June 16, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

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

Moscow launched attacks at Kyiv and Kherson on Friday, according to Ukrainian officials, as Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the first?tactical nuclear weapons to be stored in Belarus?have arrived there.

Here’s the latest news in the conflict:

Attacks and injuries: At least six people, including a child, were injured in the capital Kyiv region following a?missile attack?Friday, according to Ukrainian authorities. In the south, there were at least 23 injured in “massive” artillery shelling in the city of Kherson.

Biden on Ukraine’s NATO bid: US President Joe Biden is comfortable with removing one of the hurdles for Ukraine to join NATO, a source familiar with the situation told CNN.

According to the source, Biden would be willing to drop a procedural step called the Membership Action Plan. Its removal would represent a small step in easing Ukraine’s accession into the defensive alliance, though the US still does not view Kyiv’s membership as imminent, due to reforms Ukraine still needs to make and its ongoing conflict.

Putin’s nuclear claims: The first?tactical nuclear weapons to be stored in staunch Russian ally Belarus?have arrived, Putin said at an economic forum in St. Petersburg.

The use of nuclear weapons by Russia is “theoretically possible if there is a threat to the existence of the Russian Federation,”?he said. Putin also claimed that Russia has more of the weapons than NATO countries.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that President Joe Biden’s administration is closely monitoring the situation, but it has “no reason to adjust” its nuclear posture and doesn’t “see any indications” that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon.

Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom Vadym Prystaiko said Putin’s remarks should be taken “very, very seriously” by the West.

Nova Kakhovka dam probe: It is “highly likely” the collapse of the?Nova Kakhovka dam?in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region was caused by Russia, a team of international legal experts assisting Ukraine’s Office of the Prosecutor General said, according to the preliminary findings of their investigation released on Friday. Last week’s collapse of the dam is one of the biggest industrial and ecological disasters in Europe in decades.

African leaders visit Ukraine: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema called for de-escalation of the conflict on Friday after meetings between African leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Several African countries have outlined a?10-step peace initiative for the war.

However, Zelensky said any peace talks with Russia are possible only after the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from occupied territories.

The African leaders are scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin?tomorrow?in St. Petersburg.

On the battlefield: Ukraine’s military says there has been very heavy fighting along the southern front, and both sides allege inflicting significant losses.

Ukrainian units are consolidating advances around the southern cities of Melitopol, Berdiansk and Mariupol, their three main targets in the southern offensive, military spokesperson Valerii Shershen said. But he estimated Ukraine’s gains in the region were limited to small distances of a kilometer or less.

In the east, Ukrainian troops have made some progress around the?embattled town of Vuhledar?and the?long-contested city of Bakhmut, officials said.

CNN cannot independently verify claims about battlefield developments.

Russian air strikes and artillery barrages are currently the main issues faced by Ukrainian forces as they keep pushing forward in southern and eastern Ukraine, a senior military officer told CNN close to the front lines.

Here’s the latest map of control:

United States Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy is expected to meet with her Russian counterpart while in Washington, DC, the US Embassy in Moscow?tweeted?on Friday.

Tracy and Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov discussed a number of bilateral issues, including the functioning of embassies, the Embassy said in the tweet. The ambassadors were both in the US for the annual Chiefs of Mission Conference held at the State Department.

Some background: The Russian government has imposed harsh restrictions on the functioning of the US Embassy in Moscow, including barring locally employed staff.?

The Russian government forced the closure of the US consulate in St. Petersburg in 2018 in a retaliatory move over the US’ closure of three Russian outposts in the US, including its consulate in San Francisco.?In December 2020, the US government announced it would shutter its remaining two consulates in Russia.

Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the United State’s support for Kyiv through aid and sanctions on Moscow, have increased tensions between the two countries.

Last month, for example, the US rejected “ludicrous” accusations from Russia that it was behind an?alleged drone attack?on the Kremlin as Moscow’s deputy foreign minister warned the two powers are on the precipice of an “open-armed conflict.”

In March, a Russian plane downed a US drone over the Black Sea – a confrontation that sparked a diplomatic spat and led to a race to recover some highly classified technology.

U.S. President Joe?Biden, center,?and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, right, visit Saint Michael’s cathedral in?Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 20.

US President Joe Biden is comfortable with removing one of the hurdles for Ukraine to join NATO, a source familiar with the situation told CNN.

According to the source, Biden would be willing to drop the Membership Action Plan (MAP) for Ukraine, which was described in a 2008 agreement as “the next step for Ukraine … on their direct way to membership.” The MAP, characterized as “the program of advice, assistance and practical support tailored to the individual needs of countries wishing to join the Alliance,” is a process that other nations have had to undertake to join NATO.

Why this matters: Its removal would represent a small step in easing Ukraine’s accession into the defensive alliance.

