July 19, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage for the day has ended. Follow the latest Ukraine news?here?or read through the updates below.

Russia struck the city center of Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine on Thursday, according to Vitaliy Kim, the head of the Mykolaiv regional military administration.

At least nine people were wounded, including five children, he said. Among the wounded children were a 3-year-old and a child who was less than 1 year old.

Kim reported fatalities but did not specify how many. He also did not provide more details on the nature of the attack.

Russia attacked the southern port city of Odesa for the third night in a row, according to Ukrainian authorities.

At least two people were injured in the attacks, the head of the region’s military administration Oleh Kiper said in a post on Telegram.

At least eight Russian Tu-22M3 aircraft were “flying in the direction of the Black Sea,” the Ukrainian air force said early Thursday.

The air force warned that Russian supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles “were launched in the direction of the Odesa region.”

A CNN team on the ground witnessed a large explosion and heard the sound of other explosions.

Some background: Russian attacks over the previous two nights damaged the port infrastructure?in the city, officials said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday the attacks were the largest since the war began, and he accused Russia of trying to weaponize hunger and destabilize the global food market.

The president linked the strikes with Russia’s decision to pull out Monday of the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain initiative, which allowed Ukraine to export its grain via the contested body of water.

A TQ Samsun grain ship in the Black Sea in Istanbul, Turkey, on Monday.

Russia could target civilian ships in the Black Sea and blame Ukraine following the Kremlin’s decision to leave the Black Sea Grain Initiative, according to a spokesperson for the National Security Council.

Russia has laid additional sea mines in the approach to Ukrainian ports, spokesperson Adam Hodge said in a statement Wednesday. Earlier in the day, Russia’s Defense Ministry said any ship sailing toward a Ukrainian port would be considered as potentially carrying military cargo.?

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal brokered one year ago by Turkey and the United Nations, which allowed for the export of Ukrainian grain, expired Monday at midnight. The agreement guaranteed safe passage for ships carrying Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea to Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait.

In the days since the grain deal expired, Russia has targeted the port city of Odesa with missiles and drones, destroying agricultural infrastructure and 60,000 tons of grain, Hodge said.?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks on Odesa were the largest since the war began, and he accused Russia of trying to weaponize hunger and destabilize the global food market.

An explosion of ammunition at a military training field in Crimea, on Wednesday.

A series of explosions were reported at a Russian ammunition dump in occupied Crimea, forcing thousands of people to evacuate and prompting leaders there to redirect traffic. Russian President Vladimir Putin was briefed on the explosions.

According to Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian-backed leader of Crimea, “a fire occurred at a military training ground.” The head of Crimea’s parliament?said that?it could take two days to fully extinguish the blaze, according to Russian state media.?

Here’s what else you should know to get up to speed:

Russia has taken “fairly dramatic actions” since pulling out of the Black Sea grain deal and it would be “very hard at this point to get Russia back,”?according to David Harland, executive director of the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue.

Earlier Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said?the “continuation of the grain deal in the form in which existed has lost all meaning.” The Russian Ministry of Defense also announced all?ships?sailing in the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports will be considered potential carriers of military cargo, starting Thursday.?

When asked about what options still remain on the table, and remarks by Ukrainian officials about the possibility to continue shipments through?the Black Sea, Harland said it won’t be possible without Russia’s consent.?

There may be a chance that Russia agrees to “humanitarian shipments” only, if pressured by Turkish President?Recep Tayyip Erdogan and leaders of countries facing huge food supply shortages, like nations in Africa, Harland said. But he added he doubts the initial deal can be revived.?

“I doubt we are going to get back there. I think next time there will be a big deal, it will probably be?in the context of the deal that ends the war,”?he said.?

Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to have declared open season on Ukraine’s consequential grain exports, targeting the port city of Odesa with a new ferocity and jeopardizing worldwide food prices.

With the strikes on Odesa, Putin says he wants payback for damage to a nearly?12-mile bridge that connects annexed Crimea to the Russian mainland.

But they also coincide with Russia’s retreat from a yearlong deal known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative to keep Ukrainian grain flowing to the world.

Wheat and corn prices on global commodities markets jumped Monday after Russia pulled out of the deal, and they spiked again Wednesday after attacks on the ports in Odesa and as hope faded for Russia to rejoin the grain deal.

Turkey brokered previous versions of the grain deal and it?plans to host Putin?for talks in August.

