.

“Over the last week in the Bakhmut direction, the Russian invaders suffered significant losses,” the general staff said today.

Over the weekend, prominent Russian military bloggers suggested that while Ukrainian forces took Blahodatne and Neskuchne, fighting for Makarivka was going on.

On Sunday, Ukraine said its troops had made advances on three villages in Donetsk: Blahodatne, Neskuchne and Makarivka.

Even though Kyiv has largely remained silent over the past week about the counteroffensive military assault on the Russian forces, Ukraine’s military has reported success with sizeable pushback in daily battlefield reports.

Putin’s defence minister keeping up ‘positive image’ in face of criticism from fellow Russians, says UK MoD

06:38 , Arpan Rai

Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu is likely acutely aware of the need to maintain a positive image in the face of increasingly unmasked criticism from some fellow Russians, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.

It pointed to the high public profile maintained by the Russian defence minister over the past week, “likely with the aim of presenting himself as in control of strategic issues while Ukraine accelerates offensive operations”.

“Shoigu has provided at least two comments on Russia’s defensive operations, including making almost certainly seriously exaggerated claims about Ukrainian losses. This contrasts with other key periods in the war when he had disappeared from public appearances,” the ministry said.

It added that Shoigu has also “urged Russia’s defence industry to redouble its efforts, and castigated Western Military District officers for not dispatching reserve armoured vehicles to the front quickly enough.”

In pictures: Life in Kherson after key dam explodes in war fighting

06:19 , Arpan Rai

North Korea’s Kim vows to ‘hold’ Putin’s hands for strategic cooperation

04:59 , Arpan Rai

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said he will “hold hands” with Russian president Vladimir Putin as the two allies look to bolster strategic cooperation on their shared goal of building a powerful country, state media KCNA reported today.

Calling for “closer strategic cooperation” with Moscow, Mr Kim said he will be “holding hands firmly with the Russian president, in conformity with the common desire of the peoples of the two countries to fulfil the grand goal of building a powerful country,” according to his message published by the state media.

He made the pledge in a message to Mr Putin marking Russia’s National Day, defending his decision to invade Ukraine and displaying “full support and solidarity.”

“Justice is sure to win and the Russian people will continue to add glory to the history of victory,” Kim said in the message published by KCNA.

UN nuclear watchdog concerned over water levels at Ukraine power plant

04:26 , Arpan Rai

The UN atomic watchdog said it needs wider access around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to check “a significant discrepancy” in water level data at the breached Kakhovka dam used for cooling the plant’s reactors.

The measurements received by the agency from the inlet of the plant showed that the dam’s water levels were stable for about a day over the weekend, the International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi said.

He is expected to visit the nuclear power plant this week.

“However, the height is reportedly continuing to fall elsewhere in the huge reservoir, causing a possible difference of about two metres,” Mr Grossi said in a statement.

“The height of the water level is a key parameter for the continued operability of the water pumps.”

“It is possible that this discrepancy in the measured levels is caused by an isolated body of water separated from the larger body of the reservoir,” he said in the statement. “But we will only be able to know when we gain access to the thermal power plant.”

The water from the reservoir is used to cool the facility’s six reactors and spent fuel storage, the IAEA said.

The top official said that the thermal power plant “plays a key role for the safety and security of the nuclear power plant a few kilometres away,” hence the need for access and independent assessment.

03:30 , Holly Bancroft

The Russian military have tried to take direct control over the mercenary force Wagner.

Deputy defence minister Nikolai Pankov said that “volunteer formations” will be asked to sign contracts directly with the ministry of defence. The statement, although it does not directly name the Wagner group, is thought to be aimed at the fighting force.

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Sunday that his forces would boycott the contracts.

“Wagner will not sign any contracts with Shoigu. Shoigu cannot properly manage military formation,” Prigozhin said.

The defence ministry insisted the move was designed to “increase the effectiveness” of Russian units fighting in Ukraine.

Ukrainian schoolboy to buy home for his mother after selling Minecraft server

02:32 , Holly Bancroft

For most teenagers Minecraft remains just a hobby, but one Ukrainian schoolboy’s love for the game has meant he can now afford to buy his homeless mother a house.

Lomond School pupil Maksym Gavrylenko has made a “substantial” sum after selling the server he ran from his bedroom, which allows gamers from all over the world to connect to and play together on, with friends.

The 17-year-old boarding school pupil said: “I am very proud that I was able to turn my passion into a profitable business and I plan on treating my mother.

“As a result of the war, she was forced to flee her home, leaving her homeless, so to buy her a property will make all the hours spent on this project worthwhile.”

