May 25, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

Russian officials in occupied Berdiansk said Ukrainian forces have struck the city with a missile.

Ukraine's military "launched a massive strike" on the city, Vladimir Rogov, a member of Russia's local administration in Zaporizhzhia, posted on Telegram on Thursday. 

Rogov said he still did not have information on casualties, adding that response teams were on site.

"It's not yet known whether British Storm Shadow missiles or something else was used," Rogov added.

If Ukraine was behind the alleged strike, the use of Storm Shadow missiles are a likely option, given Berdiansk is deep in Russian-controlled territory, around 100 kilometers (about 62 miles) from the front line. 

About the missiles: The Storm Shadow is a long-range cruise missile with stealth capabilities, jointly developed by the UK and France, which is typically launched from the air. With a firing range in excess of 250 kilometers, or 155 miles, it is just short of the 185-mile range capability of the US-made surface-to-surface Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, that Ukraine has long asked for. The United Kingdom said it delivered multiple of the Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine earlier in May.

Ukraine's number of clashes with Wagner fighters in and around Bakhmut has been decreasing over the past few days, according to the spokesperson for the eastern grouping of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin had announced his fighters would begin withdrawing from the city on Thursday and would be replaced by Russian soldiers. Cherevatyi said the switchover had been slowly taking place for the past few weeks, attributing the change to "huge losses."

Cherevatyi acknowledged Wagner fighters conducted more offensives and were more difficult to face than regular Russian soldiers because of the brutality of the organization.

While Wagner controls the majority of the town, Cherevatyi said Ukraine controlled a part of the southwestern district of the city. "Our units are located there and are engaged in defense," he said.

Cherevatyi concluded by saying that the ultimate outcome of the battle for Bakhmut would be the complete destruction of the Wagner paramilitary company. "The more the enemy is bloodied and knocked out, the easier it will be for our soldiers to liberate Ukrainian land with fewer losses," he concluded.

Finland on Thursday pledged to send additional military equipment to Ukraine.

Finland’s 16th defense package to Ukraine will include anti-aircraft weapons and ammunition and will be worth 109 million euros (about $117 million), a Finnish defense ministry spokesperson told CNN.

That brings the total defense aid from Finland to Ukraine since Russian invasion began last year to 1.1 billion euros (about $1.18 billion).

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the Finnish government for the aid in a tweet:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Johns Hopkins University 2023 commencement speaker, repeatedly reminded graduates of the importance of time throughout his speech, which he delivered remotely by video Thursday. 

"Every person eventually realizes that time is the most valuable resource on the planet – not oil, or uranium, not lithium or anything else – but time," Zelensky said Thursday. 

Zelensky told the graduates they have "a whole lifetime" ahead of them to figure out what to do next.   

"We are trying to get a grip on the time of our lives, what is happening to us," he continued.

Zelensky said Ukraine and its allies do everything they can every day to help repel Russia's full-scale invasion.

The Ukrainian president ended his speech by saying he was certain the graduating class would continue to push for freedom and democratic principles.  

"I'm certain, you, as your forefathers, will continue to lead the free world and this century will be our century," said Zelensky. "A century where freedom, innovation and democratic values reign."  

The transfer of some tactical nuclear weapons from Russia to Belarus has begun, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said Thursday, according to state news agency BelTA.

"It was necessary to prepare storage sites, and so on. We did all this. Therefore, the movement of nuclear weapons began," Lukashenko said.

Lukashenko also promised the safety of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, saying: “Don’t worry about nuclear weapons. We are responsible for this. These are serious issues. Everything will be all right here.”

Some background: This comes after Moscow and Minsk signed an agreement on deploying tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, one of Russia's neighbors and most loyal allies. Lukashenko raised the possibility of Russia placing strategic nuclear weapons in Belarus during a national address in March, while baselessly accusing Western countries of “preparing to invade” Belarus and “destroy” it.

The head of the Russian paramilitary company Yevgeny Prigozhin told CNN Thursday that he has handed the body of a retired US Army Special Forces soldier who was killed in the battle for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut over to Ukraine. 

