February 23, 2023 - Town hall on Russia’s war in Ukraine

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

The US can both provide aid to Ukraine and still help its own citizens, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said when asked about some Republicans opposing assistance in the war.

CNN’s Fareed Zakaria asked Sullivan about some Republicans — like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Josh Hawley — questioning why the US is providing so much aid to Ukraine.

Sullivan responded by stating he believes America is capable of being a strong leader in the world while also providing for its own citizens.

“So what I would say to those senators is ‘yes, let’s do these things at home, but are you saying that America is incapable of also helping to serve a powerful force for good in the world?’ I don’t think that the American people believe that. I think the American people think we are capable of doing both and at our best that is exactly what we have done,” Sullivan said.

Nastya Shvets, a 24-year-old Ukrainian woman, described living through devastating loss following Russia’s invasion of her country. The apartment building she lived in with her parents in Dnipro was destroyed on January by a Russian missile. Both of her parents were killed.

She tells CNN’s Clarissa Ward that she doesn’t understand why Russia would use a weapon meant to take down aircraft carriers on a residential area.

Watch the interview here:

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While National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan admitted he “cannot predict the future,” he did assert that “Russia has already lost this war” against Ukraine.

“Russia’s aims in this war were to wipe Ukraine off the map, to take the capital and to eliminate Ukraine, to absorb it into Russia,” Sullivan said. “They failed at doing that and they are in no position to be able to do that as we go forward.”

During Thursday’s town hall, Lera, a 14-year-old Ukrainian girl, asked if she could rely on Americans to feel safe in her country.

USAID Administrator Samantha Power reassured her the United States is committed to making Ukrainians feel as safe as possible despite living in a time of war.

Power listed ways in how there are precautions taken like bomb shelters and metal detectors to help everyday Ukrainians feel safe.

“We have your backs, we stand with you, not just here on the battle front but in trying to help you feel as much safety as you can when one man and his wicked vision has tried to take that away,” Power said.
“We all long for the day where you can walk freely with your classmates, not worry about having to scamper to a bomb shelter, not have to worry about your loved ones or yourselves. When your neighbors and your friends and your family members are not off in some distant country where they became refugees, but they’re back home reunited with you and as the president has said, we are with you till the end. We will stand with you,” she said.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the US has been keeping a close eye on China and Russia’s relationship “since early last February” when Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to China for the Olympics.

He said the idea the two countries becoming “unbreakable allies” is disproven because China “abstained on a UN general assembly resolution.”

“They didn’t vote with Russia,” Sullivan said. “They have been very careful in how they posture themselves publicly and their comments. They have tried to pitch themselves as somehow not standing fully in Russia’s camp when it comes to the war in Ukraine.”

For context: US officials have said China could be preparing to provide lethal military aid to Russia. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he had not yet seen China do so, but that China “hasn’t taken that off the table for sure.”

Despite divisions within the country, Americans are united behind Ukrainians, USAID Administrator Samantha Powers said when asked by a Ukrainian mother about the commonality between the citizens of both countries.

“The reflection, I think, of how much commonality Americans do feel with Ukrainians is the flow of support that has been sustained over the course of this last year. It is the bipartisanship in a town that isn’t famous for it anymore, but Ukraine has been not only a galvanizing issue, but a uniting issue for our own country, which has been very divided in recent years,” she said during CNN’s town hall.

Ukrainian mother Lesya Karnauh also had a message for Americans – that she does not want them to believe misinformation about the Ukrainian people.

“I would like to know if Americans see how similar they are to Ukrainians and do Americans understand that we share the same values and we are just like you, we love our families, we love our children. We want to progress and we want to see our children happy and safe. I would like you to know we do not have hate in our hearts and we do not want to take peace from anyone in this world, even though the war has come to us. Please don’t believe misinformation about us,” Karnauh said.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that F-16 fighter jets – which have been requested by Ukraine – “are not the key capability” for the country’s current needs, which is a counteroffensive against Russian forces.

“F-16s are not a question for the short-term fight. F-16s are a question for the longterm defense of Ukraine and that’s a conversation that President Biden and President Zelensky had,” Sullivan said.

Some background: The most glaring difference between Biden and Zelensky lies in the kind of weapons the US president is willing to provide. The government in Kyiv is ratcheting up its campaign for the West to send F-16 jets and is now getting increasing buy-in from some influential bipartisan members of Congress.

Biden has so far declined to agree to the request, which gets to the heart of a dilemma that defines his war strategy: How far to go to help Kyiv win while avoiding a direct clash between the West and Russia.

Samantha Power, US Agency for International Development administrator, assured that US assistance is properly being used to support Ukraine in the war.

“Up until this point, we don’t have any evidence that US assistance is being misused or misspent but, again, the key is not resting on anybody’s good will or virtue,” she said. “It’s checks and balances, the rule of law, the integrity of officials.”

For context: Power’s comments come as the Republican Party finds itself bitterly divided on Capitol Hill over whether the US should continue aiding Ukraine.

The topic of Ukraine funding will be front and center when both spending fights and presidential politics heat up later this year. Republicans are seeking to rein in spending across the federal government now that they control the House and will have leverage in negotiations to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, while conservatives on the campaign trail are looking to contrast their priorities against Biden’s in the prelude to the 2024 election cycle.

CNN’s Lauren Fox and Melanie Zanona contributed reporting.

It’s a good thing there is a company that was able to set up a resilient internet communication and telephone communication in a war zone and that should be praised — but “there should be more options,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Elon Musk’s Starlink company.

“But, of course, there should be more options. There should be more availability of the internet, more competition and we’d like to see more companies enter the picture to be able to offer a range of choices,” Sullivan said in response to CNN’s Fareed Zakaria asking if the US government should take more of a lead of the satellite situation in Ukraine instead of Musk.
He added that distribution of internet services by the US government is not how its designed to work because “we have relied upon the private sector for it, but there are steps the US government can take working with other governments to stimulate and support more of these types of companies being able to deliver more internet to more people in Ukraine but, yes, also here in the United States and elsewhere around the world.”

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan vowed to do “everything in our power to get you the equipment and the ammunition” that Ukraine needs. That includes 155-millimeter artillery shells, 120-millimeter tank shells among other tools like HIMARS missiles.

“One of the things that we are working hard at— at President Biden’s direction — is to increase the production of all of these types of ammunition,” Sullivan told a Ukrainian soldier named Yegor Thursday night.

He said the increase of ammunition isn’t just a goal for the United States, but for all NATO countries as well “so that the total supply of each of these different forms of ammunition grows month by month and we can continue to move to the front lines.”

He said countries are putting in “immense effort and resources” into ramping up ammunition, but noted that “this is not something we can do with the snap of a finger.”

The US sees no change in Russia’s nuclear posture, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said when asked by CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is bluffing about the risk of escalation of using nuclear weapons.

“We do not see any change in Russia’s nuclear posture and we’ve made no changes in our nuclear posture. So we are constantly vigilant and we also maintain regular channels to the Russian government to be able to talk to them about the risk of this escalation and also communicate the severity of the consequences of the use of nuclear weapons,” Sullivan said during Thursday’s CNN town hall.
“Sitting here today we do not see movements in Russia’s nuclear forces that lead us to believe that something fundamentally has changed from how things have been over the course of the past year,” he added.

US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have had “deep conversations” about providing Ukraine with the weaponry and tools needed to fight the war against Russia, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said.

He said during Biden’s recent surprise visit to Ukraine, the US president “brought with him an announcement of more artillery, more ammunition, more HIMARS on the back of major announcements about American tanks and armored vehicles.”

Sullivan also mentioned recently announced security assistance for Ukraine, as well as more technology.

“We will keep working with them month by month to figure out if there are additional tools that they need,” Sullivan said.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan described the precautions taken when US President Joe Biden made his historic and risky trip to Kyiv at the CNN town hall marking the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Sullivan noted that Biden took an unmarked SUV with a small motorcade to the train station to travel 10 hours to the Ukrainian capital.

“The United States didn’t control the airspace, didn’t control the ground. We were entering a country at war heading to a capital at war, a country that has been subject to routine and repeated bombardments by the Russians and without any of the normal security capacity that would usually accompany a president. So we were heading into the unknown because this was unprecedented,” Sullivan said.

CNN’s Fareed Zakaria is hosting a special live town hall now with Americans and Ukrainians to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Zakaria is speaking with top national security officials from President Joe Biden’s administration: National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and United States Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power.

Here’s how to watch: The town hall will stream live for pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN OTT, mobile apps under “TV Channels” or CNNgo where available. The town hall will also be available on demand beginning Friday, February 24, to pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN apps, and cable operator platforms.

China released a 12-point document Friday detailing its position on the war in Ukraine. In it, the country called for the end of hostilities and the resumption of peace talks.

In the online paper titled “China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis,” the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs pledged that China will “continue to play a constructive role” in the resumption of peace talks, but provided no additional details. 

Each point is followed by a paragraph explaining China’s position, but provides no concrete proposals as to how the points should be achieved. 

Here’s what those 12 points are:

For context: Prior to the release of this document, US officials have said China could be preparing to provide lethal military aid to Russia. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he had not yet seen China do so, but that China “hasn’t taken that off the table for sure.”

“I’ve engaged my counterpart early on and told him that this would be a very bad mistake if China were to do this. It would complicate things,” Austin said.

The US believes the training and equipment it is providing Ukraine will “change the dynamics on the battlefield” in the war against Russia and allow Kyiv’s forces to “breach Russian defenses,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins in a Thursday interview on “CNN This Morning.”

“We’re training and equipping several brigades of mechanized infantry — that’s a pretty substantial capability,” Austin said. “In addition to that, additional artillery, and so they’ll have the ability to breach Russian defenses and maneuver, and I think that will create a different dynamic.” 

Austin’s comments come as the war in Ukraine reaches the one-year mark, with seemingly no end in sight. It also comes on the heels of a highly secretive and surprise visit to Kyiv by President Joe Biden, which aimed to send a stark message about the strength of the two nations’ alliance to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Austin echoed a common sentiment among other American officials — including Biden — to CNN, reiterating that the US will stick with Ukraine for as long as it takes. 

“As long as Ukraine continues to conduct operations and continues to work to take back its sovereign territory, we’ll be there with them,” he said, adding that “the international community will be with Ukraine once the fighting stops.”

The US and its allies have provided billions of dollars’ worth of ammunition, weapons systems, and training to the Ukrainians since the war began one year ago — $29.8 billion of that coming from the US alone since the beginning of Russia’s invasion. Recently that has included significant items like the Patriot missile system and M1 Abrams tanks, though both require substantial training and maintenance capabilities.

Those additional capabilities will make all the difference, Austin said.

“I think the things that we’re doing, the capability that we’re providing — again, capability, not just a platform — the capabilities that we’re providing I think will enable the Ukrainians begin to change the dynamics on the battlefield,” he said. “And so rather than having a stalemate, what you’ll probably see is Ukrainians shaping this fight so they can create opportunities for themselves and exploit those opportunities going forward.” 

Austin said in Brussels last week that countries involved in the Ukraine Defense Contact Group have been “working hard” to ensure Ukraine has the capability it needs to create “the effects on the battlefield they want to create,” particularly in a renewed offensive he expects Ukraine to launch this spring.

Meanwhile, US officials have said China could be preparing to provide lethal military aid to Russia. Austin said he had not yet seen China do so, but that China “hasn’t taken that off the table for sure.”

Ultimately, the war will most likely “end with some sort of negotiation,” Austin told CNN. In recent months, the prospect of negotiations taking place have seemed unlikely as Russia has continued to bombard Ukrainian infrastructure and population centers.

“[W]hat the Ukrainians are interested in is getting the Russians out of their sovereign territory,” he said. “And I think that’s probably going to be their going-in point, but I’ll let the Ukrainians speak for themselves.”

CNN’s Fareed Zakaria will host a special live town hall on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET with Americans and Ukrainians to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Zakaria will be joined by top national security officials from President Joe Biden’s administration: National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and United States Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power.

Sullivan and Power will also take live questions from Americans and Ukrainians, including a soldier on the front lines of the war.

How to watch: The town hall will stream live for pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN OTT, mobile apps under “TV Channels” or CNNgo where available. The town hall will also be available on demand beginning Friday, February 24, to pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN apps, and cable operator platforms.

Editor’s Note: Warning: This story contains graphic imagery.

At a field hospital close to the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut under siege, a buzzer sounds. Patients start to come in.

Orderlies and doctors jump to their feet. The doors – closed to keep out a bitter chill – are pinned back. Seconds later, a trolley rushes in. 

Stretched out, a muddied soldier lays — one leg of his trouser pants obliterated.

He’s whisked inside a triage room to be stabilized. A scream of pain comes from behind the closed door. 

In the hallway, what’s left of his trousers are picked apart by staff for documents and evidence of what happened.  

A finger-sized piece of shrapnel is dug out. The tourniquet used to stem blood loss is extracted from the heap. 

Once sorted, the mess of mangled cloth is placed in a black bin bag, along with the remnants of other war-wounded soldiers’ belongings.

Blood on the floor is quickly mopped up but the rusty stench remains. 

Later, this soldier is moved and carried out on another trolley to an awaiting ambulance.

Outside, ashen-faced soldiers pile out of the back of an army truck. They move slowly, some with limps, through the doors of the cramped field hospital.

A quick triage is carried out, their injuries marked down on clipboards. They wait quietly to be seen and then moved on to better-equipped hospitals further back from the front. 

Their faces sullen and exhausted, the walking wounded come outside to smoke. Some have concussions, some have bruises, says a soldier named Vasyl. 

“I was concussed hard a couple of times. My shoulder was bruised because I was hit by a wall. And my ribs hurt, my chest,” he says before our conversation is cut short by the arrival of another ambulance. 

The patients, briefly here, are kept company and watched over by visiting priests. Those worse off, with limbs torn and blasted, are prayed for in the hallway.  

It’s a rinse and repeat system. Day and night, the casualties pour in — and the doctors do what they can. 

“We need weapons, and we need them now. Not next month, now,” one porter says, in a brief break from moving patients. 

Bloodied stretchers, discarded medical gloves and foil “space blankets” litter the ground outside. 

Here the war is all too real, the casualties unavoidable.

Watch CNN’s Sam Riley report from the ground:

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British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to urge G7 partners to supply longer-range weapons to Ukraine and to move faster on supplying military aid, according to a Downing Street news release on Thursday. 

In the G7 virtual meeting on Friday, Sunak is also expected to reiterate his offer of British support to nations that are able to provide fighter jets to Ukraine “to help in the immediate conflict.” That comes as the UK prepares to supply longer-range weapons to Kyiv.

“For Ukraine to win this war — and to accelerate that day — they must gain a decisive advantage on the battlefield. That is what it will take to shift Putin’s mindset. This must be our priority now. Instead of an incremental approach, we need to move faster on artillery, armor, and air defense,” Sunak is expected to say, according to the release. 

“The coming weeks will be difficult for Ukraine, but they will also be difficult for Russia. They are overreaching once again. So now is the time to support Ukraine’s plan to re-arm, regroup, and push forward,” Sunak is expected to say. 

The prime minister will host members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces at Downing Street on Friday, as part of a national moment of reflection at 11 a.m. local time (6 a.m. ET). 