Read more here:

Ukrainian schoolboy to buy home for his mother after selling Minecraft server

Ukraine says it recaptured a village; Russia insists it is repelling attacks

01:30 , Holly Bancroft

ICYMI: Ukraine’s military on Sunday reported recapturing a village in the southeast of the country amid Russian claims of repelling multiple attacks in the area, the latest indication that a highly anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive might be underway even as officials in Kyiv stop short of publicly acknowledging it.

The 68th Separate Hunting Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces posted a video on Facebook showing soldiers installing a Ukrainian flag on a damaged building in what the post said was the village of Blahodatne in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region. In a separate social media post, Ukraine’s Ground Forces confirmed that the brigade had retaken Blahodatne.

Read the full story here:

Ukraine says it recaptured a village; Russia insists it is repelling attacks

Musician Travis Leake spoke up about freedom of speech in Russia with Anthony Bourdain in 2014. Now he’s been detained

Monday 12 June 2023 00:45 , Holly Bancroft

The 2014 episode of Parts Unknown set in Moscow and St Petersburg has been called one of the “most prescient” in the series, indicating the authoritarian path the country was on.

In the episode, the late host Anthony Bourdain has dinner with Boris Nemtsov, who briefly served as deputy prime minister under President Boris Yeltsin in the late 1990s. He later became a fierce critic of Mr Yeltsin’s successor, President Vladimir Putin.

During filming in late 2013, Nemtsov told the chef: “Tony, I was born here 54 years ago. This is my country. Russian people are in trouble. Russian court doesn’t work, Russian education declines every year, and I believe that Russia has a chance to be free. Has a chance. It’s difficult but we must do it.”

Read the full story here:

Expat American Travis Leake who appeared on Parts Unknown in 2014 detained in Russia

Pakistan’s prime minister says first cargo of Russian oil has arrived in new deal

Sunday 11 June 2023 23:34 , Holly Bancroft

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday said the first cargo of discounted Russian crude oil arranged under a new deal struck between Islamabad and Moscow had arrived in Karachi.

“Glad to announce that the first Russian discounted crude oil cargo has arrived in Karachi and will begin oil discharge tomorrow,” Sharif tweeted.

“This is the first ever Russian oil cargo to Pakistan and the beginning of a new relationship between Pakistan and Russian Federation,” he added.

A port official said on Sunday evening that the oil was in the process of being unloaded.

Russia and Ukraine swap nearly 200 prisoners

Sunday 11 June 2023 22:32 , Holly Bancroft

Russia and Ukraine has announced the return of nearly 100 soldiers from each side. Russia’s defence ministry said 94 Russians in Ukrainian captivity had been released after negotiations, in a post on the social media platform Telegram.

Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, said 95 Ukrainian service members had been returned, including some wounded. They included members of the national guard and border guards.

Tanks, missiles and keeping Russia guessing: The week Ukraine’s counteroffensive truly began

Sunday 11 June 2023 21:32 , Holly Bancroft

Kyiv is seeking to smash through entrenched Russian lines, but has a tough battle ahead, writes Kim Sengupta.

Read Kim’s full analysis here:

Keeping Russia guessing: The week Ukraine’s counteroffensive began | Kim Sengupta

ICYMI:

Sunday 11 June 2023 20:30 , Holly Bancroft

The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam was a fast-moving disaster that is swiftly evolving into a long-term environmental catastrophe affecting drinking water, food supplies and ecosystems reaching into the Black Sea.

The short-term dangers can be seen from outer space — tens of thousands of parcels of land flooded, and more to come. Experts say the long-term consequences will be generational.

Lori Hinnant,Sam McNeil and Illia Novikov report:

Ukraine's dam collapse is both a fast-moving disaster and a slow-moving ecological catastrophe

ICYMI: Seismic data bolsters case Ukraine dam was blown up

Sunday 11 June 2023 19:30 , Matt Mathers

Seismic data suggests the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine was blown up – with an explosion detected around the time it collapsed.

Ukraine’s security service claims to have intercepted a telephone call proving a Russian “sabotage group” blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric station and dam early on Tuesday in the Kherson region.

Norway’s research foundation Norsar said that data collected from regional seismic stations showed clear signals of an explosion. And US spy satellites detected an explosion at the dam, a US official was quoted as saying by The New York Times.

Dan Peleschuk reports:

Seismic data bolsters case Ukraine dam was blown up

Ukraine’s military says it has liberated first village in counter-offensive

Sunday 11 June 2023 18:23 , Holly Bancroft

Ukraine’s military has claimed to have recaptured a village in the southeast of the country as Russia says troops have repelled multiple attacks.

