August 3, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

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

A satellite image shows black smoke still rising from the site of a purported Russian drone strike on port infrastructure in southwestern Ukraine, more than 24 hours after Ukrainian authorities reported the attack.

The image, taken Thursday morning by the company BlackSky, shows the smoke rising in a port area along the Danube River in the city of Izmail, near the border with Romania.

It appears four large tanks were hit.

Meanwhile, Russian officials said seven Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight in the Kaluga region, southwest of Moscow.

Here are other headlines you should know:

On the ground: The United Nations warned about the impact of a “new wave of attacks” on civilians in Ukraine, including aid workers, in a statement Thursday. Ukrainian officials continue to cool expectations for the progress of the counteroffensive as fighting is still concentrated in two parts of the southern Zaporizhzhia region. Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said on Ukrainian television Wednesday that there were no deadlines for Ukraine’s counteroffensive. A shopping center and hospital were damaged during shelling of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Thursday, according to a Telegram post from the Kherson regional military administration.

Warnings from Poland and Lithuania: Wagner mercenaries who have moved from Russia to Belarus may try to destabilize NATO’s eastern flank, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda warned Thursday. Morawiecki also warned of ”further provocations and intrigues” that may arise from the other side of his country’s eastern border with Belarus and Russia, amid growing tensions between Warsaw and Minsk.

Russia’s economy: Russian President Vladimir Putin said that a combination of military spending and domestic demand is driving the Russian economy, with employment in manufacturing stable at 10 million people — the same as in 2021. Two-thirds of the growth in industrial production was being provided by the defense, and consumer demand was responsible for the other one-third, he said during a meeting with industry leaders at the Kremlin on Thursday.

Dnipro dam recovery: Ukrainian officials have given details of a large pipeline being built to supply water to communities affected by the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam on the river Dnipro in June. According to Oleksandr Kubrakov, the minister in charge of infrastructure, the goal is to launch the project’s first link by the end of the month.

Sanctions and fines: The European Council adopted new sanctions and further restrictive measures Thursday in response to Belarus’ involvement in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the European Commission said in a statement. Also, Russia fined Apple for failing to delete war-related content in a podcast, state news agency TASS reported Thursday. 

Lethal cooperation: The US has concerns that North Korea is considering providing lethal aid to Russia, with American intel showing the Kremlin is looking to increase military cooperation between the two nations to help Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to John Kirby, the US National Security Council’s strategic communications coordinator.

The US has concerns that North Korea is considering providing lethal aid to Russia, with American intel showing the Kremlin is looking to increase military cooperation between the two nations to help Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to John Kirby, the US National Security Council’s strategic communications coordinator.

“Our information indicates that Russia is seeking to increase military cooperation with the (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) such as through DPRK’s sale of artillery munitions, again, to Russia,” Kirby said. 

The comments come after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu recently visited North Korea as part of the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice. 

During Shoigu’s visit last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gave him a tour of a defense exposition in Pyongyang, with images from North Korean media showing them walking past an array of weaponry, from Pyongyang’s nuclear-capable ballistic missiles to its newest drones.

At a state reception for Shoigu and the Russian delegation, in a reference to the war in Ukraine, North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun Nam expressed Pyongyang’s full support “for the just struggle of the Russian army and people to defend the sovereignty and security of the country,” according to a report from the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki during a press conference in Warsaw, Poland.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned Thursday of “further provocations and intrigues” that may arise from the other side of his country’s eastern border with Belarus and Russia, amid growing tensions between Warsaw and Minsk.

On July 29, Morawiecki said more than 100 Wagner mercenaries have moved towards a thin strip of land between Poland and Lithuania, known as the Suwalki gap or corridor, and that this was “a step towards a further hybrid attack on Polish territory.”  Morawiecki also said Wagner mercenaries may try to pose as migrants in order to cross from Belarus into Poland.

On Thursday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko denied Poland’s claims that about 100 of the fighters have moved closer to the Polish border and said Poland should “thank him” for “inviting these fighters to our place,” because “otherwise, without us, they would have infiltrated there.”

Belarus and Poland both summoned their respective ambassadors on Tuesday, after Poland alleged two Belarusian helicopters have violated its airspace. Poland announced it will increase the number of soldiers along its border with Belarus because of the alleged violation.

Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blasczak also warned of further provocations from Belarus and said the recent “hybrid attacks” are “coordinated in the Kremlin.” He claimed that the goal of these attacks is to destabilize Poland, and the country is increasing its forces on the border with Belarus to prevent that destabilization.

Russia has carried out offensive actions along the entire eastern front line Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Zelensky listed the cities of Kupyansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, Marinka and Avdiivka — which dot the eastern front from north to south — as among the most contested frontline areas. He said fighting is also heavy on the southern front.

“But no matter what the enemy does, it is the Ukrainian forces that dominate,” he claimed. 

Ukrainian commander Maksym Zhorin said Thursday that “extremely difficult daily battles are taking place near Bakhmut,” adding that experienced Russian units are being sent there to stop the Ukrainian advance.

Zhorin said that Russia still considers the battered eastern city of Bakhmut an important area that “can be used to launch an offensive.”  

Iranian drones: Zelensky also said Russia has attacked Ukraine with a total of 1,961 Iranian-made drones since Moscow invaded his country in February 2022, adding that “a significant number of them have been shot down.”

In late July, US intelligence officials warned that Russia is building a drone-manufacturing facility in the country with Iran’s help that could have a significant impact on the war once completed.

A fire from a purported Russian drone strike in Izmail, Ukraine, continues to burn after 24 hours, as seen in a satellite image taken by BlackSky Thursday morning.

A satellite image shows black smoke still rising from the site of a purported Russian drone strike on port infrastructure in southwestern Ukraine, more than 24 hours after Ukrainian authorities reported the attack.

The image, taken Thursday morning by the company BlackSky, shows the smoke rising in a port area along the Danube River in the city of Izmail, near the border with Romania. It appears four large tanks were hit.

Ukraine’s defense ministry said Wednesday that overnight drone strikes were responsible for damage to the port. It’s located near the larger port city of Odesa, which has been pummeled by Russian attacks after Moscow pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said recent strikes on the Odesa region’s port infrastructure are an attack on “global food security” and has called on the international community to intervene.

The Danube port attack also earned strong condemnation from the Romanian president, given its proximity to his country’s territory. Romania is part of NATO.

A shopping center and hospital were damaged during shelling of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Thursday, according to a Telegram post from the Kherson regional military administration.

“The occupiers have been shelling the city center all day long. (…) A shopping center and a medical facility were hit,” according to the post.

The United Nations warned about the impact of a “new wave of attacks” on civilians in Ukraine, including aid workers, in a statement Thursday. 

The statement included two examples from this week.

On Monday, four aid workers from the Ukrainian nongovernmental organization Misto Syly were wounded when they came under fire while clearing debris left by the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine, according to the UN.

Then on Thursday, rescue workers from the Ukrainian State Emergency Service were wounded due to “hostilities” when extinguishing a fire in a church that had just been hit in Kherson.

The UN emphasized that under international humanitarian law, “homes, hospitals, schools, places of worship and other critical civilian infrastructure as well as civilians, including aid workers, should be protected.” 

The European Council adopted new sanctions and further restrictive measures on Thursday in response to Belarus’ involvement in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the European Commission said in a statement. 

“The new measures create a closer alignment of EU sanctions targeting Russia and Belarus and will help to ensure that Russian sanctions cannot be circumvented through Belarus,” the council said.

The changes align the Belarus sanctions with those applied to Russia, according to the council.

“The EU stands united in its solidarity with Ukraine, and will continue to support Ukraine and its people together with its international partners, including through additional political, financial, military and humanitarian support for as long as necessary,” according to the statement.

The individual sanctions include penitentiary officials, who the European Council says are “responsible for the torture and ill-treatment of detainees, including political prisoners, prominent propagandists,” as well as judicial branch members “involved in prosecuting and sentencing democratic opponents, members of civil society and journalists.”

The entities targeted are state-owned enterprises that, according to the European Council, have “taken measures against employees or dismissed them for participating in peaceful protests and strikes.”

Some background: Poland said it will deploy more troops at the border with Belarus after it accused Minsk of violating its airspace, raising tensions between the NATO member and key Kremlin ally.

The move comes amid increased activity near a thin strip of land between Poland and Lithuania, known as the Suwalki gap or corridor, which troops from the Russian mercenary group Wagner are moving toward in an apparent attempt to increase pressure on NATO and EU members.

