Russia reports fierce fighting as African peace mission leaves empty-handed

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Russia reports fierce fighting as African peace mission leaves empty-handed

8:03 CAT | 19 Jun 2023

Photo: Pavel Bednyakov/RIA Novosti via Reuters

Russia reported fierce fighting on Sunday 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.

A Russian-installed official said Ukraine had recaptured Piatykhatky, a village in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, and were entrenching themselves there while coming under fire from Russian artillery.

“The enemy’s ‘wave-like’ offensives yielded results, despite enormous losses,” the official, Vladimir Rogov, said on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia’s defence ministry made no mention of Piatykhatky in its daily update, in which it said its forces had repelled Ukrainian attacks in three sections of the 1,000 km (600 mile) front line. A separate statement from Russia’s Vostok group of forces said Ukraine had failed to take the settlement.

Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield reports.

A regional official said Ukrainian forces had destroyed a major Russian ammunition dump in occupied Kherson region, part of a weeks-long effort by Kyiv to wreak havoc with Russian supply lines.

“In all these areas, Ukraine continues to pursue offensive operations and has made small advances,” it said on Twitter.

Russian defence operations had been “relatively effective in the south”, with both sides suffering heavy casualties, the assessment said.

His comments appeared intended to reassure Russians at a crucial juncture, nearly 16 months into the conflict, as Ukraine seeks to break months of virtual stalemate and take back the 18% of its territory that remains under Russian control.

At talks in St Petersburg on Saturday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa presented Putin with a 10-point peace initiative from seven African countries and told him the time had come for Russia and Ukraine to start negotiations to end the war.

However, Ramaphosa sought to cast the trip to Ukraine and Russia in a positive light, tweeting on Sunday that the “Africa Peace Initiative has been impactful and its ultimate success will be measured on the objective, which is stopping the war”.

The Africa Peace Initiative has been impactful and its ultimate success will be measured on the objective, which is stopping the war.#AfricanPeaceMission pic.twitter.com/mmZvQUe9RA

— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) June 18, 2023

Months of destruction

The war has destroyed Ukrainian towns and cities, forced millions of people to flee their homes and taken heavy but undisclosed casualties among both armies, as well as killing thousands of Ukrainian civilians.

Each side accused the other of blowing up a huge Ukrainian dam on June 6 and flooding large tracts of the war zone.

In the Russian-controlled town of Hola Prystan, Reuters filmed volunteers pumping out water from flooded homes on Saturday and distributing bread and drinking water.

“Not one person in the world will be punished for this torture we’re going through, for this terrible catastrophe,” said Tamara, a 78-year-old retired nurse.

“That’s what frustrates me. That no one will be punished for that. And I’d like it if at least one person was put (on trial) and punished for everything. So the whole world could see.”

Today we are at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St. Petersburg to hold peace talks with President Putin of the Russian Federation as part of the Africa Peace Initiative.#AfricanPeaceMission pic.twitter.com/m8xKo7OOpj

— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) June 17, 2023