Russia-Ukraine War: List of Major Events, Day 472

The war has entered its 472nd day and the main developments are:

This is the current situation as of Saturday, June 10, 2023.

Nova Kakhovka Dam Collapse

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said “everything shows” that Russia was responsible for the Kakhovka dam explosion. “The dam was not bombed. It was destroyed by explosives placed in the area where the turbines are located. This area is under Russian control,” Borrell told Spanish public television.
The New York Times reported, citing an unnamed US official, that US spy satellites detected the explosion before Kakhovka Dam collapsed. The official said satellites with infrared sensors detected heat signatures consistent with a severe explosion.
Ukrainian security officials said they intercepted a phone call between Russian military officials discussing the Kakhovka Dam explosion and how a Russian sabotage team destroyed the site. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) posted a short audio clip of the alleged conversation on its Telegram channel.

Ukraine has reported at least five deaths as residents continue to evacuate flood-affected areas after a dam burst. Ukraine’s Interior Minister Igor Klimenko said in a telegram that floods killed four people in the Kherson region, left 13 missing, and killed one person in the Mykolaiv region.
Flood levels have started to recede in some parts of southern Ukraine, officials said.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Japan would provide emergency humanitarian aid worth about $5 million following the destruction of Nova Kakhovka Dam, according to a Japanese government spokesman.
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said the full extent of the environmental damage caused by the destruction of Nova Kakhovka Dam will take time. “But we all know … this is an absolute disaster,” he said, explaining that the reservoir was an important “bread basket” for the lives of people living in southern Ukraine.

Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg has accused Russia of causing the dam collapse in Ukraine, calling it an act of “environmental destruction” by Moscow.
Russia has condemned Ukrainian military shelling that killed residents affected by flooding from a dam in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the attack “more than barbaric.” Ukraine yesterday accused Russian forces of shelling civilians and Ukrainian rescue workers in flooded areas controlled by the country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Ukraine has launched an expected counteroffensive against Russian forces, but it has not been successful. “The Ukrainian army failed to achieve its goals in any area, thanks to the courage of the Russian soldiers and the proper formation of troops,” he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the heroism of his troops amid reports of escalating fighting in the east and south, in what is seen as the beginning of Kiev’s long-anticipated counteroffensive. “We see your heroic deeds and are grateful for every moment of your life,” Zelensky said in his daily speech.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported this week that it had repelled an attack by Ukrainian forces in southeastern Zaporizhia, thwarting repeated attempts by Ukrainian forces to break through the front line. A spokesman for the Russian military’s Vostok unit said 13 Ukrainian tanks had been destroyed in the fighting in the Zaporizhia region and eight in the Donetsk region.
Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Marial said the situation on the front line was tense, with heavy fighting concentrated in the eastern Donetsk region. “The situation is tense in all areas of the front line. The enemy continues to concentrate its main forces in the direction of Raiman, Bahmut, Avdiu and Marin. Heavy fighting continues,” Marial said on Telegram.
At least one person was killed in a combined attack of cruise missiles and attack drones, according to Ukrainian officials. Ukraine said it had shot down four of six missiles and 10 of 16 drones fired during the attack.

Three people were injured by shards of broken glass in a drone attack on a residential building in the southern Russian city of Voronezh, according to regional governor Alexander Gusev. Gusev said the three were seen by a doctor on the spot and refused hospital treatment.
Putin told Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during a meeting in Sochi that Russia would deploy tactical nuclear weapons as soon as Belarusian facilities were ready on July 7-8.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said an ammonia pipeline explosion would be considered during talks on the Black Sea grain export deal with Ukraine. Russia has accused Ukraine of blowing up part of a pipeline in the Kharkov region of northeastern Ukraine. The Kharkiv governor said Russian forces had shelled his country’s pipelines.

White House National Security Press Secretary John Kirby said Russia received materials from Iran to build a drone factory. The White House has released satellite imagery showing the location of a planned factory in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone, about 900 kilometers (560 miles) east of Moscow.
The US Department of Defense has announced an additional $2.1 billion military package to Ukraine, including Raytheon Hawk air defense systems and missiles, the AeroVironment Puma unmanned aerial system, laser-guided rockets and other weapons.

A Belgian defense ministry spokesman said Belgium will supply Ukraine with 105mm shells worth €32.4m ($35m).
Russia’s foreign ministry has summoned the Japanese ambassador over Japan’s announced decision to provide armaments to Ukraine.

In a statement, the foreign ministry said Iceland had suspended embassy operations in Moscow from August 1 and asked Russia to reduce its diplomatic activities in Reykjavik. The ministry said the suspension was due to a “record low” level of commercial, cultural and political relations between the two countries. Diplomatic relations between the two countries have not been severed.
For the second summer in a row, the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra will tour eight European and British cities. The tour in support of the war effort in Ukraine will run from August 20th to September 3rd.

Hungary announced it had received a group of Ukrainian prisoners of war from Russia, and Ukraine welcomed the release but expressed concern that it had not been informed. The prisoners were from western Ukraine, which borders Hungary, according to the Russian Orthodox Church and Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Zold Semgen, who said they cooperated in their release.