A top Russian general leading troops in southern Ukraine has been killed in a missile strike, pro-Russian military bloggers have said.
Major General Sergei Goryachev, the chief of staff of the 35th Combined Arms Army, was reportedly killed on June 12 amid heavy fighting around the so-called “Vremivka Ledge” region in southern Donetsk, where Ukraine has liberated four villages in their counter-offensive.
Goryachev, who is at least the fifth high-ranking Russian general to die in Ukraine, had previously served in Transnistria, the self-declared militarised region of Moldova, and Tajikistan.
Ukraine has launched a counter offensive in recent days aimed a recapturing territory from Russian forces.
09:47 AM
In pictures: Kryvyi Rih missile strike
09:34 AM
The stealth strategy giving Ukraine the edge in counter-offensive
Ukrainian forces are taking advantage of Western-supplied night-vision equipment to attack under the cover of darkness, seizing villages and territory, Roland Oliphant and Joe Barnes report.
Kyiv has launched repeated night-time assaults since its counter-offensive in the Zaporizhzhia region began a week ago, triggering alarm among Russian war correspondents reporting the losses.
On Monday morning, Ukraine claimed to have captured Storozhov, a village near Velyka Novosilka. It came a day after it claimed to have liberated the villages of Neskuchny and Blahodatne and Makarivka, in the same area.
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09:20 AM
Nova Kakhova dam breach will have ‘huge impact on global food security’, says UN official
The breach of the Nova Kakhovka dam will have a “huge impact on global food security”, the United Nations’ aid chief has said.
Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary General for humanitarian affairs and its emergency relief coordinator, told the BBC: “This is a breadbasket – that whole area going down towards the Black Sea and Crimea is a breadbasket not only for Ukraine but also for the world.
“We’re in difficulties already on food security but food prices, I’m sure, are bound to increase.”
He added: “It is almost inevitable that we are going to see huge, huge problems in harvesting and sowing for the next harvest. And so what we are going to see is a huge impact on global food security – that’s what’s going to happen.”
The dam in the Kakhovka Reservoir burst last Tuesday, leaving hundreds of thousands of people in southern Ukraine without access to drinking water. President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of deliberately bringing down the structure with explosives. Russia has blamed Kyiv for the attack.
09:01 AM
Russian oil refinery catches fire in Krasnodar
An oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region caught fire on Tuesday as a result of a technical fault with flaring equipment, RIA Novosti state news agency said.
The fire has since been extinguished, according to a local emergency task force, and RIA reported that the refinery was operating as normal.
The Krasnodar region is located in southern Russia and is close to Crimea.
Oil refineries and energy facilities in southern Russia have regularly been the target of drone attacks in recent months, which have often caused fires. The Afipsky and Ilsky refineries were both allegedly attacked by drones last month.
08:42 AM
Pictured: Vladimir Putin meets with Russian servicemen injured in the Ukraine war at a military hospital in Moscow
Read More: Top Russian general killed in missile strike