It is part of proposal from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and was discussed when the two leaders met in Washington earlier this week, the source said.?

The US president is most concerned about finding a concrete proposal that will be supported by the rest of the allies and would signal to Ukraine that they are making progress toward membership, the source said.

However, the United States still does not view Ukraine’s membership into the alliance as imminent due to reforms that Kyiv needs to make, and the source said the Stoltenberg proposal reflects this.

The NATO chief’s proposal does not set a specific timeline for Ukraine’s membership into the alliance, which is something that has been pushed by some members of the alliance.?

CNN reported earlier this week that the US might be willing to drop the language around the MAP, according to a European diplomat.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he understands that his country cannot become a member of NATO while it is still at war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s assertion that the first Russian nuclear weapons to Belarus have been delivered should be taken “very, very seriously” by the West, according to Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom Vadym Prystaiko.

Rearming Belarus is a violation of international agreements, the ambassador told CNN’s Bianna Golodryga in an interview on Friday.

“I believe that the West have to take it very, very seriously,” he said.

Prystaiko also said Ukraine is now “much better equipped to withstand this pressure” from Russia, because it has anti-air missiles from its international partners.

The ambassador also addressed the counteroffensive, as Kyiv’s forces make incremental advances along the southern front lines.

“We have not engaged and committed all the forces; we are probing, trying to find the best place for the attack,” he said.

Prystaiko added the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam “is changing our cards a bit” and “delaying our counteroffensive.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a news conference with African leaders in Kyiv on June 16.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that any peace talks with Russia are possible only after the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from occupied territories.

“Today, I have clearly said repeatedly at our meeting that to allow any negotiations with Russia now that the occupier is on our land means to freeze the war, to freeze pain and suffering,” Zelensky said at a news conference after meeting with several African leaders in Kyiv.

Zelensky appeared to be at odds with the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who stood alongside him at the news conference and called for a de-escalation of the conflict.

Ramaphosa said?“there must be de-escalation on both sides so that peace can find a way to resolve the problem.”

Black Sea grain initiative: Zelensky said he and the African leaders had also discussed the Black Sea grain deal, which is crucial for food security around the globe. Ukraine is one of the world’s leading grain exporters.

In May, the grain deal was extended for two months in an agreement brokered by Turkey and the United Nations.

“The food supply must be reliably guaranteed and everyone’s right to food must be ensured by stopping any attempts by states such as Russia to use the threat of hunger and social instability to blackmail the people,” he said.

US Sec. of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press availability on June 16.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that President Joe Biden’s administration is closely monitoring the situation between Russia and Belarus after President Vladimir Putin claimed Friday that Moscow has deployed tactical nuclear weapons to the neighboring country.?

The US has “no reason to adjust” its nuclear posture and doesn’t “see any indications” that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon, Blinken said at a news conference Friday with Singapore’s Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan at the State Department.

Blinken said the US remains committed to defending “every inch” of NATO territory.

What Russia and Belarus are saying: In remarks during an economic forum in St. Petersburg, Putin alleged earlier that the tactical nuclear weapons to be stored in Belarus have arrived.

His comments came after Russian state media TASS reported that the country’s main investigative authority had opened an office in Belarus in connection to a delivery of tactile nuclear weapons.

The Russian president also slammed NATO and warned that there is “serious danger of further drawing” the alliance into the military conflict by supplying military weaponry to Ukraine.

Belarus is one of Russia’s few allies in its war on Ukraine. It helped Russia launch its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, allowing the Kremlin’s troops to enter the country from its territory.

Earlier this week, Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenko?said the country was set to receive?the tactical?nuclear?weapons from Russia and claimed such?weapons?are needed to act as a?“deterrent” against aggression.?

CNN’s Lindsay Isaac, Zahid Mahmood, Uliana Pavlova and Anna Chernova contributed reporting to this post.?

From left, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Senegalese President Macky Sall, President of the Union of Comoros Azali Assoumani, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema walk to a joint news conference in Kyiv on June 16.

African countries are prepared to participate further in a peace pact in Ukraine, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Friday after meeting with African leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.

Speaking alongside other African leaders and Zelensky, Ramaphosa called for diplomatic negotiations to take place, adding that he was listening to Zelensky today and will be hearing from Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow in St. Petersburg.

“There should be peace through negotiations and diplomatic means,” he said.?

“And we should as we advance towards that peace because all wars, in the end, come to an end. I really believe that this war should be brought to an end as quickly as possible,” he said.

A view of a demolished house after shelling due to an artillery attack as Russia-Ukraine war continues in Kherson, Ukraine on June 5.

Russian air strikes and artillery barrages are currently the main issues faced by Ukrainian forces as they keep pushing forward in southern and eastern Ukraine, a senior military officer told CNN close to the front lines.

“In general, aviation support is sorely lacking,” he also said, adding that Russian artillery made their advance even more difficult.??

