Latest news with #SouthernDefenceForces
The Independent
09-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Poland scrambles aircraft after Moscow launches air strikes on western Ukraine
Coleen Rooney says Unicef support for Ukrainian families is a 'lifeline' Coleen Rooney has said Unicef support for Ukrainian families has been a "lifeline" that is "changing lives". The media personality recently travelled to Poland with Unicef to see how Soccer Aid donations have directly supported Ukrainian families who were forced to flee their homes. The 39-year-old said she could not "imagine" what Ukrainian refugee families must be going through, emphasising how important it is to stand with them. She said: "I can relate to being a mum and the first thing (you would do) in that situation is to get out of danger, to make sure that the kids are OK and we can find somewhere. "I couldn't imagine what was going through their heads... the emotions." Namita Singh9 June 2025 06:40 'The enemy does not abandon its intentions to enter the Dnipropetrovsk region' According to the Russian defence ministry, units of the 90th Tank Division of the Central Grouping of Russian forces have reached the western frontier of Ukraine's Donetsk region and are attacking the adjacent Dnipropetrovsk region. "The enemy does not abandon its intentions to enter the Dnipropetrovsk region," Ukraine's Southern Defence Forces said on Telegram. "Our soldiers are courageously and professionally holding their section of the front, disrupting the occupier's plans. This work does not stop for a minute." Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said the Dnipropetrovsk offensive showed that if Ukraine did not want to accept the reality of Russia's territorial gains in peace talks then Moscow's forces would advance further. The pro-Ukrainian Deep State map showed Russian forces very close to the Dnipropetrovsk region, which had a population of more than 3 million before the war, and advancing on the city of Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region from several directions. A Ukrainian military spokesman, Dmytro Zaporozhets, said that Russian forces were trying to "build a bridgehead for an attack" on Kostyantynivka, an important logistical hub for the Ukrainian army. Arpan Rai9 June 2025 06:30 Editorial: Donald Trump was wrong – Ukraine still holds some cards Donald Trump has been shown to be wrong, wrong and wrong again about Vladimir Putin. He was wrong again when he was asked if Ukraine's ' Spiderweb ' drone strikes against Russian bombers had changed his view of the cards the Ukrainians have: 'They gave Putin a reason to go and bomb the hell out of them,' he said. This is the same logic to which President Trump has cleaved from the start: that the Ukrainian people provoked the full-scale invasion of their country by wanting to be an independent nation facing to the west. It seemed that Mr Trump had been briefly disabused of the notion that Mr Putin wanted peace when the Russian president ignored several long telephone conversations with him and continued to bombard Ukraine, causing significant civilian casualties. ' He has gone absolutely crazy,' Mr Trump said last month. ' Needlessly killing a lot of people.' Donald Trump was wrong – Ukraine still holds some cards Editorial: All the nations of the world that believe in freedom, democracy and national self-determination must continue to stand by the Ukrainian people Arpan Rai9 June 2025 06:00 Ukraine's drone attack halts work at electronic plant in Chuvashia, Russia says Production was temporarily suspended at an electronics company in Russia's Volga river region of Chuvashia, some 1,300km from the border with Ukraine, after two drones fell on the plant's territory, the head of the region said on Monday. The strike – among the deepest into Russia by a Ukrainian drone in more than three years of the war – caused no casualties, Chuvashia governor Oleg Nikolayev said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app. But "the responsible decision was made to temporarily suspend production to ensure the safety of employees" of the Vniir enterprise where the drones fell, Nikolayev said. It was not immediately clear whether the drones caused any damage. Mr Nikolayev said that another drone fell onto some fields in the area of the capital of the region, Cheboksary. 9 June 2025 05:51 Trump redirects anti-drone missiles meant for Ukraine, says Zelensky Donald Trump's administration has redirected at least 20,000 anti-drone missiles originally designated for Ukraine to American forces in the Middle East, Volodymyr Zelensky has said. Ukraine was hoping to receive the missiles from the US to help counter relentless Russian drone attacks, which include swarms of Iranian-designed Shahed-type drones, Mr Zelensky said. "We have big problems with Shaheds… we will find all the tools to destroy them," Mr Zelensky said. "We counted on this project — 20,000 missiles. Anti-Shahed missiles. It was not expensive, but it's a special technology,' he told ABC News. The plan has been agreed upon with previous president Joe Biden's administration and its defence secretary Lloyd Austin. 