June 9, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage for the day has ended. Follow the latest Ukraine news here or read through the updates below.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, called for an investigation into Iran’s transfer of attack drones to Russia that violates a UN Security Council resolution.

She cited information released by the US earlier Friday which documented how Iran “has provided Russia with hundreds of one-way attack UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles], as well as UAV production-related equipment.” The ambassador said Russia has been using these UAVs in recent weeks to unleash missile strikes on Kyiv and “terrorize Ukrainian civilians.”

She went on to accuse Russia and Iran of violating UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which prohibits countries from transporting these types of weapons from Iran.

Ukraine and the US, as well as other countries, have reported the violations to the United Nations, the ambassador said. She added that there is an “urgent need” for the UN secretary-general to investigate the situation, adding that “doing so could save lives.”

Ukraine has received humanitarian aid from the European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism following the Nova Kakhovka dam collapse, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said Friday.

The EU said “12 European countries are sending water pumps, tankers, boats, generators, and more life-saving aid” to Ukraine.?

Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Finland, Austria, Denmark, Poland, France and Norway are also sending humanitarian aid, it added.

Following the collapse of Ukraine’s Nova Kakhovka dam earlier this week, irrigation will become one of the largest problems for agriculture in southern Ukraine, according to a government minister.

The Kakhovka Canal provided water to more than half a million hectares (over 1.2 million acres) of land, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Solskyi said.

The minister said that without irrigation, up to 1.5 million hectares (over 3.7 million acres) of land will not be fully utilized, and it could take up to seven years to restore irrigation.

At a media briefing on Friday, Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Agrarian Council Denys Marchuk said Ukraine could see a loss of more than $1.5 billion in grain and oilseeds alone because of the destruction.

The dairy sector could face severe impacts, Marchuk said, also adding there would be issues growing vegetables as they require a sufficient amount of water.

“Since the occupation, we have already lost a large supply of products from Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. When we get these territories back, it will be very difficult to return to growing this crop. In fact, farmers say that if a new hydroelectric power plant is not built and there is no place to take water from, they will not continue this business,” he said.

A United Nations convoy met with Ukrainian authorities in Kherson to discuss the provision of further humanitarian assistance,?officials said Friday, as the?southern region?reels from devastating floods caused by the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam earlier this week.

“Drinking water, food packages, materials for housing repairs and medicines are being sent to the Bilozerka community and Kherson city,” the Kherson region military administration posted on Telegram.

Speaking in Bilozerka, on the?Ukrainian-controlled?west bank of the Dnipro River and one of the worst-affected areas, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine Denise Brown warned the number of people suffering will continue to rise past the initial estimates of 17,000 in Ukrainian-controlled areas alone, according to a UN news release.

“The disaster has also impacted people in areas under Russian control, but the UN currently has no access to this part of the country,” the release added.?

Residents of Kherson receive drinking water from volunteers on June 8.

Ukrainians living in areas flooded by the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam are “completely reliant” on handouts for clean drinking water, the nongovernmental organization World Central Kitchen told CNN on Friday.

“Roads and bridges have been flooded out and so food cannot move (into the area),” World Central Kitchen coordinator Yuliya Konovalova said. “Water is offline and so people are now completely reliant on water provided by us and others.”

The collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine has flooded entire villages, destroyed homes, and left tens of thousands of people without power or clean water.?

Humanitarian organization Action Against Hunger’s field coordinator in the region, Phil Oldham, told CNN that the lack of clean drinking water in the area could mean that even those people whose homes have not been directly impacted by the flood will have to leave.

Oldham said that those who’ve been displaced will likely be out of their homes for months, even as the water recedes.

Others in the area will try to stay in their homes no matter what, Konovalova told CNN. “Many have resisted evacuation because they do not want to leave their homes in a war for the uncertainty of evacuation sites and relocation,” she said. ?

Supplies and other goods are gathered for those affected by the flooding in Kherson on June 8.

