May 12, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage for the day has ended. Follow the latest Ukraine news here or read through the updates below.

Ukrainian defenders last week used the US Patriot air defense system to intercept a Russian missile meant to destroy it, US officials said.

Fighting continues in key cities as Ukraine positions itself for a potential counteroffensive.

Here are the key headlines to know:

There has been an uptick in fighting along the border between the Kharkiv and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine, according to Russian and Ukrainian officials.

The Ukrainian General Staff said Russian artillery and mortar fire hit 10 settlements in the Kupyansk sector, which is in Kharkiv.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that in the same area, ground forces supported by airpower hit two Ukrainian units – the 14th Separate Mechanized Brigade and the 103rd Territorial Defense Brigade. The ministry said artillery fire had prevented a rotation of Ukrainian troops in the same area.

An unofficial Russian social media account also said Ukrainian attacks had increased along the front east of Kupyansk, but had made no progress.

In the south, Ukraine reported artillery and other attacks by Russian forces in the Zaporizhzhia region, where Russian forces are defending gains made in the first few days of the invasion.

Yurii Malashko, the head of Zaporizhzhia’s military administration, said there was heavy shelling of villages along the entire front line, including Stepnohirsk, Mala Tokmachka and Huliaipole.

Malachko, speaking on Ukraine television, also claimed that under the guise of evacuating civilians, Russian soldiers were fleeing from the town of Enerhodar, adjacent to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

Some civilians who had been evacuated from Russian-controlled areas near the frontlines in Zaporizhzhia had returned home “because they were left to fend for themselves in Berdiansk [further south] and people are afraid that their homes will be looted,” he said. 

Battles are continuing in and around Bakhmut, the Ukrainian military said Friday, with Russian forces apparently trying to regain some of the ground they lost this week.

“The enemy is trying to regain the positions lost during our assault,” Maksym Zhorin, a Ukrainian officer in Bakhmut, said in a video. “Day and night, we have to consolidate and hold new positions in intense fighting.”
“There is still a very long way to go to victory,” Zhorin added. 

As for ground assaults, the military reported 36 Russian attacks concentrated on areas of the front lines in the Donetsk region. The attacks were repelled, and there is little evidence of any ground changing hands outside of Bakhmut, it said. 

“Incessant fighting continues in the town of Bakhmut,” the General Staff said. “In addition, during the day, the enemy conducted unsuccessful offensive actions in the direction of Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Hryhorivka and Stupochki.”

The General Staff did not provide details on reports that Russia withdrew from some positions north of Bakhmut, as reported by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group.

Social media video geolocated by CNN appeared to show Russian soldiers retreating in the face of Ukrainian shelling in the area, some 5 kilometers north of the city.

Prigozhin said later on Friday that his fighters had taken some ground in the city itself, where most Wagner fighters now appear to be concentrated.

Six children were hurt in missile strikes in the Russian-occupied city of Luhansk, officials said Friday.

“Four were given full assistance, and two teenagers with moderate severity injuries were hospitalized in the Republican Children’s Clinical Hospital,” Leonid Pasechnik, the head of the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic, said.

“Civilian infrastructure was also damaged as a result of the airstrikes,” he added.

Some background: Two missiles struck the city’s industrial zone, the coordination committee of the Russian-occupied region said on Telegram.

The city has rarely come under attack by Ukrainian forces since the Russian invasion, as it is beyond the range of their long-range rocket and missile systems, such as HIMARS. The city is a significant hub for Moscow’s so-called “special military operation.”

One Telegram account said there had been two explosions and that smoke was visible over the city. A video posted online shows a large column of black smoke.

Ukraine has made no comment about any attack against Russian forces in Luhansk.

Parts of the occupied city of Melitopol are without power after an explosion late Friday, according to the Russian-installed administration.

“There is no power supply to Mikrorayon, Khanda and Krasnaya Gorka,” the administration said. “Please stay calm, technicians are working to restore the power supply as soon as possible.”

The Ukrainian mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, who is not in the city, said the explosion had been so strong that it impacted “eastern and northern districts of the city and even in the neighboring villages.”

Military analysts believe that Ukraine is trying to strike targets around the southeastern city in the Zaporizhzhia region ahead of a potential counteroffensive.

Russia tried to destroy a US-made Patriot air defense system in Ukraine last week with a hypersonic missile, two US officials tell CNN.

The attack failed, and the Ukrainian military instead intercepted the missile using the Patriot system, the officials said, marking their first known successful use of the advanced air defense system only weeks after it arrived in country. 

The Ukrainian air defenders fired multiple missiles from the Patriot at different angles to intercept the Russian missile, demonstrating they have quickly become adept at using the powerful system, one official said.  

US officials believe the Russians picked up on signals that are emitted from the Patriot, allowing them to target the system using the hypersonic missile, known as the Kinzhal or Killjoy.  

About the Patriot missile system: The Patriot missile system has a powerful radar to detect incoming targets at long-range, making it a potent air defense platform capable of intercepting ballistic missiles and more. But the radar emission necessary to spot threats at a distance also makes it possible for the enemy to detect the Patriot battery and figure out its location.

