Ukrainian counter-offensive, Russian attacks in the Odessa region, explosion of the Kakhovka dam... Le Figaro takes stock of the war in Ukraine on Saturday, June 10.
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Deadly drone attack near Odessa
Three people were killed and 26 injured early Saturday in Ukraine's southern Odessa region in a fire caused by falling debris from drones destroyed by Ukrainian air defenses, according to regional authorities.
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During the night, the (Russian) enemy attacked in the Odessa region with drones," said a statement from the authorities on social media. All the machines were destroyed but debris fell on an apartment building, causing fire and damage to several buildings. "Unfortunately, there are casualties among the civilian population," the Ukrainian authorities added. Among the injured were three children, the sources said.
Vladimir Putin says Ukrainian counter-offensive has failed
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that the major counter-offensive that Ukraine has been preparing for months had "begun" on the front, but that Kiev's forces had failed to "achieve their objectives", despite their "offensive potential". "We can totally affirm that this offensive has begun," Putin said in a video posted on Telegram by a Russian state television reporter. "Ukrainian troops have not achieved their objective on any of the battlefields, but the Kiev regime still has offensive potential," he added.
Volodymyr Zelensky hails the "heroism" of his troops
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday night praised the "heroism" of his troops engaged in "hard fighting". "To our soldiers, to all those who are engaged in particularly hard fighting these days: We are witnesses of your heroism, and we are grateful for every minute of your life," the head of state said in the evening in his daily video message.
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The Ukrainian president, conforming to the attitude adopted for weeks by the officials in Kiev, did not mention a counter-offensive or even a specific military operation. "We focus our attention on all the places where our actions are required and where the enemy can be defeated," he said.
The Kakhovka dam was indeed the victim of an "explosion"
»Norwegian seismology institute Norsar said Friday it had detected a powerful "explosion" at the dam site from a Romanian station as it failed, supporting the idea that the hydroelectric dam, located in an area under Russian control, did not fail due to damage sustained during bombing in previous months as claimed by Russia. "We are certain there was an explosion," Ben Dando, a Norsar section chief, told AFP.
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According to this independent institute of seismological research, the explosion occurred at 2:54 am local time, on a site whose coordinates correspond to that of the Kakhovka dam, on the Dnieper. Its magnitude is "between 1 and 2," said Norsar, which has not yet calculated its equivalent in tons of TNT, which requires integrating many factors. "It's not a small explosion," Ben Dando said.
Water level drops in Kherson
Ukraine accused Russia on Tuesday of having mined the engine room of the dam and having deliberately dynamited it, flooding a basin of some 600 km2 to the Black Sea, devastated and impassable including for Ukrainian tanks. In flooded areas, everyone is watching for changes in water levels.
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According to forecasts, the rising waters can last another 10 days," Vladimir Saldo, the head of the Russian-occupied part of the Kherson region, said on Telegram. On the other side of the river, "35 localities are still flooded on the right bank but the water is gradually receding," Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the Ukrainian administration of the region, said in the evening.
In Kherson, the city on the right bank of the Dnieper, "the level was 5.38 meters this morning, and in the evening it had dropped to about 5 meters," he added, on Telegram messaging.
