May 29, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine has moved here.

One person has been hospitalized in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district after explosions were heard in the capital in the early hours Tuesday, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Klitschko also reported that “all emergency services” are headed to Podilskyi district without providing any further details.

According to Klitschko, a private house in Darnytskyi district and three cars in Pecherskyi district of Kyiv caught fire as a result of falling debris.

Russia has been transferring its forces to Bakhmut to replace fighters from the Wagner group, said Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the Eastern Grouping of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, during an interview with Ukrainian media on Monday.

“Yes, [Russia] is currently rotating its units [in Bakhmut] – primarily in light of the significant losses the Wagner Group has suffered. They are forced to do it, not for any other reason,” Cherevatyi said. “Units of airborne forces and motorized infantry units of are entering [Bakhmut]. We know what units they are; we know their commanders and their combat capabilities.”

Cherevatyi noted “all of these Russian units have been taking part in hostilities since 24 February 2022 and have sustained significant losses.”

He also said that Russia used “recently mobilized soldiers” to replenish those units.

In recent days, “the dynamics of combat clashes in the Bakhmut direction have been approximately the same,” Cherevatyi said.

Some context: Cherevatyi’s comments echoed those of Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar, who said Russians are “replacing troops from Wagner with regular units and trying to stabilize the defense in this area.”

On Sunday, the head of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said the handover of his fighters’ positions in Bakhmut to Russian army units may extend to June 5.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a decision had been made on the timing of Ukraine’s counteroffensive in his nightly address on Monday. 

“As usual, the commander-in-chief and the commanders of the operational directions reported to the staff,” Zelensky said. “Not only the supply of ammunition, not only the training of new brigades, not only our tactics. But also, the timing. This [the timing] is what is most important. The timing of how we will move forward. We will.”

Zelensky did not provide further details on when the counter offensive would launch.

One person was killed and several others were injured by shelling in the town of Shebekino in Russia’s Belgorod region, the region’s governor said.

Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said on his Telegram channel on Monday that it was a “difficult day” and that there was “a lot of shelling.”

Gladkov noted that in recent days Belgorod region endured a “large amount of damage caused by hours of shelling” that caused the power, cell phone connection, heat and water to go off in numerous areas, which have now been restored.

The governor mentioned Novaya Tavolzhanka, Grafovka, Murom and Arkhangelsky being among the affected areas. 

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine released video Monday of the immediate aftermath of what it says was a Russian air strike on a gas station in Toretsk, a town near the eastern city of Bakhmut. 

At least two people were reportedly killed and eight were wounded in the strike, the unit said on Facebook, and three injured individuals were removed from the rubble.

Toretsk is regularly hit by Russian artillery as well as occasional air strikes. Earlier Monday, the Russian-backed Donetsk People’s Republic accused the Ukrainians of shelling the occupied town of Horlivka from positions around Toretsk. 

European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said on Monday that he was “not optimistic” about how the Russia-Ukraine conflict will play out this summer.

Borrell added that he believes Russia will only negotiate if it wins the war.

“I am not optimistic about what will happen in Ukraine this summer. I see a concentration of troops on both sides, I see Russia’s clear intent to win the war, (Russia) will not go into a negotiation if it doesn’t win the war,” he said, speaking in Barcelona, Spain.  

Borrell’s remarks come as Moscow hit Kyiv with an array of missile fire Monday in a surprise daytime attack, hours after an overnight barrage of the Ukrainian capital and across the country.

Russia launched a wave of attacks on Kyiv Sunday night into Monday, including a surprise daytime attack. More than 70 drones and missiles have been fired by Moscow since Sunday night, Ukrainian officials say, and many of the drones were shot down by the country’s defenses.

The Kyiv city military administration said the daytime barrage was the 16th attack on the capital since the beginning of the month. Ukrainian authorities are promising swift retaliation as the country’s counteroffensive looms.

Here’s what to know about the strikes on Kyiv and other top headlines:

On the battlefields in the east, Ukrainian defense forces had repelled 20 Russian attacks, most of them around the entirely ruined town of Marinka, near Donetsk city, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Here are the areas that the General Staff shared updates on:

Some analysts believe that Russian forces are restricting offensive action as they try to consolidate defenses in Bakhmut and elsewhere along the frontlines.