There are ways to camouflage those signals to some extent, officials said, but the Russian military was evidently able to figure out the rough location of the Patriot stationed outside of Kyiv. The interception took place on the night of May 4, Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, said last weekend. 

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has previously said that the Patriots would “definitely” be a legitimate target for Russian forces. 

Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder confirmed earlier this week that the Ukrainians had used the Patriot system to intercept the Kinzhal, which can reach hypersonic speeds. 

Ukraine has received at least two Patriot systems, one from the United States and one from Germany, to enhance its air defenses, which have previously been unable to intercept more modern Russian missiles such as the Kinzhal.

Explosions have rocked the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk, which is occupied by Russian forces and is a significant hub for Moscow’s so-called “special military operation,” according to local officials.

The head of the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR), Leonid Pasechnik, blamed Ukraine for the attack, calling it “another attempt by the Kyiv terrorist regime to intimidate civilians.”

“Firefighters and all emergency services are on the scene. The circumstances of the incident and information on the victims are being specified,” he said.

Pasechnik said the Leninsky district of the city was shelled on “Republic Day,” which is a holiday in the breakaway region.

Two missiles struck the city’s industrial zone, the coordination committee of the LPR said on Telegram. The committee claimed the Ukrainian-made “Grom” missile system was used.

The Grom is a ballistic missile that would have the range to strike Luhansk and it has previously been used in the conflict. But no evidence that it was used in this attack has been provided by the local authorities in Luhansk.

The city has rarely come under attack by Ukrainian forces since the Russian invasion, as it is beyond the range of their long-range rocket and missile systems, such as HIMARS.

One Telegram account said there had been two explosions and that smoke was visible over the city. A video posted online shows a large column of black smoke.

Russian news agency TASS quoted a former official in Luhansk as saying that “for the first time the Ukrainian armed forces have used missiles with a range of 150 kilometers (about 93 miles),” after at least two explosions in the city late Friday. TASS cited a retired lieutenant colonel of the Luhansk People’s Republic Militia, Andrei Marochko, but said there had been no official confirmation of the information.

The United Kingdom announced this week that Storm Shadow cruise missiles had been transferred to Ukraine. They are typically air-launched.

Ukraine has made no comment about any attack against Russian forces in Luhansk.

Russia lost some ground around Bakhmut as the chief of the Wagner group continues to complain about the lack of support from Russia’s defense ministry.

If you are just joining, here’s a recap of Friday’s developments in Russia’s war in Ukraine:

Russia loses ground: The Russian Ministry of Defense has acknowledged its forces pulled back from areas north of the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut, claiming they moved to more advantageous defensive positions. But it effectively confirms the loss of some kilometers of territory by Russian forces. The head of the private military group Wagner described the regrouping as “a non-tactical retreat,” adding that the ministry needs to “stop lying immediately.” Altogether, this retreat accounts for the loss of five square kilometers (nearly two square miles) “today alone,” he claimed.

Ukrainian forces advance: Ukrainian forces have been able to push the Russians back 2 kilometers (or about 1.2 miles) around the eastern city of Bakhmut over the past week, the country’s deputy defense minister said Friday.

Wagner complaints continue: Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner group, on Friday invited Russia’s defense minister to visit the embattled eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut to assess the situation there — the latest provocative statement by the Wagner chief on the Kremlin’s war leadership. This comes in a string of ramped up complaints about his own mercenary fighters’ battlefield setbacks, claims of lack of ammunition to take Bakhmut.

Deadly Russian attacks: At least two people were killed and more than a dozen others wounded overnight after Russian forces shelled parts of Ukraine near the front lines of the war, officials said.

Chinese envoy will visit Ukraine: China’s special representative of Eurasian affairs Li Hui will visit Ukraine next week to “promote peace talks,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed Friday. Li’s trip will begin on May 15, and he will travel to Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany and Russia during the tour. The visit comes after Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke with his his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky by phone last month for the first time since Russia’s invasion began last year. China has repeatedly attempted to portray itself as a peacemaker in the conflict, but Western countries have viewed Beijing’s intentions with deep suspicion as it forges deepening ties with Moscow.

The Black Sea grain deal: Ukraine and Russia are “moving towards” an agreement on extending the United Nations-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said in a statement Friday. The current deal, which enables the safe export of Ukrainian grain through the countries’ Black Sea ports, was renewed for 60 days in March and is set to expire next week.

Zelensky will not speak at Eurovision final: A request from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to address the Eurovision Song Contest final in the United Kingdom on Saturday has been denied, organizers have said — but a Zelensky spokesperson denied his office had contacted the contest in the first place.

Belgium will send the tax it collected on frozen Russian assets to Ukraine as its latest round of aid, amounting to $100 million, according to a government statement. 

“For the war to end, the counteroffensive planned by Ukraine must be successful. The additional aid that Belgium is providing today will contribute to this,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said in the statement. 

Half of this aid will be for military purposes and the other half will be used to help civilians, he said. 

