Ukraine-Russia news – live: Putin’s threat of using tactical nuclear weapons is ‘real’, warns Biden

The threat of Vladimir Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is “real”, US president Joe Biden said as the war in Ukraine inches closer to 500 days.

“When I was out here about two years ago saying I worried about the Colorado river drying up, everybody looked at me like I was crazy,” Mr Biden said in California.

“They looked at me like when I said I worry about Putin using tactical nuclear weapons. It’s real.”

Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, Russia’s staunch ally in the continuing invasion of Ukraine, confirmed delivery of Moscow’s tactical nuclear weapons in his country last week, claiming that some of the nukes were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the US dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

This is Russia’s first such deployment of warheads, of shorter-range and less powerful nuclear weapons that can be used in a war, outside its borders since the fall of the Soviet Union.

As the war enters its 481th day, Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian defenders were making progress and there are no lost positions, “only liberated ones”.

Key Points

• Threat of Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is ‘real’, warns Biden

• Ukraine says eight villages liberated

• Zelensky says ‘no positions lost, only liberated'

• Putin’s casualties at highest level since battle for Bakhmut, UK says

• Wagner’s 32,000 prison fighters return to Russia from Ukraine

• Britain says Russia has likely started redeploying its Dnipro troops

• Multiple investigations point to Russia blowing up Kakhovka dam

Threat of Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is ‘real’, warns Biden

03:44 , Arpan Rai

The threat of Russian president Vladimir Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is “real”, his US counterpart Joe Biden said, days after denouncing Russia’s deployment of such weapons in Belarus.

“When I was out here about two years ago saying I worried about the Colorado river drying up, everybody looked at me like I was crazy,” Biden told a group of donors in California on Monday.

“They looked at me like when I said I worry about Putin using tactical nuclear weapons. It’s real,” Biden said.

Mr Biden had termed Mr Putin’s announcement that Russia had deployed its first tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus “absolutely irresponsible” last week.

This comes as Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko 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.

02:00 , Katy Clifton

Ukraine has said it has driven Russian forces out of an eighth village in its two-week-old counteroffensive, a settlement on a heavily fortified part of the front line near the most direct route to the country’s Azov Sea coast.

Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian forces had retaken Piatykhatky and advanced by up to seven km (4.3 miles) into Russian lines in two weeks, capturing 113 square km (44 square miles) of land.

“In the course of two weeks of offensive operations in the Berdiansk and Melitopol directions, eight settlements were liberated,” Maliar said on the Telegram messaging app, referring to two cities on the Russian-occupied coastline.

In a later statement she said Russia had concentrated its units in the east, including air assault troops, but that Ukrainian forces were preventing their advance.

Tuesday 20 June 2023 00:01 , Katy Clifton

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukrainian forces had lost no positions in their counter-offensive against Russian troops, while enemy forces had sustained only losses.

“In some sectors, our forces are moving forward, in others they are defending positions or resisting assaults and intensified attacks from the occupiers,” the Ukrainian president said in his nightly video address.

“We have no lost positions, only liberated ones. And they have only losses. Overall, the situation is one of pressure, from us, which paves the way for our flag.”

In pictures: Drone footage shows car ‘filled with explosives’ on Kakhova dam

Monday 19 June 2023 22:00 , Martha Mchardy

Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

Monday 19 June 2023 21:30 , Martha Mchardy

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.

Thomas Kingsley and Joe Sommerlad report:

Here’s why Putin really invaded Ukraine

‘We will turn people against the war,’ says Navalny, as he faces another trial

Monday 19 June 2023 21:00 , Martha Mchardy

“We will turn people against the war,’ said jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, as he faces another trial.

Navalny, 47, is already serving sentences totalling 11 and a half years, and is now facing an array of charges linked to alleged “extremist” activity. Acquittals of opposition figures are practically unheard of in Russia.

As reporters waited for news from the hearing, Navalny’s camp announced a new campaign to turn Russian public opinion against Putin and the war in Ukraine.

Navalny, who posts on social media through his lawyers and allies, and in the 2010s brought people onto the streets in their tens of thousands, urged Russians to “join forces in the fight against Putin’s lies and Kremlin hypocrisy”.

He asked marketing and IT specialists, sociologists, political scientists, donors and volunteers to sign up.

“We will conduct an election campaign against war. And against Putin. Just that. A long, stubborn, exhausting but fundamentally important campaign where we will turn people against the war,” he said.

Russia’s next presidential election is due in 2024, and Putin has yet to confirm whether he will stand.

Navalny’s movement is banned from all political activity, but he said it could still achieve a powerful impact through targeted messaging, given that “every grandmother now has WhatsApp and Telegram”.

“Our activities, of course, will be declared illegal and subversive. All the forces of the state apparatus will be thrown into the fight against it,” Navalny said.

“Well, great, and we will throw all our forces into the fight against the apparatus of war, corruption and stupidity.”

He said Putin was a talentless military leader who had “madly and stupidly” led Russia into a dead end with his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Prime Minister pays tribute to ‘bravery’ of Ukrainian soldiers in call with Zelensky

Monday 19 June 2023 20:30 , Martha Mchardy

Following the call between prime minister Rishi Sunak and Ukrainian presdient Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday, a Downing Street spokesman said: “The Prime Minister paid tribute to the bravery of the Ukrainian soldiers on the front line of the counter-offensive and said it was clear they were making good progress.

“He told President Zelensky that the UK was firmly behind Ukraine as it continued to push back invading Russian forces.

“Small steps forward would bring success, the Prime Minister added.”

The Ukrainian president said the pair discussed his country’s need for long-range weapons and pushed for tougher sanctions on Russia.

Mr Sunak, who visited Washington earlier this month for talks with US President Joe Biden, said the UK and US are “lockstep in their unwavering support for Ukraine“.

Both Mr Sunak and President Zelensky are expected to address the Ukraine Recovery Conference hosted by the UK this week.

Downing Street said the two leaders agreed it is “a unique opportunity to underline the strong public and private sector support for Ukraine, and demonstrate the country’s transformation and ongoing reform”.

Ukraine said to have recaptured village in Zaporizhzhia – as fierce fighting continues across frontline

Monday 19 June 2023 20:00 , Martha Mchardy

Ukraine is said to have recaptured its first village in several days – as fierce fighting continues across the frontline.

A Russian-installed official said Ukraine had recaptured Piatykhatky, a village in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, and were entrenching themselves there while coming under fire from Russian artillery.

“The enemy’s ‘wave-like’ offensives yielded results, despite enormous losses,” the official, Vladimir Rogov, said on the Telegram messaging app.

Mark Trevelyan reports:

Ukraine said to have recaptured village in Zaporizhzhia

Watch: Ukrainian soldiers rescue Russian troops left to drown after Kakhovka dam destruction

Monday 19 June 2023 19:30 , Martha Mchardy

Voices: People say Ukraine will never recover. They’re wrong

Monday 19 June 2023 19:00 , Martha Mchardy

From Bakhmut to Mariupol entire cityscapes have been devastated. But history also tells us that a durable peace is much likelier where planning for recovery begins early, writes Patrick Watt, chief executive of Christian Aid.

People say Ukraine will never recover. This is how we prove them wrong | Patrick Watt

Russia had means, motive and opportunity to destroy Ukraine dam, drone photos and information show

Monday 19 June 2023 18:30 , Martha Mchardy

Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to bring down a Ukrainian dam that collapsed earlier this month while under Russian control, according to exclusive drone photos and information obtained by The Associated Press.

