April 24, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

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Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks during the Security Council meeting on Maintenance of international peace and security at UN Headquarters in New York on April 24.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, sharply criticized the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov after he chaired a UN Security Council meeting on Monday. 

Thomas-Greenfield said she was pleased that Elizabeth Whelan, the sister of detained American Paul Whelan, said that Lavrov looked at her during the meeting.

The US is continuing to work to free American nationals detained in Russia, including Whelan and Evan Gershkovich, she said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov chairs a Security Council meeting on defending the principles of the UN Charter at UN Headquarters in New York on Monday, April 24.

If the Group of Seven nations decide to ban exports to Russia, Moscow officials have threatened to terminate the Black Sea grain deal, viewed as critical to addressing the world hunger crisis.

Such a ban could be part of the ever-evolving set of sanctions the allies have leveled against Moscow for its war in Ukraine.

Normally, Ukraine supplies about 45 million metric tons of grain to the global market every year and is the world’s top exporter of sunflower oil. Together with Russia, it accounted for about one-quarter of global wheat exports in 2019.

Here are the top headlines to know:

UN ambassadors condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine: All 27 ambassadors of the European Union made a joint statement condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine just ahead of Russia chairing Monday’s United Nations Security Council meeting, where it holds the rotating presidency of that body this month. Also at the meeting, Elizabeth Whelan, the sister of detained American Paul Whelan, demanded Russia free her brother. “Paul has not committed a crime, but a crime has been committed against him,” Whelan said at the UN stakeout, accompanied by the US, Irish and Canadian ambassadors to the UN.

Ukrainian officials detect shift in Russian focus: Ukrainian officials say the Russian focus in the eastern Donetsk region has shifted slightly, but the city of Bakhmut and the ruined towns of Mariinka and Avdiivka remain the focus of Russian assaults. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said that in the Bakhmut sector, the Russians were using what she called the “Syrian tactics” of total destruction of buildings and facilities.

China and former Soviet countries: China respects the sovereign state status of ex-Soviet Union countries, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday. Mao’s remarks come after the Chinese ambassador to France Lu Shaye sparked controversy for saying during a TV interview that former Soviet countries, including the Baltic states, don’t have “effective status in international law.” China has so far refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or call for a withdrawal of its troops, instead urging restraint by “all parties” and accusing NATO of fueling the conflict. It has also continued to deepen diplomatic and economic ties with Moscow.

The flow of ammunition to Ukraine needs to increase “in the coming days,” European Union’s foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, said Monday.

Borrell said there needed to be a “just peace” in the conflict but, until then, the EU would continue to support the defense of Ukraine. So far, the EU had provided about $14 billion in military support, and the EU was continuing to deliver on its promise of 1 million rounds of ammunition, he said.

A second tranche of $1 billion for purchases of ammunition from EU states was being finalized, he said. “There has been some disagreement, but the work continues. We are not waiting for the legal document to be finished to start working.”

 He also said the EU was reaching out to outside countries to reinforce the effect of international sanctions against Russia. 

An employee of the Romanian grain handling operator Comvex oversees the unloading of a shipment from the Ukraine in the Black Sea port of Constanta, Romania, on June 21, 2022.

Moscow is threatening to terminate the Black Sea grain deal, viewed as critical to addressing the world hunger crisis, if the Group of Seven nations ban exports to Russia.

Such a ban could be part of the ever-evolving set of sanctions the allies have leveled against Moscow for its war in Ukraine.

Ukraine normally supplies about 45 million metric tons of grain to the global market every year and is the world’s top exporter of sunflower oil. Together with Russia, it accounted for about one-quarter of global wheat exports in 2019.

On Sunday, Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president and deputy chair of Russia’s security council, implied in a Telegram post that Moscow would answer a new G7 export ban by halting the flow of “goods that are the most sensitive for G7.”

Alliance response: The G7 called for the “extension, full implementation and expansion” of the Black Sea grain deal in a statement published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan on Sunday. 

Moscow has pulled out of the deal before: Russia had suspended its participation in the UN-brokered agreement in October 2022 after drone attacks on the Crimean city of Sevastopol, Ukraine.

Shipments have been stop-and-start during the deal, with each side accusing the other of sabotaging the operation at times.