More context: Back in February, the European Union set up a working group to examine whether frozen Russian assets can be used to rebuild Ukraine.

Ukraine’s economy shrank by more than 30% in 2022 as the war destroyed infrastructure, hurt businesses and disrupted daily life, according to the country’s economy ministry.

The cost of reconstruction and recovery in the country was put at roughly $349 billion in a September 2022 assessment from the World Bank, the European Commission and Ukraine’s government — but ongoing fighting has raised the price tag since then.

A senior EU official estimated earlier this year that the European Union and Western allies had frozen more than $300 billion in Russian central bank assets that could potentially be used to rebuild Ukraine.

The UK’s decision to supply long-range Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine is “another extremely hostile step by London, aimed at further pumping up Ukraine with weapons and leading to a serious escalation of the situation in the zone of the special military operation,” the Russian foreign ministry said. President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly used the term “special military operation” to refer to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“The transfer of long-range high-precision missile systems to the Kyiv regime clearly confirms the unprecedented level of involvement of the UK in the Ukrainian conflict,” it said.

Russia “reserves the right to take all necessary measures to neutralize the threats that may arise from the use of British cruise missiles by Ukraine,” it added.

Earlier on Friday, a Kremlin spokesperson said Russia is “undoubtedly” prepared for the continued supply of weapons by the West to Ukraine.

What the UK is saying: British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace confirmed Thursday that the United Kingdom delivered multiple “Storm Shadow” cruise missiles to Ukraine, calling the donation Ukraine’s “best chance to defend themselves against Russia’s continued brutality.”

CNN had exclusively reported the deal earlier. The missiles give Ukraine a new long-range strike capability in advance of a highly anticipated counteroffensive against Russian forces, multiple senior Western officials told CNN.

Ukraine is about to field the first examples of a new Ukrainian-made battle tank, according to Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov.

Reznikov posted video of a test drive of the new Ukrainian Oplot tank, saying, “It’s always a pleasure to test drive equipment that goes to the front line. But when it is Ukrainian equipment, it is many times more pleasant.”

“I am convinced that a Ukrainian tank, such as the Oplot, should be at the forefront of the tank coalition,” he said. 

The Oplot was built in Kharkiv by the state arms manufacturer Ukroboronprom and is an iteration of the Soviet-designed T-84 main battle tank.

Western analysts say it is fast and maneuverable, and it has a more advanced fire control system and armor protection than previous versions.

Reznikov did not say how many would be produced.

More background on tanks in the war: Ukraine clamored for battle tanks from the West late last year and into early 2023. While logistics, training and delivery take a long time, the country has been promised US Abrams M1s, UK Challengers, and German and Spanish Leopard tanks. Training on the Abrams tanks has been slated to begin this month, as training of Ukrainian troops on the other vehicles has already been completed.

Meanwhile, a report last month from the Center for Strategic and International Studies says Russia has lost up to 3,500 of its tanks. Western officials have said that T-55 tanks, introduced in 1948, are now turning up on the battlefield.

T-55 Russian tanks on the streets of Prague

Related article Russia is sending museum pieces into war, but experts say they may still be effective | CNN

Russian-appointed officials in the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia have reported another assassination attempt against a local official.

An explosion in Melitopol early Friday “turned out to be an attempt on an employee of one of the ministries of the Zaporizhzhia region,” said Vladimir Rogov, a member of the Russian-appointed military-civilian administration.

An investigation was launched into the attempted murder of the acting deputy minister of construction in the Zaporizhzhia region after an improvised explosive device (IED) was placed in a garbage container near the entrance to an apartment in Melitopol, he said.

“The device detonated when the official was coming out of the entranceway,” Rogov added, noting that the official had suffered blast injuries.

There have been several assassination attempts against Russian-appointed officials in occupied parts of southern Ukraine in recent weeks. In Melitopol, a police officer was killed, and another official escaped injury in a second incident.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is “disappointed” that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was refused permission to address the Eurovision Song Contest final in Liverpool, UK, on Saturday, according to a Downing Street spokesperson.

“The values and freedoms that President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine are fighting for are not political, they’re fundamental,” the spokesperson told journalists Friday. “The prime minister thinks it would be fitting for President Zelensky to address the event given that we’re hosting it on behalf of Ukraine.”

In a statement posted on its website on Thursday, the European Broadcasting Union — an alliance of public service media organizations that oversees the event — stressed the importance of the “nonpolitical” nature of Eurovision, which “prohibits the possibility of making political or similar statements as part of the Contest.”

Meanwhile, a Zelensky spokesperson denied his office had contacted the contest in the first place.

Some background: Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra won the contest last year, with a wave of support across Europe sweeping the nation to victory. As is tradition, the winner earns the right to host the next year’s competition. But, due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, the UK is hosting this year’s event – the first time that the contest is being held on behalf of another nation. The UK’s entry came second last year.

South Africa has summoned the US ambassador in Pretoria following his claims that a Russian ship was loaded with weapons and ammunition in Cape Town last December.    

