Live blog: Russia, Ukraine swap nearly 200 in prisoner exchange

Sunday, June 11, 2023

Russia and Ukraine have swapped a total of nearly 200 prisoners, both sides announced.

In a Twitter post, Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s President's Office, said: “We are getting back 95 of our people. The list includes soldiers from the Armed Forces and National Guard, as well as border guards."

Yermak said that these soldiers served in Mariupol, Chernobyl, Snake Island, near Bakhmut and Azovstal factory.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defence Ministry said that 94 Russian soldiers were released after negotiations with Ukraine.

In a statement, the ministry said that the soldiers will be transferred to Moscow by military plane and that all the released soldiers will be taken to health facilities for treatment and rehabilitation.

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1741 GMT — Ukraine says two villages retaken in fresh offensive

Kiev has announced that Ukrainian forces had retaken two villages in the eastern region of Donetsk, the first reported gains of their new offensive.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday gave his strongest signal yet that Kiev has launched its long-awaited counterattack to seize back land in the east and south, confirming that "counteroffensive and defensive operations" were taking place.

"Neskuchne of the Donetsk region is under the Ukrainian flag again," said the state border guard service, releasing a video of Ukrainian troops announcing the takeover.

Earlier in the day, Ukraine's ground forces said that soldiers of the 68th separate ranger brigade had liberated the nearby village of Blagodatne.

1701 GMT — Ukraine infantry vow to fight on after US-made armour damaged

Ukrainian troops whose US-made Bradley armoured vehicles were damaged or destroyed in an assault on Russian positions last week have vowed that they would soon resume the fight.

A group of Bradley fighting vehicles backed by German-made Leopard tanks came under fire on Thursday, as Ukraine's 47th Brigade launched an offensive southeast of Zaporizhzhia - part of a fresh bid to claw back some territory from Russia.

Drone footage of the ambush, shared on Russian channels, showed several vehicles hit.

A group of Ukrainian soldiers just outside the small town of Orikhiv, in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia, told AFP they had lost most of their Bradleys.

Of nine vehicles attached to the group's mechanised infantry unit -- not the only one involved in the battle - six were wrecked, three damaged but reparable, and one was unscathed.

1546 GMT — Ukraine reports deadly Russian shelling of evacuation boat in flooded south

Three people have been killed and 10 have been wounded when Russian forces shelled a boat carrying evacuees from flooded occupied territory to the Ukrainian-controlled city of Kherson, the regional governor said.

The area has been stricken by catastrophic flooding after the destruction of the Russian-controlled Kakhovka dam along the front line in the Kherson region on June 6, forcing thousands to flee and sparking fears of humanitarian as well as environmental disasters.

Kiev and Moscow have accused each other of deliberately blowing up the dam.

1417 GMT — Ukrainian president approves sanctions against 178 Russian citizens

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has approved a proposal by the country’s National Security and Defence Council to sanction 178 Russian citizens, including 81 people who also have Ukrainian citizenship.

The decree, which was released by the website of the Ukrainian presidency, said that the decision was taken to support proposals made by the country’s Security Service regarding the “application and introduction of changes to personal special economic and other restrictive measures.”

The restrictions implemented by the decree are set for a period of five years and include measures such as the blocking of assets and restrictions on trade operations and transit through Ukrainian territory.

1421 GMT — Ukraine announces first gain of counteroffensive in Donetsk

Kiev's troops say they have recaptured a village from Russian forces in Ukraine's southeast, the first liberated settlement they have claimed since launching a counterattack this week.

Soldiers hoisted the Ukrainian flag at a bombed-out building in an unverified video published by Ukraine's 68th Jaeger Brigade, which identified the settlement as Blahodatne in Donetsk region.

"We're seeing the first results of the counter-offensive actions, localised results," Valeryi Shershen, spokesperson for Ukraine's "Tavria" military sector, said on television.

He said the village lay on the edge of the Donetsk and Zaporizhzia regions a few kilometres south of the Kiev-controlled village of Velyka Novosilka.

1401 GMT — Russia says it hits Leopard tanks, US Bradley vehicles in Ukraine

Russia says it has destroyed at least seven German-made Leopard tanks and five US-made Bradley vehicles over 48 hours while repelling Ukrainian attacks, though Russian bloggers reported Ukraine had briefly pierced part of the Russian line.

Russia's defence ministry said it had repelled more than a dozen Ukrainian attacks over the past day in three major directions and had destroyed a column of armoured vehicles of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade in the Zaporizhzhia region.

"During the past day, the armed forces of Ukraine continued unsuccessful attempts of offensive actions in the Donetsk, southern Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia directions," it said.

Reuters was unable to immediately verify battlefield reports from either side, but was able to verify the location though not the date of a video showing Russian drones striking Ukrainian-manned tanks in the Zaporizhzhia region.

1336 GMT — Dozens of people missing after Ukraine flood: minister

Thirty-five people, including seven children, are missing in southern Ukraine following the devastating flood prosecutors called the "worst environmental catastrophe since Chernobyl."

Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said that 77 towns and villages had been flooded in the southern regions of Kherson and Mykolaiv following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam. Klymenko said that in the Kherson region 35 people were missing, including seven children.

As a result of the flood, five people died in the region of Kherson and one person was dead in the region of Mykolaiv, he said. A total of 3,700 people have been evacuated from their homes in the two regions, the minister added in a statement.

1325 GMT — Ukraine claims Russia moving ‘combat-ready’ units away from Kherson

Ukraine’s deputy defence minister has claimed that Russia is moving its more “combat-ready” units away from the Kherson region.

