A feud between the Kremlin and the leader of the infamous Wagner mercenary group could reach boiling point as Vladimir Putin and the Russian defence ministry seek control of irregular fighting forces; UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi has arrived at the Zaporizhzhia power plant.
Thursday 15 June 2023 21:50, UK
Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska has called for the “education and safety” of children in the war torn country after sharing a video of pupils dancing in air raid shelters.
Children have celebrating their school graduation across the country – a tradition that usually sees them dance the waltz.
“Last year pupils danced graduations waltz on the ruins of schools. Now – in shelters,” Ms Zelenska wrote.
“Our children need education and safety. And it will happen, because truth is o n our side.”
Residents of Ukraine’s capital have been warned that traffic around Kyiv will be restricted tomorrow due to an “event”.
The Patrol Police of Ukraine told people they will be told when movement can resume.
“Tomorrow, June 16, due to the event during the day, traffic on the central streets of Kyiv will be restricted,” it said in a Facebook post.
“We will inform you further about the resumption of movement.
“Dear drivers, we kindly ask you to understand the temporary restrictions and plan your route in advance.”
It did not give any further details about the event, but similar precautions have been taken when foreign leaders have visited the city.
During an interview with Sky News’ partner NBC News, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has talked about Ukraine’s counteroffensive.
He said that news from the frontline has been “generally positive” but added that the situation is “difficult”.
The counteroffensive is very important to Ukraine, not only in terms of regaining territory, but also in proving that the West’s billions of pounds of support is not being wasted.
“Our heroic people, our troops who are now at the front of the frontline are facing very tough resistance, and we understand why, because for Russia to lose this campaign to Ukraine, I would say, actually means losing the war,” he said.
As we have been reporting throughout the day, the chief of the UN’s nuclear watchdog has been visiting the Zaporizhzhia power plant.
Rafael Grossi was sent to the site to assess the safety situation following the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam last week.
The dam was damaged in an attack, which caused a mass of water to flow down the Dnipro River, flooding towns and villages on both sides.
Before the blast, it held back a reservoir that pumped water through a separate pond to cool the Zaporizhzhia plant’s nuclear reactors and radioactive waste storage facilities.
In a video after his visit, Mr Grossi said it is “essential” for the safety of the plant that the water levels stays the same.
“With the water that is here, the plant can be kept safe for some time,” he said.
You can watch Mr Grossi’s video message below…
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.
Over the last month, Belgorod has reported a series of cross-border incursions from pro-Ukraine Russian partisan groups calling themselves opponents of Vladimir Putin.
Mr Kadyrov said fighters from the Zapad-Akhmat battalion had been sent to the border village of Nekhoteebka and a checkpoint in Graivoron, the site of a cross-border attack in May.
“Residents of the territories adjacent to the border with Ukraine can rest easy … Whoever encroaches on our borders will receive a lightning response,” Mr Kadyrov said
Ukraine denies involvement in the cross-border attacks, casting them as a direct consequence of Russia’s invasion.
A group of UN experts have said they have written to Moscow to raise concerns about the use of torture by Russian military forces on Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war.
The UN experts said in a statement the torture included electric shocks and mock executions and had been carried out to extract intelligence, force confessions or in response to alleged support for Ukraine’s forces.
It had resulted in damage to internal organs, cracked bones and fractures, strokes and psychological traumas, they said.
Moscow has previously denied torturing or mistreating prisoners of war and says it does not deliberately target civilians in Ukraine.
While torture allegations have previously been levelled against both sides in the 15-month conflict, the team of UN independent experts said Russian forces’ methods may be “state-endorsed”.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has today travelled to Poland en route to Ukraine and Russia as part of an African peace mission, his office has announced.
Mr Ramaphosa will meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in
Ukraine on Friday and with Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Saturday.
This week, key African states stressed the need for grain imports to tackle food insecurity.
It came as Mr Putin said on Tuesday that Russia was considering quitting the Black Sea grain initiative – brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July last year – because its own grain and fertiliser shipments still face obstacles.
The pact could expire on 17 July.
Ukraine is making steady progress in its still nascent counteroffensive against Russian forces, but the cost is likely to be high in what is proving to be a difficult battle, a top US general has said.
“Ukraine has begun their attack and they are making steady progress. This is a very difficult fight,” army general Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels today.
“It’s a very violent fight, and it will likely take a considerable amount of time at a high cost.”
Mr Milley praised the leadership, skill and morale of Ukrainian forces, and contrasted that with Russia, saying: “Their leadership is not necessarily coherent, their troops’ morale is not high, and they’re sitting in defensive positions and many of them don’t even know why they’re there.”
Areas of the frontline in Ukraine are witnessing “fierce fighting” after Kyiv’s long-anticipated launch of its counteroffensive using Western-supplied weapons, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels today, Mr Stoltenberg said Ukrainian forces were “making gains”.
He also said defence ministers and industrial partners would discuss how to further ramp up defence production.
The NATO chief went on to say that the general standard for NATO countries to spend 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence was “not a ceiling but a minimum to invest in our shared security”.
Vladimir Putin has held talks with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who is in Russia on a state visit, Russia’s foreign ministry reports.
President Tebboune started a three-day state visit to Russia on Tuesday meant to strengthen relations of “friendship and cooperation” at the invitation Mr Putin.
Mr Putin’s invitation had been conveyed by Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov during his visit to Algiers in May last year.
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