The head of public diplomacy for the South African foreign ministry, Clayson Monyela, said it would “demarche the USA Ambassador to South Africa following his remarks yesterday,” in a statement released on Twitter Friday.

The US ambassador accused the South African government of delivering arms and ammunition to a sanctioned Russian cargo vessel late last year.

Monyela said a detailed statement will be released following the meeting. South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor will also speak today to her US counterpart, Secretary Antony Blinken, on the matter, according to Monyela.

Ambassador Reuben Brigety II told local media Thursday that he was confident that the cargo ship was loaded with arms while it docked at a naval base in Simon’s Town near Cape Town for two days before setting off for Russia.

The office of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that no evidence had been provided to support these allegations and that the government planned to form an independent inquiry into the matter.

Monyela added Friday that the National Conventional Arms Control Committee has “no record of an approved arms sale by the state to Russia related to the period/incident in question,” adding that the ministry “welcomes” the inquiry to “establish the facts and role players.” South Africa, he said, “values” its relations with the US, which he called “cordial, strong, and mutually beneficial.”

Some background: The South African government has come under intense criticism for its stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has routinely abstained from votes condemning Russia at the United Nations General Assembly.

While the South African leadership has repeatedly stated that it is neutral in the conflict and has frequently called for a negotiated settlement, its actions have come under increasing scrutiny from Western powers.

In February of this year, South Africa convened naval war games off its coast with the participation of both the Russian and Chinese military.

Later this year, South Africa will host the BRICS summit, a grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Russian President Vladimir Putin was invited to that summit.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin on Friday said Putin expressed his support for bringing African leaders into discussions about ending the conflict in Ukraine in a phone call with Ramaphosa. Putin also confirmed that Russia is ready to “supply significant volumes of grain and fertilizers to needy African states, including on a no-cost basis,” the statement said. 

CNN’s Xiaofei Xu and Darya Tarasova contributed reporting to this post.

The head of the private military group Wagner sharply criticized Russia’s Ministry of Defense over what he describes as the deteriorating position for Russian forces in Bakhmut. 

This comes after the ministry acknowledged its forces pulled back from areas north of the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut, claiming they moved to more advantageous defensive positions.

This statement “to put it mildly, was cunning,” Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said, adding that the ministry needs to “stop lying immediately.”
Prigozhin described the regrouping as “a non-tactical retreat,” and claimed, “there was simply a flight of units of the Ministry of Defense from the flanks, therefore, an exit to the Berkhivka reservoir,” which lies immediately northwest of Bakhmut.
Altogether, this retreat accounts for the loss of five square kilometers (nearly two square miles) “today alone,” he claimed.

Ukraine will “be at a distance of 500 meters from Bakhmut, occupying all tactical heights,” Prigozhin claimed. He also noted that Ukrainian forces have “completely liberated” the hotly contested road from Chasiv Yar to Bakhmut, which is a key route for Kyiv’s efforts to resupply its forces in Bakhmut.

The Wagner boss also reiterated his prior complaints about the lack of support from the defense ministry as their flanks crumble, and questioned if the group and its fighters will be accused to treason if they were to leave Bakhmut without the permission of the chief of general staff.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has acknowledged its forces pulled back from areas north of the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut, claiming they moved to more advantageous defensive positions.

“In order to increase the stability of defense, units of the ‘Southern’ group of Russian troops occupied the line in the Maloilyinovka direction,” the ministry said in its daily update on Friday.

The move, it said, would allow its troops to take advantage of “the favorable conditions of the Berkhivka reservoir,” but it effectively confirms the loss of some kilometers of territory by Russian forces. 

Wagner mercenary group founder and financier Yevgeny Prigozhin responded to the ministry, saying, “this is called fleeing and not regrouping,” promising more details at a later stage. 

The ministry’s announcement comes after an unusual late-night denial by the Russian defense ministry on Thursday, pushing back on reports that Ukrainian forces had made breakthroughs along the front lines around Bakhmut, namely in the direction of the village of Maloilyinovka.

“The statements spread by individual Telegram channels about ‘defense breakthroughs’ in various sections of the line of contact are not true,” the ministry said on Thursday. “A battle is currently underway to repel an attack by the AFU unit in the direction of Maloilyinovka.”

Ukrainian forces have been able to push the Russians back 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) around Bakhmut over the past week, the country’s deputy defense minister said Friday.

CNN’s Tim Lister and Josh Pennington contributed previous reporting to this post.

The Kremlin refused to comment on CNN’s reporting that the US is considering a limited lifting of sanctions on Russia as part of a prisoner swap deal.

CNN reported Thursday that the US is exploring options, including narrow sanctions relief, to secure the release of two wrongfully detained Americans, former Marine Paul Whelan and journalist Evan Gershkovich, as there are currently no high-ranking Russian nationals in US prisons.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, declined to comment on whether Moscow had received such proposals from Washington and if it would consider such options. 

“We will not provide any comment on this topic at all,” Peskov said in response to questions from reporters.

