June 12, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Russian President Vladimir Putin made a visit to the central Ministry of Defense Hospital in Moscow on Monday and told wounded soldiers that their country needed them.

Putin visited the hospital as one of several public appearances to mark Russia Day.

He bestowed state awards on fighters wounded in Ukraine and said that he understood the conflict is "not some movie, it's all happening in reality."

Putin's visit to soldiers comes amid Ukraine's defense officials claiming to have recaptured several settlements in the Donetsk region.

Ukrainian forces have recaptured seven villages within the last week, according to Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar.

In Donetsk and Tavria, "the advance of the offensive troops amounted to 6.5 kilometers," Maliar said Monday on Telegram. "The area taken under control amounted to 90 square kilometers." 

Maliar said the villages of Lobkove, Levadne, Novodarivka, Neskuchne, Storozheve, Makarivka, and Blahodatne were liberated.

Earlier, Ukraine's Tavria Defense Forces posted a video on Facebook of soldiers holding up the Ukrainian flag in Storozheve, claiming to have recaptured the village in the Donetsk region, but it is not clear when the video was taken. 

CNN cannot independently verify battlefield reports.

Ukrainian troops made incremental gains in the eastern city of Bakhmut, according to the spokesperson for the Eastern Grouping of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. 

He also said Russian forces fired artillery and rockets at Ukrainian positions on Monday. 

"The enemy fired artillery and MLRS at our positions 249 times," Cherevatyi said, referring to multiple launch rocket systems. There were three combat engagements and two air raids during the day." 

CNN cannot independently verify battlefield reports.

The death toll in Ukrainian-controlled areas following the flooding from the Nova Kakhovka dam collapse has risen to 10, according to the head of the Kherson region military administration on Monday. 

Two more civilians have died due to the flooding in Kherson city, said region military administration head Oleksandr Prokudin. 

"An unidentified woman and a 50-year-old man were found drowned in one of the city's districts today," Prokudin said on Telegram. 

A further 20 people have been injured in the aftermath of the dam collapse, including five police officers and two rescuers, according to Prokudin. Additionally, 35 people are considered missing, including seven children.

Some context: Ukraine controls the west bank of the Dnipro River and the city of Kherson after its counteroffensive last year, while Russian troops remain on the east bank in the greater Kherson region.

Both Russia and Ukraine have accused one another of shelling during the effort to evacuate civilians from areas they control.

Kyiv and Moscow have also blamed one another for causing the breach in the first place, although it is unclear whether the dam was deliberately attacked, or whether the collapse was the result of structural failure.

The water in the reservoir of the Nova Kakhovka dam is dropping following the dam's collapse last week, albeit slower than authorities initially feared, the CEO of Ukrainian hydroelectric company Ukrhydroenergo told CNN on Monday. 

"The reservoir has decreased by 50%. As for the volume, we estimate that there is 60% to 70% less water in the Kakhovka reservoir than there was before the blow-up," Ukrhydroenergo CEO Ihor Syrota told CNN. 

Syrota warned of "severe environmental consequences" if the water falls below critical levels — around 3 meters.  

"We hope that the lower hydraulic structure remained intact. If so, the level of the Kakhovka reservoir may remain within 6 to 7 meters. If it is damaged, it falls into the critical zone," Syrota said. 

Syrota added that the water supply to the Crimean peninsula may be restored by "summer of next year."  

"It is clear that the Crimean Canal will be drained, there can be no water there," Syrota said. "When Crimea is de-occupied, we will address the issue comprehensively — water supply for our four regions and Crimea. I think it will be no earlier than next year, after the floods."

"If for some reason this (de-occupation) does not happen, it will just be a blocked channel, because we will primarily supply Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia and Mykolaiv regions," he added. "These are the regions that will now suffer from a shortage of water, both drinking and industrial." 

Ukraine’s Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ruslan Strilets told CNN on Monday that the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine last week was the “largest catastrophe by Russian invaders” since the invasion began. 

