First Gain of Offensive: Ukraine claims regain of villages

Ukraine on Sunday announced that its forces have recaptured a village in the southeastern part of the war-torn country. This marks the first reported territorial gain of the ongoing offensive.

After raising anticipation for months, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Saturday that a counteroffensive against Russian forces was in progress, but he refrained from providing specific details.

In a statement released on Sunday, Ukraine’s ground forces declared that the 68th separate ranger brigade had successfully “liberated the settlement of Blagodatne” in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

A video released by the ground forces depicted soldiers raising the Ukrainian flag atop a ruined building.

VIDEO: Ukrainian troops raise the national flag in the liberated village of Neskuchne in Donetsk region as the counteroffensive continues pic.twitter.com/4NxE7GPO5y

— Business Ukraine mag (@Biz_Ukraine_Mag) June 11, 2023

Valeriy Shershen, another military spokesperson, stated in televised remarks that the retaken village was situated on the border between the Donetsk region and the Zaporizhzhia region in the south. He also noted that heavy Ukrainian assaults had been reported by Moscow in that area over the past week.

According to Shershen, Ukrainian forces have captured a number of Russian and pro-Russian troops.

Significant military achievements by Ukraine in the Zaporizhzhia region could potentially lead to the severing of the land bridge connecting Russia with the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine. Such a development would represent a major setback for Moscow.

While Ukraine has largely remained silent regarding the offensive, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on Friday that Kyiv’s counterattack had already begun but was unsuccessful.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, reported on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had conducted counteroffensive operations in at least four front-line areas.

Described as the “worst environmental catastrophe since Chernobyl,” Kyiv reported its first territorial gain in the ongoing offensive while southern Ukraine faced a devastating flood that left 35 individuals, including seven children, still missing.

The destruction of the Russian-controlled Kakhovka dam along the front line in the Kherson region on Tuesday resulted in the displacement of thousands of people and raised concerns about both humanitarian and environmental disasters.

Ukraine accuses Russia of deliberately blowing up the dam on the Dnipro River, while Moscow claims that Kyiv fired upon the structure.

According to Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klymenko, 77 towns and villages in the southern regions of Kherson and Mykolaiv were affected by the flooding.

Klymenko further revealed that 35 people, including seven children, were reported missing in the Kherson region. The flood claimed the lives of five individuals in Kherson and one person in Mykolaiv.

As a result, approximately 3,700 people have been evacuated from their homes in the two regions.

In Kherson, the largest population center near the dam, the water levels began to recede, allowing locals to return home and assess the extent of the damage, according to an AFP correspondent at the scene.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian rescuers in orange boats continued their efforts to evacuate individuals from the worst-affected areas of the city and nearby islands.
Lora Musiyan, an employee at Kherson’s meteorological agency, reported that the water level had decreased by 1.7 meters (5.5 feet) from its peak measurements earlier in the week.

In central Kherson, Oleksiy Gesin returned to his grocery store after six days. Equipped with a shovel and wearing rubber boots and a jacket, he worked to clear debris amid heavy rain. Gesin mentioned significant losses, stating that the water had risen to chest level in his store and that food would have to be discarded.

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin, accompanied by representatives from the International Criminal Court, visited the Kherson region, according to his office.

Kostin stated, “This is the worst environmental catastrophe since Chernobyl, so we are investigating not only a war crime but also an ecocide.” He described the situation as highly complex and highlighted that several hazardous facilities, including three cemeteries, oil storage terminals, and garbage dumps, had been flooded.

Kostin further noted that approximately 450 tonnes of turbine oil had spilled into the Dnipro River and the Black Sea.

Over 170 prosecutors have been assigned to investigate the dam breach, and Kostin mentioned the presence of colleagues from the International Criminal Court assisting in the investigation.

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