Images taken from above the Kakhovka Dam and shared with the AP appear to show an explosive-laden car atop the structure, and two officials said Russian troops were stationed in a crucial area inside the dam where the Ukrainians say the explosion that destroyed it was centered. The Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The dam’s destruction led to deadly flooding, endangered crops in the world’s breadbasket, threatened drinking water supplies for thousands and unleashed an environmental catastrophe. Ukrainian commanders say it also scuppered some of their plans to take Russian positions in a counteroffensive that is now in its early stages.

Mstyslav Chernov and Lori Hinnant report:

Russia had means, motive and opportunity to destroy Ukraine dam, drone photos and information show

UN complains Russia won't let aid workers into areas hit by dam collapse in southern Ukraine

Monday 19 June 2023 18:00 , Martha Mchardy

The United Nations has rebuked Moscow for allegedly denying its aid workers access to Russian-occupied areas affected by the recent Kakhova dam collapse in southern Ukraine, which stranded residents, threatened power supplies and caused an environmental calamity as the war approaches 16 months.

The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said in a statement late Sunday that the organization has engaged with Moscow and Kyiv, each of which occupies parts of the southern Kherson region where the dam and reservoir are located, to address the “devastating destruction” caused by the breach.

The Russian government “has so far declined our request to access the areas under its temporary military control,” Brown said.

Susie Blann reports:

UN complains Russia won't let aid workers into areas hit by dam collapse in southern Ukraine

Sunak and Zelensky discuss progress in counter-offensive against Russia

Monday 19 June 2023 17:30 , Martha Mchardy

Ukraine’s counter-offensive against the Russian invasion is clearly making “good progress”, Rishi Sunak has told Volodymyr Zelensky.

The two leaders spoke on Monday morning as Kyiv’s troops – backed with Western military equipment from the UK, US and allies – are seeking to retake territory occupied by Vladimir Putin’s forces.

The Prime Minister said the UK is firmly behind Ukraine and “small steps forward will bring success”.

David Hughes reports:

Sunak and Zelensky discuss progress in counter-offensive against Russia

‘I want concrete membership prospects’ for Ukraine from Nato, says Zelensky

Monday 19 June 2023 16:57 , Martha Mchardy

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he wants “concrete membership prospects” for Ukraine from Nato, ahead of the alliance summit in Lithuania in July.

UK prime minister Rishi Sunak said the alliance will “demonstrate a strong signal of support,” during a call with president Zelensky today.

In his call with Mr Sunak, the Ukrainian president said they discussed “further co-operation to expand Ukraine‘s capabilities on the battlefield, in particular through long-range weapons”.

Earlier today, Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said alliance leaders will not issue an invitation for Ukraine to join Nato at the summit in Vilnius in mid-July.

Zelensky thanks World Bank for support after Kakhovka dam collapse

Monday 19 June 2023 16:30 , Martha Mchardy

In a tweet, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he had a phone call with World Bank president Ajay Banga.

Ukraine’s president said he thanked the World Bank for its “unwavering support” during the conversation, noting its response to the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam.

He added: “I invited the World Bank to reopen its representative office in Ukraine and emphasised that we are interested in cooperation during the post-war transformation of Ukraine, in particular, in overcoming corruption and reducing the share of cash in the Ukrainian economy.”

Today in pictures

Monday 19 June 2023 16:15 , Martha Mchardy

Russia will be ‘held to account,’ says foreign secretary as as new sanctions legislation announced

Monday 19 June 2023 15:45 , Martha Mchardy

Foreign secretary James Cleverly said Russia will be “held to account” as new sanctions legislation is announced by the UK.

In a tweet he said: “The UK can now maintain sanctions on Putin’s regime until Moscow pays compensation for their destruction of Ukraine.

Russia will be held to account. Ukraine will rebuild.”

Watch: Ukrainian soldiers rescue Russian troops left to drown after Kakhovka dam destruction

Monday 19 June 2023 15:45 , Martha Mchardy

Today in pictures

Monday 19 June 2023 15:15 , Martha Mchardy

Jailed Putin critic Navalny back in court for another trial – one that could keep him in prison for decades

Monday 19 June 2023 14:45 , Martha Mchardy

He is the man who who has been leading opposition to Russia’s president Vladimir Putin for a decade – organising mass protests and seeking to expose corruption by officials.

Alexei Navalny, 47, is now the country’s most prominent prisoner. He is currently serving sentences totalling more than nine years, having been arrested in January 2021 upon his return to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.

On Monday, he was in court facing the start of his latest trial on charges of extremism. Charges that could keep him behind bars for decades.

Frank Jordans reports:

Putin critic Navalny faces another trial that could keep him in jail for decades

Defence manufacturer Lockheed Martin ‘ready to help train Ukrainian pilots'

Monday 19 June 2023 14:33 , Martha Mchardy

US defence manufacturer Lockheed Martin said it stands ready to help Ukrainian pilots fly and maintain its F-16 fighter jets if Nato states agree to send them to help the country against Russian aggression, the Financial Times reported.

The company’s chief operating officer Frank St John said: “We are standing by, ready to not only backfill need as it arises with new F-16 builds but also any modifications to F-16s as well as training, equipment and systems.”

Russian diplomat says if grain deal ends, U.N. memorandum on exports will remain in place -RIA

Monday 19 June 2023 14:16 , Martha Mchardy

Russian deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko said that if the deal allowing safe exports of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea ends, Russia’s memorandum with the United Nations on facilitating its own exports will still be in force, Russian state news agency RIA reported on Monday.

Germany’s Scholz: possibility Ukraine war could last a while

Monday 19 June 2023 14:09 , Martha Mchardy

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday that Germany is prepared for the possibility that the war in Ukraine could still last for a while.

“We are preparing for that and adjusting our policies based on that,” he said at a news conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, adding that Germany would continue to support Ukraine for as long as necessary.

NATO summit will not formally invite Ukraine to join alliance -Stoltenberg

Monday 19 June 2023 14:07 , Martha Mchardy

NATO leaders will not issue an invitation for Ukraine to join the alliance at a summit in Vilnius in mid-July, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday.

“At the Vilnius summit and in the preparations for the summit, we are not discussing to issue a formal invitation,” he told reporters after meeting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, adding leaders would talk about how to move Ukraine closer to NATO.

At the same time, Stoltenberg warned against accepting a frozen conflict in Ukraine in return for an end to the war.

“We all want this war to end, but a just peace cannot mean freezing the conflict and accepting a deal dictated by Russia,” he said.

Russia bans human rights group it labels an ‘undesirable organisation’ -RIA

Monday 19 June 2023 13:41 , Martha Mchardy

Russia on Monday labelled the human rights group Agora as an “undesirable organisation”, effectively banning the organisation in the country, Russia’s state news agency RIA reported.

Agora specialised in providing legal help to people it believed were being unfairly persecuted by state officials and bodies.

Russian spy chief says loss of NATO-trained soldiers will reduce Kyiv’s combat potential -RIA

Monday 19 June 2023 13:38 , Martha Mchardy

The director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergei Naryshkin, said that the deaths of a large number of NATO-trained Ukrainian soldiers and the destruction of their hardware would undermine Ukrainian army combat capabilities, the Russian state news agency RIA reported on Monday.

