May 31, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

The Biden administration has “been clear, privately and publicly, with the Ukrainians that we don't support attacks on Russian soil,” White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told CNN Wednesday following a spate of drone attacks in the Moscow region.

Kirby would not say, however, if the US had concluded that Ukraine was behind the drone incursions, telling CNN’s Poppy Harlow, “We're still trying to get information here and develop some sort of sense of what happened… but I can’t tell you that we have any definitive information at this point.”

Ukraine has denied involvement in Tuesday’s attack in Moscow, even as one top official made it clear that Russia was getting a taste of its own medicine after months of bombarding Ukrainian cities. 

“Of course, we enjoy watching and predicting an increase in attacks,” said Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak. “But of course, we have nothing to do directly with it.”

But Kirby reiterated Wednesday that Ukrainian officials have assured the United States they will not use equipment contributed from the United States to strike inside Russia.

“I think we can all understand that if we give Putin what he's claiming, this is a war against the West, a war against the United States, a war against NATO, there's going to be a whole lot more suffering across the European continent, so we don't want to see this war escalate,” he said. “Now, look, once we provide systems to the Ukrainians, and this is an important point, they get to decide what they're going to do with them. They have given us assurances that they won't use our equipment to strike inside Russia. But once it goes to them, it belongs to them.”

Shelling has continued to spill over into Russian territory, with four people injured in a "massive strike" in the town of Shebekino in the southwestern Belgorod region.

It follows a series of rare drone attacks on Moscow early Tuesday which reportedly left two injured and several buildings damaged.

Here are the latest developments:

Four people were injured in a "massive strike" on the town of Shebekino in Russia's southwestern Belgorod region, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram. 

Gladkov earlier reported that one woman was injured in shelling of the region, which borders northeastern Ukraine

Eight apartment buildings, four homes, a school and two administrative buildings were damaged in the shelling, Gladkov said.

Children will be evacuated from Shebekino and the border town of Grayvoron, with the first 300 taken on Wednesday further east to the town of Voronezh, he added.

On Tuesday, Gladkov reported dozens of strikes by Ukrainian mortar and artillery fire in several areas of Belgorod. One person was killed and two others were injured in an attack on a temporary accommodation center, he said.

CNN cannot independently verify the governor's claims.

It comes after a group of anti-Putin Russian nationals, who are aligned with the Ukrainian army, claimed responsibility for an attack in Belgorod last week. The Ukrainian government distanced itself from the Russian fighters, saying: “In Ukraine these units are part of defense and security forces. In Russia they are acting as independent entities.”

Berlin is revoking the licenses of four out of five Russian consulates in Germany in response to Moscow's decision to limit the number of German officials in Russia to 350, according to a spokesperson for the German Foreign Office.

The withdrawal of Russian officials is to be completed by the end of the year, the spokesperson said.

At the same time, the German consulates in Russia's Kaliningrad, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk will be closed, the spokesperson added. 

The German embassy in Moscow and the consulate in St. Petersburg will remain in operation.

Ukrainian officials said an explosion near the Three Sisters monument at the border with Belarus, Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday was due to Russian forces blowing up the Chernihiv-Bryansk road.  

CNN has geolocated a video that has been widely circulated on social media showing a large explosion on the road leading to the monument. It is unclear what kind of munition was involved.

Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, told CNN: "Yesterday, in the Chernihiv region, border detachments of the State Border Guard Service registered an explosion at noon in the direction of the junction of the three countries."

Andriy Yermak, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, posted on Telegram: "Russians blow up the roads on the borders on which they went 'to take Kyiv in three days'."

Russian war bloggers shared a video of the explosion online Tuesday saying the explosion happened at the junction of the borders of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, “in a tank-hazardous direction."

Russian or Belarusian officials have not yet commented. 

Some background: The Three Sisters monument, which opened on May 3, 1975, was built to symbolize the friendship of the three countries, which were at the time republics within the Soviet Union.

Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said Wednesday Russia will continue improving its air defense system following the Tuesday drone attack on Moscow.

President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday the city's air defenses worked normally but there was still “work to be done to make it better.”

Asked to clarify the Russian President’s remarks, Peskov said, “The system worked effectively, but there is room for improvement. Work will continue to improve the air defense system.”

Peskov added the Kremlin had noted the reaction from London and Washington to the Moscow drone attacks but “would prefer to hear at least some words of condemnation.”

Some context: Peskov's words come after a drone attack was launched on Russia's Bryansk region, state news agency RIA Novosti said Wednesday.

About 10 drones tried to attack the Klimovsky district overnight, RIA reported, citing emergency services.

Russian defense enterprises "have multiplied" their production of weapons and other military equipment needed for what Moscow euphemistically calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said Wednesday, according to state news agency TASS. 

Russia has also introduced a temporary ban on the export of cartridges for civilian and service rifles, as well as cartridge cases and cartridges for rifled firearms of certain calibers, according to a statement released by the Russian government on Wednesday. 

The decree, signed by Mishustin, takes effect on May 31 and states that the ban does not apply to the export of cartridges and cartridge cases meant for the activities of Russia's Armed Forces, "other troops" and "military formations," according to the statement. 

"The decision is aimed at ensuring the protection of the interests of the state," the statement reads. 

The decree was prepared as part of the execution of a Presidential Decree “On the Application of Special Economic Measures in the Sphere of Foreign Economic Activity to Ensure the Security of the Russian Federation," according to the statement. 

The ban will remain in effect until the end of the year. 

The Kremlin is concerned about the situation in Belgorod, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told CNN in a regular call with journalists on Wednesday.

Some context: His comments come after the town of Shebekino in Russia's Belgorod region was hit by a "massive strike," injuring four people, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram Wednesday. 

Eight apartment buildings, four private homes, a school and two administrative buildings were all damaged in the shelling, according to Gladkov.

Gladkov also said that children will be evacuated out of Shebekino and Grayvoron, with the first 300 taken today to Voronezh.

A drone attack was launched on Russia's Bryansk region, state news agency RIA Novosti said Wednesday.

About 10 drones tried to attack the Klimovsky district overnight, RIA reported, citing emergency services.

RIA did not report any damage and said some of the drones were shot down, while others were intercepted by electronic warfare.

Bryansk is on the border with Ukraine and has seen previous attacks blamed on Kyiv.

Remember: Earlier this month, there were unconfirmed reports that four of Russia's aircraft were shot down inside Bryansk.

One Russian media outlet says that at least two combat aircraft – an Su-34 and an Su-35 – and two Mi-8 helicopters crashed.

Ukraine did not confirm its air defenses were involved in the reported downing of the Russian aircraft, but said the aircraft “ran into some trouble.”