Russia acknowledged on Sunday that Ukraine had recaptured a village in the southern Zapororizhzhia region, its first gain on that front since it launched its counteroffensive earlier this month. Ukraine also on Sunday said its forces had destroyed a “significant” ammunition depot near the Russian-occupied port city of Henichesk. Follow our blog to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
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10:30pm: UN says Russia so far declining aid access after Ukraine dam burst
The United Nations said on Sunday that Russia has "so far declined our request to access the areas under its temporary military control" after the Kakhovka Dam burst on June 6, unleashing floodwaters and cutting off supplies to civilians.
"The UN will continue to engage to seek the necessary access. We urge the Russian authorities to act in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law,"
UN humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said in a statement. "Aid cannot be denied to people who need it."
10:00pm: 'Very effective' repelling of assaults near Avdiivka in east, says Zelensky
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday praised Ukrainian forces for their "very effective" repelling of enemy assaults near Avdiivka, one of the focal points of fighting in the east.
"The Avdiivka sector is very effective in repelling assaults," Zelensky said in his nightly video address.
The head of the military administration in Avdiivka, a mining town shattered by months of fighting, told national television that Ukrainian forces had advanced about one km (two-thirds of a mile) around the town over the past two weeks.
In his remarks, Zelensky also said the Tavria, or southern front, was "the most brutal" and expressed gratitude to soldiers fighting there and elsewhere. Ukrainian military officials have noted progress in advances of troops on the southern front.
3:49pm: Both sides suffer heavy casualties as Ukraine strikes back against Russia, UK assessment says
Russia and Ukraine are suffering high numbers of military casualties as Ukraine fights to dislodge the Kremlin’s forces from occupied areas in the early stages of its counteroffensive, British officials said Sunday.
Russian losses are probably at their highest level since the peak of the battle for Bakhmut in March, UK military officials said in their regular assessment.
According to British intelligence, the most intense fighting has centered on the southeastern Zaporizhzhia province, around Bakhmut and further west in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province. While the update reported that Ukraine was on the offensive in these areas and had “made small advances,” it said that Russian forces were conducting “relatively effective defensive operations” in Ukraine’s south.
1:09pm: Russia says it repels Ukrainian attacks on three sections of front line
Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday its forces had repelled a series of Ukrainian attacks across three sections of the front line, where it said Ukraine was pressing most actively in the Zaporizhzhia region.
The battlefield reports could not be immediately verified.
The statement did not mention the settlement of Piatykhatky in Zaporizhzhia region, which a Russian-installed official said earlier Sunday had been taken by Ukraine.
12:31pm: Zelensky praises ‘brave’ soldiers on Father’s Day
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday, Father’s Day, thanked all “strong and brave” soldiers fighting Russia’s invasion, and hoped all dads would eventually return from the front.
“Thank you to every Ukrainian father, to every Ukrainian family for our strong and brave soldiers who defended Ukraine’s independence, and fight for the life of Ukraine!” Zelensky said on social media.
He posted a video by United24, a government initiative to raise donations, which showed Ukrainian soldiers returning from home, hugging children.
Western estimates suggest Russia and Ukraine have suffered losses of around 150,000 dead and wounded each.
12:19pm: Europe to accelerate arms shipments to Ukraine
The European Union is speeding up arms deliveries to Ukraine, EU industry chief Thierry Breton said on Sunday in an interview with French daily Le Parisien.
“We are going to step up our efforts to deliver arms and ammunition—this is a war of high intensity in which they play a crucial role,” Breton said, citing a pledge to supply a million high-calibre weapons over the next 12 months.
“We are preparing for the war to last several more months, or even longer,” he added.
12:02pm: Ukrainian forces take control of village on Zaporizhzhia front, says Russian-installed official
A Russian-installed official acknowledged on Sunday that Ukraine had recaptured a village in the southern Zapororizhzhia region, its first gain on that front since it launched its counter-offensive earlier this month.
The official, Vladimir Rogov, said Ukrainian forces had taken the settlement of Piatykhatky and were entrenching themselves there while coming under fire from Russian artillery.
“The enemy’s ‘wave-like’ offensives yielded results, despite enormous losses,” Rogov said on the Telegram messaging app.
Heavy fighting continues in the area, he added. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
11:41am: Both sides suffer heavy casualties, UK assessment says
Russia and Ukraine are suffering high numbers of military casualties as Ukraine fights to dislodge the Kremlin’s forces from occupied areas in the early stages of its counteroffensive, British officials said Sunday.
