August 16, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

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

Russian shelling in the Kherson region and Dnipropetrovsk region killed two and wounded several people, officials said Wednesday,

One person was killed and another one was injured as a result of shelling in the Kherson region, according to the?region’s military administration.?

In Ukraine’s?Dnipropetrovsk region, one civilian was killed and six were injured as a result of Russian shelling, local Ukrainian military official said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian shelling killed one person and injured two others in the self-proclaimed?Donetsk People’s Republic, according to a local leader.

Here are the latest developments:

Anatoly Antonov, the Russian ambassador to the United States, speaks at an event in San Francisco on November 29, 2017.

Anatoly Antonov, the Russian ambassador to the United States, called on US politicians and the media to “stop playing” with the fate of prisoners and let the authorized bodies of the two states deal with exchange issues.?

Antonov noted that Russia is urging the United States to stop “hunting” for Russians in other countries and consider the return of all Russian citizens held in American prisons a priority.?

Antonov’s comments come as?US Secretary of State Antony?Blinken?spoke by phone?on Wednesday?with American Paul Whelan,?who is being held in a remote prison camp in Russia.

Ukraine is hoping to take part in the G20 summit in September although Kyiv has not been invited to the summit in India,?Deputy Foreign Minister Nikolay Tochitsky said Wednesday.?

Some background: The deal allowed Ukraine to export grain by sea, with ships bypassing a Russian blockade of the country’s Black Sea ports and navigating safe passage through the waterway to Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait in order to reach global markets.

Vessels were inspected before they arrived in Ukraine by Russian, Ukrainian and Turkish officials, to ensure weapons were not being smuggled into Ukraine.

It proved vital for stabilizing global food prices and bringing relief to the developing countries which rely on Ukrainian exports. The impact of the war on global food markets was immediate and extremely painful, especially because Ukraine is a major supplier of grain to the World Food Programme.

Russia pulled out of the deal last month.

Paul Whelan stands inside a defendants' cage during a court hearing in Moscow on October 24, 2019.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone Wednesday?with American Paul Whelan,?who is being held in a remote prison camp in Russia, a source familiar told CNN.

The top US diplomat told Whelan to “keep the faith and we’re doing everything we can to bring you home as soon as possible,” the source said of the call. This is the second time Blinken has spoken to Whelan, who has been detained in Russia for more than four years, the source said.

Whelan told his parents that “he was able to have a long, frank conversation with Secretary Blinken,” his brother David Whelan told CNN. David Whelan did not have further details about the call.

Whelan,?who is deemed wrongly detained by the US government,?is able to make calls from his prison camp in Mordovia, but the source would not get into further details about how the call to Blinken came about.

The conversation comes as the Biden administration continues to reiterate to Russia the serious proposal that it put on the table for Whelan’s release more than eight months ago. Russia has not responded in a substantive way, two administration officials told CNN.?

Despite the Whelan proposal “absolutely” still being one that the US considers a live offer, explained one senior administration official, the lack of a substantive Russian response – along with the wrongful detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich earlier this year – has forced the US to continue efforts to search for another offer to put on the table.?

The senior administration official said that it “remains a necessity that we figure out how to resolve this.”

Both?Whelan and Gerschkovich have been designated as wrongfully detained by the US government.

Read more on the Whelan story

Ukrainian shelling killed one person and injured two others in the self-proclaimed?Donetsk People’s Republic, according to a local leader.

“Today, Ukrainian armed formations shelled Donetsk, Yasynuvata and Horlivka. One person was killed and two were wounded,” DPR head Denis Pushilin said.

Pushilin said there was damage to civilian infrastructure and claimed that cluster munitions were used in the shelling.

Some background: CNN could not verify Pushilin’s claims about the casualties or the munitions used. However, two US officials and another person briefed on the matter said at the end of July that Ukraine has started firing the?US-provided cluster munitions?as part of its counteroffensive efforts.

The controversial weapons scatter “bomblets” across large areas, some of which could fail to explode on impact and can pose a long-term risk to anyone who encounters them, similar to landmines.

