Live blog: Zelenskyy claims Ukraine suffered no lost positions

Monday, June 19, 2023

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukrainian forces had lost no positions in their counter-offensive against Russian troops, while enemy forces had sustained only losses.

"In some sectors, our forces are moving forward, in others they are defending positions or resisting assaults and intensified attacks from the occupiers," Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.

"We have no lost positions, only liberated ones. And they have only losses. Overall, the situation is one of pressure, from us, which paves the way for our flag."

More updates 👇

1758 GMT - Kiev in talks with Western weapons makers to set up production in Ukraine

Ukraine is in negotiations with Western arms manufacturers to boost the production of weapons, including drones, and could sign contracts in coming months, a Ukrainian minister has told Reuters news agency.

Since Russia's attack on Ukraine last year, Kiev has been scrambling to secure weapons ranging from munitions to rocket launchers to missiles. It has received support from countries such as the United States, Germany and Britain.

Sergiy Boyev, deputy minister for Strategic Industries in Ukraine, said Kiev was also in talks with manufacturers from Germany, Italy, France and eastern Europe about them producing weapons in Ukraine itself.

"We are in very detailed discussions with them. And we are certain that we will have the contracts agreements signed within the next few months," Boyev said on the sidelines of the Paris Airshow.

1335 GMT - Russia says it repelled Ukrainian attacks on eastern and southern fronts

Russia's Defence Ministry has said its forces had repelled numerous Ukrainian assaults as Kiev pursues a counteroffensive to try to recapture the swathes of its territory that Moscow has seized.

But its statement did not mention the settlement of Piatykhatky in the Zaporizhzhia region, on the southern front of the counteroffensive, which a Russian-affiliated official said earlier had been taken by Ukraine.

Reuters could not independently verify battlefield reports. Kiev has cited the need for secrecy in declining to comment on details of the counter-offensive.

1142 GMT - No plans for formally inviting Ukraine to join NATO, alliance chief says

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said there are no plans to issue a formal invitation to Ukraine to join the military alliance when allies meet at their next summit in July.

“We are not discussing the issue of a formal invitation. What we are discussing is how to move Ukraine closer to NATO and there are ongoing consultations and I am not in a position to preempt the outcome of those consultations,” Stoltenberg told a joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin.

“The Vilnius summit in July will set out a vision for Ukraine’s future as an independent democratic member of the Euro-Atlantic family,” he added.

1136 GMT - Russia accuses Ukraine of continuing work on ‘dirty nuclear bomb’

Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has accused Ukraine of continuing work on the creation of a “dirty nuclear bomb,” local media reported.

"Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service Sergey Naryshkin said that information has recently appeared indicating that Kiev may continue to work on the creation of a ‘dirty nuclear bomb’,” said a statement by the SVR, state news agency TASS reported.

According to the report, the SVR claimed it also received information about an alleged decision by Ukrainian authorities to send a batch of "irradiated fuel" from the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant for processing.

1117 GMT - Russia to stay in touch with African peace mission, some ideas workable

The Kremlin has said that Russia would continue to talk to a group of African countries seeking to mediate in the conflict with Ukraine, notably at a Russia-Africa summit next month, and that some of their ideas were workable.

President Vladimir Putin gave the seven-country African delegation that had come to see him in St Petersburg a list of reasons why he believed many of their proposals were misguided, pouring cold water on a plan already largely dismissed by Kiev.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that talks with the delegation would continue nonetheless as some of its suggestions could in theory be implemented. He did not say which proposals he was referring to.

1047 GMT - Kremlin says it declined UN help in flood zone over 'security concerns'

The Kremlin has said Russia's decision to decline UN help in areas of Russian-held Ukraine flooded by the Kakhovka dam breach was motivated by security concerns and "other nuances".

The United Nations said that Moscow had declined its offers of help as the death toll rose and filthy water forced the closure of beaches in southern Ukraine.

The collapse of the Moscow-controlled dam on June 6 unleashed floodwaters across southern Ukraine and Russian-controlled parts of the Kherson region, destroying homes and farmland, and cutting off supplies to residents.