The Ukrainian military says it destroyed the majority of Russian drones and missiles fired at the country on Sunday night and Monday.

There have been two waves of strikes, the General Staff said in its daily update. The first had involved 40 air-launched cruise missiles and 38 Shahed attack drones — and Ukraine said only four missiles and eight drones penetrated Ukrainian air defenses.

“In the afternoon, the enemy used cruise and ballistic missiles from the Iskander tactical missile system against civilian and critical infrastructure in Kyiv. The Air Force of Ukraine destroyed 11 out of 11 missiles,” the General Staff said, confirming earlier Ukrainian assessments.

The overall tally of missiles is one of the highest daily counts in recent months.

The Kremlin said Monday that Russia’s recent denunciation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) will not have direct consequences, but there is a “big vacuum” in the sphere of arms control that needs to be filled.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the law on Russia’s denunciation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe earlier on Monday. Commenting on the decision on a conference call with reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, “There should be no direct [consequences of it] because, in fact, it was already a lifeless mechanism.”

Peskov said the Russian side “simply brought the situation into line,” adding that “in the field of arms control and strategic stability, now, of course, a large vacuum is emerging, which urgently needs to be filled with new acts of international law that would regulate this situation.”

More on the treaty: Russia unilaterally suspended the implementation of the treaty in 2007, a move that the US State Department said undermined trust-building and transparency. Both Moscow and Washington have long been at odds over arms control, and Putin has often described former US President George W. Bush’s decision in 2001 to withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty as a major grievance.  

The 1990 CFE Treaty regulates conventional armed forces in Europe and aims to prevent large-scale offensives by limiting the overall deployment of tanks, armored combat vehicles, artillery, combat aircraft, and attack helicopters.

CNN’s Nathan Hodge contributed reporting to this post.

Ukrainian officials have indicated there’s been little change in positions around the eastern city of Bakhmut — and the intensity of Moscow’s offensive has decreased as Russian regular units continue to replace Wagner fighters.

“The intensity of the enemy’s offensive has significantly decreased as it is replacing troops from Wagner with regular units and trying to stabilize the defense in this area,” Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister, said on Telegram.

The official added: “Our troops are making this process much more difficult for the enemy… At the same time, the intensity of enemy artillery shelling has not decreased.”

Currently, Ukrainian units hold positions immediately to the south and west of the city itself. 

“To the south of Bakhmut, the enemy is attempting to reinforce and build up army units,” Maliar said. 

More background: The head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said Sunday that the handover of his fighters’ positions in Bakhmut to Russian army units may extend to June 5.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its latest assessment of the situation that there is continuing evidence that Russian units are being transferred to Bakhmut from other areas of the Donetsk front lines, including Avdiivka.

It said Sunday that “the Russian transfer of these elements to Bakhmut may decrease the tempo of Russian offensive operations on the Avdiivka-Donetsk City front.”

ISW also said that “The tempo of Russian operations around Bakhmut remains notably low.” Ukrainian officials have said much of the same, with daily recorded clashes in the area falling into single digits. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a half-minute video of children running to a shelter in Kyiv Monday morning as an explosion is heard in the background.

Zelensky posted the video to his Telegram channel, with the caption, “Ukrainian children. Every time an air raid alert sounds. This is what an ordinary weekday looks like.”

He added, “Thank you to everyone in the world who helps protect people and our children from Russian terror!”

His wife, Olena Zelenska, reposted the video, adding, “Morning after sleepless night under fire. Anxiety once again…Children running and screaming for shelter to the sounds of explosions. But it should not be like this — anywhere and never.”

The head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence promised retribution “very soon” after the latest wave of Russian missile and drone attacks against Kyiv and other locations.

“All those in Russia who still believed, believe or maybe dream that they can frighten Ukraine, I want to disappoint you — this is not true. Everyone has been and is still at their workplaces and continues to do their jobs,” Kyrylo Budanov said in an interview Monday.

He added: “All those who tried to scare us, dreaming that it would have some effect, will regret it very soon. Our response will not be delayed. Everyone will see everything soon.”

More than 70 drones and missiles have been fired by Russian forces since Sunday night, according to Ukrainian officials, who say the great majority were intercepted.

Yurii Ihnat, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force, said that the missile barrage Monday appears to have been largely with Iskander missiles, either in ballistic or cruise mode. Ballistic missiles travel faster and are more difficult to intercept, though the Ukrainian military insists all 11 missiles that were fired toward Kyiv in a rare daytime barrage were brought down.