Without a new grain deal, the options are to use railroads to ship Ukrainian grain to ports in Romania or in southeastern Europe. The problems in both of those scenarios are time and money, according to Simon Evenett, a professor of international trade and economic development at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. He?told CNN’s Rosemary Church?that ports in Romania are currently being expanded.

Church noted that China has come to rely on grain from Ukraine and wondered if Beijing?could lean on Russia to reenter the deal.

Evenett said it’s true that China has also suffered from droughts that have affected its domestic production.

Read more:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the United States and President Joe Biden for another defense support package.

Some context: The US committed to providing Ukraine with more air defense systems and attack drones in a $1.3 billion aid package, according to the Department of Defense.?

The package includes four more National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, which are medium-range air defense batteries that have already helped Ukraine withstand ongoing Russian barrages of missiles and drones. It is the same system used to protect Washington, DC, and the area around the nation’s capital.?

Vladimir?Putin during a meeting in Moscow, Russia on Monday.

Russian President Vladimir?Putin called the?West’s failure to comply with?Moscow’s demands to extend the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain initiative “arrogance and impudence,” and says his country would consider returning if conditions are met.

Moscow had shown “miracles of endurance and tolerance,” by continuously extending the deal in the past, the Russian president said.

“The West has done everything to derail the grain deal, they have not spared their efforts,”?he said, adding Russia was?obstructed from donating fertilizers to the poorest countries.

Putin?also said?Moscow?would?consider the possibility of returning to the deal if all the principles in it, without exception,?are?taken into account and implemented.

“The continuation of the grain deal in the form in which it existed has lost all meaning. That is why we objected to the further extension of this so-called deal,”?he said.?“All obstacles must be removed for Russian banks, financial institutions that aid the supply of food and fertilizers. This includes their immediate connection to the SWIFT international banking settlement system.”

“We don’t need promises and ideas in this regard. We need the fulfillment of these conditions,” he added.?

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky attending a meeting with Ireland's Prime Minister at Horodetsky House,in Kyiv, Ukraine, today.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says overnight Russian missile and drone strikes on Odesa were the biggest Russian attempt to “inflict pain” on the southern port city since the war began.?

“Throughout the day, maximum attention was paid to eliminating the consequences of the Russian terrorists’ attack on Odesa, on communities in the region, on Chornomorsk, on our ports,” Zelensky said in his daily address on Wednesday. “This was perhaps the largest attempt by Russia to inflict pain on Odesa in the entire period of full-scale war. Thanks to the air defense and all our defenders of the sky, the consequences of this strike are still less than they could have been.”

Zelensky linked the strikes with Russia’s decision to pull out of the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain initiative, which allowed Ukraine to export its grain via the contested body of water. Kyiv had signaled it wanted the United Nations and Turkey, which was also involved in the deal, to continue to oversee its implementation despite Russia’s withdrawal.

“This attack proves that their target is not only Ukraine, and not only the lives of our people. About a million tons of food is stored in the ports that were attacked today. This is the volume that should have been delivered to consumer countries in Africa and Asia long ago,” he said. “The port terminal that suffered the most from the Russian terror last night had 60,000 tons of agricultural products stored in it, which were intended to be shipped to China.”

“Everyone is affected by this Russian terror,” he added, thanking first responders.

He said his government was preparing for the Crimea Platform summit, which he asserted would put the region, declared annexed by Russia in 2014, closer to being returned to Ukraine.

The US has committed to providing Ukraine with more air defense systems and attack drones in a $1.3 billion aid package announced Wednesday, according to the Department of Defense.?

The package includes four more National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), which are medium-range air defense batteries that have already helped Ukraine withstand ongoing Russian barrages of missiles and drones. It is the same system used to protect Washington, DC, and the area around the nation’s capital.?

The latest commitment will give Ukraine a total of 12 NASAMS from the United States. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said last November that the NASAMS had a 100% success rate in intercepting Russian attacks.?

The latest package falls under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which is part of the long-term US commitment to provide aid to Ukraine. Unlike drawdown packages, which are pulled directly from Defense Department stocks and can be sent in relatively quickly, USAI packages are contracted with industry, a process which can take months or more.?

On Tuesday, following an international meeting of countries providing aid to Ukraine, Austin said, “Make no mistake: We are determined to support Ukraine’s fight for freedom for as long as it takes.”

The package also includes Phoenix Ghost and Switchblade attack drones, as well as counter-drone equipment.?

The sizable Ukraine aid package comes during Ukraine’s ongoing counter-offensive, which has faced stiff Russian resistance and widespread minefields, which have slowed its progress.?

