June 20, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine has moved here.

Russian forces attacking the key city of Severodonetsk, in the Luhansk region of Eastern Ukraine, have enough reserved to launch a large-scale offensive, the head of the region’s Military, Serhiy Hayday, said.

Speaking on Monday evening, Hayday said that dozens of pieces of Russian heavy military equipment had been brought into the region and were already deployed on the battlefield.

In the city itself, Hayday said that fighting is underway in the industrial area, but that “most of the city is under control [of Russian army]. Now the Ukrainian military controls only the industrial zone and the territory of the Azot plant.”

Hayday also provided an update on the fighting in the neighboring town of Lysychansk. He said that there was fighting along the highway between Lysychansk and Bakhmut and that all the towns in that area are being shelled and that Lysychansk “had been shelled almost all day” on Monday.?

Debris and destroyed cars are seen along a road in Lysychansk on June 19.

Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on Monday that “the struggle is very difficult” in the eastern Luhansk region, and that making any predictions are “extremely difficult” given the “dynamic” nature of the fighting.

She added that information is changing rapidly “every half an hour the situation changes.” She said that unless either Ukrainian or Russian forces are in total control of a town or village border, “it is impossible to say what the situation is.”

On the battle for Severodonetsk, Mailar said that she was not going to make any predictions as to the outcome of the battle for the key strategic city in Luhansk region.?

Maliar also went on to say that Russian forces in the region have an advantage in number of personnel and weapons.

US President Joe Biden said Monday he is “not likely” to visit Ukraine when he travels to Europe this weekend.

“That depends,” Biden said when asked if he was still planning to visit Ukraine, adding he doesn’t want to “cause more difficulty for Ukrainians.”

Asked again if he was expected to travel there while he’s in Germany and Spain for the G7 and NATO summits, Biden said: “On this trip, not likely.”

Biden has not visited Ukraine since the country has been under Russian invasion. Instead, he has sent US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, as well as first lady Jill Biden.?

On whether he’s confident Ukraine will become a member of the European Union, Biden told reporters he thinks it’s “very likely” to happen.

Addressing the African Union Commission via video link on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Africa has been “taken hostage by those who started the war against our country.”

Zelensky warned the global food crisis will continue “as long as this colonizing war goes on,” affecting the lives of as many as 400 million people all over the world who depend on Ukrainian exports.

“Our main task right now is to eliminate the threat of famine. In the 21st?century this threat simply cannot be, thanks to Ukraine and thanks to our agrarian industry,” he said.

According to Zelensky, Ukraine is attempting to build new supply logistics, but 25 million tonnes of grain still remain on hold as Russia continues to block Ukrainian ports.

More background: Russia’s?war in Ukraine?could push up to 49 million people into?famine?or famine-like conditions because of its devastating impact on global food supply and prices, the United Nations has said.

With its fertile soil and sprawling agricultural lands, Ukraine has long been described as one of the world’s breadbaskets. But Russia’s unprovoked assault is now putting a huge strain on Ukraine’s food production and exports. The ripple effects are being felt around the world.

Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian ports has already raised global food prices and threatens to cause a catastrophic food shortage in parts of the world, the UN said.

The Russian invasion has affected Ukraine’s entire food production and supply chain: From sowing to harvesting to exports. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that between 20% and 30% of Ukraine’s agricultural land will remain either unplanted or unharvested this year because of the war.

With regards to food that is already harvested, Ukrainian authorities, and some international officials, have accused?Russia of robbing the country of grain?and other commodities in areas it occupies.

Read more here.

CNN’s Ivana Kottasová contributed reporting to this post.

Anne Leiding, press spokesperson for the Munich I Public Prosecutor's Office, gives a press statement in Munich, Germany. To enforce sanctions over?Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, the Munich I public prosecutor's office has seized three apartments and a bank account belonging to?Russians.

In a nationwide first, German authorities have seized three flats belonging to a sanctioned Russian parliamentarian and his wife.

The Munich flats owned by the Duma representative and his wife were seized together with a bank account used to facilitate rental payments worth 3,500 euros ($3,700) per month to the couple, Munich’s public prosecutor said Monday.

The case was the first in Germany in which assets belonging to a sanctioned individual were seized rather than frozen.?

