February 25, 2023 - Russia’s war in Ukraine

Our live coverage of the war in Ukraine has moved here.

CIA Director William Burns testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee on March 10, 2022.

The director of the CIA says the US is “confident” that China is “considering” sending lethal aid to Russia but intelligence suggests there has been no final decision by Beijing.

“We also don’t see that a final decision has been made yet, and we don’t see evidence of actual shipments of lethal equipment,” Burns added.  

Some context: CNN reported Friday that the US has intelligence that the Chinese government is considering providing Russia with drones and ammunition for use in the war in Ukraine, three sources familiar with the intelligence told CNN.

Ukrainian servicemen sit inside a howitzer near Bakhmut on February 25.

Ukrainian troops are standing their ground around Bakhmut despite a significant concentration of Russian forces near the eastern town, a Ukrainian commander said Saturday.

Cmdr. Yuriy Fedorovych Madyar, a colonel in Ukraine’s military, published a video message on his Telegram channel about the state of the fighting around Bakhmut, which remains one of the most fiercely contested territories in the war.

The colonel said Ukrainian forces “don’t see any additional accumulation” of Russian troops in these areas. Still, the concentration of Russian forces in Bakhmut is “already considerable,” allowing the Russians “to launch assault operations several times a day.”  

A Ukrainian flag is seen in front of a building damaged by a Russian military strike in Bakhmut on February 25.

Madyar said the situation in the southern suburbs of Bakhut is stable, and that it’s the northern suburbs that are proving “the most difficult part of the front lines to hold on to.”

Madyar said that over the past week, the number of remaining civilians seen in the streets of Bakhmut “has fallen to zero.”

What Russia is saying: Russia state news agency RIA Novosti carried a report this week showing a Russian soldier walking through the outskirts of Bakhmut, saying that Ukrainian forces have been holding on to their lines but retreating “occasionally.”

And the Russian private military company Wagner has claimed that it now controls the village of Yahidne. The village is in the northern suburbs of Bakhmut — the same area that Madyar, the Ukrainian colonel, said was proving the most difficult to hold.

CNN has not been able to independently verify either side’s claims on recent troop movements around Bakhmut.

A customer pumps gas at an Exxon gas station on July 29, 2022 in Houston.

Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine has roiled global economies and made an impact even in countries far from the frontline horrors of the war.

In the United States, Americans have felt the effects at the gas pump, paying the price for a disrupted global energy markets and the sanctions imposed on Russia by the US and its allies.

From the day before Russia’s full-scale invasion started, US gas prices shot up $1.48 a gallon, or 42%, to a record price of $5.02 by June 14.

That peak was short-lived — the national average price of gasoline, as tracked by the agency Oil Price Information Service for AAA, fell continually for 98 straight days from the day the record was set to September 20.

On Friday, the first anniversary of the invasion, the national average stood at $3.39 a gallon, compared to $3.54 on the day the war started.

Why prices shot up, then fell: To understand why gas prices are down, it’s important to understand why they went up so much — and so fast.

Crude oil prices are determined on global commodity markets. And to some extent, those markets overreacted to the start of the war.

“The market’s reaction was due to uncertainty,” said oil analyst Andy Lipow. He said that those trading oil futures thought the global market would have to find a replacement for all the Russian oil when there wasn’t an alternative available.

But Russian oil shipments continued even with the sanctions, although they were redirected elsewhere. Instead of sending much of its oil and refined products to Europe, Russia sent them to countries like China, India and Turkey.

And the sanctions never completely shut down the flow of oil to Europe, although a price cap limited the shipments and the amount that buyers in those countries would be willing to pay.

In addition, the United States and its allies announced in March they would start releasing oil from their stockpiles of crude, such as the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, putting downward pressure on prices.

The economic outlook also drove oil prices: Few things take a bite out of gas prices like a recession, or even just the fear of one. People who lose their jobs don’t have to commute, and they pull back their spending on discretionary items like travel, too. Consumption falls, followed by prices.

Rising fears of a global and US recession roiled markets in late 2022, pushing down the price of oil futures. Fears of a US recession have receded recently, with very strong reports on US job growth and retail sales, but they’re not gone — particularly not with the Federal Reserve expected to continue raising interest rates.

That has only further helped tamp down prices at the pump.

Read a full breakdown of the war’s impact on gas prices here.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that the European Union’s 10th sanctions package would deal a significant blow to Russian enterprises.