Ihnat also noted on Ukrainian television that there’s a possibility that S-300 and S-400 missiles were used.

“The direction of the attack was from the north,” Ihnat said, without indicating whether the missiles were fired by Russian units based in southern Belarus or in Russia.

Asked whether recently received US Patriot missile batteries had been in action, Ihnat said: “I think you can guess, if Iskander-M missiles were shot down, then one can conclude what kind of means were used to hit such targets, ballistic targets.”

The Kyiv city military administration, said the daytime barrage was the 16th attack on the capital since the beginning of the month. “Thus, the enemy changed its tactics — after prolonged, nighttime attacks only, it struck a peaceful city during the day, when most residents were at work and outside. In other words, the Russians are clearly demonstrating that they are aiming to destroy the civilian population,” it said.

Russian forces hit Ukrainian airfields, destroying all targets, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed Monday.

“Tonight, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation launched a group strike with long-range precision air-launched weapons against enemy targets at airfields,” the defense ministry said. 

“As a result of the strike, command posts and radar posts, as well as aviation equipment, storage facilities with weapons and ammunition of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were hit,” it added in its daily briefing. 

What Kyiv is saying: Earlier on Monday, Ukraine claimed that Russia launched a widespread missile and drone attack on its territory overnight. Ukraine’s Armed Forces said Ukrainian air defenses destroyed 67 out of 75 “air targets” launched on Kyiv.

Khmelnytskyi regional military administration said Russia had attacked a military facility, in the western region overnight, damaging five aircraft.

Ukraine downed 11 Iskander missiles launched by Russia in a daytime attack on Monday, the commander in chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said Monday.

“At about 11:30am, it attacked Kyiv region with ballistic and cruise missiles from the Iskander missile system,” Valerii Zaluzhnyi said.

“A total of 11 missiles were fired: ‘Iskander-M’ and ‘Iskander-K’ from the northern direction. All targets were destroyed by air defense forces and means,” he added.

The sounds of air raid warnings and explosions have been heard most nights in Kyiv this month. Often these explosions are evidence that the Ukrainian capital’s shields are working – the vast majority of Russian drones and missiles have been shot down by Kyiv’s US-made Patriot defense systems.

In the early hours of Monday morning, Kyiv suffered another bombardment – its 15th attack of the month according to city officials. But few expected the 16th to follow so swiftly afterwards – until air raid warnings began around midday local time after Russia launched a rare daytime attack on the capital.

Here are the latest developments:

China on Monday responded to Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporting that its special envoy of Eurasian affairs, Li Hui, proposed a ceasefire plan to European officials that would have Russia retain control over the parts of Ukraine it currently occupies. 

“The Foreign Minister of Ukraine has publicly stated that he has made his contacts with all parties, and none of which indicated that Special Envoy Li Hui made the representations reported by the Wall Street Journal,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said when asked to comment on the WSJ story. Mao was speaking at a regular press briefing.

Li elaborated on China’s position and “forged more international consensus” while meeting with the parties relevant to the Ukraine crisis, Mao added.

On Friday — as Li ended his nearly two-week tour of Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany, the European Union’s Brussels headquarters and Russia — the WSJ reported that he proposed an immediate ceasefire that would allow Russia to retain possession of the parts of Ukraine it now occupies.

The air raid warning in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv has ended, after the city came under an unusual daytime attack just hours after more than 60 drones and cruise missiles launched at it were shot down overnight.

“Only 6 hours after the night attack, the aggressor country launched another missile attack on Kyiv. Preliminarily, the enemy used ballistic missiles,” Serhii Popko, head of Kyiv city military administration, said.

Popko said “preliminarily, all air targets were successfully hit by our air defense forces and means” and no hits have been reported on facilities in Kyiv.

“This was the 16th attack on the capital since the beginning of the month. Thus, the enemy changed its tactics – after prolonged, nighttime attacks only, it struck a peaceful city during the day, when most residents were at work and outside,” he added.

Debris from intercepted missiles fell in three parts of the city – Obolonskyi district, Desnianskyi and Dniprovskyi, he said.

He did not mention Podilskyi district where officials said earlier that debris fell on the roof of a building and one man had been hospitalized.