Christian Aid’s Ukraine Response Director Iryna Dobrohorska told CNN that the possibility of water-borne illnesses exists as well.

For those who have chosen to stay, Dobrohorska said urgent medical help is needed – and not just physical help.

“The affected populations are equally in need of immediate psychosocial support,” she said. “… Coupled with stress and shock from flooding, the people require close medical attention.”?

“The people we are seeing are the elderly and the poor — that is the horror of the front line,” Konovalova said. “People are scared, people have lost everything, people are clinging to the little they have left.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visits areas impacted by flooding in Kherson on June 8.

Ukrainian President?Volodymyr?Zelensky said Friday “there are a lot of problems” as rescue operations in the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions continue following the?Nova Kakhovka?dam collapse.

“But we are working to overcome them at all possible levels,” Zelensky said in his nightly address. He did not elaborate on the issues.

Amid reports of intensified fighting in the south of the country, Zelensky said, “For our soldiers, for all those who are in particularly tough battles these days. We see your heroism, and we are grateful to you for every minute of your life.”

The president also thanked the United States for a new security assistance package of support worth more than $2 billion. He said the package will ensure “missiles for the Patriots and other air defense systems, strengthening our defense on the ground, strengthening the strength of all our soldiers.”

Thirty-two countries, but not the United States, can submit opinions in a case in which Ukraine is accusing Russia of using false genocide claims as a pretext to launch its full-scale invasion,?the International Court of Justice said in a statement Friday.

On February 27, 2022, Kyiv filed a case against Moscow, stating that “the Russian Federation has falsely claimed that acts of genocide have occurred in the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts of Ukraine, and on that basis recognized the so-called ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ and ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’, and then declared and implemented a ‘special military operation’ against Ukraine.”

The United Nations’ top court on Friday granted applications from the UK, Canada and 30 other states to participate.?

The countries have until July 5 to submit their opinions, according to the judgment document.?

British Royal Air Force Typhoons scrambled twice over one day to intercept several Russian aircraft flying close to NATO airspace, the UK’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement Friday.

On Thursday evening: RAF Typhoons based at Amari Air Base in Estonia and Swedish Air Force Gripens sought to intercept a Russian Air Force IL-20 “Coot- A” and Su-27 “Flanker-B” flying close to NATO and Swedish airspace, the ministry said.?

On Friday morning: RAF Typhoons were scrambled again to intercept one Antonov An-12 “Cub” and one An-72 “Coaler” flying south from mainland Russia toward the Kaliningrad region, the ministry said.

The British were joined by the Finnish Air Force to escort the Russian aircraft through the Gulf of Finland and later handed off to the Swedish Air Force. ?

“Portuguese and Romanian F16s, based out of Siauliai Airbase in Lithuania, were also scrambled to escort the Russian aircraft as they transited further south through the Latvian and Lithuanian FIRs,” the UK ministry added.

A pilot who was involved with the scramble said that “although there is an apparent increase in regional activity, these intercepts remain normal jogging for us and we are ready to respond to any task that may pose a threat to regional security,” according to the statement.?

NATO is currently conducting naval exercises in the Baltic Sea and, “as expected, Russian aircraft have been monitoring allied vessels throughout,” the ministry said.?

The danger in Ukraine’s southern coastal area has increased as mines dislodged by the?Nova Kakhovka dam?collapse are potentially being carried to the Black Sea, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military said Friday.

She also confirmed reports that parts of houses destroyed by flooding are drifting to the coast of Odesa from the southern Kherson region.?At least 600 square kilometers (232 square miles) of the Kherson region have experienced flooding following the dam collapse, according to Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson regional military administration. The catastrophe has destroyed entire villages, flooded farmland, deprived tens of thousands of people of power and clean water, and caused massive environmental damage.

Humeniuk said Russian forces continue to shell the Ukrainian-controlled western bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson but the number of attacks has decreased.?

“If earlier there were 70-80 attacks per day, now there are 30-50,” she said.

