Russian air strikes hit several buildings in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih early Tuesday, leaving at least eleven dead and dozens wounded, local authorities said, as drone and missile attacks were reported in Kyiv and other cities. Follow our live blog for the latest updates on the war in Ukraine. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
03:25am: Fire breaks out in Ukraine's Odesa from Russian missile attack
A fire broke out near a business centre and the warehouse of a retail chain was hit in a Russian missile attack overnight on the Black Sea port of Odesa, Ukraine's officials said early on Wednesday.
Air defence forces shot down two missiles over the city, the city's administration said on its Telegram messaging app. It was not immediately clear how many missiles targeted the city.
"Information about the scale of destruction and casualties is being clarified," the administration said.
12:20pm: Zelensky seeks tougher sanctions on Russian missile components
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for tougher sanctions to halt the flow of components used in Russian missiles, saying it was cheaper to stop their transfer than to improve anti-aircraft systems against their deployment.
It was the second time in a little more than a week that Zelensky had called for tightened rules to halt what Ukrainian authorities call "missile terror" against civilian targets.
The missile used in the assault contained about 50 components produced in other countries and that the issue had been discussed on Tuesday with diplomats in Kyiv, Zelensky said.
"Unfortunately, Russia still has the opportunity to receive critical components for the production of missiles, manufactured by companies from different countries, including partner countries," Zelensky said in his nightly video address.
All Ukraine's partners have the list of companies that supply Russia with the components, he said.
10:32pm: Zelensky hails 'forward movement' of troops in eastern and southern Ukraine
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday hailed advances by Ukraine's troops near the long-besieged city of Bakhmut in the east and on the war's southern front.
"Thanks to everyone who is now fighting, who protects and advances our positions," Zelensky said in his nightly video address. "For example, the Bakhmut sector...there is forward movement in various areas."
He also praised units on the "Tavria" southern front, saying that in "conditions of aviation and artillery superiority of the occupiers, there is movement forward. Thank you soldiers! Thank you for every step and every metre freed from Russian evil".
9:37pm: Putin claims Ukraine losses ‘catastrophic’ in counteroffensive, Kyiv pushes gains
Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed Tuesday that Ukraine's casualties in its much-anticipated counteroffensive were ten times higher than Moscow's even as Kyiv said it was making gains and "moving forward".
"Their losses are approaching a level that could be described as catastrophic," Putin said during a meeting in the Kremlin with Russian journalists and bloggers covering the conflict.
"We have 10 times fewer losses than those of the armed forces of Ukraine," he noted, citing a ratio that could not be independently confirmed.
But Kyiv quickly fired back insisting Ukraine's push, bolstered with Western weapons and training, had "certain gains, implementing our plans, moving forward".
"Both defensive and offensive fierce fighting is ongoing in the east and south of our nation," the chief of the Ukrainian armed forces Valery Zaluzhny said on social media.
8:10pm: 'The world deserves certainty': US tells Russia to end global food supplies threats
The White House on Tuesday called on Russia to stop threatening global food supplies, calling the situation "unfortunate" as Putin earlier said Moscow may withdraw from the Black Sea grain deal.
"The world deserves certainty that this corridor for grain and food exports will be there on a sustainable basis, and that it will get to global markets so that the world can continue to be fed," a White House National Security Council spokesperson said in a statement.
7:24pm: IAEA chief visits Ukraine to see flood impact on plant
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said he will visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Wednesday to personally assess the impact of last week's dam breach.
"I'm going now", Grossi told journalists on Tuesday after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.
"I want to make my own assessment. I want to go there, discuss with the management there what measures they are taking, and then make as I said a more definitive assessment of what kind of danger we have."
Grossi told journalists he plans to visit Russia "in the next few days or weeks".
7:12pm: Ukraine F-16 training could start in summer, says Dutch minister
Western allies could start training Ukrainian pilots to fly US-made F-16 jets as soon as this summer as Kyiv battles Russia's invasion, the Dutch defence minister said on Tuesday.
A coalition of Kyiv's European backers led by the Netherlands and Denmark has said it will help teach Ukrainian flyers, after the United States gave its green light in May.
But they have not previously specified when they might begin training the Ukrainians to fly the jets.
Russia has said that the West would be "playing with fire" by supplying Ukraine with the jets.
7:03pm: US announces $325 mn in new Ukraine security aid
The United States on Tuesday announced a new $325 military assistance package for Ukraine as Kyiv's troops battle Russian forces in a recently launched counteroffensive.
The package "will provide $325 million worth of US arms and equipment," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
It "includes critical air defense capabilities, additional munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, artillery rounds, anti-tank weapons, armored vehicles, and other equipment," he said.
