February 15, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Tensions are mounting at the Belarusian-Ukrainian border amid concerns by Ukrainian officials about a Russian spring offensive. 

In rare access since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, a CNN team visited Belarus’s southwest border near northwest Ukraine, accompanied by state border officials.

CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen and his team were 100 meters (more than 300 feet) away from the Ukrainian side, where they saw the Belarusian government’s fortification of the border area with barbed wire in a carefully orchestrated and tightly controlled press tour. 

According to the CNN team on the ground, the Ukrainian side of the border is heavily barricaded with several layers of barbed wire and earth mounds to stop anyone from going through.

Ukraine and Belarus share a 1,000-kilometer (more than 600 miles) frontier, much of it sparsely populated and thickly forested. 

Belarusian officials told CNN the border crossing from their side in the small town of Dyvin is still functioning but that the Ukrainian side has closed the crossing. 

Ukraine has closed all border crossings to Belarus, except to occasionally allow entry to Ukrainian refugees who are looking to return to their home country, out of concern Belarus could be used for a further invasion by Russia. 

The CNN team could see a Ukrainian flag on Ukraine’s side of the border crossing and a red and white flag which is associated with the Belarusian opposition — a move Belarusian authorities called a “provocation.” 

Some context: Russia used the territory of Belarus as one of its launch pads for the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Joint military drills over the last year between Belarus and Russia have contributed to concerns that Belarusian troops could join Russia's forces in Ukraine, but Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has repeatedly dismissed speculation that his troops would directly join the fighting in Ukraine. 

CNN's Tim Lister contributed to this post.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that the situation in the eastern city of Bakhmut is "the most difficult out of all" areas in Ukraine. 

"That direction is the most difficult, the heaviest. I would also mention the Vuhledar area. Overall, it is not easy for our people in the east," said Zelensky, speaking during a joint news conference in Kyiv alongside Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. 

"This war is so costly for our country. Nevertheless, people are strong, they are defending, and they are standing," Zelensky said. "They understand that they are the fortress for Ukraine to prepare for the de-occupation of all territories."

"They are standing firm and fulfilling their task, destroying the enemy's forces to the maximum," he added. "It is difficult, but they are holding on." 

Asked about the anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion on February 24, Zelensky replied that it has been the "hardest year in the history of independent Ukraine."

"I believe that yes, there are many challenges ahead of us and that our country will be tested. Still, I believe this was the hardest time in our lives," Zelensky said. "On this day, we should not forget all those who are defending our borders, our people and our homes."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated Wednesday Kyiv's invitation for US President Joe Biden to visit Ukraine. 

When asked by a CNN producer if he plans to meet with the American president anytime soon, Zelensky said, "President Biden and I meet occasionally. You know that we have invited the President. I think he will be happy to visit Ukraine if he has the opportunity. That would be an important signal to support our nation."

"Nevertheless, today there are various means of communication with the President of the United States," Zelensky added. "We are grateful to them for their great help."

Remember: The US president is planning to visit Poland next week to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The White House said he would meet Polish President Andrzej Duda and other leaders from the region. He’ll deliver remarks ahead of the official anniversary on February 24.

CNN's Kevin Liptak contributed to this post.

A spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force Command said on Wednesday that air raid sirens in Kyiv were triggered by Russian balloons being utilized as "false targets." 

"They use them [balloons] as false targets, they want air defense to work against them. They need to deplete our air defense both in ammunition and to distract our attention," Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said in a televised interview.

Authorities earlier said Ukrainian air defense systems were engaging a Russian attack in the capital city, with the city military administration writing on Telegram that "an enemy air target was detected in the skies over Kyiv city.”

Six Russian balloons were detected in Kyiv's airspace on Wednesday, with "most" of them intercepted, according to the city's military administration.

"There were six enemy air targets detected in the Kyiv city airspace. Those were balloons that are moving with the wind," the Kyiv city military administration said on Telegram, adding that the balloons could have been carrying reconnaissance devices. 

"The air defense was in action against all air targets. Most of the explorers were intercepted," the Kyiv city military administration said. "The goal of the balloon launch was to detect and exhaust our air defenses."

Ihnat claimed that Russian balloons "even flew into some other countries" and caused Moldova to close its airspace on Tuesday. CNN cannot independently verify those claims. 

On Tuesday, CNN reported that Moldovan airspace temporarily closed and then reopened. The country’s civil aviation authority said that the airspace had shut “in order to ensure the safety and security of civil aviation” but has since reopened. 

The EU’s top diplomat has urged Ukraine’s allies to follow Germany and “deliver as many tanks as possible and as quickly as possible.”

