March 29, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

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

A screengrab of Masha Moskalyova, 12, describing the police search of her home in Russia's Tula region to Activatica, an online portal supporting grassroots activism in the country.

A Russian man, Alexey Moskalyov, who had been sentenced to two years in prison, was detained in Belarus after failing to turn up for a hearing, his lawyer told CNN’s Erin Burnett Wednesday. 

Moskalyov had been charged with “discrediting the Russian military” and was under house arrest after being accused of repeatedly publishing anti-war posts.

Moskalyov pleaded not guilty but failed to turn up to his hearing in the city of Yefremov on Tuesday. Prosecutors had requested two years in prison for him, according to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

According to the independent Russian Telegram channel SOTA, “his arrest was made possible because he activated a cell phone in the apartment, allowing [authorities] to identify the fugitive.” 

Some background: In April of 2022, Moskalyov’s then 12-year-old daughter Masha drew a picture of Russian missiles being fired at a Ukrainian family and wrote “No to war” and “Glory to Ukraine” during her art class, according to Russian independent news outlet, Mediazona. Her school subsequently called the police, who later visited the family home. 

This week, according to his lawyer, Masha wrote her father a letter from the orphanage where she has been sent. “Know that we will win, that victory will be ours, no matter what happens, we are together, we are a team, you are the best,” it said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin might visit Turkey on April 27 for the inauguration of the country’s first nuclear power plant, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Wednesday.

Turkey’s first nuclear power plant, Akkuyu, will be built by Russia’s state nuclear energy company Rosatom. 

“On the 27th (of April), one possibility is that maybe Putin will come, or we will have an online system to connect,” Erdogan said during an interview with Turkey’s private channel ATV.

The German federal government has agreed to allocate an additional 12 billion euros (over $13 billion) worth of military support to Ukraine over the next nine to 10 years, it announced Wednesday in a statement.

Around $4.3 billion will go to the German military to replace the military aid Berlin has given to Kyiv since the invasion, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius added.

Earlier this year, Berlin made a historic move to arm Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks.

Argentine President Alberto Fernández speaks at a news conference at Palacio San Martin in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on January 28.

Argentine President Alberto Fernández says the war in Ukraine has “generated immeasurable damage to the world economy.”

During his visit, Fernandez addressed bilateral relations, US support during Argentina’s financial challenges and other pressing global issues. 

Fernandez also said peace is urgent because of the food insecurity the war can cause.

“When the (Food and Agriculture Organization) announced that more than 300 million people could struggle with hunger because of this war, I realized that peace is urgent,” he said.

The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra is pictured March 24.

Ukraine is not ordering the monks from the pro-Russian Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) to leave a historic cave monastery complex in Kyiv, the country’s Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko said Wednesday. 

The Ukrainian government and security service said some members of the church are loyal to Moscow.

Wednesday marked the deadline for clergy from the UOC to leave the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra. Hundreds of worshippers gathered to pray on their knees “for the saving of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra,” according to video and images shared by the church on social media Wednesday.

When asked about some Ukrainians reacting to the deadline order with disbelief and frustration, Tkachenko said: “First of all, the leaders of Ukrainian branch of Russian church did not call Ukrainians to come to Ukrainian army to defend Ukraine during this war [….] but they didn’t finish their relationship with Russian church […] they are a follower of Kremlin policy, of the policy of war.” 

The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra is home to the UOC, a branch of Orthodox Christianity in Ukraine that has been traditionally loyal to the leader of the Russian church, Patriarch Kirill.

Kirill is a close ally of Vladimir Putin and a supporter of his war on Ukraine. In May 2022, the UOC cut ties with Moscow and declared “full independence.”

The agreement that permitted the UOC to occupy the historic cave monastery complex was terminated on March 10, and the UOC was instructed to leave the premises by March 29.  

But the order shouldn’t be called an eviction, said Danilov, the head of Ukraine’s National Security Council.

Danilov told Ukrainian television that “the Lavra is not a hotel, so eviction is not the right term.”