“Due to flooding, the enemy lost some mortar positions that had previously delivered powerful attacks, including on Kherson city,” Humeniuk said.

She said Russian troops continue to shell evacuation areas. “Where people are being helped from the high water, the enemy is inflicting fire, including on the hubs where people who need further redeployment are gathered,” she said.

View where flooding has occurred:

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on Friday that the Ukrainian counteroffensive had begun, but it has not been successful.

“It can be stated with absolute certainty that the counteroffensive has begun,” Putin said on the sidelines of a conference in Sochi on Friday, claiming it is “evidenced by the use of strategic reserves.”

Putin said “the Ukrainian troops have not achieved the tasks assigned to them in any of the main sectors. This is an absolutely obvious thing,” adding that the last two days have been “very intense.”

Ukrainian forces appear to have stepped up activities along the front line to the southeast of the city of Zaporizhzhia. But it is still too early to get a true picture of what is unfolding and the extent that Ukraine really is attempting a?major push forward.?Kyiv has been largely mum on a potential counteroffensive, but officials have previously said that it would not be announced.

The Russian leader’s comments are the latest in a series of upbeat Russian characterizations of events along the front line between the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions.??

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Thursday Ukraine’s 47th?Mechanized Brigade had suffered heavy losses of personnel and arms in four separate attempts to break through Russian lines. All attempts had failed, he said.

What Ukraine is saying — or not: Ukrainian officials remain tight-lipped about how fighting is progressing. In his address Thursday evening, President Volodymyr Zelensky described “very tough battles.”

“There is a result, and I am grateful to everyone who ensures the result,” he added, though it is quite possible he was referring to fighting around the eastern city of Bakhmut, which is along a very different part of the front line and where Ukrainian forces have made limited gains recently.?

Not all Russian reports are positive: Information emerging from the battlefields of the Zaporizhzhia region is not all sunny for the Russians.?On Friday morning, Russian pro-Kremlin blogger Semyon Pegov, who blogs under the alias WarGonzo reported that Ukraine’s armed forces had made gains south of Orikhiv toward the town of Tokmak in Russian-held territory. The situation facing Russian forces was very serious, he said.

CNN cannot independently verify claims made by Russian officials or those of well-sourced Russian military bloggers. But a local Ukrainian commander leading troops along the same front line rejected the suggestion Ukraine had begun its big attempt to recapture territory. Instead, the commander characterized the pushes as “reconnaissance in force” – operations designed to probe the enemy’s defenses for weak spots and to test its combat readiness.

Goncharenko?shared three videos on Telegram that he said were filmed at Dolphin beach in Odesa.

Parts of houses destroyed by the?Nova Kakhovka dam collapse in Ukraine’s Kherson region are washing up on the Black Sea shoreline in Odesa, according to Oleksiy Goncharenko, a Ukrainian member of parliament.

Goncharenko?shared three videos on Telegram that he said were filmed at Dolphin Beach, near the city’s university.

“The port of Odesa is over there. And look: It’s a house. The house is washed up on the shore,” he said in one video.???

The lawmaker goes on to point out pieces of the home, including the roof and a wall, saying “it was brought in by the sea” some 100 kilometers (over 60 miles) from Kherson to the port city.

Some background: The dam collapse is one of the?biggest industrial and ecological disasters?in Europe for decades.

At least 600 square kilometers (232 square miles) of the southern Kherson region have experienced flooding. The catastrophe has destroyed entire villages, flooded farmland, deprived tens of thousands of people of power and clean water, and caused massive environmental damage.

It’s still impossible to say whether the dam collapsed because it was deliberately targeted or if the breach could have been caused by structural failure. Russia and Ukraine each blame the other country for causing the break.

CNN’s Ivana Kottasová and Gianluca Mezzofiore contributed to this report.

The Pentagon on Friday announced a new $2.1 billion security assistance package for Ukraine that it said includes “critical air defense and ammunition capabilities,” according to a press release.?

