Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged a group of African leaders to ask Vladimir Putin to free political prisoners when they meet with the Russian president today. NATO has launched a new centre to protect vulnerable undersea pipelines and cables.
Sunday 18 June 2023 18:16, UK
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People in the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv have been warned against using open water for drinking, swimming, or fishing after it was found to be contaminated.
The cholera-like bacteria vibrio, which local health authorities said can cause acute intestinal infections, has been found in several rivers and estuaries following the devastating collapse of Kakhovka dam.
Mykolaiv’s regional centre for disease control and prevention also warned of high ammonia levels.
At least 35 people have died as a result of the dam collapse on 6 June, according to Ukrainian and Russian officials, while 31 are missing and thousands more have been evacuated.
Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for the dam’s collapse, both claiming deliberate sabotage.
Ukraine’s air force carried out 14 air strikes in the last 24 hours, Ukraine’s General Staff has said in a statement.
“Our defenders also destroyed two anti-aircraft missile systems.”
According to the statement on Facebook, three control points, five ammunition depots and three artillery units were also struck.
The EU is speeding up arms deliveries to Ukraine to support its counteroffensive, EU industry chief Thierry Breton has told the French daily Le Parisien.
He said the EU would be stepping up its efforts, pledging that 1m high-caliber weapons must be provided within the next year.
“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.
Zelenskyy said he wanted to create a “jets coalition” as the UK pledged to send hundreds of new long-range attack drones to Ukraine.
On the Sky News Daily, Leah Boleto speaks to the former US ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst about the importance of continued military support in Ukraine, and to Sky’s international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn who was at Chequers for the meeting.
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Defence and security analyst Michael Clarke goes through the latest developments, including Ukraine’s destruction of an ammunition depot.
Watch his full analysis here…
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 have said.
Russian losses are probably at their highest level since the peak of the battle for Bakhmut in March, UK military officials said in their latest assessment.
According to British intelligence, the most intense fighting has centred 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.
The Ukrainian military said in a regular update on Sunday morning that over the previous 24 hours, Russia had carried out 43 airstrikes, four missile strikes and 51 attacks from multiple rocket launchers.
According to the statement by the General Staff, Russia continued to concentrate its efforts on offensive operations in Ukraine’s industrial east, focusing attacks around Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Marinka and Lyman in the country’s Donetsk province, with 26 combat clashes taking place.
Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said that two civilians had been killed, with a further three wounded in the past day.
Western analysts and military officials have cautioned that Ukraine’s counteroffensive to dislodge the Kremlin’s forces from occupied areas, using western-supplied advanced weapons in attacks along the 600-mile (1,000km) front line could last a long time.
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 statement did not mention the settlement of Piatykhatky
in Zaporizhzhia region, which a Russian-installed official said
earlier had been taken by Ukraine (see 11.5am post).
The UK is set to host the Ukraine Recovery Conference on Wednesday to discuss how to rebuild the country after Russia’s devastating invasion.
Today, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is set to call for investors and business leaders to “rapidly harness innovation and creativity” to help rebuild the war-torn country.
Speaking to Sophy Ridge on Sunday on Sky News, Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko said her country is a “warzone” at the moment.
She told Sophy Ridge: “Millions of children are separated from their fathers who are either fighting on the front line or are outside in countries like the UK seeking refuge while their fathers remain ready for battle in Ukraine.”
On the financial cost to rebuild Ukraine, she said that four thousand billion dollars will be needed.
“But of course, the fighting continues, the shelling continues, on a daily and nightly basis, courtesy of Russia, and all of that causes havoc, causes mass destruction to the critical infrastructure needed for the country to run, needed for communities to live.”
Practically, roads are “the biggest challenge” in order for communities to be able to function, but schools and hospitals also need rebuilding.
She said the counteroffensive that is underway is “intense”, saying that every time Ukrainian forces gain ground, Russia launches missiles at cities.
For the latest political news, follow our dedicated politics hub.
Analysis by Diana Magnay, Moscow correspondent
There is by now a degree of predictability to Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin’s outbursts.
Cause maximum outrage, swear a lot, declare that this is the point of no return and then, somewhat miraculously, settle with the warring party which is invariably Russia’s Ministry of Defence.
Thus it was in the fight over ammunition when Prigozhin declared his forces ready to quit the battle for Bakhmut unless he was given the ammunition he needed.
He clearly received some, and he stayed.
This past week he has been railing against signing a contract to bring his forces under the direct control of Russia’s armed forces.
Read the full analysis here…
Ukrainian forces have taken control of a village on the Zaporizhzhia front, a Russian-installed official has said.
Forces have taken the settlement of Piatykhatky on the Zaporizhzhia battlefront.
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