During his daily video message Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky made comments about the eviction deadline.

He added that his country “is the territory of the greatest religious freedom in our part of Europe.”

“This has been the case since 1991. It will always be so,” he said.

There are roughly 6,000 Wagner group mercenaries fighting in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told US lawmakers on Wednesday. 

The mercenary group is “suffering an enormous amount of casualties in the Bakhmut area; the Ukrainians are inflicting a lot of death and destruction on these guys,” he said, describing the battle Bakhmut as a “slaughter-fest” for the Russians.

The head of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said in an audio message Wednesday that the battle for the city “has already practically destroyed the Ukrainian army,” but added that Wagner has “been pretty battered” as well.

Here are the latest developments:

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki speaks at a press conference in Helsinki, Finland, on November 20, 2022.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki urged European Union leaders on Wednesday to use “all instruments” to limit the impact of the influx of Ukrainian grain on the markets of neighboring countries. 

Speaking to reporters in Warsaw, Morawiecki said that “we did not agree to this, and we do not agree that this grain should be sold on the Polish market” and “destabilize our domestic markets.”

“We are ready to help take this grain and export it to Africa. There you go,” Morawiecki added. 

A ship is loaded with Ukrainian wheat to deliver to Kenya and Ethiopia at the port of Chornomorsk on the Black Sea coast on February 18.

Some context: According to Reuters, there is mounting anger in the Polish countryside over the influx of Ukrainian grain, which is affecting Polish prices.

At a meeting of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels on March 20, Poland requested the “urgent mobilization” of EU support for what it said were problems in the grain market “caused by a large influx of cereals from Ukraine.”

“Some grain purchasers, especially in this region [south-eastern Poland], have suspended or limited the purchase of domestic grain because stores are full. Poland calls for improved and better-supervised grain transit from Ukraine,” Poland’s agriculture ministry said.  

Morawiecki also told reporters on Wednesday that Romania’s president and prime minister shared his opinion.

Switzerland joined the European Union’s 10th package of sanctions against Russia Wednesday, the government said in a news release.

Switzerland, a non-EU member, had already sanctioned around 120 additional individuals and entities added by the EU in its latest sanctions against Moscow, the government said. 

The latest package also tightens import restrictions on goods of economic importance to Russia, the news release stated. 

The European Union last month approved a 10th round of sanctions against Russia. 

The whole of Ukraine is traumatized since Russia’s invasion last year, according to Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova.

Speaking to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour from Kyiv, Dzhaparova said she thinks “a long-term process of recovery will be happening after the resolution of war,” but added that “at this stage of the war it’s still an existential matter of survival so we need to survive physically and after that, we can speak about the mental recovery.” 

The deputy minister told CNN she has seen her two daughters, who are abroad, only three times since the invasion. 

The four main battlefields, according to Dzhaparova, are Lyman, Mariinka, Avdiivka and Bakhmut.  

The situation in Bakhmut is “still terrible,” she said.   

Approximately 17% of Ukrainian soil is “still under occupation,” down from what she said was 20% at the beginning of the invasion.  

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi, center, visits the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine on March 29.

The situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has not improved, according to Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi.

The plant has been occupied by Russian forces since March of last year and is now run by the Russian atomic agency, ROSATOM. 

Grossi said military activity and the number of troops in the area were increasing, without specifying whether he meant both Russian and Ukrainian forces. Ukrainian troops are stationed several miles across the reservoir from the plant. 

He said original plans to create a demilitarized zone around the plant had “evolved” toward greater protection of the plant itself and added that there should not be heavy military equipment at the plant. Ukraine has accused Russians of basing rocket systems at the plant, which Moscow has denied.

Grossi said he was trying to formulate “realistic, viable proposals” that would be acceptable to both sides.

The United States has not received notice from Russia “indicating a change” in nuclear notifications, State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said Wednesday.

Speaking at a department briefing, Patel said that he had seen comments from Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov that all types of notifications between Russia and the US under the New START treaty had been suspended.

However, “we have not received any notice indicating a change,” Patel said.