Origins of the deal and impact: Turkey, alongside the United Nations, helped broker the deal in July 2022. The agreement established a procedure that guaranteed the safety of ships carrying Ukrainian grain, fertilizer and other foodstuff through a humanitarian corridor in the Black Sea.

Under the deal, all vessels coming to and from Ukraine’s ports were inspected and monitored by international teams made up of officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN.

CNN’s Uliana Pavlova, Sugam Pokharel, Dennis Lapin, Ivana Kottasová and Katharina Krebs contributed to this report.

Ukrainian officials say the Russian focus in the eastern Donetsk region has shifted slightly, but the city of Bakhmut and the ruined towns of Mariinka and Avdiivka remain the focus of Russian assaults.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said Monday there had been 47 air strikes by Russian planes over the past day, and more than 30 ground assaults had been repelled.

Ukrainian forces continue to cling on to parts of the city of Bakhmut and the access route from the west. The General Staff said that “during the day, the enemy conducted unsuccessful offensive actions in the direction of Novomarkove and Khromove,” settlements to the northwest and west of the city.

The Deputy Defense Minister, Hanna Maliar, said that in the Bakhmut sector, the Russians were using what she called the “Syrian tactics” of total destruction of buildings and facilities.

“At the same time, our defenders are carrying out active assault operations and preventing the enemy from taking control of the city,” Maliar said.

One soldier serving in the Bakhmut area, Yurii Syrotiuk of the 5th separate assault brigade, said the Russians had air superiority but were not flying over the front lines because Ukrainian units had “many portable means” of air defenses.

He said Ukraine had regained trenches near the village of Khromove.

Maliar noted a decrease in Russian attacks in one area of the front line that has been very active for several months — near the Ukrainian-held town of Lyman.

“In the Lyman sector, the aggressor failed to break through our defenses and its activity has slightly decreased,” she said. “At the same time, the enemy is shelling our positions in this area and regrouping.”

The General Staff reported that, “The enemy did not conduct any offensive in the Lyman sector.”

Elsewhere, the same pattern of Russian artillery and mortar fire continued across the front line, with the town of Vuhledar coming under heavy bombardment.

In the south, according to the General Staff, Russian forces are carrying out “defensive actions at the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson directions,” but that includes heavy shelling of settlements close to the front lines. Maliar said that the Russians were doing their best “to maintain control over the occupied borders and prevent the advance of our troops” in the south.

United States Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks during a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Monday.

In remarks to reporters Monday ahead of the United Nations Security Council meeting, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that “it’s impossible to ignore the giant elephant in the room: Russia.”

The ambassador said Russia “struck at the heart of the UN Charter,” accusing the country that invaded its neighbor Ukraine of “arbitrarily detaining political activists, journalists, and opposition leaders,” as well as for “wrongfully detained American citizens.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was in charge Monday of a United Nations Security Council meeting because Russia currently holds the rotating presidency of the council.

The UN ambassador also accused Russia of using imprisoned Americans Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich as “political pawns.” Whelan has been detained in Russia for more than four years; Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was arrested in Russia last month and subsequently charged with espionage.

She urged Russia to move on a proposal for Whelan’s release and said the United States “will not relent until Paul, Evan, and all hostages and wrongfully detained Americans are brought back, safe and sound.”

The US ambassador to the UN then turned the floor over to Elizabeth Whelan, Paul Whelan’s sister.

She called her brother “a pawn and victim of Russia’s descent into lawlessness” and condemned Russia for its “tradition of hostage-diplomacy.”

“Paul has not committed a crime, but a crime has been committed against him,” she stressed.

“Russia’s less-than-sophisticated take on diplomacy is to arbitrarily detain American citizens in order to extract concessions from the United States,” Elizabeth Whelan continued. “This is not the work of a mature and responsible nation; it is the action of a terrorist state.”

Melitopol city head Ivan Fedorov attends the International Summit of Cities and Regions in Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 20.

The mayor of the southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol says there are “powerful concentrations” of Russian forces in the area — a region that may be the focus of a Ukrainian counter-offensive in the weeks to come.

Ivan Fedorov, who is not in Melitopol himself, said on Ukrainian television: “We see that today there are two extremely powerful concentrations” of Russian forces in the occupied part of the Melitopol region.

He said that one was located on the coast of the Azov Sea [in Kyrylivka], “where the enemy has seized a huge number of recreation centers, hotels, etc.”