Destruction after Russian drone attacks at Ukraine’s port of Reni in the Odesa region on August 16.

An overnight drone attack in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region marked the seventh time Russia has targeted Ukrainian ports since Moscow pulled out of the Black Sea Grain initiative, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.?

The drone attack on Reni damaged warehouses and granaries, said Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa regional military administration. No casualties were reported, he said.

Small ports on the Danube have become vital for Ukrainian grain exports following the collapse of the?Black Sea grain deal?last month. Ukrainian officials say Russian forces are deliberately targeting port infrastructure on the river as part of efforts to block the exports — posing a threat to food security in developing nations that rely on Ukrainian grain.

One civilian was killed and six were injured as a result of Russian shelling in Ukraine’s?Dnipropetrovsk region on Wednesday, a local Ukrainian military official said.

The majority of the casualties were in the?Mezhivskyi district, which is about 160 km (99 miles) from Dnipro city and borders the Donetsk region.

“There is also a lot of destruction. Three fires broke out, which rescuers have already extinguished,” said Serhii Lysak, head of the Dnipropetrovsk region military administration.?

An agricultural enterprise, an educational institution, 49 private homes and cars were damaged, he said.?

Mykola Lukashuk, head of the Dnipropetrovsk region council, said the person who was killed was an 18-year-old man, and among the injured was a?2-year-old girl.?

“She and one of the wounded who were hospitalized.?The girl is feeling well and is at home now,”?Lukashuk said.?

Russian forces also shelled the?Nikopol and the Marhanets community with heavy artillery, said?Lysak.?

“A 63-year-old man was injured. He received a mine-blast trauma and a shrapnel wound. He was hospitalized in moderate condition,” Lysak said.

Cafes, over a dozen residential and other buildings, cars and power lines were damaged, he said. Forty?solar panels were also smashed, he said.?

One person was killed and another one was injured as a result of Russian shelling in the Kherson region on Wednesday, according to the?region’s military administration.?

“In the village of Lvove, a 54-year-old local resident who was on the street was killed by a Russian strike,” the administration said in a Telegram post.?

“In Kherson, the occupiers shelled a residential building. A 71-year-old man was wounded and hospitalized,” it added.?

Motorists queue at the ?umskas border crossing point between Lithuania and Belarus on August 12.

Belarusian border force on Wednesday slammed Lithuania’s decision to temporarily suspend operations at two border checkpoints between the countries due to concerns about Wagner forces, describing it as “another unconstructive and unfriendly step of our neighbors.”?

Lithuanian Interior Minister Agn? Bilotait? said earlier that the closure of the two border checkpoints was in response to the recent relocation of Wagner forces to Belarus.

Belarusian border force called Lithuiana’s reasoning “far-fetched.”

“In fact, the Lithuanian authorities are using any pretext to not only prevent the movement of goods, but also to reduce the flow of Lithuanians traveling on a visa-free basis,” the force added.

It also blamed the Lithuanian government for “purposefully and deliberately” creating “artificial barriers on the border for the sake of its political ambitions.”

More context:?The ?umskas and Tvere?ius border checkpoints will be temporarily suspended beginning on Friday. The country shares six border checkpoints with Belarus, according to the news release.?

The European Commission has announced $147 million (135 million euros) in funding for Ukraine and Moldova — money that was originally earmarked for Russia and Belarus.?

In its daily news bulletin posted on Wednesday, the EU said it had decided to transfer the money from its?Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument?fund that was originally intended for Russia and Belarus to programs in Ukraine and Moldova instead.?

“I am glad that the funds we had initially planned for this cooperation will now benefit the EU’s programmes with Ukraine and Moldova,” she added.?

The bloc said this injection of additional funding would afford Ukraine and Moldova the opportunity to develop for example cross border transport links and reinforce the “institutional capacity of Ukrainian and Moldovan public authorities.”?

The Russian private mercenary group (PMC) Wagner has been registered in?Belarus as an educational organization, according to the information published on?the Belarusian Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs.

