July 6, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

The United States is expected to announce a new military aid package for Ukraine on Friday that will include cluster munitions for the first time, defense officials told CNN. 

CNN first reported last week that US President Joe Biden's administration was strongly considering approving the transfer of the controversial weapons to Ukraine, as the Ukrainians have struggled to make major gains in its weeks-old counteroffensive. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed also concerns about ammunition shortages. 

Changing battlefield conditions inside Ukraine over the last two weeks prompted US officials to give the cluster munitions renewed and serious consideration, officials told CNN. 

More about the weapons: Cluster munitions are banned by more than 100 countries because they scatter “bomblets” across large areas that can fail to explode on impact and can pose a long-term risk to anyone who encounters them, similar to landmines. The US and Ukraine are not signatories to that ban, however. 

The US has a stockpile of cluster munitions known as DPICMs, or dual-purpose improved conventional munitions, that it no longer uses after phasing them out in 2016. 

Both the Ukrainians and the Russians have used cluster bombs since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, and more recently, Ukrainian forces have begun using Turkish-provided cluster munitions on the battlefield.

Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesperson, declined to comment Thursday on reports that the US Defense Department was preparing to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine, but said considerations from the department do not include older variants. 

Russia's attack in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv violated the World Heritage Convention by hitting a historic building in a protected area, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The bombing hit a historic building located in the buffer zone of Lviv's "Ensemble of the Historic Centre," which is a World Heritage Site, UNESCO said. Buffer zones are areas that add an additional layer of protection to World Heritage sites. 

The attack was the first to take place in an area protected by the convention since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, the agency said. 

"UNESCO recalls the obligations of States Parties under these widely ratified normative instruments," it said, adding that States Parties should not take "any deliberate measures which might damage the cultural and natural heritage situated on the territory of other States Parties." 

In March 2022, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay sent a letter to Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov "to remind him of these obligations and to specify the coordinates of the World Heritage sites in Ukraine," the agency said.

The death toll in Thursday's Russian attack has risen to at least five people, with at least 36 people injured, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. 

Officials said the missile attack destroyed more than 30 houses, more than 250 apartments, at least 10 dormitories, two university buildings, an orphanage and a school. It also damaged one substation in Lviv. 

UNESCO offered condolences to the families of the victims, as well as support for those injured and the Lviv community.

The city of Lviv is a "UNESCO creative city for literature" and will host a UNESCO cultural center that would become a national hub for Ukrainian artists, the agency said. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in Prague for a quick visit to the Czech Republic. 

The Ukrainian president is expected to meet with Czech leaders before departing for Turkey to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday.

The two leaders are expected to "discuss relations between the two countries, as well as regional and international issues, including the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine war, the Black Sea grain deal which is set to expire on July 17, and ensuring peace and stability in the Black Sea region," Turkish state-run media Anadolu said. 

The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, told US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley that his country’s counteroffensive is going as expected.

“I’ve carried out a telephone conversation with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley,” Zaluzhnyi said in a Facebook post on Thursday. “I informed him about the operational situation at the frontline. The Ukrainian servicemen continue to conduct active offensive actions.”

Zaluzhnyi also thanked Milley for the United States’ continued support for Ukraine and conveyed his military’s needs in terms of military assistance. 

“We’ve also discussed the urgent needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in terms of weapon and ammunition for the continuation of the liberation of Ukrainian territory from the Russian invaders,” he said. “I expressed my gratitude for the support and assistance, as well as congratulated the American people on the Independence Day of the United States, which had been celebrated just recently.”

The United States is expected to announce a new military aid package for Ukraine on Friday that will include cluster munitions for the first time, defense officials told CNN. 

The US ambassador to the United Nations expressed concern about Russia's use of Iranian drones in Ukraine and that Moscow may be receiving materials from Tehran to build a UAV manufacturing plant.

"The United States remains gravely concerned with Russia’s use of Iranian drones against Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure in its unprovoked war against Ukraine. Over the last several weeks we have seen Russia repeatedly use these UAVs in attacks that have destroyed Ukrainian public works and killed civilians," UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a report Thursday.

"Moreover, we have shared publicly and with the Secretariat information that Russia is working with Iran to produce Iranian UAVs in Russia. Specifically, Russia is receiving materials from Iran needed to build a UAV manufacturing plant inside Russia. This plant could be fully operational early next year," she noted.

She said that if the plant is completed it "would dramatically enhance Russia’s capacity to attack Ukraine and enable Russia’s ongoing campaign to disable Ukraine’s power plants, close its rail lines, and prevent agricultural goods from transiting to world markets."

She called for a team of investigators to be sent to examine debris from weapons Russians are using against Ukraine that have been recovered by Ukraine and the UK. And adds Iranian UAV proliferation is a global threat.

