February 2, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

By Tara Subramaniam, Aditi Sangal, Leinz Vales, Eliza Mackintosh, Jack Guy, Adrienne Vogt, Elise Hammond, Maureen Chowdhury and Matt Meyer, CNN

Updated 12:11 a.m. ET, February 3, 2023

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5:04 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023

Former Russian officer claims he witnessed torture in Ukraine

From CNN's Mick Krever in London

A former Russian army officer has claimed that he witnessed torture of Ukrainian soldiers while stationed in the south of that country last year.

Konstantin Yefremov told the BBC in an exclusive interview that he had been part of a mine clearance unit in Chechnya in the months leading up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and had been on an exercises deployment in Crimea on February 24 last year.

Yefremov, who has since fled Russia, told the BBC he then found himself on an air base in the southern city of Melitopol, where Russian forces had captured a Ukrainian soldier.

“The Ukrainian had a blindfold on. The colonel put a pistol to the prisoner’s forehead and said, ‘I’m going to count to three and then shoot you in the head,” Yefremov told the BBC through a translator. “He counted and then fired just to the side of his head. On both sides.”

The BBC shared an image of Yefremov’s military identification and said that it had geolocated images that the former officer took while deployed in Ukraine.

“The interrogations, this torture, continued for about a week,” Yefremov told the BBC. “Every day. At night. Sometimes twice a day.”

“During another interrogation, the colonel shot the prisoner in the arm and in the right leg. Under the knee, and the bone. I went to the commanders and said, ‘The Ukrainian needs to go to hospital. He’ll be dead by morning from blood loss.’ We dressed him up in a Russian uniform and took him to hospital. We told him, ‘Don’t say you’re a Ukrainian prisoner of war. Because either the doctors will refuse to treat you or the injured Russian soldiers will hear you and shoot you.’”

3:29 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023

Austria to expel 4 Russian diplomats

From CNN's Angus Watson

Austria has revoked the diplomatic status of four Russian diplomats, labeling them "personae non gratae" and giving them a week to leave the country.

Austria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that two Russian diplomats at the embassy in Vienna had “engaged in acts incompatible with their diplomatic status.”
A further two Russian diplomats at the country’s permanent mission to the United Nations must also leave Austria after “committing acts incompatible with the Headquarters Agreement,” the statement added.

The ministry did not specify in the statement what the acts were.

2:58 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023

Ukraine expects Russia to mark invasion anniversary with renewed offensive, defense minister says

From CNN's Mick Krever, Arnaud Siad and Yulia Kesaieva

Oleksii Reznikov addresses a news conference in Paris on January 31. (Julie Sebadelha/AFP/Getty Images)

Ukraine’s defense minister said Wednesday that Kyiv believes Russia will mark the first anniversary of its invasion next month with a renewed offensive.

“We think since they believe in symbols, they will attempt something around Feb. 24,” Oleksii Reznikov said in an interview with French channel BFM.
“They can attempt a push on two axes,” Reznikov said. “It can be the Donbas, it can be in the south. And we tell our partners we must also ourselves be ready as soon as possible, and that's why we need weapons, to contain the enemy. Wars are all about initiative, and we can't lose the initiative.”

Reznikov was echoing repeated warnings from Ukrainian officials in recent weeks about an anticipated spring offensive from Moscow's forces. Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said Tuesday that the coming months of the war will be “defining.”

Ukraine’s General Staff, in its daily morning update on Thursday, said Russian forces were “active in reconnaissance and preparing for an offensive.”

2:48 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023

European Commission president arrives in Kyiv ahead of Ukraine summit

From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva in Kyiv

Ursula von der Leyen holds a press conference in Brussels on February 1. (Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, has arrived in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv ahead of a “EU-Ukraine Summit” on Friday.

“Good to be back in Kyiv, my 4th time since Russia‘s invasion,” von der Leyen wrote on Twitter. “This time, with my team of Commissioners. We are here together to show that the EU stands by Ukraine as firmly as ever. And to deepen further our support and cooperation.”

Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced the meeting on Tuesday but provided no details on who would attend. He told Politico in an interview published Monday that Ukraine, which was granted European Union candidate status in June last year, has an "ambitious plan" to join the bloc within the next two years.

Some context: Ahead of the meeting, Ukrainian authorities conducted a series of anti-corruption raids across the country, uncovering stashes of cash as well as luxury watches and cars.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said his government is working on “new reforms” that will make the country “more human, transparent and effective” as he prepares to meet EU officials Friday.

Anti-corruption measures are “an important dimension of the EU accession process,” said Ana Pisonero, a spokesperson for the European Commission, on Jan. 24.

8:38 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023

Rescue workers search for victims after Russian missile attack on Kramatorsk

From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva in Kyiv

Rescuers work at a site of a residential building destroyed by a Russian missile strike in Kramatorsk on February 2. (Vitalii Hnidyi/Reuters)

A rescue operation in Kramatorsk is continuing Thursday morning after a Russian missile hit a residential neighborhood in the eastern Ukrainian city Wednesday night, killing at least three people according to a local military official.

