Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin’s forces face shortage of tanks as Kyiv’s counteroffensive creeps forward

Russian forces are suffering a shortage of tanks, the nations’s defence minister has admitted during a visit to a military factory in western Siberia.

Sergei Shoigu has called for more tanks to be manufactured “to meet the needs of Russian forces” in Ukraine, with Kyiv having launched a counteroffensive involving Western tanks and weapons.

Mr Shoigu said there was a need “to maintain the increased production of tanks” and better security features in armored vehicles, the Defense Ministry said in a statement about the visit.

Ukrainian deputy defense minister, Hanna Maliar, said on Saturday that Kyiv’s forces were making progress – or having “registered tactical successes” as she put it – in the southern Zaporizhzhia region

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin is to host a group of African leaders who travelled to Russia on a self-styled “peace mission” after a trip to Ukraine on Friday.

Seven African leaders – 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 – have travelled to St Petersburg to meet Mr Putin.

Key Points

• Explosions heard in Kyiv as African delegation visits Ukraine

• Six hypersonic Russian missiles downed over Kyiv on Friday, Ukrainian air force claims

• Ukrainian troops face ‘desperate resistance’ from Russians

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

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

• Dead Russian soldiers line road into liberated Ukrainian village

Russian tank supply

13:40 , Chris Stevenson

Russia’s forces are suffering a shortage of tanks, the nations’s defence minister has admitted, during a visit a military factory in western Siberia.

Sergei Shoigu has called for more tanks to be manufactured “to meet the needs of Russian forces” in Ukraine, with Kyiv having launched a counteroffensive involving Western tanks and weapons.

Mr Shoigu said there was a need “to maintain the increased production of tanks” and better security features in armored vehicles, the Defense Ministry said in a statement about the visit.

Pictures of the day – Satuday, June 17

23:00 , William Mata

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

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?

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.

‘Why Ukraine should be encouraged by Putin’s bluster over its counteroffensive’

21:00 , William Mata

An opinion piece from yesterday.

The president and his military chiefs have sought to claim extreme Ukrainian troop losses, writes James Nixey.

He says that it is a sure sign that things were not going well for the Kremlin.

Read the full piece here.

Putin interrupts African leaders

20:30 , Chris Stevenson

Russian President Vladimir Putin has interrupted opening remarks by African leaders seeking to mediate in the Ukraine conflict to deliver a list of reasons why he believed many of their proposals were misguided.

Mr Putin first welcomed leaders from Senegal, Egypt, Zambia, Uganda, Congo Republic, Comoros and South Africa to the 18th-century Konstantinovsky Palace on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, stressing 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.

Mr Putin reiterated his position that Ukraine and the West had started the conflict long before Russia sent its armed forces over the border in February last year.

African leaders speak to Putin in Russia

20:07 , Chris Stevenson

A delegation of African leaders seeking to mediate in the Ukraine conflict told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday that it was time to negotiate an end to fighting, which they said was harming the entire world.

The delegation, which includes presidents from Senegal, South Africa, Zambia, and Comoros, as well as the prime minister of Egypt, travelled to Kyiv on Friday, where they met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The African leaders are seeking agreement on a series of “confidence building measures” even as Ukraine last week began a counteroffensive to push back Russian forces from Ukrainian territory they occupy.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa laid out the 10 points of the African initiative, after Comoros President Azali Assoumani, current chairman of the African Union, told Putin: “We’ve come here to listen to you, and through you the Russian people, and encourage you to enter negotiations with Ukraine in order to put an end to the difficult ordeal.

“We gave ourselves this mission because, as Africans, unfortunately, we have had to manage numerous conflicts, and it’s through dialogue and negotiations that we have succeeded at resolving them.”

From earlier: African leaders visit Russia to discuss their peace plan with Putin, after Ukraine trip

19:00 , William Mata / Jamey Keaten

Russian president Vladimir Putin on Saturday is set to host a group of African leaders who traveled to Russia on a self-styled “peace mission” after their trip to Ukraine.

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 — visited Ukraine on Friday to try to help end their nearly 16-month-old war.

The African leaders traveled to St Petersburg Saturday to meet with Putin who attended a business forum in Russia’s second-largest city.

Jamey Keaten has the full story here.

Show of US-Poland unity with Ukraine tensions brewing

18:00 , William Mata / Vanessa Gera

The United States ambassador’s decision to march in the Warsaw Pride parade has shown the country’s support in wake of the Ukraine-Russia tension.

Mark Brzezinski said marched with more than 30 other members of the U.S. Embassy and alongsides representatives from Canada, Austria and other Western countries in the Equality Parade.

The participation of the US ambassador sent a clear message to the government of Poland, a NATO member on the alliance’s eastern flank where the United States has increased its military presence since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.

Poland has for decades considered Washington its key guarantor of security, but the importance of US protection has only grown with the war playing out across its border in Ukraine.

Vanessa Gera has the full story here.

Why Russia’s attempts to get round oil sanctions risk ecological disaster

16:45 , William Mata / Shweta Sharma

Russia is taking increasingly drastic and hazardous measures in order to maintain its oil trade amid sanctions over the Ukraine war, bringing a much greater risk of a spill.