“This?USAI?(Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative) package?illustrates the continued commitment to both?Ukraine’s critical near-term?capabilities as well as?the?enduring?capacity of Ukraine’s Armed Forces to defend its?territory and deter Russian aggression?over the long?term,” the statement said.

According to the Pentagon, the package includes:

Some context: With the new package announcement, the US has committed more than $40.4 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden administration, including more than $39.7 billion since the beginning of the war in February 2022.

Destroyed Russian drones are seen as members of the mobile air defense groups attend a handover ceremony of trucks with DShK machine guns near the town of Borispil, Kyiv region, Ukraine, on May 10.

The US believes that an?attack drone?manufacturing plant Russia is building with Iran’s help could be fully operational by early next year, National Security Council official John Kirby said on Friday.

Iran is shipping equipment for the plant, as well as fully-built drones, to Russia via the Caspian Sea, US officials believe. Russia has purchased hundreds of drones from Iran since last summer and is using them extensively in the war in Ukraine.

Kirby, the NSC’s coordinator for strategic communications, confirmed?previous CNN reporting?that Iran is using the Caspian Sea route to move drones, bullets and mortar shells to Russia, often using vessels that are “dark,” or have turned off their tracking data to disguise their movements.

The US released a map on Friday showing the route Iran appears to be using to ship the equipment from Amirabad, Iran to Makhachkala, Russia.

CNN has asked the Russian embassy in Washington and the Iranian mission to the United Nations for comment.

“The support is flowing both ways: from Iran to Russia, and from Russia to Iran,” Kirby said.

Some background: Iran appeared to be modifying the?attack drones it has provided to Russia?so that the explosive warheads could inflict maximum damage on infrastructure targets inside Ukraine, according to an investigative report obtained exclusively by CNN in February.

Iran has given Russia hundreds of drones to use in its?war in Ukraine, many of which have targeted Ukraine’s power grid and energy facilities to devastating effect.

Drone sales have deepened Iran’s relations with Russia, which were already strengthening as the two countries were increasingly locked out of international commerce and the financial system.

Read more here.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, on Friday launched a program to assist Ukrainians after the Nova Kakhovka dam collapsed earlier in the week, according to IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi.

Grossi will lead an assistance mission to Ukraine “in the coming days,” he said, where he will present the plan to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The measures come in response to Kyiv’s recent pleas for international assistance for flood-affected areas, acknowledged by Grossi in a video message on Twitter.?

The IAEA chief will also pay another visit to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, he said, which receives cooling water – which is critical for safety – from a nearby thermal plant that is fed upstream from the reservoir adjacent to the breached dam.?

“Through the use of nuclear technologies, we will determine the effects on potable water, human health and soil and water management, and assess the integrity of critical infrastructure,” Grossi said in the short video clip.?

It’s still?impossible to say?whether the Nova Kakhovka dam collapsed because it was deliberately targeted or if the breach could have been caused by structural failure.?

But people around the world – from?civil engineering experts?to?British intelligence?– are working to establish what happened.?

NORSAR, an independent Norwegian foundation for the detection of earthquakes and nuclear explosions, spotted an explosion at the dam?around the time of the first reports of its collapse on June 6, the foundation’s CEO Anne Lycke told CNN.?

Social media posts from people living in the area reported an explosion at the dam around 2:18 to 2:20 a.m.?local time (7:18 to 7:20 p.m. ET)

A video of the scene, geolocated by CNN, shows a small explosion at the dam, which appears to be already breached, supposedly at 2:46 a.m.?local time (7:46 p.m. ET).

The seismic signals picked up by NORSAR show an explosion, recorded at 2:54 a.m. local time (7:54 p.m. ET), was of magnitude close to 2 – significant but not overly big, according to Lycke.?

It remains uncertain whether the event NORSAR detected was from the event that caused the dam to collapse.

NORSAR uses triangulation methods to calculate the distance between a seismic event and the station collecting the data.

“We’re monitoring and logging the shaking of the earth,” Lycke said. “And then you can very fine-tune the instrument and then advanced form of triangulation and signal assessments.”

