Ukraine war live updates: Ukrainian forces say part of Donetsk has been liberated; Zelenskyy’s hometown hit in missile attack

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, additional security assistance for Kyiv and the upcoming NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Stoltenberg is set to meet with President Joe Biden at the White House at 1:00 p.m. ET.

— Amanda Macias

The Biden administration announced a new security assistance package for Ukraine worth $325 million, the 40th such tranche since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

“This security assistance package includes critical air defense capabilities, additional munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, artillery rounds, anti-tank weapons, armored vehicles, and other equipment essential to strengthening Ukraine’s forces on the battlefield,” wrote Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement announcing the new weapons package.

In a separate release, the Pentagon detailed the new support:

Additional munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, or NASAMSStinger anti-aircraft systemsAdditional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS155mm and 105mm artillery rounds15 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles10 Stryker armored personnel carriersJavelin anti-armor systemsTube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided, or TOW, missilesAT-4 anti-armor systemsOver 22 million rounds of small arms ammunition and grenadesDemolition munitions for obstacle clearingTactical secure communications support equipment

— Amanda Macias

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal that established a humanitarian sea corridor and eased a Russian naval blockade, is set to expire next month. The signatories of the deal, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations, have previously extended the agreement twice.

Since the most recent extension, the humanitarian sea corridor has seen the passage of 31 vessels transporting 1,304,852 metric tons of agricultural goods, according to data collected by the U.N.-backed organization tasked with tracking the export activity related to the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

— Amanda Macias

Yuriy Ihnat, spokesman for Ukraine’s Air Force said in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda 23 that Russia has restarted its production of missiles, according to an NBC News translation.

Ihnat said that the Russians are ramping up production of the Iskanders and Kinzhals missiles, citing the Kremlin’s ability to circumvent Western sanctions on some of the components needed to produce the weapons system.

“Therefore, I hope that Russia will be squeezed by sanctions. If the sanctions work comprehensively and are controlled, then Russia can be put in its place,” Ihnat added, according to an NBC News translation.

— Amanda Macias

Germany will not be able to immediately replace tanks that it is providing to Ukraine, the country’s defence minister said, after Russia claimed to have destroyed or captured some German-made Leopard tanks provided to Ukraine.

Berlin earlier this year started sending advanced Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, after months of pleas from Kyiv for the heavy weapons to bolster its fightback against Russia.

Defence Minister Boris Pistorius told broadcaster RTL, in an interview aired late Monday, that “we will not be able to replace every tank that is now out of action.”

The comments came after Russia’s defense ministry released video footage showing two German-made Leopard tanks and two U.S.-made Bradley Fighting Vehicles captured by Russian forces in a battle with Ukrainian troops.

Pistorius refused to confirm the authenticity of images circulating online, however, he said that “unfortunately it is the nature of war that weapons are destroyed, that tanks are destroyed and people are killed.”

Pistorius said Berlin would continue to supply the less advanced Leopard 1 tanks, noting that “we will continue to deliver more Leopard 1 A5 tanks that have been repaired from July onwards. And by the end of the year there will be over 100.”

– Holly Ellyatt

The death toll from flooding in two Russian-controlled towns in southern Ukraine has risen to 17 one week after a massive dam holding back a reservoir was breached, a Russian-installed official said on Tuesday.

Andrei Alekseyenko, chairman of the Russian-installed administration in the Kherson region, said 12 people were confirmed dead in Hola Prystan and five in Oleshky, two small towns downstream from the breached Kakhovka dam.

Reuters could not independently verify the figures. Hundreds of people were rescued by boat from the roofs of flooded houses in the wake of the disaster, but volunteers told Russian independent media outlet iStories last week that they estimated the death toll in the hundreds.

Russia controls the south bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson region, while Ukraine holds Kherson city on the opposite bank, as well as Mykolaiv region further north.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Monday that 10 people had been killed in the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions and that 42 were missing. Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of destroying the dam, which is located in Russian-controlled territory.