Ukrainian soldiers hoisted their blue and yellow flag at a damaged building in an unverified video published by the 68th Separate Hunting Brigade of the Armed Forces. The post said the video was filmed in the village of Blahodatne in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region.

Brigade spokesman Myroslav Semeniuk said an assault team captured six Russian troops after entering several buildings where 60 soldiers were holed up.

“The enemy keeps shelling us but this won’t stop us. The next village we plan to reclaim is Urozhayne. After that, (we’ll proceed) further south.”

Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday that it is repelling Ukrainian attacks. It said in a statement that Ukrainian attempts at offensive operations on the southern Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia axes of the frontline over the past 24 hours have been “unsuccessful”.

Ukrainian governor says three people were killed by Russian fire as they were evacuating Kherson

Sunday 11 June 2023 17:30 , Holly Bancroft

Three people were killed on Sunday and 10 were wounded when Russian forces attacked a boat carrying evacuees from the flooded city of Kherson, the regional governor has said.

The area has been stricken by catastrophic flooding after the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam which Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of deliberately blowing up.

“Three civilians died, ten more (people) were wounded including two law enforcement officers,” said Kherson region’s governor, Oleksandr Prokudin.

Mr Prokudin said that a 74-year-old man had used his body to shielf a woman from Russian fire and was hit in the back and died.

Russia claims to have hit Leopard tanks, U.S. Bradley vehicles in Ukrain

Sunday 11 June 2023 16:30 , Matt Mathers

Russia on Sunday said it had destroyed at least seven German-made Leopard tanks and five U.S.-made Bradley vehicles over 48 hours while repelling Ukrainian attacks, though Russian bloggers reported Ukraine had briefly pierced part of the Russian line.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy acknowledged on Saturday that his military was engaged in “counter-offensive and defensive operations”, a day after President Vladimir Putin said Russia had repelled the first attacks of the offensive.

Russia’s defence ministry said it had repelled more than a dozen Ukrainian attacks over the past day in three major directions and had destroyed a column of armoured vehicles of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade in the Zaporizhzhia region.

“During the past day, the armed forces of Ukraine continued unsuccessful attempts of offensive actions in the Donetsk, southern Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia directions,” it said.

Reuters was unable to immediately verify battlefield reports from either side, but was able to verify the location though not the date of a video showing Russian drones striking Ukrainian-manned tanks in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Ukraine ‘retakes village’ in southeast as counteroffensive ramps up

Sunday 11 June 2023 15:23 , Matt Mathers

Kyiv’s troops said on Sunday they had recaptured a village from Russian forces in Ukraine’s southeast, the first liberated settlement they have claimed since launching a counterattack this week.

Soldiers hoisted the Ukrainian flag at a bombed-out building in an unverified video published by Ukraine’s 68th Jaeger Brigade, which identified the settlement as Blahodatne in Donetsk region.

"We’re seeing the first results of the counter-offensive actions, localized results," Valeryi Shershen, spokesperson for Ukraine’s "Tavria" military sector, said on television.

Russia says Ukraine tried to attack Russian ship near major gas pipelines in Black Sea

Sunday 11 June 2023 14:33 , Matt Mathers

Russia said on Sunday that Ukraine had made an unsuccessful attempt to attack a Russian naval ship with six high-speed drone boats as the Russian vessel patrolled major natural gas pipelines in the Black Sea.

The ‘Priazovye’ ship was carrying out what Russia’s defence ministry said was "monitoring of the situation and ensuring security along the routes of the TurkStream and Blue Stream gas pipelines in the southeastern part of the Black Sea."

Ukraine attacked in the early hours of Sunday about 300 km south-east of Sevastopol, the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea fleet on the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula, the defence ministry said.

At the time of the attack, a U.S. RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned surveillance aircraft was in the central area of the Black Sea, the defence ministry said.

"The Black Sea Fleet ship ‘Priazovye’ continues to carry out its assigned tasks," the defence ministry said.

Russia and Turkey formally launched TurkStream with capacity of 31.5 billion cubic metres per year in January 2020. The pipeline, which allows Moscow to bypass Ukraine as a transit route to Europe, carries Russian natural gas to southern Europe through the Black Sea and Turkey.

The Blue Stream pipeline delivers Russian gas to Turkey.

