Ukraine-Russia war – latest: Ukraine recaptures villages as Putin celebrates ‘National Day’

Russian president Vladimir Putin marked the country’s national day on Monday by appealing to patriotic pride at what he said was a “difficult time” for the country.

However, speaking at a lavish award-giving ceremony in the Kremlin, Putin made no direct comment on the latest developments in Ukraine, where Kyiv’s forces have launched a long-awaited counteroffensive and have retaken several villages in the eastern Donetsk region over the past few days.

“This public holiday marks the inseparability of our centuries-old history, the greatness and glory of the fatherland,” Putin told the assembled dignitaries.

“Today, at a difficult time for Russia, (feelings of patriotism and pride) unite our society even more strongly... (and) serve as a reliable support for our heroes taking part in the special military operation (in Ukraine),” Putin said.

Russia’s Defence Ministry released a video for Monday’s national day featuring scenes of Russian lakes, forests and Orthodox churches and icons, along with clips of soldiers expressing love for their country.

The Pakistani government on Monday welcomed the arrival of the first shipment of discounted crude from Russia under a key deal between Islamabad and Moscow.

Prime minister Shahbaz Sharif hailed it as a “fulfillment of promises” to the nation while information minister Marriyum Aurangzeb tweeted that it marked a “true service” for the people.

The cargo was being unloaded in the port city of Karachi, the country’s main hub for imports. Cash-strapped Pakistan had been in talks with Russia to import discounted crude since February 2022, when former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Moscow to meet with President Vladimir Putin.

Munir Ahmed has the full story:

President Vladimir Putin on Monday marked the Day of Russia national holiday by lauding the country’s patriotic tradition as a support for soldiers fighting in Ukraine.

“This public holiday marks the inseparability of centuries-old history, the greatness and glory of the Fatherland, affirms the unity of the multinational people, devotion to their country, a warm, sincere attitude towards their beloved Motherland,” he said at a ceremony presenting state awards.

“Such keen feelings ... in a difficult time for Russia, they unite our society even more strongly, serve as a reliable support for our heroes, the participants in the special military operation,” Putin said, using the Russian official terminology for the Ukraine conflict.

The holiday comes amid intensifying counteroffensive operations by Ukraine against Russian forces that occupy about 20% of the country. Ukrainian officials in recent days claimed to have regained control of some villages and to have made advances at some points along the front line.

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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday he is concerned that Russia will next month quit a deal allowing the safe wartime export of grain and fertilisers from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports.

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Russia is using “scorched earth tactics” to devastate Ukraine and deal a “blow” to global food security, Kherson’s governor has said, after a key dam blew up in the southern region, causing the worst ecological disaster in Europe’s recent history.

Speaking to The Independent, Oleksandr Prokudin said Russian forces were also heavily shelling Kherson and its evacuation routes resulting in the hospitalisation of rescue workers, police officers and medics who had raced to help those worst impacted by the destruction.

Kyiv accused Moscow of deliberately blowing up the Kakhovka dam last week to prevent Ukrainian troops from advancing in the southern Kherson region. The dam, located in the Kherson region, has been under Russian occupation control since the early days of the war launched last February. Moscow has blamed the destruction of the dam on Ukraine.

The destruction of Kakhovka dam has unleashed an “environmental and humanitarian crisis of enormous proportions”, the Kherson governor tells Bel Trew:

Residents in the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions have been pictured wading through the water following the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam.

The incident has caused massive flooding in the Kherson region and neighbouring Mykolaiv region.

A Ukrainian war refugee has won 500,000 euros ($540,000) using a scratchcard, the Belgian national lottery said on Monday.

The man bought the scratchcard for 5 euros last month in a gas station, meaning his bet has been increased a hundred thousandfold.

The winner, whose identity will remain unknown as is the case for all Belgian lottery winners, is between 18 and 24 years old and has been living in Brussels for the last 12 months.

“He has mixed feelings (about winning). It is a difficult period to be happy with everything happening in his home country,” said Joke Vermoere, spokesperson for the National Lottery, alluding to Russia’s devastating invasion of Ukraine.

Vermoere added that the winner first wants to throw a party with the money to thank everyone who has helped him integrate in Belgium, and then he would like to do something for his compatriots and the reconstruction of Ukraine.

She also said that while the man is happy in Belgium and has found work, he would like to return to Ukraine as soon as the war finishes.

Winning the lottery in Belgium comes tax-free.

Last year, 165 people from a small Belgian village won 142,897,164 euros.

One man was killed and another was wounded in a Russian attack on the small town of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia region of southeastern Ukraine, regional governor Yuri Malashko said on Monday.

Malashko said three bombs had damaged private houses and communications in the small town, about eight km (five miles) from front lines. He said the man who was killed had been 48 and the one who was wounded was 32.

Officials have said several hundred residents remain in the town although infrastructure there has been largely destroyed by Russian forces, which seized most of the Zaporizhzhia region in the early months of its full-scale invasion last year.

Ukraine says its troops have taken back four villages from Russian forces in the southeast after hitting back to try to recapture occupied territory.

The Group of Seven (G7) rich nations are working on a scheme to combat the suspected theft of Ukraine‘s grain by using chemical identification of grain origin, Britain’s food and farming minister Mark Spencer said on Monday.

Mr Spencer told an International Grains Council (IGC) conference in London that Britain was leading on the scheme, and that G7 countries were also working closely with Ukraine, the world’s fourth-largest grains exporter.

“We believe (chemical identification) will be an effective means for deterring further theft of Ukraine‘s grain,” said Mr Spencer.

Britain announced a new wave of sanctions last month on Russia over its war against Ukraine, targeting “shady individuals and entities” connected to the suspected theft of Ukrainian grain.

Targeting entities involved in grain trading is unusual as such activity typically comes under humanitarian exemptions from sanctions. Both Russia and Ukraine are major grain exporters to developing countries in Africa and the Middle East.

An air deployment exercise billed as the biggest in NATO’s history and hosted by Germany got underway on Monday.

The Air Defender 2023 exercise that is set to run through June 23 was long-planned but serves to showcase the alliance’s capabilities amid high tensions with Russia.

The first planes took off on Monday morning from airfields in northern Germany. Some 10,000 participants and 250 aircraft from 25 nations will respond to a simulated attack on a NATO member. The United States alone is sending 2,000 U.S. Air National Guard personnel and about 100 aircraft.

“The exercise is a signal — a signal above all to us, a signal to us, the NATO countries, but also to our population that we are in a position to react very quickly ... that we would be able to defend the alliance in case of attack,” German air force chief Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz told ZDF television.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has jolted NATO into preparing in earnest for the possibility of an attack on its territory. Sweden, which is hoping to join the alliance, and Japan are also taking part in the exercise.

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