The Russian-installed government will begin paying compensation to flood victims on Tuesday of up to 10,000 roubles (£120), Alekseyenko said, adding that more than 500 applications have been received.

— Reuters

Editors Note: This post contains graphic images depicting death from Russian missile strikes in Kryvyi Rih.

A day of mourning will take place in Kryvyi Rih on Wednesday following what was described as a “massive missile attack” this morning.

Ten people are now known to have died in the attack which saw a five-storey residential building and warehouse hit.

As of 1:00 p.m local time, ten people have died and 28 are injured with 12 of the casualties in hospitals and some in a very serious condition, according to Oleksandr Vilkul, head of Kryvyi Rih city military administration.

The rescue operation is ongoing in Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown.

— Holly Ellyatt

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Minsk won’t hesitate to use nuclear weapons if there is aggression against Belarus, according to state news agency BelTA.

Speaking about the reasons for the forthcoming deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory, Lukashenko said:

“Why is this necessary? So that not a single foot of some bastards sets on Belarusian soil anymore,” BelTA reported.

“God forbid I have to make a decision on the use of these weapons in modern times. But there will be no hesitation if there is aggression against us,” Lukashenko said.

He said Belarus would use those weapons in any case of aggression against the country: “The answer will be immediate. I have already said this several times in advance.”

“I think it is unlikely that anyone would want to fight with a country that has such weapons. This is a deterrent weapon.”

Russia announced back in March that it would station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, its neighbor and ally. It said it would maintain full control over the weapons, however.

Russia will start deploying tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus after special storage facilities are made ready on July 7-8, Russian President Vladimir Putin said last Friday.

— Holly Ellyatt

Russia’s Defence Ministry released video footage on Tuesday of what it said were German-made Leopard tanks and U.S.-made Bradley Fighting Vehicles captured by Russian forces in a battle with Ukrainian troops.

Reuters could not immediately verify the location and timing of the footage, which the Defence Ministry said was filmed on the Zaporizhzhia front in southern Ukraine, one of the areas where Ukrainian forces have been trying to counter-attack.

What appeared to be two German-made Leopard tanks were shown in the footage, which was released on the ministry’s official channel on the Telegram messaging application, along with two damaged U.S.-made Bradley Fighting Vehicles.

In a short statement accompanying the footage, the ministry called the captured military hardware “our trophies” and said the video showed soldiers from its Vostok (East) military grouping inspecting the equipment.

It noted that the engines of some of the vehicles were still running, evidence it said of how quickly their Ukrainian crews had fled.

Reuters cannot verify such battlefield accounts.

Ukraine said on Monday its troops had recaptured a string of villages from Russian forces along an approximately 100-km (60-mile) front in the southeast since starting its long-anticipated counteroffensive last week.

— Reuters

At least six people have died after a massive missile attack on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih.

Oleksandr Vilkul, the mayor of Kryvyi Rih, said high-precision missiles had hit several parts of the city, including a five-story building, trapping many residents under its rubble. Six people have been confirmed dead, he said, while rescue operations continued.

Serhii Lysak, the head of the Dnipro regional military administration, described the incident as a “massive missile attack on Kryvyi Rih.”

“Another terrorist act by the Russians in the housing sector. At night. Treacherously. Cruelly. There are dead and wounded,” he said on Telegram.

– Holly Ellyatt

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s counteroffensive is proving tough for its forces but progress is being made, with Ukraine retaking a number of settlements in Donetsk.

“The battles are fierce, but we are moving forward, and this is very important,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address, adding that “the enemy’s losses are exactly what we need.”

Bad weather had made Ukraine’s “task more difficult,” he said, but “the strength of our warriors still yields results, and I thank everyone who is in combat now, everyone who supports our combat brigades in the relevant areas.”