The US is also expected to announce a separate aid package of about $400 million that will include more ammunition for the NASAMS, according to two US officials, as well as ammo for Patriot missile defense systems and HIMARS rocket launchers.?

The package will also contain more artillery ammunition, which officials have warned is in short supply, especially with the possibility of a prolonged Ukrainian counteroffensive that will drain current stockpiles.?

In addition, the package includes anti-tank and anti-armor weapons such as Javelins and TOW missiles, the officials said.

The officials cautioned the package has not been finalized yet and could still change. It could be announced as early as this week, one of the officials said.

Notably, the package is not expected to include more of the controversial cluster munitions, the officials said, which the US provided for the first time in the previous drawdown package announced earlier this month.?

The Biden administration decided to provide cluster munitions, known officially as dual-purpose improves cluster munitions, in part to meet the Ukrainian need for more artillery ammunition as the US and other countries ramp up their ammo production.

New Wagner camp in Belarus filled with vehicles as convoys continue to arrive near Asipovichy, Belarus.

About 72 hours after the first convoy arrived, hundreds of vehicles from Wagner Group convoys are filling a disused military base in Belarus, according to satellite imagery taken by Planet Labs PBC.?

The new image, taken around 6:29 a.m. Wednesday morning, comes less than eight hours after video was taken that showed a man — purportedly Wagner Group CEO Yevgeny Prigozhin — speaking with his troops at the camp.?CNN has geolocated the video, and determined it was likely shot just after sunset on Tuesday.?

The area in which the man is seen speaking is now covered in vehicles, an indication that another convoy arrived overnight.?

For days, videos have surfaced online showing 100-vehicle-long convoys traveling along major highways in Russia toward Belarus.?

CNN visited that military base at Osipovichi on July 7, at the invitation of the Belarusian government. Belarusian Maj. Gen. Leonid Kasinsky told CNN’s Matthew Chance at the time that the camp had been constructed for the training of Belarusian territorial defense and militia, but could also house Wagner fighters should they come to the country.

Archival satellite imagery reviewed by CNN shows dozens of tents were erected at the base, which had been vacant for years, just days after Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin backed down from his attempted insurrection last month.?

Belarusian leader Alexander?Lukashenko claimed to have brokered a deal between Prigozhin and Russian President Vladimir Putin.?Since then, Lukashenko has invited Wagner forces into Belarus to help train his country’s military.??

The following still is a screengrab from a video showing the silhouette of a man who appears to be Prigozhin. The still has been brightened to make the image clearer.

A video emerged on Wednesday that appears to show?Wagner?founder?Yevgeny Prigozhin?greeting his fighters in Belarus, in what would be his first public appearance since he led an?armed rebellion in Russia?last month.

“Welcome guys! I am happy to greet you all. Welcome to the Belarusian land! We fought with dignity! We have done a lot for Russia,” a man resembling and sounding like Prigozhin says in the video, which was posted on pro-Wagner Telegram channels on Wednesday and then shared on Prigozhin’s account.

Prigozhin’s rebellion posed one of the biggest challenges to the long rule of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He played a prominent role in the invasion of Ukraine and since the uprising his whereabouts have been unclear.

In the video, a fighter seemingly addresses the Wagner leader as “Yevgeny Viktorovich,” Prigozhin’s first name and patronymic. The video appears unedited and metadata on the file suggests it could have been created at dusk on Tuesday, July 18 or at dawn on Wednesday, July 19.

Some key context: The Belarusian Hajun Project, an activist monitoring group that tracks military activity in the country, reported on Wednesday that Prigozhin’s plane landed in Machulishchy, on the outskirts of the capital Minsk, at 11:05 a.m. local time, on July 18, and left at 12:15 a.m. local time on July 19, indicating the video was likely filmed on July 18. The video appears unedited and the metadata on the?file, as well as the position of the sun in the footage, suggests it was likely filmed at dusk on July 18.

The video is grainy and filmed in low light so CNN cannot definitively say the speaker is Prigozhin or when it was filmed.

CNN has geolocated the video to a previously disused military base in Asipovichy, roughly 80 kilometers (nearly 50 miles) southeast of the capital of Minsk. A CNN team visited this very same base on July 6.??

In the video, the individual seemed to maintain his criticism of the Russian Ministry of Defense’s planning and execution of military operations in Ukraine.

The person also goes on to suggest their stay in Belarus could be temporary and calls on his fighters to prepare to travel elsewhere.