Prisoner swaps: The US has secured high-profile prisoner swaps in the past. Last April, the Biden administration secured the release of American Trevor Reed, who’d been detained in Russia since 2019, in exchange for convicted Russian drug smuggler Konstantin Yaroshenko.

In December, Russia agreed to release American basketball star Griner in exchange for the infamous arms trafficker Viktor Bout.

However, it refused to release Whelan as part of the same deal. Whelan has been wrongfully detained in Russia since his 2018 arrest on espionage charges.

Unlike Griner and Reed, Russia is treating both Whelan and Gershkovich as spies. Over the course of years of conversations, Russian officials have indicated that in return for Whelan, they expect someone who is connected to Russia’s intelligence apparatus, current and former US officials said.

US officials expect Russia is likely to make similar demands for Gershkovich.

Read the full report here.

What’s eating Yevgeny Prigozhin?

In recent days, the boss of the Russian private military company Wagner seems to have gone into social-media meltdown, flooding his Telegram channel and other accounts with ever-more outrageous and provocative statements.

Among other things, Prigozhin revealed an apparently humiliating battlefield setback for Russia, fulminating this week that a Russian brigade had “fled” around eastern city of Bakhmut, threatening his troops with encirclement by the Ukrainian forces.

Earlier in the week, Prigozhin marred Russia’s May 9 Victory Day celebrations with public and profanity-laced criticisms of the country’s top military brass. “Victory Day is the victory of our grandfathers. We haven’t earned that victory one millimeter,” he said Tuesday.

And then there was a more cryptic comment that raised eyebrows on social media. Accusing Moscow again of leaving his troops lacking in supplies, Prigozhin suggested that the higher-ups were dithering while Wagner fighters died.

“Instead of spending a shell to kill the enemy, they kill our soldiers. And happy grandfather thinks this is okay,” he said.

That begged the question: Whom, exactly, is Prigozhin referring to? After all, “grandfather in the bunker” is one of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s favorite monikers for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Prigozhin quickly backpedaled on his “grandfather” comment, recording a subsequent voice memo clarifying that he might be referring to the former Defense Minister Deputy Mikhail Mizintsev or Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov (or, more bizarrely, pro-war blogger Nataliya Khim).

But could his criticisms land him in trouble – or is it a sign of Moscow’s growing weaknesses?

Read the full analysis here.

The Kremlin has acknowledged the offensive to take Bakhmut has been “difficult” and has created an “emotional situation,” in an apparent reference to the feud between Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu. 

“I can tell you one thing: yes, indeed, quite an emotional situation. Very difficult offensive operations are being carried out there,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said during an interview with Bosnian news outlet ATV on Wednesday, according to state news agency TASS.

“This is a very strong fortified area, a huge grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is concentrated there, which constantly receives replenishment. Including foreign equipment, and foreign ammunition. Therefore, of course, emotions are running high there,” he added.

Without naming Prigozhin or Shoigu, Peskov seemed to address the rift between the two, saying they were unified in their goals.

“I will not name different names, but I will say: no matter what is said, no matter what statements are made, we are still talking about, let’s say, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,” he explained. “These are all Russian forces, unified forces. And they pursue one single goal.”

The Kremlin spokesman also said he was sure Russia would conquer Bakhmut. 

“We have no doubt that Artemovsk (Russia’s name for Bakhmut) will be taken, it will continue to be held,” he said.

Some background: Russian forces have tried for months to capture the eastern city of Bakhmut. Some of the fighting has been carried out by troops from Russia’s official army, provided by Shoigu’s defense ministry – but most of the manpower has been provided by the Wagner group, Prigozhin’s private mercenary company.

While the fighting continues to rage around Bakhmut, another type of battle has been playing out on the sidelines – as Prigozhin has launched a series of public tirades against Moscow, berating Russia’s military leadership for sitting “like fat cats” while his Wagner troops die by the thousands. He has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the area if not provided with more supplies.

A request from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to address the Eurovision Song Contest final in the United Kingdom on Saturday has been denied, organizers have said — but a Zelensky spokesperson denied his office had contacted the contest in the first place.

In a statement posted on its website on Thursday, the European Broadcasting Union — an alliance of public service media organizations that oversees the event — stressed the importance of the “nonpolitical” nature of Eurovision. 

“This principle prohibits the possibility of making political or similar statements as part of the Contest,” the EBU added. 

“The request by Mr Zelensky to address the audience at the Eurovision Song Contest, whilst made with laudable intentions, regrettably cannot be granted by the European Broadcasting Union management as it would be against the rules of the event,” the statement continued. 

The Ukrainian leader would likely have continued his pattern of using addresses at high profile international events toj draw attention to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

However, Zelensky’s spokesperson Sergiy Nykyforov has since denied reports that Kyiv contacted the Eurovision Song Contest.

“The Office of the President of Ukraine did not contact the organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest with a proposal to have Volodymyr Zelensky addressing online during the final or at any other stage of the contest,” he wrote on Facebook.

Some background: This year’s Eurovision Song Contest is being held in the English city of Liverpool – with the grand final coming on Saturday. Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra won last year, with a wave of support across Europe sweeping the nation to victory.