CNN’s Jessie Gretener contributed to this report.

Ukrainian officials continue to cool expectations for the progress of the counteroffensive as fighting is still concentrated in two parts of the southern Zaporizhzhia region.

Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said on Ukrainian television Wednesday that there were no deadlines for Ukraine’s counteroffensive.

Danilov echoed what other Ukrainian officials have said recently.

“The main task for us is to save the lives of our people at the front. We have to understand that the enemy has prepared for these events very well, with a huge number of territories mined,” he said.

He described the density of Russian mining as “insane,” with three to five mines per square meter (less than 2 mines per square mile).  

According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the Ukrainians switched to “slower and more careful operations while disrupting Russian rear areas with long-range precision strikes,” after the first stage of the offensive failed to achieve a breakthrough.

“Ukrainian forces are fighting now to break through the first line of long-prepared Russian defenses. Several lines lie behind it, stretching for many miles,” the ISW said in a commentary for Time magazine.

However, the ISW analysis added that “a steady pressure and interdiction campaign supported by major efforts such as the one now underway can generate gaps in the Russian lines that Ukrainian forces can exploit at first locally, but then for deeper penetrations.” 

Ukrainian service members climb a BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle, in Zaporizhzhia region, on July 31.

There has been no significant gains from either sides on the front lines in Ukraine, with fighting still concentrated in the south and east, according to videos and statements from official sources.

In the Zaporizhzhia region: Russian-appointed officials in the occupied south say Ukrainian attempts to break through Russian military lines have been defeated. Pro-Russian Telegram channels have posted images and video of destroyed Ukrainian armor, though it’s unclear when and exactly where the equipment was struck.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military said one Russian position in the Zaporizhzhia sector had been eliminated, along with an ammunition depot.

Near Bakhmut in the east: Around the Bakhmut area, the Ukrainians have not reported any further progress but have posted video of the targeting of Russian positions.

The Ukrainians have also posted video of additional Zuzana self-propelled artillery systems provided by Slovakia.

Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukrainian Ground Forces, said on Telegram that a “gradual advance continues” in the Bakhmut area. 

At the same time, Russian military bloggers have published video of Ukrainian infantry vehicles being struck. One of the bloggers said that “the Russian army continues to repel the attacks of the AFU northwest of the city [of Bakhmut]. The fiercest fighting is now taking place near Klishchiivka,” a village south of Bakhmut that the Ukrainians have been trying to capture for several weeks.

In the northeast: In the direction of Kupyansk, the Russian Defense Ministry said that well-hidden tank forces are providing support to infantry, “ensuring the advance of Russian troops,” although here too there is no indication that either side is taking and holding meaningful territory.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference in Washington, DC, on August 2.

“Every member of this council, every member of the United Nations should tell Moscow: enough,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in remarks at the UN Security Council meeting on famine and conflict-driven food insecurity Thursday.

His remarks come as the US holds the presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of August. The meeting is taking place against the backdrop of repeated accusations of Russia – another UNSC member – weaponizing food as part of its war in Ukraine.

Remember: Moscow pulled out of the UN-Turkey brokered Black Sea grain deal last month, and there have been intensive efforts underway by the US and partners to mitigate the impact of that decision. Turkey has also been engaged with Moscow to try to revive the deal – a move which Blinken said on Thursday that they “very much appreciate.”

“Strengthening food security is essential to realizing the vision of the United Nations charter,” Blinken said.

A senior State Department official said Wednesday that the US is leading a joint communique – “condemning the use of food as a weapon of war” – which has 75 signatories, and more countries are expected to sign.

Since leaving the grain deal on July 17, Russia has unleashed a flurry of attacks on grain supplies in key Ukrainian cities, including the port city of Odesa.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia can replace Ukrainian grain supplies to Africa, and announced that Russia will send grain free of charge to six African nations in the next few months.

Ukrainian officials have given details of a large pipeline being built to supply water to communities affected by the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam on the river Dnipro in June. 

Oleksandr Kubrakov, the minister in charge of infrastructure, said a 150-kilometers-long water supply system is being built around the clock.

“The first link will provide water to residents of Kryvyi Rih and neighboring communities,” he said, noting the high amount of resources and equipment that will go into this project.

