July 22, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

We’ve wrapped up our live coverage for the day. You can read more about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine here, or scroll through the updates below.

Smoke rises above a town in Luhansk region, Ukraine, on July 12.

While Russian forces mount an essentially defensive operation in the south of Ukraine, they’ve adopted a more offensive posture elsewhere along the front line, according to updates from Kyiv’s military, regional leaders and Russian bloggers.

In Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, in particular, Moscow’s troops appear to have Ukraine firmly on the back foot.

Lysohor listed five locations in Luhansk where Russian forces had recently attacked.

A Ukrainian army spokesperson reminded TV viewers that Russia has assembled 100,000 soldiers to the east of an area between the towns of Lyman and Kupyansk. The towns are about 100 kilometers (62 miles) apart, north of Bakhmut on the eastern front.

“Although the situation is complicated, it is under our control,” said Serhii Cherevatyi, the military spokesperson.

Reports from Russia: Rybar, a Russian military blogging site, says Moscow’s forces have made territorial gains in the northeastern Kharkiv region, capturing a railway station in the village of Movchanove and expanding control around the nearby town of Lyman Pershyi.

It is not possible for CNN to immediately verify claims of battlefield gains or losses by either side, but it is notable that the DeepState mapping site also suggests modest Russian gains in the same area.

Also in the east, Ukrainian forces continue their efforts to capture higher ground around Bakhmut, but gains are small and hard to defend, according to reports.

Rybar reported the Ukrainian army has “once again managed to gain a foothold on the heights” near the town of Klishchivka, just south of Bakhmut. But, the Russian site reported, it had come “at the cost of significant losses.”

“The Ukrainian defense forces are holding the initiative (around Bakhmut), putting pressure on the enemy, and liberating Ukrainian land meter by meter,” Cherevatyi said.

The number of Wagner fighters in Belarus “may reach about 5,000,” according to Andrii Demchenko, a spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.

He noted that such a number of Russian mercenaries does not pose a direct threat to Ukraine, but the border guards are ready for any situation.?

“The situation on the border is fully under control,” he added.?

Serhiy Naiev, the commander of the combined forces, commented on the situation on the border with Belarus in a Facebook update Saturday. He said “the steps that the members of the “Wagner” PMC in Belarus are taking aim to put psychological pressure and intimidate the population of Ukraine.”

Naiev added that “in order to prevent enemy actions, five sections of roads leading to the state border with Belarus were destroyed over the last week.”?

He said Ukrainian fighters created and mined more than 60 forest landslides, adding that “more than two and a half thousand anti-tank mines were laid.”

Some background: Wagner fighters arrived in Belarus following a short-lived mutiny by the private military group against the Kremlin last month. On Wednesday, its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was apparently seen in a video greeting his fighters in the country.

The paramilitary group had served as a key cog in Russia’s war on Ukraine, but the future of its relationship with Moscow is now unclear.

Meanwhile, Belarusian forces will soon hold joint military exercises with?Wagner fighters?near the border with Poland, according to the country’s defense ministry.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky holds a press conference at the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 12.

In their phone call Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he asked NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg “to urgently convene” a meeting between Kyiv and members of the military alliance, due to Russia’s “aggressive steps” in the Black Sea.

Moscow has pulled out of a deal that allowed for the safe passage of Ukrainian grain exports during the war, throwing the near-future of the global food market into question.

Zelensky said a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council is urgently needed “for appropriate crisis consultations” and to decide on steps “to unblock and ensure the stable operation of the grain corridor.”

The Ukrainian leader said he expects the meeting to occur in a few days.

About the council: The NATO-Ukraine Council is the joint body where Zelensky formally meets with leaders from the alliance for crisis consultation, input on key issues and updates on Ukraine’s ongoing membership efforts.

The council was created at the 2023 NATO summit as part of a package of support and assurances bringing Ukraine closer to the alliance.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the counteroffensive’s slower-than-anticipated progress can be tied to?the operation?starting later than expected, as well as a lack of munitions. Meanwhile, Ukraine says it is holding off constant attacks from Russian forces in the east of the country, with both sides claiming “significant losses.”

Here are some of today’s developments:

The Tsel military garrison in central Belarus has seen a recent build-up of vehicles and equipment, according to satellite imagery from technology company Umbra.