9 June 2025 04:51 At least dozen civilian killed by Russian attacks over weekend At least 12 civilians were killed and 65 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine in the last 24 hours, according to local reports. Russia launched nearly 50 drones overnight targeting civilians and infrastructure across Ukraine, according to Ukraine's air force. Six civilians were killed and 44 injured in Kharkiv Oblast alone, Ukraine's national police said. Arpan Rai9 June 2025 04:50 Watch: Zelensky says Russia is 'ignoring all peace proposals' Arpan Rai9 June 2025 04:38 Why Russia and Ukraine are facing a delay in the swap of prisoners of war Russia has accused Ukraine of delaying the swap of prisoners of war and return of the bodies of 12,000 dead soldiers, though Ukraine denied those claims. Russia said it was moving bodies towards the border and television showed refrigerated trucks containing the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers on the road in the Bryansk region. Ukraine accused Russia of playing propaganda games and said that the exchange of prisoners of war and the bodies of fallen soldiers was scheduled for next week. Russia said Ukraine was playing politics with the dead. The Russian defence ministry has released images of what it says are lorries carrying the refrigerated bodies of Ukrainian soldiers. The lorries are at an ex-change area Novaya Guta, Belarus on the boarder of Ukraine. However, it is scheduled for next week, Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine's military intelligence chief (HUR), said. " The start of repatriation measures following the negotiations in Istanbul is scheduled for next week, as authorised persons were informed on Tuesday (3 June)," Mr Budanov posted on Telegram. Arpan Rai9 June 2025 04:22 Ukraine rejects Russian claims to have entered Dnipropetrovsk region for first time Ukraine has rejected Russian claims to have entered the central-eastern region of Dnipropetrovsk for the first time. With Vladimir Putin intensifying his push to seize further Ukrainian territory while paying lip service to peace talks brokered by the US, Russia's defence ministry claimed yesterday that its forces had reached the western frontier of Ukraine's Donetsk region and were now attacking the adjacent Dnipropetrovsk region. But Ukraine strongly refuted these claims, with the country's Southern Defence Forces saying: 'The enemy has not abandoned its plans to enter Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Our soldiers are bravely and professionally holding their section of the front, thwarting the occupier's plans.' This was echoed by Major Andrii Kovalev, a spokesperson for the general staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces, who told Ukrainska Pravda: 'The information is not true. Fighting is ongoing in Donetsk Oblast. The enemy did not enter Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.' And a spokesperson for Ukraine's Khortytsia group of forces told CNN that 'the Russians are constantly spreading false information that they have entered the Dnipropetrovsk region from the Pokrovsk and Novopavlivka directions, but [in neither place] is this information true'. Arpan Rai9 June 2025 04:03 Poland scrambles aircraft as Russia launches strikes on Ukraine Polish and allied aircraft were activated early today to ensure the safety of Polish airspace after Russia launched air strikes targeting western Ukraine, near the border with Poland, the Operational Command of the Polish armed forces said. "The steps taken are aimed at ensuring security in the regions bordering the areas at risk," the Command said on X this morning. All of Ukraine was under air raid alerts as of 2am GMT today after the Ukrainian Air Force warned of Russian missile and drone attacks. Arpan Rai9 June 2025 03:59
The Advertiser
09-06-2025
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Russia advances in Ukraine amid row over dead soldiers
Russia says its forces have advanced to the edge of the east-central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk amid a public row between the countries over peace negotiations and the return of thousands of bodies of soldiers. Despite talk of peace, the war is stepping up with Russian forces grabbing more territory and Ukraine unfurling high-profile drone and sabotage attacks on Russia's nuclear-capable bomber fleet and, according to the Kremlin, on railways. Russia, which controls about 18 per cent of Ukrainian territory, has taken more than 190 square km of the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine in less than a month, according to pro-Ukrainian open source maps. Now, according to the Russian defence ministry, units of the 90th Tank Division of the Central Grouping of Russian forces have reached the western frontier of Ukraine's Donetsk region and are attacking the adjacent Dnipropetrovsk region. "The enemy does not abandon its intentions to enter the Dnipropetrovsk region," Ukraine's Southern Defence Forces said on Telegram. "Our soldiers are courageously and professionally holding their section of the front, disrupting the occupier's plans. This work does not stop for a minute." Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said the Dnipropetrovsk offensive showed that if Ukraine did not want to accept the reality of Russia's territorial gains in peace talks then Russian forces would advance further. The pro-Ukrainian Deep State map showed Russian forces very close to the Dnipropetrovsk region, which had a population of more than three million before the war, and advancing on the city of Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region from several directions. Ukrainian military spokesman Dmytro Zaporozhets said that Russian forces were trying to "build a bridgehead for an attack" on Kostyantynivka, an important logistical hub for the Ukrainian army. Russia on Saturday accused Ukraine of delaying the swap of prisoners of war and return of the bodies of 12,000 dead soldiers. Ukraine denied those claims. On Sunday, Russia said it was moving bodies towards the border and television showed refrigerated trucks containing the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers on the road in the Bryansk region. Ukraine, officials said, was playing politics with the dead. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pledged to press on with prisoner exchanges. "The Russian side is therefore, like always, even in these matters, is trying to play some kind of dirty political and information game," he said in his nightly video address. "We believe that the exchanges will continue and will do everything for this. If the Russians do not stand by agreements even in humanitarian matters, it casts great doubt on all international efforts - including those by the United States in terms of talks and diplomacy." Zelenskiy said he had reviewed commanders' reports about areas hit by heavy fighting, including near Pokrovsk, targeted by Russian forces for months. He said the situation was "far from easy but everything depends on the resilience of our units". Zelenskiy warned Ukrainians in his video message to be particularly attentive to air raid warnings in the coming days. Russia says its forces have advanced to the edge of the east-central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk amid a public row between the countries over peace negotiations and the return of thousands of bodies of soldiers. Despite talk of peace, the war is stepping up with Russian forces grabbing more territory and Ukraine unfurling high-profile drone and sabotage attacks on Russia's nuclear-capable bomber fleet and, according to the Kremlin, on railways. Russia, which controls about 18 per cent of Ukrainian territory, has taken more than 190 square km of the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine in less than a month, according to pro-Ukrainian open source maps. Now, according to the Russian defence ministry, units of the 90th Tank Division of the Central Grouping of Russian forces have reached the western frontier of Ukraine's Donetsk region and are attacking the adjacent Dnipropetrovsk region. "The enemy does not abandon its intentions to enter the Dnipropetrovsk region," Ukraine's Southern Defence Forces said on Telegram. "Our soldiers are courageously and professionally holding their section of the front, disrupting the occupier's plans. This work does not stop for a minute." Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said the Dnipropetrovsk offensive showed that if Ukraine did not want to accept the reality of Russia's territorial gains in peace talks then Russian forces would advance further. The pro-Ukrainian Deep State map showed Russian forces very close to the Dnipropetrovsk region, which had a population of more than three million before the war, and advancing on the city of Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region from several directions. Ukrainian military spokesman Dmytro Zaporozhets said that Russian forces were trying to "build a bridgehead for an attack" on Kostyantynivka, an important logistical hub for the Ukrainian army. Russia on Saturday accused Ukraine of delaying the swap of prisoners of war and return of the bodies of 12,000 dead soldiers. Ukraine denied those claims. On Sunday, Russia said it was moving bodies towards the border and television showed refrigerated trucks containing the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers on the road in the Bryansk region. Ukraine, officials said, was playing politics with the dead. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pledged to press on with prisoner exchanges. "The Russian side is therefore, like always, even in these matters, is trying to play some kind of dirty political and information game," he said in his nightly video address. "We believe that the exchanges will continue and will do everything for this. If the Russians do not stand by agreements even in humanitarian matters, it casts great doubt on all international efforts - including those by the United States in terms of talks and diplomacy." Zelenskiy said he had reviewed commanders' reports about areas hit by heavy fighting, including near Pokrovsk, targeted by Russian forces for months. He said the situation was "far from easy but everything depends on the resilience of our units". Zelenskiy warned Ukrainians in his video message to be particularly attentive to air raid warnings in the coming days. Russia says its forces have advanced to the edge of the east-central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk amid a public row between the countries over peace negotiations and the return of thousands of bodies of soldiers. Despite talk of peace, the war is stepping up with Russian forces grabbing more territory and Ukraine unfurling high-profile drone and sabotage attacks on Russia's nuclear-capable bomber fleet and, according to the Kremlin, on railways. Russia, which controls about 18 per cent of Ukrainian territory, has taken more than 190 square km of the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine in less than a month, according to pro-Ukrainian open source maps. Now, according to the Russian defence ministry, units of the 90th Tank Division of the Central Grouping of Russian forces have reached the western frontier of Ukraine's Donetsk region and are attacking the adjacent Dnipropetrovsk region. "The enemy does not abandon its intentions to enter the Dnipropetrovsk region," Ukraine's Southern Defence Forces said on Telegram. "Our soldiers are courageously and professionally holding their section of the front, disrupting the occupier's plans. This work does not stop for a minute." Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said the Dnipropetrovsk offensive showed that if Ukraine did not want to accept the reality of Russia's territorial gains in peace talks then Russian forces would advance further. The pro-Ukrainian Deep State map showed Russian forces very close to the Dnipropetrovsk region, which had a population of more than three million before the war, and advancing on the city of Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region from several directions. Ukrainian military spokesman Dmytro Zaporozhets said that Russian forces were trying to "build a bridgehead for an attack" on Kostyantynivka, an important logistical hub for the Ukrainian army. Russia on Saturday accused Ukraine of delaying the swap of prisoners of war and return of the bodies of 12,000 dead soldiers. Ukraine denied those claims. On Sunday, Russia said it was moving bodies towards the border and television showed refrigerated trucks containing the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers on the road in the Bryansk region. Ukraine, officials said, was playing politics with the dead. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pledged to press on with prisoner exchanges. "The Russian side is therefore, like always, even in these matters, is trying to play some kind of dirty political and information game," he said in his nightly video address. "We believe that the exchanges will continue and will do everything for this. If the Russians do not stand by agreements even in humanitarian matters, it casts great doubt on all international efforts - including those by the United States in terms of talks and diplomacy." Zelenskiy said he had reviewed commanders' reports about areas hit by heavy fighting, including near Pokrovsk, targeted by Russian forces for months. He said the situation was "far from easy but everything depends on the resilience of our units". Zelenskiy warned Ukrainians in his video message to be particularly attentive to air raid warnings in the coming days. Russia says its forces have advanced to the edge of the east-central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk amid a public row between the countries over peace negotiations and the return of thousands of bodies of soldiers. Despite talk of peace, the war is stepping up with Russian forces grabbing more territory and Ukraine unfurling high-profile drone and sabotage attacks on Russia's nuclear-capable bomber fleet and, according to the Kremlin, on railways. Russia, which controls about 18 per cent of Ukrainian territory, has taken more than 190 square km of the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine in less than a month, according to pro-Ukrainian open source maps. Now, according to the Russian defence ministry, units of the 90th Tank Division of the Central Grouping of Russian forces have reached the western frontier of Ukraine's Donetsk region and are attacking the adjacent Dnipropetrovsk region. "The enemy does not abandon its intentions to enter the Dnipropetrovsk region," Ukraine's Southern Defence Forces said on Telegram. "Our soldiers are courageously and professionally holding their section of the front, disrupting the occupier's plans. This work does not stop for a minute." Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said the Dnipropetrovsk offensive showed that if Ukraine did not want to accept the reality of Russia's territorial gains in peace talks then Russian forces would advance further. The pro-Ukrainian Deep State map showed Russian forces very close to the Dnipropetrovsk region, which had a population of more than three million before the war, and advancing on the city of Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region from several directions. Ukrainian military spokesman Dmytro Zaporozhets said that Russian forces were trying to "build a bridgehead for an attack" on Kostyantynivka, an important logistical hub for the Ukrainian army. Russia on Saturday accused Ukraine of delaying the swap of prisoners of war and return of the bodies of 12,000 dead soldiers. Ukraine denied those claims. On Sunday, Russia said it was moving bodies towards the border and television showed refrigerated trucks containing the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers on the road in the Bryansk region. Ukraine, officials said, was playing politics with the dead. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pledged to press on with prisoner exchanges. "The Russian side is therefore, like always, even in these matters, is trying to play some kind of dirty political and information game," he said in his nightly video address. "We believe that the exchanges will continue and will do everything for this. If the Russians do not stand by agreements even in humanitarian matters, it casts great doubt on all international efforts - including those by the United States in terms of talks and diplomacy." Zelenskiy said he had reviewed commanders' reports about areas hit by heavy fighting, including near Pokrovsk, targeted by Russian forces for months. He said the situation was "far from easy but everything depends on the resilience of our units". Zelenskiy warned Ukrainians in his video message to be particularly attentive to air raid warnings in the coming days.