“We have already contracted all Ukrainian producers of large-diameter plastic pipes and reserved all currently available high-capacity pumping stations for the project,” he said. “We convinced global manufacturers to give us the equipment as a matter of priority.”

“The goal is to launch the first link by the end of August,” he added.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Ukrainian government also approved a plan for the reconstruction of the Kakhovka Hydro Power Plant (HPP), which will play a key role in the restoration of irrigation systems in southern Ukraine, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.

“The project will last for two years. In the first stage, we will design all the engineering structures and prepare the necessary basis for the restoration,” Shmyhal said. “The second stage will begin after the de-occupation of the territories where the hydroelectric power plant is located. It involves the actual construction work.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his press conference at the Konstantin Palace on July 29, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that a combination of military spending and domestic demand is driving the Russian economy, with employment in manufacturing stable at 10 million people — the same as in 2021.

Two-thirds of the growth in industrial production was being provided by the defense, and consumer demand was responsible for the other one-third, he said during a meeting with industry leaders at the Kremlin Thursday.

Meanwhile, as salaries grow — they exceeded last year’s levels by more than 20% — it is because of labor shortages, he said.

Putin also said that labor productivity was increasing — by about 5% — though he did not specify over what period. He said this was vital because a shortage of labor would otherwise lead to an increase in wage costs and undermine the entire economy of enterprises. 

Putin said that the expansion of production had been especially notable in computers and finished metallurgy products.

More context: Russia has dropped out of the ranks of the top 10 economies in the world, with a gross domestic product roughly the size of Australia’s, but it remains one of the biggest suppliers of energy to global markets — including China and India — despite Western sanctions imposed in the wake of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Analysts have said while the Russian economy is unlikely to contract this year, the weakness of the ruble poses a risk. According to the Eurasia Group, ruble devaluation “will increase financial instability and is certain to strengthen the already rising inflationary risk in the coming months.”

The surge in wage growth may feed inflationary pressures, according to analysts.

Experts expect the budget deficit for the year will amount to between 2% and 2.5% of GDP, with the price of Russian oil bought by Asian customers recovering. 

A man wearing a camouflage uniform walks out of PMC Wagner Centre in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on November 4, 2022. 

Wagner mercenaries who have moved from Russia to Belarus may try to destabilize NATO’s eastern flank, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda warned Thursday.

Morawiecki had warned earlier that more than 100 Wagner mercenaries have moved toward the strategic stretch of Polish territory, lying between Belarus and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.

“Today, the Polish borders and the border of Lithuania are the borders of the free world that stop the pressure from the despotism from the east,” he said. “On our borders – Lithuanian borders, Polish borders – various hybrid attacks have been stopped, which have been going on for two years.”

The presence of Wagner fighters in Belarus is a way for Russia “to test the reaction of Poland and the reaction of our allies,” Morawiecki added.

Nauseda said the two leaders had a “productive meeting” in the Suwalki corridor “to discuss security situation at our borders.”

Lithuania has already taken measures to reinforce security on its border with Belarus, including updating plans on deploying the military, Nauseda said Thursday, according to the country’s public broadcaster, Lithuanian Radio and Television (LRT).

“Some Wagner fighters are close to our border, having taken up positions in the Grodno region, which means that this situation is very convenient for provocations both on the Polish-Belarusian and Lithuanian-Belarusian borders,” he added. 

Any hostile actions by Wagner mercenaries would be considered actions taken by Russia, the president said.  

Russia has fined Apple for failing to delete war-related content in a podcast, state news agency TASS reported Thursday. 

This marks the first time Apple has faced such penalties in Russia, according to the report. 

The Moscow Magistrate’s Court found Apple guilty under Part 2 of Article 13.41 of the Code of Administrative Offences. The company was given a fine of 400,000 rubles (roughly $4,300), according to TASS. 

The fine is below the lower limit as the judge took into account the argument the company presented in court, TASS reported.

Apple didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.

According to TASS, Apple was previously ordered by Roskomnadzor, Russia’s communications regulator, to remove from its Podcasts platform “information regarding the special military operation in Ukraine aimed at destabilizing the political situation in the Russian Federation.”

The company had paid a $12.12 million fine in a Russian anti-trust case earlier this year, according to Reuters.

A view of damaged building in the Moscow International Business Center after a drone attack on August 1.