Shweta Sharma has the full story here.

‘The he last time Russia was involved in a major oil spill in the Arctic it triggered one of the worst man-made environmental disasters in recent history. When a storage tank collapsed due to melting permafrost near Norilsk, it spilled some 21,000 tonnes of oil into the vulnerable Arctic ecosystem, contaminating a 350 sq km area and turning the bright turqoise waters of Siberia’s Ambarnaya river into red sludge.’

Ramaphosa in Saint Petersburg

15:45 , Chris Stevenson

South Africa’s president has arrived in Saint Petersburg, Russia, as part of an an African delegation pushing for negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s arrival in the country “follows constructive discussions with President Volodymyr Zelensky,” the South African presidency said.

“This conflict is affecting Africa negatively,” South African Mr Ramaphosa said at a news conference alongside Mr Zelensky and four other African leaders after talks on Friday.

Russian missile strike

15:16 , Chris Stevenson

Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Synehubov revised the death toll from a Russian missile strike on a small Ukrainian village in the east to two people on Saturday.

Mr Synehubov initially said on the Telegram messaging app that four people were killed as a Russian anti-tank guided missile hit a car driving towards the village of Huriyv Kozachok which is near the border with Russia.

Later he gave provided an update, saying that two volunteers – a 42-year-old man and a 53-year-old woman were killed.

Ukraine liberated many villages and towns in the Kharkiv region last autumn but since then the Russian military has frequently shelled the area.

Nato’s future

14:55 , Chris Stevenson

Jens Stoltenberg is expected to be asked to remain as Nato secretary-general for another year, according to a source familiar with the discussions and a US official, as the alliance has struggled to decide on a replacement ahead of a mid-July summit in Lithuania.

Mr Stoltenberg’s term has already been prolonged three times and he is due to step down in September after nine years as secretary-general of the military alliance.

The Norwegian has broad support among the alliance and continues to be an effective leader, the source, who requested anonymity, told Reuters.

“The [Biden] administration is coming around (to) the idea of Stoltenberg staying on for another year,” said the U.S. official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

“It doesn’t look like there is consensus at the moment within the alliance on his replacement.”

Zelensky has invited African leaders to global peace summit

14:29 , Chris Stevenson

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday he has invited African leaders to take part in a global peace summit where “Ukraine will be heard all over the world”.

He said on social media: “Today was a long day, with many events, and a lot of news. Long discussions… The Peace Formula, security issues, our joint capabilities to protect the principles and goals of the UN Charter, to protect nations from aggression.

“I called on the leaders and states of Africa to participate in the Global Peace Summit we are preparing. Ukraine will be heard all over the world, and we will involve the whole world in the implementation of the Peace Formula.”

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

14:00 , Chris Stevenson

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

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

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

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

Joe Sommerlad reports:

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

Russian missile kills two in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region -governor

13:17 , Martha Mchardy

Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Synehubov revised the death toll from a Russian missile strike on a small Ukrainian village in the east to two people on Saturday.

Synehubov initially said on the Telegram messaging app that four people were killed as a Russian anti-tank guided missile hit a car driving towards the village of Huriyv Kozachok which is near the border with Russia.

Later he gave provided an update, saying that two volunteers – a 42-year-old man and a 53-year-old woman were killed.

Ukraine liberated many villages and towns in the Kharkiv region last autumn but since then the Russian military has frequently shelled the area, destroying critical infrastructure and injuring and killing residents.

RECAP: Damage wrought by destruction of Kakhovka Dam in pictures

12:30 , Tara Cobham

Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

11:30 , Tara Cobham

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

Ukrainians rescued from Russian-held flood zones in Kherson

10:39 , Martha Mchardy

Watch the dramatic moment Ukrainian civilians are rescued from flood-affected areas of of the Russian-occupied eastern bank.

Rescue boats shuttling volunteers and officials darted across from Ukrainian-held areas on the west bank to evacuate desperate civilians stuck on rooftops.

Drone footage obtained by AP shows severe flooding from the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam on 6 June, along the lower Dnieper River in Kherson.

Russia and Ukraine both accuse each other of destroying the dam.

Ukrainians rescued from Russian-held flood zones in Kherson

Jewish Confederation of Ukraine responds to Putin’s comment Zelensky is ‘not Jewish’

10:30 , Tara Cobham

The Jewish Confederation of Ukraine has responded to Vladimir Putin’s comment that Volodymyr Zelensky is “not Jewish”, describing the Ukrainian President as a “hero”.

“Zelensky is a hero not only of the Jewish people but also of the entire political Ukrainian nation, which, of course, includes Jews,” the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine said.

On Friday, Putin claimed at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that the Ukrainian President is “not Jewish” and a “disgrace to the Jewish people” despite his Jewish roots.

“My Jewish friends say that Zelenskyy is not a Jew, but a shame to the Jewish people,” Putin said.

Kremlin links granting accreditations to Western media with their ‘behaviour’

10:18 , Martha Mchardy

Russia will take into account the “behaviour” of Western media and attitudes to Russian reporters abroad when deciding whether to accredit their journalists for major forums in Russia, the state-owned TASS news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Saturday.