Fedorov said the Russians were using the area as a place to trans-ship their military cargo and heavy weapons and had a smaller base on the other side of the Azov coast [in Prymorskyi Posad].

Fedorov said that Russian-backed local administrations in Zaporizhzhia region (where Melitopol is situated) are preparing for the evacuation of civilians.

He repeated claims made by other Ukrainian officials that “they are preparing to take our children out of many areas of the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia region. For example, in Enerhodar, they aim to collect all the data about our children by the end of the week, and starting from May 5, they will announce the evacuation of children and take them somewhere in mainland Russia, or at least to temporarily occupied Crimea.”

Fedorov said there was a similar situation in the town of Bilmak, close to the front line.

He also claimed that people in occupied areas were being pressured into applying for Russian passports, including being required to possess Russian documents to receive medical treatment.

CNN cannot independently verify Fedorov’s claims. 

In recent weeks, other Ukrainian officials have alleged that Russian-appointed officials are coercing the evacuation of civilians from occupied areas. Vladyslav Nazarov, spokesperson of the Operational Command “South,” said that Russian occupiers intended to take children from the east bank of the Kherson region for “treatment” in Crimea or Russia. They had also established routes for the evacuation of residents.

Elizabeth Whelan, sister of Paul Whelan, sits in the gallery during a meeting of the U.N. Security Council as Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov speaks on April 24, 2023, at United Nations headquarters, New York.

“I am here to tell Russia: free Paul Whelan,” Elizabeth Whelan said in remarks prior to a UN Security Council meeting at which Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be in attendance.

“Paul has not committed a crime, but a crime has been committed against him,” Whelan said at the UN stakeout, accompanied by the US, Irish, and Canadian ambassadors to the UN.

“Paul was a corporate security director. He had a job he loved … a life of hope and opportunity. All that has been taken away from him by Russia, a country that revels in its culture of lies, its tradition of hostage diplomacy,” she said.

“I am here today to tell the global community that one way to engage in effective multilateralism is to confront those countries that resort to hostage diplomacy,” Whelan added.

She referenced the case of Evan Gershkovich, an American journalist who has been wrongfully detained by Russia under charges of espionage – the same crime for which her brother was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

“This Russian playbook is so lazy, that even Evan has the same investigator, a man who harassed and interrogated my brother until Paul’s sham trial in June of 2020,” Whelan said.

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in her remarks prior to the meeting that it was “impossible to ignore the giant elephant in the room: Russia.” 

“Russia, the convener of today’s meeting, invaded his neighbors in Ukraine and struck at the heart of the UN Charter. And Russia, time and time again, has violated universal human rights and fundamental freedoms both outside and inside its own borders – that includes arbitrarily detaining political activists, journalists and opposition leaders as well as the wrongful detention of American citizens,” she said.

Whelan told CNN that “it was quite a moment” to be in the room with the people who are imprisoning her brother. She said Lavrov did look at her when Thomas-Greenfield acknowledged her during the meeting.

Whelan said she hopes her brother somehow saw some of the coverage, “so he knows we’re still fighting for him and that we will not give up.”

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, left, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attend a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on "Effective multilateralism through the defence of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations," at the U.N. headquarters in New York, on April 24.

Just ahead of Russia chairing Monday’s United Nations Security Council meeting, where it holds the rotating presidency of that body this month, all 27 ambassadors of the European Union made a joint statement condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

“I’m here with the 27 ambassadors of the European Union,” said Olof Skoog, European Union representative to the UN. “We want to make a statement in relation to the debate that is going to start in the Security Council.”

The group went on to reiterate their demand that Russia “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all its military forces” from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally-recognized borders.  

“If Russia cares about effective multilateralism, that is the first way to prove it.”

Some context: Russia, which holds the presidency of the Security Council this month, scheduled the meeting to highlight the principles of the UN charter. Each month the Security Council’s presidency rotates among the 15 members.

A senior Ukrainian official has dismissed a report that Ukraine planned to launch attacks deep inside Russia to mark the first anniversary of the Russian invasion in February.

Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, described the reporting as a “strange media/sensation once again.”