The owner of the flat was only identified by his initial L., as is customary in Germany. The Duma member was sanctioned by the European Union on Feb. 23, 2022 – one day before Russia invaded Ukraine – over his support for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s move to recognize breakaway eastern Ukrainian territories as independent, Munich’s public prosecutor said.

Two of the flats were owned by both the Duma member and his?unidentified?wife, while one apartment was only in his wife’s name. As the spouse of a sanctioned individual, the man’s wife was also subject to sanctions, Munich’s public prosecutor argued.

With the seizure of the apartments coming into effect Monday, while the tenants are allowed to remain in their flats, they must deposit their rental payments with a Munich court rather than making these to their sanctioned landlords.

Meanwhile, the Duma member and his wife are under further investigation by German authorities for a breach of sanctions in several cases.

Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian grain is a “real war crime,” says the European Union’s foreign policy chief. And two?American volunteers fighting for Ukraine?were taken into detention by Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk after being captured last week, according to Russian state media.

Here are the latest headlines on the war in Ukraine:

A Zipair plane at Narita airport near Tokyo, Japan, on June 3, 2020.

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches the four-month mark, one airline has announced plans to change its livery amid concern from passengers that its current look could suggest that it supports the invasion.

Tokyo-based Zipair – a lowcost subsidiary of JAL, Japan Airlines – has announced that it’ll be removing the “Z” from its tailfins as of June 18, replacing them with a geometric pattern of stripes.

The redesign was originally planned as a revamp before the invasion, to mark Japan’s loosening of its pandemic travel restrictions, and was presented at a press conference announcing the airline’s new route from Tokyo to San Jose, California.

However, Shingo Nishida, Zipair’s president, revealed at the press conference that Zipair clients had already been in touch with the airline, expressing their concern over the airline’s existing logo, which had been in use since 2018.

Russia has used “Z” to symbolize a putative victory in its invasion. The letter has been daubed on tanks and uniforms on the ground, and those supporting the Kremlin have used it to make their support public.

Read the full story here.

The leader of the Russian-annexed Ukrainian region of Crimea, Sergey Aksenov, has accused Kyiv of targeting drilling platforms in the Black Sea.

“Today at 8 a.m. in the morning the enemy has struck our struck at the drilling platforms of Chornomorneftegaz, Aksenov wrote in his telegram channel on Monday. “I am in touch with colleagues from the Ministry of Defense [of the Russian Federation] and the FSB, we are working on saving people.”

According to Aksenov, five people were rescued after the strike, three of which were injured, but search and rescue efforts for the remaining workers are ongoing.

CNN reached out to Ukraine’s Southern Command on the accusation but they declined to comment.

Two Ukrainian drilling platforms, the “Petro Godovanets” and “Ukraina” were seized by Russian troops in March 2014, when Moscow annexed Crimea. The platforms are used not only for drilling but also for reconnaissance, and in 2015 they were moved to the Halitsynske gas field, which lies 130 kilometers (80 miles) away from the Ukrainian city of Odesa.

Anton Alikhanov, governor of the Kaliningrad region, at the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 17.

Lithuania’s decision to ban the transit of sanctioned materials to Russia through the Kaliningrad region – Russia’s exclave in?the?European Union – is “unprecedented”?and?Russia considers it “illegal,” said Kremlin spokesman?Dmitry Peskov.

“We also consider it illegal,” Peskov said, adding that the Kremlin will need to analyze the situation carefully.?“It is part of a blockade, of course,” he said.

The list of the banned goods includes construction material, cement, metals and “a number of other goods important both for construction and for production,” according to Alikhanov.

Some background: Lithuania’s decision is the latest by an EU member state to sanction Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in February.

At the end of May, the European Union agreed to ban 90 percent of Russia oil imports by the end of the year, alongside other measures, European Council leaders said at the time.

“Agreement to ban export of Russian oil to the EU. This immediately covers more than 2/3 of oil imports from Russia, cutting a huge source of financing for its war machine,” Michel?announced in a tweet.

Meanwhile in the United States, the White House announced another round of sanctions targeting Russian government officials and elites close to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a series of new financial and diplomatic sanctions at the start of June.

The White House said in a statement that the latest sanctions are designed “to crack down on evasion and tighten our sanctions to enhance enforcement and increase pressure on Putin and his enablers.”