According to the register, the legal entity with the name “Wagner Group” was registered on August 3 this year by the Osipovichi District Executive Committee in Tsel village of the Osipovichi district of the Mogilev region in Belarus.

The Wagner Group declared its only activity to be educational, according to registry.

Some background: In July, it was reported that the Wagner PMC mercenaries set up a camp on the territory of the base near the town of Osipovichi, following a short-lived mutiny by the private military group in June. Notably, the Belarusian Defense Ministry announced its forces would hold joint military exercises with?Wagner fighters?near its border with NATO-member Poland. The defense ministry had also published several videos that show how Wagner mercenaries are training up their troops.?

Around the same time, the founder of the Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin recorded a video message in which he claimed that the fighters had arrived “on Belarusian soil.”?

Oleksandr Syrskyi speaks to Ukrainian fighters on July 2, in Donetsk, Ukraine.

The commander of Ukrainian Land Forces has acknowledged some complications around the city of Kupiansk, in the Kharkiv region, where Russian forces have been making a push.

Despite the difficult situation, the Ukrainian general said the defense of the city would be ensured.

“Based on the results of work with commanders in this area, a number of important decisions were made that will ensure the reliability of defense,” he said.

On Tuesday, Ukraine said it had reinforced its positions in the northeastern city.

“Our firing positions were strengthened, [command] provided certain methodological recommendations, and redeployed reserves,” the Deputy Commander of the Eastern Military Group for Strategic Communications, Serhii Cherevatyi said.

Russia on Wednesday said it had made small gains in the area.

Last week, Ukraine ordered a mandatory evacuation of Kupyansk?and its surrounding areas, as Russia intensified shelling of Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region and claimed to have?captured Ukrainian positions?near the city.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said it stopped an attempt by a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group to enter the southwestern Bryansk region, which neighbors northern Ukraine, Russian state media reported on Wednesday.?

The agency added that?“in addition to foreign weapons, explosive devices, communication and navigation devices, FPV drones with stickers ‘Property of the FSB of Russia’ and Russian symbols were found at the site of the clash.”?

Earlier on Tuesday, the governor of the Bryansk region, Alexander Bogomaz, said that another Ukrainian sabotage group attempted to enter Russia’s territory.

Some more background: In March, Russian security officials claimed that a small Ukrainian armed group crossed the Russian border?into the Bryansk region, allegations dismissed by Kyiv as a “classic deliberate provocation” by the Kremlin. The FSB said, via state media agency RIA Novosti, that the agency was carrying out operations following “armed Ukrainian nationalists who violated the state border” in the district. Russian President Vladimir Putin later described the incident as a terrorist attack, and a local official said two civilians were killed.

Then in May, a group of anti-Putin Russian nationals, who are aligned with the Ukrainian army, claimed responsibility for an attack in Russian’s southwestern region of Belgorod.

Last month, a?Ukrainian drone?hit the Department of Internal Affairs in Bryansk leading to the destruction of the building’s roof and windows, Bogomaz said.

People wait at the ?umskas border crossing point between Lithuania and Belarus on August 12.

Lithuania announced on Wednesday that it would temporarily suspend operations at two border checkpoints between Lithuania and Belarus due to concerns about Wagner forces, according to a press release from the office of the Lithuanian government.?

The ?umskas and Tvere?ius border checkpoints will be temporarily suspended beginning on Friday, the release said. The country shares six border checkpoints with Belarus.?

Lithuania’s Interior Minister Agn? Bilotait? said the closure of the two border checkpoints is in response to the recent relocation of Wagner forces to Belarus, according to the press release.

More context: Poland also recently announced its decision to move around 10,000 troops to its border with Belarus. Wagner soldiers are currently stationed in Belarus – a close ally of Russia — in the wake of a short-lived rebellion carried out by the group.

The decision to close the two border checkpoints was prompted by a proposal from the Lithuanian Ministry of Transport and Communications, with the government approving the plan on Wednesday.?