Previous imagery from Maxar Technologies on July 16 showed only about 10 cargo trucks and five buses within the same storage area.

Overview of Tsel garrison,?Belarus, on July 16.

Overview of Tsel garrison,?Belarus, on July 21.

On Thursday, Belarus’ defense ministry said its forces will hold joint military exercises with?Wagner fighters?near its border with NATO member Poland.

At the beginning of July,?Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko?invited Wagner forces into Belarus to help train his country’s military. The invite came shortly after the failed armed insurrection by Wagner forces against Moscow, which Lukashenko was credited with helping diffuse.

On Wednesday, Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was apparently seen in a video greeting his fighters in the country.

Lukashenko arrived in Russia Saturday ahead of a planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin Sunday, according to state media.

?Personnel tents, Tsel,?Belarus, on July 16.

?Personnel tents, Tsel,?Belarus, on July 21.

Dozens of vehicles and equipment at vehicle storage garages, Tsel, Belarus, on July 21.

Russian strikes killed at least two people and wounded two others in the northeastern Kharkiv region Saturday, Ukrainian officials said.

A 57-year-old woman was among those killed when Russian shelling struck the city of Kupyansk, according to the Kharkiv regional prosecutor’s office. A business’ property was also damaged in the city, the office added in a Telegram post.

Russia also shelled the town of Dvorichna, just north of Kupyansk, the prosecutor’s office said.

And early Saturday on Telegram, Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, said a 30-year-old man was wounded by Russian shelling in Velykyi Burluk, east of Kharkiv city.

In areas surrounding Kupyansk, Ukraine’s fighters “reliably hold their positions,” Syniehubov said. “The enemy has not advanced.”

Two people were wounded in a Russian cluster munitions attack on the city of Druzhkivka in eastern Ukraine, the city’s military administration reported Saturday.?

The Druzhkivka military administration said about 12 private sector houses were damaged by the attack.?

Earlier today, German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) said a cameraman was wounded by shrapnel from a Russian cluster munitions attack in the same city. That attack killed a Ukrainian service member and badly wounded others, according to DW.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has arrived in Russia ahead of a planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Video from Belarus’ state media agency, Belta, showed Lukashenko arriving at the airport in St. Petersburg on Saturday. The two leaders are set to meet Sunday.

The meeting is expected to focus on “further development of Russian-Belarusian relations of strategic partnership and alliance, as well as integrational collaboration within the Union State of Russia and Belarus,”?according to Russian state media TASS.

Some context: Belarus is Russia’s closest ally. It is a subject of renewed focus in recent months as Moscow says it has moved some of its nuclear weapons to the country, and as Minsk says its forces will hold joint training exercises with the Wagner private military group in the wake of its failed rebellion against the Kremlin.

A cameraman for the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) was wounded by shrapnel from a Russian cluster munitions attack in Ukraine Saturday, DW said in a statement. The bombing killed a Ukrainian soldier and left others hurt, according to the international media outlet.

The broadcaster identified the cameraman as Yevhen Shylko, and said he was injured 23 kilometers (about 14 miles) from the front lines in the city of Druzhkivka, located in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. He was taken to the hospital and his condition is currently stable.

DW’s crew came under Russian fire Saturday afternoon while filming Ukrainian military training on the ground, according to the statement. DW said the attack killed a Ukrainian soldier and seriously wounded several others.?

DW Director General?Peter Limbourg expressed “deep gratitude to the reporters who continue to do their job covering the war, despite the shelling and the threat to their lives.”

CNN cannot immediately verify reports from the battlefield in Ukraine.

Remember: Cluster munitions are a controversial form of weaponry used by both the Russian and Ukrainian militaries. Cluster bombs scatter smaller “bomblets” over a wide area, making them a greater hazard to civilians, especially if they do not explode, according to critics in the more than 100 countries that have banned the weapons’ use.

The US recently decided to send cluster munitions to Ukraine for the first time, further highlighting the weapons’ role in Ukraine. Russia has vowed to retaliate to Kyiv’s use of US-supplied cluster bombs with its own stores of the weapons.

Ukrainian forces hit an?ammunition?dump in Crimea on Saturday, forcing an evacuation of the area and canceling train services, according to information from Russian-backed authorities.