Moscow has repeatedly said that Kyiv has suffered major losses, including of Western-supplied equipment, during its ongoing counteroffensive.

Britain plans to maintain Russian sanctions until Ukraine is compensated

Monday 19 June 2023 13:16 , Martha Mchardy

Britain on Monday introduced legislation that will allow it to keep sanctions against Russia in place until Moscow pays compensation to Ukraine, the British foreign ministry said.

“As Ukraine continues to defend itself against Russia’s invasion, the terrible impacts of Putin’s war are clear. Ukraine’s reconstruction needs are – and will be – immense,” Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said.

“Through our new measures today, we’re strengthening the UK’s sanctions approach, affirming that the UK is prepared to use sanctions to ensure Russia pays to repair the country it has so recklessly attacked,” he added.

Russian spy chief flags 'suspicious' Ukrainian nuclear activity

Monday 19 June 2023 11:48 , Martha Mchardy

One of Russia’s top spymasters said on Monday he hoped that the U.N. nuclear watchdog and the European Union would look into Ukrainian nuclear activity that he said might signal Kyiv was working on a “dirty bomb”.

Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service, did not provide documentary evidence to back his assertions.

The Ukrainian defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Kyiv has in the past said it takes its responsibilities for nuclear power very seriously while accusing Russia of recklessness when it comes to its occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine.

Naryshkin said in a statement that his service had information that a batch of “irradiated fuel” had secretly been sent from the Rivne nuclear plant in western Ukraine for disposal at a spent fuel storage facility in Chornobyl.

He said the action, which Reuters could not independently verify, was “suspicious” and could only be explained by Kyiv intending to create a “dirty bomb”, combining radioactive material with conventional explosives.

Russia has previously accused Ukraine, without providing evidence, of planning to use such a “dirty bomb”, amid fears on both sides that fighting around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which Russian forces seized a few days after invading Ukraine early last year, could lead to a disaster.

Dead fish cover bottom of dried up Kakhovka reservoir after collapse of dam

Monday 19 June 2023 11:43 , Martha Mchardy

We will ‘rebuild everything’ in Ukraine, says Zelensky

Monday 19 June 2023 11:04 , Martha Mchardy

“We will rebuild everything” in Ukraine, said Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

Mr Zelensky said in a Tweet on Tuesday: “Not a single ruin will be left in Ukraine. We will rebuild everything, restore everything, and we know exactly what steps need to be taken in what timeframe and with what resources to defeat Russian aggression with our reconstruction as well.

“When the ruins disappear, it is not just the aggressor who loses, but the very idea of aggression. And it will happen.”

Clear Ukrainian counteroffensive ‘making good progress,’ says Rishi Sunak

Monday 19 June 2023 10:59 , Martha Mchardy

Rishi Sunak told Volodymyr Zelensky it was clear the Ukrainian counteroffensive was “making good progress” when the two leaders spoke this morning.

Both men will speak at a conference in London this week on Ukraine’s recovery.

A Downing Street spokesman said the prime minister “paid tribute to the bravery of the Ukrainian soldiers on the frontline”.

“He told president Zelensky that the UK was firmly behind Ukraine as it continued to push back invading Russian forces,” the spokesman said.

“Small steps forward would bring success, the prime minister added.”

Watch: Ukrainian soldiers rescue Russian troops left to drown after Kakhovka dam destruction

Monday 19 June 2023 10:56 , Martha Mchardy

Ukrainian special forces rescued a number of Russian soldiers from flooding after the Kakhovka dam was destroyed.

Footage shows boats picking up the four men, who were trapped “up to their necks” when water inundated their trench.

“The Russian soldiers were already weakened and close to death,” Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence wrote, sharing the footage on social media.

Other Russians occupying the area began to shoot at the boat from nearby positions during the rescue, according to Ukraine’s MoD.

The rescued soldiers were then taken back to the Ukrainian base and added to the prisoner of war “exchange fund”.

Click here to watch:

Ukrainian soldiers rescue Russian troops left to drown after Kakhovka dam destruction

Ukraine says eight villages retaken from Russian forces in two weeks

Monday 19 June 2023 10:51 , Martha Mchardy

Ukraine confirmed on Monday it had driven Russian forces from an eighth village in its two-week-old counteroffensive in a heavily fortified part of the front line on the most direct route to the country’s Azov Sea coast.

A Russian-installed official said on Sunday that Ukraine had taken control of the village, Piatykhatky, in the southern Zaporizhzhia region. He later said Moscow had pushed them out and on Monday morning he said Ukraine was attacking again.

Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian forces had not only retaken Piatykhatky but had advanced by up to seven km (4.3 miles) into Russian lines in two weeks, capturing 113 square km (44 square miles) of land.

“In the course of two weeks of offensive operations in the Berdiansk and Melitopol directions, eight settlements were liberated,” Maliar said on Telegram, referring to two cities on the Russian-occupied coastline.

The reported capture of the villages reflects incremental gains for Ukraine that highlight the challenge of breaking through lines Moscow has spent months strengthening. Piatykhatky is significant, however, as lies around 90 km from the coast.

Kremlin says it will stay in touch with African peace mission

Monday 19 June 2023 10:50 , Martha Mchardy

The Kremlin said on Monday it would continue to talk to a group of African countries seeking to mediate in the conflict with Ukraine, notably at a Russia-Africa summit next month.

President Vladimir Putin on Saturday gave the seven-country African delegation that had come to see him in St Petersburg a list of reasons why he believed many of their proposals were misguided, pouring cold water on a plan already largely dismissed by Kyiv.

Kremlin says it declined U.N. help in flood zone over 'security concerns'

Monday 19 June 2023 10:49 , Martha Mchardy

The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia’s decision to decline U.N. help in areas of Russian-held Ukraine flooded by the Kakhovka dam breach was motivated by security concerns and “other nuances”.

The United Nations said on Sunday that Moscow had declined its offers of help as the death toll rose and filthy water forced the closure of beaches in southern Ukraine.

The collapse of the Moscow-controlled dam on June 6 unleashed floodwaters across southern Ukraine and Russian-controlled parts of the Kherson region, destroying homes and farmland, and cutting off supplies to residents.

Monday 19 June 2023 10:25 , Martha Mchardy

Jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny appeared before a Russian court on Monday to face new charges of extremism that could extend his prison term by decades.

The hearing took place at the IK-6 penal colony in Melekhovo, about 235 km (145 miles) east of Moscow, where Navalny is already serving sentences totalling 11 and a half years.

His supporters accuse Russian authorities of trying to break him in prison to silence his criticism of President Vladimir Putin, something the Kremlin denies.

An entry in the court record last month showed the new charges relate to six different articles of the Russian criminal code, including inciting and financing extremist activity and creating an extremist organisation.

Russia has outlawed Navalny’s campaign organisation as part of a crackdown on dissent that started well before the conflict in Ukraine and has intensified in the nearly 16 months since it started. Last week one of his regional campaign leaders was jailed for seven and a half years.

In a tweet posted on his account by his supporters last month, Navalny responded with typical irony to the new charges.

“Well, Alexei, you’re in some real trouble now ... The Prosecutor General’s Office has officially provided me with 3,828 pages describing all the crimes I’ve committed while already imprisoned.”

It was not immediately clear which specific actions or incidents the new charges referred to.

