May 6, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

We’ve wrapped up our live coverage for the day. You can read more about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine here, or scroll through the updates below.

Ramzan Kadyrov, the notorious Chechen leader and an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has invited fighters from the Wagner Private Military Company to join the forces of his Akhmat battalion in Bakhmut.

Kadyrov also posted an image of his letter to Putin “to issue combat orders on the removal of Akhmat units from other directions in order to hand Wagner positions in Bakhmut over to them.”

Some context: The head of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claimed he will hand over Bakhmut positions to the Chechen leader on May 10. He cited a lack of ammunition supplies, which Prigozhin blames on Russia’s military command.

The Chechen leader said online Friday that he will be happy to take over “older brother” Prigozhin’s positions if Wagner decides to leave Bakhmut, and he reiterated that sentiment in another post Saturday.

About Kadyrov: Kadyrov’s sizable paramilitary forces, while formally a part of Russian security structures, have personal loyalty to him.

They have been accused by international and independent observers of gross human rights violations.

A damaged white Audi Q7 car is overturned after Russian military blogger Zakhar Prilepin was allegedly wounded in a bomb attack in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, on May 6.

A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson blamed Ukraine, the United States and the United Kingdom for the bombing of military blogger Zakhar Prilepin’s car in the city of Nizhny Novgorod on Saturday.

The ministry provided no proof for its allegations.

The Security Service of Ukraine, responding to online outlet Ukrainian Pravda, said of the incident: “Officially, we can neither confirm nor deny the involvement of the Security Service in this or that explosion that happens to the occupiers and their accomplices.”

Russia blamed Ukraine for the death of another Russian military blogger in an attack last month at a St. Petersburg cafe. Kyiv previously denied any involvement.

The Russian Investigative Committee called the latest incident “a terrorist act” and said it plans to investigate the blast as such.  

The committee also reported a suspect in the car bombing has been detained, claiming that during interrogation, he testified “that he acted on the instructions of the Ukrainian special services.” 

The suspect “planted an explosive device on the road along the route of Zakhar Prilepin’s car, which he set off remotely,” the committee alleged. “After that, he fled the scene, but was detained by law enforcement officers when he left the forest in another settlement.”  

The committee published what it claimed was a video confession of the suspect, but it was not clear under what circumstances he was interviewed and whether he was under duress in the video. 

Russian pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia reported that Prilepin had surgery earlier on Saturday and is at the hospital in stable condition. His driver was killed in the blast.

The UK’s foreign office declined to comment when contacted by CNN. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Nizhny Novgorod region is located east of Moscow on the Volga River.

Zakhar Prilepin attends a news conference in Moscow on February 21, 2017.

A car explosion wounded a Russian military blogger and left his driver dead Saturday, according to state media. It marked the second recent blast involving one of the country’s nationalist writers, drawing further attention to the role they play in Moscow’s propaganda machine.

The blogger wounded Saturday is Zakhar Prilepin, a former member of the State Duma whose Telegram channel has more than 300,000 subscribers. Last month, another military blogger, Vladlen Tatarsky, was killed in an explosion at a cafe in St. Petersburg.

Writers like Prilepin and Tatarsky are just two examples of prominent voices in the murky world of Russia’s “milbloggers.”

Offering a rare critique: Unlike Russian state media, many of the most influential military bloggers have not shied away from criticizing Moscow for its battlefield defeats. That includes its retreat from Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, which Prilepin called a “catastrophe” in a commentary last September. More recently, bloggers have criticized the stalling, drawn-out fight for Bakhmut.

Such commentary is especially rare since Russia forced the closing of any remaining independent media shortly after invading Ukraine in February 2022.

Pro-Kremlin commentators, who are sometimes called “voenkory” for “war correspondents,” have filled some of this information vacuum.

Uniquely well-sourced: Many of the bloggers have deep sources within the military, the Wagner mercenary group or among pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, which gives them unparalleled access to information.