“The aim of temporarily halting operations at these checkpoints is to reduce potential threats along the border with Belarus. These checkpoints only allow the passage of light vehicles, Tvere?ius is also handling traffic of empty freight trucks. All checkpoint staff will be redirected to the largest Medininkai border checkpoint. Consequently, the situation concerning vehicle queues and freight transport is expected to remain mostly unaffected,“ the Chancellor of the Ministry of Transport and Communications Ramūnas Dilba said.

Ukraine says that its forces have made a further advance in the eastern Donetsk region, while Russia has once again targeted port infrastructure in a drone attack on southern Ukraine.

Here are the latest headlines:

This screengrab from footage released by Kyiv’s forces shows soldiers raising the Ukrainian flag in Urozhaine, Ukraine.

After Ukraine claimed to have liberated the village of Urozhaine in the eastern Donetsk region, footage released by Kyiv’s forces and geolocated by CNN shows soldiers raising the Ukrainian flag near a memorial in the village dedicated to soviet soldiers that fought in World War II.

Some background: Russian forces inside Urozhaine had been in a precarious situation for some time, especially since Ukraine took the neighboring village of?Staromaiorske roughly two weeks ago.

Russian soldiers and well-connected military bloggers had hinted it was a matter of time until Urozhaine would fall too, given that Ukrainian forces had since been able to attack it from several sides.?

Exclusive CCTV footage shows the moment one of two seaborne drones detonated, damaging the Kerch Bridge on July 17

Ukrainian security services have released to CNN exclusive footage showing the moment in July when they used an experimental sea drone to attack?Russia’s bridge to annexed Crimea, providing new details on the attack and warning more such assaults will follow.

It’s the first time the SBU have openly claimed responsibility for the operation.

The?attack on July 17?caused damage to the road lanes of the bridge, and, according to Russian officials, killed two civilians. It was the second attack on the vital crossing, and showed how hard it is to defend the only independent Russian link to the peninsula.

The bridge was?opened with much fanfare?by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018 and is symbolic of his desire to take over?Ukraine?and bind it to Russia forever. It’s also a vital supply link for Russia’s military operation in Crimea.

Read the full story:

"Sea Baby" drones are the result of months of development that began just after the invasion, according to the head of the SBU.

Related article The moment Ukraine used an experimental drone to attack a Russian bridge | CNN

Hong Kong-flagged container ship Joseph Schulte leaves the sea port in?Odesa, Ukraine, in this handout picture released on August 16.?

A container ship departed Ukraine’s southern port of Odesa on Wednesday, becoming the first vessel to use a temporary Black Sea shipping corridor established following the breakdown of a UN-brokered grain deal last month, a Ukrainian official said.

In a Facebook post, Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said the Hong Kong-flagged ship, Joseph Schulte, was en route to the Bosporus carrying more than 30,000 metric tons of cargo, including food products.

The vessel had been stuck in the port since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in February last year.

Russia pulled out of a UN and Turkish brokered deal in July that allowed Ukraine to move its grain via the Black Sea and warned that any ships headed to Ukraine would be treated as potentially carrying weapons.?

Last week, the Ukrainian navy issued an order declaring?“temporary corridors”?for merchant ships sailing to and from Ukrainian ports. However, it admitted that the military threat and mine danger from Russia remained along all routes.

On Sunday, a Russian warship fired warning shots?and boarded?a Turkish-owned cargo ship it claimed was headed to Ukraine, in what Kyiv said was “an?act of piracy.”

Ukraine said Wednesday its forces have liberated the village of Urozhaine in the eastern Donetsk region, where fierce battles have taken place in recent days.

“Ukrainian defense forces took control of Urozhaine,” and are consolidating their positions,?Andrii Kovaliov, spokesperson for the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said on national television Wednesday morning.?

Urozhaine, located about 100 kilometers southwest of Russian-occupied Donetsk city, lies near the village of Staromaiorske, which?Ukrainian soldiers recaptured about two weeks ago.?

Elsewhere in the eastern front, Ukrainian forces are continuing to conduct counteroffensive operations south of Bakhmut and “heavy fighting continues,”?Kovaliov said.?