It marks the latest in a series of recent strikes on Russian supplies and critical infrastructure in the Russian-occupied peninsula.

Videos posted on social media and geolocated by CNN shows thick black smoke rising not far from a railway station in the town of Oktiabrske in the center of Crimea. In one of the videos, at least three loud explosions can be heard.

Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian-installed head of the peninsula, said a drone had struck an?ammunition?storage facility, prompting him to order the evacuation of everyone within a 5-kilometer (about 3-mile) radius, as well as the cancellation of several train services.

There were no initial reports of casualties, he said.

Recent attacks on Crimea: The depot strike comes after a drone attack struck the bridge linking Crimea to Russia in the early hours of Monday morning, causing significant damage to part of the structure carrying road traffic.?

On Wednesday, an?ammunition?dump was hit in the east of the territory, also causing authorities to evacuate thousands of people living nearby. Unconfirmed reports suggested that attack might have been carried out using a Storm Shadow missile.

And on Thursday, one person was killed when a Ukrainian drone struck four administrative buildings in the northwest of Crimea, Russian-backed authorities said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly vowed to retake Crimea, which was declared annexed by Russia in 2014 in violation of international law.

Crimean Tatar official confirms evacuations: The leader of the Crimean Tatar national movement in Ukraine, Refat Chubarov — who is currently working from Ukrainian-controlled territory outside Crimea — said?residents of the town, which is Büyük Onlar in the Crimean Tatar language, were ordered to move to another village about 7 miles away after Saturday’s strike.?

“Residents of the village of Büyük Onlar, where explosions are intensifying as a result of a strike on the ammunition and military equipment warehouse of the Russian occupation army, are being urgently evacuated to the villages of the district,” Chubarov said.

Chubarov said some residents of?Büyük Onlar were ordered by Russians to move to?the village of Be?üyli, also called Piatykhatky.

Igor Girkin sits in a glass cage in a courtroom in Moscow's Meshchansky District Court on July 21.

Several pro-war Russian military bloggers have publicly questioned the decision to arrest Igor Girkin, a former official in the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic who had also covered the war online.

Blogger?Vladislav Pozdniakov, who leads an unofficial Russian men’s movement that advocates for Russian nationalism, noted that?Girkin served in Russia’s military in Bosnia,?Transnistria, Crimea and for two wars in Chechnya.

“Are we sure that everything is fine in our country?” he asked.

Another unofficial Telegram channel called “Mad about Z war”?wrote that?Girkin’s?detention “does not please at all.”

What we know so far: Girkin, a former KGB officer who helped Russia seize Crimea and was convicted of mass murder for his role in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine, was taken from his home in Moscow by security agents on Friday and charged with “extremist activity,” according to state media and a post on his Telegram account attributed to his wife.?

A judge in Moscow ordered him held in custody until September 18 as he awaits a trial, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

More background: Russia’s pro-invasion military bloggers play an outsized role in Moscow’s propaganda machine. They serve as unofficial war correspondents, relying on deep sources within Russia’s military, and they are often allowed unusual leeway — by Moscow’s standards — to criticize any perceived mishaps.

Girkin, who also goes by the nom de guerre Igor Strelkov, had in recent months taken his criticisms to another level. He has been?openly critical of Russia’s military in Ukraine and even Russian President Vladimir Putin himself, calling the leader a “lowlife” and “cowardly bum.”

Some military bloggers poked fun at Girkin following his detention, calling him a “grumpy old man.” But they also questioned his arrest, especially when Wagner private military group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin apparently remains free following an armed rebellion.

Daniil Bezsonov, a military blogger for the Russian-backed?Donetsk People’s Republic, said,?“People can have different opinions about Strelkov, but arresting him for extremism is overkill.”?

A Russian journalist has been killed and three others wounded in the part of Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region occupied by Moscow’s forces, according to Russia’s defense ministry.

The journalists, who worked for RIA Novosti and Izvestia news agencies, were traveling in a civilian car east of the town of Vasylivka when they came under artillery fire, RIA reported.

One of the four, RIA journalist Rostislav Zhuravlev, died during evacuation by Russian soldiers, the state-owned agency said. It described the condition of the other three as moderately serious but stable.

