Strikes from Ukraine hit two Russian border regions early on Monday, wounding seven people, including a child, local governors said, as Ukrainian forces pressed on with their offensive in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia, recapturing the village of Piatykhatky. Follow our live blog for the latest developments in the war in Ukraine. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
Issued on:
7:55am: Ukraine says one more village recaptured on southern front
Ukraine’s forces have liberated eight settlements in the past two weeks of their offensive operations, including the village of Piatykhatky, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar has said.
“In the course of two weeks of offensive operations in the Berdiansk and Melitopol directions, eight settlements were liberated,” Maliar said on the Telegram messaging app.
A Russian-installed official confirmed that Ukraine had recaptured Piatykhatky, a village in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, and were entrenching themselves there while coming under fire from Russian artillery.
7:40am: Russia says seven injured in shelling of border town
Seven civilians including a child were injured overnight in Ukrainian shelling of the Valuyki town area in Russia’s Belgorod border region, its governor has said.
Five multi-storey buildings and four houses were damaged with one building on fire, the governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on the Telegram messaging app.
Separately, Roman Starovoyt, the governor of the Kursk region, north of Belgorod and also bordering Ukraine, said Ukrainian forces shelled two villages there. There were no casualties, according to preliminary information.
5:15am: Ukraine targets initial $40 billion for ‘Green Marshall Plan’
Ukraine is seeking up to $40 billion to fund the first part of a “Green Marshall Plan” to rebuild its economy, a senior Ukrainian government official told Reuters ahead of a summit this week.
Politicians and financiers will discuss the country’s short-term funding issues as well as look at long-term reconstruction efforts at the two-day meeting, starting in London on Wednesday and co-hosted by Ukraine and Britain.
The World Bank estimates Ukraine’s reconstruction will cost $411 billion, three times the country’s gross domestic product.
Since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, external backers have poured $59 billion into Ukraine for financing needs.
Key developments from Sunday, June 18:
Russia acknowledged on Sunday that Ukraine had recaptured a village in the southern Zapororizhzhia region, its first gain on that front since it launched its counteroffensive earlier this month.
Ukraine also said its forces had destroyed a “significant” ammunition depot near the Russian-occupied port city of Henichesk.
Meanwhile, the United Nations said Russia had “so far declined our request to access the areas under its temporary military control” after the Kakhovka Dam burst on June 6, unleashing floodwaters and cutting off supplies to civilians.
Read yesterday’s liveblog to see how the day unfolded.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
For all the latest health News Click Here