In a response to CNN asking if Wagner had returned the body of Retired Army Staff Sgt. Nicholas Maimer as promised by Prigozhin last week, Prigozhin said in an audio recording: “Today at 1500 hours we handed over the body of the American Nicholas Maimer to the Ukrainian side.” 

In a video shared with CNN by Prigozhin’s press service, the Wagner boss stands next to two coffins, one draped with an American flag and one with a Turkish flag, and says: “The American died in battle in the 'nest'” — one of the last contested areas in west Bakhmut — and added that the second coffin contained the body of a Turkish citizen who was in Bakhmut with his female partner. 

CNN cannot independently verify the location in the video or the date it was filmed. 

Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War confirmed to CNN that Maimer’s body, along with the body of a Turkish citizen, had been returned to Ukraine on Thursday during a POW exchange. A video shared by the group showed a coffin covered with an American flag which matched the coffin seen in the video with Prigozhin. 

CNN is unable to independently confirm that the coffin contains Maimer’s body, or the circumstances in which he died.

Maimer's decades in uniform: According to Maimer’s service record provided to CNN, he served more than 20 years in uniform before retiring in 2018, according to his service record provided to CNN.

He served more than two years in the active-duty Army, leaving in December 1998; he then joined the National Guard in November 2000, and served about 18 years between three different Guard units before retiring in December 2018.

Among his awards and decorations are the Special Forces Tab, Army Commendation Medal and four Army Achievement Medals.

His uncle Paul Maimer told the Idaho Statesman his nephew had gone to Ukraine “as a humanitarian trying to do good for this world” and that the family wanted to bring him home for a “proper burial.”

“I think he’s deserving to be put to rest in a veterans cemetery,” he told the Statesman. “He might not have been fighting for our country, but he was fighting for the right reasons.”

CNN's Josh Pennington, Sandi Sidhu, Jennifer Hansler, Haley Britzky and Alex Marquardt contributed to this post.

Italian manager Roberto De Zerbi was almost a year into his managerial reign at the Ukrainian club when war broke out. Now, he has guided Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion to a historic first.

After its 1-1 draw with Manchester City on Wednesday, Brighton mathematically secured its place in the Europa League group stages for next season – the first time the club has ever qualified for European competition.

The 43-year-old joined Brighton in September after being forced to leave Shakhtar Donetsk a few months earlier. De Zerbi admitted to being scared when the war began, but it didn’t throw him off his journey to becoming one of the most exciting emerging coaches in the world. And despite his ascendency with Brighton, he says a piece of his heart still remains in Ukraine.

Read the full story here.

Five foreigners who fought for Ukraine are to stand trial in absentia in Russia, according to state media. 

They will stand trial at a court in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on May 31 at 10 a.m. local time, according to RIA Novosti, citing the court’s press service. 

 The group all fought for Ukraine in the defense of the southern city of Mariupol. 

Swedish citizen Matthias Gustavsson, Croatian citizen Vekoslav Prebeg, and British citizen John Harding have been charged with “forcible seizure or forcible retention of power” and “mercenary participation in an armed conflict or hostilities.”

Another two British citizens, Andrew Hill and Dylan Healy, were charged with "participating as a mercenary in armed conflict or hostilities" and "aiding and abetting in the recruitment of mercenaries for use in armed conflict,” respectively. 

The three British citizens — Harding, Hill and Healy — were all released as part of a prisoner swap in September 2022, according to the UK government. 

Sweden’s foreign ministry said Thursday that it's not aware of a Swedish citizen going on trial in absentia in Russia for their alleged involvement in Ukraine.

CNN has contacted the governments of the UK and Croatia for a response.

CNN's Mick Krever, Arnaud Siad, Vasco Cotovio and Olga Voitovych contributed to this report.

European trade ministers agreed to extend the temporary measures that suspend customs duties and quotas on Ukrainian imports to the European Union for another year, until June 2024.

The temporary easing of trade regulations between Ukraine and the EU went into force in June 2022.

“By renewing these measures the EU is continuing to demonstrate its unwavering political and economic support for Ukraine,” the European Council, which met in Brussels Thursday, said in a press release.

The European Commission, which proposed the extension in February, said the continued lifting of restrictions will help “alleviate the difficult situation faced by Ukrainian producers and exporters" amid Russia's invasion.