Tatarsky himself was born in Ukraine, reportedly fought with Russian separatists in the Donbas and had close ties to Wagner.

“Obviously, they have a very biased view of the war. But they are critical to understanding what’s happening at least on one side of the flux,” Rondeaux said.

Read more about the Russian “milbloggers” here.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company, arrives during a funeral ceremony at the Troyekurovskoye cemetery in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, April 8.

The head of the private Russian military company Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claimed he will hand over Bakhmut positions to the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov’s forces on May 10.

It was not immediately clear how serious Prigozhin, who often speaks sarcastically, is about the transfer to Kadyrov.

About Kadyrov: Notorious Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and leads sizable paramilitary forces that — while formally a part of Russian security structures — have personal loyalty to him.

Kadyrov has been accused by international and independent observers of gross human rights violations.

The Chechen leader said online Friday that he will be happy to take over “older brother” Prigozhin’s positions if Wagner decides to leave Bakhmut, and he reiterated that claim in another post Saturday.

“The fighters are on alert; we are only waiting for the order,” Kadyrov said in a video message. “We have already begun to develop our strategy of action in this area together with the Russian Ministry of Defense, taking into account the enemy’s tactics and the resources at our disposal. And believe me, the tactics will yield positive results.”

What Prigozhin has said about the withdrawal: Prigozhin said Friday that Wagner will leave the besieged eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, citing a lack of ammunition supplies that Prigozhin blames on Russia’s military command. 

He also claimed that “a little more than two square kilometers” (less than 1 square mile) in Bakhmut remain to be taken by Russian fighters.

Ukraine said earlier Saturday that Russian troops have not made any breakthrough in Bakhmut, waving off Prigozhin’s ammunition shortage claims as a “bluff.”

Far from the front lines, US first lady Jill Biden was seated next to Olena Zelenska, first lady of Ukraine, during King Charles III’s Coronation Day in London.

The US first lady said Zelenska also thanked the US for its support of Ukraine. 

The Princess of Wales, Kate, met Biden and Zelenska during the Reception of Heads of State at Buckingham Palace on Friday evening.

Zelenska met her British counterpart, Akshata Murthy, in London on Thursday. 

The Ukrainian first lady previously visited London in November 2022, giving an address to British lawmakers that highlighted the issue of sexual violence toward women and children in wartime Ukraine. 

CNN’s Max Foster and Niamh Kennedy contributed reporting to this post.

Forty-five prisoners of war return to Ukraine.

Forty-five prisoners of war have returned to Ukraine, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak, said on Telegram Saturday.

“Great news today. We are returning home 45 our people. 42 men and 3 women defenders of Azovstal,” Yermak said, referencing the Azovstal steel plant, which for weeks was the last major holdout in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol following Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The returning POWs include 35 privates and sergeants, plus 10 officers, Yermak said.

The official’s post did not include details about how Ukraine secured the prisoners’ release, but prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine have happened periodically throughout the conflict.

A Ukrainian service member fires an anti-tank grenade launcher at a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the city of Bakhmut, Ukraine, on May 3.

Heavy fighting in the battered eastern city of Bakhmut continues Saturday, with a Ukrainian military spokesperson calling Wagner head Yevegny Prigozhin’s tirade against a lack of ammunition a “complete bluff.”

Cherevatyi dismissed Prigozhin’s claims about a diminishing stock of ammunition, saying Russian forces had fired thousands of shells along front lines during the last 24 hours.

“Now they are firing more than 20,000 shells a day. That’s why (Prigozhin’s remarks on ammunition starvation) is a complete bluff,” he said.  

Some context: Prigozhin has said he is pulling out of Bakhmut on May 10.

In an expletive-filled tirade, he blamed Russia’s military leadership for “tens of thousands” of Wagner casualties, specifically calling attention to what he described as a lack of ammunition.

The mercenary said he had only 30% of the supplies he needed in the eastern city.