One relates to “rehabilitation of Nazism” - a possible reference to Navalny’s declarations of support for Ukraine, whose government Russia accuses of embodying Nazi ideology. Ukraine and its Western allies dismiss that charge as baseless.

In April, investigators formally linked Navalny supporters to the murder of Vladlen Tatarsky, a popular military blogger and supporter of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine who was killed by a bomb in St Petersburg.

Russia’s National Anti-terrorism Committee (NAC) said Ukrainian intelligence had organised the bombing with help from Navalny’s supporters.

This appeared to be a reference to the fact that a suspect arrested over the killing once registered to take part in an anti-Kremlin voting scheme promoted by Navalny’s movement.

Navalny allies denied any connection to the killing. Ukraine attributed it to “domestic terrorism”.

Ukraine downs four cruise missiles and four drones overnight

Monday 19 June 2023 10:14 , Martha Mchardy

Four Kalibr missiles and four Iranian-made Shahed drones were shot down overnight by Ukraine, the country’s Air Force said.

Russia launched an attack on south and south-east Ukraine overnight with cruise missiles and self-exploding drones, according to Ukraine.

According to regional officials, the southern province of Odesa and the south-eastern Dnipropetrovsk region were targeted by the attack. No casualties or damage were immediately reported.

UN says Russia won’t let aid workers into areas hit by dam collapse in southern Ukraine

Monday 19 June 2023 09:37 , Martha Mchardy

The United Nations has rebuked Moscow for allegedly denying its aid workers access to Russian-occupied areas affected by the recent Kakhova dam collapse in southern Ukraine, which stranded residents, threatened power supplies and caused an environmental calamity as the war approaches 16 months.

The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said in a statement late Sunday that the organization has engaged with Moscow and Kyiv, each of which occupies parts of the southern Kherson region where the dam and reservoir are located, to address the “devastating destruction” caused by the breach.

The Russian government “has so far declined our request to access the areas under its temporary military control,” Brown said.

“We urge the Russian authorities to act in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law,” her statement added.

Russian military warns of risk of mosquito-borne diseases after Ukraine flooding

Monday 19 June 2023 09:33 , Martha Mchardy

The Russian Defence Ministry said on Monday that flooding in the Kherson region after the breach of Ukraine’s huge Kakhovka Dam could lead to mosquito-borne diseases such as West Nile Fever breaking out in the area.

Russian forces partially control part of the southern Kherson region, which Ukraine has vowed to retake by force.

The Russia-controlled Kakhovka dam collapsed earlier this month, causing flooding that has killed at least 52 people.

Ukraine has blamed Russia for the collapse of the dam, with the Ukrainian military claiming it was Russia’s attempt to prevent Ukrainian troops from crossing the Dnipro to attack the occupying forces.

Meanwhile, Russia has blamed Kyiv for sabotaging the dam by cutting off water supplies to Crimea and to distract attention from its alleged faltering counteroffensive.

Russia’s Lavrov: West trying to undermine Russia’s stability ahead of 2024 election

Monday 19 June 2023 09:31 , Martha Mchardy

Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday accused the West of trying to undermine the stability of the Russian domestic political scene ahead of a planned presidential election next year.

Ukraine reports new retaken village in southern counterattack

Monday 19 June 2023 09:06 , Martha Mchardy

Ukraine said on Monday its forces had recaptured Piatykhatky, a village on the road to one of the most heavily defended areas of the Russian-occupied south, and that they had retaken 113 square km (44 square miles) of land in the last two weeks.

Ukrainian soldiers held up yellow-and-blue national flags in a video circulated on social media, in which they said they were inside Piatykhatky, the eighth southeastern village that Kyiv says it has liberated.

“Today, June 18, the forces of 128 assault brigade chased out the Russians from the village of Piatykhatky. The Russians ran away leaving equipment and ammunition. Glory to Ukraine!” an unidentified soldier said.

A Russian-installed official in the partially occupied Zaporizhzhia region had said on Sunday that Kyiv’s troops had retaken Piatykhatky, but that they had then been pushed out and that the settlement was now located in a “grey” area of control.

Deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian forces had not only retaken Piatykhatky but had advanced by up to seven km (4.3 miles) into Russian lines in two weeks.

“In the course of two weeks of offensive operations in the Berdiansk and Melitopol directions, eight settlements were liberated,” Maliar wrote on the Telegram messenger.

Drone footage shows car filled with explosives on Kakhovka dam

Monday 19 June 2023 08:52 , Martha Mchardy

Drone footage has emerged allegedly showing a car filled with explosives on the Kakhovka dam when it collapsed earlier in the month.

Two Ukrainian military officials told the Associated Press that Russian troops were in the same area inside the dam where Ukraine claims that the explosion took place.

The Russian Defence Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

The Russia-controlled Kakhovka dam collapsed earlier this month, causing flooding that has killed at least 52 people.

Ukraine has blamed Russia for the collapse of the dam, with the Ukrainian military claiming it was Russia’s attempt to prevent Ukrainian troops from crossing the Dnipro to attack the occupying forces.

Meanwhile, Russia has blamed Kyiv for sabotaging the dam by cutting off water supplies to Crimea and to distract attention from its alleged faltering counteroffensive.

Russia says it repelled Ukrainian attack on Novodonetske village in counteroffensive zone

Monday 19 June 2023 08:21 , Martha Mchardy

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Monday its forces had thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to take the village of Novodonetske in the eastern Donetsk region, one of the areas where Kyiv’s counteroffensive has been focused.

The ministry said in a statement that marines from Russia’s Pacific Fleet had pushed back the overnight attack and destroyed Ukrainian armoured vehicles.

It released a video of what it said was the aftermath of the battle showing what one soldier heard talking in it said was a captured French-made tank.

The reports could not be independently verified.

Deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said on Monday that Kyiv’s forces had liberated eight settlements in the past two weeks of their offensive operations.

Russia says it thwarted ‘Ukrainian terrorist plots’ against Russian-backed officials

Monday 19 June 2023 08:04 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia‘s FSB security service said on Monday it had thwarted a series of Ukrainian “sabotage and terrorist plots” targeting Russian-backed officials on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine and had arrested one woman as part of its investigation.

The FSB said in a statement that the attacks had targeted Russian law enforcement officials and Russian-installed government officials in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, one of four areas in Ukraine that Moscow says it has annexed since the start of what it calls its “special military operation.”

Kyiv is currently mounting a counteroffensive to retake what it and the West say was illegally seized territory. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine on the Russian allegations.

The FSB said it had opened criminal cases against an unnamed woman it described as “an accomplice” on charges related to terrorism and the illegal possession of explosives.

Putin’s casualties at highest level since battle for Bakhmut, UK says

Monday 19 June 2023 07:40 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia has suffered its highest losses since the peak of the battle for Bakhmut in March, British officials have said.

The UK military said both sides are suffering high numbers of military casualties as Ukraine fights to dislodge the Kremlin‘s forces from occupied areas in the early stages of its counter-offensive.

According to British intelligence, the most intense fighting has centred on the southeastern Zaporizhzhia province, around Bakhmut and further west in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province.

While the update reported that Ukraine was on the offensive in these areas and had “made small advances,” it said that Russian forces were conducting “relatively effective defensive operations” in Ukraine’s south.