Lycke said the NORSAR team is in touch with the Ukrainian data center.

Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, posted this image of a building he said was the hospital shelled in the city of Huliaipole, Ukraine.

Andriy Yermak, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said that two people have died after Russia shelled a hospital in the city of Huliaipole, close to the southern front in the Zaporizhzhia region.?

In a Telegram message, Yermak posted a photo of a building he said was the hospital, with the windows blown out.?

“The Russians shelled a hospital in the town of Huliaipole,” he said. “It is known about two dead employees of the hospital - a junior nurse and a plumber. Two more people are injured.”

The Ukrainian official leading the regional military administration in Zaporizhzhia, Yurii Malashko, later claimed a guided aerial bomb hit the?hospital.?

He said two nurses were injured by shrapnel but did not need hospital treatment. A State Emergency Service worker was also wounded, he said.?

Search and rescue operations are underway, he added.

Some context: Recently, a Kremlin-backed official in the?Zaporizhzhia?region?told Russian state media that there is “fierce fighting” on?Ukraine’s southern front.

“The Ukrainian Armed Forces are making new attempts to attack in different parts of the front. Our troops are doing everything possible to prevent a breakthrough deep into the defense line,” Vladimir Rogov told RIA Novosti.

A view shows a flooded residential area following the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam in the town of Hola Prystan in the Kherson region, on June 8.

The death toll from flooding in the parts of Ukraine that the government controls has risen to five, the Internal Affairs Ministry said on Telegram.?

Four people have been reported dead in the Kherson region, it said.?

In the Mykolaiv region, the death toll is still one — a 53-year-old man who refused to be evacuated from the floodwaters.?

The ministry said 23 settlements in the Mykolaiv region were flooded and 825 people were evacuated.

The front line in eastern Ukraine is still the “epicenter” of fighting, a Ukrainian official said on Friday – although the situation is “tense” on all fronts.?

While it remains uncertain whether Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive has begun, it is clear that Ukrainian forces have stepped up activities along the frontline to the south east of the city of Zaporizhzhia.

Elsewhere, Russian authorities have alleged a drone strike on city of Voronezh which has “lightly injured” three people. The city’s governor, Alexander Gusev, claimed the drone had hit an empty apartment in a residential building.?

Below are the latest developments:

Damage to a building after a drone attack in Voronezh, Russia, on June 9.

A drone attack on the southwestern Russian city of Voronezh has “lightly injured” three people, the governor, Alexander Gusev, said on Telegram on Friday.?

Gusev claimed the drone had hit an empty apartment in a residential building.?

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed Kyiv for the alleged strike in his daily briefing call with reporters, and Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had launched an investigation.?

Drone strikes on Vorozneh were also?reported last month, when three sites in Russian regions on the border with Ukraine were attacked by drones.

Local officials said two drones launched strikes in the Voronezh,?Belgorod?and Kursk regions.?

The drones attacked a military facility in Voronezh, according to a statement by the region’s governor, Alexander Gusev.

The Chinese navy destroyer Jinan, foreground, sails alongside the Russian navy cruiser Varyag during a joint naval drills in the East China Sea on December 21, 2022.

China and Russia will again hold joint military drills this year, top generals from each side confirmed in a virtual meet Friday, according to China’s defense ministry.

The chief of the Joint Staff Department of China’s Central Military Commission held a video meeting with Valery Gerasimov, chief of General Staff of the Russian armed forces.

The meeting was held to “exchange views on implementing the consensus of the two heads of state and deepening cooperation between the two armies,” China’s defense ministry stated.

On June 6, China and Russia held joint air force drills over the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea.

Remember: It comes as bilateral trade between Russia and?China?totaled more than $93.8 billion from January to May in 2023, a 40.7% increase compared to the same period last year, data from China’s General Administration of Customs showed.

Russia has been hit by unprecedented Western sanctions since it invaded Ukraine and has been shut out of much of the global economy.