Ukraine’s assertion that a US Patriot defense battery took out one of Russia’s most modern ballistic missiles is a notable moment in the conflict, now in its 15th month.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian military have touted the Kinzhal, or Kh-47, as an example of Russia’s modernized missile arsenal, claiming that its hypersonic speed makes it extremely difficult to intercept.

The missile travels 10 times the speed of sound and has a range of some 2,000 kilometers (about 1,250 miles), and so can be fired far from the battlefield.

Putin has said the weapons could  “overcome all existing and, I think, prospective anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense systems.”

Several Kinzhal missiles were launched at Ukrainian targets in March, but it’s not clear what damage they did or whether they all reached their targets.

Analysts have questioned the Kinzhal’s capabilities during the final phase of its flight, suggesting it may not be as maneuverable or as fast as it approaches a target.

A new line of defense: In April, Ukraine’s defense ministry said Patriot systems had arrived from the US, Germany and the Netherlands.

The addition of Patriot batteries was a welcome one for Ukraine, who had repeatedly asked for the air defense capability. But experts warned the systems would not be a game changer overnight, because of the significant training and logistical requirements that go along with them.

Today’s developments: If one of the new Patriot systems has now destroyed a Kh-47, as the Ukrainians say, it calls into question the capabilities of one of Russia’s new generation of weapons.

Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yurii Inhat said Saturday that the Russians “were saying that the Patriot is an outdated American weapon, and Russian weapons are the best in the world.”

Russian authorities have detained a man who they say may be involved in a blast that blew up the car of a Russian military blogger Saturday, according to Russian state news agency TASS.

The blogger, Zakhar Prilepin, survived, but his driver was killed, TASS reported earlier.

“Policemen in Nizhny Novgorod region have detained a man who may be involved in the bombing of the car in which Zakhar Prilepin was,” Russian interior ministry spokesperson Irina Volk was quoted by TASS as saying. 

“The law enforcement agencies reported that the man detained on suspicion of attempted assassination of Prilepin was seen near the village of Pionersky, where the car bombing took place,” TASS said.

The Nizhny Novgorod region is located east of Moscow, split by the Volga River.

Zakhar Prilepin attends an unifying congress, on February 22, 2021, in Moscow, Russia.

A Russian military blogger has been injured and his driver was killed after their car blew up in the Nizhny Novgorod region of Russia, state news agency TASS reported on Saturday.

Zakhar Prilepin was hospitalized with a leg injury, but his press service “assured that he was fine,” TASS said.

The Russian Investigative Committee said it has opened a criminal case. 

Vladimir Rogov, a member of the Russian-appointed military-civilian administration in occupied Zaporizhzhia, claimed in a post on Telegram that Prilepin’s daughter was with him at the time of the incident but was not injured.

The Nizhny Novgorod region is located east of Moscow, split by the Volga River.

More background: Nationalist writers are a key part of the Kremlin’s propaganda machine, strongly supporting the war in Ukraine but given unusual freedom to criticize its conduct.

Prilepin, whose Telegram channel has more than 300,000 subscribers, last September reposted a commentary that described the Russian retreat from Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, as a “catastrophe.”

Last month, another military blogger, Vladlen Tatarsky, was killed in an explosion at a cafe in St. Petersburg.

In this screen grab taken from video, a hypersonic cruise missile is launched by a Russian naval ship from the Barents Sea on May 28, 2022.

Ukraine says it has for the first time used a US-made Patriot air defense system to intercept a Russian hypersonic missile. But what exactly are hypersonic missiles?

Essentially, all ballistic missiles are hypersonic – which means they travel at least five times the speed of sound. Almost any warhead released from a rocket miles in the atmosphere will reach this speed heading to its target. It is not a new technology.

What military powers – including Russia, China, the United States and North Korea – are working on now is a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV).

An HGV is a highly maneuverable payload that can theoretically fly at hypersonic speed while adjusting course and altitude to fly under radar detection and around missile defenses.