The Ukrainian military said in a regular update Sunday morning that over the previous 24 hours, Russia had carried out 43 airstrikes, four missile strikes and 51 attacks from multiple rocket launchers.

Britain says Russia has likely started redeploying its Dnipro troops

Monday 19 June 2023 07:18 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Britain’s Ministry of Defence said on Monday that over the last 10 days, Russia has likely started relocating elements of its Dnipro Group of Forces (DGF) from the eastern bank of the Dnipro river to reinforce the Zaporizhzhia and Bakhmut sectors.

The DGF redeployment likely reflects Russia‘s perception that a major Ukrainian attack across the Dnipro river is now less likely following the collapse of Kakhovka Dam and the resulting flooding, the ministry said in an update.

Ukrainian troops moving forward, says Zelensky

Monday 19 June 2023 06:10 , Arpan Rai

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukrainian troops are advancing in the war and now Russia’s primary focus should now be to prepare its society for the consequences of destroying its own future as Moscow will lose the war.

“Their only concern now should be how to prepare their society, Russian society, to the fact that they will lose everything they are destroying the future of their state for. Russia will lose the occupied territories. There is no and will be no alternative to our steps for de-occupation,” Mr Zelensky said, without referencing to counter-offensive action in the battlefield.

Our troops are advancing, position by position, step by step, we are moving forward, he said.

Russia rejects UN help as death toll from breached Kakhovka dam rises

Monday 19 June 2023 04:34 , Arpan Rai

Russia has rejected an offer from the United Nations to help affected residents in the flooding after the Nova Kakhovka dam breach, officials said.

The UN urged Russia to act in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law. “Aid cannot be denied to people who need it,” Denise Brown, UN humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, said in a statement.

Ukraine accuses Russia of blowing up the Soviet-era dam, under Russian control since early days of its invasion in 2022.

The death toll from flooding in the region has risen to 52, with Russian officials saying 35 people had died in Moscow-controlled areas and Ukraine‘s interior ministry saying 17 had died and 31 were missing. More than 11,000 have been evacuated on both sides.

A team of international legal experts assisting Ukraine‘s prosecutors in their investigation said it was “highly likely” the dam’s collapse was caused by explosives planted by Russians.

Wagner’s 32,000 prison fighters return to Russia from Ukraine

Monday 19 June 2023 03:57 , Arpan Rai

Around 32,000 prisoners recruited by Russian mercenary group Wagner have returned to Russia.

These thousands of prisoners have returned to Russia after their contracts with the mercenary group expired, said its chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Prigozhin added that the prisoners whose Wagner contracts expired had committed 83 crimes after they returned to Russia. He claimed that this crime rate is less than for other former convicts.

In pictures: Rally in support of Ukrainian prisoners of war held in Kyiv

Monday 19 June 2023 03:00 , Martha Mchardy

Putin and South African president meet for talks

Monday 19 June 2023 02:00 , Martha Mchardy

At talks in St Petersburg on Saturday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa presented Putin with a 10-point peace initiative from seven African countries and told him the time had come for Russia and Ukraine to start negotiations to end the war.

Putin responded by rattling off a string of familiar accusations denied by Ukraine and the West and saying it was Kyiv, not Moscow, that was refusing to talk. He thanked Ramaphosa for his “noble mission”.

Russian news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying Putin had shown interest in the plan but it would be “difficult to realise”.

In Kyiv the previous day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had told the African delegation - the first since the start of the war to hold separate face-to-face talks with both leaders on their peace initiative - that allowing negotiations now would just “freeze the war” and the suffering of the Ukrainian people.

The vast gulf between the two sides was further underlined when Putin used a flagship economic forum on Friday to slur Zelenskiy personally and to restate the objectives of “demilitarising” and “denazifying” Ukraine that he set out on day one of the war, and which Kyiv and the West reject as a false pretext for invasion.

However, Ramaphosa sought to cast the trip to Ukraine and Russia in a positive light, tweeting on Sunday that the “Africa Peace Initiative has been impactful and its ultimate success will be measured on the objective, which is stopping the war”.

He said the Africans would keep talking to both Putin and Zelenskiy and would brief U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on their efforts so far.

ICYMI: Ukrainians rescued from Russian-held flood zones in Kherson

Monday 19 June 2023 01:00 , Martha Mchardy

ICYMI: Death toll rises from flooding after Ukraine dam breach

Monday 19 June 2023 00:00 , Martha Mchardy

The death toll from flooding following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam has risen to 16 in Ukraine, Kyiv officials said, while Russian officials said 29 people have died in territories that Moscow controls.

The breaching of the Kakhovka Dam on June 6 unleashed floodwaters across a large swath of land in southern Ukraine and in Russia-occupied parts of Ukraine, destroying farmland and cutting off supplies to civilians.

More than 3,600 people have been evacuated from the flooded areas in the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, while 31 people were still missing and some 1,300 houses remained flooded, Ukraine’s interior ministry said on its Telegram channel late on Saturday.

Andrei Alekseyenko, chairman of the Russian-installed administration in the Moscow-occupied parts of the Kherson region, said on the Telegram messaging app the death toll had risen to 29 people.

Ukraine accuses Russia of blowing up the Soviet-era dam, under Russian control since early days of its invasion in 2022.

A team of international legal experts assisting Ukraine’s prosecutors in their investigation said in preliminary findings on Friday it was “highly likely” the collapse in Ukraine’s Kherson region was caused by explosives planted by Russians. The Kremlin accuses Kyiv of sabotaging the hydroelectric dam, which held a reservoir the size of the U.S. Great Salt Lake, to cut off a key source of water for Crimea and distract attention from a “faltering” counter-offensive against Russian forces.

Russia had means, motive and opportunity to destroy Ukraine dam, drone photos and information show

Sunday 18 June 2023 23:19 , William Mata

Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to bring down a Ukrainian dam that collapsed earlier this month while under Russian control, according to exclusive drone photos and information obtained by The Associated Press.

Images taken from above the Kakhovka Dam and shared with the AP appear to show an explosive-laden car atop the structure, and two officials said Russian troops were stationed in a crucial area inside the dam where the Ukrainians say the explosion that destroyed it was centered.

The Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The dam’s destruction led to deadly flooding, endangered crops in the world’s breadbasket, threatened drinking water supplies for thousands and unleashed an environmental catastrophe.

Ukrainian commanders say it also scuppered some of their plans to take Russian positions in a counteroffensive that is now in its early stages.

Putin shows off what he claims is ‘draft peace agreement’ with Ukraine - that they ‘refused to sign’

Sunday 18 June 2023 23:00 , Martha Mchardy

A new clip has emerged of Vladimir Putin showing African leaders what he claims to be a ‘draft peace agreement’ with Ukraine.

The Russian president claimed that Ukraine had allegedly ‘refused to sign it’ so it was ‘thrown into the rubbish heap of history’.

“This draft of the treaty was initialed by the leader of the negotiation group from Kyiv. He put his signature. There it exists,” he told the room, holding up the document.

“Where are the guarantees that they will not renounce any other agreements in the future?”

Kyiv has not commented on the footage.

Sophie Thompson reports:

Putin shows off what he claims is ‘draft peace agreement’ with Ukraine

Russia reports fierce fighting as African peace mission leaves empty-handed

Sunday 18 June 2023 22:00 , Martha Mchardy

Russia reported fierce fighting on Sunday on three sections of the front line in Ukraine, a day after hosting an African peace mission that failed to spark enthusiasm from either Moscow or Kyiv.

