Ukraine-Russia war, today’s news | Kiev claims advance along front line; Moscow: repulsed attack on Donetsk

(Gian Guido Vecchi) “Suffering and pain require the insistence of prayer, and of trying in every way to ensure that peace is not a distant dream but becomes reality”. Cardinal Matteo Zuppi arrived yesterday in Kiev as the Pope’s envoy, the first trip since Francis announced his “peace mission” for Ukraine and, on May 20, his assignment became official.

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Zelensky urgently convened the National Security Council after the attack on the Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power station, the head of the president’s office Andriy Yermak announced. “Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station. Another war crime committed by Russian terrorists. The president convened the National Security Council,” Yermak wrote on Telegram.

The Nova Kakhovka dam in the Ukrainian province of Kherson was “partially destroyed” by Ukrainian shelling, according to the Russian Emergencies Ministry, quoted by the agency Ria Novosti. The ministry says there is no danger for the population of the region.

The Russian military has destroyed more than 1,500 Ukrainian soldiers and 28 tanks, including eight Leopard and French three-wheeled AMX-10RC tanks, in an attempt to repel a new attack by the Ukrainian armed forces in the Yuzhnodonets direction, the Russian Ministry of Defense a Ria Novosti. According to the agency, during June 5, the enemy continued the offensive, but was stopped without achieving the intended tasks. According to the ministry, units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that participated in the attack “suffered significant damage”. In addition to 28 tanks, 109 armored fighting vehicles were also destroyed.

Extensive air attack in the night of Russian forces over Ukraine with Kh-101/Kh-555 aircraft cruise missiles. This was reported by Ukrainian media according to which “Ukrainian air defenses intercepted all 35 missiles launched by Russia”. As Ukrinform reports, according to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Russians attacked again from the Caspian Sea area with six Tu-95ms strategic bombers. Air Defense Forces and Air Force assets of the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed all 35 missiles. Most of the X-101/X-555 were heading towards the capital, the area of ​​responsibility of the Air Command Center.

The Ukrainian military said on Tuesday that Russian occupation forces blew up the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station upstream of the Dnieper in the Khershon area and the reservoir began to leak uncontrollably. A Moscow official based in the town of Nova Kakhovka denied the reports. “The Kakhovka dam was blown up by the Russian occupation forces,” writes the Southern Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on its Facebook page. «The extent of the destruction, the speed and volumes of the water and the probable flood areas still need to be clarified.” Reuters was unable to immediately verify the Ukrainian statement. Earlier, Russia’s state news agency quoted the Moscow-appointed mayor of Nova Kakhovka as denying the report. «All is quiet and calmthere is absolutely nothing», according to what the Russian agency Tass reports, quoting what was said by the mayor, Vladimir Leontiev.

The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy will hold an emergency meeting on the explosion of the Nova Kakhova dam in southern Ukraine. Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said on Twitter.

Ukraine is “very well prepared” to lead thespring offensive on the territories occupied by Russian forces, even if «it’s too early to say what the results will be». The Chief of Staff of the US Armed Forces, General Mark Milley, told CNN. According to the general, Ukraine “is fighting a war which constitutes an existential threat to the very survival” of that country, and which is “of wider significance for the rest of the world, for Europe, for the United States but also for the globe”.

The general’s statements come the day after a heavy attack of the Ukrainian forces along the front line in the Donetsk region, which in terms of quantity and type of forces in the field seems to represent the first phase of the spring offensive anticipated for months by Kiev and the Western countries that support Ukraine. The offensive was preceded in recent weeks by attacks and sabotage carried out by Ukraine on the territory of Russia, and in particular in the border region of Belgorod. In this regard, Milley did not rule out that such attacks on Russian territory could lead to a further one escalation of the conflict: «There is always the risk of an escalationMilley admitted, according to which the United States is observing the events “very, very closely”.

The Ukrainian advance into southern Donetsk was halted after the troops suffered “heavy losses”, said the Russian Defense Ministry, quoted by CNN which was unable, however, to verify the news with independent sources. On its Telegram channel, the Defense claims that Russian forces have rejected a“large-scale offensive” and that the enemy ones have been subjected to attacks by the army, assault and tactical-operational aviation, missile forces and artillery. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Ukrainians have lost more than 1,500 men, 28 tanks, including eight German-made Leopards, and 109 armored fighting vehicles in southern Donetsk.

The head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin called wild fantasies the statements of the Minister of Defense of Moscow on the losses inflicted on the Ukrainian troops. “To destroy a thousand and a half people, it must be such a massacre, in one day, over 150 kilometers (90 miles), a hellish massacre» said Wagner’s boss on Telegram. “Therefore, I think these are just some wild fantasies.” Prigozhin also said that Kiev troops advanced near the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which Russia said it took control of last month. Russian troops, he said, were “slowly” leaving the village of Berkhivka near Bakhmut, which he called a “disgrace”.

The air raid alert that went off in Ukraine tonight has been lifted in all regions except Luhansk and occupied Crimea, according to reports by the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN.