President of South Korea arrives in Kyiv.. and the Russian army uses all its might to stop the counter-attack

 In an unannounced visit, South Korean President Yoon Sok-yul arrived in Ukraine on Saturday, where he went to the town of Bucha before meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky.

In addition, the Orkani president said in his daily night speech that the Russian army is striving with all its might to repel the counterattack and prevent the progress of the Ukrainian units.

South Korean presidential office said, "The president toured first the town of Bucha, which witnessed a massacre near the capital, Kyiv, and the city of Irpin, where the missile attacks focused on civilian residential areas," noting that Yoon Sok Yol will meet Zelensky later on Saturday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned Ukrainians that Russia is throwing all its weight into a campaign to stop Ukrainian forces from continuing their counter-offensive, as a top general reported new progress on the southern front.

However, Ukrainian military analysts have indicated that Ukrainian forces are having difficulties trying to advance south.

It focused on capturing villages in the southeast in a campaign towards the Sea of Azov and areas near the eastern city of Bakhmut, which Russian forces seized in May after months of fighting.

"We all have to understand very clearly, as clearly as possible that the Russian forces in our southern and eastern territories are doing everything they can to stop our soldiers," Zelensky said in his daily speech after presiding over a meeting with senior commanders.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is still awaiting a response from Russian President Vladimir Putin on a proposal to extend an agreement allowing Ukrainian grain to be safely exported across the Black Sea beyond Monday, a United Nations spokesman said on Friday.

The last ship to sail under the Black Sea Agreement is being loaded in the Ukrainian port of Odesa. Russia has not agreed to register any new ships since June 27 and the initiative will expire on Monday if Moscow does not agree to extend it.

Russia has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the grain agreement, which was mediated by the United Nations and Turkey and concluded in July 2022, due to failure to meet demands related to the export of its grain and fertilizer products abroad. Ukraine and Russia are among the world's largest grain exporters.

Under the agreement, Ukraine exported more than 32 million tons of corn, wheat, and other grains. Russia has complained that not enough of these grains are reaching poor countries, but the United Nations says those countries have benefited from the initiative's help in reducing food prices by more than 20 percent globally.

Putin reports that Prigozhin rejected an offer made to him

Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that he suggested that the Wagner elements serve under the command of another leader of this armed group, but its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, rejected this offer, after his short rebellion.

In an interview with Kommersant, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave details of his June 29 meeting in the Kremlin with Prigozhin and the leaders of the Wagner Group.

"The Wagner operatives could have gathered in one place and continued to serve. Nothing would have changed for them. They would have been placed under the command of someone who would be their de facto commander during that period," Putin said.