As is tradition, the winner earns the right to host the next year’s competition. But, due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, the UK is hosting this year’s event – the first time that the contest is being held on behalf of another nation. The UK’s entry came second last year.

The EBU says it has taken great pains to ensure that Ukrainian music and culture feature prominently throughout the live semi-final and grand final events, which are being hosted by British broadcaster the BBC on behalf of Ukraine’s public broadcaster, UA:PBC.

The EBU listed the appearance of 11 Ukrainian musical acts, collaborations with a Ukrainian design agency on branding and a series of 37 short films as examples of the “best way” to “reflect and celebrate Ukraine’s Eurovision Song Contest win and show we are United By Music during these hard times.”

Ukraine and Russia are “moving towards” an agreement on extending the United Nations-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said in a statement Friday. 

“First information coming from the meeting is that it progressed positively. We are moving toward an agreement to extend the grain corridor,” the ministry said in a statement.

The current deal, which enables the safe export of Ukrainian grain through the countries’ Black Sea ports, was renewed for 60 days in March and is set to expire on May 18.

“The Black Sea agreement which was signed with the help of Turkey has allowed more than 30 million tons of grain to be exported to countries that need it,” the Turkish Defense Ministry statement added.

China’s special representative of Eurasian affairs Li Hui will visit Ukraine next week to “promote peace talks,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed Friday. 

Li’s trip will begin on May 15, and he will travel to Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany and Russia during the tour. 

“The visit of Chinese representatives to the countries concerned is another manifestation of China’s commitment to persuade and promote talks, fully demonstrating that China is firmly on the side of peace,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin said during a regular press briefing. 

The visit comes after Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke with his his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky by phone last month for the first time since Russia’s invasion began last year.

China has repeatedly attempted to portray itself as a peacemaker in the conflict, but Western countries have viewed Beijing’s intentions with deep suspicion as it forges deepening ties with Moscow.

Ukrainian forces have been able to push the Russians back 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) around the eastern city of Bakhmut over the past week, the country’s deputy defense minister said Friday.

“The enemy failed to realize its plans; the enemy suffered heavy losses in manpower; our defenders advanced 2 km in the Bakhmut direction,” said Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar in a Telegram post.

Bakhmut is the site of a months-long assault by Russian forces, including Wagner mercenaries, that has driven thousands from their homes and left the area devastated. But despite the vast amounts of manpower Russia has poured into capturing the city, they have been unable to take total control, and this week suffered heavy losses in the area.

CNN had previously reported Ukrainian counterattacks and advances in the flanks of Bakhmut as it tries to defend the fiercely contested battlefront. Overnight, the Russian Defense Ministry pushed back against reports Ukraine had broken through their lines in the area. 

Yevgeny Prigozhin on Friday invited Russia’s defense minister to visit the embattled eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut to assess the situation there — the latest provocative statement by the Wagner chief on the Kremlin’s war leadership.

“I ask you to come to the territory of Bakhmut, which is controlled by the [Russian Federation] paramilitary units, and assess the situation on your own,” Prigozhin said in a letter to Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, which he shared on his social media accounts.

Prigozhin has ramped up complaints about his own mercenary fighters’ battlefield setbacks, and blamed a lack of ammunition to take Bakhmut on the Russian Ministry of Defense, pointing at Shoigu and Russian army chief Gen. Valeri Gerasimov.

The private military company boss has in recent days also complained again that areas captured by his fighters around Bakhmut at the expense of heavy casualties are now being lost to the Ukrainians. 

“Currently, the units of the PMC Wagner control more than 95% of the settlement of Bakhmut and continue their offensive for its complete liberation,” Prigozhin wrote in the letter Friday. “On the flanks of PMC Wagner, where the [Russian Federation] Armed Forces units are located, the enemy has launched a number of successful counterattacks.”

At least two people were killed and more than a dozen others wounded overnight after Russian forces shelled parts of Ukraine near the front lines of the war, officials said.

In southern Kherson, at least one person died and four others were injured following more than 80 Russian attacks within the past day, the region’s military chief, Oleksandr Prokudin, said in a Telegram post.

Residential areas, school buildings, hospitals, and two “critical infrastructure enterprises” were hit in Kherson, he said. 

In the eastern Donetsk region, at least one person was killed on Thursday in the city of Sloviansk by Russian shelling,  Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk region administration, said on Telegram Friday. Twelve others were injured, he added. 

Donald Trump’s refusal to say whether he wants President Volodymyr Zelensky to win the war after Russia’s unprovoked invasion — along with his absurd claim that he could end the conflict in 24 hours — escalated the prospect that Ukraine’s destiny will rest in the hands of US voters next year.

The Republican frontrunner’s comments, in a CNN town hall meeting in New Hampshire, was the latest sign that the politics of the war in the US could become more strained as the 2024 campaign ramps up, creating new pressure on Zelensky’s coming offensive to deliver a decisive blow in the second year of the conflict.

