Ukraine: Destroyed Soviet-era dam near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
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A major Ukrainian force has launched an assault on Russian lines in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia.
The Kremlin has been claiming to have repelled Ukrainian attacks at various points for several days, but Russian military bloggers noted an increase in clashes overnight Wednesday and Thursday.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar, who appeared to confirm there was an operation, said Russia was “actively on the defensive” in the Orihiv area of the Zaporizhzhia region.
Zaporizhzhia, one of four partially occupied regions illegally annexed by the Kremlin, has long been seen as a likely point of a major Ukrainian strike, but Kiev has worked to mask its plans by launching attacks on multiple points across the broad lines of the front.
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 attorney general’s office said two other people were injured in the incident and four were wounded at a separate location, and that a war crimes investigation had been opened.
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Ukraine goes on the attack in Zaporizhzhia, as the counter-offensive mounts
A major Ukrainian force has launched an assault on Russian lines in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, with an increase in attacks aimed at its counteroffensive shifting into high gear.
Several US and Ukrainian officials suggested that this was the beginning of Kiev’s bid to regain territory lost to Russian occupation during Moscow’s invasion. Ukrainian commanders and the government have always said there would be no official announcement of the start of the counteroffensive and that there has been an increase in military activity throughout the week.
The fight against Russian positions, including heavy fighting outside the city of Tokmak, a Russian logistics hub, is said to include Western-supplied tanks and armored vehicles and infantry supported by artillery.
Eleanor NoyceJune 8, 2023 9:13 p.m
Russia continues to bomb Kherson evacuation points to inflict more damage, Zelensky says
Russian forces are continuing to shell the Kherson region despite it reeling from the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“The 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 communities in the region, which have already been overrun by terrorists,” Zelensky said.
He added that Russian forces are also shelling evacuation points “which is a manifestation of the evil that perhaps no terrorist in the world, except the Russians, has ever done.”
He added that Russian forces in the region “have completely abandoned the people of the left bank of the Kherson region to their fate.”
“The catastrophe has been expanding there for two days. And this is also an absolutely conscious choice of the Russian leadership. Today there is no one left in the world who does not see that Russia is ruled by savages. Savages who themselves are the biggest disaster on the planet today,” Zelensky said.
Arpan RaiJune 9, 2023 04:45
Pentagon prepares new $2 billion air defense package for Ukraine, report says
The United States will announce a new arms package for Ukraine worth more than $2 billion (£1.5 billion) as soon as today, Biden administration officials have said, Bloomberg reported.
The Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds will be heavy on air defense munitions and help Ukraine buy Hawk missile launchers and two types of advanced Patriot air defense missiles, the report said.
Arpan Rai9 June 2023 04:26
Zelensky applauds “results” in Bakhmut in Ukraine’s counteroffensive battle
Volodymyr Zelensky has praised what he described as “results” of heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, one of the pockets where the Ukrainian counter-offensive is taking place.
“There is very intense fighting in the Donetsk region,” Zelensky said in his daily video message, speaking from inside a train after visiting areas affected by the rupture of the Kakhovka power dam.
“But there are results and I am grateful to those who have achieved these results. Well done to Bakhmut. Step by step,” he said.
The wartime president referred to other areas where fighting is taking place, but said he would not elaborate.
Arpan RaiJune 9, 2023 03:52
Before-and-after satellite images show deep cost of Ukraine’s dam collapse
Before-and-after images of the area downstream of a dam that collapsed on Tuesday vividly show the extent of the devastation in a large flooded swath of southern Ukraine.
Before the Kakhovka Dam on the Dnieper River broke, the farm fields look green and criss-crossed by quiet streets and farm paths and dotted with trees. Afterwards, only metal roofs and treetops protrude from the murky water. Greenhouses and homes are almost completely submerged.
Pre-collapse satellite photos were taken in May and early June. Photographs of the same area taken after the dam collapse clearly show the part that has become uninhabitable. Brown water as high as people covers much of the territory captured in the images.