“Now, new sanctions steps are in the 10th package, powerful, against the defense industry and the financial sector of the terrorist state and against the propagandists who drowned Russian society in lies and are trying to spread their lies to the whole world,” Zelensky said in his nightly address. “They definitely won’t succeed.”

The package, which the EU approved Friday, includes:

Sanctions will continue to be introduced, Zelensky said.

He added that the Ukrainian government is working “to extend global and, in particular, European sanctions to the Russian nuclear industry, Rosatom, all those involved in the missile program and nuclear blackmail of the terrorist state.”

Finance chiefs at a Group of 20 conference in India this weekend issued a joint statement condemning Moscow for its war in Ukraine, with only China and Russia declining to sign.

Nearly all countries in attendance agreed to condemn Russia’s full-scale invasion, according to the chair summary and outcome issued as the meeting concluded Saturday. The countries signing the document said the war was adversely affecting the global economy and demanded Russia completely withdraw from Ukraine.

The statement said “today’s era must not be of war,” adding that the United Nations Charter and international humanitarian law should be upheld.

“The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible. The peaceful resolution of conflicts, efforts to address crises, as well as diplomacy and dialogue, are vital,” it added.

India, the current chair of the G20 economies, hosted the meeting in the city of Bengaluru.

As Reuters reports, Russia and China’s holdout forced India to issue a summary document wrapping up the two days of talks, rather than reaching a consensus on an official end-of-meeting communique.

Key context on China: On Friday, China’s foreign ministry issued a position paper calling for a resumption of peace talks and an end to unilateral sanctions, and stressing its opposition to the use of nuclear weapons.

But Beijing’s claim to neutrality has been severely undermined by its refusal to acknowledge the nature of the conflict – it has so far avoided calling it an “invasion” – and its diplomatic and economic support for Moscow.

Western officials have also raised concerns that China may be considering providing Russia with lethal military assistance, an accusation denied by Beijing.

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.

In the weeks leading up to the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the country’s eastern Donetsk region has seen some of the most intense fighting.

Donetsk has been under “constant” shelling by Russian forces, Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the regional government, said in a Telegram post this week. And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called the situation in the city of Bakhmut “the most difficult out of all” areas in Ukraine.

These satellite images from Maxar Technologies show the aftermath of recent shelling in the towns of Mykilske and Petrivka, both located in the eastern region.

This combination of satellite images shows a general view of the village Petrivka. The top image was taken in June 2022, and the bottom image was taken February 10, 2023, after heavy artillery shelling in the area.

This combination of satellite images shows the Svyato-Uspensky Mykolo-Vasilyivsky monastery in the town of Mykilske in the Donetsk region. The top image was taken in June 2022, and the bottom image was taken February 10, 2023, during fighting in the region.

CNN’s Rebecca Wright contributed to this post.

A Ukrainian military commander said Saturday that there are not “enough means” to push Russian forces back as they go on the offensive around the eastern city of Bakhmut.

Lt. Yevhenii Oropai, company commander of the Svoboda battalion of the National Guard of Ukraine, said on national television that the Russian military is “actively advancing” in Bakhmut and on the flanks in the area.

Oropai also said the military does not have “enough means” to push Moscow’s troops back, with Russia ramping up its attack on the front line and the Ukrainians waiting for deliveries of Western weapons.

“We lack tanks, armored vehicles, airplanes and long-range artillery to make competent offensive actions without suffering heavy losses. It is very difficult to be an infantryman,” he said.

The Ukrainian military said Saturday that Russia has made “several unsuccessful attempts” on settlements in the area surrounding Bakhmut.

Ukrainian servicemen prepare to fire a howitzer near Bakhmut, on February 25.

The Ukrainian military said Russian forces have recently launched unsuccessful assaults on its defensive lines in several regions, including around the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut.

The Russian assaults have also targeted Kupiansk and Lyman, in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, respectively, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said late Saturday.

Bakhmut: Russia has made “several unsuccessful attempts” on a cluster of settlements in the area surrounding Bakhmut, the Ukrainian military said.

The areas that have seen recent fighting include Orikhovo-Vasylivka and Berkhivka to the northwest of Bakhmut, and Ivanivske and Pivnichne to the southwest.

Ukraine’s military said “the enemy keeps trying to break through the defenses and take Bakhmut” and that the commander of Ukraine’s Eastern Military Group, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, visited units that are defending the city and surrounding villages.