1043 GMT - Russian-backed official accuses Ukraine of killing young girl

The Russian-backed head of part of Ukraine's Donetsk region controlled by Moscow's forces has accused Ukrainian forces of injuring 20 civilians in shelling of the town of Volnovakha and of killing a six-year-old girl with a mine.

Reuters could not verify the assertions by the official, Denis Pushilin, and there was no immediate comment from Ukraine on his allegations.

In a statement posted on the Telegram messenger app, Pushilin said that Ukraine had struck "a lively and absolutely civilian" area of Volnovakha using Western-supplied rocket systems.

0925 GMT - UN says Russia still blocking aid to dam breach victims

The United Nations has accused Russia of continuing to block humanitarian aid deliveries to Moscow-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine that have been impacted by the recent Kakhovka dam rupture.

The breach of the dam on June 6 inundated huge swathes of the Kherson region under Russian and Ukrainian control, forcing thousands to flee and sparking fears of an environmental disaster.

"The Government of the Russian Federation has so far declined our request to access the areas under its temporary military control," the UN humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said in a statement.

"The UN will continue to do all it can to reach all people — including those suffering as a result of the recent dam destruction — who urgently need life-saving assistance, no matter where they are," Brown said.

"We urge the Russian authorities to act in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law," she added.

0905 GMT - South Africa hails 'historic' Ukraine peace mission after talks

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has hailed an African mission to broker peace in Ukraine as "historic" upon returning from talks in Kiev and Saint Petersburg that however did not yield any immediate results.

"This initiative has been historic in that it is the first time African leaders have embarked on a peace mission beyond the shores of the continent," Ramaphosa said after meeting both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

The mission put forward a 10-point proposal, including de-escalation, the recognition of countries' sovereignty, unimpeded grain exports through the Black Sea and sending prisoners of war and children back to their countries of origin.

Ramaphosa said "one of the key achievements" of the mission "was the positive reception" it received from both sides, "which we found encouraging and which provides cause for optimism that the proposals will be given consideration."

0850 GMT - Russian shelling kills at least one, leaves three injured in Ukraine

One person has been killed and three others injured due to Russian shelling in Ukraine’s Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kherson regions, local officials said.

“On June 18, it became known about one resident of Donetsk region, who was killed by Russians – in Tonenko,” Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said in a statement on Telegram.

Kyrylenko further said that it is not possible to establish the exact number of victims in Mariupol and Volnovakha as the two cities are under Russia’s control.

0825 GMT - Russia warns of risk of mosquito-borne diseases after flooding

The Russian Defence Ministry has said that flooding in the Kherson region after the breach of Ukraine's huge Kakhovka Dam could lead to mosquito-borne diseases such as West Nile Fever breaking out in the area.

Russian forces partially control part of the southern Kherson region, which Ukraine has vowed to retake by force.

0649 GMT - Russia says it thwarted 'Ukrainian terrorist plots' against Russian-backed officials

Russia's FSB security service has said it thwarted a series of Ukrainian "sabotage and terrorist plots" targeting Russian-backed officials on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine and had arrested one woman as part of its investigation.

The FSB said in a statement that the attacks had targeted Russian law enforcement officials and Russian-backed government officials in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, one of four areas in Ukraine that Moscow says it has annexed since the start of what it calls its "special military operation."

The FSB said it had opened criminal cases against an unnamed woman it described as "an accomplice" on charges related to terrorism and the illegal possession of explosives.

0525 GMT - Ukraine confirms liberation of Piatykhatky and 7 more settlements in past two weeks

Ukraine's forces have liberated eight settlements in the past two weeks of their offensive operations, including the village of Piatykhatky, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said.

"In the course of two weeks of offensive operations in the Berdiansk and Melitopol directions, eight settlements were liberated," Maliar said on the Telegram messaging app.

A Russian-affiliated official said Ukraine had recaptured Piatykhatky, a village in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, and were entrenching themselves there while coming under fire from Russian artillery.

For our live updates from Sunday (June 18), click here.