Eleanor NoyceJune 9, 2023 03:00
ICYMI: Zelensky visits flood-hit Kherson to survey damage after dam burst
More than 40,000 people in areas downstream of the Kakhovka hydropower plant are at risk of losing their homes and livelihoods after the breach unleashed torrents of water from the Dnipro River.
“In Kherson, I visited a crossing point where people are being evacuated from flooded areas,” the Ukrainian president wrote, sharing images from his visit.
“Our job is to protect lives and help people as much as possible. I thank the rescuers and volunteers.”
Zelensky visits flood-hit Kherson to survey the damage after the dam burst
Volodymyr Zelensky has visited the flood-affected areas of Kherson to assess the response to the damage caused by the Kakhovka dam attack. More than 40,000 people in areas downstream of the Kakhovka hydropower plant are at risk of losing their homes and livelihoods after the breach unleashed torrents of water from the Dnipro River. “In Kherson, I visited a crossing point where people are being evacuated from flooded areas,” the Ukrainian president wrote, sharing images from his visit. “Our job is to protect lives and help people as much as possible. I thank the rescuers and volunteers.”
Eleanor NoyceJune 9, 2023 02:00
Kremlin says ammonia pipeline explosion negative for Black Sea grain deal
The Kremlin said on Thursday there would be a “negative impact” on the fate of a Black Sea grain deal over an explosion that damaged a pipeline used to export Russian ammonia through Ukraine that Moscow wants to restart.
The Togliatti-Odesa pipeline, which once pumped up to 2.5 million tonnes of ammonia a year for global export to the Ukrainian port of Pivdennyi on the Black Sea from Togliatti in western Russia, has been idle since from the beginning of the war in February of last year.
Russia on Monday accused Ukrainian forces of blowing up part of the pipeline, the world’s longest ammonia transport, in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. Ukraine’s regional governor said Russia had bombed the pipeline on Tuesday. Neither side provided evidence to support their allegations.
Asked by reporters 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 “one more complication in terms of expanding the deal,” adding that Russia did not know “what kind of destruction” there had been to the ammonia pipeline.
Russia has threatened to leave the Black Sea grain deal on July 17 if demands to improve its food and fertilizer exports are not met. The agreement, signed in July last year, facilitates the “safe navigation” of grain, food and fertilizers, including ammonia, for export to world markets.
Eleanor NoyceJune 9, 2023 01:00
Renowned human rights activist Oleg Orlov is on trial for “discrediting” the Russian military
Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights group Memorial Oleg Orlov went on trial in Moscow on Thursday, accused of “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 picketing, with the new charges based on an article he wrote denouncing Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Discrediting the Russian military is a crime under a law passed after Russia sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022. The law is regularly used against critics of the Kremlin.
Memorial and its supporters have described the trial as politically motivated.
Eleanor NoyceJune 9, 2023 00:45
ICYMI: Zelensky will not attend G20 summit in India, New Delhi confirms
Volodymyr Zelensky will not attend the main G20 conference as invitations to this year’s summit were only sent to members of the Group of 20, host country India has confirmed.
The confirmation by Delhi has put an end to speculation and expectations that Zelensky would participate in the event that will bring together world leaders of major economies in Delhi.
Speaking during a special press conference commemorating nine years of the Narendra Modi government’s foreign policy, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said only invitations were sent to G20 members.
Shweta Sharma has the full story:
Eleanor NoyceJune 8, 2023 11:45 p.m
Eight injured in two missile attacks in central Ukraine – governor
Two missiles hit sites near the city of Uman in central Ukraine on Thursday, wounding eight people, the regional governor said.
Ihor Taburets, governor of the 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 injured, according to preliminary information.
Images posted on his Telegram channel showed emergency crews combing through sites largely reduced to rubble, with smoke billowing in the background.
The attacks occurred during air raid alerts announced across Ukraine for about an hour in the mid-afternoon.
Reuters could not independently verify the accounts.
An April missile attack on an apartment building in Uman killed 23 residents, the first such attack in several weeks.
Eleanor NoyceJune 8, 2023 10:45 p.m
