Zelensky says ‘counter-offensive actions’ are underway in Ukraine – live

Ukraine has “penetrated” the first line of Russian defences in some areas and is making “good progress” in its counteroffensive, Britain’s Ministry of Defence has said.

Kyiv has conducted “significant operations” over the past 48 hours in southern and eastern parts of the country, it added.

“In some areas, Ukrainian forces have likely made good progress and penetrated the first line of Russian defences,” the MoD said in a statement

“In others, Ukrainian progress has been slower.” The MoD added that Russia’s progress in the war has been “mixed”.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has released a statement alongside a video in which he has criticised a “shameful indifference” from parts of the world to the crisis in Ukraine.

He shared the message on Twitter shortly after 6pm, having spent the day meeting Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.

Mr Zelensky wrote: “Now, unfortunately, we see that at some levels in the world there is simply a shameful indifference to the ecocide and human tragedy caused by the Russian terrorist attack on the Kakhovka HPP.

“When international organizations that are supposed to protect life on a global scale do not have time to organize and send a rescue mission to the occupied territory even in a week… When some world players do not dare to come out even with clear and strong statements that would condemn this new Russian war crime… Terrorists are simply fueled by this weakness of the world, this indifference – it encourages them. And we have to overcome this. And we will overcome.

“We are pressing and encouraging so that international organizations and international support come to the part of Kherson region where the occupiers are now.”

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Ukrainian counter-offensive operations were under way, but declined to divulge details, telling a press conference to pass on to Vladimir Putin that Ukraine’s generals are optimistic.

The Ukrainian leader, in his trademark khaki fatigues, shrugged at a press conference in Kyiv when asked about comments by the Russian president, who said on Friday that Kyiv had begun its counter-offensive, but failed to make progress.

“Counter-offensive and defensive actions are taking place in Ukraine, but I will not say in detail what stage they are at,” Zelensky said, listing Ukraine’s top military brass by name.

“They (the generals) are all in a positive mood. Pass that on to Putin,” he said with a smile standing alongside visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Here are some of the headlines and links from June 10.

The UK will provide an extra £16 million of humanitarian aid to Ukraine after a dam collapsed in the south of the country. Flooding caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam near Kherson has directly affected 32,000 people.

Parts of houses from Kherson have washed up more than 100 miles away on a beach in Odesa, a Ukrainian MP has said. Footage posted by Oleksiy Goncharenko on Friday, 9 June, shows a roof on Dolphin Beach near Malyi Fontan.

New Zealand’s state broadcaster has launched an investigation after it was found that some stories about the Ukraine and Russia war were edited to reflect the “pro-Russian view”. Local media reported that the state-funded Radio New Zealand [RNZ] published at least four articles attributed to the Reuters wire service that had been edited “inappropriately” to add the pro-Kremlin tone.

Ukraine’s nuclear energy agency says it has put the last operating reactor at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant into a “cold shutdown” — a safety precaution amid catastrophic flooding from the collapse of a nearby dam as Russia’s war on Ukraine drags on through its 16th month.

Volodymyr Zelensky has said that that counteroffensive action is underway.

The Ukrainian president spoke as Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau visited Kyiv and accused Russia over flooding from the breached Kakhovka dam.

He had previously said that the action was under way but could not give any detail.

South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa has briefed Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the upcoming visit by African leaders to Russia and Ukraine in a bid to end hostilities, the South African presidency said on Saturday.

Chinese state broadcaster reported that the two leaders had a phone call on Friday. In a statement, South Africa’s presidency said Ramaphosa told Xi he noted the peace plan proposed by China and affirmed African leaders’ support for initiatives aimed at a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

“President Xi Jinping commended the initiative by the African continent and acknowledged the impact the conflict has had on human lives and on food security in Africa,” the presidency statement said.

It will be “very difficult” for Boris Johnson to make a comeback into politics, a leading pollster says.

Sir John Curtice argued “a very significant section of the public have decided they no longer believe what Boris says” and because of this, he believes the ex PM will struggle to get into a significant role in British politics in the future.

Appearing on GB News, Curtice told Anne Diamond and Stephen Dixon: “The honest truth is I think it’s going to be very, very difficult for him to come back. The fundamental difficulty that Mr Johnson faces is that even though he is highly charismatic and at least at one point in time was a very highly effective campaigner that he was, in the wake of the party gate and other allegations, a very significant section of the public has decided they no longer believe what he says.

“If you take a YouGov poll that was published only two or three days ago, in that poll, only 5% of people said they did not think that Mr Johnson had lied to the House of Commons over the various party gate gatherings. Even a charismatic politician, even a politician who is brilliant and has the ability to command a lot of people, a politician whose relationship with the truth is regarded as too loose by significant sections is a politician who’s going to find it very difficult to get through or find a way back into certainly a significant role in British politics in the future.”

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said during a trip to Kyiv on Saturday that Canada would take part in a multinational effort to train Ukrainian fighter pilots and announced $375 million worth of military aid for the country.

Trudeau also told a press conference alongside Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky that Canada was seizing a Russian-owned Antonov cargo aircraft that landed in Canada last year and starting the process of forfeiting the aircraft to Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that counteroffensive and defensive operations were taking place in Ukraine, but told reporters that he would not say what stage they were at.

Zelensky shrugged and raised his eyebrows dismissively at a press conference in Kyiv when asked to respond after Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Kyiv forces had certainly begun their much-vaunted counteroffensive.

Earlier, counterattacking Ukrainian forces said they have advanced up to 1,400 metres at a number of sections of the front line near the eastern city of Bakhmut in the past day.