On Monday Ukraine said there was a deadly attack by Shahed drones in Sumy. On Wednesday Ukraine's General Staff said Russia launched five Iranian Shahed drones within the last day, two of which were destroyed by Ukrainian air defense.

The White House has declined to weigh in on the whereabouts of Yevgeny Prigozhin after comments from Belarus' president today deepened the mystery surrounding the chief of the Wagner private military group.

A spokesperson told reporters traveling with US President Joe Biden on Thursday that the administration will “continue to monitor” the Wagner Group, but stopped short of confirming reports Prigozhin has left Belarus and returned to Russia after his short-lived rebellion against the Kremlin.

Some context: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told reporters shortly after Prigozhin's insurrection last month that the Wagner chief traveled to Belarus under a deal he helped broker between Prigozhin and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But on Thursday, Lukashenko told CNN that Prigozhin was in St. Petersburg, Russia, adding that it is possible he has traveled to Moscow.

Lukashenko said he did not believe Putin will seek vengeance on Prigozhin.

"I know for certain that Prigozhin is free," the president claimed.

Sweden’s NATO membership is “within reach," the military alliance's chief Jens Stoltenberg said in a news briefing following a meeting of senior officials from Turkey, Sweden and Finland on Thursday.  

The meeting was called to try to overcome Turkish objections to Sweden joining the alliance.  

Stoltenberg will meet with the Turkish and Swedish presidents Monday to discuss next steps, he said.

Finland was welcomed into NATO in April which, according to Stoltenberg, has been a “game changer” for NATO’s shared security.  

In Thursday’s meeting, the parties agreed that full membership for Sweden is in all allies' security interests, Stoltenberg said. They want to complete the accession process as soon as possible, he added.

Some background: Turkey has pushed back on Sweden's membership because it says the Nordic country has allowed members of recognized Kurdish terror groups to operate there. More recently, it condemned Swedish officials' approval of a small Quran-burning demonstration.

Turkish President Erdogan said Monday that his country “will not back down” on its opposition to Sweden joining NATO until “demands are met.”

Meanwhile, news the country is nearing NATO membership has prompted protests in Sweden against Turkey and the military alliance.

But Stoltenberg says Sweden has delivered on the necessary commitments for NATO accession, including amending its constitution, introducing new anti-terrorist legislation, removing restrictions on arms exports to Turkey and stepping up counter-terrorism cooperation – including against the Kurdish political party, the PKK.  

How it relates to the war in Ukraine: Russia's invasion of Ukraine drove non-aligned Finland and Sweden to abandon their long-held neutrality and seek protection within NATO, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has long sought to undermine.

Finland's acceptance alone doubled the alliance's border with Russia.

Ukraine will be at the top of the agenda at next week's summit in Vilnius. Kyiv itself has long sought membership in the alliance, though Ukraine has acknowledged that its accession would have to wait until after the war with Russia concludes.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh, Jessie Gretener, Lauren Kent, Alex Hardie, Li-Lian Ahlskog Hou and Tara John contributed reporting to this post.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a visit to Bulgaria on Thursday that the two nations will deepen their cooperation on defense issues.

The Ukrainian president, who met with Denkov in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, thanked his counterpart for the Balkan country's support during Russia’s full-scale invasion. Zelensky said the aid "has already helped protect many lives."

He added that the two leaders discussed the "specific details" of their current defense package.

Diplomatic efforts: Zelensky's meeting with the Bulgarian prime minister comes about a week before the 2023 NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. Ukraine has long pushed to join the military alliance, of which Bulgaria is a member, and that effort has taken on new urgency in the wake of Russia's invasion.

While Ukraine is expected to be at the top of the agenda for world leaders in Vilnius, the process for accession to NATO is long, and Zelensky has acknowledged that membership would have to wait until after the war with Russia has concluded.

About 200,000 Ukrainian children are missing due to Russia's full-scale invasion, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“Just imagine, we don't know where 200,000 children are now,” Zelensky said during a press conference in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Thursday.

“Some of them are deported, some are in the occupied territories, and we don't know who is alive,” he continued.

Some context: Moscow has been accused of forcibly and unlawfully transferring Ukrainian children from occupied territories to Russia. In March, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova Belova for their responsibility in the alleged forced deportations. 

The Russian government doesn’t deny taking Ukrainian children and has made their adoption by Russian families a centerpiece of propaganda.

Some of the children have ended up thousands of miles and several time zones away from Ukraine. According to Lvova-Belova’s office, Ukrainian kids have been sent to live in institutions and with foster families in 19 different Russian regions, including Novosibirsk, Omsk and Tyumen regions in Siberia and Murmansk in the Arctic.

Lvova-Belova dismissed the ICC’s arrest warrant against her, saying it was “great” that the international community appreciated her work for children, according to Russian state news agency TASS.