Ukrainian forces are shelling several settlements in Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders north-eastern Ukraine, according to its governor.

Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a Telegram post Monday that two industrial facilities had been attacked in the town of Shebekino. He said four people were injured after the shelling of building containing “paint and varnish liquids”.

CNN cannot independently verify his claims.

Some background: Reports of Ukraine’s shelling of Belgorod comes after a group of anti-Putin Russian nationals, who are aligned with the Ukrainian army, claimed responsibility for an attack in Russian’s southwestern region of Belgorod last week.

The so-called Freedom for Russia legion launched a cross-border attack on Belgorod, which Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday designated a “terrorist act.”

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.”

The Commander of Ukrainian Land Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, has visited troops near the eastern Ukrainian city of Lyman, telling them the time will “soon come” to take offensive actions against Russian forces.

“I met with the commanders of units and subdivisions performing tasks in the hottest spots of the frontline. We discussed possible scenarios in this area and the current situation at the front,” Syrskyi said, according to a Telegram post Monday.

“I noted that the time will soon come when we will launch active offensive actions and set specific tasks to prepare for them.”

Counteroffensive looms: His comments come after the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, ratcheted up speculation that a massive counteroffensive against Russia’s occupying forces could be imminent.

“The time has come to take back what is ours,” Zaluzhnyi wrote Saturday morning, underneath a video just over a minute in length showing Ukrainian forces apparently training at sunrise.

Following reports of explosions in the Russian-occupied city of Mariupol on Sunday, the exiled Mariupol City Council said Monday the number of attacks on Russian bases in and around the southern city is increasing.

“The number of attacks on Russian occupiers’ bases in the Mariupol sector is increasing. Recently, explosions have been heard in Mariupol and in the district,” the council said in a Telegram post.

“In particular, according to preliminary information, strikes were carried out in Yurivka, Nikolske and Urzuf. These are the locations of Russian military warehouses and bases. Recently, the occupiers considered these settlements to be rear areas, but the situation is changing,” the post added. 

CNN cannot independently verify these claims.

Some background: Mariupol, a strategic port city on the Sea of Azov, witnessed some of the most intense fighting since Russia launched its invasion more than a year ago. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has estimated that “tens of thousands” died during the siege of the city. Ukrainian forces finally evacuated the city in May last year, after resisting Russia’s advances for nearly three months.

Images of Mariupol’s destruction became symbols of the Kremlin’s use of indiscriminate firepower in Ukraine, drawing stark visual parallels with the levelling of cities like Syria’s Aleppo or the Chechen capital Grozny.

Ukraine’s military intelligence has accused Russian officials of overseeing war crimes against the civilian population in Mariupol in the course of the siege.

The reports of increased Ukrainian strikes on the occupied city come amid speculation that Kyiv is set to launch its counteroffensive in an attempt to reclaim territories captured by Russia.

Explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Monday, CNN teams on the ground said.

CNN teams heard about six loud explosions in central Kyiv. It was not immediately clear if these were the sound of interceptions by air defense systems or impacts on the ground.

The explosions were heard within minutes of the air raid warning being activated. This is an unusually short time between the sirens going off and the drones or missiles arriving over the city.

One man was hospitalized in the capital’s Podilskyi district, Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said, adding that missile fragments fell in the area.

The Kyiv city military administration said a fire had broken out on the roof of a two-story building in Podilskyi due to falling debris – likely the result of air defense systems shooting down enemy targets.

“There are explosions in the city! In the central districts. Stay in shelters!” Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, said earlier on Telegram.

Kyiv city’s military administration said rescue and firefighting services have been deployed to “extinguish missile fragments burning” on a road in the capital’s Obolonskyi district.

The daytime strikes follow a night of heavy bombardment on Kyiv, in which Ukrainian air defenses destroyed 67 out of 75 “air targets,” including cruise missiles and Iranian-made Shahed drones.

Russia has attacked warehouses, including a military facility, in Ukraine’s western Khmelnytskyi region overnight, local officials said Monday. 

It is rare for Ukraine to publicize attacks on military facilities. 

“At the moment, work is underway to localize fires at fuel and lubricant warehouses and storage of military material assets,” the Khmelnytskyi regional military administration said on Telegram.

“Five aerial vehicles have been put out of action. The runway is being repaired,” the post said, adding that data on victims is being clarified.

