Ukraine-Russia news – live: Kyiv ready to ‘fight Putin’s forces bare-handed’ as counteroffensive advances

Ukraine’s soldiers are ready to fight Vladimir Putin’s “even with our bare hands” if necessary, a senior military official has said, as Kyiv claimed its counteroffensive had already liberated 100 square kilometres of territory from Russia.

Brigadier-General Oleksii Hromov that Kyiv had so far recaptured seven settlements in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia – two of four regions in which Moscow claimed on Thursday that it planned to hold regional elections in September.

With both sides seeking to claim their enemies losses greatly outnumbered their own, Reuters reported that corpses of dead Russian soldiers were strew along roads leading into the recently recaptured Ukrainian village of Storozheve, alongside burnt-out armoured vehicles.

Other remains of the Russian troops fighting in the region were found dumped in the grass and fields nearby where they died, the news agency reported.

“Three days ago we liberated the village of Storozheve. You can see for yourselves how it was achieved. You can see the destroyed hardware. Glory to Ukraine,” a Ukrainian soldier who gave his name as Artem told the news agency.

Key Points

• Ukraine has recaptured 100 sq km in counteroffensive, general claims

• Dead Russian soldiers line road into liberated Ukrainian village

• Russia losing nine times more troops in Bakhmut, says Ukraine

• Ukraine claims advances against Moscow’s troops in ‘extremely fierce’ fighting

• ‘Very difficult’ counteroffensive will inflict ‘high cost’ on Ukraine, warns top US general

Ukrainian troops face ‘desperate resistance’ from Russians

14:50 , Jane Dalton

Advancing Ukrainian troops are facing “desperate resistance” from Russian forces around the eastern city of Bakhmut, a senior Ukrainian commander says.

Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who is in charge of Ukrainian ground forces, said the situation in the east was tense and Russia was bringing its best divisions into the Bakhmut sector with backup from artillery and aircraft.

“We continue to conduct offensive actions in separate directions, occupying dominant heights, and strips of forest with the aim of forcing the enemy gradually out of the outskirts of Bakhmut. Realising this, the enemy units put up desperate resistance,” Syrskyi said on the Telegram messaging app.

The Ukrainian military said last week it had started to push Russian forces back in and around Bakhmut.

Putin thanks UAE leader for Ukraine help, hails growing economic ties

14:45 , Jane Dalton

Russian President Vladimir Putin has thanked the president of the United Arab Emirates for his efforts in freeing prisoners of war in Ukraine and hailed what he said were expanding economic ties between Moscow and Abu Dhabi.

Putin made the comments during talks with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan on the sidelines of Russia‘s annual economic forum in St Petersburg, where UAE companies are prominent unlike many Western counterparts who have stayed away because of the Ukraine conflict.

The UAE, like Saudi Arabia, is a member of the OPEC+ oil alliance that includes Russia and it has maintained good ties with Moscow despite Western pressure to help isolate and punish it for sending tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

The UAE has not joined Western sanctions against Moscow, while Dubai, long popular with Russian tourists, has become a magnet for Russian business people over the past 16 months, with busy direct flights to Moscow and expanding economic ties.

“I know that the Emirates’ economy and the social sphere are developing really actively under your leadership and, in this sense, for us of course the Emirates is a very good and comfortable partner,” Putin told the UAE president.

“Relations between Russia and the Emirates are developing really successfully,” he added.

UAE president tells Russia’s Putin: ‘We wish to strengthen relationship’

14:40 , Jane Dalton

The president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has not joined Western sanctions against Moscow, told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday that his nation wished to strengthen ties.

“I am pleased to be here today with you, your Excellency, and we wish to build on this relationship and we put our trust in you to do so,” Sheikh Mohammed told Putin on the sidelines of a forum in St. Petersburg on Friday.

The Middle East economic powerhouse has sought to maintain what it says is a neutral position on the Ukraine war.

“The UAE continues to support all efforts aimed at reaching a political solution through dialogue & diplomacy - towards global peace & stability,” Sheikh Mohammed tweeted after the meeting.

Putin had earlier thanked the president for his efforts on freeing prisoners of war in Ukraine.

We’ll let foreign firms return, Putin says

14:00 , Jane Dalton

On foreign businesses leaving Russia, Mr Putin told an audience at the economic forum: “If foreign manufacturers want to return again, come to our market, and we hear such conversations more and more often, we are not closing the doors to anyone.

“Of course, no one is afraid of competition, and, as you know, it is the engine of progress and trade. We will also create the necessary conditions for them to work in Russia.

“You know very well that we have never driven anyone from our market or our economy. On the contrary, we suggested that (foreign businesses) weigh all the pros and cons, think carefully about their Russian partners and the possible consequences of such a step.”

“If at first our entrepreneurs were very worried about the departure of Western companies, now they are occupying vacated production facilities and sites in shopping centres.”

We must protect our sovereignty, claims Putin

13:44 , Jane Dalton

On Russian defence spending, President Putin said: “Today, our public finances are generally balanced. There is a small current federal budget deficit... Naturally, additional funds were needed to strengthen defence and security, to purchase weapons.

“We are obliged to do this to protect the sovereignty of our country.”

Putin boasts of growing economy and low unemployment

13:38 , Jane Dalton

On the Russian economy, the president said this year, gross domestic product grew by 3.3% in annual terms, and by the end of the year it “will add more than a percent”.

He added: “We have maintained a responsible, balanced budgetary and monetary policy. Their effective combination made it possible to reach the minimum levels of unemployment, as well as inflation, which is now lower in Russia than in many Western countries, both in the eurozone and in other regions, (and) is close to a historical minimum of 2.9%. Unemployment 3.3%. It has never been so low in our history.”

Russia ‘will help ensure food security'

13:32 , Jane Dalton

Russia will play an active part in ensuring world food security, Vladimir Putin has claimed at an economic forum in St Petersburg..

Trade export reached record highs last year, the Russian president insisted.

“Supplies of our agro-industrial sector have reached new highs,” he told the audience, saying Russia was the world’s biggest wheat exporter.

He pledged to invest 11 billion roubles into expanding hotels, and claimed Russia had increased trade with “responsible” Eurasian partners.

We’ll expand infrastructure, vows Putin

13:25 , Jane Dalton

Russia will expand its infrastructure, including tripling exports, Vladimir Putin has vowed, as he addressed his country’s flagship economic forum in St Petersburg.

The Russian president vaunted ambitious plans to an audience of businesspeople.

Infrastructure was needed for entertainment and an expansion of tourism, he said.

The forum was originally designed to attract foreign direct investment, discuss economic policy and project a global image that Russia was open for business after the end of the Soviet Union. It has often been described as the “Russian Davos”.

Wagner chief’s furious rants risk making an enemy of Putin in feud with Russia’s Defence Ministry

13:20 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Yevgeny Prigozhin's mercenaries have played a key role in the fight for control of the city of Bakhmut – a symbolic battle for both Ukraine and Russia.

But, writes Kim Sengupta, Putin’s indulgence of his tirades may be over as the president backs his defence minister’s call for Wagner fighters to sign contracts with the army.

Wagner chief risks making an enemy of Putin in feud with Russia’s Defence Ministry

Russia accuses Australia of 'Russophobic hysteria’

12:55 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia accused Australia of “Russophobic hysteria” for canceling the lease on the land where Moscow wanted to build its new embassy, which the Australian government judged to be a security risk because it was too close to Parliament House.

Parliament passed emergency legislation blocking the lease Thursday after Russia won a Federal Court appeal last month against local Canberra authorities’ decision to do the same.

The Russian Embassy responded on Friday by posting on social media a Russian news agency TASS report of Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov’s condemnation of Australia’s actions.

“Australia, having canceled the lease agreement for the site for the construction of the new Russian Embassy building, diligently continues to move forward in the main stream of the authors of the Russophobic hysteria and tries to distinguish itself on this path,” Peskov is quoted as saying.

“Another unfriendly display from Australia. We will take this into account and if there are issues on the agenda that require the principle of reciprocity, we will act accordingly,” Preskov said.

The Russian Embassy is quoted as describing the lease termination as “another step by (Prime Minister) Anthony Albanese towards a deliberate and systematic destruction of relations with Moscow.”

The law ending the lease took effect late Thursday when it was rubber-stamped by Governor-General David Hurley, representing Australia’s head of state, King Charles III.

Albanese explained the urgency as a need to prevent the site becoming a “formal diplomatic presence.”

Lawmakers cited threats of espionage and political interference if Russia’s second embassy was built in the Yarralumla diplomatic precinct so close to Parliament House.

Russia currently occupies the former USSR embassy in the suburb of Griffith, farther from Parliament House than the new site.

The Yarralumla site would have provided Russia with a second cluster of diplomatic buildings in the national capital Canberra.

Australian intelligence agencies now rate espionage and foreign interference as the nation’s greatest security challenges.

Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

12:32 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine has been raging for one year now as the conflict continues to record devastating casualties and force the mass displacement of millions of blameless Ukrainians.