The prospect of a Trump return to office could also offer an incentive to Russian President Vladimir Putin to prolong a war that is exacting a terrible civilian toll and racking up huge Russian casualties in the hope he could exploit any decrease in the multi-billion dollar US aid flow to Ukraine.

And Trump’s decision to insert himself squarely into the debate reflects deepening political calculations for several key players in the war. That includes both President Joe Biden, who staked his legacy as a defender of democratic principles in the US and abroad on Ukraine’s survival, and Putin, who presided over a scaled-down Victory Day parade in Moscow this week after failing in his war aim of crushing Ukraine’s sovereignty.

Battlefield developments could dictate the course of the war long before the November 2024 election. And making equivocal judgments about any comments the ex-president makes is risky, since he often seems to live day-by-day and minute-by-minute rather than following months-long strategic blueprints.

Nevertheless, Trump’s unwillingness to refer to Putin as a war criminal despite evidence of Russian atrocities in Ukraine and an International Criminal Court warrant for his arrest renewed intrigue over the ex-president’s motives in repeatedly genuflecting to the Kremlin strongman.

Read the full analysis here.

Russia’s military shelled several towns and villages in the Zaporizhzhia region, injuring civilians and damaging property, according to the Ukrainian official leading the regional military administration there.

Meanwhile, the Russians have claimed they are eliminating deployment points of the Ukrainian military. Indirect fire in the region has intensified ahead of what observers expect to be a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Here are other key headlines to know:

Ukrainian forces have begun “shaping” operations in advance of a highly-anticipated counteroffensive against Russian forces, a senior US military official and senior Western official tell CNN.

Shaping involves striking targets such as weapons depots, command centers and armor and artillery systems to prepare the battlefield for advancing forces. It’s a standard tactic made prior to major combined operations.

When Ukraine launched a counteroffensive late last summer in the southern and northeastern parts of the country, it was similarly preceded by air attacks to shape the battlefield. These shaping operations could continue for many days before the bulk of any planned Ukrainian offensive, according to the senior US military official.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country still needs “a bit more time” before it launches the counteroffensive, in order to allow some more of the promised Western military aid to arrive in the country.

“With [what we have] we can go forward and be successful,” Zelensky told European public service broadcasters in an interview published on Thursday. “But we’d lose a lot of people. I think that’s unacceptable.”
“So we need to wait. We still need a bit more time,” he said.

Among the supplies Ukraine is still waiting for are armored vehicles — including tanks —which Zelensky said were “arriving in batches.”

Shaping operations can also be designed to confuse the enemy. 

Last summer, Kharkiv had very little in the way of softening up; it was a lightning ground offensive. Most of the shaping came in Kherson, through long-range attacks on bridges, ammo stores and command centers. Most of these were carried out by HIMARS. There were some, but not many, airstrikes.

CNN’s Tim Lister contributed reporting.

In an unusual late-night post on its Telegram channel, the Russian Ministry of Defense has pushed back on claims that Ukrainian forces broke through parts of the front line around the eastern city of Bakhmut.

“The statements spread by individual Telegram channels about ‘defense breakthroughs’ in various sections of the line of contact are not true,” the ministry statement reads.

At least two Russian military bloggers have reported a deteriorating situation for Russian forces around the city, where a battle of attrition has been grinding on for months.

The defense ministry said Russian assault units are making progress in the western part of Bakhmut with air and artillery support. It said troops are battling to repel Ukrainian troops “in the direction of Maloilyinovka” — apparently a reference to a village in the Bakhmut area.

“The enemy suffers significant losses in manpower and hardware,” the defense officials claimed.

What Ukraine says: A report from the Ukrainian military’s General Staff Thursday described a “dynamic” situation in Bakhmut, claiming Kyiv’s forces are heaping pressure on Russian fighters and probing weak spots in their lines.

A Ukrainian military officer said Ukraine is on the offensive in Bakhmut this week after months of defense. Kyiv has reported “effective counterattacks” around the eastern city despite constant Russian bombardment.

The Biden administration is scouring the globe for offers that could entice Russia to release two wrongfully detained Americans, Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

The US does not currently have any high-level Russian spies in its custody, current and former US officials say, driving the need to turn to allies for help.

The Biden administration is casting a wide net, approaching allied countries who have Russian spies in custody to gauge whether they would be willing to make a trade as part of a larger prisoner swap package. But US officials have also been surveying allies without Russians in their custody, officials said, for ideas on what might entice Moscow to release US prisoners.

The White House is also exploring narrow sanctions relief, senior administration officials said.

The goal is to bring home Whelan and Gershkovich as part of the same deal, US officials have said privately, with two US officials telling CNN the administration wants to see what creative offers could gin up Russian interest.

Read the full story here.

The Ukrainian military says Russia launched nearly 50 airstrikes over the last day as intense fighting puts pressure on forward Russian positions west of the city of Bakhmut.

The military’s General Staff said Thursday that Russia also carried out six missile attacks.

Russian forces continue to advance around Bakhmut and have carried out a number of airstrikes in the area, Kyiv’s military said. But Ukrainian forces have exploited gaps in Russian flanks south and west of the city to recapture some territory, according to the General Staff.