Despite the challenges, Spas says Ukrainian forces are finding ways to work around these issues.???

“We are advancing, knocking the enemy out of positions, not as quickly as we would like, but we are moving forward. In places, the enemy is already panicking, throwing reserves here,” he added.?

The first tactical nuclear weapons to be stored in Belarus have arrived, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at?the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum Friday.

His comments come after Russian state media TASS reported earlier on Friday that the country’s main investigative authority had opened an office in Belarus in connection to a delivery of tactile nuclear weapons.

Belarus, which is west of Russia on Ukraine’s long northern border, is among Moscow’s closest allies. It?helped Russia?launch its initial?invasion of Ukraine?in February 2022, allowing the Kremlin’s troops to enter the country from the north.

The use of nuclear weapons by Russia is “theoretically possible if there is a threat to the existence of the Russian Federation,”?Putin added.

Putin claimed that Russia has more of the weapons than NATO countries.

The Russian president added there is “serious danger of further drawing NATO into this military conflict” by supplying military weaponry to Ukraine.

Putin also claimed during his remarks that the Russian military could “destroy any building in the center of Kyiv,” but added, “we don’t do it.”?Recent attacks in Moscow and the Belgorod region are an “attempt to provoke Moscow into serious powerful actions,” he added.

What US officials have said: In response to the alleged movement of Russian tactical nuclear weapons, the White House said Wednesday that there is no indication that Moscow is preparing to use a nuclear weapon. US officials have also not seen any movement of nuclear weapons within Russia indicating they are heading to?Belarus.

“We have not seen any reason to adjust our own nuclear posture, nor any indications that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon,” a spokesperson for the National Security Council said Wednesday.

CNN’s Uliana Pavlova, Alex Marquardt, Zahid Mahmood and Sharon Braithwaite contributed to this report.

A former store seen hit by a Russian artillery strike in Kherson on Friday, June 16.

More than 20 people have been injured in “massive” artillery shelling against the southern city of Kherson, according to Ukrainian officials.

Andriy Yermak, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said the strikes hit three different parts of the city, damaging a medical facility and a kindergarten.

The official said three children were among the 23 people injured, and three others were seriously wounded.

Roman Mrochko, head of the Kherson city military administration, recorded a video from one of the places struck by the shelling, describing injuries and destruction in the area.

Ukraine’s military says there has been very heavy fighting along the southern front, with Ukrainian missile and artillery units carrying out nearly 1,500 missions in the last day alone.

The fighting has also included 36 combat engagements and 578 shelling attacks over the past day, according to Brig. Gen. Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, a Ukrainian commander in the south. The commander did not specify where along the front lines the battles took place.

Tarnavskyi claims Russia has suffered hundreds of losses in the recent fighting, though CNN cannot independently verify claims about battlefield developments.

Ukraine has met strong Russian opposition in the opening phases of its counteroffensive.

Ukrainian units are consolidating advances around the southern cities of Melitopol, Berdiansk and Mariupol, their three main targets in the southern offensive, military spokesperson Valerii Shershen said. But he estimated Ukraine’s gains in the region were limited to small distances of a kilometer or less.

In eastern Ukraine: Further north, Shershen said Ukrainian units are defending the frontline town of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region, which Russian forces have been trying to encircle for months.

The Ukrainian Military Media Center says Kyiv’s forces have had some limited success elsewhere in the Donetsk region and are not ceding ground. Ukrainian troops have made some progress around the embattled town of Vuhledar and the long-contested city of Bakhmut, the officials said.

Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine’s Ground Forces, was upbeat Friday about his troops’ progress outside Bakhmut. He said regular Russian forces, who have now replaced the Wagner private military group in the city, have not put up the same level of fighting.

What Russia is saying: For its part, the Russian Ministry of Defense said Friday that Ukraine “continued to suffer significant losses during unsuccessful attempts” to advance in Donetsk and along the front lines in the south.

It said Moscow’s forces repelled five attacks along the Donetsk-Zaporizhzhia border in southeast Ukraine. The ministry claims Ukraine suffered heavy losses in the fighting, though CNN cannot independently verify assertions about battlefield developments.

Moscow has also claimed that Russian forces inflicted heavy losses elsewhere along the front line, including close to the city of Donetsk. Russian military bloggers reported a “tense” situation around Pervomaiske, a settlement just west of the city, which has been held by Russian-backed separatists since 2014.

Russian President Vladimir?Putin echoed the ministry’s claims Friday, saying at a forum in St. Petersburg that Ukraine was bleeding equipment and had “no chance” against Russia. Putin claimed Ukraine will soon be totally reliant on hardware supplied by Western countries, saying his troops have destroyed dozens of Ukraine’s tanks and even more armored vehicles.