CNN’s Niamh Kennedy, Jeremy Diamond, Betsy Klein and Kate Sullivan contributed reporting to this post.

Natela Dzalamidze pictured during the semi-final match of the TEB BNP Paribas Tennis Championship Istanbul women's clay court tournament at the TTF Istanbul Tennis Center in Istanbul, Turkey, on April 23.

Russian-born tennis player Natela Dzalamidze has changed her nationality to Georgian to avoid the ban?Wimbledon?imposed on all Russian players following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

The doubles specialist, ranked No. 43 in the world, is now officially listed as having Georgian nationality on the WTA website and is eligible to compete with doubles partner Aleksandra Kruni? of Serbia when?Wimbledon?gets underway on June 27.

After Wimbledon announced the ban on all Russian and Belarusian athletes back in April, the ATP and WTA responded by removing all rankings points that players would have otherwise earned for their performance at the All England Club.

Some of tennis’ biggest stars, including men’s world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev and women’s world No. 6 Aryna Sabalenka, will not be competing at SW19.

In a statement published by?The Times, a Wimbledon spokesperson said they were unable to stop Dzalamidze, who competed under the neutral flag at the French Open, from changing her nationality.

Read the full story here.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg holds a press conference ahead of a NATO Defence ministers' meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on June 15.

As Russia’s war in Ukraine rages on, Western leaders have made clear that the country, and the rest of the world, must brace itself for the long haul.

Who said what?

In separate comments published Sunday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reiterated that Western governments must continue to support Ukraine to deter future aggression by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Stoltenberg told the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag that nobody knew how long the conflict would last but “we need to prepare for the fact that it could take years.”

“We must not cease to support Ukraine. Even if the costs are high, not only for military support, but also because of rising energy and food prices.”

Johnson, writing in the?Sunday Times?after his second visit to Kyiv on Friday, said Western allies must “steel ourselves for a long war, as Putin resorts to a campaign of attrition, trying to grind down Ukraine by sheer brutality.”

Volodymyr Zelensky and?Boris?Johnson?walk on Mykhailivs'ka Square, in Kyiv,?Ukraine, on June 17.

Both men stressed the need to avert future Russian aggression.

Stoltenberg said: “If Putin learns the lesson from this war that he can just carry on as he did after the Georgia war in 2008 and the occupation of Crimea in 2014, then we will pay a much higher price.”

Johnson asked what would happen if President Putin was free to keep all the areas of Ukraine now controlled by Russian forces. “What if no one was willing to lift a finger as he annexed this conquered territory and its fearful people into a greater Russia? Would this bring peace?”

The British Prime Minister added that through firm long-term support for Ukraine, “we and our allies will be protecting our own security as much as Ukraine’s and safeguarding the world from the lethal dreams of Putin and those who might seek to copy them.”

Read the full story here.

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell talks to the press during a Foreign Affairs Council meeting at the EU Council building in Luxembourg on June 20.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has called the Russian blockade of Ukrainian grain exports a “real war crime,” adding that the bloc’s sanctions on Russia have played no part in the global food crisis.

Speaking to journalists on his way to a EU Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said that “it’s not the European sanctions” that are “creating this crisis.”

Some background: Russia’s war in?Ukraine?could push up to 49 million people into famine?or famine-like conditions because of its devastating impact on global food supply and prices, the United Nations has said. Countries are scrambling to find a way around the blockade, and the US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin “absolutely has weaponized food” by blockading grain exports out of Ukraine.

A Russian soldier guards a pier with the grain storage in the background at an area of the Mariupol Sea Port, eastern Ukraine, on June 12.

Borrell’s remarks comes after Putin said that Russia’s actions in Ukraine are not responsible for the global food crisis and accused the United States of driving up food prices in his speech to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday.

“Famine in the poorest countries will be on the conscience of the US administration and the Eurocrats,” he said.

Minister hits back at Putin’s remarks: Borrell countered these claims Monday, saying that the “the problem comes from the Russian blockade of Ukrainian grain.” Countries who want to buy Russian fertilizers are free to so, Borrell said, reiterating that the bloc’s sanctions do not target food or fertilizers.

He added that he didn’t see the food crisis lasting “much longer,” expressing his hope that the UN “reaches an agreement” with Russia soon to unblock Ukrainian grain exports.

