Russia reports fierce fighting in front line

African leaders' peace proposal fails to spark enthusiasm from both sides

Russia reported fierce fighting on Sunday on three sections of the front line in Ukraine, a day after Russia hosted an African peace mission that failed to spark enthusiasm from either Moscow or Kyiv.

The most intense fighting centered on Zaporizhzhia, around the city of Bakhmut and further west in eastern Donetsk, according to a British intelligence assessment on Sunday.

A Russian-installed official said Ukraine had recaptured Piatykhatky, a village in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, and its forces were entrenched there while coming under fire from Russian artillery.

"The enemy's 'wavelike' offensives yielded results, despite enormous losses," said Vladimir Rogov, chairman of the We are Together with Russia movement.

Russia's Defense Ministry made no mention of Piatykhatky in its update, in which it said its forces had repelled Ukrainian attacks in three sections of the 1,000-kilometer front line. A separate statement from Russia's Vostok group of forces said Ukraine had failed to take the settlement.

The Ukrainian military said on Sunday that Russia carried out 43 airstrikes, four missile attacks, and 51 rocket launches.

According to its statement, Russia continues to concentrate its efforts on offensive operations in Ukraine's industrial east, focusing attacks around Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Marinka, and Lyman in Donetsk.

The latest statement by the Russian Defense Ministry said more than 1,000 Ukrainian troops were killed in the past 24 hours.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday praised his forces for their "very effective" efforts in repelling enemy assaults near Avdiivka.

'Time has come'

He also described the southern front as "the most brutal" and expressed gratitude to troops fighting there.

The fire exchanges happened a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in St. Petersburg with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who presented Putin with a 10-point peace initiative from seven African countries and told him the time had come for Russia and Ukraine to start negotiations to end the conflict.

"The proposal presented by African leaders on a mission to Ukraine and Russia has created a foundation for future engagements that will contribute to a road to peace and resolution to the devastating conflict," the South African president's office said on Sunday.

Russian news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying Putin had shown interest in the plan but it would be "difficult to realize".

Peskov said the dialogue with the Africans will continue, including at the Russia-Africa summit to be held in a month in St. Petersburg.

In Kyiv the previous day, Zelensky had told the visiting African delegation that allowing negotiations now would just "freeze the war".

In latest developments on the Kakhovka dam, the collapse of the Moscow-controlled dam on June 6 unleashed floodwaters across parts of the Kherson region. The death toll from the floods has risen to 35, a local official said on Sunday.

The United Nations on Sunday said Moscow had declined its offers of help in flooded areas.

The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia's decision was motivated by security concerns and other nuances. "There are a lot of issues there," Peskov told reporters.

In another development, Russia's FSB security service said on Monday it had thwarted a series of Ukrainian "sabotage and terrorist plots" targeting Russian-backed officials on Russian-controlled territory.

Agencies contributed to this story.