CNN’s Lindsay Isaac contributed to this report.

Police officers inspect at the site of a residential area hit by a Russian missile strike in Kyiv region,?Ukraine, on?June 16.

Six people, including a child, were injured in the Kyiv region following a missile attack Friday, according to Ukrainian authorities.

The Kyiv region military administration said three private houses were destroyed and 13 need major repairs.

Falling debris was recorded after Ukraine’s air defense systems intercepted Russian missiles, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine earlier said in a statement that “an 82-year-old woman was injured. The driver of a car moving on the road was also injured.”

Residential buildings and a shop were damaged in one district, it added.

Ukraine said preliminary information shows it downed 12 Russian missiles, including six hypersonic Kinzhals, in a combined air attack.

So far, no injuries have been reported in the city of Kyiv.

This unit takes advantage of Ukraine's better night vision capability to target Russian forces at night.

Night-time missions have so far been a defining feature of the initial stages of Ukraine’s counteroffensive, especially in the southern part of the country. Ukrainian strikes can shake buildings as far as the city of Zaporizhzhia and explosions light up the skies, despite the city being around 30 miles (48 kilomters) from the frontline.

Ukraine has remained coy about the counteroffensive and is even more reserved when it comes to the tactical details of its probing and pushing operations along the frontlines. But on the Russian side, there is a clear belief Ukraine has a distinct advantage in this area.

During the day, CNN followed a drone unit which spent hours scoping out possible night-time launch sites for their mission, as well as figuring out the exact coordinates of their target.

The comprehensive preparation involves flying different surveillance drones toward Russian positions, but also relying on additional intelligence from other Ukrainian units until they have a complete picture of the target.

Before the launch they drive in complete darkness, turning off their headlights and using night-vision goggles to see the road, and reach a designated launch site.

They hide their vehicles and proceed a few hundreds of meters on foot, while Ukrainian and Russian forces trade artillery salvos. Relying only on red light — which they say, is harder for Russian drones to spot from afar, especially when they’re not looking — they illuminate the way.

It’s all carefully choreographed to hide their tracks and guarantee their position remains concealed from Russian surveillance and artillery, while they carry out their strike.

On site they prepare the drone – a large, Ukrainian-made quadcopter — and the explosive they are dropping on the Russian position. The device can carry a payload of up to 45 pounds, but this evening they’re making an improvised explosive – using a shell left behind by Russian forces when they pulled out of Kherson.

Read the full story here.

A satellite image shows the Nova?Kakhovka?Dam?and hydroelectric plant after its collapse, in Nova?Kakhovka, Ukraine, on June 7.?

A team of international legal experts assisting Ukraine’s Office of the Prosecutor General said it is “highly likely” the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region was caused by Russia, according to the preliminary findings of their investigation released on Friday.

The experts with?human rights law firm Global Rights Compliance said?there is a “high probability” the collapse of the dam on June 6 “was caused by pre-emplaced explosives positioned at critical points within the dam’s structure.”??

The experts visited affected areas in the Kherson region on Saturday and Sunday along with Ukrainian prosecutors and representatives from the International Criminal Court.?

The experts dismissed the theory that the dam’s collapse could have been caused by mismanagement of the facility, saying it is “highly unlikely that mismanagement alone would explain such catastrophic destruction,” the news release said.?

The team noted that?those conducting the attack or overseeing the management of the dam would require access or control of the site, which is occupied by Russia.?

British barrister Catriona Murdoch, who headed the mobile justice team, said in a statement: “Information available to Global Rights Compliance and verified with a leading Open-Source Intelligence provider, indicates that at this stage, it is highly likely Russian forces deliberately destroyed the dam.”?

A flooded area after the Nova Kakhovka dam breached, in Kherson, Ukraine, on June 10.

Under international humanitarian law, dams are presumed to be civilian in nature. “Civilians living near the Kakhovka Dam were not warned of an impending attack and were even shelled as they attempted to evacuate flooded areas,” Murdoch said.

Yousuf Syed Khan, Global Rights Compliance’s senior lawyer supporting the investigation, said, “What we documented in Kherson is a horrific starvation crime. The reverberating effects of this attack are no doubt immense, far-reaching, and multigenerational, as entire industries and livelihoods related to agribusiness have been severely affected.

The collapse of the dam is one of the biggest industrial and ecological disasters in Europe in decades. The catastrophe has destroyed entire villages, flooded farmland, deprived tens of thousands of people of power and clean water, and caused massive environmental damage.

Russia has denied any involvement in the disaster and in turn accused Ukraine of destroying the dam, without providing evidence.

A delegation of African leaders are in Kyiv to discuss a “peace initiative in Ukraine.” But their first morning in Ukraine was met with sounds that have become grimly familiar to locals since the start of Russia’s invasion, as Moscow launched another round of missile strikes on Ukraine’s capital.