Ukrainian air defenses destroyed 67 out of 75 “air targets” launched overnight in the latest Russian attack on Kyiv, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said Monday.

Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi said 37 cruise missiles, 29 Shahed drones and one reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle were shot down by Kyiv’s forces.

“Overnight, the Russian occupiers attacked Ukrainian military facilities and critical infrastructure objects with cruise missiles and attack drones,” Zaluzhnyi said on Telegram.

“The enemy fired up to 40 Kh-101/Kh-555 air-launched cruise missiles from nine Tu-95MS strategic aircraft from the Caspian Sea.

“From the northern and southern directions, the enemy attacked with Iranian Shahed-136/131 UAVs. A total of 35 attack drones.”

Kyiv’s military administration previously estimated Ukrainian air defenses had shot down more than 40 “air targets.”

Kyiv police Chief Andrii Nebytov said “almost all enemy targets were destroyed,” but some buildings were damaged.

“As a result of the attack, residential buildings and infrastructure facilities in several districts of the region were damaged. No one was killed or injured,” Nebytov said.  

The new attack comes a day after a huge wave of Russian drones targeted Kyiv, marking the largest such assault on the capital since the conflict began, according to Ukrainian authorities.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — who has emerged as a key power broker since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began last year — on Sunday won a presidential election in a runoff vote, stretching his rule into a third decade.

Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated Erdogan for his victory.

“We count on the further strengthening of the strategic partnership for the benefit of our countries, as well as the strengthening of cooperation for the security and stability of Europe,” Zelensky said on Twitter.

Erdogan has adopted a crucial balancing act between Kyiv and Moscow, widely known as “pro-Ukrainian neutrality.”

He helped broker a key agreement known as the Black Sea Grain Corridor Initiative that unlocked millions of tons of wheat caught up in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, averting a global hunger crisis. The agreement was extended for another two months last Wednesday, one day before it was set to expire.

In remarks published on the Kremlin’s website, Putin said the election provided “clear evidence of the Turkish people’s support” for Erdogan’s efforts “to strengthen state sovereignty and pursue an independent foreign policy.”

On Putin and NATO: Though Turkey is a member of the NATO alliance that Russia views as an existential threat, Erdogan and Putin have what the Turkish President called a “special” relationship. Erdogan said in an interview with CNN’s Becky Anderson last week that the two nations “need each other in every field possible.”

In the interview, Erdogan also said he would continue to block Sweden’s access to NATO, despite Western criticism that he was obstructing a unified front against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Erdogan accused Sweden of harboring Kurdish terror groups and has preconditioned Stockholm’s accession on the extradition of wanted individuals.

Sweden has refused Turkey’s repeated requests to extradite individuals Ankara describes as terrorists, arguing that the issue can only be decided by Swedish courts.

Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson congratulated Erdogan for his victory Sunday. “Our common security is a future priority,” he tweeted.

Read more about Erdogan’s victory here.

Ukrainian air defenses shot down more than 40 “air targets,” including drones and missiles, moving toward Kyiv early Monday, officials said.

The new attack comes a day after a huge wave of Russian drones targeted Kyiv, marking the largest such assault on the capital since the conflict began, according to Ukrainian authorities.

One person was killed by falling debris on Sunday. No casualties have yet been reported Monday.

Here’s what you need to know:

Ukrainian air defenses shot down more than 40 “air targets,” including drones and missiles, that were moving toward Kyiv early Monday, the city’s military administration said. 

The attack Monday comes a day after a huge wave of Russian drones targeted Kyiv, marking the largest such assault on the capital since the conflict began, according to Ukrainian officials.

“Just 18 hours after the largest UAV attack on Kyiv, the enemy once again launched an attack on the capital,” the administration said on Telegram Monday. 

The administration said initial reports of the early Monday attacks indicate a barrage of Shahed drones, as well as cruise missiles that may have been launched from Tu-95MS strategic bombers in the Caspian Sea region.

Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said there had been no reports of casualties. 

“No attacks on Kyiv were permitted! We thank the air defense for their excellent work!” Popko said on Telegram. 

At least one residential building in Kyiv’s Podilskyi district had sustained damage to its roof from falling debris, he added. 