Vladimir Putin began the war by claiming Russia’s neighbour needed to be “demilitarised and de-Nazified”, a baseless pretext on which to launch a landgrab against an independent state that happens to have a Jewish president in Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ukraine has fought back courageously against Mr Putin’s warped bid to restore territory lost to Moscow with the collapse of the Soviet Union and has continued to defy the odds by defending itself against Russian onslaughts with the help of Western military aid.

Here’s why Putin really invaded Ukraine

'Impossible' to extend grain deal under current conditions - speaker of Russia's upper house

11:47 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

It is “impossible” to extend the Black Sea grain deal under current circumstances, the speaker of Russia‘s upper house of parliament, Valentina Matviyenko, said on Friday, according to Interfax news agency.

Matiyenko, speaking on the sidelines of an economic forum in St Petersburg, said “the limits of our patience... have been exhausted”, echoing comments made earlier this week by President Vladimir Putin and other senior Russian officials.

However she also said it would be important to avoid exacerbating a food crisis for poorer countries. The Black Sea deal allows for the safe export of grain and other products from Ukraine‘s ports.

How significant is the reported recapture of the first Ukrainian villages from Russia?

10:55 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ukraine has celebrated the first territorial gains of its long-trailed counteroffensive against the invading Russian forces.

Unverified photographs and video appearing on Sunday and on Monday morning showed Ukrainian soldiers holding their country’s blue and yellow flag aloft in triumph in the eastern villages of Storozheve, Blahodatne, Neskuchne and Makarivka in Donetsk, suggesting they had been recaptured from occupying enemy troops.

Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar posted one of the photos from Storozheve and thanked the 35th Separate Brigade of Marines for liberating it.

She has since said that Ukraine has won back three more villages in Zaporizhzhia – Lobkove, Levadne and Novodarivk – and advanced 250 metres near Bakhmut, 200 metres on the Toretsk front in east Ukraine and at least 500 metres closer to the port city of Berdyansk.

How significant is the reported recapture of the first Ukrainian villages?

Putin’s forces accused of abducting 150 Ukrainian children from Luhansk

10:27 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia has been accused of abducting 150 children from the occupied Luhansk region.

The National Resistance Centre of Ukraine said the children were taken from the Luhansk’s Starobilsk district on 8 June to two centres in the Prikuban district of Russia’s Karachay-Cherkess republic.

According to a Ukrainian national database, over 19,000 children have been illegally taken to Russia from occupied territories.

Explosions heard in Kyiv as African delegation visits Ukraine

10:02 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Explosions were heard in central Kyiv on Friday as an African delegation visited Ukraine on a peace mission, Reuters witnesses and the Kyiv mayor reported.

Zambia's President Hakainde Hichilema, Senegal's President Macky Sall, President of the Union of Comoros Azali Assoumani, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Egypt's Prime Minister Mustafa Madbuly visited a site of a mass grave, in the town of Bucha.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported explosions in the central Podil district and warned that more missiles were headed towards the capital. Another Reuters correspondent in Kyiv saw the smoke trail of two missiles in the air.

It was not clear if those missiles were fired by Russia or by Ukrainian air defences.

Kremlin says Putin open to any contacts on 'Ukrainian problem'

09:40 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The Kremlin said on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is still open to any contacts to discuss a resolution of the Ukraine conflict, Russian news agencies reported.

The comments came on the eve of a visit by African leaders to present a new peace initiative to Putin, nearly 16 months after he launched Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine.

“President Putin was and is open to any contacts to discuss possible scenarios for solving the Ukrainian problem,” Interfax quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.

Russia has long said it is open to negotiations, but says Ukraine must recognise the “new realities” on the ground, where its forces control some 18% of Ukrainian territory.

Moscow claimed last autumn to have annexed four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine as well as the Crimea peninsula, which it seized in 2014.

Ukraine says its own peace plan, which envisages the withdrawal of Russian troops from all Ukrainian land, must be the basis for any settlement of the war.

The African delegation was due to hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday before meeting Putin in St Petersburg on Saturday.

Air alert issued in Kyiv as African leaders visit Ukraine on peace mission

09:22 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

An air raid alert was issued in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the Kyiv region on Friday as African leaders visited on a peace mission.

Kyiv authorities issued the alert after the Ukrainian air force said several Russian Kalibr missiles had been launched from the Black Sea and were “heading north” towards Kyiv.

The African delegation was expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv later on Friday.

Kremlin says Putin open to any contacts on Ukraine conflict resolution - RIA

08:50 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The Kremlin on Friday said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is still open to any contacts to discuss the resolution of the Ukraine conflict, Russian state news agency RIA reported.

U.S. lawmakers hope Ukraine can fight Russia with Russian assets

08:30 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Republican and Democratic members of the U.S. Congress introduced legislation on Thursday that would make it easier for Ukraine to fund its fight against Russian invaders by using seized and frozen Russian assets.

The U.S. Congress has approved more than $100 billion in military, humanitarian and economic aid for Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022.

While leaders of both parties insist U.S. support for the Kyiv government remains strong, some members of Congress have questioned how long that level of aid can continue amid calls to clamp down on government spending.

The bill’s sponsors said their intention is to ensure Moscow pays for damage caused by the invasion, not U.S. taxpayers.

“Over a year into Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, more than $300 billion in Russian sovereign assets remain frozen globally,” said Senator Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a sponsor of the bill.

“Given Russia’s brutality and continued war crimes against the Ukrainian people, it is only right that Russian government funds in the United States be seized and repurposed to help Ukraine rebuild its country,” he said.

Among other things, the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity (REPO) for Ukrainians Act introduced in the Senate and House of Representatives would give the U.S. president the authority to confiscate Russian assets frozen in the United States and transfer them to help Ukraine.

It also would bar the release of funds to sanctioned Russian entities until Russia withdraws from Ukraine and agrees to provide compensation for harm caused by the war.

The bill’s other Republican sponsors include Representative Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Representatives Joe Wilson, Thomas Kean and Brian Fitzpatrick.

Democratic sponsors include Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Representative Marcy Kaptur, a co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, as well as Representatives Steve Cohen and Mike Quigley.

South African president arrives in Ukraine on peace mission

08:10 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa arrived in Ukraine on Friday as part of an African peace mission, the South African presidency said on Twitter.

Ramaphosa is expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday and then travel to Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Saturday.

Russian troops to get bonuses for destroying western tanks

07:50 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russian troops who have destroyed German-made Leopard tanks and U.S.-supplied armoured vehicles being used by Ukraine will receive bonus payments, the Defence Ministry said on Friday.

The ministry said this was part of a wider reward scheme under which more than 10,000 Russian servicemen had received individual bonuses since the start of the war nearly 16 months ago.

On the basis of reports from Russian field commanders, “payments are currently being made to servicemen of the Russian Federation Armed Forces who in the course of military operations destroyed Leopard tanks, as well as armoured fighting vehicles made in the USA and other NATO countries”, the ministry said.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Sunday awarded the “Hero of Russia gold star” medal to soldiers who Moscow said had destroyed Leopard tanks and U.S.-made Bradley fighting vehicles being used by Ukraine, which has launched a long-anticipated counteroffensive.

The ministry said that up to May 31, a total of 10,257 servicemen had been rewarded for destroying 16,001 items of Ukrainian and Western military equipment.

An enemy armoured vehicle was worth 50,000 roubles ($596) and a tank 100,000 roubles, it said.

Military pilots and air defence operators received 300,000 roubles for every destroyed Ukrainian plane or helicopter. Hits on Tochka-U and U.S.-supplied HIMARS rocket launch systems were rewarded by the same amount.

Live: Nato defence ministers meet in Brussels for first time since latest Ukrainian counteroffensive

07:36 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Watch live as Nato defence ministers meet in Brussels for the first time since latest Ukrainian counteroffensive got under way.

Live: Nato defence ministers meet in Brussels for first time since latest Ukrainian counteroffensive

First Russian general confirmed killed in Ukraine war this year, says UK MoD

06:55 , Arpan Rai

The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said that Russian general-major Sergei Goryachev was almost certainly killed in a strike on a command post on or around 12 June 2023, in southern Ukraine.

The top Russian general Goryachev was the chief of staff of 35th Combined Arms Army (35 CAA).

“With 35 CAA’s nominated commander, General-Lieutenant Alexandr Sanchik, reported to be filling a gap in a higher HQ, there is a realistic possibility that Goryachev was the acting army commander at the time of his death,” the ministry said today.

Goryachev is the first Russian general confirmed killed in Ukraine since the start of 2023, the MoD said.

“It continues a war record which has been both difficult and controversial for 35th CAA: in March 2022 elements of the army were present during the massacre of civilians in Bucha, and in June 2022 the force was largely wiped out near Izium,” the ministry added.

UN atomic watchdog chief visits Ukraine nuclear plant threatened by war with Russia

06:00 , Joe Middleton

The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog visited Europe’s largest atomic power plant Thursday in southern Ukraine, where a recent dam burst and the start of a counteroffensive in the war by Kyiv’s forces have heightened safety risks.

