Latest dam attacked is near recaptured villagespublished at 11:59 British Summer Time 12 June 2023

11:59 BST 12 June 2023

Earlier in today's coverage, we mentioned that Russia has been accused of targeting a small dam in the Zaporizhzhia region yesterday. This one is much smaller than the Kakhovka dam, which was breached last week.

The Ukrainian military says Russia blew up the dam “in order to slow down our advance”. Moscow is yet to comment on the alleged attack.

The structure is located close to the front line in the south-east of the country, near a cluster of villages Ukraine says it has liberated.

BBC Verify is currently looking for social media videos from on the ground to confirm the extent of any damage. We’re also waiting for any fresh satellite images to emerge.

You can read about attacks on Ukraine’s dams here.

Kakhovka dam breach impacts Russian-held canalpublished at 11:43 British Summer Time 12 June 2023

11:43 BST 12 June 2023

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Damage to the Kakhovka dam - as mentioned in our previous post - could impact on a canal serving Russian-occupied Crimea, as our correspondent explains.

Whoever blew up the dam (and the evidence so far points overwhelmingly to Russia) did so in the knowledge that it would deprive the Crimean peninsula of badly-needed fresh water.

After the explosion last week, Russian officials said they recognised the danger but were taking unspecified measures to maintain water supplies.

But as the canal linking the Kakhovka reservoir with Crimea dries up, it’s hard to know what those measures might be.

The canal, built between 1957 and 1976, has a chequered recent history. After Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, Ukraine retaliated by blocking the canal 10 miles (16 km) north of the Crimean border.

The impact on agriculture in the relatively arid peninsula was severe, so it was inevitable that when Russia invaded southern Ukraine last year, it would quickly unblock the waterway. It did so soon after the invasion.

More recently, as Russian commanders have contemplated a concerted Ukrainian counter-offensive to recapture the south, they will have assumed that Kyiv will block the canal once more.

Rendering it useless by blowing up the dam might have seemed like a necessary - if extreme - price to pay for complicating Ukraine’s military plans.

Image source, .

Image source, Reuters

Rescue efforts continue after the breach last week of the major Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine last week - which resulted in the flooding of 50 towns and villages along the Dnipro river.

Both sides have accused the other of damaging the structure. Here are some of the latest updates:

• Ukraine said Russia attacked a boat carrying evacuees over the weekend, killing three people
• Investigators from the International Criminal Court (ICC) visited the region - a move welcomed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He said last night: “It is very important that they have seen the consequences of this Russian act of terrorism”
• Thousands of Ukrainian homes remain flooded, and tens of thousands of people have lost access to drinking water

Today is a public holiday in Russia to mark Russia Day - which commemorates the adoption of the country's declaration of state sovereignty on 12 June 1990.

Here are some pictures from Sevastopol, which is the main city in Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula occupied since 2014.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Ukraine’s lack of air cover could prove criticalpublished at 10:48 British Summer Time 12 June 2023

10:48 BST 12 June 2023

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

Ukraine’s recent hard-fought territorial gains in the Donbas may be a welcome morale boost, but in strategic terms they are a sideshow.

The area of Russian-held territory that matters most in this counter-offensive is the south: the area between Zaporizhzhia and the Sea of Azov.

This is the so-called "land corridor" that connects Russia to illegally-annexed Crimea.

If Ukraine can split that in two and hold the ground then its offensive will have largely succeeded.

Early signs are - and this is still very early in a campaign that could drag on for months - that Russia’s defence lines there are holding.

This is hardly surprising for two reasons.

• Russia has had months to build up those defences and Ukraine’s probing attacks have little to no air cover
• Attacking a well dug-in enemy without sufficient close air support is highly risky

Ukraine knows this, which is why it’s long been asking the West for F-16 fighter jets.

Critically for Ukraine, these may now arrive too late on the battlefield to play a key role in the early phases of this counter-offensive.

Image source, .

Image source, Reuters

Four-time Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi - who was a long-time friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin and once likened him to a younger brother - has died aged 86.