Journalists from countries that Russia calls “unfriendly” did not get accreditation for the ongoing St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Asked whether Moscow will allow Western journalists to attend forums in Russia in the future, Peskov said: “Let’s see what the regime will be, how they (foreign media) will behave.”

Peskov added that the issue of giving accreditations would also depend on how Russian journalists were treated in “unfriendly” countries. Moscow uses that label for states which imposed sanctions over what the Kremlin calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.

“Everything will depend on the attitude towards our journalists in foreign – unfriendly – countries,” TASS cited Kremlin spokesman as saying.

“Business as usual will no longer happen. We will be ready to receive them (Western journalists), but we will not tolerate such treatment of our journalists abroad.”

Russia repels Ukrainian attack on Druzhba oil pipeline facility – governor

09:48 , Martha Mchardy

Russian air defence units repelled a Ukrainian attack overnight on a pumping station on the Druzhba oil pipeline in the Bryansk region adjoining Ukraine, the region’s governor said on Saturday.

Three Ukrainian military drones were destroyed in the attack in the Novozybkov district, Alexander Bogomaz wrote on Telegram.

Drone attacks inside Russia have been increasing in recent weeks, frequently targeting energy facilities. Russia blames Ukraine although Kyiv does not publicly acknowledge responsibility for them.

The southern branch of the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline crosses Ukraine and, despite the conflict there, continues to supply crude oil to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Ukrainians leaving UK as can’t get housing, volunteer made MBE says

09:30 , Tara Cobham

Some Ukrainians who fled to the UK are having to leave the country because they cannot find housing, a volunteer made an MBE has said.

Alice Good, 55, from Northumberland, said she is “honoured and overwhelmed” to be recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours for setting up Sunflower Sisters, a support group for families arriving in the country from Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia last February.

Ms Good, who came up with the idea after seeing a picture of a mother with a child the same age as her daughter, said 14,000 refugees have been housed by her group.

She has called on the Government to step in as families come to the end of their sponsorship arrangements and try to find their own private rented accommodation.

Ted Hennessey reports:

Ukrainians leaving UK because they cannot get housing, volunteer made MBE says

Rescuers ferrying Ukrainians out of Russian-occupied flood zones

08:30 , Tara Cobham

Massive flooding from the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam on June 6 has devastated towns along the lower Dnieper River in the Kherson region, a front line in the war. Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of causing the breach.

In the chaotic early days of flooding, Ukrainian rescue workers in private boats provided a lifeline to desperate civilians trapped in flooded areas of the Russian-occupied eastern bank — that is, if the rescue missions could brave the drones and Russian snipers.

The boats have carried volunteers and plainclothes servicemen, shuttling across from Ukrainian-held areas on the western bank to evacuate people stuck on rooftops, in attics and elsewhere.

Now, that window is closing. As floodwaters recede, rescuers are increasingly cut off by putrid mud. And more Russian soldiers are returning, reasserting control.

Accounts of Russian assistance vary among survivors, but many evacuees and residents accuse Russian authorities of doing little or nothing to help displaced residents. Some civilians said evacuees were sometimes forced to present Russian passports if they wanted to leave.

Russia’s Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to requests from The Associated Press for comment about actions by authorities in the Russian-occupied flood zone.

The AP spoke with 10 families rescued from the eastern bank, as well as with rescue workers, officials and victims injured on the rescue missions.

“The Russian Federation provided nothing. No aid, no evacuation. They abandoned people alone to deal with the disaster,” said Yulia Valhe, evacuated from the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky. “I have my friends who stayed there, people I know who need help. At the moment I can’t do anything except to say to them, ‘Hold on.”‘

At least 150 people have been rescued by Ukraine from Russian-controlled areas in the risky evacuation operations, said government spokesperson Oleksandr Tolokonnikov. It is a small fraction compared to the nearly 2,750 people rescued from flooded regions controlled by Ukraine.

A local organization Helping to Leave, which helps Ukrainians living under Russian occupation to escape, said it received requests from 3,000 people in the occupied zone, said Dina Urich, who heads the organization’s evacuation department.

Why Russia’s attempts to get round oil sanctions risk ecological disaster

07:30 , Stuti Mishra

The last time Russia was involved in a major oil spill in the Arctic it triggered one of the worst man-made environmental disasters in recent history.

Three years later, the waters of the Ambarnaya are still red and the impacts of the incident are expected to last for decades.

Now, experts and environmentalists fear that the way Russia is responding to Western oil sanctions over the Ukraine war is creating the perfect set of circumstances for another major spill, and that another disaster is overdue.

Shweta Sharma reports:

Why Russia’s attempts to get round oil sanctions risk ecological disaster

Biggest missile attack on Kyiv in weeks ‘sends message to Africa’

07:00 , Stuti Mishra

A missile attack took place in Kyiv on Friday just as African leaders began a visit to Ukraine where Volodymyr Zelensky proposed the idea of a Ukraine-Africa summit.

The attack reportedly forced the delegation of African leaders to take cover in a bomb shelter while several houses in the outskirts of Kyiv were destroyed.

Reacting to the attack, Dmytro Kuleba, the Ukrainian foreign affairs minister, said: “Russian missiles are a message to Africa: Russia wants more war, not peace.

