Ukraine War Live Updates: Heavy Fighting Underway in Eastern Ukraine; Kyiv Calls for Help as First Flood Deaths Reported

This is CNBC’s live blog tracking developments on the war in Ukraine. See below for the latest updates.

Global Images Ukraine | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesA view from the roof of residential building on flooded area of the city on June 7, 2023 in Kherson, Ukraine.

Ukraine called for more international assistance as it contends with the humanitarian and ecological disaster caused by mass flooding in the southern Kherson region.

The flooding was caused after major damage to the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant dam on Tuesday sent a massive volume of water downstream. Water levels peaked Wednesday but not before causing widespread damage, with footage showing some towns and villages almost completely submerged.

Three people are now known to have drowned in the flooding, though the true number could be much higher. Ukraine’s interior minister said 30 settlements have been flooded in Ukrainian and Russian-occupied parts of the region, forcing thousands of people to flee or be rescued.

Ukraine and Russia accused each other of attacking the dam but analysts noted that both sides had much to lose from doing so. On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department said it does not yet have an assessment as to what transpired.

Ukraine said the dam had been “blown up” by Russian forces, adding that it had done so to stall its counteroffensive in the south. Russia denied involvement, accusing Ukraine of sabotaging the dam in a bid to damage water supplies to Russian-occupied Crimea and to cover up military failures.

CNBC and NBC News have not been able to independently verify Ukraine’s or Russia’s claims about how the dam was initially damaged. Analysts say it’s also possible that the dam had some structural damage that had undermined it before Tuesday’s breach.

Heavy fighting underway in eastern Ukraine, with Bakhmut once again the focus

Global Images Ukraine | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesAn aerial view of destruction in Bakhmut on June 1, 2023. Bakhmut and its surroundings continue to be the location of fierce fighting.

Heavy fighting is taking place in eastern Ukraine with Bakhmut — the town that Russian forces claimed to have fully captured last month — once again the focus of hostilities, with Ukraine claiming to be advancing toward the town.

Ukraine’s deputy defense minister said Wednesday that Ukrainian troops are gradually advancing and that everything is going “according to plan.”

“Our troops are advancing toward Bakhmut. It is not so easy because the Russians are bringing in their troops from the rear and trying to reinforce their units in the areas where our armed forces have gone on the offensive. Fierce battles are underway. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are gradually advancing,” she said on national television, according to comments reported by news outlet Ukrinform.

Hanna Maliar also called on the public to remain “patient,” emphasizing that now “it is important to understand that everything is happening according to our plan.” Yesterday, Maliar said Ukrainian units had advanced as much as 1 km in the area around Bakhmut.

There has been widespread speculation that Ukraine launched its much-awaited counteroffensive to retake swathes of the east and south of the country that are occupied by Russian forces, but Kyiv has denied this, although it always said it would not announce offensive actions.

Russia denied Ukraine had made advances around Bakhmut. The Ministry of Defense stated Wednesday evening that “the Armed Forces of Ukraine made attempts to break through the defenses of our troops in the Artemivsk area,” using the Soviet-era name for Bakhmut.

“The enemy did not achieve the goal of the attack. Wedging in our defense is not allowed. During the fighting, up to 415 Ukrainian servicemen, two tanks, nine armored combat vehicles, six vehicles, the Gvozdika self-propelled artillery mount, and the Msta-B howitzer were destroyed in a day,” the ministry claimed.

CNBC was not able to verify the claims made by either side.

— Holly Ellyatt

Rescue efforts ongoing as first flood deaths confirmed

Global Images Ukraine | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesRescuers evacuate a woman with her dog in the flooded area of the city of Kherson, Ukraine.

Rescue efforts are ongoing in the southern region of Kherson following devastating flooding caused by a breach in the upstream Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam.

Three people are now known to have drowned in the flooding, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Around 30 settlements have been flooded along the Dnipro river, both in Ukrainian and Russian-controlled parts of the region, forcing thousands of people to flee or be rescued. At least 2,000 people in Ukrainian-controlled territory have been rescued, while the Russian-installed governor of the occupied part of Kherson said around 4,000 have been evacuated.

