July 24, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

A Ukrainian security official has claimed Kyiv’s responsibility for the drone strikes that hit the Russian capital of Moscow and Crimea overnight.

Fedorov’s ministry is in charge of the Ukrainian “Army of Drones” initiative, the government’s drone procurement plan. 

Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks that have taken place on Russian soil or in Russian-occupied territories during the course of the war, but has recently admitted its role in the huge explosion of the Crimean bridge in October.

What happened? The Russian Ministry of Defense says Ukraine launched 17 drones toward Crimea overnight through Monday, referring to strikes on the peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Russian forces in 2014, as a “terrorist attack.”

A Russian ammunition depot was hit by the Ukrainian drone attack in Crimea.

Meanwhile in Russia, Ukrainian drones struck two non-residential buildings in Moscow in the early hours of Monday morning and were “suppressed” by defenses there, Russian authorities said, describing the incident a “thwarted” attack.

The Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov has said he will share a report with the United States about the use of US supplied cluster munitions in Ukraine this week.

The minister, speaking to CNN’s Alex Marquardt in Kyiv over the weekend, said he is awaiting the report which he will then pass on to the Pentagon “probably Monday or Tuesday,” meaning July 24 or 25.

Reznikov, speaking exclusively to CNN added, “we'll report about the consequences of this using [cluster munitions] so I think that next week I would have first report and I will share with my partners in Pentagon this reports. I hope that they will be more efficient than normal ammunition." 

On Thursday the White House’s John Kirby said that Ukrainian forces are using US-provided cluster munitions against Russia “appropriately” and “effectively” in combat.”

Reznikov wouldn’t offer detail before the report comes but said he expects them to be most effective "especially against the artillery systems, especially during the counter battery fighting and also they will be efficient against the armored personnel carriers, for the infantry fighting vehicles, they will also be good against their infantry in the fields."

The sharing of the report is part of the deal with the Pentagon to obtain the cluster munitions, called DPICMS, Reznikov said. 

The US has said the decision to provide Ukraine with DPICMs is due to a low supply of the standard unitary 155mm artillery round. The supply of clusters is “temporary,” according to US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

CNN was first to report that the US clusters had arrived in Ukraine.

Why is it controversial? Cluster munitions scatter “bomblets” across large areas, which would allow Ukrainian forces to target larger concentrations of Russian forces and equipment with fewer rounds of ammunition.

But the bomblets can also fail to explode on impact, and can pose a long-term risk to anyone who encounters them, similar to landmines.

The UK, France, Germany and other key US allies have outlawed the munitions under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but the US and Ukraine are not signatories to the ban.

The Russian Ministry of Defense says Ukraine launched 17 drones toward Crimea overnight, referring to strikes on the peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Russian forces in 2014, as a “terrorist attack.”

The ministry said 14 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) "were suppressed by means of radio-electronic warfare".

Three of the drones were shot down by Russian air defenses, three fell into the Crimean peninsula and 11 of the drones fell into the Black Sea, the Russian Ministry of Defense said.

“There were no casualties,” the MOD added.

Some context: Earlier on Monday, Sergey Aksyonov, the Moscow-installed governor of Crimea had said an ammunition depot and a house had been destroyed in strikes hitting Crimea overnight into Monday. He also said road and rail traffic had been suspended in certain areas of the peninsula. 

Traffic on the railroad and highways of parts of Crimea have been suspended “for safety reasons" following drone attacks on transport infrastructure, Sergey Aksyonov, the Moscow-installed governor of the annexed region said on Monday.

The northern part of the occupied Crimean peninsula were heavily affected, with the railroads of the Dzhankoi district and the Dzhankoi-Simferopol highway closed off, according to Aksyonov.

He added that residents within a 5 kilometer (3 mile) radius from the site of the accident in Dzhankoi district “would be evacuated to temporary accommodation centers.”

There were no reported casualties in the attack, he added.

Aksyonov earlier said that Ukrainian strikes hit Crimea overnight into Monday, damaging an ammunition depot in the peninsula.

CNN has not independently verified the reports of the attacks.

An ammunition depot and a house were destroyed in strikes hitting Crimea overnight into Monday, according to Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian-installed head of the occupied region. 

Aksyonov said in a statement that “eleven enemy UAVs were shot down by air defense forces and suppressed by electronic warfare equipment in the skies over Crimea."

CNN has not independently verified reports of the attacks.

This comes after Ukrainian forces hit an ammunition dump in Crimea on Saturday, forcing an evacuation of the area and canceling train services, Russian-backed authorities in the annexed peninsula say.

