Russian Defense Ministry says both sides suffered losses in Ukraine's three-day counterattack
TASS SCREENSHOT
Reuters on June 6 quoted Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as saying that his country's forces had stopped the first three days of Ukraine's counterattack and caused heavy losses to the enemy, although Kyiv denied this.
Mr Shoigu spoke in an unusually detailed statement about losses on both sides. Ukraine has not yet said whether a major counter-offensive has begun.
"Over the past three days, Ukraine has carried out a long-promised counteroffensive in several areas of the front line. The offensive attempt was repelled. The enemy did not achieve its goals, but suffered significant and incomparable losses," the Russian Defense Minister said.
He said that over the past three days, Ukraine has lost 3,715 people, 52 tanks and 207 armored vehicles. During that time, Russia has lost 71 soldiers and 210 wounded, in addition to the loss of 15 tanks and 9 armored vehicles, according to Mr. Shoigu.
Ukraine dismissed Russia's claims as "lies", but did not give details of the attacks or their results.
Dam Break Controversy
Early on June 6, videos circulating on social media showed the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric dam in Kherson province, southern Ukraine, partially destroyed and water rushing through. The Russian-installed authorities in the area declared a state of emergency following the incident, according to Reuters.
Russia accused Ukrainian soldiers of launching rockets from the Olkha system at the power plant at dawn on June 6, destroying part of the dam, according to TASS.
Meanwhile, Mykhaylo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Zelensky, accused Russian forces of blowing up the dam to hinder attacks by Ukrainian forces.
According to AFP, citing Vladimir Leontyev, the Russian-installed mayor of Nova Kakhovka, where the dam is located, the city was flooded and 900 people were evacuated. In addition, 24 villages were affected and 17,000 people were evacuated.
See more : Hydroelectric dam collapses in Kherson, state of emergency declared
By the evening of June 6, TASS quoted Vladimir Rogov, the leader of a pro-Russian organization, as saying that Ukraine had caused an incident at the dam to distract the enemy from the main counterattack in the Zaporizhzhia region. Kyiv has not commented on this information.
The Ukrainska Pravda newspaper quoted Ihor Syrota, head of Ukraine's Ukrhydroenergo power company, as saying that the country would rebuild a power plant at the dam in the future, after regaining control of the area from Russia.
According to The Kyiv Independent, citing information from a market data monitoring service, wheat prices increased by 3% after the dam burst. Ukraine is one of the world's leading agricultural exporters and supplies much of its grain to Africa and the Middle East.
Belarus failed to enter the UN Security Council
According to Reuters, the United Nations General Assembly elected five countries to the Security Council, including Algeria, Guyana, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and South Korea, for a two-year term starting January 1, 2024.
Meanwhile, Russia's ally Belarus was denied a seat in the election of non-permanent members of the Security Council, a 15-member body tasked with maintaining international peace and security.
Algeria, Guyana, Sierra Leone and South Korea were elected unopposed. Meanwhile, Belarus did not compete against Slovenia for the fifth spot. The new members will replace Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and the UAE.
The Security Council is the only UN body that can make binding decisions such as imposing sanctions and authorizing the use of force. It has five permanent members: Britain, the United States, Russia, France and China.
To ensure geographic representation, seats are awarded to regional groups. But even an uncontested candidate still needs the support of two-thirds of the General Assembly.
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