The Independent
09-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv denies Putin's forces have breached central region for first time
Ukraine has rejected Russian claims to have entered the central-eastern region of Dnipropetrovsk for the first time, as fighting was reported close to the frontier. With Vladimir Putin intensifying his push to seize further Ukrainian territory, Russia 's defence ministry claimed that its forces had reached the western border of Ukraine's Donetsk region and were now attacking Dnipropetrovsk – a mineral-rich region which is not among the four Russia has sought to unilaterally annexe since its full-scale invasion. But Ukraine strongly refuted these claims, with its Southern Defence Forces saying: 'The enemy has not abandoned its plans to enter Dnipropetrovsk. Our soldiers are bravely and professionally holding their section of the front, thwarting the occupier's plans.' Ukrainian military chiefs – who reported multiple Russian offensives in the area on Sunday – and Ukraine's Khortytsia group of forces also rejected the claims, with the latter warning that 'the Russians are constantly spreading false information that they have entered' Dnipropetrovsk. It came after Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian forces of 'pure terrorism' after Russia launched multiple rounds of devastating attacks on Kharkiv 's civilians on Saturday, killing four people and wounded more than 60.
AsiaOne
09-06-2025
- Politics
- AsiaOne
Russia advances to east-central Ukrainian region amid row over dead soldiers, World News
MOSCOW/KYIV — Russia said on Sunday (June 8) its forces had advanced to the edge of the east-central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk amid a public row between Moscow and Kyiv over peace negotiations and the return of thousands of bodies of soldiers who fell in the war. Despite talk of peace, the war is stepping up with Russian forces grabbing more territory in Ukraine and Kyiv unfurling high-profile drone and sabotage attacks on Russia's nuclear-capable bomber fleet and, according to Moscow, on railways. Russia, which controls a little under one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, has taken more than 190 sq km of the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine in less than a month, according to pro-Ukrainian open source maps. Now, according to the Russian defence ministry, units of the 90th Tank Division of the Central Grouping of Russian forces have reached the western frontier of Ukraine's Donetsk region and are attacking the adjacent Dnipropetrovsk region. "The enemy does not abandon its intentions to enter the Dnipropetrovsk region," Ukraine's Southern Defence Forces said on Telegram. "Our soldiers are courageously and professionally holding their section of the front, disrupting the occupier's plans. This work does not stop for a minute." Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said the Dnipropetrovsk offensive showed that if Ukraine did not want to accept the reality of Russia's territorial gains in peace talks then Moscow's forces would advance further. The pro-Ukrainian Deep State map showed Russian forces very close to the Dnipropetrovsk region, which had a population of more than three million before the war, and advancing on the city of Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region from several directions. A Ukrainian military spokesman, Dmytro Zaporozhets, said that Russian forces were trying to "build a bridgehead for an attack" on Kostyantynivka, an important logistical hub for the Ukrainian army. Russia on Saturday accused Ukraine of delaying the swap of prisoners of war and return of the bodies of 12,000 dead soldiers. Ukraine denied those claims. On Sunday, Russia said it was moving bodies towards the border and television showed refrigerated trucks containing the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers on the road in the Bryansk region. Ukraine, officials said, was playing politics with the dead. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pledged to press on with prisoner exchanges. "The Russian side is therefore, like always, even in these matters, is trying to play some kind of dirty political and information game," he said in his nightly video address. "We believe that the exchanges will continue and will do everything for this. If the Russians do not stand by agreements even in humanitarian matters, it casts great doubt on all international efforts - including those by the United States in terms of talks and diplomacy." Zelenskiy said he had reviewed commanders' reports about areas hit by heavy fighting, including near Pokrovsk, targeted by Moscow for months. He said the situation was "far from easy, but everything depends on the resilience of our units." US President Donald Trump, who says he wants an end to the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two, on Thursday likened it to a fight between young children and indicated that he might have to simply let the conflict play out. Accusations over willingness for peace Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that he did not think Ukraine's leaders wanted peace, after accusing them of ordering a bombing in Bryansk, western Russia, that killed seven people and injured 115 a day before talks in Turkey. Ukraine, which has not commented on the attack on a Bryansk bridge, has similarly accused Moscow of not seriously seeking peace, citing Russian resistance to an immediate ceasefire. Russia is demanding international recognition of Crimea, a peninsula it annexed from Ukraine in 2014, and