President Putin says Russia is ready for dialogue

Russian President receives delegation of African leaders

Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted leaders of several African countries in the Russian city of St. Petersburg on June 17, after the delegation met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv a day earlier.

President Putin meets with a delegation of African leaders in St. Petersburg on June 17.

According to Reuters, Mr. Putin told African leaders that Russia welcomed their balanced approach to the conflict in Ukraine and was ready for dialogue.

"We are ready for constructive dialogue with all those who want peace based on principles such as fairness and consideration of the legitimate interests of all parties," Putin said after the meeting.

Leaders from South Africa, Senegal, Egypt, Zambia, Uganda, the Republic of Congo and Comoros met with Mr Putin at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St. Petersburg.

Comoros President Azali Assoumani, the current chair of the African Union, encouraged Mr Putin to enter negotiations to end the conflict with Ukraine.

In Kyiv on June 16, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa presented a “peace plan” that would see both Russia and Ukraine de-escalate hostilities, exchange prisoners, return children abducted from Ukraine, and export grain and fertilizer freely to world markets.

But in a joint press conference, Mr. Zelensky said he did not understand the “roadmap” proposed by African leaders, according to Reuters. At the same time, the Ukrainian president reaffirmed his stance that Kyiv would only sit at the negotiating table after Moscow withdrew all its troops from Ukraine.

Ukraine claims 'tactical victory'

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on June 17 that the country's army is "actively" stepping up its counter-offensive campaign in the south.

"In fact, in all areas and directions where our units attacked in the south, they achieved tactical victories. They are advancing step by step. We have now advanced 2 km in each direction," she said on the Telegram channel.

On the eastern front, Ms. Maliar said Russian forces were trying to dislodge Ukrainian forces from established positions.

Earlier, Ms. Maliar revealed that the focus of the battlefield was shifting south. She said that the fiercest fighting was no longer taking place around the city of Bakhmut (in the Donetsk region) but in areas closer to the Black Sea, especially in the direction of the two coastal cities of Berdyansk (in the Zaporizhzhia region) and Mariupol (in the Donetsk region), according to The Guardian.

In an intelligence update on Twitter the same day, the British Ministry of Defense said that Russia had reinforced its attack helicopter force in southern Ukraine since Kyiv began its counter-offensive. Images obtained by the British military showed that Russia had deployed 20 more helicopters to Berdyansk airport.

British defence intelligence also believes Russia is gaining a temporary advantage in southern Ukraine, particularly with attack helicopters using long-range missiles against ground targets.

Attack back and forth

A rocket attack on a small village in the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine on June 17 killed two people, according to the governor of the region, Oleh Synehubov.

On Telegram, Mr. Synehubov accused the Russian military of shelling the village of Huryiv Kozachok and a guided anti-tank missile hit a car heading to the village near the border with Russia, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, the governor of Russia’s Bryansk region, Alexander Bogomaz, said on the same day that his country’s air defense units had repelled a Ukrainian drone attack on a pumping station on the Druzhba oil pipeline. Three Ukrainian military UAVs were destroyed in the attack, he said.

Kyiv and Moscow did not immediately comment on each other's accusations.

Russia increases the number of dolphins protecting the Black Sea Fleet?

Russia appears to have doubled the number of dolphins trained to protect its Black Sea Fleet based in Crimea against Ukrainian attacks.

In a new analysis published in Naval News , the official newspaper of the Royal Navy, author HI Sutton said the number of dolphins trained in the port of Sevastopol has recently doubled, from three or four to six or seven. Sutton is an expert on submarines and underwater systems and technology.

Sevastopol is a major port and headquarters of the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet. The city is located at the southern tip of the Crimean peninsula.

Russian defense minister calls for more tank production

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on June 17 called for the production of more tanks "to meet the needs of Russian forces" in Ukraine while Kyiv launched a counterattack with Western weapons, according to AFP.

Mr Shoigu, who visited a military plant in western Siberia, stressed the need to “maintain increased tank production” and better security features in armoured vehicles, according to the Russian Defence Ministry.

Minister Shoigu stressed that this was necessary "to meet the needs of Russian forces carrying out a special military operation" launched by Moscow in Ukraine in February last year.

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