But China, which has declared “no limits” to its friendship with its northern neighbor, has thrown the Kremlin an economic lifeline, tempering the impact of its banishment from the global financial system.

China — which?views Russia as a key partner?and counterbalance amid its own rising tensions with the West — has refused to condemn Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine or call for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine’s territory, even as millions have been displaced and tens of thousands killed in the Kremlin’s unprovoked onslaught into the country.

Ukrainian soldiers fire at the Russian air target on the frontline near Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on June 5.

The front line in eastern Ukraine is still the “epicenter” of the fighting, a Ukrainian official said on Friday – although it’s “tense” on all fronts.?

Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, said on Telegram: “The situation is tense in all parts of the front line. The east is the epicenter… heavy fighting continues,” she wrote.

Maliar said that Ukrainian troops were “engaged in active combat” around the embattled city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, leaving Russia on the defensive, “pulling together reserves and trying to hold its positions.”

Maliar’s statement comes after a Kremlin-backed official in the?Zaporizhzhia?region told Russian state media that there is “fierce fighting” on Ukraine’s southern front as Kyiv’s troops continue to probe Russian defenses.

“The Ukrainian Armed Forces are making new attempts to attack in different parts of the front. Our troops are doing everything possible to prevent a breakthrough deep into the defense line,” Vladimir Rogov told RIA Novosti.?

Since the start of the week, even as attention has focused on the aftermath of the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam, it is clear that Ukrainian forces have stepped up activities along the frontline to the south east of the city of Zaporizhzhia. But it is still too early to get a true picture of what is unfolding and the extent to which Ukraine really has its foot to the floor and is attempting a major push forward.?

On Thursday, the Russian defense ministry’s Telegram channel quoted Defense Minister Sergei?Shoigu as saying Ukraine’s 47th?Mechanized Brigade had made four attempts to break through Russian lines with up to 1,500 people and 150 armored vehicles.

The attacks had been repelled, Shoigu said, adding that Ukrainian forces had suffered significant losses of both soldiers and arms. The ministry released a drone video purportedly showing a series of strikes on Ukrainian tanks during the same clash.?

By contrast, on Friday morning, Semyon Pegov – among the most widely read of a number of Russian journalists and propagandists covering the war, often grouped together as Russia’s ‘military bloggers’ – reported that Ukraine’s armed forces had made gains south of Orikhiv towards the town of Tokmak in Russian-held territory. The situation facing Russian forces was very serious, he said.?

Attention has focused on this part of the front line for months, so stepped up Ukrainian activity there is no surprise. Breaking Russia’s land-bridge to Crimea, by rolling back Russian forces to the Sea of Azov, is clearly a central military objective for Ukraine. Tokmak lies on the road to Melitopol, one of three large cities under Russian control – the others being Berdiansk and Mariupol – that lie on the coast.

Ukrainian officials have said very little about how things are going. In his address Thursday evening, President Volodymyr Zelensky described “very tough battles.” He added: “There is a result, and I am grateful to everyone who ensure the result!” though it is quite possible he was referring to fighting around Bakhmut, which lies along a very different part of the front line, and where Ukrainian forces have made limited gains recently.

Another Russian military blogger writing on Telegram, Alexander Kots, has sought to frame Ukraine’s moves in the Zaporizhzhia region since the start of the week as a ‘Blitzkrieg’ attempt that has failed.

Vladimir Rogov, a local Russian-installed leader, while also reporting Ukraine suffering “heavy losses” in “fierce fighting,” urged caution too.

CNN cannot independently verify claims made by Russian officials or those of well-sourced Russian military bloggers. But a local Ukrainian commander leading troops along the same front line rejected the suggestion Ukraine had begun its big attempt to recapture territory.

Instead, the commander characterized the pushes as “reconnaissance in force” – operations designed to probe the enemy’s defenses for weak spots and to test its combat readiness.

CNN’s Sam Kiley and Olha Konovalova contributed to this post. ?