Russia’s defense ministry claimed the four had been struck by cluster munitions – a claim CNN is unable to verify. Ukraine has begun using US-supplied cluster bombs in combat, after Washington announced earlier this month that it would send them for the first time. US National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby said Thursday that Ukraine is using them “appropriately” and “effectively” on Russia’s defensive formations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a phone call with NATO Secretary General?Jens Stoltenberg on Saturday to talk about the agreements reached at the NATO summit in Lithuania last week, as well as the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal.

“We discussed the implementation of the agreements reached during the Vilnius summit and further actions regarding the integration of Ukraine into NATO,” Zelensky said in a tweet.?

“We shared assessments of the current situation in the Black Sea and the risks it poses for global food security,” Zelensky added. “We also identified with Mr. Stoltenberg the priority and future steps necessary for unblocking and sustainable operation of the Black Sea grain corridor.”

Stoltenberg also tweeted about the call, reiterating that “Ukraine is closer to NATO than ever before.”

What Ukraine was promised at NATO summit: Heading into the summit, Zelensky set his sights on a clear timeline of when Ukraine would be offered membership.

In its final communique, the military alliance claimed that “Ukraine’s future is in NATO” – but did not say when that future could start. The alliance, however, did make a major concession to Ukraine by removing a key hurdle in the application process: the requirement for a Membership Action Plan. The removal of this lengthy process will significantly streamline Ukraine’s membership bid once it is formally invited to apply.

The leaders of the G7 nations also unveiled a new declaration of support for Ukraine at the summit aimed at bolstering the war-torn country’s military capabilities.

The latest on the grain deal: On Monday, Russia said it was suspending its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, declaring it “terminated.” The deal, which was first brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July 2022 and renewed three times, is seen as key to global food security. Russia had repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the agreement, doing so for the first time in October 2022 and then?rejoining?a few days later.

On Friday, Zelensky said he “coordinated efforts” on restoring the deal in a phone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

CNN’s Christian Edwards and Betsy Klein contributed reporting to this post.

Tucked into a narrow tree line on?Ukraine’s southern front, a young Ukrainian soldier wearing an American flag patch talks about how frightening it was the first time his team assaulted the densely mined Russian positions in the offensive launched a month ago.

Nor did anyone really. After months of anticipation, Ukraine finally launched its “spring offensive” in early June.

Everyone knew it would be tough going for the Ukrainians, having watched Russia dig in and build up formidable defenses over months.

But even with no real expectation that the offensive would look like Ukraine’s lightning-fast advance around?Kharkiv last September, the hope among Western officials was that Ukraine would be farther along and more successful than they are right now.

But the offensive has proven?more challenging than many expected, even with an arsenal of new Western weaponry and equipment fueling the assault.

Read the full story here.

The leadership?of the British foreign intelligence service?“can be forgiven” for making a plea to Russian spies to share secrets and work with MI6,?Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said Friday — also referencing James Bond and the?Cambridge Five spy ring in its comments.

The SVR was responding to remarks by?MI6 chief?Richard Moore earlier this week, in which he appealed to Russians “wrestling with their conscience” to take a stand against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime and “share secrets with MI6.”

The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service further claimed that?“anyone who knows a little bit about this subject can remember that the Anglo-Saxons’ long-standing tradition is to eliminate well-worn traitors and defectors,” adding “this has not been done professionally for a long time, as there would be a clear trail.”?

The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service then made a reference to?Ian Fleming’s “James Bond” novels, saying M, who is James Bond’s boss in the series, “commands beautifully” and “intelligently.”

The SVR also referenced the?Cambridge Five spy ring and George Blake,?a double agent who used his position as an MI6 officer to spy for the Soviet Union?

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks as he attends a meeting with Ireland's Prime Minister Leo Varadkar at Horodetskyi House, on July 19, 2023 in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Ukrainian army’s ongoing counteroffensive is expected to “gain pace” after a slow start.

Speaking to the Aspen Security Forum on Friday, Zelensky blamed the slow progress on the operation having started later than expected, as well as a lack of munitions.

“We did have plans to start it in spring, but we didn’t, because frankly, we had not enough munitions and armaments and not enough properly trained brigades —?I mean, properly?trained?in these weapons,”?Zelensky?said.

“Definitely they had a bit more time than they needed because of that they built all of those lines. And really, they had a lot of mines on our fields because of that a slower pace of our counter offensive actions,”?Zelensky?explained.?