The Pentagon said the package provides "key capabilities to aid Ukraine's efforts to retake its sovereign territory and support Ukraine's air defenders as they bravely protect Ukraine’s soldiers, civilians, and critical infrastructure."
6:53pm: UN nuclear chief says large Ukraine atomic power plant held by Russia faces 'dangerous situation'
The largest nuclear power plant in Europe faces “a relatively dangerous situation” after a dam burst in Ukraine and Kyiv launches a counteroffensive to retake ground occupied by Russia, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said Tuesday.
Rafael Moreno Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, spoke to journalists in Kyiv just before leaving on a trip to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. That plant has been repeatedly in the crossfire since Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022 and seized the facility shortly after.
FRANCE 24's correspondent in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Gulliver Cragg, has more details below.
5:53pm: Russia ready for Ukraine talks but West must stop arms supplies, says Putin
President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia was open to peace talks over Ukraine, but that the only way to stop the conflict was for Western countries to end their arms supplies to Kyiv.
Putin also repeated his accusation that the West was seeking to defeat Russia in Ukraine and said that Moscow had its own "peace plan" for that country.
5:53pm: Putin says Russia considering withdrawal from grain deal
President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia was considering withdrawing from the Black Sea grain deal, saying that Moscow had been "cheated" over implementation of the parts of the accord that concerned its own exports.
In a televised meeting with pro-Kremlin war correspondents, Putin said the deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, was intended to help "friendly" countries in Africa and Latin America, but that Europe was the largest importer of Ukrainian grain, providing a key source of foreign currency to Kyiv.
Putin said he would discuss the future of the grain deal with some African leaders who were expected to visit Russia, adding that Moscow was ready to supply grain for free to the world's poorest countries.
5:43pm: Joint Expeditionary Force announces new air defence package for Ukraine
Defence ministers from the Joint Expeditionary Force, a British-led alliance of several European countries, announced a new $116 million package of air defence capabilities for Ukraine at a meeting on Tuesday.
"The equipment, worth 92 million pounds, will be procured in the coming months through the International Fund for Ukraine (IFU) to bolster Ukraine’s ability to protect its critical national infrastructure, civilian population, and front-line personnel," a statement published by the British government said.
"The package will provide radars to help protect from indiscriminate Russian strikes as well as guns and a significant amount of ammunition."
5:34pm: NATO chief says Ukrainians making advances in the counteroffensive
Ukrainians are making advances and gaining ground in their counteroffensive, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday, although he added it was still early days in Kyiv's renewed push against Russia's invasion.
In brief remarks ahead of his meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Stoltenberg said the NATO alliance was preparing for the leaders summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, where it was expected to step up further support for Ukraine.
4:56pm: Russian weapon quality improving but drones, high-precision ammo lacking, says
President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that the quality of Russian weaponry was improving, but that the country lacked high-precision ammunition and drones.
Putin said Russia had increased its production of key weapons by 2.7 times over the past year, and he also accused the West of pumping weapons into Ukraine.
4:31pm: Russia could have been 'better prepared' for Ukraine attacks, says Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said Moscow could have more successfully readied southern regions of the country bordering Ukraine for cross-border attacks from Ukrainian territory.
"Of course, there is nothing good in this," he said, referring to recent cross-border attacks on Russia's southern region of Belgorod, adding that: "But, in principle, one could have assumed that the enemy would behave this way, and one could have prepared better."
4:07pm: Putin says Ukraine's losses close to 'catastrophic'
President Vladimir Putin claimed Tuesday that Ukraine was suffering massive losses in its highly touted counter-offensive against Russian positions in Ukraine, which he said was targeting several sectors of the front.
"Their losses are approaching a level that could be described as catastrophic," Putin said during a meeting with Russian journalists and writers covering the conflict.
3:57pm: Algerian president begins Russia visit
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune headed to Russia Tuesday for a three-day state visit at the invitation of Vladimir Putin, the Algerian presidency said.
The visit comes "in the framework of strengthening cooperation between the two friendly countries", the presidency said in a statement.
Tebboune will also take part in an international economic forum in St Petersburg held between June 14 to 17, the statement added.
Algiers and Moscow have long shared close ties, with bilateral trade worth about $3 billion annually, based "largely on mechanical construction, metals and agriculture", the Russian economic mission in Algeria said.
Russia is also a major arms supplier to Algeria.
3:55pm: The goals of military campaign in Ukraine will not fundamentally change, says Russia's Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a televised meeting with military bloggers on Tuesday that the goals of Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine might evolve with the situation, but that their fundamental character would not change.