Here are the latest developments:

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius holds a press conference at NATO headquarters on the first day of the NATO Defence Ministers' Meeting on June 15, in Brussels, Belgium.

Germany will “immediately” deliver another 64 Patriot surface-to-air missiles to Kyiv, joining several other NATO allies in bolstering Ukraine’s air defenses in its war with Russia.?

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced the missile deliveries on Friday at the second day of a NATO meeting in Brussels.

Last month, Germany announced an aid package worth nearly $3 billion to strengthen the country’s defense, marking Berlin’s largest pledge in military aid since the start of the war.?

Pistorius said the decision is ”a very important sign to support the successful efforts of the Ukrainian armed forces to ensure air defense, especially now in this special phase of the war.”

The announcement comes as Kyiv said it repelled a “massive, combined air attack” by Russia.

African heads of state and government have received a briefing from representatives of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense in Kyiv, according to the South African presidency.?

The leaders taking part in the “peace mission” for Ukraine were briefed at Saint Michael’s Square in central Kyiv, the presidency said on Twitter.

It follows what the city’s officials called a “massive, combined air attack” on the capital. Ukrainian officials said preliminary information shows six Kinzhal aerial ballistic missiles and six Kalibr cruise missiles were destroyed by air defense systems, along with drones.?

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later on Friday.

The African delegation is then set to travel to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Saturday to discuss their peace bid for Ukraine, as well as the Black Sea grain deal.

In a video, South Africa’s presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya noted the impact of the conflict on issues related to food security in Africa. He claimed that the mission “is the first time that Africa is united behind the resolution of a conflict outside of our continent.”

For months, Ukraine has been gearing up to attempt to drive invading Russian forces from territories they have occupied. On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave his strongest indication yet that Kyiv’s counteroffensive is underway.

CNN spoke to locals in Kyiv to learn more about the mood on the ground as Ukraine’s offensive gathers pace.

Artem Sakhno

Artem Sakhon, an IT specialist, told CNN:

Viktor Potapenko

Viktor Potapenko, a lawyer and pensioner, told CNN that he “trusts” the Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s forces, but also said he expects success to come gradually:

Kateryna Muller

Kateryna Muller, a kindergarten teacher, told CNN that her friends in Berlin, Germany, also have high hopes for Ukraine’s counteroffensive:

Explosions are seen in the sky over the city during a Russian missile strike as African leaders in visit Kyiv, Ukraine, on?June 16.

Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said Friday that “another terrorist attack on the capital was repelled.”

He also said that the timing of the missile strike – launched while a delegation of African heads of state were in the Kyiv region – showed Russian President Vladimir Putin is continuing to act with “impunity.”

“Russia’s missile attack took place just as African leaders arrived in the capital,” Yermak said.

“We remember that missiles were also flying when US President Joe Biden and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived in Ukraine,” Yermak added, in a Telegram post.

He called on the world to take “the toughest possible position against Russia,” and to show strength to “a state that undermines global security and acts with terrorist methods.”

“Only strong diplomacy and a strong position can put an end to Russian terrorism. Because this concerns everyone, every state that wants to exist and preserve the world order.”

African peace mission: Yermak’s comments come ahead of an expected meeting between South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Zelensky in Kyiv on Friday. A delegation of African leaders is currently visiting Kyiv. They are next set to meet Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Saturday to discuss a “peace initiative in Ukraine” and the Black Sea grain deal.

South Africa’s presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said in a video message on Friday: “This peace mission is the first time that Africa is united behind the resolution of a conflict outside of our continent, and where you have a group of African heads of state and government traveling together in an attempt to find a path to peace to this conflict.”?

Local residents take shelter in a metro station in the centre of Kyiv, Ukraine, during a Russian missile attack on June 16.

No casualties have been reported in the city of Kyiv so far following a “massive, combined air attack” on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on Friday, the city’s military administration said.

However, Kyiv region’s police chief, Andrii Nebytov, said private houses in one district were damaged as a result of the missile attack.?

A fire broke out and “there are injured” people, according to Nebytov,?without specifying how many.

It warned “there is a high probability of repeated missile attacks in the near future.”

12 missiles and two drones were shot down in the latest Russian attack on Kyiv, Ukraine’s Air Force said.

In a Telegram post, the Air Force said preliminary information shows six Kinzhal aerial ballistic missiles and six Kalibr cruise missiles were destroyed.?

The air raid alert has now ended for Kyiv city, the wider Kyiv region, the western regions and some central regions of Ukraine.

What are Kinzhal missiles?: Kinzhal, or Kh-47, are air-launched ballistic missiles with a range of some 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles).