A Russian-installed official said Ukraine had recaptured Piatykhatky, a village in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, and were entrenching themselves there while coming under fire from Russian artillery.

“The enemy’s ‘wave-like’ offensives yielded results, despite enormous losses,” the official, Vladimir Rogov, said on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia’s defence ministry made no mention of Piatykhatky in its daily update, in which it said its forces had repelled Ukrainian attacks in three sections of the 1,000 km (600 mile) front line. A separate statement from Russia’s Vostok group of forces said Ukraine had failed to take the settlement.

The reports could not be independently verified.

Ukraine said to have recaptured village in Zaporizhzhia

Sunday 18 June 2023 21:51 , William Mata / Mark Trevelyan

Ukraine is said to have recaptured its first village in several days – as fierce fighting continues across the frontline.

A Russian-installed official said Ukraine had recaptured Piatykhatky, a village in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, and were entrenching themselves there while coming under fire from Russian artillery.

"The enemy's 'wave-like' offensives yielded results, despite enormous losses," the official, Vladimir Rogov, said on the Telegram messaging app.

Read Mark Trevelyan’s full story here.

UN says Russia so far declining aid access after Ukraine dam burst

Sunday 18 June 2023 21:32 , Reuters

The United Nations said on Sunday that Russia has "so far declined our request to access the areas under its temporary military control" after the Kakhovka Dam burst on June 6, unleashing floodwaters and cutting off supplies to civilians.

“The UN will continue to engage to seek the necessary access. We urge the Russian authorities to act in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law," U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said in a statement. "Aid cannot be denied to people who need it.”

Ukraine's Zelenskiy: 'very effective' repelling of assaults near Avdiivka in east

Sunday 18 June 2023 21:12 , Reuters

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday praised Ukrainian forces for their “very effective” repelling of enemy assaults near Avdiivka, one of the focal points of fighting in the east.

“The Avdiivka sector is very effective in repelling assaults,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

The head of the military administration in Avdiivka, a mining town shattered by months of fighting, told national television that Ukrainian forces had advanced about one km (two-thirds of a mile) around the town over the past two weeks.

In his remarks, Mr Zelensky also said the Tavria, or southern front, was “the most brutal” and expressed gratitude to soldiers fighting there and elsewhere. Ukrainian military officials have noted progress in advances of troops on the southern front.

Latest pictures from Donetsk front line

Sunday 18 June 2023 21:00 , Martha Mchardy

ICYMI: Rishi Sunak calls on private firms to step up support to boost economic recovery for Ukraine

Sunday 18 June 2023 20:00 , Martha Mchardy

Rishi Sunak will call on businesses and investors to “match Ukraine’s bravery on the battlefield” by stepping up support for the country’s economic recovery.

The prime minister will urge the private sector to “help the country rebuild and recover” in an effort to create a “financially stronger, technologically advanced Ukraine”.

Mr Sunak will address more than 1,000 foreign dignitaries from 61 states at the Ukraine Recovery Conference next week – the largest international conference to be hosted by the UK this year.

Archie Mitchell reports:

Rishi Sunak calls on private firms to step up support for Ukraine

Voices: People say Ukraine will never recover. They’re wrong

Sunday 18 June 2023 19:00 , Martha Mchardy

From Bakhmut to Mariupol entire cityscapes have been devastated. But history also tells us that a durable peace is much likelier where planning for recovery begins early, writes Patrick Watt, chief executive of Christian Aid.

People say Ukraine will never recover. This is how we prove them wrong | Patrick Watt

Both sides suffer heavy casualties as Ukraine strikes back against Russia, UK assessment says

Sunday 18 June 2023 18:36 , AP

Russia and Ukraine are suffering high numbers of military casualties as Ukraine fights to dislodge the Kremlin’s forces from occupied areas in the early stages of its counteroffensive, British officials said Sunday.

Russian losses are probably at their highest level since the peak of the battle for Bakhmut in March, UK military officials said in their regular assessment.

According to British intelligence, the most intense fighting has centered on the southeastern Zaporizhzhia province, around Bakhmut and further west in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province.

While the update reported that Ukraine was on the offensive in these areas and had “made small advances,” it said that Russian forces were conducting “relatively effective defensive operations” in Ukraine’s south.

The Ukrainian military said in a regular update Sunday morning that over the previous 24 hours Russia had carried out 43 airstrikes, four missile strikes and 51 attacks from multiple rocket launchers.

According to the statement by the General Staff, Russia continues to concentrate its efforts on offensive operations in Ukraine’s industrial east, focusing attacks around Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Marinka and Lyman in Donetsk province, with 26 combat clashes taking place.

Both sides suffer heavy casualties as Ukraine strikes back against Russia, UK assessment says

Sunday 18 June 2023 18:00 , Martha Mchardy

Russia and Ukraine are suffering high numbers of military casualties as Ukraine fights to dislodge the Kremlin’s forces from occupied areas in the early stages of its counteroffensive, British officials said Sunday.

Russian losses are probably at their highest level since the peak of the battle for Bakhmut in March, U.K. military officials said in their regular assessment.

According to British intelligence, the most intense fighting has centered on the southeastern Zaporizhzhia province, around Bakhmut and further west in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province. While the update reported that Ukraine was on the offensive in these areas and had “made small advances,” it said that Russian forces were conducting “relatively effective defensive operations” in Ukraine’s south.

Read the full story:

Both sides suffer heavy casualties as Ukraine strikes back against Russia, UK assessment says

Watch: Putin holds up 'draft peace agreement' with Ukraine

Sunday 18 June 2023 17:00 , Martha Mchardy

Russia says it repels Ukrainian attacks on three sections of front line

Sunday 18 June 2023 16:00 , Tara Cobham

Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday its forces had repelled a series of Ukrainian attacks across three sections of the front line, where it said Ukraine was pressing most actively in the Zaporizhzhia region.

The battlefield reports could not be independently verified.

The statement did not mention the settlement of Piatykhatky in Zaporizhzhia region, which a Russian-installed official said earlier had been taken by Ukraine.

Watch: Putin claims to show off ‘draft peace agreement’ with Ukraine

Sunday 18 June 2023 15:00 , Tara Cobham

A new clip has emerged of Vladimir Putin showing African leaders what he claims to be a ‘draft peace agreement’ with Ukraine.

The Russian president claimed that Ukraine had allegedly ‘refused to sign it’ so it was ‘thrown into the rubbish heap of history’.

“This draft of the treaty was initialed by the leader of the negotiation group from Kyiv. He put his signature. There it exists,” he told the room, holding up the document.

“Where are the guarantees that they will not renounce any other agreements in the future?”

Kyiv has not commented on the footage.

Putin shows off what he claims is ‘draft peace agreement’ with Ukraine

Europe to accelerate arms shipments to Ukraine - EU industry chief

Sunday 18 June 2023 14:00 , Tara Cobham

The European Union is speeding up arms deliveries to Ukraine in support of the country's counter offensive against Russian forces, EU industry chief Thierry Breton said on Sunday in an interview with the French daily Le Parisien.

"We are going to step up our efforts to deliver arms and ammunition-- this is a war of high intensity in which they play a crucial role," Breton said, citing a pledge to supply a million high-calibre weapons over the next 12 months.