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has claimed that nations who are willing “to join the Union State of Russia and Belarus” will be given nuclear weapons, days after confirming the transfer of some tactical nuclear weapons from Moscow to Minsk had begun.

Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, made the comments in an on-camera interview released Sunday on the state-run Russia 1 channel.

During the interview, Lukashenko said, “no one minds Kazakhstan and other countries having the same close relations that we have with the Russian Federation.”

Signed in 1999, the Agreement on Establishment of the Union State of Belarus and Russia Treaty set up a legal basis for a wide-ranging alliance that spanned economic, information, technology, agriculture, and border security among other things between the two countries, according to the Belarus government website.

It was not clear how wide Lukashenko’s invitation to join the Union State extended, and he offered no other specifics.

But his comments on handing out nuclear weapons to like-minded allies are likely to heighten concerns at a time of growing global proliferation and as Moscow threatens the world with its own atomic arsenal as its war against Ukraine falters.

On Thursday the Belarusian autocrat said the transfer of some tactical nuclear weapons from Russia to Belarus had begun, following an agreement signed by Moscow and Minsk.

“It was necessary to prepare storage sites, and so on. We did all this. Therefore, the movement of nuclear weapons began,” Lukashenko said, according to state news agency Belta.

He also promised the safety of those weapons, saying: “This is not even up for discussion. Don’t worry about nuclear weapons. We are responsible for this. These are serious issues. Everything will be alright here.”

Read the full story here.

Explosions were reported in multiple districts across the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv early Monday, a local official said on Telegram. 

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said there were explosions in the southwestern district of Holosiivskyi and the Podilskyi district.

Klitschko also said missiles had been shot down near Kyiv, writing on Telegram “The air defense is at work!”

So far there have been no reports of injuries. 

Klitschko said a house in the Podilskyi district had caught fire from falling debris and that debris had also fallen on a home in the Sviatoshynskyi district that had already been evacuated.

“We currently know of no casualties or serious damage,” the Kyiv City Military Administration said about the situation in Sviatoshynskyi.

A series of explosions happened in and around the Russian-occupied southern cities of Berdiansk and Mariupol on Sunday, according to Ukrainian officials. 

The Ukrainian-backed Berdiansk municipal military administration said Sunday there had been at least “5 strikes by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Russian positions in the Berdiansk community.” 

Also on Sunday, several explosions happened around the Russian-occupied city of Mariupol, according to Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the city’s Ukrainian mayor. 

One of the blasts happened in Nikolske, a settlement just northwest of the city, in the area “where the occupiers were stationed,” he said. Andriushchenko said there were casualties, without mentioning how many. 

He also claimed there were casualties after a hit on the village of Yurivka, near Mariupol. 

Andriushchenko did not specify the cause the explosions.

“At least six times air defense systems were activated in the Mangush-Nikolske-Mariupol triangle,” Andriushchenko posted on his Telegram channel Sunday. 

What the Russians say: Russian state news agency TASS reported on Sunday that “the air defense system worked in the evening in the sky over Mariupol, where the Ukrainian missile was shot down, as well as over Volnovakha,” citing authorities from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).

DPR officials posted on Telegram that a “strike from the Armed Forces of Ukraine was recorded on Sunday in Yurivka village direction.”

“Two Storm Shadow missiles were fired,” the DPR officials added.

 The Russian side did not report any casualties. 

A top Ukrainian government official warned Iran there will be “consequences” after the capital Kyiv was targeted with Iranian Shahed drones early Sunday..

“Tehran has become a key ally of Moscow in this war, deliberately supplying it with weapons for attacks on civilian cities,” Mykhailo Podolyak, the adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said on Twitter. 

“Tonight’s attack on Kyiv with 50 Shaheds on City Day is another eloquent confirmation of this truth,” the adviser said, referencing an annual holiday celebrating the capital. “In legal terms: Iran is doing this with direct intent and realizing the consequences of its actions. And there will definitely be consequences.
“Today, I would like to remind official Tehran of the basic laws of life, in particular the law of the boomerang. Do not be confused by the illusion of geographical remoteness or a misunderstanding of Ukraine’s priorities today. Once released, Shahed will definitely find its way to its manufacturer one day.”

Threat of sanctions: Podolyak said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would propose to the government sanctions on Iran for 50 years. The head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, specified the sanctions proposed would include trade, financial and technological restrictions on Iranians, barring Iranian shipments and flights through Ukrainian territory, and a ban on Iranian citizens from withdrawing funds from Ukraine.

