Russia

June 7 (Reuters) - A pipeline used to transport ammonia fertilizer from Russia via Ukraine that may be central to the future of the Black Sea grain deal has been damaged, according to both Kyiv and Moscow, potentially complicating talks around the accord.

Russia's defence ministry said a "Ukrainian sabotage group" had blown up a section of the pipeline on Monday night near the village of Masyutivka in Kharkiv region. The village is on the frontline between Russian and Ukrainian troops.

MOSCOW, June 6. /TASS/: The Kiev regime is unable to achieve the aims of its counterattack, with its army sustaining enormous losses, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said on his Telegram account on Tuesday.

"It is a second day of the Kiev regime’s counteroffensive," he wrote. "No successes. The aims and objectives are unachieved. The losses are huge. The Barbarossa-2 plan has collapsed."

Volodin stressed that this topic was not raised publicly by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, or US President Joe Biden.

MOSCOW, June 6. /TASS/: Russia's chairing term at the Arctic Council is over, but the work to develop the Northern territories continues at a new level. Russia's Minister for Development of the Far East and Arctic Alexey Chekunov said in an interview with TASS about the Northern Sea Route, the development of tourism, about "eyes from the space," and about strategic initiatives from India and China, about the challenge to compete with the Cheburashka movie, and about why no occupation is more exciting than to develop the Arctic.

MOSCOW, June 6. /TASS/: The number of people who died from poisoning by a cider beverage in the Ulyanovsk Region has increased to 20, the regional Health Ministry reported Tuesday.

"Ulyanovsk Region medics do everything they can to save the lives and health of the people who suffered from poisoning. According to the most recent information, a total of 51 cases of poisoning by alcoholic beverages have been registered in the region so far. Unfortunately, 20 people could not have been saved," the report says.

MOSCOW, June 6. /TASS/: The Russian military has in recent days repelled all of Ukraine’s attempts to launch its "long-promised offensive," Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Tuesday.

The way he sees it, Kiev, in a move of desperation, decided to redeploy forces from Kherson and staged a diversionary terrorist attack against the Kakhovka dam. TASS has summarized Shoigu’s perspective on the situation.

June 6 (Reuters) - Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that U.S.-built F-16 fighter jets can 'accommodate' nuclear weapons and warned that supplying Kyiv with them will escalate the conflict further.

"We must keep in mind that one of the modifications of the F-16 can 'accommodate' nuclear weapons," Lavrov said in a speech at a military base in Dushanbe in Tajikistan, according to a transcript on the ministry's website.

"If they do not understand this, then they are worthless as military strategists and planners."

MOSCOW, June 6 (Reuters) - Russia's defence minister said on Tuesday his forces had thwarted the first three days of a Ukrainian counter-offensive, alleging that they had killed or wounded more than 3,700 Ukrainian soldiers.

Unusually, Sergei Shoigu read a statement himself rather than leaving it to the ministry's regular spokesman.

Ukraine has maintained deliberate ambiguity about whether its long-expected counter-offensive is under way, and Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield claims.

VLADIVOSTOK/KIEV, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Russian forces had destroyed the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam in southern Ukraine.

All services are working to eliminate the consequences of the incident, Zelensky said in a Telegram post, adding that he had convened the National Security and Defense Council.

Ukraine's state-run nuclear energy operator Energoatom said that the destruction of the dam may have negative consequences for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

MOSCOW (AP) — A Moscow court on Tuesday set the date for a new trial of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny that could keep him in prison for decades.

The Moscow City Court held a preliminary hearing behind closed doors to discuss technical issues related to the trial of the Kremlin’s arch foe before it begins on June 19.

Navalny’s spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, said that the trial will be held at a maximum security prison 250 kilometers (150 miles) east of Moscow where Navalny is serving a nine-year sentence for fraud and contempt of court.

MOSCOW, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Russia will extend its voluntary oil production cut of half a million barrels per day until the end of 2024, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Sunday.

Quoted by Russia's TASS news agency, Novak said: "Russia will extend its voluntary production cut of 500,000 barrels per day until the end of December 2024 as a precautionary measure in coordination with the countries participating in the OPEC+ agreement, which announced voluntary cuts in April."