“As we mark one year since a full-scale war broke out on our continent, I urge everyone to reflect on the courage and bravery of our Ukrainian friends who, every hour since, have fought heroically for their country,” the prime minister plans to say.   
“I am proud that the UK has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine through this horrific conflict. As I stand with brave Ukrainian soldiers outside Downing Street today, my thoughts will be with all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to defend freedom and return peace to Europe.” 

Sunak will also hang a blue and yellow wreath on the door of 10 Downing Street. 

The Biden administration is expected to announce another $2 billion in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds on Friday, the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion, a US official said Thursday.  

Unlike drawdown packages, which are pulled directly from US weapons stocks and can be shipped quickly to Ukraine, USAI packages are purchased or contracted from the industry. Though the aid can take far longer to arrive in Ukraine, it also signals a longer-term commitment to providing assistance to Kyiv in what the US sees as a protracted conflict against Russia. 

Here are the latest headlines:

A Russian strike in Kherson damaged a main pipeline that provided heating to about 600 homes, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address on Thursday.

“Another Russian strike damaged the main pipeline that provided heating to about 600 houses — more than 40,000 people!” Zelensky said. “Repair work will continue without pause until the heating supply is restored.”

The Ukrainian president said the situation in the east of the country is “very difficult” but troops are doing everything they can to endure. In the south, he said, the situation is “quite dangerous” in some areas but the situation in Odesa and the Black sea area are “under control.”

Regarding the north, Zelensky said: “All our warriors in this area can see every intention of the enemy. We are reinforcing where necessary.”

The Biden administration is expected to announce another $2 billion in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds on Friday, the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion, a US official said Thursday.  

Unlike drawdown packages, which are pulled directly from US weapons stocks and can be shipped quickly to Ukraine, USAI packages are purchased or contracted from the industry. Though the aid can take far longer to arrive in Ukraine, it also signals a longer-term commitment to providing assistance to Kyiv in what the US sees as a protracted conflict against Russia. 

This is new funding for purchases and new contracts for equipment for Ukraine, including:

The US announced its 32nd drawdown of US equipment for Ukraine just three days ago, valued at $450 million, which included more HIMAR and Howitzer ammunition, Javelin anti-tank missiles and air surveillance radars. 

The announcement came the same day President Joe Biden made a highly secretive visit to Kyiv, meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and then giving an impassioned speech in support of Ukraine from Warsaw. 

“One year ago, the world was bracing for the fall of Kyiv,” Biden said in Poland. “Well, I’ve just come from a visit to Kyiv and I can report Kyiv stands strong. Kyiv stands proud, it stands tall and most important, it stands free.” 

Biden said Tuesday that he reiterated his support for Ukraine in conversations with Polish President Andrzej Duda while in the country.

The UN General Assembly approved a resolution Thursday denouncing the Russian attack on Ukraine and demanding Moscow withdraw its troops. 

There were 141 votes in favor, seven opposed and 32 abstentions — including China.

The strength of countries passing the resolution shows no diminishing in levels of support for Ukraine and against Russia.

There are no vetoes in General Assembly voting. 

The resolution is not legally binding but has demonstrated overwhelming support for Ukraine a year after Russia’s invasion.

Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and President Volodymyr Zelensky commended the resolution.

“By voting in favour of today’s UNGA resolution 141 UN member states made it clear that Russia must end its illegal aggression,” Kuleba tweeted. “Ukraine’s territorial integrity must be restored. One year after Russia launched its full-scale invasion global support for Ukraine remains strong.”

Zelensky expressed his gratitude to the countries that voted in favor and tweeted: “I am grateful to all the countries that endorsed the crucial @UN General Assembly resolution ‘Principles of the Charter of the United Nations that underline the comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine.’”

Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said on Thursday the European Union and NATO countries are having discussions behind closed doors about providing Ukraine with Western fighter jets.  

“From (the Netherland’s) perspective, there are no taboos. But what we do need to take into account is that it’s actually best to have these sensitive conversations first, with each other, behind closed doors,” Hoekstra said in an interview with CNN’s Isa Soares.   

He added: “When you’re talking about this type of weaponry, it’s something that we always do together with our allies. So, this is a discussion we’re having with our North American friends and our European friends. And once we reach a conclusion, that’s the moment to actually share that with the rest of the world.”

Asked about the delay in getting weapons to Ukraine, Hoekstra said in hindsight the conversations should have started much earlier.  

“When we look back, I would have wished we had started the tank conversation even earlier, because that would’ve mattered today on the battlefield for our Ukrainian friends,” the foreign minister said.  

On setting up a criminal tribunal to hold Russia accountable for war crimes, he said the priority is to ensure a victory for Ukraine in the war.  

“The very first thing we need to do is make sure the Ukrainians are going to win this war. When this is all said and done, it is of tremendous importance that we show to the world, that we show to survivors […] like we did in the case of Nuremberg, like we did in the case of Tokyo, we show that justice will be done,” the minister added.  

The European Union plans to introduce tougher measures to crack down on companies evading the Western sanctions on Russia, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Thursday. 

Proposals include listing of companies who are circumventing sanctions via third countries, so that trade with these companies would be stopped to interrupt their flow of goods to Russia. 

According to foreign trade data, EU-sanctioned goods were “exported to a considerable extent“ by companies in Germany and other EU-states to Russia via “certain third countries,” a statement from the German economy ministry said. 

“This is not a trivial offense,” Habeck argued. 

Sanctions evasion was “already punishable by law” and if it’s proven that it was a conscious decision, it would also “be punishable or prosecuted,” he added. 

The EU had to “counter these circumvention activities more effectively” at national level and at the level of the bloc, according to a German government statement. 

Habeck raised a possibility of a new set of sanctions against Russia that would focus on “the intensified fight against the circumvention of sanctions.”  

The Ukrainian military says that Russian forces attempted unsuccessful assaults along several parts of the front lines in the north of Ukraine— including along the border of Kharkiv and Luhansk regions — an area where the Russians have been trying to break through for several weeks.

The forests west of Russian-held Kreminna have seen fierce fighting since the Russians brought reinforcements into the area in December. But they have been unable to reach open land around the towns of Torske and Zarichne, which would bring them closer to larger cities in the Donetsk region. 

There has also been fierce fighting further north, around the town of Svatove, but the front lines there have changed little. 

“We did have escalation a few days back both in Svatove and Kreminna sectors. It was really hard on us when they attacked. It was quiet today though since our defenders have repelled powerful attacks in all directions, destroyed lots of manpower and equipment,” Serhiy Hayday, head of the regional military administration in Luhansk, said.

“They (Russians) have retreated to regroup I guess, to pull in some equipment,” he added.

Hayday said that the Russians “throw a company of heavy equipment and a company of infantry on the offensive at the same time. They used to attack with one to two tanks plus a single platoon, now it’s more than that.”

Meanwhile in the east: In its daily update Thursday, the military’s General Staff said that Russian forces continue to attack in several locations around the city of Bakhmut, where Ukrainian units are trying to keep access to the city open. It said 13 settlements in the area had come under fire.

Unofficial military accounts say that heavy fighting persists to the north and northwest of Bakhmut, where Russian units — including Wagner paramilitaries — are trying to take higher ground and tighten their grip on access routes into Bakhmut.  

Col. Yuriy Madyar of the 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade said in a video message that “the situation on the northern flank is becoming more difficult. This is where they want to make possible encirclement of Bakhmut.”

He said Ukrainian units “are strongly holding the southern flank.”

“Northern outskirts of Bakhmut were dynamic last night, it is now more quiet, so we’re preparing for the night ahead … Southeast direction as well as south and southwest sectors are under constant enemy pressure.”