Patel said the US has been “concerned about Russia’s reckless behavior” over the treaty.

A State Department spokesperson said Tuesday that “with the exception of this countermeasure regarding the biannual data update” — which the US said it would not provide because Russia said it would not — “the United States continues to fully implement the New START treaty, including the central limits.”

What to know about New START: The treaty puts limits on the number of deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons that both the US and Russia can have. It was last extended in early 2021 for five years, meaning the two sides would soon need to begin negotiating on another arms control agreement. Under the key nuclear arms control treaty, both the United States and Russia are permitted to conduct inspections of each other’s weapons sites, though inspections had been halted since 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A senior Russian-appointed official in Crimea said that Ukraine most likely used a jet-powered drone — known as a Strizh — in an attempt to strike an air base in the peninsula.

Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to the head of Crimea, also published footage from the purported crash site of the downed drone, showing an impact in an open field.

Unofficial social media channels in Crimea said that a loud explosion was heard in the center of nearby Simferopol.

CNN also reported earlier that social media videos and posts indicate an explosion or fire at or near a Russian military airfield in Crimea.

Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian-appointed head of Crimea, said on his Telegram channel earlier that a “UAV [drone] was shot down in the Simferopol region” and that there “were no casualties or damage.”

There has been no official comment from the Ukrainian side.

CNN’s Tim Lister and Josh Pennington contributed to this report.

Spain’s first shipment of six Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ukraine will be sent after the Easter holiday on April 9, Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles said on Wednesday.

Addressing Spanish lawmakers, Robles said that the battle tanks — which she said had not been used since the 1990s — have been repaired and are currently being tested in Córdoba in the south of Spain. 

The Spanish defense ministry had previously said that the six tanks would be shipped to Ukraine by the end of this week.  

Spain first announced it would send Leopard tanks to Ukraine in February, the day before Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez made a surprise visit to Kyiv. 

Robles said that a further four Leopard 2A4 tanks would be repaired and sent to Ukraine “in the near future.”

The shipment of these tanks will allow Spain “to continue helping the Ukrainian people … so that they can defend themselves against an absolutely unjust attack,” she said. 

Hungarian government spokesperson Zoltán Kovács said Wednesday that there is “an ample amount of grievances that need to be addressed” before Sweden’s bid to join NATO is ratified by the country.

The remarks were published by the spokesperson as a blog titled “Three reasons why Hungary’s parliament is right to be hesitant about Sweden’s NATO admission” and said Sweden “must face the music” over what it called its “daunting attitude” towards Hungary.  

The Hungarian Parliament approved a bill on Monday to allow Finland to join NATO but has not yet voted on Sweden’s NATO accession.  

Finland and Sweden requested to join the transatlantic military alliance in May 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but Turkey and Hungary have been holding up the accession process.

CNN has reached out to Sweden’s foreign ministry for its response but has not yet received one. 

The spokesperson wrote that relations between the two countries “have been worn down over years, making bridging the gap more challenging in these trying times.” 

“We see the need to clear the air with Sweden in order to proceed,” he continued. 

Kovács went on to quote Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán saying that Sweden’s admission to NATO is the “correct behavior in terms of logic, humanity and honor.”

“However, we see the need to clear the air with Sweden in order to proceed,” the spokesperson stressed. 

A Ukrainian tank rolls on a muddy road near Bakhmut on March 29.

There are roughly 6,000 Wagner group mercenaries fighting in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told US lawmakers on Wednesday. 

The battle over Bahkmut has turned into a “slaughter-fest” for the Russians, Milley said.

The head of the Russian private military company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said in an audio message earlier Wednesday that the battle for the city “has already practically destroyed the Ukrainian army,” but added that Wagner has “been pretty battered” as well.

Milley also addressed Russia’s allies: China, Russia and Iran are “moving closer together” and will be a persistent problem for years to come, Milley said. 

He said that he’s concerned about “any coherence and cohesion between Russia and China,” and that the two countries are “getting closer together.” 