3:43pm: NATO chief hopes Ukraine offensive will force Russia to negotiate
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday ahead of a meeting with US President Joe Biden that Ukraine's offensive to liberate swaths of territory occupied by Russia could force the Kremlin to negotiate.
Stoltenberg, who was meeting with Biden in the White House later Tuesday, told CNN that it was "still early days" for the offensive, which he characterized as "difficult."
Kyiv's Western-backed army is attempting to assault long-prepared Russian defensive lines stretched across the east and south of war-torn Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion in February 2022, quickly seizing large areas of territory, but meeting fierce — and growing — resistance. It remains unclear how much the Ukrainian counteroffensive can achieve in terms of recovering lost lands, which include the entire Crimean peninsula.
"They have the right... to liberate their own land," Stoltenberg said.
3:37pm: Russian shelling kills Ukraine priest in churchyard
Russian forces on Tuesday killed an elderly priest in a churchyard when they shelled the town of Bilozerka in southern Ukraine, authorities said.
Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine's presidential office, said on social media that the priest was 72, adding that a 76-year-old woman was wounded.
Four residential buildings, a post office, a central square and some administrative buildings were damaged, he said in a statement.
In a separate statement, the Office of the General Prosecutor said it was probing a "war crime".
3:07pm: France says uncovers major disinformation campaign by Russia
France on Tuesday said it had uncovered a major Russian disinformation campaign, with false news items hostile to Ukraine made to look like they were published by prominent French news media.
Western states have been acutely concerned about an intensification of Russian-led disinformation campaigns, as Moscow seeks to influence public opinion across the world over its invasion of Ukraine.
"France condemns these actions unworthy of a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council," Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said.
"The French authorities are working closely with their partners to defeat the hybrid warfare led by Russia," she added.
France has for several years sounded the alarm over alleged Russian disinformation campaigns in areas of Francophone Africa, particularly those where the Russian mercenary group Wagner has been active.
2:22pm: Russian missile attack on Ukraine kills at least 11 in Zelensky’s hometown
Russian missiles hit civilian buildings in a central Ukrainian city overnight, killing at least 11 people and wounding more than two dozen in a warehouse and an apartment building, regional officials said Tuesday.
The devastation in Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown, come as Ukrainian forces are in the early stages of a counteroffensive, more than 15 months after Russia invaded.
Russian forces have unleashed overnight missile strikes repeatedly against targets across Ukraine since late April, and Tuesday’s toll was among the highest from a single attack on a city since then. In late April, missile strikes hit an apartment building in the central city of Uman killed 23 people, including six children.
Images from the scene relayed by Zelensky on his Telegram channel showed firefighters battling the blaze as pockets of fire poked through multiple broken windows of the damaged apartment building. Charred and damaged vehicles littered the nearby ground.
“More terrorist missiles,” he wrote. “Russian killers continue their war against residential buildings, ordinary cities and people.”
1:30pm: Putin confirms cancellation of agreement with Ukraine on Sea of Azov, Kerch Strait, state media reports
Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed on Tuesday that Moscow was annulling a cooperation agreement with Ukraine on the use of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait, Russian state-owned news agency RIA reported.
1:22pm: Russian defence ministry says forces repelled Ukrainian attacks in south Donetsk
Russia's defence ministry said on Tuesday its forces had repelled Ukrainian attacks near the villages of Makarivka, Rivnopil and Prechystivka in the southern part of Donetsk region, state-owned news agency RIA reported.
In its daily briefing, the defence ministry also said Ukraine was continuing to mount attacks in the south Donetsk and Bakhmut areas.
Ukraine has said its forces have recaptured a number of villages from Russian forces in the southeast since starting its long-anticipated counteroffensive last week
1:01pm: Ukraine reports gains, says Russia 'doing everything' to hold positions
Ukraine reported more gains in the early stages of its counteroffensive on Tuesday, but said Russian forces were "doing everything" they can to defend the territory they have occupied.
Deputy Defence Minister, Hanna Maliar, said Ukrainian troops had advanced 250 metres (275 yards) near the small eastern city of Bakhmut, 200 metres on the Toretsk front in east Ukraine, and 500 metres to 1 km in the direction of the port city of Berdyansk. In total, Maliar said Ukrainian forces had gained control of an area of up to 3 square km (1.16 square miles) but did not say over what period.
Some 40,000 square miles in Ukraine remain under Russia's occupation.
