Russia

MOSCOW, June 12. /TASS/: President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky signed a law to move the celebration of Victory Day to May 8, according to the website of the Verkhovna Rada.

The information on the bill on the website of the Ukrainian parliament stated that it was returned with the signature of the president on June 12.

MOSCOW, June 12. /TASS/: People begin to return to their homes in Novaya Kakhovka in the Kherson Region after a flood triggered by Ukraine’s rocket strike on the Kakhovka Hydropower Plant (HPP), the city’s Mayor Vladimir Leontyev said on Monday.

"In Novaya Kakhovka, people are returning to their homes," he said in an interview with the RBC television channel.

According to the mayor, water has been pumped from the basements in most of the flooded houses. The situation in the city, in his words, is better than in settlements located downstream along the Dnieper.

June 12 (Reuters) - Russia's Defence Ministry said on Monday it has signed a contract with the Akhmat group of Chechen special forces, a day after Russia's powerful mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin refused to do so.

The signing followed an order that all "volunteer units" should sign contracts by July 1 bringing them under the control of Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, as Moscow tries to assert its control over private armies fighting on its behalf in Ukraine.

MOSCOW, June 11. /TASS/: Today there is no even ‘fragile foundation’ for talks with the Kiev regime, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.

MOSCOW, June 11. /TASS/: Kiev de facto has not supported proposals on the security and safety of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) advanced by Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi, Alexey Likhachev, director general of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom, said on Sunday.

MOSCOW, June 11. /TASS/: The Eurasian Economic Union’s (EAEU) member countries will continue to develop industrial cooperation; an agreement on that was a major outcome of the recent Sochi meeting of the EAEU intergovernmental council, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Sunday.

MOSCOW, June 11. /TASS/: Ninety-four Russian soldiers have been released from the Ukrainian captivity as a result of negotiations, the Russian defense ministry said on Sunday.

"On June 11, as a result of the negotiating process, 94 Russian servicemen, who were in mortal danger in the Ukrainian captivity, were released from the territory controlled by the Kiev regime," it said, adding that the released soldiers will be taken to the ministry’s hospitals for treatment and rehabilitation.

MOSCOW, June 11 (Reuters) - Russia's most powerful mercenary said on Sunday that his Wagner fighters would not sign any contract with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, publicly refusing an attempt by the defence ministry to bring his fighting force under its sway.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner group, has repeatedly attacked President Vladimir Putin's top military brass for what he casts as treachery for failing to fight the war in Ukraine properly.

MOSCOW, June 11 (Reuters) - Russia on Sunday said it had destroyed at least seven German-made Leopard tanks and five U.S.-made Bradley vehicles over 48 hours while repelling Ukrainian attacks, though Russian bloggers reported Ukraine had briefly pierced part of the Russian line.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy acknowledged on Saturday that his military was engaged in "counter-offensive and defensive operations", a day after President Vladimir Putin said Russia had repelled the first attacks of the offensive.

MOSCOW, June 10. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin is keeping track of the situation in the Kherson Region following the recent collapse of a dam there, the region’s Interim Governor Vladimir Saldo said on Rossiya-24 television on Saturday.

"The president concerns himself with the situation, asking what is happening, how it’s happening. He now often dials me up and asks questions, monitoring the situation all the time," he said.