The Ukrainian president said despite the difficulties, his countrymen were making progress.?

Zelensky’s words came as Russian President Vladimir?Putin?said that the?West?is disappointed with the results of the Ukrainian counteroffensive.

“It is obvious that the?Western curators of the Kiev regime are clearly disappointed with the results of the so-called counter-offensive,”?Putin?said Friday, using the Russian name for Ukraine’s capital.

Some background: Since the Ukrainian 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.

Six?people?were?killed?and eight others were wounded following Russian strikes in eastern Ukraine, regional military administration officials said Saturday.

Donetsk region: On Friday, four?people?were?killed?and three were injured in Niu York in a Russian bombardment on the town, and two others deaths from a separate strike were reported in Druzhba, the head of Donetsk region military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said in a statement via Telegram.?

Authorities have launched an investigation into the deadly attack in Niu York, according to the Donetsk regional prosecutor’s office.?

Zaporizhzhia region: In addition, three?people?were injured from Russian artillery?in Nikopol, across the river from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Serhii Lysak, head of Dnipropetrovsk region military administration, said via Telegram, adding that eight homes and nine other building were damaged in the shelling.?

Kharkiv region: A 30-year-old man was wounded following Russian shelling in Velykyi Burluk in the Kupyansk district, according to Oleh Syniehubov, the head of Kharkiv region military administration.?

Kherson region: One person was also injured in the city of Kherson, Oleksandr Prokudin, head of Kherson region military administration, said via Telegram.

A view shows the section of a road split and sloping to one side following an alleged attack on the Crimea Bridge, that connects the Russian mainland with the Crimean peninsula across the Kerch Strait, in this still image taken from video released on July 17, 2023.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that the Kerch Bridge connecting Russia to Crimea serves as a lifeline for Moscow’s invasion and must be neutralized.

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 in a move that Ukraine, its allies and various international bodies condemned as illegal. Zelensky characterized the bridge as an extension of that Russian offense, calling it “an enemy facility built outside the law, outside international laws and all applicable norms.”

“So understandably this is our objective,” he continued. “Any target that is bringing war, not peace, must be neutralized.”?

The Ukrainian president also reiterated his government’s objective is to “reclaim the whole of the Crimea.”

“It’s our sovereign territory, an unalienable part of our nation,” he said.

More background: Ukraine has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed two people and wounded a third on the Crimean bridge earlier this week.

The nearly 12-mile crossing is the longest in Europe and holds huge strategic and symbolic importance for Moscow.

Monday’s attack was the second on the bridge since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, after a?fuel tanker exploded?while crossing it in October.

A source in Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) told CNN the most recent attack was a joint operation of the SBU and Ukraine’s naval forces. And earlier this month, Ukraine’s deputy defense minister made what appeared to be the?clearest admission yet?that Ukrainian forces were also responsible for the October attack.

Igor Girkin, who is also known as Igor Strelkov, former pro-Russian separatist military commander, attends a press conference of Russian nationalist group, known as the "Club of Angry Patriots," in Moscow, Russia, on May 12, 2023.

Well-known Russian military blogger and former official in the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic Igor Girkin has been remanded in custody until September 18 by a judge at the?Meshchansky District Court in Moscow, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported on Friday.?

Girkin, who also goes by the nom de guerre Igor Strelkov, has been openly critical of Russia’s military in Ukraine and even Russian President Vladimir Putin himself, calling the leader a “lowlife” and “cowardly bum.”

Girkin had asked the judge to place him under house arrest, arguing he is not a flight risk and claiming he has a heart condition.

The prosecution asked for Girkin to be remanded in custody, saying he was a flight risk and citing his connections to law enforcement agencies, Russian media also reported. In his statement to court, the prominent blogger argued he could not flee abroad.

Last year, a Dutch court found Girkin guilty of mass murder for his role in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 — which resulted in the death of the aircraft’s 298 passengers — and he was sentenced in absentia to life in prison.

“I am by no means going to hide from the investigation and am ready to defend my rights in court,” Girkin added. “I ask the court to take into account that I have been living permanently in Moscow for nine years and have never hidden from the Federal Security Service or other law enforcement agencies of Russia. That’s all I wanted to say.”