LATEST HEADLINES

• Russia reported heavy fighting in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine, saying it had repelled repeated attempts by the Ukrainian army this week to smash through the front line - part of what Moscow says is Kyiv's long-awaited counter-offensive. READ MORE BELOW

• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed what he described as "results" in heavy fighting in Donetsk. Despite reporting progress, Ukraine has so far refused to comment on its planned counter-offensive, which is believed to have started earlier this week, instead accusing Russia of spreading lies about the operation.

• Two days after the deadly collapse of the Nova Kakhovka Dam in Kherson region, Ukraine's security service published part of what it claims is an intercepted telephone call that proves a Russian "sabotage group" blew up the site. Moscow blames Kyiv for destroying the dam, unleashing floods that have killed at least four while leaving thousands homeless in Ukraine's south. READ MORE BELOW

• The Kremlin has accused Ukrainian forces of killing civilian victims of the Kakhovka flooding in repeated shelling attacks, including one pregnant woman. Ukraine's military also claims Russian forces are shelling civilians in the flooded territory, but added that the attacks had "practically halved" since the dam's collapse.

• A Russia air strike on Ukraine overnight killed at least one person in a combined assault of cruise missiles and attack drones, Ukrainian authorities said. The Ukrainian military reported shooting down four out of six missiles and 10 out of 16 drones, while at least three others were wounded.

• The Kremlin says it is concerned that Russia's nuclear industry would have to contend with unfair competition from the U.S. and Britain, which agreed on Thursday to expand their partnership in nuclear energy aimed at cutting reliance on Russian fuel.

• Three people were injured in a drone attack after it hit a residential building in the Russian city of Voronezh. Drone strikes inside Russian territory have become a frequent occurrence, but they tend to happen in areas closer to Ukraine, while Voronezh is about 180 km from the border.

• The U.S. is reportedly set to announce a new $2 billion arms package for Ukraine, which will include Hawk missile launchers and advanced Patriot air defense missiles. U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday he believed Washington would have the necessary funding to support Kyiv "for as long as it takes."

• Sweden will allow NATO to base troops on its territory even before it formally joins the military alliance, the prime minister has announced. Sweden applied to NATO last year as a result of Ukraine conflict, but objections from Turkey and Hungary have delayed its bid.

IN DETAIL

Ukraine quiet on counter-offensive, Kakhovka dam collapse

Russia reported heavy fighting along the front in southern and eastern Ukraine on Friday, while Kyiv has maintained a strict silence about its long-anticipated counterattack.

With virtually no independent reporting from the front lines, it has been difficult to assess the degree to which Ukraine's operation is under way or whether it was having success in punching through Russian defenses in occupied territory. 

The counter-offensive is ultimately expected to involve thousands of Ukrainian troops trained and equipped by the West. Russia, which has had months to prepare its defensive lines, says it has withstood attacks since the start of the week. 

Kyiv has so far said its main effort has yet to begin.

Russian bloggers reported intense battles on Friday on the Zaporizhzhia front near the city of Orikhiv, around the mid-point of the "land bridge" linking Russia to the Crimea peninsula, seen as one of Ukraine's main potential targets.

The early days of the counter-offensive have been overshadowed this week, however, by a humanitarian disaster after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam holding back the waters of the Dnipro River that cuts through Ukraine.

Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate homes flooded in the conflict zone, vast nature preserves have been wiped out and the destruction to irrigation systems is likely to destroy agriculture across much of southern Ukraine for decades.

Kyiv said on Friday it had intercepted a phone call proving that Russian forces in control of the dam had blown it up, with the Security Service of Ukraine posting a one-and-a-half minute audio clip of the alleged conversation.

The recording has not been independently verified, but it features two men who appear to be discussing the fallout from the disaster in Russian.

"They (the Ukrainians) didn't strike it. That was our sabotage group," said one of the men on the recording, described by Kyiv officials as a Russian soldier. "They wanted to, like, scare (people) with that dam."

"It didn't go according to plan, and (they did) more than what they planned for."

Russia, which has accused Kyiv of destroying the dam, did not immediately comment on its content.

Ukraine's military has said that the consequent flooding from the dam's collapse has pushed back Russian troops in Kherson by up to 15km, but it continues to say little more about the southern front, which is assumed to be the focus of its main assault.

In President Zelenskyy's nightly video address, delivered on a train after a visit to the flood zone in the south, he thanked Ukrainian troops and repeated earlier claims of success in Russian-occupied city of Bakhmut, but gave no further details about the wider offensive.

"We see every detail. But it's not time to talk about it today," he said.

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