The report, which was published in the Washington Post, was derived from leaked documents among the cache that recently appeared on the Discord gaming server. The Post reported Monday that according to the documents, Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s military intelligence [HUR] instructed one of his officers “to get ready for mass strikes on 24 February … with everything the HUR had.”

Budanov’s alleged comment was included in a classified report from the US National Security Agency, according to the Post. CNN has not seen the document in question.

The Post reported that on February 22, two days shy of the first anniversary, “the CIA circulated a new classified report: The HUR ‘had agreed, at Washington’s request, to postpone strikes’ on Moscow.”

The official said that such reports “fulfill only one catastrophic function: they shape public opinion in Western capitals as if Ukraine was an unreasonable, infantile, and impulsive country that is dangerous for adults to trust with serious weapons.”

On the contrary, he said, “Ukraine sees things differently. We approach the war with ironclad mathematical logic: we need long-range missiles to destroy Russian logistics in the occupied territories and various types of aircraft to protect the sky and destroy Russian fortifications. These are the main components of successful counteroffensive operations,” Podolyak tweeted.

CNN has reached out to Budanov’s office for a response to the report.

Paul Whelan stands inside a defendants' cage during a hearing at a court in Moscow in August 2019.

The family of Paul Whelan confirmed that his sister will be at the United Nations Monday, the day that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will also be there.

“Elizabeth has been invited to participate in a meeting today at the United Nations to highlight the issue of arbitrary detention,” David Whelan, Paul’s brother, said in an email to the press.

“We are grateful to Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield for inviting our family to participate,” David Whelan said. “We will never forgive nor forget what the Russian government has done to Paul during the 1,578 days of captivity he has suffered so far.”

David Whelan said Paul spoke last week with the US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy for an hour and “was able to express his concerns about his ongoing detention by Russia.”

“Paul also communicated very clearly his concern lest the U.S. government bring home other American citizens from Russia and leave him behind again,” David Whelan said.

In addition, Elizabeth Whelan was briefed by the White House last week.

“While it was inconclusive, we appreciate that they have heard our concerns. It is not at all clear that they taken the steps to create opportunities to bring Paul home but we will continue to watch and hope for that activity,” David Whelan said.

A Ukrainian official in the southern region of Kherson says that Russian occupying forces on the east bank of the river Dnipro are trying to get civilians to leave the area — amid persistent reports of a Ukrainian military presence there.

Yurii Sobolevskyi, first deputy head of Ukraine’s Kherson regional council, told CNN that for the past two weeks the Russians had been trying to coerce civilians in towns on the river to leave their homes.

Sobolevskyi mentioned the towns of Oleshky, Kakhovka and Nova Kakhovka, all on the east bank of the river.

Sobolevskyi said that about 30% of the pre-war population remains in the temporarily occupied territories of the Kherson region. “It is very difficult to calculate because we have no access to data on the number of active subscribers from mobile operators and other means,” he said.

As for Ukrainian military action on the east bank, Sobolevskyi said: “They are maintaining fire control and constantly destroying military targets there, reducing the enemy’s combat capability in this area. This happens every day.”

But he added: “Nowadays, information silence is very much needed there, because information is also a weapon that can kill.”

The woman charged over the killing of Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky will be held in detention for at least another six weeks, a court ruled on Monday. 

A decision by Moscow City Court upheld a previous ruling by the Basmanny District Court, also in Moscow, that Trepova should be held in custody until at least June 2, while the investigation is ongoing. 

Tatarsky was one of Russia’s most outspoken and ultranationalist military bloggers, known for his ardent pro-war commentary and occasional criticism of Moscow’s battlefield failures.

In Russia, it is standard procedure to keep a suspect in custody for a certain period of time while their trial is ongoing.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell delivers a speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on April 18.

The European Council has said it’s set up a civilian mission in Moldova “to enhance the resilience of the security sector of the country.”

Some of the areas of focus will include crisis management, cybersecurity and countering foreign information manipulation, according to a statement from the council Monday. 

“Today we are stepping up EU support to Moldova [to] protect its security, territorial integrity and sovereignty. The deployment of this new mission is yet another important political sign of the EU’s support in the current difficult circumstances,” he added. 

Moldova formally invited the EU to deploy a civilian mission in the country in January, the council said. Civilian missions are the deployment of non-military personnel in a crisis setting, predominantly with the aim of peacebuilding. They can cover a broad spectrum of activity, from police training to justice reform.

