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Morning Headlines
Reuters: Ukraine said on Sunday its troops had made territorial advances on three villages in its southeast, the first liberated settlements it has reported since launching a counter-offensive this past week.
Reuters: The U.N. atomic watchdog said on Sunday that it needs wider access around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to check "a significant discrepancy" in water level data at the breached Kakhovka dam used for cooling the plant's reactors.
Reuters: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to "hold hands" with Russian President Vladimir Putin and bolster strategic cooperation on their shared goal of building a powerful country, state media KCNA reported on Monday.
The Guardian: An employee at New Zealand’s national broadcaster, RNZ, has been placed on leave amid an investigation into how wire service news reports on the Ukraine war were rewritten to insert a pro-Russia slant.
BBC News: A military defector who fled Russia on foot has given a rare interview to the BBC, in which he paints a picture of an army suffering heavy losses and experiencing low morale.
ISW: Ukrainian forces made visually verified advances in western Donetsk Oblast and western Zaporizhia Oblast, which Russian sources confirmed but sought to downplay.
UK Ministry of Defence: Over the last week, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has maintained a high public profile, likely with the aim of presenting himself as in control of strategic issues while Ukraine accelerates offensive operations.
11.06.2023
AP News: The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam was a fast-moving disaster that is swiftly evolving into a long-term environmental catastrophe affecting drinking water, food supplies and ecosystems reaching into the Black Sea.
BBC: Three people were killed after Russia attacked a boat carrying evacuees from a flooded area in Kherson, the regional governor said. Ukraine has been trying to rescue people trapped on the Russia-held eastern bank of the Dnipro River since the Nova Kakhovka dam was destroyed.
AFP: Thirty five people, including seven children, were missing in southern Ukraine on Sunday following a devastating flood prosecutors called the "worst environmental catastrophe since Chernobyl."
RFE/RL: Pakistan has received its first ever cargo of Russian crude oil as Moscow seeks out new markets in Asia amid Western sanctions.
Novaya-Europe: Russia’s defence chief signs order, forcing all mercenary companies to sign contract with ministry by 1 July. Wagner Group chief says his company won’t sign it.
The Kyiv Independent: Iranian-made Shahed "kamikaze" drones largely used by Russia to attack Ukraine are still difficult for the Ukrainian forces to shoot down, Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda.
UK Ministry of Defence: Communities on both the Russian and Ukrainian-controlled sides of the flooded Dnipro are facing a sanitation crisis with limited access to safe water, and an increased risk of water-borne diseases.
ISW: Ukrainian forces conducted counteroffensive operations in at least four areas of the front on June 10.
10.06.2023
The Times of Israel: French President Emmanuel Macron urged his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi to “immediately end” Tehran’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which involves supplying Moscow with attack drones, the Elysee said.
Government of Canada: In addition to the damage and destruction of a number of Ukraine’s cultural sites, thousands of Ukrainian cultural artifacts have been found missing or allegedly stolen by Russian forces. Canada is sanctioning persons to counter efforts to "Russify" Ukraine’s culture.
The Kyiv Independent: Belarus' government, led by dictator Alexander Lukashenko, gave Russia 131,582 tons of ammunition, according to an investigative project of Belarusian journalist Anton Motolko. The investigator cited railway union data describing the export of military supplies from Belarus to Russia from January 2022 to February 2023.
Reuters: President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that Ukrainian counteroffensive operations were underway, but remained discreet on details beyond sending a message to the Kremlin that his top generals were in high spirits.
Novaya-Europe: The chances of being declared not guilty by a Russian court are as low as 0.15%. There are only three exceptions: charges against law enforcers, trials that involve a jury, and private prosecution.
Reuters: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced $500 million in new military aid for Ukraine during an unannounced trip to war-time Kyiv on Saturday, as Ukraine girds for a counteroffensive against Russian forces and grapples with regular air strikes.
Reuters: Counterattacking Ukrainian forces have advanced up to 1,400 metres at a number of sections of the front line near the eastern city of Bakhmut in the past day, a military spokesman said on Saturday.
Evening Standart: The UK will provide an extra £16 million of humanitarian aid to Ukraine after a dam collapsed in the south of the country.
AP News: The humanitarian situation in Ukraine is “hugely worse” than before the Kakhovka dam collapsed, the U.N.'s top aid official warned Friday.
The Guardian: Russia’s opposition leaders have begun to plan for the end of the regime – and some believe it is now inevitable.
09.06.2023
Bloomberg: The EU has expanded the categories of Russians who may be targeted for sanctions to include a wider swath of businesspeople and their family members.
Reuters: The U.S. Department of Defense announced an additional $2.1 billion in security assistance for Ukraine on Friday, including air defense and ammunition capabilities, amid signs that Kyiv had begun its long-awaited counteroffensive against Russia.
Meduza: 26 Russian lawyers, legal scholars, and human rights defenders are joining in a declaration to endorse Zelensky’s proposal to create an international tribunal to investigate Russian war crimes, denounce the invasion of Ukraine, and express their readiness to help.
Reuters: Iceland's foreign ministry will suspend its embassy operations in Moscow from Aug. 1 and has asked Russia to scale back its diplomatic activities in Reykjavik, the ministry said in a statement on Friday.
POLITICO: Western allies are unlikely to invite Ukraine to join NATO during the war but are still negotiating language to signal their long-term commitment to Kyiv, the U.S. ambassador to the alliance told POLITICO.
Le Monde: The International Court of Justice gave the green light Friday, June 9, to Ukraine's allies to support it in its legal fight against Russia. Judges issued an order Friday clearing 32 countries including France, the United Kingdom and Germany to support Ukraine.
AP News: Iran is providing Russia with materials to build a drone manufacturing plant east of Moscow as the Kremlin looks to lock in a steady supply of weaponry for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, according to a U.S. intelligence finding released by the White House on Friday.
Reuters: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday that Japan will offer emergency humanitarian aid worth about $5 million after the bursting of the Nova Kakhovka dam, a Japanese government spokesperson said.
Reuters: Russia will start deploying tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus after the facilities are ready on July 7-8, President Vladimir Putin told his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko on Friday in a meeting in Sochi.
Reuters: Evidence was growing on Friday that there was an explosion at the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine around the time it collapsed, according to Ukrainian and U.S. intelligence reports and seismic data from Norway.
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