Eight people were wounded and at least two more may be in the rubble from the attack, Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk regional military administration, said on Telegram.

“According to operational information, there may be at least two more people under the rubble,” Kyrylenko said.
“This crime of the Russian occupiers against the civilian population is yet another evidence that it is extremely dangerous to stay in the Donetsk region, or for those who have left for other regions of Ukraine to return.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier condemned the strike and expressed condolences to the victims.

8:39 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023

Rescue operation underway in Kramatorsk after missile strike kills at least 3 people, police say

From CNN's Olga Voitovych

A residential building was destroyed by a Russian missile strike on February 1. (Pavlo Kyrylenko/Telegram)

More than 100 police officers are working to rescue people from the rubble after a missile attack in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, according to Donetsk region police. The strike killed at least three people, police said.

"Russian troops targeted the residential area of the city with an 'Iskander-K' missile. At least 8 apartment buildings were damaged, one of them was completely destroyed. Preliminarily, it is known about 3 dead civilians and 20 wounded. People may remain under the rubble," the police said on Telegram.

The attack happened at 9:45 p.m. local time Wednesday. A search and rescue operation is underway.

Authorities are evacuating people to a local school for shelter.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the strike and expressed condolences to the families and friends of the victims.

"This is not a repetition of history; this is the daily reality of our country," he said on his official Telegram channel. "A country bordering absolute evil. And a country that has to overcome it in order to reduce to zero the likelihood of such tragedies happening again. We will definitely find and punish all the perpetrators. They do not deserve mercy."

1:19 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023

Far from Bakhmut, an intense fight in trenches and minefields

From CNN's Tim Lister, Frederik Pleitgen and Konstantyn Hak in Krasnohorivka, Ukraine

In the town of Krasnohorivka, grim Soviet-era apartment buildings stand nearly but not quite empty, with only a few residents remaining. Blocks on the southern edges of town are burned shells, windows shattered and awnings dangling in the winter breeze. Houses are largely shuttered; their tenants long gone. The central square is abandoned and eerie.

On Wednesday, a few civilians moved gingerly along icy pavements to a small store that seemed still to be open. A man cycled past with a load of firewood. Then a Russian rocket propelled grenade burst in the ice-gray sky above — a reminder of the potent threat carried by the enemy.

While the world’s attention has been focused on the city of Bakhmut as the vortex of the conflict in Ukraine, fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces has been as relentless elsewhere.

Areas south and west of the city of Donetsk — particularly the towns of Krasnohorivka and Vuhledar — have seen combat for much of the war: a punishing mix of trench warfare and longer-range rocket fire as each side probes for weaknesses. Progress here for the Russians is vital if they are to realize President Vladimir Putin’s goal of winning all of Donetsk region.

At the moment, they are going nowhere.

Read the full story:

Far from Bakhmut, an intense fight in trenches and minefields | CNN

8:05 p.m. ET, February 1, 2023

Ukraine's anti-corruption searches reveal luxury watches, cars and thousands of dollars in cash

From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva, Mick Krever and Jack Guy

Ukrainian authorities have conducted a series of anti-corruption raids across the country, uncovering stashes of cash as well as luxury watches and cars.

Among those caught up in the investigations is the acting head of the Kyiv tax authority, who was allegedly part of a scheme to overlook 45 billion Ukrainian hryvnia ($1.2 billion) in unpaid taxes.

On Wednesday, the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) said it had found hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, as well as luxury watches and cars, at the tax chief’s residence. CNN is attempting to reach that individual for comment.

The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said the raids were part of an effort to combat what they described as “the internal enemy” in the country.

“Every criminal who has the audacity to harm Ukraine, especially in times of war, must clearly understand that we will handcuff his hands,” said Vasyl Maliuk, head of the SBU, in a statement.

The raids come as President Volodymyr Zelensky said his government is working on “new reforms” that will make the country “more human, transparent and effective” as he prepares to meet European Union officials on Friday for talks on Ukraine’s possible accession to the bloc.

Anti-corruption measures are “an important dimension of the EU accession process,” said Ana Pisonero, a spokesperson for the European Commission, on Jan. 24.

Read the full story:

Ukraine's anti-corruption searches reveal luxury watches, cars and thousands of dollars in cash | CNN

8:04 p.m. ET, February 1, 2023

Putin says eliminating possibility of Ukraine shelling Russia is a "priority"

From CNN’s Anna Chernova

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he has ordered his Defense Ministry to prioritize protecting Russian territory from shelling by Ukrainian forces.

Speaking at a video conference regarding the restoration of residential infrastructure, Putin said homes in Russia's Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions — as well as Crimea, illegally annexed by Russia in 2014 — were “damaged or destroyed” by the Ukrainian army referring to it as to “shelling by neo-Nazi formations.”

“Of course, the priority task is to eliminate the very possibility of shelling, but this is the business of the military department,” Putin said.

Many people found themselves in a difficult situation, “they lost their homes, were forced to move to relatives or to temporary places of residence, faced interruptions in the supply of water, heat, and electricity,” he added.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have not officially acknowledged any shelling of Russian territory.