The post included images from Syrskyi’s visit.

A Ukrainian serviceman patrols a street in Bakhmut, on Friday, February 24.

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti carried a report showing a Russian soldier walking through the outskirts of Bakhmut. On video, he said, “The enemy is holding on, but their morale is low and occasionally they start to retreat. We have 1,740 meters (about a mile) left to go to frontline positions in the center of Bakhmut. The enemy is holding the defense but is exhausted.”

CNN is unable to verify the soldier’s claims on troop positioning.

Wagner claim: The head of the Russian private military company Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said in a Telegram audio message that his fighters took control of the village of Yahidne, a northern suburb of Bakhmut, Saturday evening.

CNN could not immediately verify Prigozhin’s claim.

Elsewhere in eastern Ukraine: The Ukrainian General Staff said Russian forces have also attacked defensive lines near Avdiivka, to the north of Donetsk city, and Mariinka, to the southwest.

The military gave no indication that Moscow’s troops had made any ground.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk region’s military administration, said on Telegram that Avdiivka was under heavy enemy fire.

He said that in less than 24 hours, “the Russians shelled the city twice with artillery, once with tanks, launched an anti-aircraft missile strike, and also struck with Grads (rockets).”

A recently renovated school in the city had been destroyed by an air strike, Kyrylenko said.

Brad Paisley performs in Nashville, in 2022.

On a new song dedicated to Ukrainians, US country singer Brad Paisley incorporated a message of unity from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who he spoke with over a video call for the project.

Paisley, a platinum-selling artist and three-time Grammy Award winner, told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota about his experience working with the Ukrainian leader.

“He’s on the front line of democracy in the world,” Paisley said of Zelensky.

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01:52 • Source: CNN

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a news conference in Kyiv, on Friday.

As some outspoken Republican US lawmakers threaten to block future aid to Ukraine, a small group of GOP leaders from the House of Representatives traveled to the country this week.

The group vowed to consider a list of key weapons and other crucial necessities during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, sources familiar with the meeting told CNN.

The visit, set against the backdrop of the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion, is a stark example of the divide between some members of the Republican Party on how to handle US involvement in the war moving forward. The divide has only deepened since the GOP took over the House majority in January, even as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has carefully attempted to remain neutral on the issue.

It also comes at a time when US President Joe Biden is facing increasing pressure to supply Ukraine with more advanced weaponry, which some of his own military commanders have privately acknowledged could help Ukraine win the war.

Zelensky, who met with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul and four other House GOP members, told the group he planned to send them a list of weapons, which includes F-16 fighter jets. He believes the aircraft are necessary to speed up the end of the war with Russia.

A top US military commander reiterated to a group of Republican lawmakers how imperative F-16 fighter jets and longer-range missiles would be to serve the Ukrainian cause, one of the sources said.

That position, however, may become increasingly untenable. Upcoming spending fights, congressional hearings and the 2024 presidential race will spotlight the question of whether to add to the $113 billion the US has already sent Ukraine, as some Republicans push back on the prospect of additional aid.

Read more here.

Russian state media claimed that Ukraine’s military fired four large-caliber projectiles at the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk on Saturday.

Citing officials of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, the news agency RIA Novosti reported that Ukraine fired in the direction of the village of Tonenkoye outside the eastern city.

RIA Novosti said that four shells with a caliber of 155 millimeters were fired.

RIA’s report added that the United States had supplied Ukraine with long-range M777 howitzers and claimed that Ukrainian troops are “actively using them” to shell the cities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.

CNN cannot independently verify the claims.

Over the past few days, there appears to have been an uptick in long-range Ukrainian fire against parts of the Russian-occupied Donetsk region.

Earlier, the Ukrainians said that Russian units southwest of Donetsk city had carried out “unsuccessful offensive actions” at several places in the region.

Here’s the current map of control:

A resistance group says a Russian ammunition depot was destroyed and shells were detonated in Mariupol overnight into Saturday, according to Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the city’s elected Ukrainian mayor.

Andriushchenko, who is not in Mariupol, said that several pieces of Russian armor had been destroyed and 50 Russian troops had been killed or badly injured in the strikes.

Social media accounts allege further heavy explosions have been heard in the Russian-occupied city.

CNN cannot independently confirm Andriushchenko’s claims.

For the last few days, social media accounts have published nighttime video purportedly from Mariupol that has included the sound of heavy detonations.

