Russia Ukraine latest news today: Western tanks lead Kyiv’s counteroffensive as heavy fighting starts

Powerful Western tanks and ammunition sent to Ukraine by its allies have finally emerged on the battlefield as Russian forces report a surge in attacks that suggest Kyiv’s counteroffensive is shifting into high gear.

The combat against Russian positions – including intense fighting outside of the town of Tokmak, a Russian logistical hub – is said to involve Western-supplied tanks, armoured vehicles and infantry backed by artillery.

Russian military bloggers confirmed the presence of at least two Leopard 2 tanks sent by Germany, in a first such use of its war vehicle as they shared visuals from fortified positions along the frontline in the continuing full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

The Leopard II main battle tanks were also seen in the Zaporizhzhia region where a significant Ukrainian force scaled up their assault on Russian lines in the southern region in the past 24 hours.

Russian Colonel General Alexander Romanchuk  claimed, without providing evidence, that Moscow’s forces had destroyed three Leopard tanks. The officer also said that the general in charge of Russia’s troops in Ukraine, chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov, briefed President Vladimir Putin on the battles in Zaporizhzhia.

At least two US-produced M113 armoured personnel carriers, or APCs, were also seen in a video shared by Russian military bloggers, reported FT.com.

Russia unleashed a new air strike on Ukraine overnight, killing at least one person in a combined assault of cruise missiles and attack drones, Ukrainian authorities said.

The Ukrainian military reported shooting down four out of six missiles launched during the attack, which the air force said lasted around six hours, and 10 out of 16 drones.

The interior ministry said one person had been killed, three were wounded, and four buildings were destroyed from falling debris.

It posted images on the Telegram messaging app of firefighters attending to the smouldering wreckage of what appeared to be residential homes.

The air force also said two cruise missiles had struck a civilian object in the central Ukrainian region of Cherkasy during an earlier attack on Thursday evening.

Regional governor Ihor Taburets said at least eight people had been wounded in that strike, which he said hit a carwash and an industrial object.

Moscow in recent weeks has stepped up regular air strikes against Ukraine as Kyiv prepared for a counteroffensive to try to take back Russian-occupied territory.

Russia‘s army on Friday reported heavy fighting in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine, saying over 21 Ukrainian tanks had been destroyed in battles across key sections of the front line.

A spokesman for Russia‘s Vostok group of forces said 13 Ukrainian tanks were destroyed in battles in the Zaporizhzhia region and eight in the Donetsk region. It reported artillery, drone and infantry battles.

Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield claims.

Russian military bloggers said there were intense battles on the Zaporizhzhia front near the city of Orikhiv as Ukraine sought to pierce Russian defences and drive a wedge through Russian forces.

Russia said Ukraine began a major offensive on Sunday morning, first in southern Donetsk, but Moscow said its forces repelled the attacks. Ukraine accused Moscow of spreading lies.

The UN nuclear watchdog has confirmed water is still being pumping to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant from the reservoir of the breached Ukrainian Nova Kakhovka dam.

The water is sufficient to cool the reactors and pumps are still operating at water levels earlier thought to make this impossible, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

The plant, occupied by Russia since the early days of its invasion last year, also has other water sources to fall back on if the reservoir’s water is no longer available, the IAEA said.

It added that these include a large cooling pond above the reservoir with several months’ worth of water.

“In these difficult and challenging circumstances, this is providing some more time before possibly switching to alternative water supplies including the large cooling pond next to the plant,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said in a statement.

Ukraine’s military has shot down four cruise missiles and 10 attack drones during a Russian air strike overnight, the air force said in a statement this morning.

It said Russian forces had launched 16 drones and six cruise missiles during the attack, and that two other cruise missiles had struck a civilian object in central Ukraine during an earlier attack last evening.

The overnight barrage of Russian missile attack comes after a brief lull of a week. Russian forces had amped up the overnight missile attacks in May to overwhelm and exhaust Ukraine’s air defences in more than 17 separate volleys.

Russian forces continue to shell the Kherson region despite it reeling in the aftermath of the Nova Kakhovka dam’s destruction, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

“Russian terrorists are trying to further aggravate the situation they have caused with their ecocide. This is absolutely deliberate. They continue to shell Kherson and the communities of the region, which have already been flooded by terrorists,” Mr Zelensky said.

He added that the Russian forces are also shelling evacuation points “which is a manifestation of evil that perhaps no terrorists in the world, except for Russian ones, have ever done”.

He added that the Russian forces in the region “have completely abandoned people on the left bank of Kherson region to their fate”.

“The catastrophe has been expanding there for two days now. And this is also an absolutely conscious choice of the Russian leadership. There is no one left in the world today who does not see that Russia is ruled by savages. Savages who themselves are the biggest disaster on the planet today,” Mr Zelensky said.

The US is set to announce a new arms package for Ukraine valued at more than $2bn (£1.5bn) as soon as today, officials from the Biden administration have said, reported Bloomberg.

The funds under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative will be heavy on air defence munitions and will help Ukraine purchase Hawk missile launchers and two types of advanced Patriot air defence missiles, the report said.

Volodymyr Zelensky has hailed what he described as “results” in heavy fighting in Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, one of the pockets where Ukrainian counteroffensive is underway.

“There is very heavy fighting in Donetsk region,” Mr Zelensky said in his daily video message, speaking from inside a train after visiting areas affected by the breach of the Kakhovka power dam.

“But there are results and I am grateful to those who achieved these results. Well done in Bakhmut. Step by step,” he said.

The war-time president referred to other areas where fighting is going on, but said he would provide no details.

Before-and-after images of the area downstream from a dam that collapsed Tuesday vividly show the extent of the devastation of a large, flooded swathe of southern Ukraine.

Before the Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper River broke, farm fields appear green and crossed by peaceful streets and farm roads and dotted with trees. Afterward, only metal roofs and treetops poke above the murky water. Greenhouses and homes are almost entirely submerged.

The pre-collapse satellite photos were taken in May and early June. Photos of the same area taken after the dam collapsed clearly show how much of it has become unlivable. Brown water as high as people covers much of the territory captured in the images.

More than 40,000 people in areas downstream from the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant are at risk of losing their homes and livelihoods after the breach unleashed torrents of flood water from the Dnipro river.

“In Kherson, I visited a crossing point where people are being evacuated from flooded areas,” the president of Ukraine wrote, sharing footage of his visit.

“Our task is to protect lives and help people as much as possible. I thank the rescuers and volunteers.”