The Ukrainian military also says cross border mortar and artillery fire continues in the north, with several places in the Sumy, Chernihiv and Kharkiv regions affected. Some analysts assess this fire is to fix Ukrainian defending units in the north, preventing them from being redeployed to the Donetsk region, where much of the heaviest fighting is concentrated.

In the south, the Ukrainian military claims that in the Russian occupied city of Melitopol, school children are taking the oath of “junior soldiers” (Yunarmiya).

And in Maripuol, it claims, “The occupiers are persuading locals to engage in equipping positions around the city in exchange for food rations, causing a humanitarian crisis.”

Landmarks across Europe have been lit up in colors of the Ukrainian flag to mark one year since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

The Eiffel Tower in Paris and the European Parliament in Brussels were lit up in blue and yellow, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, on Thursday evening. 

The European Parliament said on Twitter that it was lit up “in solidarity” with Ukraine.  

Over a thousand people gathered at a vigil in London’s Trafalgar Square on Thursday evening.  

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 last year. 

US President Joe Biden will meet virtually Friday with fellow G7 leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “to continue coordinating our efforts to support Ukraine and hold Russia accountable for its war,” the White House announced Thursday.

“One year ago, this group came together, just mere hours after Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, to impose unprecedented costs on Putin and his cronies,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Thursday. “We’ve worked together to provide Ukraine with the security, economic, economic and budget, humanitarian, and energy assistance it needs.” 

She offered praise for Japan, who holds the G7 presidency this year, and committed an additional $5.5 billion in economic assistance, calling the country “a steadfast ally” in efforts to provide aide to Ukraine.

“The G7 has become an anchor of our strong and united response to Russia,” Jean-Pierre added. “Tomorrow, the leaders will discuss how we continue supporting Ukraine, and continue to increase pressure on Putin and all those who enable his aggression.”

The Biden administration on Friday will be putting “constraints” on Chinese companies believed to be “active in evading sanctions” related to the war in Ukraine, a top US State Department official said Thursday.

Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said that the United States “will be putting other constraints on entities, Chinese-based or Chinese-subs of entities in Europe, which we think are active in evading sanctions,” along with sanctions package that will be announced on Friday – the anniversary of the invasion.

That package “focuses very, very intently and intentionally” on sanctions evasion, Nuland said, noting that Moscow has been using third-party countries to evade punishment.

“They are importing 1,000% more laptops, iPhones, dishwashers from third-countries, not because they need to, you know, work at home on their laptops but so they can cannibalize this machinery to get the advanced chips that we have denied them so that they can make more rockets, etc,” Nuland said at a Washington Post Live event.

The forthcoming sanctions will also “clamp down on more Russian banks that have been evading sanctions” as well as “the middlemen who are flipping back money to the Russian government” through oil trade.

Nuland also said the US has “made clear that we’re prepared to sanction Chinese companies” for supporting Moscow’s war in Ukraine, and that “some Chinese companies – whether the government is witting or not – have been sneaking up to the edge and trying to provide” support to Moscow. 

More on US sanctions: She noted that the US had recently sanctioned a Chinese company called Spacety “which was providing geo-location support to the Wagner group in Bakhmut.”

“The Russians consistently have been asking the Chinese for weapons,” Nuland said, noting that the US has consistently warned Beijing against providing lethal support. This was a key topic of conversation between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China’s top diplomat Wang Yi in Munich this weekend. 

“There was another renewed warning that we will see this if you make a turn toward providing serious military support, whatever it is, and that will be a violation of sanctions and it’ll give the lie to Chinese assertions of neutrality in this war,” Nuland said.

“So that conversation was a tough one in Munich and I think it will continue,” she added.

The leaders of the 27 European Union countries issued a joint statement Thursday on the eve of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“We will make sure that Ukraine prevails, that international law is respected, that peace and Ukraine’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders are restored, that Ukraine is rebuilt, and that justice is done. Until that day, we will not rest,” the European Council statement said. 

The group said that Ukraine is “part of our European family.” 

“The European Union will continue to support Ukraine in political, economic, humanitarian, financial and military terms, including through swift coordinated procurement from European industry,” the statement said.   

“We will also support Ukraine’s reconstruction, for which we will strive to use frozen and immobilized Russian assets in accordance with EU and international law. We will further increase collective pressure on Russia to end its war of aggression. To this end we will adopt a tenth sanctions package and we will take steps against those who attempt to circumvent EU measures,” it continued. 

CNN reported earlier Thursday that European Union ambassadors have almost agreed on an another package of sanctions against Russia albeit “with the exception of one element that still needs to be clarified,” according to a EU diplomat.

Ukrainian flags were raised outside European Union institutions in Brussels Thursday on the eve of the anniversary, according to a tweet from EU chief Ursula von Der.

The Biden administration is expecting China to put a peace plan on the table Friday with their ideas for resolving Russia’s war in Ukraine, a US State Department official said Thursday. 

“We await to see what the Chinese put on the table, this is supposedly to be announced tomorrow,” Victoria Nuland, the State Department under secretary of political affairs, said during a conversation with the Washington Post. 

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi had previewed the forthcoming plan during remarks at the Munich Security Conference last weekend. After Wang traveled to Moscow later this week, however, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said he had not discussed the reported plan with China’s top diplomat. 

Nuland did not say how the Chinese will present the plan. There is a meeting tomorrow of the UN Security Council where China could plausibly make this presentation. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be at the meeting.

Nuland said it is important any agreement to end the war brings about a just and durable peace.

“It can’t simply be a cynical ceasefire that allows the Russians the time to go home, rest, refit and return,” Nuland said. “But listen if Xi Jinping can get Putin and his army out of Ukraine, I think we’d all applaud and give a peace price.”

Nuland said all parties are considering what can be done to support and help a peace plan. 

More background: In recent days, State Department officials have cast doubt on the idea that a Chinese peace plan would be effective. This comes as US officials have also cited concerns that China is considering providing lethal support to Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. 

“China is trying to have it both ways. China is trying to broadcast and disguise itself in this veneer of neutrality, even as it deepens its engagement with Russia in key ways – politically, diplomatically, economically, and potentially in the security realm as well,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Wednesday. 

The G7 group of nations have committed $39 billion towards Ukraine’s financial and economic support for 2023, Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Thursday. 

Speaking at a news conference after G7 finance ministers met in India, Suzuki said that the bloc had also asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to “accelerate their work to put together a support programme by March.” 

The G7 consists of the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.

On Monday, Ukraine’s Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko met with the managing director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, in Kyiv, in a meeting he called very productive.  

Marchenko told CNN’s Julia Chatterley that “now we see our relationship is quite stable and we are moving in the direction of a fully-fledged program with the IMF.” 

European Union ambassadors meeting in Brussels on Thursday have almost agreed on an entire 10th sanctions package against Russia albeit “with the exception of one element that still needs to be clarified,” an EU diplomat told CNN.

The diplomat spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity due to the confidentiality of the negotiations between the 27 EU ambassadors.

To ensure the “effectiveness of the sanctions,” the diplomat did not elaborate on which element of the package ambassadors were still discussing. 

Coinciding with the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ambassadors from the 27 EU countries “will meet again tomorrow at 10 a.m. (4 a.m. ET) for the final validation of the 10th sanctions package,” the diplomat added.

It could take more than a year for the US Army to deliver M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said Thursday, and plans are still being drawn up on how they will be delivered — and when.

“We’re looking at what’s the fastest way we can get the tanks to the Ukrainians,” Wormuth said during a Defense Writers Group event. “It’s not going to be a matter of weeks, I will say that. None of the options that we’re exploring are weeks or two months. There are longer timelines involved. But I think there are options that are less than two years, less than a year and a half. But again we have to look at the pros and cons of each of them.”  

“I think it’s still to be determined as to whether tanks could get there by the end of the year,” she said. 