“Putin ‘builds confidence’ by launching the largest missile attack on Kyiv in weeks, exactly amid the visit of African leaders to our capital.”

ICYMI: Nato chief appears likely to stay on as allies struggle to find a replacement for him

06:30 , Stuti Mishra

Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg seems increasingly likely to have his term at the helm of the world’s biggest security organization extended yet again, as members struggle to agree on another candidate to replace him.

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

President Joe Biden and his Nato counterparts are due to choose a successor when they meet for a summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 11-12 July.

No candidate has been proposed publicly, and leaders usually decide by consensus on who should be appointed.

Read more:

NATO chief appears likely to stay on as allies struggle to find a replacement for him

Putin calls Zelenskyy a ‘disgrace’ to Jews

06:01 , Stuti Mishra

In his speech on Friday, Vladimir Putin vehemently defended Russia’s move to send troops into Ukraine and repeated his claims that the Ukrainian government is a neo-Nazi regime, despite president Volodymyr Zelensky’s Jewish roots.

“My Jewish friends say that Zelensky is not a Jew, but a shame to the Jewish people,” Mr Putin said.

Here are key takeaways his speech on Friday:

Putin touts Russian economy, says Ukraine’s president is ‘shame to Jewish people’

Ukraine’s defence minister thanks Nato after Brussels meet

05:22 , Stuti Mishra

Ukraine’s defense minister Oleksii Reznikov thanked Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg and US secretary of defence Lloyd Austin on Twitter following a meeting at Nato headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

“Secretary Austin, thank you for your leadership in coordinating this exceptional meeting of heads of defence. Secretary General Stoltenberg, thank you for your hospitality at Nato headquarters and for your dedication to making the world safer,” Mr Reznikov wrote on Twitter.

The Nato defence ministers discussed additional support for Ukraine as well as the upcoming summit in Lithuania next month.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky applied for Nato membership in September.

Ukraine advancing in the south, says military chiefs

04:40 , Stuti Mishra

Ukrainian forces are advancing in southern sectors of their counteroffensive against the Russian occupation, Ukrainian military officials said.

Deputy Ukrainian defence minister Hanna Maliar said on the Telegram messaging app that troops were “engaged in active moves to advance in several directions at once.

“Practically in all sectors where our units are attacking in the south, they have registered tactical successes,” Ms Maliar said.

“They are gradually moving forward. At the moment, the advance is up to 2 km (1.3 miles) in each direction.”

In Ukraine’s east, Ms Maliar said Russia forces were trying to dislodge Ukrainian forces from established positions.

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

04:00 , Eleanor Noyce

It has been claimed by those familiar with the game of thrones in the Kremlin that Yevgeny Prigozhin’s vitriolic aggression towards the Russian military high command could not have taken place without the sanction of Vladimir Putin.

Even if Putin had just tolerated, rather than encouraged, the Wagner mercenary boss in the feud, then that indulgence seems to be over for the time being. Russia’s president has backed defence minister Sergei Shoigu’s directive that Prigozhin’s mercenaries must sign contracts with the army.

Kim Sengupta writes:

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

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

03:00 , Eleanor Noyce

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

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

Turkey is holding out over giving Sweden membership, while any pathway for Kyiv to join the alliance is still to be mapped out, writes Borzou Daragahi:

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

ICYMI: On Ukraine-Russia trip, South African leader’s delegation stuck at Polish airport over arms permits

01:45 , Eleanor Noyce

A delegation of security officials, diplomats and journalists accompanying the South African president to Ukraine and Russia was stranded on a separately chartered plane at Warsaw’s airport for more than 24 hours. Polish authorities said on Friday that the problem was over permissions for firearms.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is among a group of African leaders visiting Kyiv and Moscow on a mission to encourage a resolution to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

According to the Poland Border Guard agency, Ramaphosa’s security detail did not have permission for the weapons they were carrying, which resulted in a standoff. The president’s office described the incident as “very unfortunate and deeply regrettable” but said his security was not compromised.

“Members of the delegation had weapons which they did not have permission to bring, but they could leave the plane themselves,” the Polish agency tweeted Friday.

Mogomotsi Magome reports:

On Ukraine-Russia trip, South African leader’s delegation stuck at Polish airport over arms permits

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

Saturday 17 June 2023 00:45 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukraine’s much-anticipated counteroffensive has had so much hype, it even has its own cinematic promotional trailer. Against the backdrop of video game music, Ukrainian soldiers shout “I am going to destroy the enemies of our homeland!”

“Our decisive offensive!” they add, as tanks roar across the screen. And that phrase is a carefully chosen one.

The operation, full details of which remain a closely guarded secret, has been nicknamed Ukraine’s D-Day (in reference to the Second World War operation that, coincidentally, also took place in the month of June).

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

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

Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

Friday 16 June 2023 23:45 , Eleanor Noyce

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.

Read more:

Here’s why Putin really invaded Ukraine

Ukraine’s Zelensky: every recaptured metre of land of utmost importance

Friday 16 June 2023 22:45 , Eleanor Noyce

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that every metre of Ukrainian territory recaptured from Russian occupying forces was “of the utmost importance” in Ukraine‘s current counter-offensive against Russian forces.

