LATEST HEADLINES

• Ukraine said its troops had recaptured a fourth village in the country's southeast as it reported the first small gains of a long-planned counter-offensive against Russian forces. READ MORE BELOW

• Three people were killed after Russian forces shelled several small boats taking elderly residents to safety from flooded areas of Ukraine's south, according to local officials. Kherson's governor said Russian 'terrorist' forces were "deliberately trying to disrupt rescue efforts" following catastrophic flooding caused by the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam. 

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced that work has already started into an investigation by the International Criminal Court of the breach of the Kakhovka dam last week and the vast flood it triggered. He stressed the importance of international legal experts seeing the aftermath of the disaster, including incidents of shelling of flooded areas.

• The U.N. atomic watchdog said that it needs wider access around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to check "a significant discrepancy" in water level data at the breached Kakhovka dam used for cooling the plant's reactors. The water level at the reservoir used to the cool the reactors has fallen dramatically since the destruction of the dam last week.

• Chechen special forces have signed a contract with Russia's defense ministry a day after the chief of the Wagner mercenary group refused to ink the same document. Russia's defense ministry has given an order that all "volunteer units" should be brought under its control as Moscow tries to assert its power over private armies fighting on its behalf in Ukraine.

• Ukraine and Russia have announced a prisoner swap of almost 200 soldiers.

• Russia said that Ukraine had made unsuccessful attempt to attack a Russian naval ship with six high-speed drone boats as the Russian vessel patrolled major natural gas pipelines in the Black Sea. 

• Russia's defense ministry said its forces had shot down a Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jet in Kherson region, where the breach of the Kakhovka dam led to major flooding. It added that its forces had destroyed at least seven German-made Leopard tanks and five U.S.-made Bradley vehicles over 48 hours while repelling more than a dozen Ukrainian attacks over the past day.

• The global number of operational nuclear weapons increased in 2022 as countries implemented long-term expansion plans, a leading conflict think-tank has reported, warning that the world was entering a dangerous phase.

• Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the arrival of the first cargo of discounted Russian crude oil arranged under a new deal struck between Islamabad and Moscow. He said its arrival was "the beginning of a new relationship between Pakistan and Russian Federation."

IN DETAIL

Ukraine's incremental gains

Ukraine said on Monday its troops had recaptured a fourth village in a cluster of settlements in the southeast, a day after it reported the first small gains of a counter-offensive against Russian forces.

Soldiers held up the Ukrainian flag in Storozheve in the Donetsk region in unverified video footage, with the country's defense minister thanking the 35th Separate Brigade of Marines for regaining control of the village.

Ukraine has enforced strict operational silence to avoid compromising an operation it hopes will retake Russian-controlled territory in the east and south, and threaten the land bridge Russia uses to supply the occupied Crimea peninsula.

Russia, which said last week the counteroffensive had begun, has depicted the operation as a failure so far, posting images of destroyed American and German-made fighting vehicles and tanks.

Ukraine said on Sunday its forces had liberated three villages - Blahodatne, Neskuchne and Makarivka - that lie on the edge of Donetsk region next to Zaporizhzhia region. 

The reported advance, if confirmed, appears modest, with Makarivka about 5 km from what had been the front line. 

Some prominent Russian military bloggers said fighting for Makarivka was still raging but confirmed Ukrainian forces had taken Blahodatne and Neskuchne.

Russia has built sprawling fortifications to defend against an attack by Ukrainian troops trained and equipped by the West.

Ukraine's armed forces said in its regular fighting update that 25 battles raged in the previous 24 hours near Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Maryinka in the Donetsk region, and near Bilohorivka in the Luhansk region.

Both sides have said their forces have inflicted heavy losses on each other over the past week.

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