Last September, Berlusconi blamed Ukraine for Russia's invasion - saying Putin had been “pushed” into the war and wanted to put "decent people" in charge of Kyiv.

This drew fierce criticism - as the rest of the Italian government strongly supported Kyiv - and alarmed Ukraine’s Western allies.

In October, Berlusconi said he’d received a "very lovely letter" and “20 bottles of vodka” from Putin, according to audio released by Italian news agency LaPresse. He claimed to have sent “bottles of Lambrusco” and “an equally sweet note” in return.

However, a spokesperson for Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party denied the two were back in touch.

• Follow the latest reaction to Berlusconi's death on our separate live page here

British ambassador to Ukraine Dame Melinda Simmons has described what it's like to be in the country "after living through nightly Russian airstrikes".

Simmons says she's currently in the UK for some meetings and describes the feeling as "beyond words", adding that the sound of a motorbike backfiring is enough to make the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

"Any kind of bang and my heart races," she says on Twitter, external.

Image source, EPA

In our earlier post, we mentioned fighter jets known as F-16s - which Ukraine has repeatedly lobbied its Western allies to provide to help in its fight against Russia.

First built in the 1970s, the US-made plane can travel at twice the speed of sound and can engage targets in the air or on the ground.

Last month, the US said it would now allow its Western allies to supply Ukraine with advanced fighter jets, including F-16s. Countries are only able to resell or re-export US military hardware with American approval.

At the time President Zelensky hailed the move as a "historic decision".

Ukrainian victories part of a mixed bagpublished at 09:38 British Summer Time 12 June 2023

09:38 BST 12 June 2023

James Waterhouse
Ukraine correspondent in Dnipro

The sight of soldiers once again hoisting Ukrainian flags in liberated settlements is an exciting one for the country and its allies.

What we will hear less about, is where progress has been slower, or non-existent. This counter-offensive is still in its early phase. It’s reflected by the Ukrainians attacking in multiple areas with modest gains.

They’re still costly as well. In the southern Zaporizhzhia region in particular, a lot of men and equipment have been lost as Kyiv tries to probe for a weakness. Building heavy fortifications also plays to a Russian strength as they’ve had months to prepare.

Moscow also has the upper hand when it comes to air superiority. Neither side has deployed their main forces yet. When Kyiv decides to, it’ll hope it brings more than the liberation of villages.

Images have emerged which appear to show members of Ukraine's 35th Separate Brigade of Marines in the recently recaptured village of Storozheve.

The village is in the Donetsk region. The BBC hasn't yet been able to independently verify the claim of its recapture.

Image source, 35th Separate Brigade of Marines/Facebook/Reuters

Image source, 35th Separate Brigade of Marines/Facebook/Reuters

Image source, EPA

On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged that the long-anticipated Ukrainian assault had begun, saying "counter-offensive and defensive actions are taking place".

He was speaking in a press conference with Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau. But Zelensky declined to give any details about which stage or state the counter-offensive was in.

When asked about Russia's suggestion that Kyiv had failed to make progress, Zelensky said his generals were "are all in a positive mood. Pass that on to Putin".

Then he added: "It is important that Russia always feels this: that they do not have long left, in my opinion."

Image source, Reuters

Following those comments from Yuriy Sak, some further updates from the Ukrainian side.

There have been about 25 battles in the past day in the eastern Donbas region, the general staff of the armed forces has said.

Russia has "suffered significant losses" around the town of Bakhmut - and more than 50 of its wounded soldiers are arriving every day at a military hospital in Russia's Rovstov region, it says.

Russian troops were "unsuccessful" in attempts to advance in Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Mar'inka, Ukraine's top military command also added.

Yuriy Sak, adviser to the Ukrainian defence minister, has been speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

He says one of the challenges for Ukraine's counter-offensive is Russia's "air superiority along the front line", which is why his side has been calling for "fourth generation aircraft - for F-16s" for almost a year from Kyiv's Western allies.