“Our movement forward is the most critical thing,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address after meeting top military commanders.

“Every soldier, every new step we take, every metre of Ukrainian land freed from the enemy is of utmost importance.”

How was a 21-year-old gamer able to leak a mountain of major Pentagon secrets?

Friday 16 June 2023 21:45 , Eleanor Noyce

Handcuffed and with his legs in shackles, Jack Douglas Teixeira glanced nervously around a crowded Boston courtroom during his first court appearance in April.

The 21-year-old Massachusetts National Guard airman whispered “yes” when informed of his rights as a criminal defendant, according to CNN, showing no hint of the swagger of his online persona OG.

As the hearing concluded, a man in the public gallery shouted: “Love you, Jack.” Without looking back, Teixeira replied: “You too, Dad”.

Barely three years into his military career, Jack Teixeira allegedly exposed his country’s most sensitive intelligence gathering operations. Now the Pentagon is being forced into a reckoning on who should have access to America’s secrets. Bevan Hurley reports:

How was 21-year-old gamer Jack Teixeira able to leak a mountain of Pentagon secrets?

Why Ukraine should be encouraged by Putin’s bluster over its counteroffensive

Friday 16 June 2023 21:15 , Eleanor Noyce

For years there has been a joke-cum-truism, well-articulated by the Twitter parodist ‘Darth Putin’, that you should “never believe anything unless the Kremlin officially denies it”. It’s a tried and tested rule of thumb. There is even an inversely proportional relationship between the speed of the Kremlin denial and the refutation’s distance from the truth. Immediate repudiation multiplied by Kremlin’s anger level equals lie.

So when President Vladimir Putin claimed to his propagandists (sometimes erroneously called Russian war correspondents) at a meeting this week that Ukraine was suffering ten times the losses of Russia in the former’s counteroffensive, this was surely a sign that things were not going well for the Kremlin.

The president and his military chiefs have sought to claim extreme Ukrainian troop losses, writes James Nixey – a sure sign that things were not going well for the Kremlin:

Analysis: Why Ukraine should be encouraged by Putin’s bluster over its offensive

US Energy Dept got two ransom requests from Cl0p in data breach

Friday 16 June 2023 21:10 , Eleanor Noyce

The U.S. Department of Energy got ransom requests from the Russia-linked extortion group Cl0p at both its nuclear waste facility and the scientific education facilities that were recently hit in a global hacking campaign, a spokesperson said on Friday.

The DOE contractor Oak Ridge Associated Universities and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the New Mexico-based facility for disposal of defense-related radioactive nuclear waste, were hit in the attack, which was first reported on Thursday.

Six hypersonic Russian missiles downed over Kyiv on Friday, Ukrainian air force claims

Friday 16 June 2023 21:03 , Eleanor Noyce

Six hypersonic Russian missiles were shot down over Kyiv on Friday, the Ukrainian air force has claimed.

The Kinzhal missiles were accompanied by a further six Kalibr cruise missiles and two drones, which the air force further stated had also been downed.

Kinzhal translates to “dagger” in Russian. One of the latest weapons utilised by Moscow, the Russian military claims that the air-launched ballistic missile has a range of up to 2,000 kilometres (approximately 1,250 miles).

Flying at 10 times the speed of sound, they are hard to intercept, with Russian president Vladimir Putin previously labelling them “undefeatable.”

A combination of hypersonic speed and a heavy warhead allows the Kinzhal to destroy heavily fortified targets, like underground bunkers or mountain tunnels.

Why Russia’s attempts to get round oil sanctions risk ecological disaster

Friday 16 June 2023 20:45 , Eleanor Noyce

The last time Russia was involved in a major oil spill in the Arctic it triggered one of the worst man-made environmental disasters in recent history. When a storage tank collapsed due to melting permafrost near Norilsk, it spilled some 21,000 tonnes of oil into the vulnerable Arctic ecosystem, contaminating a 350 sq km area and turning the bright turquoise waters of Siberia’s Ambarnaya river into red sludge.

Three years later, the waters of the Ambarnaya are still red and the impacts of the incident are expected to last for decades. State investigators have accused the company involved of negligence and mismanagement, and Vladimir Putin was said to be personally angered by alleged delays in informing the authorities about the spill.

Shweta Sharma reports:

Why Russia’s attempts to get round oil sanctions risk ecological disaster

Putin touts Russian economy, says Ukraine’s president is ‘shame to Jewish people’

Friday 16 June 2023 20:15 , Eleanor Noyce

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.

The Kremlin earlier also banned journalists from countries that Russia regards as “unfriendly” from covering the proceedings that began Wednesday and continue through Saturday. Moscow has imposed that designation on scores of countries including the United States, Canada, European Union members and Australia in connection with sanctions imposed over the fighting in Ukraine.

Read more:

Putin touts Russian economy, says Ukraine’s president is ‘shame to Jewish people’

NATO chief appears likely to stay on as allies struggle to find a replacement for him

Friday 16 June 2023 19:45 , Eleanor Noyce

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg seems increasingly likely to have his term at the helm of the world’s biggest security organization extended yet again, as members struggle to agree on another candidate to replace him.

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

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

Read more:

NATO chief appears likely to stay on as allies struggle to find a replacement for him

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

Friday 16 June 2023 19:15 , Eleanor Noyce

It has been claimed by those familiar with the game of thrones in the Kremlin that Yevgeny Prigozhin’s vitriolic aggression towards the Russian military high command could not have taken place without the sanction of Vladimir Putin.

Even if Putin had just tolerated, rather than encouraged, the Wagner mercenary boss in the feud, then that indulgence seems to be over for the time being. Russia’s president has backed defence minister Sergei Shoigu’s directive that Prigozhin’s mercenaries must sign contracts with the army.

Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mercenaries have played a key role in the fight for control of the city of Bakhmut – a symbolic battle for both Ukraine and Russia. But, writes Kim Sengupta, Putin’s indulgence of his tirades may be over as the president backs his defence minister’s call for Wagner fighters to sign contracts with the army:

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

Unclear if reservoir water from breached dam can still be pumped to Zaporizhzhia – IAEA

Friday 16 June 2023 19:00 , Eleanor Noyce

It is unclear whether water from the huge reservoir of the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine that burst last week can still be pumped to the nearby Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) for cooling, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Friday.

While the reservoir was a main source of water for cooling the six reactors and spent fuel ponds at Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant, the plant can fall back on other sources including a large cooling pond which the International Atomic Energy Agency says has enough water to last for months.

The bursting of the dam has, however, further complicated an already difficult situation in terms of ensuring Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia operates safely, the IAEA says. Shelling has repeatedly downed external power lines that are also vital to ensuring the cooling necessary to prevent a nuclear meltdown.

“There are…indications that some water resources from the reservoir itself currently remain available in areas near the ZNPP,” the IAEA said in a statement.

“But it is unclear if the level is high enough to pump it up for use at the plant. The pumps were last in operation about a week ago.”

An IAEA team including the agency’s Director General Rafael Grossi visited the plant on Thursday, crossing the front line to get there. A small team of IAEA experts based at the plant was also rotated out and replaced.

“The plant informed the Director General that additional cooling water can be pumped from an underground water system and on-site wells. But … it is not yet known whether these wells can reliably provide all the required water,” the IAEA said.

“New pumps that can potentially continue to access water at lower reservoir levels may also be installed,” it added.

White House denounces nuclear rhetoric from Putin

Friday 16 June 2023 18:50 , Eleanor Noyce

The White House on Friday denounced comments from Russian president Vladimir Putin on the possible use of nuclear weapons, but said the United States had made no adjustments to its nuclear posture in response to the rhetoric.

The White House comments came after Putin said earlier on Friday that Russia could “theoretically” use nuclear weapons if there was a threat to its territorial integrity or existence, but that it did not need to.

Responding to questions aboard Air Force One, White House deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton also reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to NATO’s principle of collective defense.

Rheinmetall to boost propellant powder production by up to 600 tons per year – CEO

Friday 16 June 2023 18:45 , Eleanor Noyce

Rheinmetall will ramp up production of propellant powder for ammunition at its plant in the Bavarian town of Aschau by 500 to 600 metric tons per year, adding some 10% to its current global capacity of more than 6,000 tons, its CEO Armin Papperger said.

Rheinmetall has already kicked off an investment programme with this goal, Papperger told Reuters in an interview late on Thursday.

While this does not mean that earlier plans for a completely new powder plant were off the table, the construction of a new plant with a planned capacity of some 1,500 tons per year would only be commercially viable with state aid or a very large contract, he said.

“You can only do it if you have a very, very large order of, for example, 800,000 artillery shells,” Papperger said. “This is not a situation we find ourselves in, which means we are finding other ways such as expanding our powder plant in Bavaria.”

In January, Papperger told Reuters that Rheinmetall was considering building a new powder plant, possibly in the eastern German state of Saxony, but that the investment of 700-800 million euros would have to be footed by the government in Berlin.

He argued the plant was needed as shortages in the production of special powders could turn out to be a bottleneck, hampering efforts to boost the output of tank and artillery shells.

Global demand for ammunition has soared since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022, with Rheinmetall benefiting from it as one of the biggest global producers of artillery and tank shells.

Zelensky says he wants to hold Ukraine-Africa summit

Friday 16 June 2023 18:35 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukrainian president Volodymyr President Zelensky said during a visit of African leaders to Kyiv on Friday that he wanted to hold a Ukraine-Africa summit, and for Kyiv to step up its relations with the continent.

Kyiv has been courting the Global South and trying to challenge Russia’s influence in the region. Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, plans to hold its second Russia-Africa summit this summer.

Ramaphosa: we are here to share the African perspective on finding peace in Ukraine

Friday 16 June 2023 18:25 , Eleanor Noyce

South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa added that African leaders were “here to share the African perspective” on finding peace in Ukraine.

South Africa’s Ramaphosa: important to listen carefully to Russia and Ukraine

Friday 16 June 2023 18:20 , Eleanor Noyce

South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa said on Friday that international investigations on alleged abuses in the Ukrainian city of Bucha should be allowed to go on, and that it was important to listen to what both Russia and Ukraine had to say.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said he did not understand the logic of the decision by African leaders to visit Russia following talks in Kyiv.

