Drone footage shows the scale of destruction in Odesa after the Russian attack
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Drone footage has been seen purportedly showing a car packed with explosives at the Kakhovka dam when it collapsed earlier this month.
Two Ukrainian military officials told The Associated Press that Russian troops were in the same area inside the dam where Ukraine claims the explosion took place.
The Russian Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
The Russian-controlled Kakhovka Dam collapsed earlier this month, triggering a flood that has killed at least 52 people.
Ukraine has blamed Russia for the dam collapse, and the Ukrainian military has claimed it was Russia’s attempt to prevent Ukrainian troops from crossing the Dnipro to attack occupation forces.
Meanwhile, Russia has blamed Kiev for sabotaging the dam by cutting off Crimea’s water supply and distracting from its supposed faltering counter-offensive.
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Ukraine reports a new village recovered in a counterattack in the south
Ukraine said on Monday that its forces had recaptured Piatykhatky, a roadside village in one of the most heavily defended areas of the Russian-held south, and had reclaimed 113 square km (44 square miles) of land in the past two weeks. .
Ukrainian soldiers raised yellow and blue national flags in a video posted on social media, saying they were inside Piatykhatky, the eighth village in the southeast that Kiev says it has liberated.
“Today, June 18, the forces of the 128th assault brigade chased the Russians from the village of Piatykhatky. The Russians fled, leaving behind equipment and ammunition. Glory to Ukraine!” said an unidentified soldier.
An official installed by Russia in the partially occupied Zaporizhzhia region had said on Sunday that Kiev troops had retaken Piatykhatky, but had since been pushed out and the settlement was now in a “grey” control zone.
Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian forces had not only retaken Piatykhatky, but had advanced up to seven km (4.3 miles) into Russian lines in two weeks.
“In the course of two weeks of offensive operations in the directions of Berdiansk and Melitopol, eight settlements were liberated,” Maliar wrote in the Telegram messenger.
Martha MchardyJune 19, 2023 09:06
Drone footage shows a car packed with explosives at the Kakhovka dam
Drone footage has been seen purportedly showing a car packed with explosives at the Kakhovka dam when it collapsed earlier this month.
Two Ukrainian military officials told The Associated Press that Russian troops were in the same area inside the dam where Ukraine claims the explosion took place.
The Russian Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
A car at the Kakhovka Dam that appears to be loaded with explosives
(AP)
The dam collapsed on June 6, while under Russian control
(AP)
The Russian-controlled Kakhovka Dam collapsed earlier this month, triggering a flood that has killed at least 52 people.
Ukraine has blamed Russia for the dam collapse, and the Ukrainian military has claimed it was Russia’s attempt to prevent Ukrainian troops from crossing the Dnipro to attack occupation forces.
Meanwhile, Russia has blamed Kiev for sabotaging the dam by cutting off Crimea’s water supply and distracting from its supposed faltering counter-offensive.
Martha Mchardy19 June 2023 08:52
Russia says it repelled Ukrainian attack on Novodonetske village in counteroffensive zone
Russia’s defense ministry said on Monday that its forces had thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to take the village of Novodonetske in the eastern Donetsk region, one of the areas where Kiev’s counteroffensive has been focused.
The ministry said in a statement that the marines of Russia’s Pacific fleet had repulsed the night attack and destroyed Ukrainian armored vehicles.
He released a video of what he said was the aftermath of the battle showing what a soldier heard talking about in what he said was a captured French-made tank.
The reports could not be independently verified.
Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Monday that Kiev forces had liberated eight settlements in the past two weeks of their offensive operations.
Martha Mchardy19 June 2023 08:21
Russia says it foiled “Ukrainian terrorist plots” against Russian-backed officials
Russia’s FSB security service said on Monday it had foiled a series of Ukrainian “sabotage and terrorist plots” targeting Russian-backed officials in Russian-held territory in Ukraine and had detained a woman as part of its investigation .
