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Kyiv steps up counteroffensive with assault in Zaporizhzhia – live

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Ukraine: Soviet-era dam destroyed near Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

A significant Ukrainian force has launched an assault on Russian lines in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.

The Kremlin has been claiming to have repelled Ukrainian attacks across various points for a number of days, but Russian military bloggers noted an increase in clashes overnight Wednesday and into Thursday.

Appearing to confirm an operation was underway, the Ukrainian deputy defence minister, Hanna Maliar, said Russia was “actively on the defensive” in the Orihiv area of Zaporizhzhia region.

Zaporizhzhia – one of four partly occupied regions illegally annexed by the Kremlin – has long been seen as a likely point of a main Ukrainian strike, but Kyiv has worked to mask its plans by launching attacks on multiple points across the vast frontlines.

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Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin’s forces have been accused of attacking the Ukrainian city of Kherson during evacuation efforts following the collapse of the nearby Kakhovka dam.

The Prosecutor General’s office said two other people were wounded in the incident and that four were hurt in a separate location, and that a war crimes investigation had been opened.

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Ukraine goes on the attack in Zaporizhzhia – as counteroffensive steps up

A significant Ukrainian force has launched an assault on Russian lines in the southern Zaporizhzhia region – with a surge in attacks that pointed towards its counteroffensive is shifting into high gear.

A number of US and Ukrainian officials suggested this was the start in earnest of Kyiv’s bid to reclaim territory lost to Russian occupation during Moscow’s invasion. Ukraine‘s commanders and government have always said there would be no official announcement of the start of the counteroffensive and there has been an increase in military activity all week.

The combat against Russian positions – including intense fighting outside of the town of Tokmak, a Russian logistical hub, is said to involve western-supplied tanks and armoured vehicles and infantry backed by artillery.

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Eleanor Noyce8 June 2023 21:13

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Russia continues to shell Kherson evacuation points to inflict more damage, says Zelensky

Russian forces continue to shell the Kherson region despite it reeling in the aftermath of the Nova Kakhovka dam’s destruction, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

“Russian terrorists are trying to further aggravate the situation they have caused with their ecocide. This is absolutely deliberate. They continue to shell Kherson and the communities of the region, which have already been flooded by terrorists,” Mr Zelensky said.

He added that the Russian forces are also shelling evacuation points “which is a manifestation of evil that perhaps no terrorists in the world, except for Russian ones, have ever done”.

He added that the Russian forces in the region “have completely abandoned people on the left bank of Kherson region to their fate”.

“The catastrophe has been expanding there for two days now. And this is also an absolutely conscious choice of the Russian leadership. There is no one left in the world today who does not see that Russia is ruled by savages. Savages who themselves are the biggest disaster on the planet today,” Mr Zelensky said.

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Arpan Rai9 June 2023 04:45

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Pentagon readies new $2bn air defence package for Ukraine – report

The US is set to announce a new arms package for Ukraine valued at more than $2bn (£1.5bn) as soon as today, officials from the Biden administration have said, reported Bloomberg.

The funds under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative will be heavy on air defence munitions and will help Ukraine purchase Hawk missile launchers and two types of advanced Patriot air defence missiles, the report said.

Arpan Rai9 June 2023 04:26

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Zelensky cheers ‘results’ in Bakhmut in Ukraine’s counteroffensive battle

Volodymyr Zelensky has hailed what he described as “results” in heavy fighting in Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, one of the pockets where Ukrainian counteroffensive is underway.

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“There is very heavy fighting in Donetsk region,” Mr Zelensky said in his daily video message, speaking from inside a train after visiting areas affected by the breach of the Kakhovka power dam.

“But there are results and I am grateful to those who achieved these results. Well done in Bakhmut. Step by step,” he said.

The war-time president referred to other areas where fighting is going on, but said he would provide no details.

Arpan Rai9 June 2023 03:52

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Before-and-after satellite images show profound toll of Ukraine dam collapse

Before-and-after images of the area downstream from a dam that collapsed Tuesday vividly show the extent of the devastation of a large, flooded swathe of southern Ukraine.

Before the Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper River broke, farm fields appear green and crossed by peaceful streets and farm roads and dotted with trees. Afterward, only metal roofs and treetops poke above the murky water. Greenhouses and homes are almost entirely submerged.

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The pre-collapse satellite photos were taken in May and early June. Photos of the same area taken after the dam collapsed clearly show how much of it has become unlivable. Brown water as high as people covers much of the territory captured in the images.