The visit was announced by Ukraine’s national nuclear energy company, Energoatom, in a Telegram post.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, the International Atomic Energy Agency chief, met Tuesday in Kyiv with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss concerns about the Russia-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

UN atomic watchdog chief visits Ukraine nuclear plant threatened by war with Russia

Russia bringing reserve troops for heavy fighting in east from other directions, says minister

05:42 , Arpan Rai

Russia is bringing in reserves to eastern sector of heavy fighting in the war from other parts of Ukraine, said Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Malyar said.

“As of now, offensive and defensive operations are ongoing in various directions. In the east, the enemy continues to concentrate a significant amount of forces and resources and pulls up reserves from other directions,” she said on Telegram in the early hours today.

She added that the “enemy is trying with all his might to stop the advance of our troops”.

Spain to send four Leopard tanks to Ukraine

05:08 , Arpan Rai

Spain is set to aid Ukraine in the continuing war by giving four Leopard 2A4 tanks, the country’s defence minister Margarita Robles has announced.

The European nation will also send 20 armoured personal carriers.

Ukraine’s ‘D-Day’ offensive is going to need all the help it can get

05:00 , Joe Middleton

Both Kyiv and Moscow have reported fierce fighting at points across the vast frontline, writes Bel Trew. But given Russia has had 12 months to fortify its defensive positions, Ukraine needs support to deliver its ‘decisive offensive’

Ukraine’s ‘D-Day’ offensive is going to need all the help it can get | Bel Trew

Chechen fighters sent to Russian border with Ukraine, leader Kadyrov says

04:10 , Arpan Rai

Chechen fighters have been deployed in Russia’s Belgorod region bordering Ukraine to prevent attacks from “Ukrainian sabotage groups”, Chechnya ruler Ramzan Kadyrov has said.

“Residents of the territories adjacent to the border with Ukraine can rest easy ... Whoever encroaches on our borders will receive a lightning response,” Kadyrov said in a post on Telegram.

Kadyrov, a Putin ally who leads the Russian region of Chechnya, said that fighters from the “Zapad-Akhmat” battalion had been deployed near the border village of Nekhoteevka and a checkpoint in Graivoron district, the site of a cross-border attack in May.

Belgorod region has in the past month reported a series of cross-border incursions from pro-Ukraine Russian partisan groups calling themselves opponents of President Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine denies involvement in the cross-border attacks, casting them as a direct consequence of Russia’s February 2022 invasion.

Support mounts for Stoltenberg to stay on in NATO's top job

04:00 , Joe Middleton

Support mounted on Thursday for NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg to have his mandate at the head of the world’s biggest security organization extended yet again as Denmark’s prime minister ruled herself out of the running.

Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian prime minister, has been NATO’s top civilian official since 2014. His term was due to expire last year but was extended to keep a steady hand at the helm after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts are due to choose a successor when they meet for a summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11-12. No candidate has been proposed publicly, and leaders usually decide by consensus on who should be appointed.

Support mounts for Stoltenberg to stay on in NATO's top job

Visually impaired people in Ukraine struggle to cope during Russian missile attacks

03:00 , Joe Middleton

Sunlight filters through shattered windows, casting a glow upon the dusty furniture and fragments of glass strewn across the floor of the office belonging to Oleksandr Vinkovskyi, director of a Kyiv business where visually impaired people worked.

Vinkovskyi is blind, and can’t see the scale of damage caused by debris from one of many Russian-fired drones on the Ukrainian capital last month. But he knows that 80 people, including 54 with a disability who used to work there manufacturing circuit breakers, sockets and hangers, are now out of work.

Most of the windows have been shattered, the doors broken, equipment ruined, and a gaping hole marks the wall on the third floor. Vinkovskyi has halted the operation for now, deeming it too dangerous for his employees.

Visually impaired people in Ukraine struggle to cope during Russian missile attacks

Mapped: The damage caused by Ukraine’s devastated dam

02:00 , Joe Middleton

War-torn Ukraine is reeling from the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, which saw its reservoir burst causing chaos for miles around.

The catastrophe on Tuesday 6 June forced thousands of residents of nearby towns and villages to evacuate their homes as the floodwater barrelled towards them and left some climbing onto rooftops or into trees to escape the raging torrents.

Hundreds of thousands more have been left without access to clean drinking water in the region as a result of the eco-disaster on the Dnipro River, prompting relief workers to rush fresh supplies to the area as they struggle with the problems of mass resettlement.

Mapped: The damage caused by Ukraine’s devastated dam

NATO debates ways to boost ties with Ukraine as war against Russian invasion drags on

01:00 , Joe Middleton

NATO defense ministers gathered Thursday to discuss future relations with Ukraine as Russia’s war on the country thwarts its hopes of joining the world’s biggest security alliance soon.

The ministers were also due to take part in a separate meeting at NATO headquarters of the U.S.-led Ukraine Contact Group — the forum Ukraine’s supporters routinely join to try to drum up weapons and ammunition to help Kyiv fight the Russian invasion.

The NATO meeting comes just under a month before U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterparts gather for a summit in Lithuania in a symbolic show of support for Ukraine. They are expected to underscore their determination to act should Russian President Vladimir Putin try to expand the war westward.

NATO debates ways to boost ties with Ukraine as war against Russian invasion drags on

UN atomic watchdog chief visits Ukraine nuclear plant threatened by war with Russia

Thursday 15 June 2023 23:59 , Joe Middleton

The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog visited Europe’s largest atomic power plant Thursday in southern Ukraine, where a recent dam burst and the start of a counteroffensive in the war by Kyiv’s forces have heightened safety risks.

The visit was announced by Ukraine’s national nuclear energy company, Energoatom, in a Telegram post.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, the International Atomic Energy Agency chief, met Tuesday in Kyiv with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss concerns about the Russia-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

UN atomic watchdog chief visits Ukraine nuclear plant threatened by war with Russia

How significant is the reported recapture of the first Ukrainian villages from Russia?

Thursday 15 June 2023 23:00 , Joe Middleton

Ukraine has celebrated the first territorial gains of its long-trailed counteroffensive against the invading Russian forces.

Unverified photographs and video appearing on Sunday and on Monday morning showed Ukrainian soldiers holding their country’s blue and yellow flag aloft in triumph in the eastern villages of Storozheve, Blahodatne, Neskuchne and Makarivka in Donetsk, suggesting they had been recaptured from occupying enemy troops.

Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar posted one of the photos from Storozheve and thanked the 35th Separate Brigade of Marines for liberating it.

How significant is the reported recapture of the first Ukrainian villages?

Petty squabbles and strategic differences threaten to undermine Nato’s united front over Ukraine

Thursday 15 June 2023 22:00 , Joe Middleton

Turkey is holding out over giving Sweden membership, while any pathway for Kyiv to join the alliance is still to be mapped out, writes Borzou Daragahi. And the issue of what to do about China – another major player in the Ukraine crisis – is a long-term concern

Analysis: Petty squabbles threaten to undermine Nato’s united front over Ukraine

Ukraine’s ‘D-Day’ offensive is going to need all the help it can get

Thursday 15 June 2023 21:00 , Joe Middleton

Both Kyiv and Moscow have reported fierce fighting at points across the vast frontline, writes Bel Trew. But given Russia has had 12 months to fortify its defensive positions, Ukraine needs support to deliver its ‘decisive offensive’

Ukraine’s ‘D-Day’ offensive is going to need all the help it can get | Bel Trew

Drone footage shows scale of destruction in Odesa after Russian strike

Thursday 15 June 2023 20:12 , Joe Middleton

Long Reads | Petty squabbles and strategic differences threaten to undermine Nato’s united front over Ukraine

Thursday 15 June 2023 18:25 , Andy Gregory

At a meeting of Nato defence ministers in Brussels, the Nato secretary-gneral, Jems Stoltenberg, said that it is a “critical time” for the war in Ukraine as Kyiv begins its counteroffensive. The same could be said of alliance itself as it seeks eastward expansion and plots its global role.

The western military alliance that has been strengthened by the united front put in in suport of Ukraine’s fight against Russian invasion – but now finds itself facing a series of challenges sparked by that war that could fray that unity.

Our international correspondent Borzou Daragahi has more in this long read:

Analysis: Petty squabbles threaten to undermine Nato’s united front over Ukraine

Bel Trew | Ukraine’s ‘D-Day’ offensive is going to need all the help it can get

Thursday 15 June 2023 17:56 , Andy Gregory

Our international correspondent Bel Trew has this analysis as Ukraine’s counteroffensive gets underway:

Ukraine’s much-anticipated counteroffensive has had so much hype, it even has its own cinematic promotional trailer. The operation, full details of which remain a closely guarded secret, has been nicknamed Ukraine’s D-Day (in reference to the Second World War operation that, coincidentally, also took place in the month of June).

The Ukrainians have used the plan to successfully convince Western allies to go outside their comfort zone and send increasingly sophisticated weaponry – including the long-awaited German Leopard tanks and American Bradleys.

