Ukraine is taking significant casualties and making slow progress towards the Russian main line of defence, western officials have admitted in one of the west’s first assessments of the Ukrainian counteroffensive launched on 4 June. “This is incredibly difficult,” the official said. “They are going against a well-prepared line that the Russians have had months to prepare.”
Ukraine reported incremental advances in its counteroffensive against Russian forces on Wednesday, in what the Ukrainian deputy defence minister described as “extremely fierce” fighting. In the past day, Ukrainian troops had advanced 200-500 metres in various areas near the largely devastated eastern city of Bakhmut, and 300-350 metres in the direction of the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia, Hanna Maliar said.
Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretary general, has said alliance members must ensure Ukraine keeps getting enough arms to pursue its counteroffensive against Russia. “It is still early days and we do not know if this will be a turning point,” he said.
Three people were killed and at least 13 injured in a Russian missile attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa, Ukrainian forces said. Air defences downed two Kalibr cruise missiles, but authorities said the attack still struck civilian infrastructure including a business centre, an educational institution, a residential complex, restaurants and shops.
Three people were killed and another three injured in an early morning Russian attack on Kramatorsk and Kostyantynivka in Donetsk, according to the regional governor. Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reported that at least five houses were destroyed and about 20 more were damaged in Kramatorsk, while two houses were destroyed and 55 were damaged in Kostyantynivka.
UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi delayed a trip to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station on Wednesday for security reasons, as heavy fighting raged in southern Ukraine. Russian news agencies quoted a senior official in Russia’s nuclear industry as saying Grossi was likely to visit the plant on Thursday.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has appeared to side with his top military commanders in calling for Russia’s “volunteer detachments” fighting in Ukraine to be placed under the direct control of the defence ministry. The order from Moscow had been seen as an attempt to rein in the Wagner mercenary group and its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, by incorporating them into the army.
Western microchips and other components coming largely via China are being used to manufacture Russian cruise and ballistic missiles that are being launched at Ukraine, Kyiv has said in a presentation prepared for G7 members this week. The document calls for the world’s leading economies to further tighten export controls.
The Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov said on Wednesday that one of his senior commanders was alive and well, dismissing reports that he had been killed or wounded in Ukraine. Adam Delimkhanov heads the Chechen division of the Russian national guard and is also a member of Russia’s parliament. He is widely seen as Chechnya’s second most senior official after Kadyrov himself.
The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, says he won’t hesitate to use Russian tactical nuclear weapons if faced with an act of aggression. Lukashenko’s comment contradicts earlier statements by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, who has said that nuclear weapons stationed in Belarus would remain exclusively under the control of Moscow.
A former campaign leader for the jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison on Wednesday for “creating an extremist organisation”, Reuters reported, citing the rights group OVD-Info. Navalny supporters reacted with outrage to the sentence against Liliya Chanysheva.