"The enemy is doing everything to hold on to the positions it has seized," Maliar wrote on the Telegram messaging app on Tuesday morning. She said Russian forces had air support and were showering Ukrainian troops with intense artillery fire, and that Ukrainian troops were encountering "continuous minefields which are combined with anti-tank ditches."
The reports could not be independently verified.
12:55pm: Russia's Wagner mercenary chief says he is unsure if his men will continue fighting in Ukraine
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, said on Tuesday that he was "not sure" if Wagner would stay in Ukraine after having taken the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut after a months-long battle.
Wagner mercenaries have in the past been active in Africa and the Middle East and still have some contracts there.
12:13pm: At least 10 killed in Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih, mayor says
At least 10 people were killed in a Russian missile strike on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Tuesday, the city mayor said.
"As of 1300 (1000 GMT) 10 people have been killed," Oleksandr Vilkul said in a Telegram post, adding that another person was under the rubble and a further 28 were injured.
11:47am: Russia says it arrested ex-defence industry workers suspected of spying for Ukraine
Russia's FSB security service said on Tuesday it had arrested a group of former defence industry workers it suspects of supplying Ukraine with sensitive military information and of planning sabotage attacks.
The FSB accused the unnamed ex-workers of spying for Ukrainian military intelligence and of handing over technical documents and models used in the manufacture of weapons systems and equipment for Russia's Air Force.
It said in a statement that the same group was also involved in plans to blow up transport infrastructure such as railway lines used to supply Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.
11:23am: Belarus leader says Russia should not hesitate to use nuclear weapons 'if required'
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday that the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus would serve as a deterrent against a potential aggressor and that there should be no hesitation in using them if required.
His comments were carried by the Belta news agency. Russia will start deploying tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus after special storage facilities are made ready on July 7-8, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
10:57am: NATO pushes for common standards to tackle shortfalls in artillery munitions
The heads of leading arms-making companies meet NATO defence ministers this week to discuss increasing production and standardising artillery shells as the war in Ukraine depletes stocks.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned in February that Kyiv was burning through shells faster than Western countries could produce them as lack of common standards among the various manufacturers has hampered the flow of munitions supplies.
"It is about supercharging the NATO standardization process in order to enable smoother supplies, which will help preventing delays and shortfalls in the future," a NATO official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters ahead of the meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.
Discussions on Thursday will focus on ways to ramp up supplies of artillery shells, air defences, precision guided deep-strike ammunitions, and missiles with a range of hundreds of kilometres such as the British Storm Shadow.
The NATO official said companies themselves have an interest in producing standardised rounds that can be fired by multiple countries, with orders worth billions of euros expected as the war drags on in Ukraine.
10:43am: Ukraine flood toll in Russian-held areas rises to 17, official says
The death toll from a devastating flood in Russian-controlled territory in southern Ukraine has risen to 17, Moscow-installed officials said Tuesday.
"As of this morning, 12 dead were confirmed in Gola Prystan and five in Oleshky," Andrei Alekseyenko, head of the Russian-installed government in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, said in a statement on social media.
10:16am: Ukraine eyes Australian F-18s to help war effort
Ukraine has asked Australia about the condition of dozens of retired F-18 fighter jets, the country's ambassador told AFP on Tuesday, eyeing a potential weapons transfer that could significantly boost Kyiv's airpower.
Vasyl Myroshnychenko said an initial request had been made about the state of an estimated 41 planes stored at an air base north of Sydney.
"There has been a request for information," Myroshnychenko said. "Ukraine is looking at fighter jet capabilities, including this one."
Mick Ryan, a strategist and retired Australian major general, told AFP that the F-18s could help "level the playing field" against Russia's larger and better-equipped air force – helping prevent strikes on Ukrainian towns, cities and critical infrastructure.
"The key capabilities the Ukrainians would be after would be longer range sensors and longer range weapons than they currently have with MiG-29s," Ryan said.
9:20am: Ukraine dam breach will sow huge problems for food security says UN
The United Nations on Tuesday said the breach of the huge Soviet-era dam on the Dnipro river in Ukraine will have a huge impact on global food security, lead to a rise in food prices and could cause drinking water problems for hundreds of thousands.
The dam, part of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, was breached in the early hours of June 6, allowing some of the 18 cubic kilometres of water it held back to surge down across a swathe of southern Ukraine.
"That whole area going down towards the Black Sea and Crimea is a breadbasket not only for Ukraine but also for the world," UN aid chief Martin Griffiths told the BBC on Tuesday. "We're in difficulties already on food security but food prices, I'm sure, are bound to increase."
"It is almost inevitable that we are going to see huge, huge problems in harvesting and sowing for the next harvest. And so what we are going to see is a huge impact on global food security."