ICYMI: UK will provide extra £16 million to flood-hit areas of Ukraine

Sunday 11 June 2023 13:30 , Matt Mathers

The UK will provide an extra £16 million of humanitarian aid to Ukraine after a dam collapsed in the south of the country.

Flooding caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam near Kherson has directly affected 32,000 people.

Ukraine has accused Russia of blowing up the dam.

Gwyn Wright reports:

UK will provide extra £16 million to flood-hit areas of Ukraine

ICYMI: Zelensky says Ukrainian counter-offensive actions are under way as Trudeau visits Kyiv

Sunday 11 June 2023 13:04 , Matt Mathers

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said that counter-offensive actions are underway against Russian forces in an apparent confirmation of the long-awaited pushback of Putin’s troops.

The Ukrainian president also had words for Vladimir Putin after his Russian opposite number claimed the long-expected counter-offensive was already failing.

William Mata reports:

Zelensky says counter-offensive actions are under way as Trudeau visits Kyiv

Prigozhin says Wagner will not sign any contract with Russian defence minister

Sunday 11 June 2023 12:26 , Matt Mathers

Russia’s most powerful mercenary said on Sunday that his Wagner fighters would not sign any contract with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu just hours after the defence ministry sought to bring volunteer detachments under its sway.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner group, has repeatedly attacked President Vladimir Putin’s top military brass for what he casts as treachery for failing to fight the war in Ukraine properly.

Neither Shoigu nor Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov have commented in public on Prigozhin’s insults and criticism.

But the defence ministry on Saturday said Shoigu had ordered all “volunteer detachments” to sign contracts with his ministry by the end of the month, a step the ministry said would increase the effectiveness of the Russian army.

Though the defence ministry did not mention Wagner in its public statement, the Russian media reported that it was an attempt by Shoigu to bring the mercenaries to heel.

“Wagner will not sign any contracts with Shoigu,” Prigozhin said in response to a request for comment on the Shoigu order.

Ukraine says Russia blew up Kakhovka dam to prevent offensive in south

Sunday 11 June 2023 11:48 , Matt Mathers

The Khakhovka dam was blown up by Russian forces to prevent Ukrainian troops from advancing in the southern Kherson region, deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said on Sunday.

Ukraine has accused Russian forces of blowing up the dam from inside its associated hydroelectric power station. The site has been under Russian occupation since the early weeks of Russia’s invasion in February last year.

Moscow has blamed the destruction of the dam on Ukraine. Each side has accused the other of shelling civilians as rescue efforts are carried out.

"The explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station was apparently carried out with the intention of preventing the Ukrainian Defence Forces from launching an offensive in the Kherson sector," Maliar said on the Telegram messaging app.

She said the action, which unleashed a vast flood which inundated towns and villages, trapped residents and swept away entire houses, was also aimed at helping allow the deployment of Russian reserves to the Zaporizhzhia and Bakhmut areas.

German shepherd injured in Ukraine gets new start with Hungarian police

Sunday 11 June 2023 10:56 , Matt Mathers

After a rocket attack in eastern Ukraine, half of Rambo’s face was mangled and bloody. Shrapnel had ravaged the right side of his head, and it was uncertain if he would survive.

The 3-year-old German shepherd, who had accompanied Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines of the war, received emergency surgery that saved his life. Now, Rambo is training with the Budapest police department in neighboring Hungary and serving as a reminder that dogs — and people — with disabilities can do great things.

Justin Spike reports:

German shepherd injured in Ukraine gets new start with Hungarian police

Ukraine says Russia blew up Kakhovka dam to prevent offensive in south

Sunday 11 June 2023 10:08 , Matt Mathers

The Khakhovka dam was blown up by Russian forces to prevent Ukrainian troops from advancing in the southern Kherson region, deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said on Sunday.

Ukraine has accused Russian forces of blowing up the dam from inside its associated hydroelectric power station. The site has been under Russian occupation since the early weeks of Russia’s invasion in February last year.

Moscow has blamed the destruction of the dam on Ukraine. Each side has accused the other of shelling civilians as rescue efforts are carried out.

"The explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station was apparently carried out with the intention of preventing the Ukrainian Defence Forces from launching an offensive in the Kherson sector," Maliar said on the Telegram messaging app.

Ukraine's dam collapse is both a fast-moving disaster and a slow-moving ecological catastrophe

Sunday 11 June 2023 08:22 , Matt Mathers

The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam was a fast-moving disaster that is swiftly evolving into a long-term environmental catastrophe affecting drinking water, food supplies and ecosystems reaching into the Black Sea.

The short-term dangers can be seen from outer space — tens of thousands of parcels of land flooded, and more to come. Experts say the long-term consequences will be generational.