Earlier on Wednesday, the UK’s intelligence chief told CNN that Prigozhin is alive and at liberty, and he claimed Russian President Vladimir?Putin?had no choice but?to?reach an agreement with the Wagner leader in order?to?end the short-lived rebellion.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday that all ships sailing in the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports will be considered as potential carriers of military cargo, starting on Thursday.?

The defense ministry’s announcement comes as the Russian Foreign Ministry said that, in withdrawing from the?Black Sean Grain Initiative, its government was removing guarantees for safe navigation in the Black Sea.

According to the ministry, the countries whose national flags fly on the vessels will be considered involved in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of Kyiv.

“A number of sea areas in the northwestern and southeastern parts of the international waters of the Black Sea have been declared temporarily dangerous for navigation,” the ministry added.?

More on the grain deal: Russia?said Monday it was suspending its participation in?a crucial deal?that allowed the export of Ukrainian grain. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov left the door open to reviving the deal in the future, saying Russia will comply “as soon as the Russian part (of the deal) is completed.”

Russia has for some time complained that it is being prevented from adequately exporting its own food, and Peskov cited that objection as the reason for pulling out of the deal.

Overnight Russian missile and drone strikes on Odesa damaged port infrastructure on July 19.

Overnight Russian missile and drone strikes on Odesa damaged port infrastructure that was being used as part of the UN-brokered Black Sea grain initiative, which Moscow pulled out of, the Ukrainian Agriculture Ministry said.

“The aggressor has once again proved that human values are an empty sound for it and that its words are not trustworthy,” the country’s Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi said on Wednesday, according to a ministry statement. “Grain terminals and port infrastructure in the ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk were attacked.”?

According to the ministry, it will take at least a year to fully restore the damaged facilities.

“This is a terrorist act not only against Ukraine but against the whole world. Its food security is once again under threat. Humanity is being held hostage by a terrorist country that is blackmailing the world with hunger,” the minister said. “The world must react firmly and according to the situation!”

Earlier Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of deliberately targeting infrastructure in the city associated with the Black Sea grain deal.

“Russian terrorists deliberately targeted the grain deal infrastructure, and every Russian missile is a strike not only against Ukraine, but against everyone in the world who wants a normal and safe life,” Zelensky?wrote on Telegram.

Most of the captured members of Ukraine’s Azov battalion, who are being tried in Russia’s southern district military court, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday, according to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti report from the court.?

“I don’t consider myself guilty,” most of the 22 defendants said, as reported by RIA.

According to RIA, several defendants partially admitted their guilt, confirming their participation in the Azov battalion, the rest stated that they would express their attitude to the prosecution during the debate of the parties.

More background: The Prosecutor’s Office of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic?(DPR) accused the captured Azov fighters of committing actions aimed at forcibly seizing power and changing the constitutional order.

Several defendants were also charged with organizing the activities of the Azov battalion, and most of them with participation in the activities of the battalion.?According to the investigation, all the defendants were taken prisoner during hostilities on the territory of the DPR from March to May 2022.

According to RIA, initially, there were 24 members of the battalion being judged but in June two were exchanged in a prisoner’s swap with Ukraine.?

The next court meeting will be held on August 9.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit in Johannesburg in late August via videoconference, Russia state media RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday citing the Kremlin.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed on Wednesday in a statement that Putin will not be attending the summit in person, adding that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would attend instead.?

The leaders of Brazil, India and China are still expected to attend in person.?

Since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, South African leaders have made contradictory statements over the country’s obligation to arrest Putin should he attend.??

As a signatory to the Rome statute, the treaty governing the Hague court, South Africa is compelled to arrest individuals indicted by the ICC.?

CNN’s David McKenzie and Catherine Nicholls?contributed reporting to this post.

A United Nations official carries out an inspection of grain aboard the cargo ship TQ Samsun, which traveled from Odesa, Ukraine, while the ship lays anchored in the Black Sea near Istanbul, Turkey, on Monday, July 17.

Turkey’s chief presidential adviser told CNN’s Eleni Giokos that Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea grain deal was not in retaliation to Turkey’s support for Sweden’s bid to join NATO.?

“We are very closely working together with all the parties there, but also with the Russian Federation, and I don’t believe that is that there’s friction regarding the NATO Summit,” he added.

Some background: Turkey approved Sweden’s bid to join the military alliance on July 11, which made the alliance complete a historic expansion in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Turkey had previously spent months blocking Sweden’s application, accusing it of hosting Kurdish militants. As one of NATO’s 31 members, Turkey has a veto over any new country joining the group.

