July 6, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

By Tara Subramaniam, Rob Picheta, Ivana Kottasová, Aditi Sangal, Adrienne Vogt, Matt Meyer, Elise Hammond, Tori B. Powell and Amir Vera, CNN

Updated 12:03 a.m. ET, July 7, 2023

What we covered here

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told CNN that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner paramilitary group, is in the Russian city of St. Petersburg — not Belarus as originally agreed.
Prigozhin was supposed to be exiled after the group's short-lived rebellion against the Kremlin. Lukashenko claims Prigozhin, who hasn't been seen publicly since June 24, "is free" and will not face violent reprisal from Moscow.
In Ukraine, a strike on a residential building in the western city of Lviv left at least six people dead and dozens more injured Thursday, officials said.
The US is expected to send cluster munitions to Kyiv for the first time as part of a new aid package. Ukraine hopes to secure more support from allies at a NATO summit next week, where Sweden is looking to clear its final hurdles to membership.

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10:55 p.m. ET, July 5, 2023

Zelensky says Russia uses Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as a cover for shelling nearby areas

From CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq and Svitlana Vlasova

The Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is seen on June 15. Olga Maltseva/AFP/Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claims that Russia has been using the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as a cover for shelling neighboring cities.

The plant, with six reactors, is the largest nuclear power station in Europe. It was mostly built in the Soviet era and became Ukrainian property after its declaration of independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Russia captured the plant in March 2022. Since then, international and local experts have voiced grave warnings, not only for the safety of the plant's workers but also for fear of a nuclear disaster that could affect thousands of people in the surrounding area.

Russian forces have "set up artillery on the territory of the plant or near it and fire," Zelensky said in a virtual address to students and professors from several universities in Argentina on Wednesday.

"Moscow is considering various scenarios, including those similar to the man-made disaster at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station. That is, for cynical military purposes. But we should not even think about which scenario is most likely. We should only think about how to prevent any disaster scenario," Zelensky added.

It's not yet clear whether the Russian-occupied Nova Kakhovka dam collapsed in June because it was deliberately targeted or if the breach was caused by structural failure. Dozens of people died in the flooding, according to officials, while it also caused widespread damage to homes and farmland. Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for the collapse.

Ukrainian officials earlier on Wednesday said they are well prepared for a Russian attack at the Zaporizhzhia plant, though they warned that Moscow is capable of anything, even "completely reckless actions" that it could try to pass off as sabotage by Ukraine.

Russia claimed to be taking precautionary measures to counter a threat at the plant by Ukraine amid increasing rhetoric. According to Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, the situation at Europe's largest nuclear station is "quite tense," and the potential for "sabotage by the Kyiv regime" is "high," which could have "catastrophic consequences."

The UN's nuclear watchdog said in an update on Wednesday that there are no visible indications of mines or explosives at the power plant, although it requested additional access to the site.

CNN's Lauren Kent and Anna Chernova contributed reporting to this post.

8:48 p.m. ET, July 5, 2023

Ukrainian strikes cause oil depot fire in Donetsk, Russian state media says

From CNN's Josh Pennington

Ukrainian strikes have caused an oil depot fire in the Makiivka district of occupied Donetsk, Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti said on Wednesday.

A video posted by RIA shows large flames and plumes of smoke, with a fire truck heading toward the flames.

Ukrainian fighters used HIMARS to conduct several strikes on the oil depot, according to the news agency. Citing preliminary information, RIA reported there were no victims, but that a severe fire broke out. Local emergency service workers are responding to the incident, RIA said.

Makiivka was shelled Tuesday night, according to Denis Pushilin, the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). It was shelled again on Wednesday night, according to local mayor Vladislav Klyucharov.

At least one person was killed and 68 were injured from Tuesday’s strikes on Makiivka, according to state media outlets.

8:45 p.m. ET, July 5, 2023

Ukraine's military says Russia continues to focus main efforts in eastern areas, including Bakhmut

From CNN's Svitlana Vlasova and Lauren Kent

Russia continues to focus "its main efforts" on the areas of Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka in eastern Ukraine, with more than 30 combat engagements taking place there within the past day, according to Ukraine's General Staff.

In the Lyman sector, more than 10 villages came under artillery fire as Russian forces unsuccessfully tried to force Ukrainian troops out of their positions near Novoyehorivka in the Luhansk region, the General Staff said in an update.

A further 10 localities were shelled in the Avdiivka sector, where Ukrainian defense forces claim to be continually holding back the Russian offensive.

"The enemy launched airstrikes in the areas of Bohdanivka and Toretsk," the General Staff said. "More than 10 localities suffered from enemy artillery shelling, including Vasyukivka, Khromove, Oleksandr-Shultine and Pivnichne, in the Donetsk region."

According to the General Staff, Ukrainian forces "successfully repelled enemy attacks in the areas south of Berkhivka and Bohdanivka in the Donetsk region."

"At the same time, they continue to conduct offensive operations south and north of the city of Bakhmut, strengthening their positions," the update continued.

The commander of Ukraine's "Terra" reconnaissance unit, Mykola Volokhov, described the situation in Bakhmut as "quite positive and optimistic."

"Over the last month [in the Bakhmut sector] we have been making steady progress in moving forward: liberating Ukrainian land from the enemy, regaining what was lost. We are starting to enter the territories that we did not initially control," Volokhov said.
"The nature of the fighting is a lot of infantry battles, but lately, both our side and the enemy have been using a lot of tanks.
"Previously, it was just infantry, but now the enemy is actively showing off their equipment. For us, this is a good sign, because it means that they are not able to cope and need to pull out reserves."

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military said it also repelled all attacks around the town of Marinka.

"At the same time, the Ukrainian Defence Forces continue to conduct offensive operations in the Melitopol and Berdiansk directions, strengthening their positions, inflicting artillery fire on the identified enemy targets, and carrying out counter-battery measures," the update continued.

8:20 p.m. ET, July 5, 2023

Ukraine's counteroffensive "slowed down" by entrenched Russian defenses, Zelensky says

Exclusive from CNN's Erin Burnett, Yon Pomrenze, Mick Krever and Victoria Butenko in Odesa, Ukraine

Ukraine’s counteroffensive has been “slowed down” by entrenched Russian defenses, President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN in an exclusive interview broadcast on Wednesday, adding that he wished Western weapons deliveries had allowed it to begin “much earlier.”

Speaking with CNN’s Erin Burnett in Odesa, Zelensky said that in some areas of the country his military cannot “even think of starting” attacks, because it does not have “the relevant weapons.”

“I’m grateful to the US as the leaders of our support,” he told Burnett through a translator, “but I told them as well as the European leaders that we would like to start our counteroffensive earlier, and we need all the weapons and materiel for that. Why? Simply because if we start later, it will go slower.”

The Ukrainian leader added that difficulties on the battlefield were now leading to a “slowed down” counteroffensive.

“I wanted our counteroffensive to happen much earlier, because everyone understood that if the counteroffensive unfolds later, then a bigger part of our territory will be mined. We give our enemy the time and possibility to place more mines and prepare their defensive lines.”

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said that while the counteroffensive is under way, the main push is yet to come.

Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar said last month that Ukraine was holding back some of its reserves and that the “main strike” was still ahead.

In any direction Ukraine chooses to attack, however, time is the enemy, Zelensky told Burnett. “The later we start, the more difficult it will be for us.”

Read more here.