“The blowing up of the Nova Kakhovka dam is the largest catastrophe by Russian invaders since the full-scale invasion began in February last year,” Strilets told CNN’s Becky Anderson in an interview on Connect the World. 

Nearly one week after the collapse of the dam, evacuation efforts in the southern city of Kherson continue, despite receding water levels. 

The minister said the Dnipro River, where the dam is located, is one of the largest rivers in Europe. Due to the dam breach, he says the river’s reservoir has already lost 72% of its water. 

“Russia has wasted 18 cubic kilometers of freshwater – this amount of water is enough for the entire planet to consume for two days,” he continued. 

Ukrainian authorities have warned that the debris washed along the Dnipro River is turning Odesa’s Black Sea coastline into “a garbage dump and animal cemetery”. 

Ukraine’s Environment Minister echoed those concerns saying that about 20,000 wild animals who lived in the flooded areas are now dead. 

“We also understand the impact on climate change is that over 50,000 hectares of Ukrainian forest have been flooded, and at least half of them will die.”

The biggest ever air exercise of NATO forces kicked off on Monday in Germany, the alliance said in a news release.

Twenty-five nations are taking part in the two-week long Air Defender exercise, with around 10,000 personnel and 250 aircraft, including around 100 from the United States, it said.

Air Defender, hosted and led by Germany, sends "a clear message that NATO is ready to defend every inch of Allied territory," North Atlantic Treaty Organization spokesperson Oana Lungescu said.

Lungescu also noted that the exercise demonstrates "the strong bond between Europe and North America, working together in NATO.” 

German Air Defense Chief Ingo Gerhartz told CNN's Nic Robertson on Friday that this exercise demonstrates the defense capability of the alliance.

It is "to prove in the Alliance and to prove to our people, to [the public].. we are fast.. we are quick.. we are first responder, and we are able to defend this alliance and NATO territory is the red line and we are willing to defend every inch of it." 

Air Defender will help "ensure NATO air forces are trained and ready to respond together. Most of the aircraft will be stationed on several German air bases. Training missions will primarily take place over the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and Southern Germany," NATO said Monday in the news release.

The Dutch are hoping to start training Ukrainian pilots on how to fly F-16 fighter jets this summer, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren told Reuters in a video interview Thursday. 

“This summer is our ambition,” Ollongren said. “It is a very important and significant step that we will start training Ukrainian pilots on the F-16s." 

The Netherlands is now looking at the logistics of training Ukrainian pilots, Ollongren said. Trainers will have to consider the current skill levels of the pilots, their fluency in English, and the planes that they’re used to flying. 

Dutch F-35 pilot Laurens-Jan Vijge said that trainers “don’t know yet” exactly what the training of Ukrainian pilots will involve, but that it will include academic, language, and simulator training. 

Though Ukrainian pilots will already know how to fly a plane, Vijge said, “to fly a fighter jet and to transition to an F-16... for them would mean different technology."

Remember: Recently, the Netherlands and Britain said they were building a “international coalition” to help Ukraine procure F-16 fighter jets that Kyiv says are vital to its defense as Russia ramps up its aerial strikes.

CNN's Lauren Kent, Julia Kesaieva and Brad Lendon contributed reporting to this post.

Nearly one-third of bomb shelters inspected by Ukrainian authorities are closed or unsuitable for use, according to an update from Ukraine's State Emergency Service. 

As of June 10, a total of 62,912 bomb shelters in Ukraine have been inspected and 9.3% appeared to be closed with another 23.6% are unsuitable for use, according to the State Emergency Service on Sunday. 

In total, fewer than 1% of shelters could not be inspected "due to hostilities," according to the update. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered an audit of all bomb shelters in Ukraine earlier this month after three people were killed when they were unable to access a closed shelter in Kyiv.

The inspections involved nearly 2,000 expert groups, including local authorities, National Police, and the State Emergency Service.