The movement on NATO’s accession comes after months of opposition and demands from Ankara. Turkey claimed that Sweden allows members of recognized Kurdish terror groups to operate, most notably the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Turkey had also accused Swedish officials of complicity in Islamophobic demonstrations, such as the burning of the Quran.

British intelligence chief Richard Moore speaks at an event in Prague, Czech Republic, on July 19.

The head of Britain’s foreign intelligence service used a rare speech in Prague Wednesday to issue a plea to disaffected Russians to spy for the UK.?

Speaking in Prague, Richard Moore appealed to Russians “wrestling with their conscience” to take a stand against the Putin regime and offered them the opportunity to “share secrets with?MI6.”

Moore also issued a warning to African states that are connected to the private mercenary army Wagner, saying if its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin could “betray” Russian President Vladimir Putin then it will betray them in turn.

“The?truth is that Russia has no interest in peace or stability and African countries,” he said, adding Moscow “requires active complex, and weak states, which the Kremlin views as targets to be controlled, and exploited in a new Russian imperialism.”

The Kremlin was recently startled by a short-lived insurrection led by Wagner chief Prigozhin. The incident marked the greatest challenge to Putin’s authority in 23 years.

What Russia is saying: In response to Moore’s open plea for Russians to become spies,?Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria?Zakharova said that any citizens disaffected by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime who are tempted to spy for Western intelligence should think again.?

Zakharova warned of an outcome such as that of Sergei Skripal, a former officer in Russia’s?military intelligence agency, GRU. In March 2018, Skripal, convicted in Russia for treason, and his daughter Yulia were poisoned in Salisbury, England, according to UK authorities. Moscow has denied any involvement as the?Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there was lack of any evidence of Russia’s guilt in the case.?

“As for ‘open doors and keeping secrets’, you perhaps would be believed if you showed us the Skripals. Usually those who believe you and trust you, end up being destroyed by you in the first place,” Zakharova said in a statement posted on her Telegram channel on Wednesday.

Zakharova also made light of Moore’s claims that Russia will not be able to regain momentum in the war.??“If Russia had a ‘little chance’ to regain ground, you, Richard Moore, wouldn’t make such a fuss,” she said.?

The UK’s intelligence chief has said that?Iran’s decision to supply Russia with drones for use in the war in Ukraine has triggered “internal quarrels” at the “highest level” of the regime in Tehran.?

“Iran?has chosen to receive cash and presumably to receive some military know how in return to support the Russians,” Moore added.?

The intelligence chief described?Iran?as an “accomplice” of Russia, calling its decision to supply arms to Russia an “unconscionable” act.??

Some context: Iran?has denied accusations of supplying drones to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine, only acknowledging providing drones to Russia before the war started.

Last month, National Security Council official John Kirby said the US believes that an attack drone manufacturing plant Russia is building with Iran’s help could be fully operational by early next year.

CNN’s Natasha Bertrand contributed reporting to this post.

A firefighter works at the site of a storage facility hit during Russian missile and drone strikes in?Odesa, Ukraine, on July 19.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia is deliberately targeting infrastructure associated with the Black Sea grain deal, after Moscow’s decision to withdraw from the pact.

Meanwhile, the head of Britain’s MI6 has told CNN that Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is alive and at liberty since undertaking a 24-hour mutiny against the Kremlin.

Below are the latest developments:

A grain terminal in a sea port is seen damaged after Russian missile and drone strikes, at an undisclosed location in?the Odesa?region of Ukraine, on July 19. Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry via Facebook/Handout/Reuters

The Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday claimed that its overnight attacks on Odesa, in southern Ukraine, targeted military and fuel infrastructure.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that Russia?“deliberately targeted the grain deal infrastructure.”?Russia’s attack damaged an unspecified “industrial facility” as well as “a grain and oil terminal” at Odesa’s port, the?head of Odesa’s regional military administration said.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that it “launched a group strike with high-precision sea and air-based weapons on military industry facilities, fuel infrastructure and ammunition depots of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near the city of Odesa, as well as on the Kanatove air base of the Ukrainian Air Force in the Kirovohrad region.”

The Russian Defense Ministry said that “all assigned objects are hit.”?

What Ukraine is saying: The Ukrainian Air Force claimed to have “destroyed” 14 of 31 cruise missiles fired at the country overnight, and 23 of 32 Shahed attack drones.

More context:?It marks the second consecutive night of Russian airstrikes on Odesa. Russian forces targeted the port city Tuesday in what Moscow said was retaliation for Kyiv’s attack on the Crimean bridge linking the annexed peninsula to Russia.