Among the options being presented to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are building tanks “from scratch,” Wormuth said. Typically, however, the Army modernizes existing tank variants instead of building them from scratch. 

She also said that they are looking at options that would include “countries that we’ve sold tanks to previously,” which could “presumably get tanks to the Ukrainians more quickly but might disrupt relations with important allies.” 

More on the tanks timeline: Since the US announced M1 Abrams tanks would be provided to Ukraine alongside other tanks from partner nations, US officials have cautioned that the timeline of getting them there could be substantial. 

And it’s not just about the tanks themselves; as Wormuth pointed out on Thursday, it’s also about the support will also include recovery vehicles, ammunition, and the training for Ukrainian troops that comes along with them. 

Editor’s Note: Warning: This story contains graphic imagery.

It has to count as one of the strangest PR campaigns in memory: using a pile of corpses to make your case to the powers that be.

That’s what Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, appears to have done this week in an unusual public appeal for ammunition for his fighters in Ukraine. And in the process, he has cast a harsh light on his open feud with Russia’s military leadership on the eve of the anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

On Wednesday, Prigozhin posted a picture on Telegram showing the bodies of several dozen slain Wagner fighters, piled unceremoniously in a courtyard. Alongside that shocking photo, he posted the image of a formal request from Wagner for more ammunition, pointing the finger of blame squarely at the Russian Ministry of Defense for squandering one of those lives. 

“This is one of the gathering places of the dead,” Prigozhin said. “These are the guys who died yesterday due to the so-called ‘shell starvation’ [by the Russian MOD]. There should have been five times fewer of them. So mothers, wives and children will get their bodies.”

Apparently, the message got through to someone. In a message and voice note Thursday, Prigozhin said a shipment of ammunition was now on its way to his forces. 

“Today at 6 am (local time, 11 a.m. ET) it was reported that shipment of ammunition begins,” he said. “Most likely, the train has started moving … we are told that the main papers have already been signed.”

What was the rationale behind this ghoulish spectacle? Prigozhin already has a reputation for callousness and cruelty: Late last year, around the New Year’s holiday, he visited a morgue stacked with the body bags of dead Wagner soldiers, many of whom had been recruited from prisons with a promise of amnesty.

“Their contracts are over,” he deadpanned. “They’re going home.”

But Prigozhin’s latest stunt appeared to raise the ante in the oligarch’s confrontation with Russia’s defense establishment, and with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Read more here.

CNN’s Tim Lister, Vasco Cotovio and Radina Gigova contributed reporting to this post.

Ukrainian officials say there have been further explosions in the Russian-occupied city of Mariupol, a supply hub and rear base for Moscow’s forces.

Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, said there had been three explosions Thursday.

The official, who is not in Mariupol himself but maintains contacts there, said two strikes had hit the area of the Ilyich Iron and Steel Works. “The Armed Forces of Ukraine are surgically precisely hitting the bases of the occupiers,” he said on Telegram.

“There is a third explosion, it was a hit near the airport. Again. We are finishing the job,” he added.

The adviser also said Russian aircraft had been flying over the city at several points on Thursday. According to social media video and unofficial accounts, there have been several explosions around the city over the past two nights.

It’s unclear what has caused the explosions and how many may be air defenses operating. Mariupol is beyond the range of Western-provided rockets systems and howitzers operated by the Ukrainian armed forces.

The city is about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the nearest Ukrainian front line positions, which would be just beyond the range of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and M270 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS) provided to Ukraine. 

Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for the Ukrainian military in the south, said only that “at this stage, we can only state that remoteness is a very relative concept. What is considered so remote that it is unreachable is not always so. The direction of Mariupol is no longer absolutely unreachable for us.”

Ukrainian media have suggested that the military may have deployed a new locally-produced rocket system with greater range.

More on Russia’s presence in Mariupol: There has been an extensive build up of Russian forces in and around Mariupol since November, according to Ukrainian officials and geolocated social media video.

In November, Andriushchenko posted a video and comment saying that “Russia continues to build up military personnel in Mariupol area. At least 30 trucks with manpower are moving through Mariupol daily.” CNN cannot verify that number. 

This week, Andriushchenko reported that the “movement of military equipment towards Manhush/Berdiansk has resumed. A column of at least 7 trucks with ammo was recorded moving through Mariupol towards Manhush.”

Why Mariupol is important to Moscow: Analysts say the supply routes from Mariupol to the west and north are essential to the Russians to hold defensive lines in neighboring Zaporizhzhia region against any Ukrainian counteroffensive.

NATO has seen “signs” that China is “considering and may be planning” to send arms to Russia to help in its war in Ukraine, the alliance’s chief Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with Reuters on Thursday.  

“We haven’t seen any supplies of lethal aid from China to Russia, but we have seen signs that they are considering and may be planning for that, and that’s the reason why the United States and other allies have been very clear warning against that,” Stoltenberg said.  

“And China should of course not support Russia’s illegal war, a blatant violation of international law,” he added.  

The NATO chief said China is a member of the United Nations Security Council and Russia’s war against Ukraine is a violation of the UN Charter.

“The basic principle of that charter is to respect the integrity of other nations and not to march in and invade another country with hundreds of thousands of troops and of course, China should not be part of that,” he said.  

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week that Washington is concerned that China is considering providing “lethal support” to Russia’s war in Ukraine.  

Following a meeting with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Blinken said: “I warned China against providing materiel support to Russia.”

Finland will send three Leopard 2 mine clearing tanks to Ukraine, the Finnish defense ministry announced in a statement Thursday.

A mine clearing Leopard 2 tank is an adaptation designed for that purpose.

The tanks are part of Finland’s 13th package of defense support for Ukraine, which is worth over 160 million euros (approximately $170 million), the statement said.

Training on using and maintaining the tanks will also be included, it said. 

The Finnish defense ministry would not provide more detailed information on the aid’s delivery schedule “for operational reasons.”

“Friday 24 February marks the one-year anniversary of the start of Russia’s war of aggression, and Ukraine continues to need support in its defense. We will send more defense materiel and participate in the Leopard cooperation together with our partners,” Finnish Defense Minister Mikko Savola said in the statement. 

Correction: An earlier version of this post had an incorrect US dollar figure.

The Ukrainian government is spending almost its entire peacetime budget on the army, according to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

“The state budget deficit last year amounted to about $31 billion. We received these funds from our partners. Mostly from the EU, G7, and the US, and from international financial institutions, including the IMF [International Monetary Fund],” Shmyhal told journalists in Kyiv Thursday.

“Today we spend almost the entire peacetime budget of the country on the Army,” Shmyhal said. “At the same time, the social and humanitarian component is financed with the support of our partners, and Ukraine is very grateful for this help.”

Shmyhal thanked the European Commission for providing about $18 billion of macro-financial support for 2023. He said the United States will provide Ukraine with more than $10 billion, “and other G7 countries are also providing direct budget support.”

He said Ukraine had completed the revision of the monitoring program with the IMF “and have come up with a large four-year program.”

Shmyhal estimated Ukraine would need an additional $17 billion to promote what he described as “rapid recovery,” after Ukraine’s GDP declined some 30% in 2022.

He set out the government’s priorities as firstly, “the restoration of the energy sector. Without it, it is impossible to talk about other social or humanitarian projects.”

“The second is humanitarian demining…We need to demine 174,000 square kilometers (more than 67,181 square miles).

The prime minister said the third priority is to restore critical infrastructure and damaged housing, and the fourth is to promote economic recovery. 

“Due to the full-scale invasion, Ukrainians have lost more than 3 million jobs. Large extractive and metalworking enterprises in eastern Ukraine have been destroyed or occupied. That is why the Government is focusing on the development of microbusinesses, small and medium-sized enterprises,” he added.