EU foreign ministers are meeting in Luxembourg on Monday to discuss several topics, including the war in Ukraine. As he arrived for the meeting, Borrell said the situation in Moldova and Georgia will also be discussed, as “countries who are on the border and see the [Russian] war [in Ukraine] very close – they feel the threat.”

Key context: Russia has been accused of laying the groundwork for a coup that could drag Moldova, a small country on Ukraine’s southwestern border, into the Kremlin’s war.

Moldova’s President, Maia Sandu, has accused Russia of using “saboteurs” disguised as civilians to stoke unrest amid a period of political instability, echoing similar warnings from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — claims which have been rejected by Russia’s foreign ministry as “unfounded.”  

According to White House officials, the US believes Russia is working to weaken the Moldovan government, as it continues to seek closer ties with the EU.

European Union foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Monday will discuss China’s role in the region following diplomatic outrage sparked by Beijing’s ambassador to France. Chinese ambassador Lu Shaye said during a television interview that former Soviet countries don’t have “effective status in international law,” causing diplomatic consternation.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be chairing the UN Security Council meeting Monday, but he does not plan to meet with his US counterpart, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on the sidelines of the meeting, according to Russian officials.

Here are the latest headlines:

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends an annual end-of-year news conference in Moscow, Russia, on December 23, 2021.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has backed a claim by his eldest son, Nikolai, that he served with the Wagner mercenary force in Ukraine.

Asked why his son chose to fight with the Wagner group instead of Russia’s regular forces, Peskov said it had been his son’s decision, adding that he had previously served in the Russian Armed Forces as part of his “constitutional duty.”

Key context: Nikolai Peskov said in an interview with the Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda at the weekend that he fought in Ukraine for nearly six months and received the Medal for Courage. CNN could not independently verify the claim. 

Children of government figures and Russia’s elite have received criticism in the past for failing to fight in Ukraine or go to the front lines.

Nikolai Peskov’s interview came after the leader of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on Friday that the Kremlin spokesperson’s son had served as a gunner with his mercenary force. Prigozhin did not specify what period of time he was talking about.

The outspoken Wagner boss has a track record of making unsubstantiated claims, often employing sarcasm, and CNN is unable to verify his claim.

Germany expects China to explain its stance on the sovereignty of former Soviet states following controversial remarks by Chinese ambassador to France Lu Shaye, Germany’s foreign office spokesman said Monday.

“Of course we expect China to explain its position unequivocally,“ he added.

Key context: Lu sparked controversy after saying during an interview Friday that former Soviet countries, including the Baltic states, don’t have “effective status in international law.”

The remarks appeared to disavow the sovereignty of countries that became independent states and United Nations members after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell called the comments “unacceptable,” and European countries have demanded answers.

On Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Beijing respects the sovereign state status of ex-Soviet Union countries.

Ukrainian forces are building up troops and equipment near the town of Huliaipole, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of Zaporizhzhia city, near the southern front line, a Moscow-backed local official has told Russian state media.

CNN could not independently verify the claim.

Rogov speculated that the area may become one of the main locations of a Ukrainian counterattack, saying that Kyiv has also sent new forces to the settlements of Bohatyr, Solone and the city of Zaporizhzhia itself.

Rogov said the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region is currently stable.

China's Ambassador to France Lu Shaye in Paris, France, on September 10, 2019.

European Union foreign ministers will discuss China, as well as the situation in Moldova and Georgia, when they meet on Monday, top EU diplomat Josep Borrell said as he arrived for the meeting in Luxembourg. 

Chinese ambassador to France Lu Shaye sparked controversy after saying during a TV interview Friday that former Soviet countries, including the Baltic states, do not have “effective status in international law.”

Borrell said China was “one of the most important issues for our foreign policy.”

EU foreign ministers will also discuss the situation in Moldova and Georgia, as those countries “see the war [in Ukraine] very close, they feel the threat.”

“For us Georgia is a very important country and remember that it has specific security issues because its territory is partially occupied by Russia,” Borrell said. The situation with Moldova is “more or less the same,” he said.  

On Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Beijing respects the sovereign state status of ex-Soviet Union countries after Lu’s comments sparked controversy.

Moldova has expressed surprise at Lu’s remarks, saying that it expects his comments are not representative of China’s official policy.