The Russo-Ukrainian War: List of Major Events, Day 472

This is the situation as of Saturday, June 10, 2023

Nova Kakhovka Dam collapse

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said that “everything indicates” that Russia was responsible for the Kakhovka Dam explosion. The dam was not bombed. It was destroyed by explosives that were installed in the areas where the turbines were located. “This area is under Russian control,” Borrell told Spanish public television.
The New York Times reported, quoting an unnamed US official, that US spy satellites detected an explosion in the Kakhovka Dam before it collapsed. The official said satellites equipped with infrared sensors detected a heat signature consistent with a large explosion.
The Ukrainian Security Service said it had intercepted a phone call between Russian military personnel in which they discussed the Kakhovka Dam explosion and how a Russian sabotage team had destroyed the site. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) posted a short audio clip on its Telegram channel of the alleged conversation.

Ukraine continued evacuating people in areas affected by floods caused by the dam collapse and reported that at least five people were killed. Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klimenko, said on Telegram that four people were dead and 13 people were missing in the Kherson region, and one person died in the Mykolaiv region due to the floods.
Officials say floodwater levels in some parts of southern Ukraine have begun to decline.
A Japanese government spokesman said that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Japan will provide emergency humanitarian aid worth $5 million after the Nova Kakhovka Dam was destroyed.
UN aid coordinator Martin Griffiths said it would take time to determine the full extent of the environmental damage caused by the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka Dam. “But we all know… this is an absolute disaster,” he said, describing the reservoir as an important “breadbasket” for the livelihoods of people living in southern Ukraine.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has accused Russia of causing the dam collapse in Ukraine, calling it an act of “ecocide” by Moscow.
Russia accused the Ukrainian forces of bombing, which led to the death of citizens affected by the floods of the dam in the areas under Russian control in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the attacks as “more than barbaric”. The day before, Ukraine had accused Russian forces of shelling Ukrainian civilians and rescue workers in the flooded area it controlled.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine had launched its expected counter-offensive against Russian forces, but to no avail. He said: “Ukrainian forces did not achieve their goals in any sector – thanks to the courage of the Russian soldiers, the proper organization of the forces.”
Ukraine’s Zelensky has hailed the heroism of his armed forces amid reports of intensified fighting in the east and south, in what is seen as the potential start of Kiev’s long-awaited counter-offensive. “We see your heroism, and we are grateful to you for every minute of your life,” Zelensky said in his daily address.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported repelling Ukrainian attacks in the southeastern region of Zaporizhia and thwarting repeated attempts by the Ukrainian army this week to break through the front line. A spokesman for the Russian Vostok Group said that 13 Ukrainian tanks were destroyed in battles in the Zaporizhia region and eight in the Donetsk region.
Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said the situation on the front lines was tense and heavy fighting was concentrated in the Donetsk region in the east. The situation is tense in all areas of the front. The enemy continues to focus its main efforts on the Liman, Bakhmut, Avdeev and Marin directions. “Heavy fighting continues,” Maliar said on Telegram.
Russia unleashed air strikes on Ukraine overnight, killing at least one person in a combined attack with cruise missiles and attack drones, according to Ukrainian authorities. Ukraine said it shot down four of the six missiles fired during the attack and 10 of the 16 drones.

The regional governor Alexander Gusev said that three people were injured by shards of broken glass due to a drone strike on an apartment building in the southern Russian city of Voronezh. Gusev said that the three people received medical attention immediately and refused hospital treatment.
Putin told his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko at a meeting in Sochi that Russia will deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus after the facilities there are ready on July 7-8.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said an ammonia pipeline explosion would be considered during consultations on the Black Sea grain export deal with Ukraine. Russia accused Ukraine of blowing up part of the pipeline in the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine. The governor of Kharkiv said Russian forces bombed its pipeline.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said that Russia had received materials from Iran to build a drone factory. The White House released a satellite image of the site of the prospective plant in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone, 900 kilometers (560 miles) east of Moscow.
The US Department of Defense announced an additional $2.1 billion military package for Ukraine that includes air defense systems, Raytheon HAWK missiles, AeroVironment Puma unmanned aerial systems, laser-guided missiles and other munitions.

A spokesman for the Belgian Ministry of Defense said that Belgium will supply Ukraine with 105 mm artillery shells worth 32.4 million euros ($35 million).
The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Japanese ambassador over Tokyo’s announced decision to supply military equipment to Ukraine.

Iceland will suspend embassy operations in Moscow from Aug. 1, the foreign ministry said in a statement, and asked Russia to scale back its diplomatic activities in Reykjavík. The ministry said the suspension was due to the “absolutely low” level of commercial, cultural and political relations between the two countries. Diplomatic relations between the two countries have not been severed.
The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra will be touring eight cities in Europe and the UK for the second summer in a row. The tour in support of the war effort in Ukraine runs from August 20 to September 3.

Hungary said it had received a group of Ukrainian prisoners of war from Russia, a release that Ukraine welcomed but expressed concern about not being informed. The prisoners of war were from the western part of Ukraine bordering Hungary, according to both the Russian Orthodox Church, which said it assisted in the release, and Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Simgen.