Ukraine has “penetrated” the first line of Russian defences in some areas and is making “good progress” in its counteroffensive, Britain’s Ministry of Defence has said. Kyiv has conducted “significant operations” over the past 48 hours in southern and eastern parts of the country, it added. Earlier, Vladimir Putin announced Russia would start deploying tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus next month – Moscow’s first move of such bombs outside Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. The Russian president said the weapons would be deployed after special storage facilities are ready in just under a month’s time. It comes after he, last month, announced he wanted to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, in an apparent warning to Nato over its support for Ukraine. “Everything is going according to plan,” Mr Putin told his ally and Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. “Preparation of the relevant facilities ends on July 7-8, and we will immediately begin activities related to the deployment of appropriate types of weapons on your territory,” he said, according to a Kremlin transcript of his remarks. Read More Ukraine goes on attack in Zaporizhzhia – as counteroffensive steps up Ukraine tells ‘clown’ Tucker Carlson to check his facts after pro-Kremlin rant in first Twitter show Before-and-after satellite images show profound toll of Ukraine dam collapse