The Ukrainian military has, for its part, been busy, reportedly creating a dozen new armoured brigades (of around 3,500 soldiers each) for the operation. Nine of them have been trained by the West, Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said back in April. The Ukrainian interior ministry has also confirmed the formation of eight new “storm” brigades, comprising some 40,000 soldiers in total, following an aggressive recruitment campaign.

And this is because timing – along with results – is critical. Kyiv knows that the only way to counter the inevitability of world fatigue, particularly after a gruelling winter of deadlock, is to make lightning gains, or mount a successful “decisive offensive”, to use its own phrase.

In November, in the southern region of Kherson, after Russian forces dramatically withdrew from the region’s capital and across the Dnipro River, I saw that unfurl in real time. But this time, repetition is going to be hard.

Ukraine’s ‘D-Day’ offensive is going to need all the help it can get | Bel Trew

Pictured: UN nuclear chief inspects Zaporizhzhia plant

Thursday 15 June 2023 17:28 , Andy Gregory

The UN’s nuclear energy chief has visited the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia plant – and warned it was unrealistic to expect Moscow and Kyiv to sign a document on the site’s security while fighting raged nearby.

Rafael Grossi, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was inspecting the state of the plant following last week’s devastating breach in the Kakhovka dam downstream on the Dnipro River.

The plant uses a cooling pond to keep its six reactors from potentially disastrous overheating. While the Kakhovka reservoir was normally used to refill the pond but cannot do so now because of its falling water level following the breach, officials say. Instead, the pond, which is separated from the reservoir, can be replenished using deep underground wells, they say.

Mr Grossi, who was delayed by a day over safety fears and had to pass through a Russian checkpoint to reach the plant, which is located near the military frontline, was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying the situation at the site was “serious” but that the level of cooling water was sufficient.

He also said that IAEA inspectors would remain at the site.

“We have a political agreement which was formulated at the [UN] Security Council. Reaching a written agreement would be unrealistic at this stage because, as we know, there are no peace or ceasefire negotiations between the parties,” TASS news agency quoted him as saying.

Russian anti-war activist dies in detention centre, lawyer says

Thursday 15 June 2023 17:02 , Andy Gregory

A Russian anti-war activist has died in a detention centre after he alleged being tortured with beatings and electric shocks there, his lawyer said.

Irina Gak, a lawyer for 40-year-old Anatoly Berezikov, said the dead body of her client, who had been due to be released from the facility in Rostov-on-Don on Thursday, had been taken to a morgue the previous day.

In a video, filmed on Wednesday and showing Ms Gak standing outside the detention centre where Berezikov had been held as an ambulance that she said was there to collect his body drove in, she said that Berezikov had complained of beatings and of being given electric shocks and had told her he feared for his life.

OVD-Info, a human rights monitoring group, cited an unnamed official in the detention centre as telling it that Berezikov had killed himself in his cell.

According to Gak, Berezikov was arrested after he posted leaflets around the city advertising a Ukrainian government project called “I Want to Live,” which helps Russian soldiers voluntarily surrender.

‘Very difficult’ counteroffensive will inflict ‘high cost’ on Ukraine, warns top US general

Thursday 15 June 2023 16:31 , Andy Gregory

Ukraine is making steady progress in the early day of its counteroffensive against Vladimir Putin’s forces, but the cost is likely to be high in what is proving to be a difficult, bloody battle, Washington’s top general has warned.

“Ukraine has begun their attack and they are making steady progress. This is a very difficult fight. It’s a very violent fight, and it will likely take a considerable amount of time at a high cost,” General Mark Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at Nato’s Brussels headquarters.

Mr Milley praised the leadership, skill and morale of Ukrainian forces, and contrasted that with Russia, saying: “Their leadership is not necessarily coherent, their troops’ morale is not high, and they’re sitting in defensive positions and many of them don’t even know why they’re there.”

‘Relations are on the verge of being severed’: Moscow hits out at Canada over plane seizure

Thursday 15 June 2023 16:17 , Andy Gregory

Moscow has warned that Russian-Canadian relations are on the “verge of being severed”, as its foreign ministry summoned a Canadian diplomat in protest over the confiscation of an Antonov plane in Toronto.

Last weekend, as premier Justin Trudeau visited Kyiv and announced a huge new military aid package for Ukraine, Canada ordered the seizure of the Russian-registered cargo plane at Toronto’s airport, its first such asset seizure aimed at putting pressure on Moscow over the Ukraine invasion.

Russia told the deputy head of Canada’s embassy in Moscow that it viewed the plane seizure as “cynical theft”, according to a foreign ministry statement.

The statement went on to claim that Ottawa’s “Russophobic policy will entail the most serious repercussions for Russian-Canadian relations, which are on the verge of being severed through the fault of the Trudeau administration”.

Canada’s foreign ministry did not immediately comment.

Zelensky urges Swiss parliament to allow re-export of weapons to Ukraine

Thursday 15 June 2023 15:25 , Andy Gregory

In a historic address to Switzerland’s parliament, Volodymyr Zelensky has once again urged the nation to allow the re-export of weapons to Ukraine – insisting that the move would be vital in defeating Russia’s invasion.

Neutral Switzerland has a long-standing policy of barring any country that buys its arms from re-exporting them to parties in a conflict, and imposed an embargo on Swiss munitions being sent to either Russia or Ukraine last November.

“I know there is a discussion in Switzerland about the exportation of war materiel to protect and defend Ukraine. That would be vital,” the Ukrainian president said in a video address to both houses of the Swiss parliament. “We need weapons so we can restore peace in Ukraine.”

Wearing a plain black T-shirt with the word “Ukraine” printed across his chest, Mr Zelensky thanked Switzerland for adopting EU sanctions over the invasion, but warned that they must go further.

“It is very important to show solidarity because these sanctions will help us to end aggression,” he said, adding: “We have to strengthen the sanctions.”

Ukraine to get 14 more Leopard 2 tanks, report claims

Thursday 15 June 2023 14:55 , Andy Gregory

Ukraine will get a further 14 Leopard-2 battle tanks worth a total of more than €100m from Western partners, financed by Denmark and the Netherlands, German media has reported, citing Nato sources.

The vehicles will be supplied and refurbished by the Rheinmetall group, according the business daily Handelsblatt.

Contracts for the new delivery have already been signed and the German government was involved as it has to agree to the export of vehicles, it added.

Delivery of the battle tanks is to take place by the end of January, it reported.

Nato chief says Russia’s nuclear rhetoric is ‘reckless and dangerous'

Thursday 15 June 2023 14:41 , Andy Gregory

Nato sees no sign that Russia has changed its nuclear posture, the head of the military alliance has said, after Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko claimed his country had already received tactical nuclear weapons from Moscow.

“We are, of course, closely monitoring what Russia is doing. So far, we haven’t seen any changes in the nuclear posture that requires any changes in our posture,” Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg told reporters ahead of a meeting of Nato defence ministers in Brussels.

Nato’s secretive nuclear defence planning group is set to meet on Friday. The meeting has long been planned and is not a reaction to recent developments, but the alliance is concerned about Vladimir Putin’s threats and his decisions to pull Russia out of important arms limitation treaties.

“Russia’s nuclear rhetoric and messaging is reckless and dangerous,” Mr Stoltenberg said. “Russia must know that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.”

He noted that “Russia has invested heavily in new modern nuclear capabilities and also deployed more nuclear capabilities, including close to Nato borders, for instance, in the high north”.

Ukraine has recaptured 100 sq km in counteroffensive, general claims

Thursday 15 June 2023 14:12 , Andy Gregory

Ukraine has retaken more than 100 square kilometres (38 square miles) of territory in its counteroffensive against Russia, a senior Ukrainian military commander has claimed.

“We are ready to continue fighting to liberate our territory even with our bare hands,” Brigadier-General Oleksii Hromov told reporters.

He confirmed that in the early stages of the offensive, which Ukraine said had begun last week, seven settlements had been liberated in the eastern region of Donetsk and in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia.

The army has advanced by 1.8 miles near the village of Mala Tokmachka in the Zaporizhzhia region and by up to 4.3 miles near a village south of Velyka Novosilka in the Donetsk region, military officials claimed.

Russia claims to hit drone production facilities in Ukraine

Thursday 15 June 2023 13:44 , Andy Gregory

Russian forces hit drone production facilities in Ukraine using high-precision, long-range weapons, Russia's defence ministry has claimed.

The ministry also claimed that Russian air defences had intercepted five Himars-launched missiles – built in the US –and shot down 25 drones, the Tass news agency reported.

The claims could not be immediately verified.

Russia ‘sets dates’ for regional elections in four Ukrainian regions

Thursday 15 June 2023 13:12 , Andy Gregory

As Ukraine’s counteroffensive to regain its territory from Russia gathers steam, Moscow’s central electoral commission has set a date for regional elections in four Ukrainian provinces it claims to have annexed, according to state media.

Despite not fully controlling the regions as things stand, the commission has set elections in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson for 10 September, coinciding with votes in other Russian regions, state news agency RIA reported.