Russia said it downed seven Ukrainian drones near Moscow, the latest in a flurry of alleged attacks as senior Kyiv officials warn the war is increasingly returning to Russia.

“Last night, an attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack by unmanned aerial vehicles was foiled over the territory of Kaluga region,” the ministry said in a statement on Telegram.

No casualties or damage were reported, and Kyiv is yet to comment on the alleged attack.

If you’re just catching up, here’s what else you should know:

Security forces inspect at the scene after a skyscraper attacked by a drone for the second time in two days in Moscow, Russia on August 1.

Russia said it downed seven Ukrainian drones near Moscow overnight — the latest in a series of attacks launched on Russian territory, which have increased in recent weeks.

“Moscow is rapidly getting used to a full-fledged war,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelensky, after another strike on Tuesday.

But Ukrainian officials have not always been so bold.

On May 3, when a video appeared on social media showing a bright flash and a puff of smoke over a part of the Kremlin, Kyiv denied responsibility. Moscow claimed that Kyiv had launched an attempt to kill Russian President Vladimir Putin in an overnight drone strike. But Ukrainian officials dismissed the accusations.

Despite US intelligence indicating that Ukrainians may have launched that particular attack, Kyiv has adamantly denied responsibility.

But now, there has been a change both in tactics and in rhetoric. As Ukraine’s counteroffensive has ramped up in recent weeks, so too have its strikes on Russian territory – including Moscow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that the war is “gradually returning” to Russia hours after the Kremlin accused Kyiv of targeting Moscow with drones – the latest in a series of attacks.

The recent wave of strikes on and around Moscow shows that Ukraine’s military has been deploying unmanned aerial vehicles for more than just reconnaissance, in an attempt to bring the war home to Russia.

“No matter how the Russian authorities would like to turn a blind eye on this by saying they have intercepted everything… something does hit.”

Read more about the strikes on Russia here.

Russia has added Norway to its list of countries “committing unfriendly actions directed against Russian diplomatic and consular missions abroad,” the Russian government’s press service announced Thursday. 

The list of countries committing “unfriendly actions” sets restrictions on embassies, consulates, and representative offices hiring people who are residing in Russian territory.

The decree can amount to a complete ban — or it can assign a specific number of Russian residents those countries can hire.

According to the new decree, Norway is assigned a limit of 27 employees. 

Other states on the countries committing “unfriendly actions” list include: The United States, the Czech Republic, Greece, Denmark, Slovenia, Croatia and Slovakia.

In addition to this list of countries committing “unfriendly actions,” Russia also has another list, which is a list of “unfriendly countries.” 

Some context: Norway was included in the list of “unfriendly countries” back in March 2022, shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine — but has now been added to the “unfriendly actions” list.

The “unfriendly countries” list also includes Australia, Albania, Andorra, the United States, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Canada, Liechtenstein, Micronesia, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, the Republic of Korea, San Marino, North Macedonia, Singapore, Taiwan, Ukraine, Montenegro, Switzerland and Japan.

The Kremlin has dismissed allegations that Russia is trying to create “new dependencies” among developing nations through providing discounted grain.

“[Russia] fulfills all its obligations. And [it] could do it even better, satisfying the growing demand, if it were not for illegal sanctions restrictions,” he added,

In a letter obtained by Reuters on Wednesday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell raised concerns about Russian plans to offer developing countries discounted and free grain supplies.

In the letter, sent to G20 members and developing countries, Borrell reportedly said: “As the world deals with disrupted supplies and higher prices, Russia is now approaching vulnerable countries with bilateral offers of grain shipments at discounted prices, pretending to solve a problem it created itself,” Borrell said.

CNN has not seen the letter.

Some background: Russia sparked fears of global food insecurity last month, after it allowed the Black Sea grain deal to lapse. It has since resumed its blockade of Ukraine’s ports and launched a prolonged bombardment of its infrastructure and grain storage facilities.

Under ordinary circumstances, much of the grain from these ports would be exported to developing countries — particularly in Africa. Ukraine has long been referred to as the “breadbasket of Europe,” but Russia’s latest tactic has tried to weaponize food.

At the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin advanced Russia’s plan to cut Ukraine out of the global food network, by pledging thousands of tons of free grain shipments to six African nations, and stressing that Russia will always remain a “reliable” food supplier.