There is “fierce fighting” on Ukraine’s southern front as Kyiv’s troops continue to probe Russian defenses,?a Kremlin-backed official in the?Zaporizhzhia?region has told Russian state media.?

“The Ukrainian Armed Forces are making new attempts to attack in different parts of the front. Our troops are doing everything possible to prevent a breakthrough deep into the defense line,” Vladimir Rogov told RIA Novosti.?

Rogov – who described what was happening as a “counteroffensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces” – warned in separate comments on Telegram: “Everything is just beginning.”

The Ukrainians have “not yet engaged its main reserves” in the fight there, he said.?

Kyiv has repeatedly said that the start of any large-scale counteroffensive?will not be announced and has not commented on any moves on the southern front overnight.?

In another Telegram post on Friday morning, Rogov claimed that Russian units had thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to push back Russian troops near Orikhiv, about 40 miles southeast of Zaporizhzhia.?

CNN is unable to verify the battlefield account and there is little, if any, independent reporting from the front lines.?

Russia’s ministry of defense reported heavy fighting in southern and eastern Ukraine in its update on Friday morning.

Volunteers evacuate residents from a flooded area in?Kherson on Thursday.

Water levels in the flooded area of the Kherson region have dropped overnight, according to a local Ukrainian commander.?

“On average, the water level on the west bank [of the Dnipro River] is 5.38 meters (17.7 feet), and in Kherson city it is 5.35 meters. We can already see that the water has dropped by 20 centimeters (7.8 inches) overnight,” said Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson region military administration, on Telegram Friday.

Prokudin reiterated calls for affected residents to flee for safety.?

He added his team had received more than 400 unanswered calls in nine hours, but vowed to call everyone back.?

Update on extent of flooding and rescue, according to Prokudin:

When Viktor Shevchenko was called forward to receive his medal from President Volodymyr Zelensky at a special ceremony in Kyiv earlier this year, his appearance seemed to come as a surprise to the?Ukrainian?leader.?

It was not the neck gaiter Shevchenko was wearing, pulled up to cover his nose and mouth, though that certainly made him stand out from the rest of the two dozen men present. Instead, it was his darker skin tone, dark brown eyes and jet-black hair.

“Are you really Viktor Shevchenko, or are you collecting a medal on behalf of someone else?” Zelensky asked.

Shevchenko laughed as he recalled the episode in Kyiv, and said the president was apologetic as soon as the penny dropped.

The history of the Crimean Tatars has taught them to tread carefully. Periods of persecution and exodus, mainly at Russian hands, have characterized the Muslim ethnic minority’s story from at least as far back as 1783, when Russian Empress Catherine the Great annexed Crimea after wresting it from the Ottoman empire.

Read the full story.

Ukrainian military personnel help an elderly woman to evacuate from a flooded area of Kherson on June 8.

Russia continues shelling flooded areas in Kherson, including evacuation points, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday.

He said Russian forces “have completely abandoned people on the left bank of Kherson region to their fate,” days after the collapse of Nova Kakhovka dam.

Rescuers are?also facing resource challenges?while carrying out evacuations in Ukrainian-controlled Kherson due to the scale of the flooding, an emergency services officer told CNN.

Here are other key developments in Russia’s war in Ukraine:

Volodymyr Zelensky chairs a regional administration session in Kherson, Ukraine, on June 8.

Russian forces are maintaining attacks on flooded areas of Kherson, including evacuation points, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during his nightly address on Thursday.

Ukrainian officials said earlier at least nine people were wounded by shelling in the southern region as thousands flee from floodwaters brought by the collapse of a major dam.

At least 2,339 people have been evacuated, according to Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs. Zelensky said earlier that all levels of government and local authorities have been working nonstop to save as many people as they can. But the evacuations have been hindered by continued Russian shelling as well has a shortage of resources, officials said.

In his address Thursday, Zelensky said Russian forces “have completely abandoned people on the left bank of Kherson region to their fate.”