On the front lines in Ukraine, the situation in the direction of the eastern city of Bakhmut remains “the most difficult” as Russian forces still try to encircle the city, said Oleksii Hromov, deputy chief of the general staff’s main operational directorate.

The largest part of Russia’s artillery units are concentrated in the Bakhmut area, he said Thursday at a news conference, reiterating that intense fighting has been underway since seven months. “Since the beginning of February, there have been more than 380 combat engagements with the enemy,” Hromov added.

He detailed what Russia may be hoping to achieve in launching a potential new offensive:

However, Russia’s shortage of resources, like ammunition for artillery systems, will significantly limit Moscow’s ability to achieve significant operational success, Hromov noted.

Meanwhile, CNN geolocated a video which shows that Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian private military company Wagner, is at a location close to Bakhmut, where hundreds of his group’s fighters have been involved in combat.

CNN’s Maria Kostenko and Denis Lapin contributed reporting to this post.

The Kerch Bridge, which connects Russian-occupied Crimea to the Russian mainland, has been fully open to car traffic in all lanes more than a month ahead of schedule, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin announced on Thursday, according to state news agency TASS.

Remember: Parts of the bridge were damaged as a result of an explosion that occurred on October 8, 2022. The exact cause of the bridge blast remains unclear. Russian officials have said a truck stuffed with explosives went off, damaging two spans of the bridge’s motorway section and causing fire to fuel carriages of a train traveling to the Krasnodar region. Four people were killed, according to TASS.

Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the explosion, but days later, Russia launched a wave of missile strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.

All lanes for car traffic on the bridge are fully open 39 days ahead of schedule, according to Khusnullin. Meanwhile, the restoration of the railway part of the bridge is scheduled to be finished in July 2023. Restoration of other parts of the bridge will be completed before July 1, according to TASS.

The bridge holds huge strategic and symbolic importance for Russia, which built the 19-kilometer-long (about 12 miles) bridge after Moscow illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014. 

Security measures have been implemented across Ukraine in the face of potential Russian attacks on Friday, which marks exactly one year since the start of Moscow’s invasion.

School classes have moved online, working from home is being encouraged and security patrols have been stepped up in order to minimize the potential impact of Russian strikes.

Ukrainian schools have been advised to hold classes online “as a precautionary measure,” Education Minister Serhiy Shkarlet said in a statement Tuesday.

In Kyiv, a special security protocol has been developed for all educational facilities. Pupils are taking classes online from February 22-24 in the city and the wider Kyiv region, according to the regional military administration.

The decision was made “due to the increased threat of enemy shelling and potential provocative actions on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine,” it said.

And additional safety measures will also be implemented in the Kherson region in northeast Ukraine, the regional military administration said in a statement Wednesday.

Most public offices and businesses will work remotely, with the exception of critical infrastructure facilities, it said.

The distribution of humanitarian aid and cash payments at post offices will be limited, and law enforcement officers will intensify patrols in places where crowds could gather, the administration said.

However so-called invincibility points, where people can charge their devices and warm up, will work around the clock, it added.

City mayor Ihor Terekhov said it is difficult to predict what Russian forces will do tomorrow.

“A lot of people now ask: what will happen? I cannot say what will happen, because it depends on our opponent, our enemy,” Terekhov said in a video address.

“Nobody understands what is in his head, nobody knows.”

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reiterated the Biden administration’s warning to China to not provide material support for Russia’s war effort in Ukraine or for any of Moscow’s efforts to evade sanctions.

“We have made clear that providing material support to Russia or assistance with any type of systemic sanctions evasion would be a very serious concern to us. And we will certainly continue to make clear to the Chinese government and to companies and banks in their jurisdiction about what the rules are regarding our sanctions and the serious consequences they would face for violating them,” Yellen said during a press conference as the G20 finance leaders gather in India on Thursday.

Yellen would not comment on the intelligence the US has on the matter. “I really don’t want to characterize US intelligence with respect to sanctions violations.”

Yellen’s remarks came on the heels of Russian President Vladimir Putin saying that relations between his country and China are “reaching new milestones” as Beijing’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, wrapped up a visit to Moscow on Wednesday.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has made a surprise visit to Kyiv, where he is expected to address the Ukrainian parliament.

Meanwhile, a Russian missile strike has injured at least one person in Kupyansk, northeast Ukraine, and a Russian pilot has been killed after his aircraft crashed on its way back from a combat mission.

Here are the latest headlines:

Ukrainian forces have struck Russian bases near the airport and a steel works in the Russian-occupied city of Mariupol, according to a local official.

Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian mayor of the city, said there have been three explosions so far on Thursday.

“Two of them hit the closed territory of Ilyich Iron and Steel Works in the area of the penal colony,” he said in a post on his official Telegram channel. “The Armed Forces of Ukraine with surgical precision hit the bases of the occupiers.”

CNN could not immediately verify that claim.

“Russians have raised aircraft over Mariupol again. Yesterday it didn’t help, do they hope today it will be different,” Andriushchenko said.

Russian forces took control of the city Mariupol in May 2022. The city’s Ukrainian mayor, Vadym Boichenko, relocated last February to areas under Ukrainian control.

Andriushchenko has in the past aggregated information from sources on the ground in the city. 

Activists daubed a giant Ukrainian flag on the road outside the Russian embassy in London on Thursday to mark the anniversary of the Russian invasion.

Protest group Led By Donkeys posted an image of their work on Twitter, showing traffic driving over a road painted in blue and yellow.

“Tomorrow is the first anniversary of Putin’s imperialist invasion of Ukraine, an independent state and a people with every right to self-determination,” tweeted the group.

“The existence of a massive Ukrainian flag outside his embassy in London will serve to remind him of that.”

At least one person was injured Thursday when a Russian missile hit an administrative building in Kupyansk, northeast Ukraine, a local official said.

“The occupiers struck today in Kupyansk district. Once again with an S-300 missile. An administrative building is hit. A civilian who was near the building was wounded,” said Oleh Synyehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region, said on Telegram.

The S-300 missile is normally an air defense missile that Russian forces have been using as an offensive weapon. Their speed makes them difficult to intercept. But they are hardly accurate.

“At least two people are currently under the rubble,” Synyehubov continued, adding that rescue teams are at the scene.

For Anastasia Kvitka, a marketer for Latvia-based tech startup Bordio, working from home in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro means planning the day’s tasks around frequent internet outages, power cuts and Russian air raids.

Simple errands, such as buying groceries or sending post, may be interrupted by sirens warning of incoming missile and air strikes.

Often, Kvitka works from her pantry. The improvised shelter is intended to protect her and her husband from glass splinters when there are explosions nearby, although it would be of no use in the event of a direct missile attack on their apartment block.

After one particularly heavy day of shelling in December last year, Kvitka and her husband had no water and electricity for three days.

Without internet, they were cut off from the outside world and couldn’t check in with family in nearby Zaporizhzhia, which had also come under heavy fire.

By Sunday, their apartment was so cold that they decided to travel to another city early on Monday morning. They later cancelled the trip after the electricity and internet were restored Sunday evening.

“I was back to work on Monday as usual,” Kvitka said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin paid tribute to the country’s fallen soldiers on its Defender of the Fatherland Day by laying flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow.

Video footage and a photo published by the Kremlin show Putin standing in front of the wreath at the monument in the Alexander Garden on Thursday.

Putin traditionally marks February 23 by commemorating those who perished in the Great Patriotic War – the name used in Russia to refer to the Second World War – at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

A pilot has been killed after a Russian military aircraft crashed in the country’s Belgorod region, according to state media.

Local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a plane belonging to the Russian Ministry of Defense crashed in the Valuysky municipality, not far from the country’s border with Ukraine. 