Full report:

Ukraine's dam collapse is both a fast-moving disaster and a slow-moving ecological catastrophe

Zelensky confirms counteroffensive underway

Sunday 11 June 2023 07:51 , Matt Mathers

President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged on Saturday that his military was engaged in "counter-offensive and defensive operations" a day after Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin said Kyiv’s long-vaunted drive to retake territory was well under way.

But the Ukrainian leader disclosed no details, telling reporters to pass on to Putin that his generals were optimistic.

Sporting his trademark khaki fatigues, Zelensky shrugged at a press conference when asked about Putin’s comments on Friday that Kyiv had begun its counter-offensive but made no progress.

"Counter-offensive and defensive actions are taking place in Ukraine, but I will not say in detail what stage they are at," Zelensky said, listing Ukraine’s top military brass by name.

"They (the generals) are all in a positive mood. Pass that on to Putin," he said with a smile, standing alongside visiting Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.

He said Putin’s comments on the counter-offensive were "interesting...It is important that Russia always feels this: That they do not have long left, in my opinion."

Two drones crash in Russia’s Kaluga region - local governor

Sunday 11 June 2023 07:17 , Matt Mathers

Two drones crashed early on Sunday in Russia’s Kaluga region, the governor of the region, Vladislav Shapsha, said on the Telegram messaging app.

One drone crashed near the village of Strelkovka, another in the woods in the Medynsky municipal district.

According to preliminary information, there were no casualties and only minimal damage, Shapsha said on Telegram.

The report could not be independently verified.

The Kaluga region borders the Moscow region to the north.

Watch: Kherson roof ‘washes up’ on beach 100 miles away from dam collapse, says MP

Sunday 11 June 2023 07:00 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Parts of houses from Kherson have washed up more than 100 miles away on a beach in Odesa, a Ukrainian MP has said.

Footage posted by Oleksiy Goncharenko on Friday, 9 June, shows a roof on Dolphin Beach near Malyi Fontan.

Hundreds of Ukrainians have been rescued after waters from the collapsed Nova Kakhovka dam submerged villages, fields and roads in southern Kherson.

Ukraine has accused Russia of blowing up the dam and its hydropower plant, which was under Kremlin control.

Moscow has accused Ukraine of bombarding the dam.

Ukraine: Kherson roof ‘washes up’ on beach 100 miles away after dam collapse, says MP

Tanks, missiles and keeping Russia guessing: The week Ukraine’s counteroffensive truly began

Sunday 11 June 2023 06:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Kyiv is seeking to smash through entrenched Russian lines, but has a tough battle ahead, writes Kim Sengupta:

Keeping Russia guessing: The week Ukraine’s counteroffensive began | Kim Sengupta

ICYMI: UK will provide extra £16 million to flood-hit areas of Ukraine

Sunday 11 June 2023 06:00 , Maroosha Muzaffar

The UK will provide an extra £16m of humanitarian aid to Ukraine after a dam collapsed in the south of the country.

Flooding caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam near Kherson has directly affected 32,000 people.

Ukraine has accused Russia of blowing up the dam.

The money consists of £10 million for the Red Cross Movement, £5 million for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and £1m for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Boats, community water filters, water pumps and waders will be given to the war-torn country and are expected to arrive there next week.

UK will provide extra £16 million to flood-hit areas of Ukraine

Canada to give seized Russian aircraft to Ukraine

Sunday 11 June 2023 05:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday promised to hand over a seized An-124 Russian cargo jet to Ukraine.

“Today, through the legislation we passed, we are confiscating this aircraft that was owned by Russia and we are beginning the process of transferring this asset to Ukraine so that it will never again be used by Russia in support of war,” Mr Trudeau said.

The Russian Airlines aircraft arrived in Toronto on 27 February last year with a shipment of Covid tests from China. The aircraft arrived just a few hours before authorities closed the sky to Russian flights.

Ukraine ‘penetrates’ first line of Russian defences in some areas

Saturday 10 June 2023 10:06 , Matt Mathers

Ukraine has “penetrated” the first line of Russian defences in some areas and is making “good progress” in its counteroffensive, Britain’s Ministry of Defence has said.

Kyiv has conducted “significant operations” over the past 48 hours in southern and eastern parts of the country, it added.

“In some areas, Ukrainian forces have likely made good progress and penetrated the first line of Russian defences,” the MoD said in a statement

“In others, Ukrainian progress has been slower.” The MoD added that Russia’s progress in the war has been “mixed”.