A Russian ballistic missile is reported to have hit the Saltiv streetcar depot in Kharkiv, northern Ukraine, on June 18.

Russian forces have stepped up the shelling of areas on the outskirts of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, but its ground forces did not make any attempts at breaking the defensive lines, Ukranian officials said.?

Shelling intensified in the past 24 hours, “in particular in the northernmost regions,” according to Oleg Sinegubov, the head of the Kharkiv regional military administration and the Ukrainian president’s office.

No fatalities had been reported but some people had been injured, Sinegubov added.

“On the line of contact in the Kharkiv region, the enemy is mainly focused on defense,”?Sinegubov said. “Our defenders hold their positions firmly.”

A CNN team in Kharkiv city heard several explosions Sunday night and Monday morning but noted it there was only a slight increase in the level of activity.?

Some background: As the battle for control of the northeastern city escalates, Amnesty International has accused Russia of war crimes in Kharkiv.

In a 40-page report published last week, the human rights group documented the alleged use of cluster munitions and other indiscriminate means of artillery.

The report came days after two American volunteers fighting for Ukraine – who have since been taken into detention by Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk – went missing on June 9 during a battle north of Kharkiv.

US citizens Alexander John-Robert Drueke, 39, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, from Hartselle, Alabama,?were interviewed by Russia’s RT channel at an internment center in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) on Friday after being captured last week, according to a report published by RT.

On Friday, short video clips surfaced on pro-Russian channels and social media appearing to show the men detained at an unknown location. At the time it was not clear who was holding them.

Separately, a more than 50-minute edited video was published on Saturday of Drueke and Huynh being interviewed by HelmCast, a pro-Russian Serbian nationalist YouTube channel.

The DPR did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the detention of Drueke and Huynh.

CNN is choosing not to broadcast the videos of US detainees because they show the men speaking under duress.

Russian forces have been able to seize the town of Metelkine, to the east of the strategic city of Severodonetsk, according to a regional official on Monday.

“Unfortunately, we do not currently control Metelkine near the regional center,” said Serhiy?Hayday, the head of the Luhansk Regional Military administration.

Russian forces have intensified their use of artillery and air strikes to target Ukrainian positions in and around Severodonetsk as the battle for the strategic city continues to drag on, Hayday added.

“They are working hard on the Severodonetsk industrial zone and the outskirts of the city,” Hayday said. “The same is true in the Toshkivka and Ustynivka districts.”

Some background: Severodonetsk lies in the heart of Donbas, a large industrial region in eastern Ukraine that has been the site of sporadic fighting since 2014, when Russian-backed separatists took control of two territories there – the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic.

Last week, Hayday said that Russian forces control most of Severodonetsk, adding that the “situation remains difficult.”

His remarks came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the fight for the city may determine the outcome of the war in the east of the country.

“Severodonetsk remains the epicenter of the confrontation in Donbas,” Zelensky said at the time.

“This is a very fierce battle, very difficult … Probably one of the most difficult throughout this war,” he added. “In many ways, the fate of our Donbas is being decided there.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gives a press conference on the EU membership applications by Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on June 17.

The European Union Commission said Friday that Ukraine?should be considered a candidate state.?It is now up to the 27 EU member states to decide whether or not they agree.

Here are key things to know about Ukraine’s bid to join the EU:

What is the process for becoming a part of the EU? On paper, the process is relatively straightforward. A country applies and the commission gives a verdict on whether or not it should be considered for candidacy.

As European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made clear on Friday, Ukraine will still have to meet a series of criteria before proper accession negotiations can begin, even if the EU 27 agree to accept its candidate status this week.

Then, when the leaders of the EU member states have agreed, it must then be ratified in the EU Parliament and by the legislative branches of each member state’s government.

How do EU countries feel about Ukraine joining the EU? This is where it starts to get complicated. While the EU and its 27 members have broadly supported Ukraine in its war effort, having a country that’s currently at war start the accession process raises all sorts of issues.

There are a number of candidate states that have been in the accession process for years, and have in some cases had their accession slowed down because of domestic political instability. One example of this is Turkey, whose application has been essentially frozen following fears over a backslide over the rule of law and human rights.