The FSB said in a statement that the attacks had targeted Russian law enforcement officials and government officials installed by Russia in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia, one of four areas in Ukraine that Moscow says it has been annexed since the start of what it calls its “special army”. operation.”
Kiev is currently organizing a counter-offensive to take back what they say and the West was illegally occupied territory. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine on the Russian accusations.
The FSB said it had opened criminal cases against an unnamed woman it described as an “accomplice” on charges related to terrorism and illegal possession of explosives.
(Reuters)
Maryam Zakir-Hussain19 June 2023 08:04
Putin casualties at highest level since battle for Bakhmut, UK says
The UK military said both sides are suffering heavy military casualties as Ukraine struggles to dislodge Kremlin forces from occupied areas in the early stages of its counter-offensive.
According to British intelligence, the heaviest fighting has been centered in Zaporizhzhia province in the southeast, around Bakhmut and further west in Donetsk province in eastern Ukraine .
While the update reported that Ukraine was on the offensive in those areas and had “made small advances,” it said Russian forces were conducting “relatively effective defensive operations” in southern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military said in a regular update on Sunday morning that over the previous 24 hours, Russia had carried out 43 airstrikes, four missile strikes and 51 attacks by multiple rocket launchers.
(AP)
Maryam Zakir-HussainJune 19, 2023 07:40
Britain says Russia has probably started redeploying its troops from the Dnipro
Britain’s Ministry of Defense said on Monday that over the past 10 days, Russia has likely begun moving elements of its Force Group Dnipro (DGF) from the eastern bank of the Dnipro River to reinforce the Zaporizhzhia and Bakhmut sectors.
The redeployment of the DGF likely reflects Russia’s perception that a major Ukrainian attack across the Dnipro River is now less likely following the collapse of the Kakhovka Dam and resulting flooding, the ministry said in an update.
(Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Maryam Zakir-HussainJune 19, 2023 07:18
Ukrainian troops are advancing, Zelensky says
President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukrainian troops are advancing in the war and that Russia’s main goal now should 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, for the fact that they will lose everything they are destroying the future of their state. Russia will lose the occupied territories. There is and will be no alternative to our steps for unemployment,” Zelensky said, without referring to counteroffensive action on the battlefield.
Our troops are advancing, position by position, step by step, we are moving forward, he said.
Arpan RaiJune 19, 2023 06:10
Russia rejects UN aid as death toll rises from breached Kakhovka dam
Russia has rejected a United Nations offer to help flood-hit residents after the Nova Kakhovka dam broke, officials said.
The UN urged Russia to act in accordance with its obligations under international humanitarian law. “Help cannot be denied to people who need it,” Denise Brown, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, said in a statement.
Ukraine accuses Russia of blowing up the Soviet-era dam, under Russian control since the early days of its 2022 invasion.
The death toll from flooding in the region has risen to 52, with Russian officials saying 35 people had died in areas controlled by Moscow 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 Ukrainian prosecutors in their investigation said it was “very likely” the dam collapse was caused by explosives planted by the Russians.
Arpan Rai19 June 2023 04:34
The 32,000 fighters from Wagner prison return to Russia from Ukraine
About 32,000 prisoners recruited by the Russian mercenary group Wagner have returned to Russia.
Those thousands of prisoners have returned to Russia after their contracts with the mercenary group expired, their chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said.
Prigozhin added that prisoners whose contracts with Wagner had expired had committed 83 crimes after returning to Russia. He stated that this crime rate is lower than that of other ex-convicts.
Arpan Rai19 June 2023 03:57
Images: Demonstration in support of Ukrainian prisoners of war held in Kyiv
Family, friends and members of the public attend a rally in support of Ukrainian prisoners of war and military medics captured during the Russian invasion, at Independence Square in Kyiv on June 18
(Getty Images)
Family, friends and members of the public attend a rally in support of Ukrainian prisoners of war
(Getty Images)
Family, friends and members of the public carry Ukrainian flags and banners that read “Doctors are in captivity”
(Getty Images)
Martha MchardyJune 19, 2023 03:00