"We are preparing for the war to last several more months, or even longer," he added.

Ukraine launched a counteroffensive earlier this month to retake territory from Russian forces, and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last Thursday urged Kyiv's allies to "dig deep" to provide more arms and ammunition.

Putin’s forces ‘abandon’ village as it's reportedly recaptured by Kyiv

Sunday 18 June 2023 12:28 , Martha Mchardy

Vladimir Putin’s forces “have abandoned” the village of Piatykhatky on the Zaporizhzhia front after it was reportedly recaptured by Kyiv, according to Russian military blogger War Gonzo.

It is Ukraine’s first village gain for nearly a week and marks a significant escalation of Ukraine’s counter-offensive which was launched earlier this month.

The military blogger suggested Ukraine has concentrated large reserves and “heavy armoured vehicles” in the area, which is the most direct route to Crimea.

Russian-installed official Vladimir Rogov claimed on Sunday that Ukrainian forces had taken the settlement of Piatykhatky and were entrenching themselves there while coming under fire from Russian artillery.

However, he said heavy fighting continues in the area. The reports have not been independently verified.

Russia claims it is inflicting heavy losses on Kyiv’s forces and president Putin said last week that Ukraine had “no chance” of success in the counter-offensive.

Meanwhile, Ukraine said last week it had regained control of about 100 square km (38 square miles) of territory in just over a week, recapturing a string of villages in Donetsk region to the east.

Death toll rises from flooding after Ukraine dam breach

Sunday 18 June 2023 12:20 , Tara Cobham

The death toll from flooding following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam has risen to 16 in Ukraine, Kyiv officials said, while Russian officials said 29 people have died in territories that Moscow controls.

The breaching of the Kakhovka Dam on June 6 unleashed floodwaters across a large swath of land in southern Ukraine and in Russia-occupied parts of Ukraine, destroying farmland and cutting off supplies to civilians.

More than 3,600 people have been evacuated from the flooded areas in the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, while 31 people were still missing and some 1,300 houses remained flooded, Ukraine's interior ministry said on its Telegram channel late on Saturday.

Andrei Alekseyenko, chairman of the Russian-installed administration in the Moscow-occupied parts of the Kherson region, said on the Telegram messaging app the death toll had risen to 29 people.

Ukraine accuses Russia of blowing up the Soviet-era dam, under Russian control since early days of its invasion in 2022.

A team of international legal experts assisting Ukraine's prosecutors in their investigation said in preliminary findings on Friday it was "highly likely" the collapse in Ukraine's Kherson region was caused by explosives planted by Russians. The Kremlin accuses Kyiv of sabotaging the hydroelectric dam, which held a reservoir the size of the U.S. Great Salt Lake, to cut off a key source of water for Crimea and distract attention from a "faltering" counter-offensive against Russian forces.

Ukrainian counteroffensive on four sections of front on Saturday - ISW

Sunday 18 June 2023 11:20 , Tara Cobham

Ukraine continued its counteroffensive on at least four sections of the front on Saturday, according to the Institute of War (ISW).

Putin lectures African leaders seeking peace in Ukraine

Sunday 18 June 2023 10:20 , Tara Cobham

Russian President Vladimir Putin interrupted opening remarks by African leaders seeking peace in the Ukraine conflict to deliver a list of reasons – including his tried-and-tested tactic of blaming the West – as to why he claims many of their proposals are misguided.

Mr Putin first welcomed the presidents of Comoros, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia, as well as Egypt's prime minister and top envoys from the Republic of Congo and Uganda to the 18th-century Konstantinovsky Palace on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland. He stressed Russia's commitment to the continent. But after presentations from the Comoran, Senegalese and South African leaders, he stepped in to challenge the assumptions of the plan before the round of comments from all the representatives could go any further.

Kevin Liffey reports:

Putin lectures African leaders seeking peace in Ukraine – as they say war must end

Prigozhin ‘disinterested in subordinating Wagner to Russian Defence Ministry' - ISW

Sunday 18 June 2023 09:20 , Tara Cobham

Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin has continued to show disinterest in formally subordinating the private military company to the Russian Defence Ministry, according to the Institute of War (ISW).

It said his behaviour suggests he is unlikely to do so unless such a move would give him more political power in Russia.

Prigozhin “sarcastically criticised” the Russian Defence Ministry’s efforts at formalisation on Saturday, added the policy research organisation, having previously signalled he was on board with the order for volunteer formations to sign formal contracts by 1 July.

Sunak calls on private firms to step up support for Ukraine economic recovery

Sunday 18 June 2023 08:20 , Tara Cobham

Rishi Sunak will call on businesses and investors to “match Ukraine’s bravery on the battlefield” by stepping up support for the country’s economic recovery.

The prime minister will urge the private sector to “help the country rebuild and recover” in an effort to create a “financially stronger, technologically advanced Ukraine”.

Mr Sunak will address more than 1,000 foreign dignitaries from 61 states at the Ukraine Recovery Conference next week – the largest international conference to be hosted by the UK this year.

The audience will also contain business chiefs and global investors.

Archie Mitchell reports:

Rishi Sunak calls on private firms to step up support for Ukraine

‘Significant’ Russian ammunition depot destroyed in Kherson

Sunday 18 June 2023 07:00 , Adam Withnall

The Ukrainian military says it has destroyed a “significant” ammunition depot near the Russian-occupied port city of Henichesk in the southern region of Kherson.

Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesperson for the Odesa military administration, said on Sunday: “Our armed forces dealt a good blow in the morning - and a very loud one - in the village of Rykove, Henichesk district, in the temporarily occupied territory of the Kherson region.

“There was a very significant ammunition depot. It was destroyed.”

Ukrainian media posted videos showing a vast plume of smoke rising far on the horizon with sounds of blasts.

Reuters said it could not independently verify the information, and there was no immediate comment from Russia on the alleged attack.

Rykove is about 20km (12 miles) from Henichesk, a port city along the Sea of Azov in southern Ukraine, which has been occupied by Kremlin forces since the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Evidence clearly points to Russia blowing up Kahkovka dam, investigations find

Sunday 18 June 2023 06:28 , Adam Withnall

Multiple investigations published late last week added to the body of evidence suggesting Russia was responsible for the destruction of the Soviet-era New Kahkovka dam in Ukraine earlier this month.

The dam’s destruction unleashed a torrent of water flooding a large stretch of the Kherson region, with officials warning it could lead to water shortages and other long-term impacts for decades to come.

Russia has denied blowing up the dam and blamed it on Ukrainian forces, while Kyiv said it believed Moscow ordered the dam’s destruction in order to slow down its long-awaited military counteroffensive.

Now, a team of international legal experts assisting Ukraine’s prosecutors in their investigation said in preliminary findings on Friday it was “highly likely” the collapse in Ukraine’s Kherson region was caused by explosives planted by Russians.

And an investigation published by the New York Times described the destruction of the dam – which was controlled by Russia at the time – as an “inside job”.

The Times investigation cited engineers and explosive experts, analysing available videos, photographs and satellite imagery of the dam, to conclude that “the evidence clearly suggests the dam was crippled by an explosion set off by the side that controls it: Russia”.

It described the dam as virtually indestructible from external forces such as shelling, instead saying that evidence suggests an explosive charge in a passageway running through the dam’s concrete base was detonated, destroying the structure.