How long would it take? It really depends on what state Ukraine is in when the war ends. It seems highly unlikely that Ukraine will be anywhere near meeting the criteria to even start negotiations for a significant period of time after the end of the war. Aside from rebuilding, Ukraine will have to make the transition from a country operating under various degrees of martial law and curfews to a functioning democracy.

The average time for a country to join the EU is four years and 10 months, according to the London think tank UK in a Changing Europe.

Read more about Ukraine’s bid here.

Two?American volunteers fighting for Ukraine?were taken into detention by Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk after being captured last week, according to Russian state media.

Here are the latest headlines on the war in Ukraine:

Captured US citizens Alexander John-Robert Drueke, 39, and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, were interviewed by Russia's RT channel?at a detention center in the so-called?Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) on Friday, June 17, according to a report published on RT.

Two American volunteer fighters for?Ukraine?were?taken into detention by Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk after being?captured by Russian forces last week,?according to Russian state media.

US citizens Alexander John-Robert Drueke, 39, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, from Hartselle, Alabama, were interviewed by Russia’s RT channel?at a detention center in the so-called?Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) on Friday, according to a report published on RT.

Missing near Kharkiv: The two Americans went missing on June 9 during a battle north of Kharkiv and it was feared that they may have been captured by Russian forces, according to their families and a fellow fighter.?

Video appearances: On Friday, short video clips surfaced on pro-Russian channels and social media appearing to show the men detained at an unknown location.?At the time it was not clear who was holding them.

A State Department spokesperson told CNN Friday they “have seen the photos and videos of these two US citizens reportedly captured by Russia’s military forces in?Ukraine.”?

Separately, a more than 50-minute?edited?video was published on Saturday of Drueke and Huynh being interviewed by?HelmCast, a pro-Russian Serbian nationalist YouTube channel.?

Donetsk: In the interview, a man can be heard behind the camera revealing the location of their interview when he says “here in Donetsk” during a question to Drueke.?

Beaten while in detention: Drueke is also asked in the interview if he has any objections to how he has been treated since his capture and he reveals that he has been beaten a few times.??

Why their location is significant: The location of Drueke and Huynh’s detention is a potentially concerning development.?Russia has?a moratorium on the death penalty, whereas Donetsk uses firing squads to execute condemned prisoners, according to Russian state media RIA Novosti.

Foreign fighters: On June 9, a court in DPR sentenced foreign fighters,?two?British citizens?and a Moroccan?national to death after accusing them of being “mercenaries” for?Ukraine. The internationally unrecognized court in DPR said the men had a month?to appeal.?

Prisoner swap dashed: Hopes that a prisoner exchange between?Ukraine?and the pro-Russian separatists could free any foreign fighters detained in Donetsk were dashed after Denis Pushilin, the self-proclaimed head of DPR, said such exchanges were out of the question.

The Donetsk People’s Republic did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the detention of Drueke and Huynh.

CNN is choosing not to broadcast the videos of US detainees because they show the men speaking under duress.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the nation on June 19 from Kyiv, Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine should expect “greater hostile activity” from Russia as the European Union considers whether the country should be formally considered for candidate status in the wake of?Russia’s invasion.

Zelensky said Monday marks the start of a “truly historic week.”

Zelensky called a future response on?Ukraine’s candidate status “a fateful decision” for his country. He also said he was “convinced that only a positive decision meets the interests of the whole of Europe.”

Read more here.

Two people were killed, and 14 others injured after Russian forces on Saturday fired upon Novomoskovsk, a city in the Dnipropetrovsk region of?eastern Ukraine, according to a local official.

Mykola Lukashuk, the head of Dnipropetrovsk regional council, said on Telegram Sunday that eight people are in medical facilities being treated for burns, and four more are receiving outpatient treatment.

On Sunday, Russian occupation forces also shelled the border areas of the nearby Zelenodolsk and Apostolove communities as well as the village of Pershe Travnya in Kryvyi Rih.?No casualties or destruction was reported.??

Lukashuk said that on Sunday, there was fighting in the Kherson region near the Kryvyi Rih district.?

The rest of Dnipropetrovsk region had “a quiet day” and is free of Russian forces, according to Lukashuk.??

Bodycam footage?filmed by a soldier called "Rusak" on May 25?shows the incredible devastation all around the city of Lyman, Ukraine, as Russian troops move past destroyed buildings and down empty streets.