“…This is their decision, how logical it is, I don’t really understand,” he told reporters at a joint news conference with the African leaders.

Ukraine invites African leaders to attend global peace summit – Zelensky

Friday 16 June 2023 18:15 , Eleanor Noyce

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday he had invited African leaders to take part in a global peace summit and rejected the idea of peace talks with Moscow now, which he said would simply freeze the war in Ukraine.

Speaking at a news conference with visiting African leaders, Zelensky said Ukraine needed a real peace with the withdrawal of Russian troops from occupied territory.

African countries are prepared to participate further in a peace pact, South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa said after the meeting, during which he called for a free flow of grain.

He added that there must be a de-escalation on both sides of the war in Ukraine, and peace should be achieved through negotiations and diplomatic means.

Blinken says there are no indications that Russia preparing to use nuclear weapons

Friday 16 June 2023 17:49 , Eleanor Noyce

There are no indications that Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons and the United States sees no reason to adjust its own nuclear posture, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters on Friday.

His comments came after Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia could “theoretically” use nuclear weapons if there was a threat to its territorial integrity or existence, but that it did not need to.

U.N. nuclear chief Grossi to visit Moscow next week: Interfax

Friday 16 June 2023 17:45 , Eleanor Noyce

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, is expected to visit Moscow next week, the Interfax news agency reported on Friday, citing the head of Russia’s nuclear state company Rosatom.

Grossi visited the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on Thursday to assess its condition following last week’s breach in a massive Soviet-era dam downstream whose reservoir has fed the facility’s cooling pond.

Russia, Turkey agree on Putin visit to Turkey ‘soon’ – Ifax cites Kremlin aide

Friday 16 June 2023 17:30 , Eleanor Noyce

Russian president Vladimir Putin and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan have agreed that the Russian leader will visit Turkey “soon”, Interfax cited a Kremlin aide as saying on Friday.

The visit would be Putin’s first to a NATO country since he ordered tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Putin has only rarely travelled outside Russia since the beginning of full-scale hostilities.

“There is an invitation from the president of Turkey. Putin and Erdogan agreed that the visit will be in the near future, but we have not yet talked about a specific day, specific dates,” Interfax cited Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov as saying.

Erdogan, re-elected last month for another five-year term, has sought to maintain strong ties with both Moscow and Kyiv since the start of the conflict in Ukraine.

Turkey has refused to join its Western allies in imposing economic sanctions on Russia, but has also supplied arms to Ukraine and called for its sovereignty to be respected.

Ankara has also helped to broker prisoner exchanges and, along with the United Nations, negotiated a deal in July 2022 to allow for the safe export of grain from Ukrainian ports via the Black Sea.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later hailed what he called the “unprecedented cooperation” between Moscow and Ankara, praising Erdogan’s “balanced position” on the Ukraine conflict.

“And so we must do everything to ensure that Turkey is a good neighbour for us,” he added, in comments reported by the TASS news agency.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March over alleged war crimes in Ukraine, meaning he may run the risk of being arrested if he travels abroad. However, Ankara is not a party to the Rome Statute, which created the ICC, and so Putin would run no such risk by visiting Turkey.

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

Friday 16 June 2023 17:15 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Both Kyiv and Moscow have reported fierce fighting at points across the vast frontline, writes Bel Trew.

But given Russia has had 12 months to fortify its defensive positions, Ukraine needs support to deliver its ‘decisive offensive’.

Ukraine’s much-anticipated counteroffensive has had so much hype, it even has its own cinematic promotional trailer. Against the backdrop of video game music, Ukrainian soldiers shout “I am going to destroy the enemies of our homeland!”

“Our decisive offensive!” they add, as tanks roar across the screen. And that phrase is a carefully chosen one.

The operation, full details of which remain a closely guarded secret, has been nicknamed Ukraine’s D-Day (in reference to the Second World War operation that, coincidentally, also took place in the month of June).

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

Zelensky says peace talks possible only after Russian troops leave

Friday 16 June 2023 17:08 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said after meeting African leaders in Kyiv on Friday that peace talks with Russia would be possible only after Moscow withdraws its forces from occupied territory, the Interfax Ukraine news agency reported.

A delegation of African leaders began a peace mission in Kyiv on Friday, undeterred by what Ukraine said was a volley of Russian missiles intended to greet them in the capital.

Russian officials say Black Sea grain deal can’t be extended

Friday 16 June 2023 16:50 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Senior Russian officials said on Friday the Black Sea grain deal could not be extended under current circumstances but that Moscow was working to ensure that poorer countries would not suffer food shortages when it ends.

The deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July 2022, allowed Ukraine to resume sea-borne grain exports to help tackle a global food crisis the U.N. said had been exacerbated by Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two.

Last month Moscow reluctantly agreed to extend the deal, known by diplomats as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, until July 17 on condition that it also received help with its own food and fertiliser exports. Russia says this help has not materialised.

“It is impossible to update this deal, and under these conditions, I believe, it is also impossible to extend it because the limit of our patience and desire to implement it has been exhausted,” Interfax news agency cited the speaker of the upper house of parliament, Valentina Matviyenko, as saying.