It travels at about 10 times the speed of sound and carries a warhead of nearly 500 kilograms.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his armed forces have touted the Kinzhal as an example of Russia’s modernized missile arsenal, claiming that its?hypersonic speed?makes it extremely difficult to intercept.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, center left, and Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin visit a site of a mass grave, in the town of Bucha, Ukraine, on June 16.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and other African heads of state participating in the African peace mission are in the town of Bucha, in Kyiv region, according to the South African presidency.

Their visit to Bucha comes as Russia has launched the latest missile strike on Kyiv.

A tweet posted Friday morning – before the explosions were heard in Kyiv – said the group is visiting St Andrew’s Orthodox Church in Bucha.

The African delegation is set to receive a briefing ahead of their visit to a mass grave for hundreds of civilians killed in the initial stages of the conflict.

Bucha massacre: The name “Bucha” – a suburb of Kyiv – has become a byword for war crimes, after accounts of summary executions, brutality and indiscriminate shelling emerged in the wake of Russia’s hasty retreat from the Ukrainian capital, which it failed to capture in the early days of the war.

Moscow claimed, without evidence, that the atrocities in Bucha were staged – calling it “fake,” and part of a “planned media campaign.”

But witnesses who spoke to CNN told a different story – of bodies tied up, shot and left to rot.

Read the full report at the time.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, welcomes the United Arab Emirates delegation at the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on June 16.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state media on Friday that unprecedented security measures are being taken at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) where Russian President Vladimir Putin will be speaking later on Friday.

“Of course, both security measures and digital security measures are both quite strengthened, one might say unprecedented,” Peskov told state media TASS.

Strikes on Russia: Peskov’s caution surrounding Friday’s event comes after several sites in Russia, including Moscow, have experienced drone strikes in recent weeks, which has brought the war closer to home than at any point since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.

In May, Moscow reported that there had been a drone attack on the Kremlin, in which two “unmanned aerial vehicles” were intercepted and destroyed before they caused any damage or injury.

Ukraine denied involvement in the drone strike, but subsequent United States intelligence has indicated that Kyiv may have launched the attack.?

Later in May, Moscow reported another drone attack on a residential district in a southwestern neighborhood of the city, a strike which shattered windows and injured two people.

As well as guests attending the SPIEF, Moscow is preparing to receive the leaders of several African countries as part of the African peace mission on Saturday.

Explosions were heard in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv just before midday local time (5 a.m. ET) on Friday, a CNN team on the ground said.

It was not immediately clear if these were the sound of interceptions by air defense systems or were impacts on the ground.

The team witnessed the city’s air defense systems in operation.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Friday that the strikes, launched during an African “peace mission” to both Kyiv and Moscow, demonstrate Russia’s continued appetite for war.

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is among several African leaders in Ukraine on Friday, as part of the African peace mission aiming at what his office describes as a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

“Putin ‘builds confidence’ by launching the largest missile attack on Kyiv in weeks, exactly amid the visit of African leaders to our capital,” Kuleba tweeted.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Friday Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to solving “the Ukrainian problem” in a number of ways, Russian state media reported.

It comes as a delegation of African leaders are set to meet Putin in St Petersburg on Saturday to discuss a “peace initiative in Ukraine” and the Black Sea grain deal.

African peace mission: The leaders of several African countries will travel to Ukraine on Friday and Russia on Saturday, as part of a diplomatic visit aimed at a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

The African peace mission comprises the leaders of South Africa, Zambia, the Comoros, Republic of Congo, Egypt, Senegal and Uganda, as representatives of a continent that has felt the adverse economic impact of the conflict.

Later Friday, the African delegation will leave Kyiv en route to St Petersburg, Russia, where they will engage with Putin on Saturday, the statement added.

Aerial view of?Bakhmut, Ukraine, in this still image from handout video released on June 15.

Russian forces are putting up a “desperate resistance” around Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region, the Ukrainian military said Friday.

“Despite the offensive of our troops in the south and the loss of territory and settlements in this area, the enemy continues to move some of the most combat-ready units to the Bakhmut direction, combining these actions with powerful artillery fire and strikes by assault and army aviation against the positions of our troops,” Syrskyi said.

Syrskyi conceded “it is clear that our plans need to be periodically adjusted and refined.”

“This is what my work in the troops now is dedicated to. I held a meeting with unit commanders, discussed problematic issues and identified ways to solve them,” he added.

Syrskyi said he met soldiers from a number of units directly involved in the offensive and “presented the best of them with awards, valuable gifts and cash prizes.”

The Russian Ministry of Defense said in its daily update Friday that Ukraine “continued to suffer significant losses during unsuccessful attempts to conduct offensive operations in the South Donetsk and Donetsk directions.”

Tank troubles:?In a separate post, the Russian MOD claimed Friday that “since the beginning of the special military operation, over 10,000 servicemen of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have received special payments for destroying or seizing enemy hardware,” including western equipment.