Russian losses are probably at their highest level since the peak of the battle for Bakhmut in March, they said.
According to British intelligence, the most intense fighting has centered on the southeastern Zaporizhzhia province, around Bakhmut and further west in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province. While the update reported that Ukraine was on the offensive in these areas and had “made small advances,” it said that Russian forces were conducting “relatively effective defensive operations” in Ukraine’s south
11:09am: Britain to help Ukraine expand its cyber defences
Britain said on Sunday it would expand its programme to help Ukraine’s cyber defences as it launches a counter-offensive against Russia.
In the announcement, the British government said it would provide another £16 million (€18.7 million) in funding with the potential for a further £9 million to come from international allies.
“Russia’s appalling attacks on Ukraine are not limited to their barbaric land invasion, but also involve sickening attempts to attack their cyber infrastructure that provides vital services, from banking to energy supplies, to innocent Ukrainian people,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.
“This funding is critical to stopping those onslaughts,” he said.
11:05am: Ukraine claims destruction of Russian ammunition depot in Kherson
Ukrainian forces destroyed a “significant” ammunition depot near the Russian-occupied port city of Henichesk in the southern region of Kherson, Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesperson for the Odesa military administration, said on Sunday.
“Our armed forces dealt a good blow in the morning - and a very loud one - in the village of Rykove, Henichesk district, in the temporarily occupied territory of the Kherson region,” Bratchuk said in a morning video message on Sunday. “There was a very significant ammunition depot. It was destroyed.”
FRANCE 24 could not immediately verify the report on the ground. There was no immediate comment from Russia on the alleged attack.
Ukrainian media posted videos showing a vast plume of smoke rising far on the horizon with sounds of blasts.
Rykove is about 20 kilometres from Henichesk, a port city along the Sea of Azov in southern Ukraine, which has been occupied by Kremlin forces since the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
10:05pm: Kyiv says 16 died, 31 missing in Kherson, Mykolaiv after dam flooding
Ukrainian authorities on Saturday reported 16 dead and 31 missing from the devastating floods triggered by the destruction of a Russian-held dam, for which Kyiv and Moscow blame each other.
"Sixteen people died: 14 in the Kherson region and two in the Mykolaiv region. Thirty-one people are still missing," the Ukrainian ministry of internal affairs said, after Russia announced 29 dead in areas it controls.
8:54pm: Russia says African peace deal difficult to realise, despite Putin’s interest
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday in televised remarks that Moscow shared the main approaches of an African peace plan, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying it was difficult to realise.
Peskov was quoted as saying Russia would continue dialogue with the African countries whose representatives brought their proposals to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday. Putin showed interest in the plan, he said.
Lavrov said the African leaders had not brought Putin any message from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whom they had met in Kyiv on Friday.
8:45pm: Russia’s Putin lectures African leaders over mediation attempt
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday 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.
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.
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.
The African plan includes a call for all children caught up in the conflict to be returned to where they came from, but Putin said Russia was not preventing any Ukrainian children from returning home. "We took them out of a conflict zone, saving their lives," he said.
6:35pm: South Africa’s Ramaphosa tells Putin 'war' has to have an end
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is in Russia as part of a peace-seeking delegation, on Saturday told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that the conflict in Ukraine had to stop.
"This war must be settled... through negotiations and through diplomatic means," said Ramaphosa, who added that "we would like this war to be ended. We say so because this war is having a negative impact on the African continent and indeed on many other countries around the world."
We have come to listen to you and through you to hear the voice of the Russian people," said Comoros President Azali Assoumani, who currently heads the African Union. "We wanted to encourage you to enter into negotiations with Ukraine," he said.
Key developments from Saturday, June 17:
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, who on Saturday visited St Petersburg as part of an African peace-seeking delegation, told Russia’s Vladimir Putin that the war in Ukraine must come to an end. The Kremlin said Russia was open to dialogue and that Putin had showed interest in the African peace plan, but that it would be difficult to realise.
Also on Saturday, Ukrainian authorities reported that 16 people had died, and 31 were still missing, from the devastating floods triggered by the destruction of the Russian-held Kakhovka dam earlier this month. Russia, meanwhile, announced a death toll of 29 in the areas it controls.
Kyiv and Moscow blame each other for the destruction of the dam
Read yesterday's liveblog to see how the day unfolded.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