An HGV is the weapon that’s almost impossible to stop. And Russia is thought to have an HGV in its arsenal, the Avangard system, which Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018 called “practically invulnerable” to Western air defenses.

But the Kinzhal, as a variant of the Iskander SRBM, is not an HGV. While it does have limited maneuverability like the Iskander, its main advantage is that it can be launched from MiG-31 fighter jets, giving it a longer range and the ability to attack from multiple directions, according to a report last year from the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Read more on hypersonic missiles here.

Founder of the Wagner private mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, makes a statement in a video released on Friday.

This week, the Kremlin made a stark admission that its seat of power in the heart of Moscow was attacked, claiming it was Ukrainian drones in a bid to assassinate President Vladimir Putin.

Then on Friday, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the self-promoting head of the private military company Wagner, used his Telegram account to say he will withdraw his forces from Bakhmut on May 10.

There is not even an “unless” attached to the threat. He simply says it will happen, so they can “lick their wounds,” as they refuse to fight on senselessly without enough artillery shells to function.

And it will happen just after the May 9 Victory Day pomp and celebration, as, he insists, Wagner are patriots.

The Putin administration does not like appearing weak. The bedrock of the president and his ministers’ hold on power is that they are the calm, controlled, ruthless masters of Russia’s geopolitical destiny – ensuring order in the storm.

An attack on the Kremlin and the declaration that a private mercenary group will walk out on a key frontline are not a good look – whatever the truth behind each situation.

Read the full analysis here.

Ukraine says it has, for the first time, used a US-made Patriot air defense system to intercept a Russian hypersonic missile.

The Kh-47 Kinzhal is a hypersonic ballistic missile and is only rarely deployed by Russia. It is difficult to defend against.

Ukraine has received at least two Patriot systems, one from the United States and one from Germany, to enhance its air defenses, which have previously been unable to intercept more modern Russian missiles such as the Kinzhal.

Last month, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that Patriots would be critical in defending Ukrainian infrastructure against ballistic missiles.

Read the full story here.

Russian-installed authorities in the annexed Zaporizhzhia region of southern Ukraine announced the evacuation of some of the residents front-line settlements due to “intensified shelling.”

“Over the past few days, the enemy has intensified shelling of settlements located in close proximity to the line of contact,” the region’s Russian-appointed acting Gov. Yevgeny Balitsky said.

Balitsky claimed the evacuations are a “necessary measure” designed to ensure the safety of residents of the front-line territories. Ukrainian officials have said Russian forces have used evacuations as a means to forcibly deport Ukrainians.

The evacuations come amid rumours of a looming Ukrainian counteroffensive, with the Zaporizhzhia region likely to be a target.

A High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) of the Ukrainian army fires close to the frontline in the northern Kherson region on November 5, 2022.

Russia has been thwarting US-made mobile rocket systems in Ukraine more frequently in recent months, using electronic jammers to throw off its GPS guided targeting system to cause rockets to miss their targets, multiple people briefed on the matter told CNN.

Ukrainian military officials, with US help, have had to come up with a variety of different workarounds as it continues to use the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), which has been perhaps the most revered and feared piece of weaponry in Ukraine’s fight.

But in recent months, Ukraine’s systems have been rendered increasingly less effective by the Russians’ intensive blocking, five US, British and Ukrainian sources tell CNN, forcing US and Ukrainian officials to find ways to tweak the HIMARS’ software to counter the evolving Russian jamming efforts.

“It is a constant cat-and-mouse game” of finding a countermeasure to the jamming, a Pentagon official said, only to then have the Russians counteract that countermeasure. And it is not clear how sustainable that game is in the long term.

Electronic warfare is carried out by both sides, up and down the front line where there is heavy drone activity used for surveillance and in partnership with artillery targeting.

With a major Ukrainian counteroffensive expected to start very soon and Ukraine’s reliance on HIMARS, solutions are even more of a priority so that Ukrainian troops can make significant headway.

CNN’s Oren Liebermann contributed to this report.

Read the full story here.