TOP HEADLINES

• Seven people were killed and 37 wounded when a Russian missile struck a central square in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, the interior ministry of Ukraine announced. "An ordinary Saturday, which Russia turned into a day of pain and loss," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

• Zelenskyy is in Sweden to meet with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, the royal family and other officials. Last week Sweden announced it was planning a new $313.5 million military support package to Kyiv.

• President Vladimir Putin visited the commander of Russia's operation in Ukraine and other top military brass in Rostov-on-Don, a meeting that came after Ukraine claimed counteroffensive gains on the southeastern front. READ MORE BELOW

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that possession of nuclear weapons was "the only possible response to some of significant external threats" the country faced, adding that the U.S. and its NATO allies risked ending up in "a situation of direct armed confrontation of nuclear powers."

• A Ukrainian drone targeted a military airfield in Russia's Novgorod region, causing a fire and damaging one warplane, Russia's Defense Ministry stated.

• One person was killed and two were injured by Russian shelling in a village near the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Friday. In a separate incident four people were injured after Russia shelled the residential area of the city of Chasiv Yar, located in the Donetsk region close to Bakhmut.

• The number of Ukrainian and Russian troops killed or wounded since the Ukraine conflict began in February 2022 is nearing 500,000, the New York Times reported, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

• According to one U.S. official, Ukrainian forces would likely not be able to reach and retake the Russian-occupied strategic southeastern city of Melitopol during their counteroffensive, which despite some recent gains, continues to progress slower than expected.  

• Russia has banned entry to 54 British nationals, including the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan, in response to UK sanctions against its citizens and enterprises. The ICC issued an arrest warrant in March for Putin, accusing him of committing a war crime, charges that Moscow denies.

• Moscow has charged a jailed U.S. citizen with espionage, upping the pressure on President Joe Biden's administration which has been trying to find a way to bring several detained citizens back home from Russia.

IN DETAIL

Putin meets with commander of Russia's Ukraine operation

President Vladimir Putin visited the commander of Russia's operation in Ukraine and other top military brass, the Kremlin said on Saturday, a meeting that came after Ukraine claimed some minor counteroffensive gains on the southeastern front.

"Vladimir Putin held a meeting at the headquarters of the special military operation group in Rostov-on-Don," the Kremlin statement noted.

It added that Putin, Russia's supreme commander-in-chief, listened to reports from Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff of the Army in charge of Moscow's operations in Ukraine, and other top military commanders and officers.

Videos published by the RIA state news agency showed Gerasimov greeting Putin in what appeared to be night-time and leading him into a building after a brief handshake.

The meeting came after Ukraine, whose counteroffensive to recapture land taken by Russia in the first months of the conflict has been slower than expected, said it liberated a small village along the frontline, its first since July.

Gerasimov, who has rarely been seen in public in recent months, had been the target of criticism from Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and some Russian military bloggers over Russia's tactics in the conflict.

Rostov-on-Don, a city just some 100 kilometers from Ukraine's border, is home to the Russian southern military district command whose soldiers are fighting in Ukraine.

With Ukraine's counteroffensive struggling to break through entrenched Russian lines and Moscow's stretched military resources, both sides have measured recent successes by taking control of tiny villages.

On Thursday, the Ukrainian military said it had liberated the small village of Urozhaine in the Donetsk region, pushing forward in its drive towards the Sea of Azov to potentially cut the Russian land bridge to Crimea - vital for Moscow's supply routes.

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