It claimed payments are “currently being processed on the basis of reports from unit commanders in Zaporizhzhia and South Donetsk directions to Russian military personnel who have destroyed Leopard tanks and armored fighting vehicles produced by the USA and other NATO countries during combat operations.”

On Thursday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said despite Ukrainian losses of armored vehicles as their counteroffensive begins, what’s important will be their ability to recover and repair damaged equipment.

“The Ukrainians have the ability to recover equipment that’s been damaged, repair where possible, get that equipment back into the fight,” said Austin at a press conference with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley after a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Brussels, Belgium.

Ukrainian servicemen of the 43rd Artillery Brigade fire a 155mm self-propelled howitzer Panzerhaubitze 2000 (PzH 2000), towards Russian positions at a front line near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on June 15.

The Ukrainian military claimed Friday its forces have achieved “partial success” in several directions during its current counteroffensive.

Andriy Kovalov, spokesman for the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said in a statement shared by the Military Media Center, that forces continue to conduct both defensive and offensive actions.?

The statement claimed Ukrainian successes in Novodanylivka and Robotyne, south of Orikhiv in Zaporizhzhia, and in Levadne-Staromaiorske, on the region’s border with Donetsk.

Most of the settlements are small villages.

Near Vuhledar, in the Donetsk region, Ukrainian troops succeeded in some areas, the statement said. The town has been on the front lines since Russia’s invasion began and has become a lynchpin in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.?

The statement also claimed successful offensive operations in the area east of Stupochky, in Donetsk, “pushing the occupation forces out of their positions.”

Stupochky is a village to the east of the town of?Kostiantynivka.??

Left to right - Zambia's President Hakainde Hichilema, Senegal's President Macky Sall, President of the Union of Comoros Azali Assoumani, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Egypt's Prime Minister Mustafa Madbuly visit the site of a mass grave, in the town of Bucha, Ukraine, on?June 16.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has arrived in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, video from the official South Africa presidency Twitter account shows.?

He was greeted at a railway station by?Ukraine’s special envoy for Africa and the Middle East, Maksym Subkh, and South Africa’s ambassador to Ukraine.

Ramaphosa is visiting Ukraine as part of the African peace mission aimed at a peaceful resolution of the conflict, his office said in a statement Thursday.

The African peace mission comprises the leaders of South Africa, Zambia, the Comoros, Republic of Congo, Egypt, Senegal and Uganda, as representative of a continent that has felt the adverse economic impact of the conflict.

Later Friday, the African delegation will leave Kyiv en route to St Petersburg, Russia, where they will engage with Putin on Saturday, the statement added.

Some context: The South African government has come under intense criticism for its stance on Russia’s invasion and has routinely abstained from votes condemning Moscow at the UN General Assembly. While South African leadership has repeatedly stated that they are neutral in the conflict and have frequently called for a negotiated settlement, their actions have come under increasing scrutiny from Western powers.

Ukraine’s deputy defense minister says Russia is “putting up a strong resistance” to Kyiv’s counteroffensive efforts — but Ukrainian officials are claiming successes in the east and south.

A Ukrainian commander said his soldiers?successfully intercepted?six of Russia’s?toughest weapons?using the United States Patriot air defense system last month. Now, the US and other countries are announcing?a new shipment of air defense equipment.

Here’s what else to know:

Here’s a closer look at the front lines:

Vladimir Saldo attends a meeting in Moscow on December 22, 2022.

Vladimir Saldo, the Moscow-installed governor of the occupied Kherson region, claims Ukraine tried to assassinate him last week.

Ukrainian forces launched more than 10 “high precision” missiles at his “supposed location” in the southern region, Saldo claimed in a?post on his official Telegram channel.

The June 9?strike?on Arabat Spit ended up badly damaging a temporary accommodation center and left one person dead, Saldo told Russian state news agency TASS.

CNN cannot independently confirm the veracity of Saldo’s?accusation. The Ukrainian military has not yet commented on the report.

Other attacks in southern Ukraine:?Russia-backed officials have accused Ukraine of making several recent assassination attempts in southern Ukraine.

In May, a Moscow-appointed court chairman was?targeted in an attack, according to the Russia-installed governor of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region. That attack was one in a string of alleged assassination attempts in the occupied city of Melitopol.

And earlier this month, a?deadly car bombing?targeted “Kremlin collaborators” in a town just outside Melitopol, according to the city’s Ukrainian mayor.

Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency expert mission visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on June 15.

Water levels must remain stable to maintain safety at the?occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, the head of the?UN nuclear watchdog said Thursday.

International Atomic Energy Agency?(IAEA) chief Rafael?Grossi?made the remarks after visiting the plant to assess the situation?following the?Nova Kakhovka dam collapse last week.