Matviyenko, speaking on the sidelines of an economic forum in St Petersburg, said Russia would seek “other formats” to ensure that poorer countries did not suffer from the collapse of the grain deal.

“We are open to all reasonable proposals and to any dialogue but not to the detriment of our country’s interests,” she said.

Separately, top Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said on Friday that Russia was unlikely to quit the grain deal before it comes up for renewal on July 17, state media reported.

Putin says Russia could use nuclear weapons but has ‘no need to’

Friday 16 June 2023 16:20 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia could “theoretically” use nuclear weapons if there was a threat to its territorial integrity or existence, but that it did not need to.

He was speaking at the plenary session of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

“Nuclear weapons have been made to ensure our security in the broadest sense of the word and the existence of the Russian state, but we… have no such need (to use them),” Putin said.

Putin: There is danger NATO is pulled into Ukraine conflict

Friday 16 June 2023 15:50 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday there was a “serious danger” that the NATO military alliance could be pulled further into the Ukraine conflict.

Putin was speaking at the plenary session of Russia‘s flagship St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Putin says Ukraine will soon run out of its own military equipment

Friday 16 June 2023 15:29 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Ukraine would soon run out of its own military equipment, making it totally reliant on hardware supplied by the West.

Putin told an economic forum in St Petersburg that Ukraine had failed to make progress in its counter-offensive and said its army had “no chance” against Russia’s.

Ukrainian troops face ‘desperate resistance’ from Russians

Friday 16 June 2023 14:50 , Jane Dalton

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

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

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

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

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

Friday 16 June 2023 14:45 , Jane Dalton

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Friday 16 June 2023 14:40 , Jane Dalton

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

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

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

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

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

We’ll let foreign firms return, Putin says

Friday 16 June 2023 14:00 , Jane Dalton

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

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

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

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

We must protect our sovereignty, claims Putin

Friday 16 June 2023 13:44 , Jane Dalton

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

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

Putin boasts of growing economy and low unemployment

Friday 16 June 2023 13:38 , Jane Dalton

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

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

Russia ‘will help ensure food security’

Friday 16 June 2023 13:32 , Jane Dalton

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

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

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

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

We’ll expand infrastructure, vows Putin

Friday 16 June 2023 13:25 , Jane Dalton

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

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

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

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

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

Friday 16 June 2023 13:20 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

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

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

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

Russia accuses Australia of ‘Russophobic hysteria’

Friday 16 June 2023 12:55 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

Friday 16 June 2023 12:32 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

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

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

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

Here’s why Putin really invaded Ukraine

‘Impossible’ to extend grain deal under current conditions – speaker of Russia’s upper house

Friday 16 June 2023 11:47 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

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

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

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

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

Friday 16 June 2023 10:55 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

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

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

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

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

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

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

Friday 16 June 2023 10:27 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

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

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

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

Explosions heard in Kyiv as African delegation visits Ukraine

Friday 16 June 2023 10:02 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

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

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

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

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

Kremlin says Putin open to any contacts on ‘Ukrainian problem’

Friday 16 June 2023 09:40 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Friday 16 June 2023 09:22 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

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

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

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

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

Friday 16 June 2023 08:50 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

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

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

Friday 16 June 2023 08:30 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

South African president arrives in Ukraine on peace mission

Friday 16 June 2023 08:10 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

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

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

Russian troops to get bonuses for destroying western tanks

Friday 16 June 2023 07:50 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Friday 16 June 2023 07:36 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

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

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

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

Friday 16 June 2023 06:55 , Arpan Rai

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

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

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

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

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

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

Friday 16 June 2023 06:00 , Joe Middleton

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

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

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

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

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

Friday 16 June 2023 05:42 , Arpan Rai

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

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

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

Spain to send four Leopard tanks to Ukraine

Friday 16 June 2023 05:08 , Arpan Rai

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

The European nation will also send 20 armoured personal carriers.

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

Friday 16 June 2023 05:00 , Joe Middleton

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

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

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

Friday 16 June 2023 04:10 , Arpan Rai

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

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

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

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

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

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

Friday 16 June 2023 04:00 , Joe Middleton

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

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

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

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

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

Friday 16 June 2023 03:00 , Joe Middleton

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

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

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

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

Mapped: The damage caused by Ukraine’s devastated dam

Friday 16 June 2023 02:00 , Joe Middleton

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

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

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

Mapped: The damage caused by Ukraine’s devastated dam

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

Friday 16 June 2023 01:00 , Joe Middleton

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

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

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

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

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

Thursday 15 June 2023 23:59 , Joe Middleton

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

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

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

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

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

Thursday 15 June 2023 23:00 , Joe Middleton

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

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

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

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

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

Thursday 15 June 2023 22:00 , Joe Middleton

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

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

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

Thursday 15 June 2023 21:00 , Joe Middleton

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

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

Drone footage shows scale of destruction in Odesa after Russian strike

Thursday 15 June 2023 20:12 , Joe Middleton

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

Thursday 15 June 2023 18:25 , Andy Gregory

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

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

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

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

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

Thursday 15 June 2023 17:56 , Andy Gregory

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pictured: UN nuclear chief inspects Zaporizhzhia plant

Thursday 15 June 2023 17:28 , Andy Gregory

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

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

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

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

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

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

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