Smoke and flames rise from an explosion during a fire at a military training ground in Crimea’s Kirovsky district, on Wednesday, July 19.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been briefed on the explosions at a reported Russian ammunition dump in occupied Crimea, the Kremlin spokesperson told reporters on Wednesday, as thousands are evacuated from the area.

“This has been reported to the president,” Dmitry Peskov said in response to a reporter question about a fire at the training ground where the ammunition dump is reportedly located.

Peskov said the the Russian-installed leader of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, “responded very quickly.”

“We know there was a fire. Urgent measures are being taken, the situation is being clarified. For now, I can’t say more.”

Rolling explosions force mass evacuation: The explosions have forced thousands of people to evacuate and prompted leaders there to redirect traffic away from a local highway.

Videos on social media show cascading explosions at the site near Stary Krym in Crimea’s Kirorvsky district.

The Russia-backed leader of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov,?said on Telegram that “a fire occurred at a military training ground.”

The original cause of the fire is not known. The well-known Grey Zone Telegram channel?suggested that?a Ukrainian Storm Shadow missile was responsible for the strike, but there is no official corrobration of that claim. An insurgent Ukrainian group in Crimea, Atesh,?celebrated the fire but said that it was not responsible.

The Rybar Telegram channel?said that?the first explosions were heard in the 4 a.m. local time (Tuesday 9 p.m. ET).

Explosions continue to be heard six hours after the original reported explosions,?a correspondent for Russian state media TASS reported. The head of Crimea’s parliament?said that?it could take two days to fully extinguish the blaze, according to Russian state media.?

Both the Grey Zone Telegram and Atesh referred to the site as an ammunition dump. That claim is supported by the cascading explosions that can be seen in the social media videos.

Askenov said that residents of four surrounding villages – more than 2,000 people – were being evacuated.

Smoke billows at a storage facilities site hit during Russian missile and drone strikes in?Odesa, Ukraine, on July 19.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that in attacking Odesa, Russia was deliberately targeting infrastructure associated with the Black Sea grain deal following its decision to withdraw from the initiative on Monday.

“Russian terrorists deliberately targeted the grain deal infrastructure, and every Russian missile is a strike not only against Ukraine, but against everyone in the world who wants a normal and safe life,” Zelensky?wrote on Telegram.

“The military was instructed to strengthen the protection of people and port infrastructure, and the foreign ministry was instructed to intensify contacts with partners to increase pressure on the terrorist state and continue normal exports of Ukrainian grain.”

It comes after Zelensky’s chief of staff said Russia’s?second night of attacks on Odesa?shows Moscow needs “hunger and problems in the countries of the Global South.”

Ukraine’s Air Force said that for the second night in a row, Russia targeted Odesa with a barrage of cruise missiles and Shahed attack drones.

“The Russian terror of Odesa proves once again that they need hunger and problems in the countries of the Global South,” Andriy Yermak said on Telegram.

“They want to create a refugee crisis for the West. Everything is done to weaken allies and politically interfere in the internal affairs of these countries.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Russian President Vladimir?Putin?had no choice but?to?reach an agreement with Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in order?to?end a short-lived rebellion last month, the head of Britain’s MI6?told CNN.

“He really didn’t fight back against Prigozhin, he cut a deal?to?save his skin, using the good offices of the leader of Belarus. So even I can’t see inside?Putin’s head,” Richard Moore said.??

“If you look at?Putin’s behaviors on that day, Prigozhin started off I think, as a traitor at breakfast. He had been pardoned by supper and then a few days later, he was invited for tea. So, there are some things and even the chief of MI6 finds that a little bit difficult?to?try and interpret, in terms of who’s in and who’s out,” he added.

Status of Prigozhin: The head of MI6 also said that Wagner chief Prigozhin is?alive?and?at?liberty?since the insurrection. The Wagner leader is “floating around,” Moore said.

However, Putin is clearly under internal pressure, the intelligence chief added.

“You don’t have a group of mercenaries advance up the motorway towards Moscow and get to within 125 kilometers of Moscow unless you have not quite predicted that?was going to happen. So I think he probably feels under some pressure.”

A crater made during Russian missile and drone strikes is seen in?Odesa, Ukraine, on July 19.

Russia’s second night of attacks on Odesa shows Moscow needs “hunger and problems in the countries of the Global South,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff has said.

