Kyiv troops pull out from Donetsk village; Azerbaijan discusses gas supply deal with Europe

Azerbaijan has been approached by Ukraine and the European Union to supply natural gas to Europe via Ukraine after an existing contract with Russia expires at the end of the year, said President Ilham Aliyev.

Russia attacked energy transmission facilities in the north and centre of Ukraine with drones overnight, causing temporary power cuts for households and industrial producers.

Russia ramps up in Kharkiv, Ukraine troops flee Donetsk village

Ukraine’s troops withdrew from the village of Prohres in the Donetsk region as they faced a risk of being trapped by Russian forces, the DeepState map service said.

Separately, the Ukrainian General Staff said Kremlin troops had intensified combat assaults in the Kharkiv region. The latest push by Russia came near the settlement of Hlyboke, not far from the heavily damaged town of Vovchansk.

Russia also allocated additional manpower around the town of Murom, near the Ukraine-Russia border and between Hlyboke and Vovchansk, Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson of Ukrainian “Khortysia” command, told Interfax-Ukraine on Sunday.

The aim, he said, was to prepare for new offensive actions in the area, which earlier saw stepped-up activity by Moscow’s forces in May.

Russia’s recent objective in the region has been to push Ukrainian forces further from the border with Belgorod, and approach to within “tube artillery” range of Kharkiv City, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Russia has located additional assault groups near Hlyboke, said the ISW.

The withdrawal from tiny Prohres was the second within a week from a strategic position in the nation’s east. Kyiv’s forces also left the southern village of Krynky on the left bank of the Dnipro River that they’d held for months, after sustaining heavy combat losses.

Prohres, in the Pokrovsk district northwest of Avdiivka, has been under Russian assault since late April as part of the general effort of President Vladimir Putin’s troops to press further west.

The DeepState analysts said Ukrainian troops in the vicinity of the village needed to regroup and that Kremlin troops may advance further in their bid to cut off the Pokrovsk-Kostyantynivka highway — an important conduit for weapons supplies.

Read more: Ukraine withdraws from strategic position in southern region

Russia’s defence ministry also claimed it carried out a missile strike on two Ukrainian units in the area of Barvinkove, in the Kharkiv region, destroying dozens of pieces of equipment and causing multiple casualties.

Regional governor Oleh Synehubov confirmed a Russian strike on Saturday, saying civilian targets including residential houses and administrative buildings had been hit and two civilians killed.

Russia said Ukraine attacked its Belgorod region directly north of the nation’s border with about 14 drones overnight, of which seven were intercepted. The others damaged private homes and cars and left nine people injured, local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram.

Ukraine, in turn, said its air defence intercepted 35 out of 39 drones over 10 regions overnight, including around Kyiv, launched from Russian territory and occupied Crimea.

The border regions of Sumy, Kharkiv and Kherson came under missile attack, with more than 10 people injured, according to local authorities.

Azerbaijan may export gas via Ukraine after Russia deal ends

Azerbaijan has been approached by Ukraine and the European Union to supply natural gas to Europe via Ukraine after an existing contract with Russia expires at the end of the year, said President Ilham Aliyev.

Talks were continuing with the authorities in Ukraine and the EU as well as with Russia and all sides seemed to be interested in continuing the supplies, Aliyev said at a conference Saturday in the town of Shusha. “We will help if we can,” he said. “I think it’s possible to prolong this deal.”

Zelensky said earlier this month his country was in talks to send natural gas from Azerbaijan to the EU as it seeks to maintain its role as a transit country and help ensure the energy security of its western neighbours. A deal to replace Russian gas with Azerbaijani supplies was “one of the proposals” currently being discussed, Zelensky told Bloomberg in an interview.

The EU has tried to wean itself off Russian gas since the invasion of Ukraine, but some European states continue to receive it through a pipeline that crosses Ukraine. The agreement that covers the transit arrangement expires at the end of 2024, and with war still raging, many market watchers expect Russian gas flows will come to a halt.

Countries like Austria and Slovakia would be in “serious trouble” if Russian gas supplies via Ukraine stopped as they would have to pay “hundreds and hundreds of millions” more to buy gas from elsewhere, said Aliyev. Azerbaijan was trying to be “careful” as it had been falsely accused in the past of re-exporting Russian gas, he added.

Russian airfield struck as drones target Ukraine’s energy grid

Russia attacked energy transmission facilities in the north and centre of Ukraine with drones overnight, causing temporary power cuts for households and industrial producers.

Separately, UAVs from Ukraine targeted the large Millerovo airfield in the Rostov region, which borders the eastern areas of Ukraine occupied by Russia since 2022 and is a base for Russian fighter jets.

Some 26 drones were destroyed overnight by Russia’s air defence, Rostov Governor Vasily Golubev said on Telegram, adding that there were no casualties.

The Russian military blog Rybar also said the attack caused little damage, although social media posts showed images of large fires and cited reports of as many as 16 explosions in the area.

In Ukraine, Moscow’s forces targeted five regions, including Kyiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Poltava with at least 17 drones and four missiles, Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said on Telegram. Thirteen drones were intercepted.

Russia has targeted Ukraine’s power system, including generation and transmission facilities, since launching its full-scale invasion in 2022 and ramped up the level of attacks this spring.

Trump has ‘very good’ phone call with Zelensky

Donald Trump had what he called a “very good” telephone call with Zelensky, and again vowed to bring about a deal to end the war with Russia — though without saying how he’d do it.

The two men spoke earlier Friday, Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. He added that he appreciated Zelensky “for reaching out” and promised Russia and Ukraine would “come together and negotiate a deal that ends the violence and paves a path forward to prosperity”.

Zelensky confirmed the meeting in a post to X, saying that he had congratulated Trump for winning the Republican presidential nomination at his party’s convention in Milwaukee this week. He also condemned what he called the “shocking assassination attempt” against Trump last weekend.

“Ukraine will always be grateful to the United States for its help in strengthening our ability to resist Russian terror,” Zelensky said. Without saying so explicitly, he appeared to indicate that he and Trump had made at least tentative plans to meet.

“We agreed with President Trump to discuss at a personal meeting what steps can make peace fair and truly lasting,” said Zelensky.

Earlier: Zelensky ‘not afraid’ of new Trump presidency as war drags on

The call appeared to be part of a delicate bit of diplomacy for Zelensky, whose forces have relied on billions of dollars of US military assistance to fight the Russian forces who invaded in 2022. He wants to keep Trump on his side if he becomes president in November.

Trump has suggested the US has spent too much money on the war in Ukraine, while his choice for vice-president, JD Vance, has been even more sceptical, once telling Steve Bannon’s podcast he doesn’t “really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other”.

Trump and Zelensky have a fraught history. Trump’s first impeachment stemmed from a 2019 phone call in which the then-US president urged the newly elected Zelensky to dig up dirt on Biden, his opponent in the 2020 election, and his son Hunter. Trump also briefly withheld nearly $400-million in aid to Ukraine.

In his debate with Biden last month, Trump said he would end the Russia-Ukraine war between his election and inauguration day. Zelensky challenged that in a subsequent interview with Bloomberg Television, saying Trump should come forward with a plan and warning that any proposal must avoid violating the nation’s sovereignty. DM