The Times cited engineers as saying only a full examination of the dam after the water drains from it could conclusively establish the sequence of events leading to its destruction.

“Erosion from water cascading through the gates could have led to a failure if the dam were poorly designed, or the concrete was substandard, but engineers called that unlikely,” the newspaper said.

Little to show for ‘peace plan’ meeting between Putin and African leaders

Sunday 18 June 2023 05:21 , Adam Withnall

Russia’s president Vladimir Putin met a group of leaders of African countries yesterday, after they travelled to Ukraine and Russia on a self-styled “peace mission”, but the meeting ended with no visible progress.

The seven African leaders – presidents of Comoros, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia, as well as Egypt’s prime minister and top envoys from the Republic of Congo and Uganda – first visited Ukraine on Friday and met with president Volodymyr Zelensky as they discussed efforts to end the nearly 16-month-old war.

The African leaders then travelled to St Petersburg on Saturday to meet Mr Putin, who was attending Russia’s showpiece international economic forum.

Details about the delegation’s proposals were thin.

Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said after the three-hour meeting that the Africans’ peace plan consisted of 10 elements, but “was not formulated on paper”.

“The peace initiative proposed by African countries is very difficult to implement, difficult to compare positions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

But “President Putin has shown interest in considering it”.

“He spoke about our position. Not all provisions can be correlated with the main elements of our position, but this does not mean that we do not need to continue working,” Mr Peskov said.

Sunak to ask businesses to back Ukraine

Sunday 18 June 2023 04:51 , Stuti Mishra

British prime minister Rishi Sunak will ask entrepreneurs and businesses to step up investment in Ukraine at a conference next week to help it rebuild after Russia’s invasion.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky will make a virtual appearance at the two-day event which starts in London on Wednesday, organisers said.

“Ukraine’s bravery on the battlefield must be matched by the vision of the private sector to help the country rebuild and recover,” Mr Sunak will say, according to the text of his speech released by his office yesterday

“A financially stronger, technologically advanced Ukraine will bolster its ability to drive Russia back behind its borders,” Mr Sunak will tell dignitaries and company bosses at the Ukraine Recovery Conference, according to the statement.

Blinken arrives in China with Ukraine war on the agenda

Sunday 18 June 2023 04:30 , Stuti Mishra

US secretary of state Antony Blinken arrived in Beijing this morning on a high-stakes diplomatic mission to try to cool high US-China tensions that have set many around the world on edge.

The list of disagreements and potential conflict points is long: ranging from trade with Taiwan, human rights conditions in China to Hong Kong, as well as the Chinese military assertiveness in the South China Sea to Russia's war in Ukraine.

Mr Blinken was to begin two days of talks with senior Chinese officials in the afternoon. He is the highest-level American official to visit China since president Joe Biden took office and the first secretary of state to make the trip in five years.

The trip comes after he postponed plans to visit in February after the shootdown of a Chinese surveillance balloon over the US.

Mr Blinken plans to meet with Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang on Sunday, top diplomat Wang Yi, and possibly president Xi Jinping on Monday, according to US officials.

Shortly before leaving, Mr Blinken emphasised the importance of the US and China establishing and maintaining better lines of communication. The US wants to make sure "that the competition we have with China doesn't veer into conflict" due to avoidable misunderstandings, he told reporters.

Biden and Xi had made commitments to improve communications "precisely so that we can make sure we are communicating as clearly as possible to avoid possible misunderstandings and miscommunications," Mr Blinken said Friday.

Putin lectures African leaders seeking peace in Ukraine – as they tell him war must end

Sunday 18 June 2023 04:00 , Natalie Crockett

Russian President Vladimir Putin interrupted opening remarks by African leaders seeking peace in the Ukraine conflict to deliver a list of reasons – including his tried-and-tested tactic of blaming the West – as to why he claims many of their proposals are misguided.

Mr Putin first welcomed the presidents of Comoros, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia, as well as Egypt’s prime minister and top envoys from the Republic of Congo and Uganda to the 18th-century Konstantinovsky Palace on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland. He stressed Russia‘s commitment to the continent. But after presentations from the Comoran, Senegalese and South African leaders, he stepped in to challenge the assumptions of the plan before the round of comments from all the representatives could go any further.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told Mr Putin: “The war cannot go on forever. All wars have to be settled and come to an end at some stage,” he said. “And we are here to communicate a very clear message that we would like this war to be ended.”

Read the full story here:

Putin lectures African leaders seeking peace in Ukraine – as they say war must end

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

Sunday 18 June 2023 03:00 , William Mata

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.

Read the full story by Joe Sommerlad here.

From Friday: Putin touts Russian economy, says Ukraine's president is 'shame to Jewish people'

Sunday 18 June 2023 02:00 , AP

President Vladimir Putin on Friday touted Russia's prospects at the country's main international economic forum despite heavy international sanctions imposed because of the war in Ukraine.

Western officials and investors steered clear of this year’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that for decades has been Russia’s premier event for attracting foreign capital and is sometimes likened to the Davos World Economic Forum.

Read the full story from Friday here.

Words of encouragement

Sunday 18 June 2023 01:00 , William Mata

Ukraine’s ministry of defence has tweeted some messages of support to its troops as the conflict rages on.

“When the sun goes down, "they" come to destroy our cities and kill our people,” read one message. “Our mission begins at each sunset. We must protect our people.”

President Zelensky earlier said: “Thanks to every soldier! To everyone who fights with the enemy, rescues our soldiers after wounds, trains our soldiers, and supplies everything necessary for the Ukrainian defence!”

'Every position retaken from the occupiers’

Sunday 18 June 2023 00:00 , William Mata

Ukraine’s president has tweeted to say his nation has retaken every position that had been captured.

Volodymyr Zelensky thanked his soldiers in a report that could not be verified by the Independent.

“Our forces are new and new arguments for the world that Ukraine can, can win,” Mr Zelensky tweeted at 11.50am British time.

Pictures of the day - Satuday, June 17

Saturday 17 June 2023 23:00 , William Mata

Match Ukraine’s bravery in war by stepping up support, PM to tell private sector

Saturday 17 June 2023 22:30 , Nina Lloyd, PA

Rishi Sunak will use a summit in London to call on investors and businesses to match Ukraine’s “bravery on the battlefield” by stepping up support for the country’s economic recovery.

The Prime Minister is set to say the private sector must use its vision to “embrace rapid innovation” that can be used to make the nation “financially stronger” and “technologically advanced”, No 10 said.

More than 1,000 foreign dignitaries from 61 states along with business chiefs and global investors will join Mr Sunak at the Ukraine Recovery Conference next week – the largest international conference the UK will host this year.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend virtually and both European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken are also expected to speak in the opening session.

Mr Sunak is expected to make the case for greater innovation targeted at the country, which was becoming a major player in the global IT industry prior to the Russian invasion.

What are Storm Shadow cruise missiles and what other weapons has the UK sent to Ukraine?

Saturday 17 June 2023 22:00 , Chris Stevenson

Britain has been a key ally of Ukraine since fighting broke out with Russia and the offer of Storm Shadow cruise missiles was the latest gifting.

A statement from the ministry of defence said: “Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, bilateral military assistance has been stepped up, with many allies for the first time supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine.”

Get up to speed here on Storm Shadow cruise missiles and what else the UK has given to Ukraine.