Russia “is putting up strong resistance, moving units and troops, and actively using its reserves” in the areas of?Marinka and Krasnohorivka near?Bakhmut, he said.?

Ukrainian forces continue to hold back the Russian offensive at the Kupiansk, Lyman, and Bakhmut axes, he added.?

CNN cannot independently verify battlefield claims.?

Destruction after Russian drone attacks at Ukraine’s port of Reni in the Odesa region on August 16.

Russian forces launched a drone attack on the port of Reni along the Danube River in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region overnight, damaging warehouses and granaries, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday.

In a Telegram post, Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa regional military administration, said “the main target is port and grain infrastructure in the south of the region” on the Danube.

No casualties were reported, he said.

Ukraine’s Operational Command in the south said Russia “hit the territory of one of the ports, destroying hangars with grain and agricultural machinery. The resulting fires were promptly extinguished.”

A Ukrainian presidential adviser accused Moscow of specifically targeting food supplies.

Ukraine’s Air Force said Wednesday it had destroyed 13 Shahed drones over Odesa and the neighboring Mykolaiv region.

Some context:?Small ports on the Danube have become vital for Ukrainian grain exports following the collapse of the?Black Sea grain deal?last month. Ukrainian officials say Russian forces are deliberately targeting port infrastructure on the river, as part of efforts to block the exports — posing a threat to food security in developing nations that rely on Ukrainian grain.

China's Defense Minister Li Shangfu addresses a speech during the Moscow Conference on International Security in Kubinka, in the outskirts of Moscow, on August 15, 2023.

China’s?defense minister Li Shangfu on Tuesday warned against “playing with fire” when it comes to?Taiwan?in a veiled jab at the United States as he addressed a security conference in Russia.

Li’s comments echoed previous statements by Chinese officials but the location of his speech was significant and symbolic given Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

China’s ruling Communist Party claims the self-governing democracy of Taiwan and has vowed to take control of it, by force if necessary.?It has repeatedly castigated American interactions with the island, with which Washington does not have official diplomatic ties, including for the sale of?US arms to Taipei.

Li, who was?sanctioned by the US?in 2018 for purchases of Russian weapons, joined the Moscow security conference as he began a six-day trip to Russia and its close ally Belarus.

Senior defense officials from more than 20 “friendly states,” including Belarus, Iran and Myanmar will also attend the forum, Russian state media previously reported, citing Moscow’s defense ministry, which organizes the annual event. No Western countries were invited, state media said.

The visit is Li’s second to Russia since assuming his role as defense chief earlier this year. It comes as Beijing has continued to bolster its security ties with Moscow, despite its unrelenting assault on Ukraine, which has triggered a humanitarian disaster with global ramifications.

Read the full story.

Russian air defenses intercepted three Ukrainian drones over the Kaluga region southwest of Moscow early Wednesday, Moscow’s Ministry of Defense said.?

Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory have ramped up in recent months, with a string of drone strikes peppering cities including Moscow throughout the summer as Kyiv?warned more would come.

At least three people were killed Tuesday following Russian missile strikes?in northwest and central Ukraine.

Meanwhile, a barrage of Russian missiles also targeted the western region of Lviv, injuring at least 19 people and damaging civilian infrastructure.

Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed it struck Kyiv’s military industry but did not comment on whether it targeted residential areas. Russian forces have consistently denied attacking civilian infrastructure, despite evidence to the contrary.?

Here are other headlines you should know:

Iryna?Vereshchuk?attends the International Summit of Cities and Regions in Kyiv, Ukraine on April 20.

The road to victory for Ukraine will be “long and difficult,” said Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, looking at a long fight ahead.

“‘Two-three weeks’, ‘by the end of the year’, ‘next spring’ — all this is not true,” Vereshchuk?said Tuesday in a Telegram post. Ukraine has “to get ready for a long fight,” she added.

The Ukrainian people should work toward victory “where they belong,”?Vereshchuk said.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has acknowledged that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is moving slower than expected. Ukrainian officials have said that efforts are focused on destroying Russia’s capabilities and disrupting its logistics.