Ukraine’s president and prime minister called for more help from international organizations in the wake of what’s seen as a humanitarian and ecological disaster for Ukraine.

In his nightly address, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “large-scale” rescue efforts are needed as he lambasted international organizations for not doing more.

“We need international organizations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, to immediately join the rescue operation and help people in the occupied part of Kherson region.”

“Each person who dies there is a verdict on the existing international architecture and international organizations that have forgotten how to save lives,” he added.

“If there is no international organization in the area of this disaster now, it means that it does not exist at all, that it is incapable of functioning,” he added.

— Holly Ellyatt

UN says it has so far distributed 12,000 water bottles and 10,000 drinking purification tablets to Ukrainian civilians impacted by flooding

Aleksey Filippov | Afp | Getty ImagesLocal residents board an emergency vehicle with their belongings as they evacuate a flooded area in Kherson on June 7, 2023, following damages sustained at Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam.

The United Nations said that it has distributed nearly 12,000 bottles of water and approximately 10,000 water purification tablets to areas impacted by flooding due to an attack on the Kakhovka dam.

“We also distributed ready-to-eat food for about 400 people within hours of their evacuation. And today we are providing one month’s worth of food to 200 people in the Mykolaiv region” U.N. Secretary-General spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters during a daily news briefing.

Dujarric added that humanitarian organizations are also helping Ukrainian authorities with rescue operations and delivering hygiene supplies to evacuees in shelters.

— Amanda Macias

Photos show the devastating floods forcing thousands to evacuate southern Ukraine

Photos of the widespread flooding in Ukraine’s southern region started to emerge after the Tuesday predawn attack on the Kakhovka dam.

As a result of the destruction of the dam, thousands are grappling with rising flood waters. First responders and volunteers continue to evacuate civilians and animals from the area.

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy called the Russian attack on the dam “an ecological bomb of mass destruction” on his official Telegram channel.

Yan Dobronosov | Getty ImagesPeople ride in a boat past a “Kherson” sign in the flooded area of the city on June 7, 2023, in Kherson, Ukraine.

Aleksey Filippov | AFP | Getty ImagesA Ukrainian serviceman helps local residents during an evacuation from a flooded area in Kherson on June 7, 2023.

Seth Herald | Anadolu Agency | Getty ImagesResidents of Kherson wear warming blankets after the explosion at the Kakhovka hydropower plant unleashed floodwaters in Kherson, Ukraine, on June 7, 2023.

Olexander Kornyakov | AFP | Getty ImagesA local resident is seen on an inflatable mattress in a flooded area in Kherson on June 7, 2023, following the destruction of Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam.

Yan Dobronosov | Getty ImagesRescuers ride in an amphibious all-terrain vehicle during evacuation in the flooded area of the city on June 7, 2023 in Kherson, Ukraine.

Aleksey Filippov | Afp | Getty ImagesLocal residents board an emergency vehicle with their belongings as they evacuate a flooded area in Kherson on June 7, 2023, following damages sustained at Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam.

Yan Dobronosov | Getty ImagesIn an aerial view, residential houses in the flooded area of the city on June 7, 2023 in Kherson, Ukraine.

Alex Babenko | Getty ImagesA friend helps a family rescue their belongings from flooding following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam on June 7, 2023 in Kherson, Ukraine.

Alex Babenko | Getty ImagesA kitchen flooded following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam on June 7, 2023 in Kherson, Ukraine.

Yan Dobronosov | Getty ImagesLocal residents stand on the roof of the entrance to a residential building in the flooded area of the city on June 7, 2023 in Kherson, Ukraine.

Aleksey Filippov | AFP | Getty ImagesA local resident walks along a flooded street in Kherson on June 7, 2023, following damages sustained at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam.

