A partially flooded area of Kherson on June 6, 2023, following damage sustained at Kakhovka HPP dam. The partial destruction on June 6, of a major Russian-held dam in southern Ukraine unleashed a torrent of water that sent people fleeing flooding on the war's front line. Moscow and Kyiv traded blame for ripping a gaping hole in the Kakhovka dam as expectations built over the start of Ukraine's long-awaited offensive. (Stringer/AFP/Getty Images/TNS)

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine reported on Tuesday continued gains in its fight to take back territory occupied by Russia, as Kyiv authorities also said dozens were dead or injured from the latest Russian air strikes on civilian infrastructure.

The Ukrainian army has advanced up to 270 yards in various areas of the eastern Donetsk region, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar reported on Tuesday via her Telegram channel.

Near the southern port city of Berdyansk, the army liberated an area totaling just over a square mile, she said.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the Ukrainian attacks near Bakhmut had been successfully repelled.

The statements of both warring parties could not be independently verified. However, international experts have commented on the local successes in Ukraine’s counteroffensive.

Meanwhile at least 11 people were killed and 28 injured after a Russian air attack on a residential neighborhood in the industrial city of Kryvyi Rih in Ukraine’s south, regional authorities said as the death toll rose steadily through the day.

Nineteen people have been hospitalized, Serhiy Lysak, the military governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said on Telegram on Tuesday.

He said a “massive missile attack” hit Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown. Air defenses were able to repel three cruise missiles, but others hit civilian sites.

Earlier, the head of the local military administration, Oleksandr Vilkul, also reported a strike on a five-story building and wrote that people were likely still buried under the rubble.

Air raid sirens sounded in many other Ukrainian regions. According to the Ukrainian general staff, Russia fired a total of 14 cruise missiles during the night, 10 of which were repelled.

Kiev faced a barrage of cruise missiles, local authorities said, adding that the city’s air defenses intercepted all incoming missiles.

There were also reports of drone attacks on the eastern city of Kharkiv.

Further south, Russian troops in the Kherson region shelled a church and killed a clergyman, Ukrainian sources said.

The clergyman, 72, was killed in the village of Bilozerka during the attacks on the church grounds, said the head of the Ukrainian President’s Office, Andriy Yermak.

A 76-year-old woman suffered injuries, he added. He also published photos of the destruction on his Telegram channel.

Four residential buildings, the post office, administrative buildings, the central square and important infrastructure were damaged by the Russian attacks, he said.

Meanwhile the number of flood victims was also rising, a week after the breach of the Kakhovka dam.

Authorities on the Ukrainian-controlled side of the Kherson region reported 10 dead and 20 injured on Tuesday. Forty-two people were still missing, the head of the Kherson military administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, said on Telegram. On Monday, the Ukrainian authorities had still spoken of six fatalities.

On the Moscow-controlled southern bank of the Dnipro river, the number of dead also rose from eight to 17, according to the Russian occupiers. However, since the occupied places are particularly badly affected by the floods, it is feared that there are in fact many more victims. In particular, the information provided by the Russian side is often not independently verifiable.

According to official figures, Ukrainian rescue operations have so far brought 2,757 people to safety, including 263 children. In 133 cases, Ukrainian volunteers managed to rescue residents from the occupied side of the river. Prokudin accused the Russian occupiers of doing too little to rescue civilians in occupied flood plains.

The large dam in the town of Nova Kakhovka was destroyed last Tuesday. Subsequently, huge masses of water poured out of the adjacent reservoir and flooded numerous places, including the provincial capital, Kherson.

The European Union announced on Tuesday that it will provide additional loans amounting to $108 million (€100 million) to Ukraine for reconstruction.

“We are determined to bring back life to all the communities in Ukraine that suffer from Russia’s aggression,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will lend the money, which is to be used, for example, to restore municipal infrastructure or repair transmission lines for electricity.

The EU has already provided some $75 billion (€70 billion) in support for Ukraine and its people since the start of Russia’s war of aggression, according to the commission. This includes $2.6 billion (€2.4 billion) in financing from the EIB.

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