TASS, another state news agency, cited election chief Ella Pamfilova as saying that Russia’s defence ministry and Federal Security Service (FSB) considered it possible to hold the votes in September.

UN nuclear chief ‘arrives at Zaporzhzia’ plant after delay

Thursday 15 June 2023 12:41 , Andy Gregory

UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi has arrived at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, according to Reuters reporters in the area.

Mr Grossi is expected to inspect the plant after last week’s breach of the massive Kakhovka Dam, but his arrival was delayed by a day over concerns for his safety, with the plant located close to areas where Ukraine’s counteroffensive is taking place.

Drone footage shows scale of destruction in Odesa after Russian strike

Thursday 15 June 2023 12:07 , Andy Gregory

Russia ‘intends to press’ UN for international probe into Nord Stream blasts

Thursday 15 June 2023 11:43 , Andy Gregory

Russia has said it intends to press the UN Security Council once again for an international investigation into the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines last September.

“We will now bring the UN Security Council back to an examination of this issue,” foreign ministry spokespeson Maria Zakharova told reporters during a regular briefing on Thursday.

Ms Zakharova accused the three Western permanent members of the Security Council – the United States, UK and France – of having previously blocked Russia’s efforts to secure a “transparent” investigation of what happened to the pipelines. Russia and China are also permanent members of the council.

Russia believes it can hold elections in four Ukrainian regions in September, electoral chief claims

Thursday 15 June 2023 11:21 , Andy Gregory

Russia’s defence ministry and Federal Security Service (FSB) consider it possible to hold elections in September in the four Ukrainian regions that Russia claimes to have annexed, state news agency Tass reports the head of Russia’s electoral commission as saying.

Russia does not fully control the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and fighting is ongoing in all four regions – but according to Moscow’s plans they regions are scheduled to elect local governors in September.

Russia declared the regions part of its own territory after hastily conducting what it called referendums in occupied areas of Ukraine last September that Kyiv and the West denounced as illegal and coercive.

Russia accuses Bryansk resident of gathering data on security forces near Ukraine

Thursday 15 June 2023 10:44 , Andy Gregory

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained a resident of the southern Bryansk region who it claimed had been gathering data on security forces in areas bordering Ukraine, state news outlets report.

Separately, the same news agency Tass also reported that the FSB had detained two men in the southern Stavropol region on suspicion of planning to blow up the interior ministry headquarters in the city of Pyatigorsk.

The two men were believed to be Isis supporters, the RIA news agency claimed.

How significant is the reported recapture of the first Ukrainian villages from Russia?

Thursday 15 June 2023 09:59 , Andy Gregory

Ukraine has celebrated the first territorial gains of its long-trailed counteroffensive against the invading Russian forces.

Unverified photographs and video appearing on Sunday and on Monday morning showed Ukrainian soldiers holding their country’s blue and yellow flag aloft in triumph in the eastern villages of Storozheve, Blahodatne, Neskuchne and Makarivka in Donetsk, suggesting they had been recaptured from occupying enemy troops.

My colleague Joe Sommerlad looks at the significance of this development:

How significant is the reported recapture of the first Ukrainian villages?

Belarus ‘shoots down Ukrainian drone'

Thursday 15 June 2023 09:36 , Andy Gregory

Belarusian border guards have shot down a Ukrainian drone, Russian state news has claimed.

The object was brought down over the Gomel region, which borders Ukraine, the Tass news agency reported.

Nato ministers meet to discuss future relations with Ukraine

Thursday 15 June 2023 08:59 , Andy Gregory

Nato defence ministers have gathered today to discuss future relations with Ukraine, which has intensified its push to join the military alliance since Russia’s invasion.

The ministers were also due to take part in a separate meeting at Nato’s headquarters of the US-led Ukraine Contact Group — the forum Ukraine’s supporters routinely join to try to drum up weapons and ammunition to help Kyiv fight the Russian invasion.

The alliance agreed in 2008 that Ukraine would join one day, but did not set a date for it to start membership talks. After Vladimir Putin’s invasion sparked further talk of Kyiv’s membership, Ukraine applied for “accelerated accession” to the mililtary bloc last September.

However, Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg has said there is no consensus for the country to join while it is at war with Russia.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, he said: “We agree that the most urgent task now is to ensure that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign independent nation because unless Ukraine prevails and can continue as a democratic state in Europe, there is no membership issue to be discussed at all.”

Stoltenberg said that he expects the 31-nation alliance to “agree [to] a multi-year program where we help to move Ukraine to transition from old standards, equipment, procedures, doctrines to Nato standards and become fully interoperable with Nato.”

Too soon to assess agriculture losses from Ukraine dam breach in Russian-controlled areas - Russian deputy PM

Thursday 15 June 2023 08:21 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

A senior Russian official said on Thursday it was too soon to assess agricultural losses in Russian-controlled areas from the breaching of Ukraine‘s Kakhovka dam, state news agency TASS said.

The dam burst flooded huge areas of Kherson region, one of four that Russia claimed last year as its own territory after launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“Unfortunately, we cannot yet estimate the total amount of losses for agriculture. We need all the water to drain. And then we will be able to understand which farmers have suffered this damage and to what extent,” TASS quoted Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko as saying.

Russian forces control about 18% of the territory of Ukraine, one of the world’s leading grain producers. A majority of countries at the United Nations General Assembly have rejected the annexations as illegal.

TASS quoted Abramchenko as saying the flood would not affect Russia‘s crop forecasts overall.

Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of blowing up the dam in the early hours of June 6.

Kakhovka dam breach will not affect Russian crop forecasts -TASS

Thursday 15 June 2023 07:46 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The breach of the Kakhovka dam will not affect Russia‘s crop forecasts, state-owned news agency TASS cited Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko as saying on Thursday.

Belarus receives nuclear bombs ‘three times size of Hiroshima bomb’ from Russia

Thursday 15 June 2023 07:39 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Belarus has started taking the delivery of Russian tactical nuclear weapons, president Alexander Lukashenko announced, claiming that some of these were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Mr Lukashenko said that “the bombs are three times more powerful than those (dropped on) Hiroshima and Nagasaki”, adding to his previous statement that he didn’t simply ask Mr Putin for the weapons, but “demanded” them.

The Vladimir Putin ally was speaking to the Russian state TV channel Rossiya-1 on a road in a forest clearing with military vehicles and a storage facility visible in the background seen around him.

Belarus receives nuclear bombs ‘three times size of Hiroshima bomb’ from Russia

Norway, Denmark to donate 9,000 rounds of artillery to Ukraine

Thursday 15 June 2023 07:15 , Arpan Rai

Norway and Denmark have agreed to donate an additional 9,000 rounds of artillery to Ukraine, the Norwegian Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement today.

Norway will provide the shells, while Denmark will donate fuses and propellant charges, the Norwegian ministry said.

Wagner chief’s rhetoric amid contract feud ‘evolving into defiance’

Thursday 15 June 2023 07:07 , Arpan Rai

The Russian mercenary Wagner group chief’s rhetoric is “evolving into defiance” as he continues to lock horns with the Kremlin over the contract signing controversy, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.

Earlier this month, the Russian defence ministry demanded that members of “volunteers formations” such as Wagner Group sign contracts directly with the MoD. The move was explicitly endorsed by president Vladimir Putin on television on Tuesday this week.

“For several months, Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin has been aiming vitriolic criticism at the MoD hierarchy but deferred to Putin’s authority,” the British ministry said in its intelligence update today.

It added that despite Putin’s comments, a day later Prigozhin said that, “none of Wagner’s fighters are ready to go down the path of shame again. That’s why they will not sign the contracts”.

“Prigozhin’s rhetoric is evolving into defiance of broader sections of the Russian establishment. 01 July 2023, the deadline for the volunteers to sign contracts, is likely to be a key way-point in the feud,” the British MoD said.

Japan in talks to provide artillery shells to help Ukraine via US – report

Thursday 15 June 2023 06:37 , Arpan Rai

Japan is in talks to provide artillery shells to the United States to bolster stocks for Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia, the Wall Street Journal reported today.

It added that the Asian ally is considering supplying 155-mm artillery shells under a 2016 agreement to share ammunition as part of its long-standing security alliance with the US, the paper added, citing people familiar with the matter.

Dead Russian soldiers line road into liberated Ukrainian village

Thursday 15 June 2023 05:50 , Arpan Rai

The road into the liberated Ukrainian village of Storozheve, recaptured from Russian forces last week, is lined with the corpses of Russian soldiers and burnt-out armoured vehicles, reported Reuters.

Some corpses of the dead Russian soldiers remain on the dusty ground beside the husks of their vehicles when Reuters journalists reached the village yesterday. Others were found dumped crumpled in the grass and fields nearby where they died.

“Three days ago we liberated the village of Storozheve. You can see for yourselves how it was achieved. You can see the destroyed hardware. Glory to Ukraine,” a Ukrainian soldier who gave his name only as Artem told Reuters in Storozheve.