Eleanor Noyce9 June 2023 03:00

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ICYMI: Zelensky visits flood-hit Kherson to survey damage after dam breach

More than 40,000 people in areas downstream from the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant are at risk of losing their homes and livelihoods after the breach unleashed torrents of flood water from the Dnipro river.

“In Kherson, I visited a crossing point where people are being evacuated from flooded areas,” the president of Ukraine wrote, sharing footage of his visit.

“Our task is to protect lives and help people as much as possible. I thank the rescuers and volunteers.”

Zelensky visits flood-hit Kherson to survey damage after dam breach

Volodymyr Zelensky has visited the flood-hit areas of Kherson to evaluate the response to damage caused by the Kakhovka dam attack. More than 40,000 people in areas downstream from the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant are at risk of losing their homes and livelihoods after the breach unleashed torrents of flood water from the Dnipro river. “In Kherson, I visited a crossing point where people are being evacuated from flooded areas,” the president of Ukraine wrote, sharing footage of his visit. “Our task is to protect lives and help people as much as possible. I thank the rescuers and volunteers.”

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Eleanor Noyce9 June 2023 02:00

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Kremlin says ammonia pipeline blast is negative for Black Sea grain deal

The Kremlin said on Thursday that there would be a “negative impact” on the fate of a Black Sea grain deal from a blast which damaged a pipeline used to export Russian ammonia via Ukraine that Moscow wants restarted.

The Togliatti-Odesa pipeline, which once pumped up to 2.5 million tonnes of ammonia annually for global export to Ukraine‘s Pivdennyi port on the Black Sea from Togliatti in western Russia, has lain idle since the start of the war in February last year.

Russia has accused Ukrainian forces of blowing up a part of the pipeline, the world’s longest carrying ammonia, in Ukraine‘s Kharkiv region on Monday. The regional Ukrainian governor said Russia had shelled the pipeline on Tuesday. Neither side provided evidence to back their allegations.

Asked by reporters about how the damaged pipeline could affect the fate of the Black Sea grain deal, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “It can only have a negative impact.”

He described it as “yet another complication in terms of extending the deal,” adding that Russia did not know “what kind of destruction” there had been to the ammonia pipeline.

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Russia has threatened to walk away from the Black Sea grain deal on 17 July if demands to improve its own food and fertiliser exports are not met. The deal, struck in July last year, facilitates the “safe navigation” of grain, foodstuffs and fertilisers – including ammonia – for export to global markets.

Eleanor Noyce9 June 2023 01:00

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Renowned human rights campaigner Oleg Orlov on trial for ‘discrediting’ Russian military

The co-chair of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights group Memorial, Oleg Orlov, went on trial in Moscow Thursday, charged with “discrediting” the Russian military in his criticism of Russia’s campaign in Ukraine.

If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison.

Orlov has been fined twice for anti-war pickets, with the new charges based on an article he wrote denouncing Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Discrediting the Russian military is a criminal offence under a law adopted after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. The law is regularly used against Kremlin critics.

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Memorial and its supporters have called the trial politically motivated.

Eleanor Noyce9 June 2023 00:45

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ICYMI: Zelensky won’t attend G20 summit in India, New Delhi confirms

Volodymyr Zelensky will not attend the main G20 conference as invites for the summit this year were sent out only to the members of the Group of 20, host country India has confirmed.

The confirmation by Delhi has put an end to speculation and expectations that Mr Zelensky would participate in the event that will bring together world leaders of major economies in Delhi.

Speaking during a special press conference marking nine years of the foreign policy of the Narendra Modi government, foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said invitations were being sent out to G20 members only.

Shweta Sharma has the full story:

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Eleanor Noyce8 June 2023 23:45

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Eight injured in two missile strikes in central Ukraine – governor

Two missiles hit sites near the city of Uman in central Ukraine on Thursday, injuring eight people, the regional governor said.

Ihor Taburets, governor of Cherkasy region, wrote on the Telegram messaging app that the missiles hit an industrial site and a car wash in the evening. He said two of the injured were seriously hurt, according to preliminary information.

Pictures posted on his Telegram channel showed emergency teams combing through sites largely reduced to rubble, with smoke rising in the background.

The strikes occurred during air raid alerts announced throughout Ukraine for about an hour in mid-evening.

Reuters could not independently verify the accounts.

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A missile attack in April on an apartment building in Uman killed 23 residents, in the first such strike in several weeks.

Eleanor Noyce8 June 2023 22:45

Source: Independent

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