Speaking to Germany’s Phoenix broadcaster in an interview Wednesday, Josep Borrell said it would be “disappointing” if after “pointing the finger at Germany for not doing anything, these countries now don't follow suit.”

The EU’s high representative for foreign affairs stressed Ukraine's need for “all the tanks” countries can possibly release.

“We have to demand a response. I know there are hundreds of tanks in the EU armies, some of them need to be refurbished, but then you have to do it, and do it quickly, because in the spring, it will be too late," he added.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Russia “continues to pour large numbers of additional people into the fight” in Ukraine, and “that is their strength.” 

He added that “Those people are ill-trained and ill-equipped, and because of that we see them incurring a lot of casualties,” Austin said, but the US expects Russia to continue with this strategy of throwing bodies at the fight despite their lack of equipment. 

Austin made the remarks at a news conference from NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday. 

Austin said that by contrast, the US and NATO are determined to provide Ukraine with sophisticated equipment — and train Ukrainian troops on those systems — to give them the upper hand. 

“Our goal is to make sure that we give Ukraine additional capability so that they can not only be marginally successful, they can be decisive on the battlefield and in their upcoming offensive,” Austin said. 

“We're laser-focused on making sure that we provide a capability and not just platforms,” he added.

The European Commission has proposed to sanction Iranian entities that are responsible for supplying drones to Moscow, according to EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen. 

In a recorded statement from Strasbourg, France, von der Leyen announced the bloc's 10th round of sanctions against Russia which is due to be unveiled this month, and said it will include sanctions against seven Iranian entities to its dual use regime.

The EU controls the export, transit, brokering and technical assistance of dual-use items which are goods, software and technology that can be used for both civilian and military applications, according to the European Commission website.

The listed entities will be placed "under a complete ban to sell sensitive items to Russia," von der Leyen said, stressing that the bloc "stands ready" to add further entities if necessary.

Iranian-made drones have been used by Russia to attack Ukrainian infrastructure targets. The Iranian regime has only admitted to supplying Russia with drones in the months before the invasion.

As Russia is expected to carry out a new offensive in eastern Ukraine, the US and its allies are skeptical that Russia has amassed the manpower and resources to make significant gains, according to US, UK and Ukrainian officials..

“It’s likely more aspirational than realistic,” a senior US military official told CNN. 

"The meat grinder:" Russia has been increasing the number of forces situated on its border and inside Russian-held territory in Ukraine, some of the forces drawn from a partial mobilization ordered in September last year. Despite the increased numbers, Western allies have not seen evidence of sufficient changes to those forces’ ability to carry out combined arms operations needed to take and hold new territory.

Even the head of Russia’s Wagner private military company on Tuesday warned that the capture of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut was far from imminent.

“Bakhmut will not be taken tomorrow, because there is heavy resistance and grinding, the meat grinder is working,” Yevgeniy Prigozhin said in a statement distributed on a Wagner Telegram channel. “For the meat grinder to work properly, it is impossible to suddenly start festivities. There won't be any festivities anytime soon.”

The US military had assessed it would take as long as until May for the Russian military to regenerate enough power for a sustained offensive, but Russian leaders wanted action sooner. The US now sees it as likely that Russian forces are moving before they are ready due to political pressure from the Kremlin, the senior US military official told CNN. 

Though Ukrainian officials have been sounding the alarm about new Russian attacks in the east, there is also skepticism on the Ukrainian side about Russian capabilities as those forces currently stand. 

There is also no indication of any pending massive aerial assault. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday that the US is not seeing Russia “massing its aircraft” ahead of an aerial operation against Ukraine. 

A Russian court has sentenced journalist Maria Ponomarenko to six years in prison for a Telegram post that the court said spread “false information,” state news agency TASS said on Wednesday.

Ponomarenko was detained last April and charged with publishing “false information” on her Telegram channel about a Russian airstrike on a theater in Mariupol, Ukraine, that killed hundreds, and for which Russian authorities deny responsibility.

Her employer, RusNews, said on Telegram that the journalist spent time at a pre-trial detention center, which impacted her psychologically, leading to a suicide attempt in September. Ponomarenko is a mother of two.

The court in Russia’s city of Barnaul in Western Siberia sentenced Ponomarenko to six years in jail at a general regime correctional colony, with no right to engage in activities related to the internet and other types of public communication for five years, according to court's press service quoted by TASS.

Earlier in February, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on Russian authorities to "immediately release" Ponomarenko along with columnist Iskander Yasaveyev and “stop prosecuting members of the press over their reporting and commentary on the war in Ukraine." Per CPJ's most recent prison census, at least 19 journalists were behind bars in Russia as of December 1, 2022.

With previous reporting by CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq and Josh Pennington.