Ukrainian forces make ‘tactically significant’ gains in Bakhmut, says US thinktank
Ukraine’s counteroffensive has made “tactically significant” gains in the Bakhmut area and continued operations in at least three other sectors of the frontline, according to a US thinktank.
The Institue for the Study of War said geopolitical footage showed Ukrainian forces made substantial ground near villages north and south Bakhmut, regaining control over previously lost positions in the area. Military officials confirmed continued offensive operations in western Zaporizhia and along the border between Zaporizhia and Donetsk oblasts.
The Russian Ministry of Defence and other Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces conducted offensive operations in the Kreminna direction along the Kharkiv-Luhansk border.
Key events
Opening summary
Welcome back to our continuing coverage of the war in Ukraine, I’m Yang Tian bringing you the latest news, as the conflict enters its 500th day.
Ukraine made “tactically significant gains” on Friday in Bakhmut and in its counteroffensive more broadly, the US thinktank the Institute for the Study of War has said. It comes as president Volodymyr Zelenskiy also secured Turkey’s crucial backing for its pledge to join Nato during a meeting with president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Istanbul.
More details shortly, in other key developments:
-
US president Joe Biden has been condemned by human rights groups after agreeing to send widely banned cluster munitions to Ukraine, with one fellow Democrat labelling the decision “unnecessary and a terrible mistake”. Washington said it has received assurances from Kyiv that it would minimise risk to civilians, including by not using the munitions in populated areas. Biden said the decision was “very difficult”, but that Ukrainian forces were “running out of ammunition”.
-
The UN’s nuclear watchdog chief said it was “making progress” on inspecting several areas of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, after Ukraine claimed that “external objects similar to explosive devices” had been placed on rooftops at the site. UN officials said they had “not seen any indications of explosives or mines” while touring the cooling ponds and other areas, but have yet to visit the facility’s rooftops.
-
Nato leaders will publicly recommit to Ukraine becoming a member of the military alliance when they meet in Vilnius on Tuesday, according to the organisation’s secretary general. US president Joe Biden said he does not think there is “unanimity in Nato” to bring Ukraine into the military alliance. Zelenskiy has also criticised Nato over a lack of “unity” which he says explains the failure to provide a guarantee for Ukraine’s membership.
-
If Russia does not agree to extend a deal allowing the safe export of grain and fertiliser from Ukrainian ports, it is unlikely western states will continue cooperating with UN officials helping Moscow with its exports, the UN aid chief said. Russia has threatened to quit the deal, which expires on 17 July, because several demands to dispatch its own grain and fertiliser have not been met. The last three ships traveling under the deal are loading cargoes at the Ukrainian port of Odesa and are likely to depart on Monday.
-
More than 9,000 Ukrainian civilians, including in excess of 500 children, are confirmed to have died since the beginning of Russia’s invasion, according to the latest United Nations data. However, the true figures are likely much higher.
-
A report by the Kyiv School of Economics and B4Ukraine, a coalition of NGOs which lobbies international businesses to leave Russia, said that 56% of foreign companies were still operating in the country last year despite the exodus of a significant minority. However, Russia’s earnings from oil and gas sales have fallen by half.
#RussiaUkraine #war #live #Ukraine #tactically #significant #gains #Bakhmut #thinktank #war #enters #500th #day #Russia