“Therefore, the purpose of undermining the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant by the Russians becomes obvious … The command of the Russian occupying forces decided to ‘narrow’ the possible geography of active actions of the Armed Forces,” Hanna Maliar said in a statement on Telegram, in reference to the destruction of the Kakhovka dam.

Maliar claimed that Russia decided on the manoeuvre “taking into account their own losses and limited reserves” and the “inability to restrain the Ukrainian offensive in various directions.”

1318 GMT — Wagner Group head rules out contract with Russian Defence Ministry

The Wagner paramilitary group, which has fought on the Russian side in the ongoing war in Ukraine, has ruled out signing a military service contract with the country's Defence Ministry under a recent decree.

"Those orders and decrees that (Defence Minister Sergey) Shoygu forms, they apply to employees of the Ministry of Defence and to military personnel. PMC (private military company) 'Wagner' will not sign any contracts with Shoygu," Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a statement on Telegram.

Prigozhin said the Wagner Group coordinates its actions with general and unit commanders and has "the deepest experience and is a highly effective structure."

1224 GMT — Ukraine attacks Russian Black Sea fleet ship, Moscow claims

Russia has said that Ukraine had made an unsuccessful attempt to attack a Russian naval ship with six high-speed drone boats as the Russian vessel patrolled major natural gas pipelines in the Black Sea.

The 'Priazovye' ship was carrying out what Russia's defence ministry said was "monitoring of the situation and ensuring security along the routes of the TurkStream and Blue Stream gas pipelines in the southeastern part of the Black Sea."

Ukraine attacked in the early hours of Sunday about 300 km south-east of Sevastopol, the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea fleet on the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula, the defence ministry said.

At the time of the attack, a US RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned surveillance aircraft was in the central area of the Black Sea, the defence ministry said.

"The Black Sea Fleet ship 'Priazovye' continues to carry out its assigned tasks," the defence ministry said.

1028 GMT — Ukraine says Russia blew up Kakhovka dam to prevent offensive

The Khakhovka dam was blown up by Russian forces to prevent Ukrainian troops from advancing in the southern Kherson region, deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar has said.

Ukraine has accused Russian forces of blowing up the dam from inside its associated hydroelectric power station. The site has been under Russian occupation since the early weeks of Russia's offensive in February last year.

Moscow maintains that the blame for the destruction of the dam is on Ukraine. Each side has also accused the other of shelling civilians as rescue efforts are carried out.

0922 GMT — Kremlin says there is no foundation for dialogue with Ukraine

The Kremlin has said there was no foundation for any possible dialogue with Ukraine, but also that there were no preconditions for potential talks.

"There is practically no precondition for an agreement at the moment. Moreover, there is no foundation, even flimsy, for any kind of dialogue," Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Rossiya state television.

0624 GMT — Ukraine's dam collapse is both a fast-moving disaster and a slow-moving ecological catastrophe

The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam was a fast-moving disaster that is swiftly evolving into a long-term environmental catastrophe affecting drinking water, food supplies and ecosystems reaching into the Black Sea.

The short-term dangers can be seen from outer space — tens of thousands of parcels of land flooded, and more to come.

Experts say the long-term consequences will be generational.

For every flooded home and farm, there are fields upon fields of newly planted grains, fruits and vegetables whose irrigation canals are drying up. Thousands of fish were left gasping on mud flats. Fledgling water birds lost their nests and their food sources. Countless trees and plants were drowned.

If water is life, then the draining of the Kakhovka reservoir creates an uncertain future for the region of southern Ukraine that was an arid plain until the damming of the Dnieper River 70 years ago.

0434 GMT — Counteroffensive against Russia under way - Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said a counteroffensive against Russian forces was underway while declining to give specifics on his troops' operations.

"Counteroffensive and defensive actions are taking place in Ukraine: at which stage I will not talk in detail," Zelenskyy said, commenting after Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Kiev's operation was already failing.

Russia has reported thwarting Ukrainian attacks in the east and south.

"It's interesting what Putin said about our counteroffensive. It is important that Russia always feels this: that they do not have long left, in my opinion," Zelenskyy said.

He added that he was in daily touch with military commanders, including armed forces chief Valery Zaluzhny, and "everyone is positive now - tell that to Putin!".

2301 GMT — Russia says West making Ukraine a 'scapegoat'

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has said that the West is making Ukraine "a scapegoat."

Commenting on media reports that claimed the CIA informed Belgium about Ukraine's "trace" in the Nord Stream gas pipelines explosions, Zakharova said Kiev may be blamed for anything at the moment.

"A very convenient moment for the US to solve the murder of President [John] Kennedy. You can hang everything on [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy now. There is no better scapegoat to be found," Zakharova wrote on Telegram.

As for statements claiming German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to have a telephone discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zakharova asked what was the purpose.

"What, is Scholz ready to tell who blew up Nord Streams?" she rhetorically asked.

Underwater explosions targeted the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines late September. The pipelines deliver Russian natural gas to Germany and the European region through the Baltic Sea.

2301 GMT — Russia signs decree legitimising volunteer units

Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu has signed a decree aimed at legitimising volunteer units fighting as part of the Russian army in Ukraine.

Under the decree, all units that are not in the ministry's subordination have to sign contracts for military service by July 1.

"This [signing contracts] will give the volunteer formations the necessary legal status, create unified approaches to the organisation of comprehensive provision and fulfilment of their tasks," according to the ministry.

Separately, Deputy Defence Minister Nikolay Pankov said the ministry has observed an increase in the number of people willing to join volunteer formations.

Moscow and the Republic of Chechnya rank among the 16 regions with the largest number of people signing up for contract military service, he said.

Russia carried out military mobilisation last fall, with more than 300,000 reporting for military service after receiving notifications.

For our live updates from Saturday (June 10), click here.