New video of the moment Russian forces took control of Lyman in?Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region last month surfaced on social media on Sunday.

The bodycam video —?filmed by a soldier called “Rusak” on May 25?— shows the incredible devastation all around the city as Russian troops move past destroyed buildings and down empty streets.

The Russian troops meet no resistance as they enter Lyman’s administrative building, its windows shattered from fighting and glass lying all around.??

Making their way up several flights of stairs to the roof of the building, a Russian soldier hesitates for a moment, before waving the Soviet victory banner.??

The?waving of the flag?is?then?shown?from another vantage point at ground level. “Rusak” radios into his commanders: “I’m going on a lunch break right now. I have done everything according to the plan. No losses. The enemy activity was insignificant.”

Some context: On May 30, the office of the President of?Ukraine?said in a statement that Lyman had been occupied, saying, “The city is temporarily under the control of Russian invaders.”

Russians take control: On June 7, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, using Lyman’s Soviet era name Krasny Liman, announced the city “was liberated from Ukrainian forces,” according to Russian state news agency TASS. The assault was led by General Mikhail Teplinsky, according to Russian state media.

Tactical retreat: Ukrainian forces say they made a tactical retreat from the city. Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk region military administration, said the “Ukrainian military remains in the Lyman direction, but in new fortified positions to deter the enemy.”

Lyman, an important rail hub, lays roughly 37 miles (60 kilometers) west of the strategically important Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk.

Ukrainians sing the national anthem during the first concert since the beginning of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, at the Odesa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, Ukraine, on June 17.

The National Academic?Opera and Ballet Theater in the southern port city of Odesa reopened on Friday for the first time since Russia’s invasion began, defying months of anguish and deadly shelling.?

The first concert began with?a solemn performance of the National Anthem of Ukraine, as the audience “rose from the first?chords of the orchestra,” read a press release from the opera house.?

The night of the reopening featured a performance by the Odesa National Opera orchestra and choir, the opera house said.??

The performances at Odesa Opera will be dedicated to the?Armed Forces of Ukraine, because thanks to them the public was “able to go to the theatre and artists can share their creativity,” the opera house said.?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the city on Saturday, a day after the reopening, and toured the frontlines and a hospital treating wounded soldiers, his office said. Zelensky said?Russian shelling in the Odessa region has recently killed at least 55 residents and destroyed several buildings.

Speaking exclusively to CNN, a former US serviceman?fighting with Ukrainian forces recounted?the battle he witnessed on June 9 when American volunteer fighters Alexander John-Robert Drueke and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh were reportedly captured by Russian forces.?

The man,?who asked to be identified with the code name “Pip,”?said his team was sent out on a mission east of Kharkiv where a?full scale Russian armored assault was underway.

Drueke?and Huynh fired a rocket-propelled grenade?(RPG) at a BMP vehicle — an infantry fighting vehicle — that was coming through the woods and destroyed it. But the team had to quickly withdraw as more than 100 Russian infantry began advancing and the American fighters found themselves in a village they previously thought was in Ukrainian hands.?

A photo of the two men emerged Thursday with their hands tied behind their back and in the back of a Russian truck.?

More background: On Wednesday, CNN reported?that Drueke, 39, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Huynh, 27, from Hartselle, Alabama, had been missing for nearly a week and there were fears that they may have been captured by Russian forces, according to their families and a fellow fighter. Drueke and Huynh had been fighting alongside Ukrainian forces north of Kharkiv.

CNN on Thursday reported?a third American?whom the State Department had identified as missing in action in Ukraine was US Marine veteran Grady Kurpasi. He served in the US Marine Corps for 20 years, retiring in November 2021.

Read more here.

CNN’s Kate Sullivan and Jonny Hallam contributed reporting to this post.?

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz gives an interview in Berlin, Germany, on June 17

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Friday that it is “absolutely necessary” to continue speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In an interview with dpa news agency, Scholz said: “It is absolutely necessary to speak to Putin. And I will continue to do so, as the French President will also.”

“And if you really believe that you will rob some land and then hope that the times will change and all the things will become normal again, this is a mistake. You have to withdraw your troops and you have to find an agreement with Ukraine which is acceptable and right for the people of Ukraine,” Scholz added.