Ukraine’s Air Force said that for the second night in a row, Russia targeted Odesa with a barrage of cruise missiles and Shahed attack drones.

The attacks on the Black Sea port city come after Moscow pulled out of a key UN-brokered grain deal this week, drawing condemnation from Ukraine, the United States and their allies.

Yermak said that Ukraine’s allies should limit Russia’s access to components needed for weapons manufacture, and called for more long-range weapons to be sent to Ukraine.

He also called on countries in the Global South to support Ukraine’s proposals for expelling Russia from Ukraine and achieving peace.

British intelligence chief Richard Moore speaks in Prague, Czech Republic, on July 19.

Britain’s?intelligence?chief?has said he is “optimistic” Ukraine will prevail in its war against Russia, whose forces have lost momentum on the battlefield.

Richard Moore said?Ukraine has “recovered more territory in a month than the Russians managed to achieve in a year” and that?“there appears to be little prospect of the Russian forces regaining momentum.”

It will be up to Kyiv to “define” the end of the war, as “most conflicts end in some kind of negotiation,” he added during a speech in Prague Wednesday.?

Moore’s words come as Ukraine continues its spring counteroffensive against Russian troops. Since the counteroffensive began in June, the fighting has proved tougher than some anticipated,?with progress being measured in hundreds of meters as opposed to tens of kilometers.

Ukraine had hoped to use the push to expel a significant amount of Russian forces from Ukrainian soil and turn the tide of the war.

Belarusian President Alexander?Lukashenko?speaks during a meeting with high-ranking military officers in Minsk, Belarus, on June 27.

The Foreign Affairs committee of the European Parliament has urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to consider an arrest warrant for Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko over the country’s role in the Ukraine war.

In a new report, the committee also called on the Belarusian regime to release all political prisoners, and expressed concern over the country’s subordination to Moscow, the committee said Tuesday in a news release.

The report also “calls on the EU institutions and member states to take all necessary steps at international level to enable the criminal prosecution of those Belarusian political and military leaders responsible for crimes against humanity and genocide.”

The ICC in March issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian official Maria Lvova-Belova for an alleged scheme to deport Ukrainian children to Russia.

A resident walks with a dog next to an apartment building damaged during Russian strikes near?Odesa, Ukraine, on July 19.

Russia’s aerial assault on Odesa overnight into Wednesday was “one of the most horrible nights” of the war, the southern Ukrainian city’s mayor said.

There were no casualties, but the city was rocked by explosions and several people were injured by a downed Russian missile, officials said.

“We are getting stronger from our righteous fury! We are grateful to the air defense system. It was a fierce air battle,” Trukhanov?said.

CNN journalists in Odesa heard an intense bombardment around 2 a.m. local time.

Ukraine’s Air Force said that for the second night in a row, Russia targeted Odesa with a barrage of cruise missiles and Shahed attack drones.

The attacks on the Black Sea port city come after Moscow pulled out of a key UN-brokered grain deal this week, drawing condemnation from Ukraine, the United States and their allies.

In a Telegram post, Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa regional military administration said fires broke out after Russian strikes hit a grain and oil terminal and other industrial facilities.

Several civilians, including a 9-year-old boy, were injured after air defenses shot down a cruise missile, he said.

An apartment building damaged during Russian missile and drone strikes is seen near?Odesa, Ukraine on July 19.

Russian forces launched more than 60 airstrikes at Ukraine overnight, with the “main focus” of their attack targeting the southern Odesa region, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement Wednesday.

The Russian barrage included Kalibr, Kh-22 and Oniks cruise missiles, and Iran-made Shahed-136/131 UAVs, the Air Force said.

Ukrainian air defenses destroyed 14 cruise missiles and 23 drones, it added.

Some context: It marks the second consecutive night of Russian airstrikes on Odesa. Russian forces targeted the port city Tuesday in what Moscow said was retaliation for Kyiv’s attack on the Crimean bridge linking the annexed peninsula to Russia.

More than 2,000 people were evacuated in Crimea Wednesday after a fire broke out at a military training ground, the peninsula’s Moscow-backed governor said Wednesday.

In a Telegram post, Crimea Gov. Sergey Askenov said residents of four villages in Kirovske district would be temporarily evacuated. The blaze also caused traffic disruptions, he said.

It is unclear what caused the fire.

The incident comes two days after Ukraine attacked the strategic and symbolic Crimean bridge linking the annexed peninsula to Russia.

Russia attacked Odesa early Wednesday for a second straight night. A CNN team in the southern city witnessed a sustained barrage from the air defense near the direction of the port.

