– 15 reported dead in rocket attack on apartment building in Ukraine's Donetsk region
– ​​Canada will return repaired Russian pipeline part to Germany

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Ukraine tells residents to leave occupied south due to counter-attack plans

Ukraine's deputy prime minister urged civilians in the Russian-occupied southern region of Kherson to urgently evacuate as Ukraine's armed forces were preparing a counterattack there.

Ukraine lost control of most of the Black Sea region of Kherson, including its eponymous capital, in the first weeks after Russia's February 24 invasion.

"It's clear there will be fighting, there will be artillery shelling... and we therefore urge [people] to evacuate urgently," Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on national television.

She said she could not say when exactly the counter-offensive would happen.

The Kherson region includes the city of Kherson, which before the war had a population of nearly 300,000. It is not known how many of the city's residents are still there.

Website of German newspaper Die Welt blocked in Russia

Authorities in Moscow have begun blocking the website of Die Welt, a major German daily newspaper, which has been publishing news about the war in Ukraine in Russian.

Russian internet users have been unable to access the site since Saturday, according to the register of Russian media supervisory authority Roskomnadzor. The move comes after a request by the Prosecutor General's Office.

Die Welt began publishing news in Russian under the title "War in Ukraine" after Moscow's invasion began in February. The newspaper published a story about the site being inaccessible in Russia with the tag "media censorship."

In Russia, strict regulations require the war be described only as a "special operation." Russia has also cracked down on independent media, forcing numerous sites to close. The pressure has forced many critical outlets to cease their reporting.

In early March, DW's website was also blocked in Russia.

Schröder does not want to give up opportunities for talks with Putin

Despite Russia's ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder is unwilling to sever his ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "I will not give up my opportunities to talk to President Putin," Schröder said in an interview with the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Monday edition).

He also stated that he believes in a diplomatic solution to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

"Why are you concentrating on the delivery of weapons?" Schröder said. "I don't believe in a military solution. The only way to end the war is through diplomatic negotiations. The fate of the soldiers and the Ukrainian civilian population can only be alleviated through a diplomatic solution."

Schröder traveled to Moscow in early March and spoke to Putin about the Ukraine war. "As far as I understood him, he is interested in a negotiated solution. What such a solution looks like can only be clarified in a negotiation," he said, adding that all sides should contribute "to preventing a further escalation if the conflict."

Ex-chancellor has been criticized for months for his activities for Russian energy companies despite the Ukraine war. In May, he decided to give up his position at the Russian oil company Rosneft. Shortly thereafter, Schröder also rejected a nomination to a supervisory role on the board of Gazprom.

Ukraine 'deeply disappointed' by Canadian decision to return turbine

Ukraine's energy and foreign ministries said they were "deeply disappointed" by Canada's decision to return a repaired Siemens turbine used for the Nord Stream 1 natural gas pipeline to Germany.

The statement, published on the Energy Ministry's website, called on the Canadian government to reverse its decision and said that returning the turbine would amount to adjusting the sanctions imposed on Moscow "to the whims of Russia."

Canada announced it will grant a sanctions waiver for the return of repaired Russian turbines needed for the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to pump more gas from Russia to Germany, the Canadian Ministry for Natural Resources said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Siemens said Canada's decision to allow a turbine to be sent from its repair shop in Canada to Germany was a necessary first step toward returning it to the Russian pipeline it operates, and that it was aiming to get it there as soon as possible.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was relieved that Canada cleared the way for the delivery of the Siemens turbine for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline. "We welcome the decision of our Canadian friends and allies," he said.

Baerbock says it is impossible to negotiate with Putin now

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has sharply criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin in view of the many children who have fallen victim to the war in Ukraine.

In an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel, she said that one of the "worst moments" of her tenure was during a visit to Ukraine, when she saw photos of shot children.

"That says everything about the fact that you can't negotiate with this Putin at the moment," said the minister. "For him, it's about destruction. Even of children."