Moscow and Tehran: Relations between Tehran and Moscow have grown much closer during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia wants Iranian drones and ballistic missiles; Iran wants Russian investment and trade. Russia has become the largest foreign investor in Iran over the past year, according to Iranian officials.

About the attack drones: Shahed-series drones — the Shahed-129 and Shahed-191 — are unmanned aerial vehicles capable of carrying precision guided munitions, and can also be used for surveillance. Iran appears to be modifying the drones so that their explosive warheads can inflict maximum damage on infrastructure targets inside Ukraine, according to an investigative report obtained exclusively by CNN.

CNN’s Tim Lister and Natasha Bertrand contributed to this report.

For the 14th day this month, the city of Kyiv has been the target of Russian aerial attacks. 

Ukrainian officials estimate Russia sent more than 50 attack drones toward the capital city early Sunday. The overwhelming majority were destroyed by air defenses, and casualties and damage appear to have been minimal, according to city authorities. 

So why does Russia expend so much effort for such limited returns?

Russia launched its largest drone attack of the conflict yet on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, leaving one person dead and sparking fires across the city early on Sunday.

In an update late Sunday, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said Russia unleashed 59 Iranian Shahed drones — 58 of which were shot down. An earlier report from Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense put the total at 54 drones, only two of which were not shot down.

Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said a 41-year-old man died following the attacks, while falling drone debris at a gas station injured a 35-year-old woman.

Kyiv has been targeted several times this month but despite this fatalities are rare.

Falling drone debris also sparked fires in buildings across the capital, Klitschko said on Telegram.

Following the barrage, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed Ukrainian air defense personnel as “heroes.”

As well as trying to intimidate Kyiv residents, Moscow may be using the drone strikes to force Kyiv to expend valuable munitions shooting them down as well as get a sense of where air defenses are.

Shahed drones cost roughly 20 times less than a missile and so for Russia are a cheap way to inflict damage. The drones are manufactured in Iran and have frequently been deployed by Russian forces in Ukraine. Kyiv warned Tehran Sunday there would be “consequences” for supplying the aerial arsenal to Moscow.

Zelensky said in his daily address Sunday that the overnight attack ranked as “one of the largest attacks by Shahed drones.”

“Almost all of them were shot down. Unfortunately, there are hits in Zhytomyr region,” he added, referring to a northern region bordering Kyiv.

It was not immediately clear if Zelensky had not received updated statistics from his military at the time he spoke, or if he was referring to an additional Russian attack when he reported multiple hits in Zhytomyr.

Zelensky said the “most powerful” drone attack was directed against the Kyiv region, as Ukraine’s capital marked Kyiv Day, the anniversary of the city’s official founding 1,541 years ago.

“Thirty-six drones were shot down within the city of Kyiv and the region. This is how Russia celebrates the day of our ancient Kyiv,” he said.

With just a few words and a slickly produced piece of military propaganda, the commander in chief of Ukraine’s armed forces ratcheted up speculation that a long-awaited counteroffensive by Kyiv against Russia’s occupying forces could be imminent.

The minute-long video features Ukrainian troops marching, training and apparently preparing for battle.

Some are seen using German tanks and American artillery and rocket launchers — the type of armaments Kyiv would use in a potential operation to push Russian forces out of Ukrainian territory.

The clip ends with soldiers and their commander chanting a defiant message: “Ukraine, my native motherland, Lord, our heavenly father, bless our decisive offensive, our sacred revenge, our holy victory.”

The video came online following weeks of speculation regarding when Ukraine would start its counteroffensive — or whether it might even be said to have already begun.

Despite its language, Zaluzhyni’s post made no explicit mention of an impending military operation, and there have been few details reported on the ground of specific build-ups of troops and weapons — though it should be noted that any such reporting would likely fall foul of Ukraine’s martial law restrictions.

Both Russia and Ukraine have been known to engage in disinformation campaigns to confuse enemy forces.

The counteroffensive itself has seemed imminent a handful of times over the past month.

The Ukrainian military has been spotted moving military hardware toward the front lines and carrying out attacks against Russian targets that could facilitate an offensive, including strikes on Thursday and Saturday in the Russian-occupied city of southern port city of Berdiansk.

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