It comes after Russian forces launched airstrikes on Odesa Tuesday in what Moscow said was retaliation for Kyiv’s attack on the Crimean bridge linking the annexed peninsula to Russia.

Meanwhile, a senior Russian diplomat said Moscow would be prepared to return to the critical Black Sea grain deal if its demands are met by international partners.

Here’s what else you should know:

Ukraine’s Air Defense repelled Russian airstrikes on Kyiv early Wednesday, the region’s military administration said in a Telegram post.

The air alert is ongoing, the Kyiv city military administration in a Telegram post.

“Air defense is operating in the region, on the outskirts of Kyiv city. Stay in shelters until the air raid is over!,” said Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv city military administration.

Explosions were heard in the capital, ?Mayor?Vitali Klitschko said.

A CNN team in Odesa witnessed a sustained barrage of air defense toward the southwest of the city, in the direction of the port.

Russia launched an attack on Odesa early Wednesday, the second night in a row the southern port city has been targeted.

Ukraine’s air defenses were repelling a Russian attack, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Odesa military administration said.

A CNN team in Odesa witnessed a sustained barrage from the air defense near the direction of the port. The team also heard at least three large bangs.

Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa region’s military administration, urged people not to come close to windows.

Russian forces launched airstrikes on Odesa Tuesday in what Moscow’s Defense Ministry said was retaliation for Kyiv’s attack Monday on the strategic and symbolic Crimean bridge linking the annexed peninsula to Russia.

Gennady?Gatilov?attends a briefing on the Black Sea grain deal in Geneva, Switzerland on April 26.

Russia would be prepared to return to the Black Sea grain deal if Moscow’s demands are met by international partners,?according to Russia’s permanent representative at the United Nations headquarters, Gennady Gatilov.

In remarks published on the Russian Foreign Ministry Telegram channel Tuesday in response to a question from Reuters, Gatilov claimed the deal had deviated from its “intended humanitarian purposes.”

Gatilov said the UN had “tried on its part to urge the Western governments and business structures to implement the Russian-UN Memorandum.”

“However, despite the efforts, the leadership of the UN Secretariat could not overcome the resistance of the Western countries and private companies, on which depended the fulfillment of our demands,” he said.

Two civilians were killed and seven others injured by Ukrainian shelling Tuesday in parts of separatist-controlled areas of the Donetsk region, a Russia-backed official said.

“Another seven people were wounded in Donetsk, Makiivka and Staromikhailivka, including a 17-year-old boy,” the post added.

Several homes, two schools and a hospital were damaged by the shelling, he said.?

Ferry crossings across the Kerch Strait, which separates Crimea from Russia, have been suspended, the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia in the Republic of Crimea announced on Tuesday.

The announcement follows an apparent strike Monday by Ukrainian forces on the bridge, which damaged the road.

In addition to ferry crossings being suspended, there are severe traffic delays on the bridge that connects Russian to the annexed Crimean Peninsula and which is an important supply line for Russian forces.

Hanna Maliar attends a ceremony in Kyiv, Ukraine on June 23.

Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar says Ukraine is creating conditions to continue advancing along the southern front.

“Remember the liberation of Kherson — it also took more than one day,” she added.

Her comments were supported by the commander of the Tavria Joint Forces Operation, Brig. Gen. Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, who said Ukraine was making gains along the southern front.

“Fighting continues in the Tavria sector, with the Ukrainian Defence Forces gaining ground in some areas and the enemy retreating,” he wrote in Telegram.

“Over the last day, the enemy’s losses in killed and wounded amounted to more than three companies. Forty-one units of enemy military equipment were destroyed,” he added. “Four enemy ammunition depots were also destroyed.”

Ukraine also claimed gains in the east, around Bakhmut, and said it had stopped Russia’s push near Kupyansk.

“The enemy’s offensive in the Kupyansk sector is currently unsuccessful. Fighting continues, but the initiative is already on our side,” Maliar said in a Telegram post on Tuesday. “On the southern flank around Bakhmut today, as in all previous days, there was an advance of our troops.”

The Ukrainian counteroffensive is “far from a failure” despite moving slower than anticipated, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said Tuesday.

Milley also said Ukraine has a “significant amount of combat power not yet committed” to the counteroffensive.

“I will not say what’s going to happen in the future, because that’s going to be a Ukrainian decision as to where and when they commit their reserve, etc,” he said. “Right now they are preserving their combat power, and they are slowly and deliberately and steadily working their way through all these minefields.”