The?plant?is held by?Russian forces and not far from where a Ukrainian offensive in the south is evolving.?This is?Grossi’s third?visit?to?the?facility since last September and he said the IAEA would continue to monitor the situation.

Vyacheslav Gladkov talks to the media in Belgorod on June 2.

Two residents evacuated from a Russian village that borders Ukraine in the southwestern Belgorod region claim Russian soldiers looted their homes.

In public comments to regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov, the residents alleged that Russian troops sent to guard their village?of Novaya Tavolzhanka had instead broken into their houses.

Several thousand people were evacuated from the area when Russian volunteers opposed to the rule of President Vladimir Putin launched?cross-border raids?late in May.

Vladimir Zhdanov, the head of the administration of the Shebekino district, told?Chemerchenko?in a reply that her “appeal has been forwarded to the Security Council.”

Another comment, which was written Wednesday, claimed that Russian soldiers were living in a home that a family had fled.

Other comments in response to the governor have focused on an alleged lack of social support that had been pledged to residents who were evacuated.

“We are located outside the Belgorod region, in the city of Zelenograd. For a week I have been trying to get answers, how can we receive the payment? We have two children, we do not live, we survive! Thanks to the volunteers from Moscow, at least they bring food!” one comment said.

CNN has reached out to Russia’s Ministry of Defense for comment.

Parts of a Kh-47?Kinzhal?Russian?hypersonic missile, shot down by a Ukrainian Air Defence unit are seen at a compound of the Scientific Research Institute in Kyiv, Ukraine on May 12.

A Ukrainian military commander has detailed how he says his brigade shot down one of Russia’s most modern ballistic missiles using a US Patriot air defense system.

Ukraine says its defenses?successfully intercepted six of the Russian?Kinzhal?missiles on May 16.

Commander Serhii Yaremenko and his 96th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade of the Air Command Center were at the heart of the defense, though they didn’t realize until later they had defeated one of Russia’s toughest weapons, he said in an interview Thursday.

“Frankly speaking, I realized that we had shot down the Kinzhal only after expert analysts examined the wreckage,” Yaremenko told?Army Inform, a Ukrainian defense ministry website.

When Russia launched its assault, “Sixteen ballistic targets flew from different directions, most of them aimed at the Patriot system,” the commander said, referring to the powerful US-provided missile defense system.

“They did not panic for a second, acted in a coordinated and organized manner, shared targets across sectors, and ensured their destruction at a minimum range, high enough to reduce the likelihood of damage to infrastructure.”

Yaremenko said the Ukrainian fighters were emotional when all the targets had finally been destroyed and the airspace declared clear. Later they learned there were six Kinzhals among the assault.

The grueling defense proves the Patriot system’s value to Ukraine, holding its own even against weapons Moscow has positioned as impossible to combat, Yaremenko said.

More on the Russian missiles: The Kinzhal, or Kh-47, has been touted by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his military as an example of Moscow’s modernized missile arsenal, claiming that its hypersonic speed makes it extremely difficult to intercept.?An air-launched ballistic missile, the Kh-47 has a range of some 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles), so it can be fired far from the battlefield.

It travels at about 10 times the speed of sound and is derived from the shorter-range Iskander ballistic missile, which is ground-launched. It carries a warhead of nearly 500 kilograms (about 1,100 pounds).

Attack on the Patriot: The Russian Ministry of Defense claims it destroyed a US-made Patriot air defense system in Kyiv during the May 16 assault, despite Ukraine saying it destroyed all Russian missiles in the early morning attack.

US officials inspected the system and said damage was “minimal,” CNN reported. It was not clear whether the system was damaged by an actual missile strike or falling debris.?

The Patriot has a powerful radar to detect incoming targets at long range, making it a potent air defense platform capable of intercepting ballistic missiles and more. But the radar emission necessary to spot threats at a distance also makes it possible for the enemy to detect the Patriot battery and figure out its location.

CNN’s Tim Lister, Natasha Bertrand, Oren Liebermann and Jim Sciutto contributed to this report.

Hanna Maliar addresses during a media briefing in Kyiv, Ukraine on April 13.

Ukraine’s military offensive is making gradual progress as it continues in several areas, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Thursday.

Maliar told a briefing in Kyiv that on the southern front — which many expect to be the main focus of Ukraine’s counteroffensive — the “offensive continues in several directions, and the armed forces are also gradually but surely advancing there.”

But she cautioned that “the enemy is putting up strong resistance.”

She also appealed for what she called “information discipline” to “give our soldiers the opportunity to deliver unpleasant surprises to the enemy.”?

Maliar said the Russians were bringing additional reserves into the Bakhmut area, trying to prevent the advance of Ukrainian forces.

But she said Russian forces had been unable to take more ground, and claimed Ukrainian troops had advanced 3 kilometers (about 2 miles) in Bakhmut over the past 10 days.