“The catastrophe has been expanding there for two days now. And this is also an absolutely conscious choice of the Russian leadership,” Zelensky said, claiming Moscow is trying “to further aggravate the situation they have caused with their ecocide.”

“This is absolutely deliberate,” he said.

Remember: It’s not yet clear whether the dam collapsed because it was deliberately targeted or if the breach could have been caused by structural failure. Both Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for the collapse.

Rescuers and police evacuate local residents from a flooded area in?Kherson, Ukraine on June 8.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said all levels of government and local authorities have been working nonstop to save as many people as they can from flooded areas following Ukraine’s catastrophic dam collapse.

He also thanked international organizations “who are present on our free territory and provide specific assistance,” though he expressed concern?that?none?of those groups?have accessed?Russian-occupied areas?of the?disaster zone.?

The effort so far:?At least 2,339 people, including 120 children, have been evacuated from flooded areas following the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam, Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a Telegram post Thursday.

The ministry said at least 563 people — including 28 children — were rescued from the flooding and that nine evacuation centers have been set up.

On the western bank of the Dnipro River, at least 3,426 houses are completely flooded, according to Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the Kherson region military administration.

Ukraine and its allies will be at the whim of American voters once again next year if the winner of the US election is not as enthusiastic about defending democracy on the European continent as President?Joe Biden?has been over the last 15 months.

Former President Donald Trump, the GOP frontrunner,?has refused?to say whether he believes Ukraine should win the war against Russia, and his main challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, has hedged on the conflict, describing Russia’s unprovoked invasion as a “territorial” dispute.

Asked by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Thursday about Trump’s comments, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak highlighted “strong support” in the US for funding Ukraine, adding that his meetings with congressional leaders in both parties this week indicated a willingness to support the country’s ongoing efforts to defend itself amid Russian aggression.

Read more here.

Cars drive past a stele displaying the city name in?Belgorod, Russia, on June 8.

Russian defense systems have shot down targets over the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, the governor there said.

Some background:?Russia has seen the effects of its war on Ukraine increasingly reverberate back onto its own territory in recent months.

Belgorod has seen a series of drone attacks. Last week, a?“massive” shelling attack?injured four people in the region. Eight apartment buildings, four homes, a school and two administrative buildings were damaged during the shelling in Shebekino, a village in Belgorod.

More recently, Ukrainian forces carried out heavy shelling of the region overnight Wednesday, Gladkov?said earlier.

The city of Uman in Ukraine’s central Cherkasy region was hit by a missile attack on Thursday, according to Ihor Taburets, head of the Cherkasy region’s military administration.

Eight people were injured, two seriously, Taburets said, citing preliminary information.

Ukrainian forces have suffered losses in heavy equipment and soldiers as they met greater than expected resistance from Russian forces in their first attempt to breach Russian lines in the?east of the country?in recent days, two senior US officials tell CNN.

One US official described the losses — which include US-supplied MRAP armored personnel vehicles as “significant.”

Ukrainian forces managed to overrun some Russian forces in the east around Bakhmut. However, Russian forces, armed with anti-tank missiles, grenades and mortars, have put up “stiff resistance,” with their forces dug into defensive lines that are several layers deep in some areas and marked by minefields that have taken a heavy toll on Ukrainian armored vehicles.

US and Western officials have been bracing for the counteroffensive for months, moving to shore up Ukraine’s defenses ahead of its start. This week, Ukraine Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said an offensive was “taking place in several directions.”

Both US officials say the losses are not expected to impact the larger planned Ukrainian counteroffensive. US and Western officials long expected the counteroffensive to take time and put Ukrainian personnel and equipment, including Western-supplied systems, at high risk.

Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed Wednesday that the Ukrainian offensive close to Bakhmut was “thwarted”.

Moscow often inflates claims regarding Ukrainian losses on the battlefield. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently acknowledged the counteroffensive would be hard for Ukraine, telling the Wall Street Journal that “a large number of soldiers will die” as Kyiv’s ground forces make their advance.

Read more here.