counter offensive. the comments come after attacks on dnipro and the wagner group claiming it fully captured the city of bakhmut. the battle there for control has been the longest of the war. the head of russia s wagner mercenary group has announced that its forces have started withdrawing from the ukrainian city. ukraine denies this. now, one of the country s most senior security officials says ukraine is ready to launch its long expected counter offensive against russian forces. oleksiy danilov has been speaking exclusively, to our diplomatic correspondent, james landale. this is what s left of bakhmut in eastern ukraine. images filmed by russian forces of the ruins they now largely control. mercenaries from the wagner group claim they re withdrawing, being replaced by regular russian troops. but ukraine insists its forces are still engaged on the ground and the outskirts, as the country s most senior security official told us. translation: we controljust a small i part of
in turkey, voting has closed in one of the most elections the country has seen. the country is deciding whether president erdohan remains in power after 20 years. it is expected to be a close race between him and an opposition leader kemal k l cdaroglu. he is a former civil servant who heads an alliance of six opposition parties, both secular and islamist. he promised to scrap many of the powers acquired by mr erdogan and return turkey to a parliamentary system. and also called for better relations with the west, including renewal of turkey s bid for membership of the eu. the current leader recep tayyip erdogan first came to power as prime minister in 2003 and became president in 2014. under him, turkey enjoyed strong economic growth, but it s been hit by high inflation, and the recent earthquakes in which tens of thousands died. he s also become increasingly authoritarian with more powers in the hands of the president and tighter restrictions on free speech. with most ballot
Istanbul, Turkey: Turkey s main opposition party voted Saturday on whether to stick by its embattled leader or rally around an untested former pharmacist following a disappointing election defeat to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.