8:44am: At least six killed in Russian missile strike on Ukraine's Kryvyi Rih, mayor says
At least six people were killed in a Russian missile strike on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Tuesday, the city mayor said.
"Unfortunately, there are already six dead. The rescue operation continues," Oleksandr Vilkul said on the Telegram messaging app. Ukrainian officials had said earlier on Tuesday that three people had been killed and many more were trapped under the rubble of a five-storey apartment building.
7:22am: Ukraine shells villages in Russia's Kursk region, governor says
Ukraine's early morning shelling damaged several houses and disrupted gas and electricity supply to two villages in Russia's Kursk region near the border with Ukraine, the region's governor said on Tuesday.
Nine houses were damaged and gas and power supplies disrupted in the village of Tyorkino, governor Roman Starovoyt said on the Telegram messaging app. Two houses caught fire.
In the village of Glushkovo several houses were damaged, he added. There was no immediate information on any casualties.
The reports could not be independently verified.
Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.
7:10am: Civilian infrastructure hit by drone attack in Kharkiv, mayor says
In Kharkiv, civilian infrastructure was hit in an early morning drone attack, said the city's mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Tuesday.
"According to initial reports, a utility company in the Kyivskyi district, as well as a warehouse in Saltivskyi district got damaged. A fire broke out as a result of the explosion on the latter," he said.
Air alerts were also sounded in the Dnipropetrovsk oblast and the neighbouring Donetsk and Poltava regions.
6:07am: Three killed by missile strike in Kryvyi Rih, official says
At least three people were killed and 25 injured in Russia's overnight missile strikes on Kryvyi Rih that destroyed a five-storey residential building, Serhiy Lisak, the governor of Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region said on Tuesday.
"There are still people under the rubble," Lisak wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Four people were injured at another location in the city, he added.
6:03am: Fires still burning in Kryvyi Rih after Russian missile strikes
Russian missile strikes on the central Ukrainian city, Kryvyi Rih, hit a five-storey residential building early on Tuesday morning, local officials said. “There are still fires burning and people under the rubble,” says FRANCE 24’s correspondent in Ukraine, Gulliver Cragg.
5:21am: Russia launches 'massive missile' attack on Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine, local governor says
Russia launched a "massive missile" attack overnight on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, killing and wounding people and damaging civilian infrastructure, Ukrainian officials said early on Tuesday.
"There are dead and wounded," Serhiy Lisak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region where Kryvyi Rih is located, said on the Telegram messaging app.
"A massive missile attack on Kryvyi Rih."
Russian air strikes hit several civilian buildings in the city, including a five-storey building, the mayor of Kryvyi Rih, Oleksandr Vilkul, said earlier.
"Likely, there are people under the rubble," Vilkul said on Telegram.
3:45am: Russia's air attack on Kyiv region repelled, say Ukraine officials
Russia's air attack in the Kyiv region was repelled, with Ukraine' air defence systems destroying all missiles heading toward the capital, military officials said early on Tuesday.
"No information on casualties or damage has yet been received," Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv city military administration said on the Telegram messaging app.
There were also reports of strikes on the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine and on the city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine.
11:53pm: IAEA chief to arrive in Kyiv on Tuesday
The chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, will arrive in Kyiv on Tuesday to meet Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky before heading to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Since the conflict's start IAEA chief Grossi has warned of the potential for a nuclear accident at the plant, which he has previously visited twice and where a permanent IAEA team is based.
Sitting on the Dnipro river, the Russian-held Kakhovka dam, which was breached last week in an incident blamed by Kyiv on Moscow, forms a reservoir that provides the cooling water for the Russian-occupied plant.
The IAEA has warned that the Kakhovka dam disaster which claimed at least 10 lives and has left dozens missing further "(complicated) an already precarious nuclear safety and security situation at the" plant.
Key developments from Monday, June 12:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that fighting in a long-awaited offensive against Russian forces was "tough" but claimed Kyiv was "moving forward." Ukraine on Monday said it had wrested seven villages in eastern and southern Ukraine from Russian forces since the weekend. The claims could not be independently verified.
NATO began the largest air force deployment exercise in Europe in the alliance's history in a display of unity toward partners and potential threats such as Russia. Presenting the plans last week, Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz of the German Luftwaffe said that while NATO would defend "every centimetre" of its territory, the exercise would not "send any flights, for example, in the direction of Kaliningrad," the Russian enclave bordering alliance member states Poland and Lithuania. "We are a defensive alliance and that is how this exercise is planned," he said.
Read yesterday's liveblog to see how the day's events unfolded.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