Good foreign policy means keeping a cool head, "even when your heart is on fire," Baerbock said. "Having to endure that you can't do anything - that's sometimes the brutality of foreign policy," the politician said.

Baerbock would therefore like to have promised that "we guarantee humanitarian corridors from the contested areas in Ukraine." But such a promise would have had to be secured militarily, she added.

Although the West is supplying Ukraine with weapons, it has ruled out any military involvement in Ukraine. The reason given is that Putin could see such an approach as direct involvement of the West in the war.

Russia wants to control road which links Donetsk to Kharkiv — UK defense intelligence

The UK's Ministry of Defense said in its intelligence update that Russian artillery "continues to strike the Sloviansk area of the Donbas from around Izium to the north and near Lysychansk to the east."

According to the update, fires from Izium continue to focus along the axis of the E40 main road. "Control of the E40, which links Donetsk to Kharkiv, is likely to be an important objective for Russia as it attempts to advance through Donetsk Oblast," the British ministry said.

The update also claimed that Russian forces have likely made some further small territorial advances around Popasna.

Chasiv Yar death toll increases to 15

Ukrainian emergency services on Sunday said that the number of people killed in a Russian strike on a five-story apartment building had risen to 15, having earlier given tallies of six and then 10. 

The incident took place in the town of Chasiv Yar, in the Donetsk region, not far from the front line.

The local branch of Ukraine's emergency services wrote in a post on Facebook that "15 bodies were found at the scene and five people were pulled out of the rubble."

At least 6 people dead in rocket attack

Russian rockets hit a five-story apartment building in the eastern Ukraine town of Chasiv Yar, killing at least six people, the region's governor said on Sunday. More than 30 are feared to be trapped in the rubble of the building in the Donetsk region.

Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko on Telegram said rescuers had made contact with two people under the wreckage. With five people injured, at least 34 people were likely trapped in the ruins, he said.

Chasiv Yar, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Kramatorsk, was hit by Russian Uragan rockets, Kyrylenko said. 

The Donbas region, where separatist rebels have fought Ukrainian forces since 2014, is made up of two provinces – Donetsk and Luhansk. Last week, Russian forces captured the city of Lysychansk, the last stronghold of Ukrainian resistance in Luhansk.

Canada to return repaired Nord Stream 1 turbine to Germany

Canada announced it will grant a sanctions waiver for the return of repaired Russian turbines needed for the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to pump more gas from Russia to Germany, the Canadian Ministry for Natural Resources said in a statement.

It comes as the pipeline prepares to undergo maintenance from July 11 to 21. Although the maintenance is nominally routine, the tension with Russia and the sanctions status in allied countries like Canada had prompted German leaders to consider the possibility of a longer shutdown.

But when announcing its decision, Canada's Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said it was taken to "support Europe's ability to access reliable and affordable energy as they continue to transition away from Russian oil and gas."

Roundup of Saturday's key events

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Andriy Melnyk from the post of ambassador of Ukraine to Germany. The outspoken ambassador is expected to take up another role within the Foreign Ministry in Kyiv. 

Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom cut capacity along the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to about 40% of last month's levels, blaming the delay in receiving equipment from Germany's Siemens Energy in Canada for the reduced capacity.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the United States is providing nearly $368 million (€361 million) in additional humanitarian assistance to support those affected by Russia's brutal war on Ukraine.

Since the beginning of the war in late February, the United States has provided over $1.28 billion (€1.26 billion) in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

The UK's Ministry of Defense said in its intelligence update that Russia is "moving reserve forces from across the country and assembling them near Ukraine for future offensive operations."

Some 10,000 inexperienced Ukrainian recruits have begun training in sites across Britain, the UK's Ministry of Defence announced.

Click here for more details on Saturday's events in Russia's war against Ukraine.

ab, see, ar, dh/msh, fb (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)