The grim landscape bears witness to the ferocity of fighting as Ukrainian troops recaptured Storozheve – which had been held by Russia since March last year – and several other villages in the past few days as part of a counteroffensive in southern and eastern Ukraine.

Mapped: The damage caused by Ukraine’s devastated dam

Thursday 15 June 2023 05:03 , Arpan Rai

War-torn Ukraine is reeling from the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, which saw its reservoir burst causing chaos for miles around.

The catastrophe on Tuesday 6 June forced thousands of residents of nearby towns and villages to evacuate their homes as the floodwater barrelled towards them and left some climbing onto rooftops or into trees to escape the raging torrents.

The water in the reservoir feeds a wide area of southern Ukrainian farmland, including the annexed peninsula of Crimea, as well as providing all-important cooling water to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, lying nearby as indicated on the map below.

Mapped: The damage caused by Ukraine’s devastated dam

Russia losing nine times more troops in Bakhmut, says Ukraine

Thursday 15 June 2023 04:42 , Arpan Rai

Russian forces are losing almost nine times more soldiers than Ukraine, the war-hit country’s deputy defence minister said on Telegram, adding that during the offensive, the Ukrainian army has suffered many times less losses compared to the “invaders”.

In Khortytsia, the Bakhmut direction, “the enemy has 8.73 times more dead, almost nine times five times”, she said on Telegram last night, sharing the data for the past week.

On the other heavy fighting axis in the war along "Tavriya" towards Zaporizhia and Berdyansk directions, Russia’s casualties were “5.3 times more than ours”, the deputy defence minister said.

“I want to remind you that during a war, neither side publishes accurate data on their losses, because this can be used by the enemy to predict the enemy’s future actions on the battlefield,” Ms Malyar said.

Chechen leader says top commander Adam Delimkhanov ‘alive and well’

Thursday 15 June 2023 03:56 , Arpan Rai

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov denied reports of the killing of one of his senior commanders in fighting in Ukraine, who he said was found alive and well.

Delimkhanov was “alive and well and not even wounded”, Kadyrov said on Telegram. He has led Chechnya since 2007 and is a close ally of Vladimir Putin.

Initial reports by Russia’s Zvezda television channel cited the parliamentary press service as saying Delimkhanov had been wounded in Ukraine. It followed rumours on Ukrainian social media channels that the Chechen commander had been killed in an artillery strike in southern Ukraine.

The commander, Adam Delimkhanov, heads the Chechen division of the Russian national guard and is also a member of Russia’s parliament. He is widely seen as the Caucasian region’s second most senior official after Kadyrov himself.

Kadyrov added that he had known Delimkhanov was uninjured from the start of what he called “a fake information attack”, but had remained silent in order to embarrass Ukrainian media outlets that reported on the commander’s alleged injury.

In a later posting on Telegram, Kadyrov mocked the Ukrainian media reports about Delimkhanov for “brazen lies about his elimination”.

Kadyrov said he had been “temporarily” unable to communicate with Delimkhanov while he was in Ukraine.Delimkhanov, who has an active social media presence with over half a million followers on Telegram, has not commented so far.

ICYMI: Residential building in Zelensky’s hometown engulfed by flames after deadly strike

Thursday 15 June 2023 02:40 , Joe Middleton

NATO leader says Ukrainians are making progress and advancing against Russian forces

Thursday 15 June 2023 01:40 , Joe Middleton

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told President Joe Biden at an Oval Office meeting on Tuesday that Ukrainians are “making progress” with their counteroffensive, which could bolster their position when there’s an opportunity to reach a diplomatic end to the war with Russia.

“The support that we are providing together for Ukraine is now making a difference on the battlefield as we speak,” Stoltenberg said. “Because the offensive has launched, and the Ukrainians are making progress, making advances.”

He added, “It’s still early days, but what we do know is that the more land that Ukrainians are able to liberate, the stronger hand they will have at the negotiating table.”

NATO leader says Ukrainians are making progress and advancing against Russian forces

Thursday 15 June 2023 00:40 , Joe Middleton

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday alternated threats of a new Russian offensive to grab more Ukrainian land with statements about the Kremlin’s readiness for peace talks.

Speaking during a far-ranging meeting with Russian military correspondents and war bloggers, he made some of the most extensive comments about the conflict and his goals since sending the troops into Ukraine more than 15 months ago.

Here is a quick look at some of Putin’s key statements:

Putin mixes threats of new offensive in Ukraine with offers of peace talks

Fires rage in Ukrainian city of Odesa after Russian missile attack

Wednesday 14 June 2023 23:40 , Joe Middleton

110 million people forcibly displaced as Sudan, Ukraine wars add to world refugee crisis, UN says

Wednesday 14 June 2023 22:40 , Joe Middleton

Some 110 million people have had to flee their homes because of conflict, persecution, or human rights violations, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees says. The war in Sudan, which has displaced nearly 2 million people since April, is but the latest in a long list of crises that has led to the record-breaking figure.

“It’s quite an indictment on the state of our world,” Filippo Grandi, who leads the U.N. refugee agency, told reporters in Geneva ahead of the publication Wednesday of UNHCR‘s Global Trends Report for 2022.

Last year alone, an additional 19 million people were forcibly displaced including more than 11 million who fled Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in what became the fastest and largest displacement of people since World War II.

110 million people forcibly displaced as Sudan, Ukraine wars add to world refugee crisis, UN says

Saxophonist plays on rooftops of flooded Kherson homes after Nova Kakhovka dam attack

Wednesday 14 June 2023 22:01 , Joe Middleton

Watch: ICRC gives update on Ukraine dam collapse and prisoners of war

Wednesday 14 June 2023 21:40 , Joe Middleton

Watch as the International Committee of the Red Cross holds a briefing on the Ukraine dam situation and the organisation’s visits to prisoners of war.

The Nova Kakhova dam, which was under Russian control, was breached on the morning of 6 June, with water surging through it and causing extensive flooding in Kherson - prompting the evacuation of thousands of people.

Damage to the area can be seen from space, with huge areas of land submerged in water.

As of Tuesday, 13 June, the death toll from flooding in two Russian-controlled towns in southern Ukraine has risen to 17 in the wake of the dam’s collapse, a Russian-installed official in Kherson said.

Watch: ICRC gives update on Ukraine dam collapse and prisoners of war

Russian court sends an associate of Kremlin foe Navalny to prison for 7 1/2 years

Wednesday 14 June 2023 20:40 , Joe Middleton

A court in Russia on Wednesday convicted an associate of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny on extremism charges and sentenced her to 7 1/2 years in prison, the latest step in a yearslong crackdown by the Kremlin on opposition activists.

Lilia Chanysheva, who used to head Navalny’s office in the Russian region of Bashkortostan, was found guilty of calling for extremism, forming an extremist group and founding an organization that violates rights. The charges against Chanysheva, who was arrested in November 2021, stem from a court ruling earlier that year that designated Navalny’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption and his regional offices as extremist organizations.

In addition to the prison sentence, Chanysheva was fined 400,000 rubles (about $4,700). Her trial was conducted behind closed doors and she has maintained her innocence, rejecting the charges as politically motivated.

Russian court sends an associate of Kremlin foe Navalny to prison for 7 1/2 years

Erdogan says no change in Turkey's stance on Sweden's NATO membership

Wednesday 14 June 2023 19:40 , Joe Middleton

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that NATO should not bet on his country approving Sweden‘s application to join the Western military alliance before a July summit because the Nordic nation has not fully addressed his security concerns.

Sweden and Finland applied for membership together following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. Finland became NATO’s 31st member in April after the Turkish parliament ratified its request, but Turkey has held off approving Sweden’s bid.

NATO wants to bring Sweden into the fold by the time the leaders of member nations meet for a summit in Lithuania‘s capital on July 11-12. Speaking to journalists on his way back from a state visit to Azerbaijan on Tuesday, Erdogan said Turkey’s attitude to the accession was not “positive.”

Erdogan says no change in Turkey's stance on Sweden's NATO membership

Russia steps up aerial strikes on Ukraine – killing at least 6

Wednesday 14 June 2023 18:51 , Joe Middleton

Russian forces have fired cruise missiles at the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa and shelled the eastern Donetsk region killing at least six people and damaging dozens of homes

Moscow has recently stepped up aerial strikes in their nearly 16-month war. Kyiv’s armed forces, meanwhile, have reported limited gains in the early stages of a counteroffensive to take back the nearly one-fifth of Ukraine‘s territory that is under Russian control.

The grinding Ukrainian advance is pressing slowly ahead, Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, Hanna Maliar, said. Western analysts and military officials say the effort to dislodge entrenched, powerfully armed and large numbers of Russian troops could take years.

Russia steps up aerial strikes on Ukraine – killing at least 6

How significant is the reported recapture of the first Ukrainian villages from Russia?

Wednesday 14 June 2023 18:40 , Joe Middleton

Ukraine has celebrated the first territorial gains of its long-trailed counteroffensive against the invading Russian forces.