“I wouldn’t call it a true full alliance in the real meaning of that word, but we are seeing them [Russia and China] moving closer together, and that’s troublesome,” Milley said. “And then if you add in Iran … those three countries together are going to be problematic for many years to come I think, especially Russia and China because of their capability.”

Last week, China’s leader Xi Jinping met with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. China in recent weeks has repeatedly attempted to portray itself as an aspiring broker of peace, reiterating its calls for a ceasefire and peace talks in a vaguely-worded position paper released last month. Western countries have viewed Beijing’s intentions with deep suspicion, and NATO’s chief said that the alliance has seen “some signs” that Russia is pressing China to provide lethal aid.

CNN’s Rob Picheta, Simone McCarthy, Darya Tarasova and Sarah Dean contributed reporting to this post.

Vladimir Rogov, a member of the Russian-appointed military-civilian administration in occupied Zaporizhzhia in southeast Ukraine, said Wednesday that six Ukrainian HIMARS rockets had struck rail infrastructure in a pre-dawn attack. 

Rogov said Russian air defenses shot down three of the rockets, and the remaining three hit objects in the city of Melitopol: a railway, electricity substation and the railway depot.

He added that fragments of the downed missiles fell at the airfield.

“Thank God, there were no casualties,” Rogov added. 

Earlier, Melitopol’s Ukrainian mayor, who is not in the city, said some districts were without electricity after “explosions.”

Rogov has said earlier Wednesday that Melitopol was shelled by Ukrainian forces early Wednesday causing power supply suspensions.

Melitopol is a hub for Russian occupying forces, located approximately 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the front lines.

CNN’s Sarah Dean contributed reporting to this post.

Social media videos and posts indicate an explosion or fire at or near a Russian military airfield in Crimea.

Videos posted Wednesday afternoon local time show a plume of dark smoke rising from Hvardiiske in the Simferopol district of central Crimea, where there is an airbase.

The Russian-appointed head of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, said on his Telegram channel that “a UAV [drone] was shot down in the Simferopol region.”

“It crashed in a field. There were no casualties or damage,” he added.

There has been no official comment from the Ukrainian side.

Some Ukrainians have reacted with disbelief and frustration to an order for clergy from the pro-Russian Ukrainian Orthodox Church to leave a historic cave monastery complex in Kyiv.

The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra is home to the UOC, a branch of Orthodox Christianity in Ukraine that has been traditionally loyal to Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian church.

Kirill is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a supporter of his war on Ukraine. In May 2022, the UOC cut ties with Moscow and declared “full independence.” The agreement that permitted the UOC to occupy the historic cave monastery complex was terminated on March 10, and the UOC was instructed to leave the premises by March 29. 

Here’s what some Ukrainians told CNN about the news:

Oksana

Oksana, a resident of Odesa, cried as believers sang prayer songs while waiting to touch an icon in one of the complex’s churches.  

Domnika

Domnika, a resident of Kyiv, first went on a school trip to the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra when she was young. She is now 85 years old.

Natalia Drozd

Natalia Drozd moved to Kyiv from Luhansk in 2015. She attended the Lavra with her 10-month-old daughter on Wednesday. 

Heorhii

Heorhii, a protodeacon in the Lavra, told CNN that the Orthodox Church is being persecuted.

Klyment

Klyment, bishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, told CNN that services will continue to be held. 

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki speaks at a press conference in Bucharest, Romania, on March 28.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Wednesday slammed the International Olympic Committee’s guidelines that allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals, calling it a “wrong and bad decision.”

Russian and Belarusian athletes were banned from most international competitions in February 2022 over Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, following the IOC executive board recommendations. On Tuesday, IOC President Thomas Bach outlined new guidelines that would allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals, paving the way for their return to international competitions. 

“We certainly will not withdraw our athletes on our own, but we will try to build a coalition of countries. And that’s what I instructed [Sports] Minister [Kamil] Bortniczuk to demand together with a strong voice from the IOC to withdraw this very wrong and bad decision,” the Polish prime minister added. 

The Kremlin earlier on Wednesday said the guidelines have “elements of discrimination.”