“An investigation team and employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations are currently working on the ground,” Gladkov said in a post on Telegram. “The reason for the incident is being investigated. The situation is under control.”

Russian state news agency TASS reported that the Su-25 attack aircraft crashed while returning to its base in the Belgorod region following a combat mission, citing the Russian Defense Ministry. 

The pilot was killed, TASS said, citing the ministry.

Russian state news agency RIA-Novosti said the plane crashed in an unpopulated area, causing no damage on the ground.

The region borders Ukraine, and the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv lies across the border from the city of Belgorod.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and make a speech to the Ukrainian parliament on Thursday, his office said.

The Spanish leader is making a surprise visit to Kyiv in a show of support for Ukraine on the eve of the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion. He will later hold a joint news conference with Zelensky, according to his schedule.

Sánchez also plans to visit visit Bucha and Irpin, two towns near Kyiv that have become synonymous with alleged Russian war crimes. In addition, he will lay a wreath at a war memorial, his office said.

Support for Ukraine: Sánchez’s trip follows a highly secretive visit by Joe Biden to the Ukrainian capital on Monday, in which the US President announced a half-billion dollars in new assistance for Kyiv.

Spain is among a number of NATO allies that have agreed to send modern tanks to Ukraine and has trained 800 Ukrainian troops in the Iberian country since the start of war, Madrid’s defense minister said Wednesday.

Moldova on Thursday dismissed accusations from Russia that Ukraine is planning military action against the country’s pro-Moscow separatist region of Transnistria. 

Earlier Thursday, Moscow’s Defense Ministry accused Kyiv of “preparing an armed provocation” against Transnistria “in the near future,” state-run news agency TASS reported. No evidence or further details were offered to support the ministry’s claim.

“The state authorities do not confirm the information disseminated this morning by the Russian Ministry of Defense,” a message on the Moldovan government’s official Telegram channel read. “We call for calm and invite the public to follow the official and credible sources of the Republic of Moldova. Our institutions cooperate with foreign partners and in case of any danger to the country they will inform the public without delay.”  

Some context: Anxieties about Russia’s long-term plans for Transnistria have intensified after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began last February.

The separatist region, bordered by the Dniester River on the west and Ukraine on the east, declared itself a Soviet republic in 1990 and opposed any attempt by Moldova at the time to become an independent state or to merge with Romania.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier this month that Washington has “deep concern” about Moscow’s efforts to destabilize Moldova’s government. His remarks came just days after Moldovan President Maia Sandu accused Russia of plotting a coup in Moldova and dragging Transnistria into its war. 

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has dismissed Sandu’s claims as “completely unfounded and unsubstantiated.”

Two people were killed by Russian shelling in Kherson on Wednesday, the southern Ukrainian region’s military administration said in a post on Telegram. 

“According to the Kherson Military Administration, Russian occupiers fired 71 times at Kherson region. They attacked with various weapons - MLRS, mortars, artillery, tanks and UAVs,” the post read. “The enemy shelled Kherson city twice. Enemy shells hit residential buildings. Unfortunately, the last day was not without civilian casualties. Yesterday 2 residents of the Kherson region were killed by Russian occupiers.”

On Wednesday, Kherson officials said additional safety measures would be put in place throughout the region during the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion. 

The news followed intense shelling in Kherson in recent days that has left at least seven residents dead and more than 16 injured. 

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez arrived in Kyiv on Thursday for a surprise visit marking the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

“I return to Kyiv a year after the start of the war. We will stand by Ukraine and its people until peace returns to Europe,” Sánchez wrote on Twitter, alongside a video of himself stepping off a train and greeting Ukrainian officials. 

The trip — which was not listed on the Spanish leader’s official agenda for Thursday —follows a highly secretive visit by Joe Biden to the Ukrainian capital on Monday, in which the US President announced a half-billion dollars in new assistance for Kyiv.

Spain is among a number of NATO allies that have agreed to send modern tanks to Ukraine and has trained 800 Ukrainian troops in the Iberian country since the start of war, Madrid’s defense minister said Wednesday.

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin on Thursday said an ammunition shipment is on its way to his fighters in Ukraine after he accused Russia’s defense establishment earlier this week of creating “major problems” with supplies for the mercenary group.

In a message and voice note published on his Telegram channel Thursday, Progozhin said the shipment began at 6 a.m. local time.

“Most likely, the train has started moving…we are told that the main papers have already been signed,” the message read. “I would like to thank all who helped us accomplish this. You saved hundreds, maybe thousands of lives of men who are defending their homeland.”

Public spat: On Tuesday, Prigozhin accused the Russian Defense Ministry’s leadership of “treason” for failing to get ammunition to Wagner fighters and “not helping with air transport.”

CNN has not been able to independently verify Prigozhin’s claims about ammunition shortages. The Wagner chief, who has no official position, has repeatedly blamed the Russian Ministry of Defense for battlefield losses in Ukraine.

The US government estimates the Wagner group has suffered more than 30,000 causalities, including roughly 9,000 dead in the battle for the city of Bakhmut. About half of those 9,000 have been killed since mid-December, US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said last week. And about 90% of those killed in December were recruited from Russian prisons, he said. 

Russia’s Defense Ministry has accused Ukraine of “preparing an armed provocation” against Moldova’s pro-Moscow separatist region of Transnistria “in the near future,” state-run news agency TASS reported Thursday. 

No evidence or further details were offered to support the ministry’s claim. 

“According to current information, the Kyiv regime is preparing an armed provocation against the Transnistrian Moldovan Republic in the near future, which will be carried out by units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including involving the Azov nationalist formation,” the ministry said, according to TASS.
The ministry said the “pretext for the invasion” would be to “stage an alleged attack by Russian troops from the territory of Transnistria,” TASS reported. 
“’To this end, the Ukrainian saboteurs participating in the staged invasion will be disguised wearing uniforms of Russian Federation troops,” it said.

Transnistria tensions: Moldova, situated between Ukraine and Romania, was part of the Soviet Union until its collapse in 1991. 

The separatist region of Transnistria is a strip of land bordered by the Dniester River on the west and Ukraine on the east, which declared itself a Soviet republic in 1990, opposing any attempt by Moldova at the time to become an independent state or to merge with Romania.

Anxieties about Russia’s long-term plans for Transnistria have only intensified after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began last February.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference earlier this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington has “deep concern” about Moscow’s efforts to destabilize Moldova’s government. 

The remarks came just days after Moldovan President Maia Sandu accused Russia of plotting a coup in Moldova and dragging Transnistria into its war. 

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has dismissed Sandu’s claims as “completely unfounded and unsubstantiated.”

In the year since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, Moscow has been hit by unprecedented Western sanctions and shut out of much of the global economy.

But China, which has declared “no limits” to its friendship with its northern neighbor, has thrown the Kremlin an economic lifeline, tempering the impact of its banishment from the global financial system.

Here are three ways China has been propping up the Russian economy:

Buying Russian energy: Total trade between China and Russia hit a new record high in 2022, up 30% to $190 billion, according to Chinese customs figures. In particular, the energy trade has risen markedly since the onset of the war. China bought $50.6 billion worth of crude oil from Russia from March to December, up 45% from the same period the previous year. Coal imports surged 54% to $10 billion. Natural gas purchases, including pipeline gas and LNG, skyrocketed 155% to $9.6 billion. Replacing Western suppliers: Russia has also been spending billions on buying machinery, electronics, base metals, vehicles, ships and aircraft from China, as detailed in a US Congressional Research Service report from last May. Chinese car brands, including Havel, Chery, and Geely, have seen their market share surge from 10% to 38% in a year following the exit of Western brands, according to most recent data from Russian research firm Autostat. In consumer electronics, Chinese brands accounted for about 40% of the smartphone market at the end of 2021. A year later, they’ve virtually taken over the industry with 95% market share, according to market research firm Counterpoint. Providing an alternative to the US dollar: After some Russian banks were cut off from SWIFT — the international messaging system that enables bank transactions — Moscow has been dropping the dollar for the Chinese yuan. Russian companies have been using more yuan to facilitate the increased trade with China. The yuan’s share of the Russian foreign currency market jumped to 48% by November 2022 from less than 1% in January, according to Russian media, citing the head of the Moscow Exchange.