Unverified photographs and video appearing on Sunday and on Monday morning showed Ukrainian soldiers holding their country’s blue and yellow flag aloft in triumph in the eastern villages of Storozheve, Blahodatne, Neskuchne and Makarivka in Donetsk, suggesting they had been recaptured from occupying enemy troops.

Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar posted one of the photos from Storozheve and thanked the 35th Separate Brigade of Marines for liberating it.

How significant is the reported recapture of the first Ukrainian villages?

Even ‘very successful’ counteroffensive could need to be repeated next year, warns UK minister

Wednesday 14 June 2023 17:40 , Andy Gregory

Even a “very successful” Ukrainian counteroffensive may need to be repeated next year, a British defence minister has said, as he warned against expectations of a “decisive victory”.

Opening a general debate on global military operations, James Heappey told the Commons “there isn’t really an update to give” on Ukraine but “a word of caution, instead”, adding: “These are very early stages of a very complex plan, a necessarily complex plan, given the scale of the challenge that they have.

“It will take a number of weeks until anybody can make any credible assessment over the success of the offensive. But it is under way, that much is clear.

“I think it is clear that there have been some early gains for the Ukrainians, that in some parts of the Russian line the regiments are performing incredibly and are holding their ground, but in many other parts of the line there is evidence of abandonment and mutiny.

“That should not in any way, I think, encourage us to believe that this is some war movie that all ends with a sort of wonderful, glorious victory, decisive victory, at the very end.”

He went on: “That that may happen, it’s perfectly possible that it will, the Ukrainians have shown time and time again that they are brilliant at exceeding what normal military laws should expect, but it is also very possible that a very successful counteroffensive still brings with it the requirement to go again next year.

“It matters enormously to our Ukrainian friends, just as much as it is important that Putin hears that the international donor community is ready to rearm, retrain and go again next year, and the year after, and the year after.”

Germany to purchase six air defence systems for Luftwaffe

Wednesday 14 June 2023 17:14 , Andy Gregory

Germany will purchase six Iris-T air defence systems for its air force at cost of some €950m (£812m), a member of the budget committee has told Reuters after politicians approved the deal.

Boasting a range of some 25 miles and a 360 degree view, the Iris-T system is one of the most coveted weapons which Berlin has supplied to Ukraine, which has deployed the units to shoot down cruise missiles and aircraft including Iranian-made Shahed drones.

The Luftwaffe is due to take delivery of the first unit in 2024. Berlin has bought two Iris-T units built by Diehl for Ukraine and pledged to send another two to Kyiv, but has not yet equipped its own forces with the systems.

Erdogan warns Nato not to expect approval of Sweden’s application bid in time for July summit

Wednesday 14 June 2023 16:30 , Andy Gregory

Nato should not bet on Turkey approving Sweden’s application to join the military alliance before a July summit, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said, accusing the Nordic nation of failing to fully address his security concerns.

Despite finally relenting to allow Finland’s simultaneous bid several months ago, Ankara still refuses to grant Stockholm permission to join the bloc, accusing Sweden of being too lenient towards groups Turkey claims pose a threat to its security.

Speaking to journalists on his way back from a state visit to Azerbaijan on Tuesday – as senior officials from Nato, Turkey, Sweden and Finland met in Ankara – Mr Erdogan said Turkey’s attitude to the accession was not “positive.”

Mr Erdogan said the Turkish delegation at the meeting “will give this message: ‘This is our president’s opinion, don’t expect anything different at [the upcoming Nato summit in] Vilnius.”

Russia’s Duma gives initial backing for convicts to enlist against Ukraine

Wednesday 14 June 2023 15:40 , Andy Gregory

The lower house of Russia’s parliament has given its initial backing to plans allowing Moscow’s defence ministry to sign contracts with suspected or convicted criminals to fight in Ukraine.

Under the proposed changes, a contract could be concluded with someone being investigated for committing a crime, who is having their case heard in court or after they have been convicted but before the verdict takes legal effect, according to the database of the State Duma, Russia’s lower house.

People convicted of sexual crimes, treason, terrorism or extremism would not be able to sign up. Those who do sign up would be exempt from criminal liability upon completion of their contract or if they receive awards for their combat prowess.

The new changes being examined by the Duma do not cover recruitment of people already serving their sentences and the Defence Ministry has not commented.

Chechen leader Kadyrov insists reports his second-in-command is wounded are ‘fake'

Wednesday 14 June 2023 15:37 , Andy Gregory

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has dismissed reports that one of his senior commanders had been killed or wounded in Ukraine, insisting that he was in fact “alive and well”.

The commander, Adam Delimkhanov, leads the Chechen division of the Russian national guard and is also a member of Russia’s parliament, and is widely viewed as the Caucasian region’s second most senior official after Mr Kadyrov, who is a close ally of Vladimir Putin.

Mr Kadyrov claimed to have known that Mr Delimkhanov was uninjured from the start of what he called “a fake information attack”, and to have remained silent in order to embarrass Ukrainian media outlets which reported on the commander’s alleged injury.

Earlier on Wednesday, Russia’s Zvezda television channel cited the parliamentary press service as saying that Mr Delimkhanov had been wounded in Ukraine, with the Kremlin expressing “worry” over the reports.

Mr Delimkhanov, who has an active social media presence, with over half a million followers on Telegram, did not comment.

‘Another hostage in prison’: Navalny associate jailed for more than 7 years by Russian court

Wednesday 14 June 2023 14:50 , AP

An associate of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison on “extremism” charges – the latest verdict in a crackdown on dissent by the Kremlin as it wages war in Ukraine, reports Dasha Litvinova.

Lilia Chanysheva who used to head Navalny's office in the Russian region of Bashkortostan, was found guilty of calling for extremism, forming an extremist group and founding an organization that violates rights.

Navalny aide Lyubov Sobol called it a political verdict, saying President Vladimir Putin had "put one more hostage in a penal colony". Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said Chanysheva had been punished for fighting for the future of her country.

Navalny associate jailed by Russian court: ‘Another hostage in prison’

Fire ‘breaks out at Russian power station'

Wednesday 14 June 2023 14:23 , Andy Gregory

A fire has broken out at the Novocherkassk power station in Russia's southern Rostov region, close to the border with Ukraine, RIA has reported.

The Russian state-owned news agency did not say what had caused the blaze.

Russian ‘goodwill’ over Black Sea grain deal cannot last forever, Kremlin says

Wednesday 14 June 2023 13:54 , Andy Gregory

Russia’s “goodwill” over renewing the Black Sea grain deal cannot last forever, the Kremlin has warned.

The remarks come a day after Vladimir Putin claimed that Moscow could withdraw from the vital grain deal, accusing the West of cheating Moscow by not implementing the promises it has made to ensure Russian agricultural goods reach world markets.

The Russian president will discuss the Black Sea grain deal with African leaders on Saturday, the Interfax news agency reported.

Kremlin expresses concern over reports Chechen military leader wounded in Ukraine

Wednesday 14 June 2023 13:22 , Andy Gregory

The Kremlin has expressed concern over media reports that a senior Chechen commander has been wounded in Ukraine.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Defence Ministry's TV channel reported that Adam Delimkhanov, head of Chechnya's national guard, had been wounded in Ukraine.

The ministry said it was awaiting clarification about what had really happened.

Kyiv claims advances against Putin’s forces in ‘fierce fighting’

Wednesday 14 June 2023 12:49 , Andy Gregory

Ukraine has made incremental advances in the face of “extremely fierce” fighting during its counteroffensive against Vladimir Putin’s forces on Wednesday, the country’s deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar has claimed.

Describing Kyiv’s actions as having had “partial success”, Ms Maliar said that over the past day Ukrainian troops had advanced 200-500 metres in various areas near the small eastern city of Bakhmut, and 300-350 metres in the direction of Zaporizhzhia.

“Our troops are moving in the face of extremely fierce fighting, and air and artillery superiority of the enemy,” Ms Maliar said.

She reported continuing fighting near the village of Makarivka in the direction of the southern port city of Berdyansk, and said battles were raging in the areas of Novodanylivka and Novopokrovsk in the Mariupol direction.

Russia’s defence ministry, meanwhile, claimed to have repelled Kyiv’s advances on the south Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk fronts, claiming that Ukrainian forces had suffered heavy losses in men and equipment.

Senior Nato officials meet in Turkey to discuss Sweden’s membership bid

Wednesday 14 June 2023 12:37 , Andy Gregory

Senior Nato officials from Sweden, Finland and Turkey met in Ankara on Wednesday, according to local reports, as the alliance pushes Turkey to ratify Stockholm’s application to join the military bloc.

While both Nordic countries applied to join Nato in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Turkey has held off approving Sweden’s bid, after finally relenting to permit Helsinki to join the alliance, enabling Finland to become Nato’s 31st member in April.

Turkey’s government accuses Sweden of being too lenient toward terror organisations that Ankara says pose a security threat, including militant Kurdish groups and people associated with a 2016 coup attempt. A series of separate demonstrations in Stockholm, including a protest by an anti-Islam activist who burned the Quran outside the Turkish Embassy, also angered Turkish officials.

