LATEST HEADLINES

• Strikes from Ukraine hit two Russian border regions, wounding seven people, including a child, local governors said. Strikes on the Belgorod region hit several residential buildings in the Valuisk district, Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram. READ MORE BELOW

• Ukrainian forces have recaptured the village of Pyatykhatky on the southern front, Ganna Maliar, Deputy Defense Minister said on social media. Maliar said "eight settlements have been liberated" in total this month since the start of a counteroffensive, with 113 square kilometers of territory recaptured.

• Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces had thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to take the village of Novodonetske in the eastern Donetsk region, one of the areas where Kyiv's counteroffensive has been focused. The ministry said in a statement that marines from Russia's Pacific Fleet had pushed back the overnight attack and destroyed Ukrainian armored vehicles.

• Russia's FSB security service said it had foiled a series of Ukrainian "sabotage and terrorist plots" targeting Russian-backed officials on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine and had arrested one woman as part of its investigation.

• South African President Cyril Ramaphosa hailed an African mission to broker peace in Ukraine as "historic" upon returning from talks in Kyiv and Saint Petersburg that however did not yield any immediate results. "This initiative has been historic in that it is the first time African leaders have embarked on a peace mission beyond the shores of the continent," Ramaphosa said.

• Russia's deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus is not time-limited, state news agency TASS quoted a senior Russian diplomat as saying. "As for the possible time frame for the presence of Russian tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus, the Russian-Belarusian agreements do not imply any restrictions in this regard," Alexei Polishchuk, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's department of former Soviet states, said.

• The UK's Ministry of Defence said over the last 10 days, Russia has likely started relocating elements of its Dnipro Group of Forces (DGF) from the eastern bank of the Dnipro river to reinforce the Zaporizhzhia and Bakhmut sectors.

• Moscow declined United Nations offers to help residents affected by the flooding from the breached Kakhovka Dam, the world body said. The death toll has risen to 52, with Russian officials saying 35 people had died in Moscow-controlled areas and Ukraine's interior ministry saying 17 had died and 31 were missing. More than 11,000 have been evacuated on both sides. 

• The UN accused Russia of continuing to block humanitarian aid deliveries to Moscow-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine that have been impacted by the recent Kakhovka dam rupture. The Kremlin said Russia's decision to decline UN help was motivated by security concerns and "other nuances.

• Russia's TogliattiAzot chemical fertilizer producer is suffering "colossal losses" due to the shutdown of the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline to Ukraine, the Russian state news agency TASS cited its parent company, Uralchem, as saying.

IN DETAIL

Ukrainian strikes hit Russian border regions

Strikes from Ukraine hit two Russian border regions, wounding seven people, including a child, local governors said. Strikes on the Belgorod region hit several residential buildings in the Valuisk district, Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram.

"The Valuisk municipal district is under attack from Ukrainian forces. According to preliminary information, seven people were wounded, among them a child," he wrote in a post that included a photo of a teddy bear next to a broken window.

All of the wounded have been hospitalized, he said. Strikes on the Kursk border region hit two villages, causing damage but no victims, Governor Roman Starovoit said.

"Ukrainian forces hit the Tyotkino and Popovo-Lezhachi villages this morning," Starovoit wrote on Telegram, adding that the strikes caused power outages and damaged several vehicles.

In Crimea, which Russia absorbed from Ukraine in 2014, Governor Sergei Aksyonov said two drones were shot down overnight.

Attacks on Russian regions bordering Ukraine and in Crimea have increased over the past several weeks, as Ukraine forces wage a counteroffensive to recapture land seized by Russian troops.

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