Russians have had "a long time to fortify their defence lines" but Ukraine has now begun "reconnaissance and probing operations" along the front line, Sak says.

He continues by admitting "there are losses on both sides". But he says "with certainty" that the Russians are "taking much, much more considerable losses" than Ukraine - with "900 to 1,000 soldiers killed in action" over the last couple of days.

We should state again that the BBC has not been able to independently verify such claims.

The Institute for the Study of War is a US-based group that provides daily updates on the war in Ukraine.

It reports on changes to the front lines using a mixture of sources, including military intelligence and footage published online.

In its latest update, it says Ukraine captured "multiple settlements" in western Donetsk over the weekend - including Neskuchne, Makarivka, and Blahodatne.

It's worth remembering these are relatively small places. Click on the tweet below to see the ISW's full assessment.

Ukrainian forces have liberated the village of Storozheve in Donetsk region, the joint press centre of the Ukrainian army's Tavriya Defence Forces has reported on Facebook.

"The national flag is once again waving over Storozheve, and this will be the case with every population centre until we liberate all Ukrainian land," it said.

It's worth us stating that the settlements recently retaken by Kyiv are relatively small - and that the BBC hasn't been able to independently verify this latest battlefield claim.

Mayeni Jones
Reporting from Kyiv

The Ukrainians are keen to inject the beginning of their counteroffensive with energy - by racking up small gains, quickly.

The video footage they released from the small village of Blahodatne - showing soldiers hoisting a Ukrainian flag onto a dilapidated building - sends the message that their counter-offensive is getting off to a good start.

But these villages have very small populations: less than 2,000 people combined.

Ukraine's deputy defence minister, Hanna Maliar says Ukrainian troops are continuing their assault to the north and south of the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut.

Image source, Russian Defence Ministry Press Service/EPA

The UK's Ministry of Defence has published its latest daily intelligence update, external on the war in Ukraine. Here are its key points:

• Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has "maintained a high public profile" over the last week. This is most likely "with the aim of presenting himself as in control of strategic issues" while Ukraine accelerates its counter-offensive
• At least two comments have been made by Shoigu about Russia's defensive operations, including "almost certainly exaggerated claims about Ukrainian losses". The MoD says this is in contrast with his disappearance from public appearances during other key periods in the war
• Russia's defence industry has been urged to redouble its efforts by Shoigu, who has also "castigated western military district officers for not dispatching reserve armoured vehicles to the front quickly enough"
• Shoigu is most likely "acutely aware" of needing to "maintain a positive image in the face of increasingly unmasked criticism" from some fellow Russians, the British officials say

Blahodatne is one of three villages Ukraine says it recaptured from Russia over the weekend.

Here are some pictures from yesterday taken by the Ukrainian military, via the Reuters news agency.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Ilya Barabanov
BBC News Russian, Vilnius

A military defector who fled Russia on foot has given a rare interview to the BBC, in which he paints a picture of an army suffering heavy losses and experiencing low morale.

Lieutenant Dmitry Mishov, a 26-year-old airman, handed himself into the Lithuanian authorities, seeking political asylum.

Dmitry said escaping from Russia in such dramatic fashion, with a small rucksack on his back, was his last resort.

He is among a small handful of known cases of serving military officers fleeing the country to avoid being sent to Ukraine to fight - and the only case of a serving airman that the BBC knows of.

Read more on this story here.

Ukraine says Russia has targeted another dam - this time in the Zaporizhzhia region.

A spokesperson for the Ukrainian military, Valeriy Shershen, said Moscow's forces blew up the structure near the village of Novodarivka - leading to the flooding on both banks of the Mokri Yaly river.

The BBC has not been able to verify the claim.

Shershen said Russia was deliberately blowing up dams in the region to halt Ukraine's advance towards occupied areas.

Last Monday the huge Kakhovka dam was breached, causing major flooding. Ukraine's military and Nato accused Russia of being responsible, while Russia has blamed Ukraine.

Thousands of people have been evacuated from low-lying areas either side of the river Dnipro.