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Monday that “seven settlements were liberated” in the last week of fighting in Donetsk.

Troops in the region had advanced 6.5 kilometers (or 4 miles), according to Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar, who commented on Telegram that “the area of the territory taken under control amounted to 90 square km.

“Seven settlements were liberated: Lobkovo, Levadne, Novodarivka, Neskuchne, Storozheve , Makarivka, Blagodatne,” she said.

Defense analysts at the Institute for the Study of War noted that Russian forces had reportedly launched a counterattack on June 12 in western Donetsk and that some Russian sources reported that Russian forces had recaptured Makarivka. CNBC was unable to verify the sources.

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said on Telegram that 42 people, including seven children, are still missing following the attack on the Kakhovka dam last week, according to an NBC News translation.

The ministry added that at least 10 people have died as a result of the explosion at the dam and the subsequent flooding in the region.

According to the data collected by the agency, more than 3,800 houses were flooded in the Kherson region.

— Amanda Macias

Russian President Vladimir Putin (4thL) and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (4thR) meet with participants of the military operation in Ukraine after an award ceremony at the Vishnevsky Central Military Clinical Hospital as the part of celebration the Russia Day in Moscow yesterday. 

-Vladimir Astapkovich | AFP | Getty Images

One ship left Ukraine’s port of Chornomorsk over the weekend under the Black Sea grain deal, according to data collected by the U.N.-backed organization responsible for monitoring exports via the humanitarian sea corridor.

The Maltese-flagged vessel named “Sea Commander” departed on Saturday for Spain carrying 69,000 metric tons of corn.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, which has been extended by Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and the United Nations twice since its inception last July, is set to expire next month.

— Amanda Macias

The International Criminal Court confirmed to NBC News that a team visited the Kakhovka dam in order to carry out an investigation into the explosion that triggered flooding in Ukraine’s southern region.

“We can confirm that a team from the Office of the Prosecutor, OTP, of the International Criminal Court has visited the Kakhovka dam area with the intention of conducting investigations related to the Kakhovka dam breach,” the International Criminal Court wrote in a statement to NBC News.

The statement added that it could not provide further details.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that a team from the International Criminal Court will arrive in Ukraine to begin investigations into the dam attack.

— Amanda Macias

Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Monday it has signed a contract with the Akhmat group of Chechen special forces, a day after Russia’s powerful mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin refused to do so.

The signing followed an order that all “volunteer units” should sign contracts by July 1 bringing them under the control of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, as Moscow tries to assert its control over private armies fighting on its behalf in Ukraine.

In return, volunteer fighters would get the same benefits and protections as regular troops, including support for them and their families if they are wounded or killed.

Prigozhin, who has waged a running feud with the defense ministry and accused it of failing to provide adequate ammunition supplies to his Wagner mercenaries in Ukraine, said on Sunday he would refuse to sign any such contract.

He said that Shoigu “cannot properly manage military formations”.

The contract the defense ministry signed on Monday was with the Akhmat paramilitary group that has often been called the private army of Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of Russia’s Chechnya region.

Unlike Prigozhin, Kadyrov has recently refrained from criticizing the defence ministry. Members of the two groups have openly sparred, with one of Kadyrov’s close allies on Thursday casting Prigozhin as a blogger who yells all the time about problems.

Akhmat commander Apty Alaudinov, who took part in the signing of the contract, said the unit has “prepared and sent tens of thousands of volunteers” to Ukraine in the past 15 months.

Moscow said on Friday that the Akhmat forces were waging an offensive near the town of Maryinka, in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk.

“I think this is a very good thing,” Alaudinov was quoted as saying by the defense ministry’s website after signing the deal.

Russia’s deputy chief of the general staff, Colonel General Alexei Kim, said after signing the agreement with the Chechens that he hoped other volunteer units would follow suit.

— Reuters

Kyiv says it has liberated front-line villages in counteroffensive; Putin appeals to Russians’ patriotism