Russia

June 18 (Reuters) - Evidence suggests this month's destruction of the huge Kakhovka dam in a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine resulted from an inside explosion set off by Russia, the New York Times said.

Citing engineers and explosive experts, the newspaper said on Friday that its investigation found evidence suggesting an explosive charge in a passageway running through the dam's concrete base detonated, destroying the structure on June 6.

"The evidence clearly suggests the dam was crippled by an explosion set off by the side that controls it: Russia," the Times said.

June 18 (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.

ST. PETERSBURG, June 18 (Xinhua) -- An African delegation visited Russia on Saturday, pushing for a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis so as to stop its negative impact on African countries.

During a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, also member of the delegation, said that the Ukraine crisis has caused a price hike in energy and fuel, fertilizers and food in African nations and the rest of the world.

MOSCOW, June 17. /TASS/: Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has paid an inspection visit to the Omsk Region to see how the state defense order is being fulfilled at a regional plant on production of tanks and heavy flamethrower systems.

"Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergey Shoigu has inspected the implementation of the state defense order at a plant in the Omsk Region that specializes in the production of tanks and heavy flamethrower systems," the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

ST. PETERSBURG, June 17. /TASS/: The scale of the ‘sanitary zone’ or ‘sanitary cordon’ in Ukraine will depend on the range of the Ukrainian arms, from which the Russian territory should be protected, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS when asked whether possible borders of such a zone have been outlined.

"No, this depends on what types of arms Ukraine has. The higher the combat characteristics of arms in Ukraine are the longer this distance should be," he said. "The main goal is clear: to make sure they do not reach the Russian citizens with those arms," Peskov added.

MOSCOW, June 17. /TASS/: Russian forces destroyed up to 40 Ukrainian troops and two Gvozdika motorized artillery systems in the Kherson area over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Saturday.

"In the Kherson direction, the Ukrainian army lost up to 40 personnel, two vehicles, a Giatsint-B howitzer, as well as two Gvozdika motorized artillery systems in the past 24 hours as a result of damage inflicted by firepower," the spokesman said.

ST. PETERSBURG, June 17. /TASS/: African countries stand for the indivisibility of global security, and Russia backs this principled position, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Saturday after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with an African peace mission.

ST. PETERSBURG, June 17. /TASS/: The objective of Ukraine’s demilitarization has actually been mostly achieved, as Kiev is using fewer and fewer of its own weapons, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with RT Arabic.

June 16 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that his deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, something he confirmed for the first time had already happened, was a reminder to the West that it could not inflict a strategic defeat on Russia.

Speaking at Russia's flagship economic forum in St Petersburg, Putin said Russian tactical nuclear warheads had already been delivered to close ally Belarus, but stressed he saw no need for Russia to resort to nuclear weapons for now.

ST. PETERSBURG, June 16. /TASS/: The United Arab Emirates is ready to assist in any way possible the efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said during talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday.

"Regarding Ukraine, thank you for your words. You can be certain that if the UAE can play any role in stabilizing the situation, in humanitarian issues, we are ready to assist in any way possible," the UAE president said.