The officials meeting a Turkey’s presidential palace on Wednesday were scheduled to discuss the steps Finland and Sweden have taken as part of a memorandum they signed with Turkey last year to address Ankara’s security concerns, broadcaster HaberTurk reported.

Nato wants to bring Sweden into the fold by the time the alliance’s leaders hold a summit in Lithuania next month, with US secretary of state Antony Blinken saying after a meeting with Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday that it was “time to welcome Sweden”.

Sweden has amended its constitution and strengthened its anti-terror laws since it applied to join Nato last May, while Stockholm also agreed this week to extradite a Turkish citizen who was convicted on drug charges in Turkey in 2013.

Sweden hopes to identify Nord Stream culprits by autumn, lead investigator says

Wednesday 14 June 2023 11:58 , Andy Gregory

Sweden hopes to determine by autumn who was behind the Nord Stream gas pipeline sabotage, the prosecutor leading the country’s investigation has said.

The blasts in the Baltic Sea last September occurred in the economic zones of Sweden and Denmark, and while both countries say the explosions were deliberate, they have yet to single out who was responsible.

Mats Ljungqvist, the prosecutor leading Sweden’s probe, told Swedish Radio he had met the German prosecutor and that they were working together but declined to give further details.

“I hope that we at least this autumn will be able to make a decision regarding indictments, at least that is the ambition as things stand now,” Mr Ljungqvist told the public service broadcaster. “I think, actually, in time, it will be brought to light [who carried out the sabotage].”

Germany has confirmed its investigators raided a ship in January that may have been used to transport the explosives used to blow up the pipelines. German media reported the boat could have been used by a small Ukrainian or pro-Ukrainian group.

Mr Ljungqvist, who told Reuters in April that the main scenario was that a state or a state-backed group was behind the attack, said to SR this week: “I think that hypothesis has been strengthened during the course of the investigation.”

Germany’s Scholz to unveil major new national security strategy

Wednesday 14 June 2023 11:21 , Andy Gregory

Germany is set to unveil its first comprehensive national security strategy in Berlin today, in a push to address what it views as growing military, economic and social threats to the country.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz and four of his top ministers are due to present the new strategy, which has been months in the making and is seen as a centerpiece of his three-party governing coalition.

Russia’s attack on Ukraine has heightened anxiety in Germany about the preparedness of its own armed forces, prompting Mr Scholz to announce a “turning point” on military spending.

Resilience against cyberattacks and the dangers posed by climate change will also be part of the new security strategy.

Watch live: Red Cross briefs media on Ukraine dam situation and visits to prisoners of war

Wednesday 14 June 2023 10:39 , Andy Gregory

Our video team has published a live stream as the International Committee of the Red Cross holds a briefing on the Ukraine dam situation and the organisation's visits to prisoners of war, which you can watch here:

UN nuclear chief delays Zaporizhzhia power plant visit over safety concerns

Wednesday 14 June 2023 09:58 , Andy Gregory

UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi has delayed a planned trip to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant until it is safer to travel, a senior Ukrainian official has said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) boss had been expected to visit the facility on Wednesday following talks in Kyiv, but a diplomatic source said the visit would be delayed by “some hours”.

Russian news agency Interfax quoted a Russian-installed local official as saying Mr Grossi would visit the plant on Thursday.

“He’s waiting to be able to travel safely,” said the senior Ukrainian government official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. The official did not say when Mr Grossi would arrive at the plant, which is relatively close to areas subject to reported heavy fighting since Ukraine’s counteroffensive began.

Mr Grossi has said he is “very concerned” that the nuclear plant could be caught in the military push, after the UN agency warned it needed access to a site near plant to check water levels after the nearby reservoir lost much of its water because of the destruction of the Kakhovka dam downstream.

Nord Stream blasts leave ‘no constraints’ for Russia to destroy enemies’ undersea cables, says Medvedev

Wednesday 14 June 2023 09:38 , Andy Gregory

There is no reason for Moscow not to destroy its enemies’ undersea communications cables given purported Western “complicity” in the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has claimed.

While it is still unclear exactly who is responsible for the blasts last September, The Washington Post, New York Times and Wall Street Journal have each reported that the CIA knew of a Ukrainian plot to attack the pipelines – for which president Volodymyr Zelensky has denied any responsibility.

“If we proceed from the proven complicity of Western countries in blowing up the Nord Streams, then we have no constraints – even moral – left to prevent us from destroying the ocean floor cable communications of our enemies,” said Mr Medvedev, an ally of president Vladimir Putin.

Sub-sea cables which criss-cross the world’s oceans have become the arteries of global communications, with their importance having made them the focus of growing geopolitical competition.

Russia deploying elite air units to support troops facing Ukraine's counteroffensive

Wednesday 14 June 2023 07:26 , Arpan Rai

The elite Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) are likely helping Putin’s regular ground troops, especially in southern Ukraine, to resist increased Ukrainian offensive operations, the British Ministry of Defence has claimed.

It noted an uptick in Russian tactical combat air sorties, especially over southern Ukraine, in the past two weeks.

“This has almost certainly been in response to reports of increased Ukrainian offensive operations, as the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) attempt to support ground troops with airstrikes,” the ministry said in its latest intelligence update.

It added that despite the uptick, “VKS’s daily sortie rate remains much lower than the peak of up to 300 daily missions early in the war”.

“Since the start of the invasion, the south of Ukraine has often been more permissible for Russian air operations compared to other sectors of the front,” the ministry said.

On the battlefield over the last year, the VKS has increased its use of air-to-surface weapons, such as glide bombs, which allow attack aircraft to remain well away from their targets, it said.

Belarus taking delivery of Russian tactical nukes 'three times bigger than Hiroshima and Nagasaki’, announces president

Wednesday 14 June 2023 07:02 , Arpan Rai

Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko has said his country has started taking delivery of Russian tactical nuclear weapons, some of which he said were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the US dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

“We have missiles and bombs that we have received from Russia,” Lukashenko said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 Russian state TV channel which was posted on the Belarusian Belta state news agency’s Telegram channel.

“The bombs are three times more powerful than those (dropped on) Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” he said.

This is the first such deployment of warheads by Moscow – shorter-range less powerful nuclear weapons that could potentially be used on the battlefield – outside Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union.

The move is being watched closely by the United States and its allies as well as by China, which has repeatedly cautioned against the use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war.

Russia blames Ukrainian forces for shell Nova Kakhovka

Wednesday 14 June 2023 06:32 , Arpan Rai

At least one person was injured in shelling of a residential area in the city of Nova Kakhovka, the city’s Russia-installed administration said today.

The administration also said that shelling of the nearby village of Plodovoye disrupted power supply there.

Officials in Kyiv have not issued a response on the allegations.

The region saw widespread destruction last week after the Kakhovka dam was destroyed, flooding swathes of land and forcing thousands to flee in one of the biggest industrial disasters in Europe for decades.

Three killed in Russian cruise missile attack on Odesa – official

Wednesday 14 June 2023 06:08 , Arpan Rai

At least three people were killed and 13 were injured after Russian missiles struck civilian buildings in Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa overnight, the war-hit nation’s military said early this morning.

Russia fired four cruise missiles on the city, the South command of Ukraine‘s Armed Forces said. Initially, the military said two missiles were destroyed before hitting their targets.

“As a result of air combat and blast waves, a business centre, an educational institution, a residential complex, food establishments and shops in the city centre were damaged,” the South command said on the Telegram app.

The three people killed were working at a retail chain’s warehouse when a missile hit, setting it ablaze, the military added. Seven people were wounded there.

“Sifting through the debris continues,” the military said. “There may be people under.”

A video and photographs of the attacked site by Odesa military administration spokesperson Serhiy Bratchuk showed a multi-storey building bombed out by the missile, with parts of walls and windows blown to shards.

Firefighters were also seen at the spot battling against flames in what appeared be a warehouse.

In pictures: Ukrainian troops fire from Bakhmut frontline

Wednesday 14 June 2023 05:48 , Arpan Rai

How Putin has mixed threats of new offensive in Ukraine with peace talk offer

Wednesday 14 June 2023 05:23 , Arpan Rai

Vladimir Putin has sprinkled threats of a new Russian offensive to capture Ukrainian land with statements about the Kremlin’s readiness for peace talks this week as the war marked a new stage of targeted counteroffensive from Kyiv.

Speaking during a far-ranging meeting with Russian military correspondents and war bloggers, he made some of the most extensive comments about the conflict and his goals since sending the troops into Ukraine more than 15 months ago.

In one assertion, the Russian president claimed that Ukraine has suffered “catastrophic” losses in its counteroffensive but then, he also spoke of the circumstance under which the war would conclude.

The Russian leader said ending the hostilities in Ukraine depends on the United States. He argued that the fighting would end immediately if the US and Nato stop providing Ukraine with weapons.

Here is a quick look at some of Mr Putin’s key statements:

Putin mixes threats of new offensive in Ukraine with offers of peace talks

Click here to read the full blog on The Independent's website