four other regions of Ukraine that Moscow has claimed as its own territory. Ukraine would have to withdraw its forces from all of them. Russia controlled 113,273 sq km, or 18.8 per cent, of Ukrainian territory as of June 7, according to the Deep State map. That is an area bigger than the US state of Virginia. The areas under Russian control include Crimea, more than 99 per cent of the Luhansk region, over 70 per cent of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, all in the east or southeast, and fragments of the Kharkiv and Sumy regions in the northeast. Putin told Trump on Wednesday that he would have to respond to Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia's bomber fleet and the bombings of the railways. Zelenskiy warned Ukrainians in his video message to be particularly attentive to air raid warnings in the coming days. The United States believes that Putin's threatened retaliation against Ukraine over its attacks has not happened yet in earnest and is likely to be a significant, multi-pronged strike, US officials told Reuters. [[nid:718851]]
Dubai Eye
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Dubai Eye
Russia advances to Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region amid row over dead soldiers
Russia said on Sunday its forces had advanced to the edge of the east-central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk amid a public row between Moscow and Kyiv over peace negotiations and the return of thousands of bodies of soldiers who fell in the war. Amid talk of peace, the war is stepping up with Russian forces grabbing more territory in Ukraine and Kyiv unfurling high-profile drone and sabotage attacks on Russia's nuclear-capable bomber fleet and, according to Moscow, on railways. Russia, which controls a little under one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, has taken more than 190 square km (73 square miles) of the Sumy region of eastern Ukraine in less than a month, according to pro-Ukrainian open source maps. Now, according to the Russian defence ministry, units of the 90th Tank Division of the Central Grouping of Russian forces have reached the western frontier of Ukraine's Donetsk region and are attacking the adjacent Dnipropetrovsk region. "The enemy does not abandon its intentions to enter the Dnipropetrovsk region," Ukraine's Southern Defence Forces said on Telegram. "Our soldiers are courageously and professionally holding their section of the front, disrupting the occupier's plans. This work does not stop for a minute." Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said the Dnipropetrovsk offensive showed that if Ukraine did not want to accept the reality of Russia's territorial gains in peace talks then Moscow's forces would advance further. The pro-Ukrainian Deep State map showed Russian forces very close to the Dnipropetrovsk region, which had a population of more than 3 million before the war, and advancing on the city of Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region from several directions. A Ukrainian military spokesman, Dmytro Zaporozhets, said that Russian forces were trying to "build a bridgehead for an attack" on Kostyantynivka, an important logistical hub for the Ukrainian army. Russia on Saturday accused Ukraine of delaying the swap of prisoners of war and return of the bodies of 12,000 dead soldiers, though Ukraine denied those claims. Russia said on Sunday it was moving bodies towards the border and television showed refrigerated trucks containing the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers on the road in the Bryansk region. Ukraine accused Russia of playing propaganda games and said that the exchange of prisoners of war and the bodies of fallen soldiers was scheduled for next week. Russia said Ukraine was playing politics with the dead. US President Donald Trump, who says he wants an end to the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two, on Thursday likened it to a fight between young children and indicated that he might have to simply let the conflict play out. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that he did not think Ukraine's leaders wanted peace, after accusing them of ordering a bombing in Bryansk, western Russia, that killed seven people and injured 115 a day before talks in Turkey. Ukraine, which has not commented on the attack on a Bryansk bridge, has similarly accused Moscow of not seriously seeking peace, citing as evidence Russian resistance to an immediate ceasefire. Russia is demanding international recognition of Crimea, a peninsula annexed from Ukraine by Russia in 2014, and four other regions of Ukraine that Moscow has claimed as its own territory. Ukraine would have to withdraw its forces from all of them. Russia controlled 113,273 square km, or 18.8 per cent of Ukrainian territory as of June 7, according to the Deep State map. That is an area bigger than the US state of Virginia. The areas under Russian control include Crimea, more than 99 per cent of the Luhansk region, over 70 per cent of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, all in the east or southeast, and fragments of the Kharkiv and Sumy regions in the northeast. Putin told Trump on Wednesday that he would have to respond to Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia's bomber fleet and the bombings of the railways. Russia also hit the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Friday evening and overnight with drones, missiles and guided bombs, killing at least four people and injuring more than 60, including a baby, local officials said on Saturday.