Ukrainian officials are slamming comments made by Stian Jenssen, the?director of the Private Office of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General, who said in published remarks that ceding territory to Russia could be a way for Kyiv to achieve peace and join the military alliance.?

Jenssen, who has been in his?current NATO role?since 2017, made his comments in an interview with the Norwegian newspaper, Verdens Gang.

Oleg Nikolenko, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson,?also criticized the remarks.

Nikolenko added that the “conscious or unconscious involvement of NATO officials in shaping the narrative” surrounding Ukraine potentially ceding territories “plays into Russia’s hands.” Rather, he said, “It is in the interests of Euro-Atlantic security to discuss ways to accelerate Ukraine’s victory and its full membership in NATO.”

Andriy?Yermak?speaks during a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine on June 29.

The Russian missiles fired on Ukraine overnight were built using foreign chips, according to Andriy Yermak, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.

“Restrictions have already been put in place, but sanctions need to be strengthened to prevent Russia from obtaining critical components and manufacturing missiles,” he added.

Some background:?Ukraine has repeatedly called for stronger western sanctions against Russia, arguing that despite the existing tough sanctions imposed by the US, NATO and the EU, Russia is still able to procure components for the weapons it is using in Ukraine.

Russia launched a barrage of missile strikes at Lviv in western Ukraine and other regions far from the front lines, officials said, leaving?at least three dead.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks at a press conference in Vilnius, Lithuania on July 12.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited his country’s troops taking part in Kyiv’s counteroffensive in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, his office said in a statement on Tuesday.

“During a working trip to Zaporizhzhia region, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the positions of the brigades engaged in offensive operations in the Melitopol sector,” his office said.

Zelensky met with the commander of the Tavria operational and strategic group of troops, Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, as well as with several units, including the 3rd Operational Brigade.

Zelensky received reports from commanders on the status of the offensive and discussed the needs and issues faced by each brigade, his office said.

“In particular, the military emphasized the need for means of electronic warfare and frontline air defense systems to counter enemy aircraft and UAVs,” according to the statement. “There is also a need for unmanned aerial vehicles, as they are quickly consumed in offensive operations.”

Zelensky and commanders also “discussed the issues of professional selection of people, providing brigades with special equipment and machinery, and the need for armored evacuation vehicles,” the president’s office added.

Local residents look at a part of a missile as they stand near residential buildings destroyed during a Russian military strike in the village of Stavchany, Lviv?region, Ukraine on August 15.

Russian?missile strikes in Ukraine’s western Lviv region?early Tuesday wounded at least 19 people, including a 10-year-old child, and extensively damaged civilian infrastructure.

The attacks — which happen in the west less often than on the front lines in the east and south — also resulted in the hospitalization of five people, according to the head of the Lviv regional military administration.

Kyiv’s air defenses shot down one of the Russian cruise missiles launched at the western region, Maksym Kozytskyi wrote on Telegram on Tuesday. Six other missiles were not intercepted.

“Russians attacked our region with cruise missiles between 5:20 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. (10:20 p.m and 10:30 p.m. ET),” Kozytskyi said. “Fortunately, no one was killed in this missile attack.”

The youngest civilian to sustain an injury was age 10, while the oldest was 72, Kozytskyi added.

“Most of the victims had scratches and cuts due to broken windows and bruises,” Kozytskyi said, adding that around 40 houses were damaged.?

The strikes come as Poland holds its?largest military parade in decades, in a flex of defensive muscle that comes?as tensions rise?on the border between the NATO nation and key Russian ally Belarus.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, at least three people died as a result of?additional Russian strikes?in the northwest and central parts of the country. The Russian Ministry of Defense said Moscow targeted Kyiv’s military industry.

The Russian defense ministry did not comment when asked if strikes may have targeted residential areas. Russian forces have consistently denied targeting civilian infrastructure, despite evidence to the contrary.?

CNN’s Uliana Pavlova contributed reporting to this post.