Ukrainian missiles struck one of the few bridges linking the Crimea Peninsula with the Ukrainian mainland early yesterday, cutting one of the main supply routes for Russian occupation forces in southern Ukraine as Kyiv pushes to drive them out.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday that progress in Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces was “slower than desired” but that Kyiv would not be pressured into speeding it up as its troops advance through dangerous minefields.

Russia yesterday reported fierce fighting on three sections of the front line in Ukraine, a day after hosting an African peace mission that failed to spark enthusiasm from either Moscow or Kyiv.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned there is a “serious danger” of NATO being drawn further into the Ukraine war if members of the alliance continue to supply military weaponry to Kyiv.

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday said Ukraine’s counteroffensive would fail as Kyiv’s troops sought to advance in several directions, including the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia.

A Russian missile strike killed at least 11 people in an apartment building and a warehouse in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s home town yesterday, while Moscow’s forces yielded ground in the early stages of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

A Russian missile strike killed three people and wounded 32 in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Tuesday, authorities said, as air attacks were reported in Kyiv and other cities

Ukraine said yesterday its troops had recaptured a fourth village from Russian forces in a cluster of settlements in the southeast, where its forces have at last claimed gains in its long-anticipated counteroffensive.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said yesterday that Ukrainian counteroffensive operations were underway, but remained discreet on details beyond sending a message to the Kremlin that his top generals were in high spirits.

Russia reported heavy fighting along the front in southern and eastern Ukraine yesterday, while Kyiv maintained a strict silence about its long-anticipated counterattack.

Landmines uprooted and dispersed by floodwaters surging downstream from the breached Kakhovka dam across swathes of southern Ukraine could pose a grave danger to civilians for decades to come, the Red Cross said.

In peacetime, Viktor Tkachenko tracks local tenders, court registries and other open sources for a news outlet in central Ukraine.

Ukrainians abandoned their inundated homes as floodwaters crested across a swathe of the south yesterday after the destruction of a vast dam on the front line between Russian and Ukrainian forces that each blamed on the other.

A torrent of water burst through a massive dam on the Dnipro River that separates Russian and Ukrainian forces in southern Ukraine yesterday, flooding a swathe of the war zone and forcing villagers to flee.

Moscow said yesterday it had thwarted “a large-scale” Ukrainian offensive in the south of Ukraine’s Donetsk region but Russia’s main mercenary leader said Russian forces had lost ground around Bakhmut further north.

Russia said Monday it had repelled "a large-scale offensive" by Ukrainian forces in the Moscow occupied Donetsk region as Kyiv was silent about plans to claw back lost territory.

An explosion near the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Saturday hit a two-storey dwelling, injuring 20 people including five children, and rescuers pulled residents out from under the rubble, the regional governor said

Ukraine is ready to launch its long-awaited counteroffensive to recapture Russian-occupied territory, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an interview published Friday.

Ukraine fended off 36 Russian air attacks in and around the capital overnight while pro-Kyiv Russian fighters said they were battling Russian forces for a second day inside Russia, trading blame with Moscow for the deaths of two civilians.

Two civilians were killed today in shelling on Russia's Belgorod region on the border with Ukraine, while Kyiv was hit by Russian strikes overnight for a sixth day in a row.