Our live coverage of Russia's war in Ukraine has moved here.
September 28, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news
By Rhea Mogul, Sana Noor Haq, Adrienne Vogt, Aditi Sangal and Elise Hammond, CNN
Updated 12:03 a.m. ET, September 29, 2023
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At least 3 women killed after Russian shelling in Kherson city
From CNN’s Mariya Knight and Shirin Zia Faqiri
At least three women were killed in the Ukrainian city of Kherson on Thursday following shelling from Russian artillery, according to Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian President’s Office.
Russian forces attacked one of the residential areas of the city, the Kherson region prosecutor's office said. The three women killed happened to be outside on one of the streets when the shelling landed on the area.
"Two minor children were evacuated near the scene. They have been examined by doctors and a psychologist is currently working with them," the prosecutor's office added.
Russia boosts military spending and Ukraine is elected to serve on IAEA Board of Governors. Here's the latest
From CNN staff
Ukraine will now serve on the Board of Governors for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations nuclear watchdog said in a statement on Thursday.
Eleven countries, including Ukraine, were elected to serve on the 35-member board for the 2023-2024 term, the IAEA statement read. The newly elected Board members include Algeria, Armenia, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ecuador, Indonesia, South Korea, Netherlands, Paraguay, Spain, and Ukraine, the statement said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the position would give Kyiv "real opportunities" to influence decisions "that are binding for all IAEA members and the entire international community.”
Here's the latest:
- Russia holds elections in annexed Ukrainian regions: Russian President Vladimir Putin lauded recent elections in the declared annexed regions of Ukraine, describing them at a meeting with regional heads as "held openly, fairly and competitively." The international community has widely dismissed the elections — held across four Russian-occupied areas of eastern and southern Ukraine earlier this month — as a sham.
- Russia to boost military spending by nearly 70%: Moscow is set to boost its military spending, with the Kremlin citing the need to increase budgets because of what it described as an ongoing "hybrid war" that the government says is allegedly being waged against Russia. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov made comments about the increase on Thursday, following the release of the Russian finance ministry's draft budget for 2024, which indicated a 68% surge in defense expenditures compared to 2023.
- Ukrainian pilots started language training to use F-16 fighter jets: A “small number” of Ukrainian pilots have started language training in preparation for training on F-16 fighter jets, according to a spokesperson for the US Air Force. The language training is taking place at the Defense Language Institute English Language Center at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.
- Biden administration to highlight cooperation on Ukraine in October US-EU summit: US President Joe Biden will host European leaders at the White House in October for a summit expected to highlight cooperation between the US and European Union, particularly on Ukraine, the White House announced Thursday morning.
Ukraine elected to serve on the IAEA Board of Governors
From CNN’s Mariya Knight
Ukraine has been elected to serve on the Board of Governors for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog said in a statement on Thursday.
“Eleven countries have been newly elected to serve on the 35-member IAEA Board of Governors for the 2023–2024 period” with Ukraine being one of them, according to the IAEA statement.
The newly elected Board members are Algeria, Armenia, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ecuador, Indonesia, South Korea, Netherlands, Paraguay, Spain, and Ukraine, the statement said.
“The Board of Governors is one of the two policy-making bodies of the IAEA, along with the annual General Conference of IAEA Member States,” the statement read.
Ukraine has been elected to the board four times before. The last time it was a member of the agency's executive body was in 2009-2011, according to Energoatom, Ukraine’s state nuclear energy company.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the position would give Kyiv "real opportunities" to influence decisions "that are binding for all IAEA members and the entire international community.”
He said Ukraine would work to implement the first point of its 10-point peace formula, which is "nuclear and radiation security," and that Kyiv was focused on ensuring the "complete liberation" of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant from Russian forces.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also praised the decision in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"Its message is clear: Russia must withdraw its military and other unauthorized personnel from the Zaporizhzhia NPP and immediately return it to Ukraine’s full control,” Kuleba wrote.
A "small number" of Ukrainian pilots started language training to use F-16 fighter jets, US Air Force says
From CNN's Oren Liebermann
A “small number” of Ukrainian pilots have started language training in preparation for training on F-16 fighter jets, according to a spokesperson for the US Air Force.
The language training is taking place at the Defense Language Institute English Language Center at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.
“Testing will determine their next courses and when the pilots would be able to commence F-16 training,” the spokesperson said. The training is expected to last several weeks, after which the pilots will go to Morris Air National Guard Base in Arizona for training on the fourth generation fighter jets.
More on the training: Language training is a critical step for the Ukrainian Air Force as they learn to fly, operate and maintain the jet, since the jet’s instrumentation is in English, as are all the manuals and information pertaining to it.