There are heavy concentrations of Russian forces and equipment in the city.

US President Joe Biden delivers remarks in Warsaw, Poland, on February 21st.

US President Joe Biden dismissed China’s call for peace talks on the war in Ukraine, suggesting its implementation would only benefit Russia.

“I’ve seen nothing in the plan that would indicate that there is something that would be beneficial to anyone other than Russia if the Chinese plan were followed,” Biden said. 

Beyond his criticism of the 12-point Chinese proposal, Biden outright rejected the notion of China negotiating peace in the war.

Biden also weighed in on the possibility of China providing lethal weapons to Russia, which US officials have warned of in recent days.

Biden declined to outline the consequences of China arming Russia, but suggested Beijing would face the same “severe sanctions” as any other government or entity that has supplied weapons to Russia.

Some background: The US has intelligence that the Chinese government is considering providing Russia with drones and ammunition for use in the war in Ukraine, three sources familiar with the intelligence told CNN.

It does not appear that Beijing has made a final decision yet, the sources said, but negotiations between Russia and China about the price and scope of the equipment are ongoing.

China’s Foreign Ministry said Friday that the country takes a “responsible approach” to military exports and does not provide arms sales to conflict areas. The statement comes a day after a German media outlet claimed Beijing is negotiating with Moscow to supply drones.

Ukrainian servicemen of the 80th Independent Air Assault Brigade fire rounds towards Russian targets near Bakhmut on Friday.

The Ukrainian military says that Friday saw a high level of rocket attacks and airstrikes by Russian forces in areas along the front lines.

Russia launched 27 airstrikes and 75 multiple launch rocket attacks in addition to artillery barrages, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in its report early Saturday.

A prominent Russian military blogger, who goes by the name WarGonzo, said that fighters of the Wagner private military company had “attacked in several directions at once,” around Bakhmut. He claimed “a slight advance” to the east of the city and repeated Wagner’s claim that it now controls Berkhivka, a village north-west of Bakhmut. 

Unofficial Ukrainian military accounts have given a similar picture of the fighting around Bakhmut, with most access routes to the city from the west and north-west cut off.

To the southwest of Donetsk city, another zone that sees almost constant battles, the Ukrainians said that Russian units had carried out “unsuccessful offensive actions” at several places in the region.

Russian military bloggers have also reported offensive actions in several areas of this front, including Mariinka, which has been almost obliterated by the fighting.  

The Ukrainian General Staff also reported an uptick of cross-border shelling into the Kharkiv region, saying 23 communities had been affected - including the border town of Vovchansk.

In the south, according to the General Staff, at least 34 places in Kherson region came under artillery attack from Russian positions on the east bank of the Dnipro. It also claimed that “The russian invaders are searching houses and seizing boats and other watercraft.”

The General Staff also claimed that in the occupied city of Mariupol, people were being denied new housing for lack of paperwork.

CNN cannot verify the claim.

What Russia says: The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces have carried out attacks with aviation and artillery along the Luhansk-Kharkiv region border and claims to have “defeated enemy units in the areas of the settlements of Masyutovka, Ivanovka in Kharkiv region and Novoselivske” in Luhansk.

The ministry also claimed that Russian units had killed up to 60 Ukrainian troops, as well as destroyed a US-made M777 artillery system.

The Russian claims cannot be verified, but geolocated video shows Ukrainian units under fire in the area. It’s unclear whether Russian forces have been able to advance in the area.

The ministry said Russian forces had carried out artillery and thermobaric attacks on Ukrainian positions in areas west of the city of Kreminna in Luhansk, and it claimed to have inflicted heavy losses on the Ukrainians in that area.

The Eurovision logo is seen during the song contest in 2019.

The UK government has announced 3,000 Eurovision tickets will be made available for displaced Ukrainians living in the UK to attend the European song contest in Liverpool in May. 

They will be able to apply for tickets to all nine live shows, including the final on May 13, the government said.

The government also announced nearly $12 million in funding to the host city Liverpool. The money will be used to financially support Liverpool city council and national broadcaster, BBC, who are partnering with Ukrainian artists and performer to “ensure a collaborative show celebrating music and how it unites people from around the world.”

The Mayor of Liverpool, Joanne Anderson said the host city is working with their Ukrainian community to shape “a thought-provoking and powerful programme that is all-encompassing and representative of modern Ukraine – inspiring, poignant, funny, beautiful and moving.”