Read more here.

A 28-year-old Russian man accused of developing and selling a hacking tool used to obtain the login information for tens of thousands of computers worldwide was arrested in the country of Georgia and extradited to the US, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

Dariy Pankov is accused of advertising access to more than 35,000 computers, earning more than $350,000 in illicit sales, and enabling cybercriminals to conduct ransomware attacks and tax fraud, prosecutors said.

Pankov’s arrest is the latest move by US law enforcement agencies to try to nab accused Russian cybercriminals who venture outside of Russia. US President Joe Biden in 2021 urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to reign in criminal hackers, but Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine a year ago has soured hopes of bilateral cooperation on the issue.

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President Vladimir Putin has committed to Russia strengthening its nuclear triad, a military force structure capable of launching three types of nuclear weapons. 

“This year, the first Sarmat missile system launchers with the new heavy missile will be put on combat duty. We will continue full production of the Kinzhal air-launched hypersonic systems and begin mass deployment of Tsirkon [Zircon] sea-launched hypersonic missiles,” Putin said in a statement Thursday to mark Fatherland Day, a holiday that celebrates Russia’s military achievements.
“With the Borei-A nuclear-powered submarine Emperor Alexander III becoming operational in the Navy, the share of modern weapons and equipment in the naval strategic nuclear forces will reach 100%. In the coming years, three more cruisers from this project will be delivered to the Navy.”

Putin’s remarks also emphasized the reliance on a “modern and efficient Army and Navy.”  

“Relying on actual combat experience, we will pursue balanced and high-quality development of all components of the Armed Forces, improve the system for training units. A solid foundation here is the soldiers, sergeants and officers who showed their worth in combat on the front line,” Putin was quoted as saying.  

He added that Russia’s military manufacturing industry was “quickly increasing production” as Moscow prioritizes investment in military hardware.  

Challenger 2 battle tanks could start to arrive in Ukraine in “the spring,” British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday. 

Britain could offer Ukraine more of its main battle tanks on top of the 14 already promised, but that would depend on the country’s defense needs, Wallace told the news agency.

Wallace was visiting a training site in southwest England where Ukrainian soldiers are learning to operate the tanks in combat conditions. The UK Defense Ministry said in a statement that training was “continuing at pace” and would last several weeks. 

“Ukrainians will continue to fight, and the UK, alongside our allies will not falter,” Wallace said. “We will continue to provide the capabilities needed to support Ukraine for as long as it takes,” he added. 

Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė said on Wednesday that Russia suspending its participation in the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty is Moscow’s “trick to increase pressure.” 

“It’s in [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s habit to use tricks like that, you know, to increase pressure. And there is no big surprise in this,” the prime minister told CNN’s Isa Soares in an interview.

Šimonytė demanded more NATO forces on the ground in the alliance’s eastern flank, as well as higher investment in air defense to serve as “deterrence” against Russia.   

“There should be an upscale of the military presence on the eastern flank from battalion up to brigade,” she said. 

Šimonytė urged Kyiv’s allies to increase military support to Ukraine. 

“How can you push back Russia’s military forces if you do not have heavy weapons?” she questioned. 

The prime minister went on to address the importance of getting resources to Ukraine quicker. In previous occasions, time was lost in conversations that led to weapons being delivered with a “delay of a couple of months,” she said. 

“This means that people’s lives were being lost during those sorts of moments of, you know, of debate and hesitation,” the Lithuanian leader said, adding “it would be in the best interest of all the countries that can provide the relevant weapons or relevant means to make those decisions faster than later.” 

Šimonytė admitted Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a “wakeup call,” which has created a “rush to review the policies towards the defense spending.” 

“Countries in this region, of course, have changed their attitudes or have increased their spending on defense and security significantly since the Crimea invasion and are continuing to do so in recent years because our defense spending will be somewhere between 2.5, 3% of GDP this year,” she said. 

Russia’s former president Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday said the country will “disappear” if it loses the war in Ukraine.

“If Russia stops the special military operation without achieving victory, Russia will disappear, it will be torn to pieces,” Medvedev said in a Telegram post, using the Kremlin’s euphemism for its invasion of Ukraine. “If the US stops supplying weapons to the Kyiv regime, the war will end.” 

The comments from Medvedev, the deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council and a key ally of President Vladimir Putin, follow US President Joe Biden’s speech in Poland on Tuesday.

In his speech, Biden said, “If Russia stopped invading Ukraine, it would end the war. If Ukraine stopped defending itself against Russia, it would be the end of Ukraine,” which Medvedev claimed was “a refined lie.”  

“Why does he appeal to the people of another country at a time when he is full of domestic problems? With what fright should we listen to a politician from a hostile state that exudes hatred for our Motherland? Why should the citizens of Russia believe the leader of the United States, who unleashed the most wars in the 20th and 21st centuries, but reproach us for aggressiveness?” Medvedev said, repeating claims that American officials see as a“whataboutism” tactic.

Medvedev also claimed that Biden’s aim is “to ensure that Russia suffers a “strategic defeat.”

Medvedev commented on Putin’s state of the nation address on Tuesday, in particular an announcement that Moscow is suspending its participation in the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty. 

He called it “an overdue and inevitable decision.” 

“This is a decision that will have a huge resonance in the world in general and in the United States in particular,” Medvedev said. 

“After all, it is obvious to all reasonable forces that if the United States wants Russian defeat, then we are on the verge of a world conflict,” he added. “If the United States wants to defeat Russia, then we have the right to defend ourselves with any weapon, including nuclear.” 

One day after delivering a state of the nation speech before Russia’s parliament, President Vladimir Putin made an appearance before a flag-waving crowd at Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium.

It was a chilling spectacle. The Kremlin leader was essentially presiding over a militaristic pep rally aimed at drumming up public support for his calamitous military adventure in Ukraine.

“We are meeting with you on the eve of Defender of the Fatherland Day,” Putin said, referring to the February 23 holiday commonly known as Men’s Day. “In this phrase, in these words, there is something powerful, huge, I would say, mystical and holy.”

Put otherwise, Putin was selling his war in Ukraine as a sort of crusade — and therefore something that will require sacrifices by his people.

Flanked by uniformed military personnel, the Russian president led the crowd in cheers for the troops that he said were fighting for the “historical borders of our people,” his mendacious shorthand for the parts of Ukraine that Russia has attempted to annex, and that Russian forces have failed to control.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said relations between his country and China are “reaching new milestones” as Beijing’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, wrapped up a visit to Moscow on Wednesday.

“Russian-Chinese relations are developing as we planned in previous years. Everything is moving forward and developing,” Putin told reporters as he sat beside Wang. “Cooperation in the international arena between the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China, as we have repeatedly said, is very important for stabilizing the international situation.”

Wang added that the two countries “often face crisis and chaos, but there are always opportunities in a crisis.”

“This requires us to identify changes more voluntarily and respond to the changes more actively to further strengthen our comprehensive strategic partnership,” Wang said.

Wang’s high-profile visit, just days before the anniversary of the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, is widely believed to be a precursor to a meeting between Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. In December 2022, Putin and Xi held a virtual meeting in which the Russian leader described relations between the two nations as “the best in history,” saying they could “withstand all tests,” and invited Xi to visit Moscow in the spring of 2023.

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