One officer deployed in the area said Ukraine was in an “active offensive phase” around Bakhmut, after months of mainly defensive action.

“Right now, dynamic events are taking place on both the southern and northern flanks of Bakhmut, but we will not talk about the result yet,” Maj. Maksym Zhorin said on Telegram.

Russian writers weigh in: Some Russian military bloggers have painted a gloomy picture of Russia’s prospects around Bakhmut.

One of them, Sasha Simonov, said units of Russia’s 4th Army Brigade had withdrawn from an area west of the city. This is consistent with Ukrainian reports of advances there earlier this week.

Ukrainian fighters have also attempted a breakthrough near Bohdanivka, which is northwest of Bakhmut, Simonov said.

Elsewhere: Russia’s efforts to advance in eastern Ukraine are focused on four parts of the front line in the Donetsk region, Ukraine’s military said. Russia has failed in recent efforts to break through to the town of Lyman in Donetsk, it added.

In the northeastern Kharkiv region, it appears there has been less fighting around Kupyansk, which Russia frequently targeted with shelling and ground attacks earlier this year, the General Staff said.

In recent days, the boss of the Russian private military company Wagner seems to have gone into social media meltdown, flooding his Telegram channel and other accounts with ever-more outrageous and provocative statements.

Among other things, Yevgeny Prigozhin revealed an apparently humiliating battlefield setback for Russia, saying a Russian brigade had “fled” around the eastern city of Bakhmut, threatening his troops with encirclement by Ukrainian forces.

Earlier in the week, Prigozhin marred Russia’s May 9 Victory Day celebrations with public and profanity-laced criticisms of the country’s top military brass.

And then there was a more cryptic comment that raised eyebrows on social media. Continuing a longstanding public complaint that Russia’s uniformed military was starving his troops of shells, Prigozhin suggested that the higher-ups were dithering while Wagner fighters died.

A political operator: The Wagner boss has seen his political star rise in Russia in recent months as his fighters seemed to be the only ones capable of delivering tangible battlefield progress in the grinding war of attrition in eastern Ukraine. And he has used his social media clout to lobby for what he wants, including those sought-after ammunition supplies.

But amid those successes — particularly in the meat grinder of Bakhmut — Prigozhin has revived and amplified a feud with Russia’s military leadership. A canny political entrepreneur, Prigozhin has cast himself as a competent, ruthless patriot — in contrast with Russia’s inept military establishment.

It may seem surprising in a country where criticizing the military can potentially cost a person a spell in prison that Prigozhin gets away with strident criticism of Vladimir Putin’s generals. But the Russian leader presides over what is often described as a court system, where infighting and competition among elites is in fact encouraged to produce results, as long as the “vertical of power” remains loyal to and answers to the head of state.

A step too far? But Prigozhin’s online tantrums seem to be crossing the line to open disloyalty, some observers say.

In a recent Twitter thread, the Washington-based think tank Institute for the Study of War said, “If the Kremlin does not respond to Prigozhin’s escalating attacks on Putin it may further erode the norm in Putin’s system in which individual actors can jockey for position and influence (and drop in and out of Putin’s favor) but cannot directly criticize Putin.”

Speculation then centers on whether Prigozhin is politically expendable, whether his outbursts are a sort of clever deception operation — or, more troublingly for Putin, whether the system of loyalty that keeps the Kremlin running smoothly is starting to break down.

Read the full analysis here.

The US ambassador to South Africa on Thursday accused the South African government of delivering arms and ammunition to a sanctioned Russian cargo vessel late last year, local media said.

“Among the things we noted was the docking of the cargo ship in Simon’s Town naval base between the 6th to the 8th of December 2022, which we are confident uploaded weapons and ammunition onto that vessel in Simon’s Town as it made its way back to Russia,” Ambassador Reuben Brigety II told local media, including News24.com.
“We are confident that weapons were loaded onto that vessel, and I would bet my life on the accuracy on that assertion,” the ambassador also said in a video released by Newzroom Afrika, a local news channel that was also at the briefing.
“The arming of the Russians is extremely serious, and we do not consider this issue to be resolved, and we would like SA to [begin] practicing its non-alignment policy,” he said, according to both news outlets.

The presence of the mysterious “Lady R” cargo vessel caused significant speculation when it docked at the naval base in Simon’s Town near Cape Town in December last year. Cargo vessels routinely dock at Cape Town’s civilian harbor, not the naval base.

At the time, opposition member of parliament and shadow Defense Minister Kobus Marais said in a statement that goods were offloaded from the ship and nohandlered onto the ship during the overnight hours and demanded answers from the government.

The US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control added the Lady R to its sanctions list in May last year for alleged weapons shipments, along with a host of other Russian-flagged cargo vessels.

South Africa’s response: The South African presidency called the explosive allegations “disappointing” and warned that the remarks “undermine the spirit of cooperation and partnership” between the US and South African government officials who had been discussing the matter.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement late Thursday that no evidence had been provided to support these allegations and that the government planned to form an independent inquiry into the matter.

Read more here.