Aleksey Filippov | AFP | Getty ImagesUkrainian servicemen help local residents during an evacuation from a flooded area in Kherson on June 7, 2023, following damages sustained at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam. Ukraine was evacuating thousands of people on June 7 after an attack on a major Russian-held dam unleashed a torrent of water, inundating two dozen villages and sparking fears of a humanitarian disaster.

Aleksey Filippov | AFP | Getty ImagesUkrainian security forces transport local residents in a boat during an evacuation from a flooded area in Kherson on June 7, 2023, following damages sustained at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam.

— Getty Images

No conclusive assessment of what happened at Kakhovka dam, U.S. says

Maxar Technologies | Getty ImagesMaxar satellite imagery BEFORE the damage to the Nova Kakhovka Dam inUkraine.Please use: Satellite image (c) 2023 Maxar Technologies.

The U.S. State Department said that while it is in contact with Ukrainian authorities regarding the attack on the Kakhovka dam, it does not have an assessment as to what transpired.

“We’re continuing to assess what conclusively happened,” deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters during a press briefing. Patel added that the U.S. is also discussing humanitarian assistance for individuals who were displaced due to the rising flood waters but declined to elaborate.

“It is deeply alarming; it is a tragic outcome of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and so this is something we’ll continue to remain deeply engaged on but I don’t have an updated assessment to offer on this,” Patel said.

— Amanda Macias

Ukrainian prime minister calls on international organizations to ‘intervene immediately’ after dam attack

Yan Dobronosov | Getty ImagesLocal residents stand on the roof of the entrance to a residential building in the flooded area of the city on June 7, 2023 in Kherson, Ukraine.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal called on the United Nations, Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations to assist in the fallout from the attack on the Kakhovka dam.

Shmyhal asked international humanitarian organizations to “intervene immediately” as Ukrainian first responders rush to evacuate people and animals from the region.

“As a result of this terrible terrorist attack, dozens of towns were flooded. The Ukrainian authorities organized an evacuation from the territory of the Kherson region controlled by us. However, on the left bank, under temporary occupation, Russians left the people to their own devices. Hundreds of houses literally disappeared underwater,” Shmyhal wrote on his official Telegram channel.

“We urge you to undertake the evacuation of people from the Russian-occupied territories of the Kherson region,” he added.

— Amanda Macias

Turkey’s Erdogan holds separate calls with Zelenskyy and Putin following dam attack

Adem Altan | AFP | Getty ImagesTurkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a press conference after his meeting with Venezuelan President in Ankara on June 8, 2022.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in separate calls following the attack on the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine.

Erdogan told both presidents, according to a pair of tweets translated by Google, that there should be the establishment of a commission tasked with carrying out an international investigation into the explosion at the dam.

Erdogan also told both leaders that Turkey remains ready to help with negotiations involving the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which is set to expire in mid-July.

— Amanda Macias

Ukraine says its troops are on the offensive in Bakhmut

Global Images Ukraine | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesAn aerial view of destruction in the town of Bakhmut on June 1, 2023 in Bakhmut, Ukraine.

Ukraine’s deputy defense minister said Wednesday that the country’s troops have advancecd as much as one kilometer (0.6 miles) in the Bakhmut area in Donetsk, the epicenter of fighting in eastern Ukraine.
“In the direction of Bakhmut, our troops switched from defense to offensive,” Hanna Maliar said on Telegram in comments translated by Google. She added that over the past day, Ukraine’s forces there had “advanced from 200 to 1,100 meters in various sections of the Bakhmut direction.”

Maliar said Russian forces in Bakhmut were on the defensive in the town as they tried to hold onto occupied positions and were sending in reserves.

After months of intense fighting, Russian mercenary forces claimed to have wholly captured Bakhmut last month before handing over most of their positions to regular Russian army units. Ukraine denied it had lost the now largely-ruined town.

CNBC was unable to immediately verify the minister’s claims. Russia’s defense ministry denied Ukraine had made advances around Bakhmut.

— Holly Ellyatt

Read CNBC’s previous live coverage:

Kakhovka dam flooding set to peak; Kyiv says it’s on offensive in Bahmut