Russian drones have attacked Ukraine’s port infrastructure on the Danube river overnight, targeting Ukrainian grain stocks, the Ukrainian Army said in separate statements. 

The attack was carried out by Iranian-made Shahed drones and lasted for 4 hours, Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command posted on Facebook.

There are three main Danube ports in Ukraine — Izmail, Reni and Ust-Dunaiskyi but the post did not specify which were hit.

The statement added that three drones were destroyed by Ukrainian air defense forces, although “some got through,” according to a separate statement by Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesperson for the Odesa regional military administration.

Six people have been injured in the attack, Oleh Kiper, the head of Odesa's regional military administration said on Telegram. He said three of those injured were hospitalized with light shrapnel wounds and bruises.

Grain hanger damaged: The Ukrainian Army said a hangar with grain was destroyed while storage tanks for other types of cargo also were damaged in the attack. The army said a fire broke out in one of the production facilities but was quickly extinguished.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow withdrew from a vital Black Sea grain deal intended to stabilize global food prices and bring relief to developing countries because it "failed" to ensure the delivery of grain.

The deal struck a year ago allowed Ukraine to export grain by sea, with ships bypassing a Russian blockade of the country’s Black Sea ports and navigating safe passage through the waterway to Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait in order to reach global markets.

Vessels were inspected before they arrived in Ukraine by Russian, Ukrainian and Turkish officials, to ensure weapons were not being smuggled into Ukraine.

The impact of the war on global food markets was immediate and extremely painful, especially because Ukraine is a major supplier of grain to the World Food Programme (WFP).

Since quitting the deal, Russia has continually attacked the southern city of Odesa, a key Ukrainian food-exporting port.

In a self-penned article published Monday on the Kremlin’s website ahead of a Russia-Africa summit scheduled to take place later this week, Putin claimed Moscow could make up the shortfall in Ukrainian grain.

“I want to give assurances that our country is capable of replacing the Ukrainian grain both on a commercial and free-of-charge basis, especially as we expect another record harvest this year,” Putin wrote. 

“Notwithstanding the sanctions, Russia will continue its energetic efforts to provide supplies of grain, food products, fertilizers and other goods to Africa,” he added. 

Putin claimed the grain deal had been used for the "enrichment of large US and European businesses" and that “barriers have been mounted” to Russia’s own attempts to supply mineral fertilizers to countries in need -- an effort that, in his opinion, "should be exempt from any sanctions." 

“Considering all these facts, there is no longer any use in continuing the “grain deal” as it has failed to serve its original humanitarian purpose,” Putin concluded. 

Food security threats: Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres after Russia pulled out of the grain deal.

According to the European Commission, Ukraine accounts for 10% of the world wheat market, 15% of the corn market, and 13% of the barley market. It is also a key global player in the market of sunflower oil.

Prior to Russia's withdrawal, the deal had allowed for the export of almost 33 million metric tons of food through Ukrainian ports, according to data from the United Nations. 

Another round of Russian attacks on the port city of Odesa killed at least one person and wounded 19 others overnight into Sunday, according to Ukrainian officials.

Kyiv's air defense systems are struggling to fend off the assaults because they're ill-equipped to knock down certain types of missiles, the defense ministry said.

Within Russia, drones strikes hit two non-residential buildings in the capital Moscow at early Monday morning, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram.

Here's what you need to know:

Drones struck two non-residential buildings in Moscow in the early hours of Monday morning and were “suppressed” by defenses there, Russian authorities said, describing the incident a “thwarted” attack.

The strikes caused no serious damage or casualties, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram Monday.

According to Russian state media outlet, TASS, a drone hit a high-rise business center on Likhacheva Avenue in Moscow.

TASS reported drone debris was found on Komsomolsky Avenue in Moscow on Monday morning.

Traffic on Komsomolsky Avenue from the center of Moscow towards the region has been blocked off, TASS reported citing the Department of Transportation and Road Infrastructure Development of Moscow.

CNN could not independently verify the reports.

Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks which have taken place on Russian soil during the course of the war which Moscow began when it invaded in February last year.

Some context: The reported attack comes after Russian missiles badly damaged a historic Orthodox cathedral in the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa, sparking outrage and prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to vow retaliation.

The Odesa strikes killed at least one person and injured several others, Ukrainian officials said, the latest in a wave of attacks on the port city. The attacks also destroyed other historic buildings, Ukraine’s culture ministry said.

Those include a drone attack on Moscow in May, which damaged two buildings and and injured two people for which Ukraine denied direct involvement.

Earlier this month, Russia said it “destroyed or neutralized” five Ukrainian drones in what it described as a “terrorist” attack.