The theme of Eurovision 2023 is “United by Music” with the first semi finals to start on May 9. 

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks at a press conference in Munich, Germany, on February 17.

French President Emmanuel Macron says Beijing must help Western countries pile pressure on Moscow as he announced an upcoming trip to China in April.

President Macron did not mention if he will meet China’s President Xi Jinping but highlighted China’s possible role in Ukraine after Beijing released a peace plan.

“Everything that goes towards peace is good, but this peace is possible only if Russia ends its aggression, withdraws its troops and starts respecting Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty, so Ukraine has to give its terms, but I think the fact that China is engaging in peace efforts is a good thing.

“I will go to China in early April. China needs to help us put pressure on Russia to ensure it never uses chemical or nuclear weapons and it stops this aggression prior to negotiations,” Macron said.

Some context: China called for a political settlement to end the Ukraine conflict on Friday, urging the resumption of peace talks.

But while the document “said the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries must be effectively upheld,” it did not acknowledge Russia’s violation of Ukrainian sovereignty.

An adviser to Ukraine’s president called China’s plan “unrealistic”.

One year and a day on from Russia’s invasion of his home country of Ukraine, Bellator MMA world champion Yaroslav Amosov will return to the cage to defend his title.

Amosov’s welterweight bout against Britain’s Michael Page was originally scheduled for May 2022, but was postponed when he returned to Ukraine to help in the war effort.

Page then fought against American Logan Storley for the interim welterweight championship and lost, meaning Amosov will now fight Storley for the title at Bellator 291 in Dublin, Ireland on Saturday.

Amosov’s involvement in the war first became widely known in April last year, when a video he posted of himself recovering his world championship belt from the rubble of his home in Irpin went viral.

Read the full story here.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speaks to members of the media in Minsk, Belarus, on February 16.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says had a long phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday - the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine - according to Belarus state news agency BelTA.

“I’ll tell you a secret, last night we talked with him for a long time on various topics,” Lukashenko told reporters, according to BelTA.

“Listen, God forbid that we have a relationship that it always be like that.”

It comes after Lukashenko recently claimed there is “no way” his country would send troops into Ukraine unless it is attacked, amid fears Russia’s close ally will help to facilitate a spring offensive by Moscow.

“We are peaceful people. We know what war is and we don’t want war,” the authoritarian leader Lukashenko, who has close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said at a small gathering of journalists from international media, including CNN, at Minsk’s Palace of Independence

“There is no way we are going to send our troops to Ukraine unless you are going to commit aggression against Belarus,” Lukashenko said. “But don’t forget Russia is our ally, legally, morally and politically,” he added.

Some context: Belarus helped Russia launch its initial invasion of Ukraine last February, allowing the Kremlin’s troops to enter the country through the 1,000-kilometer (621-mile) Ukrainian-Belarusian border to the north of Kyiv.

Minsk has since claimed on numerous occasions that Ukrainian drones and missiles have entered its territory, sometimes without providing evidence.

There have been fears throughout the conflict that Belarus will again be used as a launching ground for another offensive, or that Lukashenko’s own troops will join the conflict, citing such episodes as provocation against its sovereignty.

Tensions have been mounting at the border again in recent days as Ukraine braces for a renewed attack.

Adviser to President Zelensky, Mykhailo Podolyak, speaks during an interview with AFP in Kyiv on January 10.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a Ukrainian politician who advises President Volodymyr Zelensky, has hit out at China for “betting on an aggressor” after Beijing repeated its call for a political settlement to the Ukraine war.

“If you claim to be a global player, you don’t offer an unrealistic plan,” he tweeted.

“You don’t bet on an aggressor who broke international law and will lose the war.”

On Friday China released a paper outlining its position on Ukraine.

In it, China’s Foreign Ministry called for a resumption of peace talks, stressed its opposition to the use of nuclear weapons, and an end to unilateral sanctions, an apparent criticism of measures opposed by the US and the West.

China has sought to present itself as neutral over the conflict, but has so far avoided calling it an invasion and has kept up diplomatic and economic support for Moscow.

Zelensky said Friday Ukraine “will work with China” if they show respect for international law and territorial integrity. The Ukrainian president said he would like to hold a bilateral meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Also on Friday, US President Joe Biden said that there’s no evidence “so far” that China will militarily back Russia in Ukraine, while warning any support would have economic ramifications for Beijing.