The language training does not yet include Ukrainian maintenance personnel, who will learn how to sustain the complex system. The total number of Ukrainians who will come for maintenance training will be “upwards of 200,” the spokesperson said.
The language center at Lackland Air Force Base “is considering multiple options for training maintainers," the spokesperson added.
Moscow to boost military spending by nearly 70% from last year, budget shows
From CNN's Anna Chernova
Moscow is set to boost its military spending, with the Kremlin citing the need to increase budgets because of what it described as an ongoing "hybrid war" that the government says is allegedly being waged against Russia.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov made comments about the increase on Thursday, following the release of the Russian finance ministry's draft budget for 2024, which indicated a 68% surge in defense expenditures compared to 2023.
The ministry proposed to allocate up to 10.77 trillion rubles ($111.04 billion) on "national defense," which is almost 70% more than last year.
Asked to comment during a conference call Thursday, Peskov said, "It is obvious that such an increase is absolutely necessary because we live in a state of hybrid war, we continue the special military operation. I mean the hybrid war that has been waged against us. And this requires high costs."
Finance Minister Anton Siluanov highlighted the budget's primary focus on military spending when asked about the priorities of Russia's budget for 2024 at a financial forum in Moscow on Thursday.
"The structure of the budget shows that the main emphasis is on ensuring our victory — the army, defense capabilities, armed forces, fighters — everything necessary for the front, everything necessary for victory is in the budget," Siluanov said.
"This is a significant strain on our budget. But this is definitely our priority," he added.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused the United States and other allies providing Ukraine with assistance of being “directly at war” with Russia.
Biden administration will highlight cooperation on Ukraine in US-EU summit in October
From CNN's Nikki Carvajal
US President Joe Biden will host European leaders at the White House in October for a summit expected to highlight cooperation between the US and European Union, particularly on Ukraine, the White House announced Thursday morning.
President Charles Michel of the European Council and President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission will visit the White House on October 20 for the second US-EU summit since Biden took office.
In addition to Ukraine, the leaders will “advance U.S.- EU efforts to accelerate the global clean energy economy based on secure, resilient supply chains, and will continue cooperation in critical and emerging technologies, including digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
“They will also review joint activities to strengthen economic resilience and to address related challenges,” she added.
Putin praises elections in Ukrainian regions that have been widely dismissed as a sham
From CNN’s Anna Chernova
Russian President Vladimir Putin lauded recent elections in the declared annexed regions of Ukraine, describing them at a meeting with regional heads as "held openly, fairly and competitively." The international community has widely dismissed the elections — held across four Russian-occupied areas of eastern and southern Ukraine earlier this month — as a sham.
"Of course, this is a significant event, an important step towards the full entry of new regions into the single legal, state space of our large country," Putin said Thursday.
According to Putin, the "high turnout" in the elections demonstrated "the growing civic maturity of our society."
More key context: The elections were another attempt by Moscow to enforce a narrative of Russian legitimacy in the parts of Ukraine it holds – some, but not all of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Luhansk regions – even as Kyiv’s counteroffensive makes some progress toward taking back towns in the south.
Ukraine’s National Resistance Center, an official agency of the government in Kyiv, dismissed the elections as a propaganda exercise. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they violated Ukraine’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity,” and the Council of Europe labeled them “a flagrant violation of international law which Russia continues to disregard.”
A Melitopol resident told CNN at the time that she had not seen heavy-handed coercion to force people to take part. “Why? Because they don’t care who votes and how, they have already counted the results,” she said.
Russia held similar sham referendums in the four regions last year, in an attempt to project authority over the parts of Ukraine its troops had captured.
CNN's Rob Picheta and Yulia Kesaieva contributed reporting to this post.
Kremlin defers to defense ministry in comment on reports of Cuban nationals fighting for Russia in Ukraine
From CNN’s Anna Chernova and Claudia Rebaza in London
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov commented on Cuban nationals fighting for Russia in Ukraine for the first time during his daily call with journalists on Thursday.
Peskov was asked about recent comments made to CNN by Russia’s ambassador in Havana Viktor Koronelli and how many Cubans could be fighting on the Russian side.
“This is more of a question for the defense ministry, as far as the military operations are concerned. So here I cannot tell you anything but the fact that we maintain relationships and dialogue with our friends in Havana in all possible areas is true,” Peskov said, neither confirming nor denying the presence of Cuban fighters in Ukraine.
CNN has reported some family members of the Cuban nationals claim their relatives had been tricked into joining the Russian forces with promises of money and Russian citizenship.
When asked if there will be an investigation into the allegations, Peskov said, “If information appears about who exactly promised what to whom and who was deceived, and how, then, of course, we will look into this carefully.”
