May 15, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

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

Kyiv was hit by an “exceptional” dense attack early Tuesday, a senior Ukrainian military official said in a Telegram post.

Popko added that “the vast majority of enemy targets in Kyiv’s airspace were detected and destroyed.”

This marked the eighth attack on Kyiv since the beginning of May, Popko said.

Popko noted that falling debris was reported in Kyiv’s Solomyanskyi, Shevchenkivskyi, Sviatoshynskyi, Obolonskyi and Darnytskyi districts.

The most damage was reported in Solomianskyi, where a non-residential building and several vehicles caught fire, Popko said.

An explosion is seen in Kyiv, Ukraine on May 16.

Civilians in Kyiv were ordered to seek shelter as multiple explosions were heard early Tuesday (local time). 

Air raid sirens went off throughout the city as Ukraine’s air defense system was activated to intercept UAVs and other flying objects over several districts, Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said via Telegram.

Initial reports indicate at least three people were wounded in the capital’s Solomyanskyi district, Klitschko said, adding that falling debris set several cars on fire and damaged a large building.

It is not clear if the explosions correspond to a missile or drone attack.

THE CIA released the video via Telegram.

The Central Intelligence Agency has launched a new effort to capitalize on what US intelligence officials believe is an “unprecedented” opportunity to convince Russians disaffected by the war in Ukraine and life in Russia to share their secrets, posting a slickly produced, cinematic recruitment video online on Monday.

The push includes a new CIA channel on Telegram, the social media network that is a highly popular source of unfiltered news in Russia. The CIA first posted the video on Telegram, which ends with instructions on how to get in touch with the CIA anonymously and securely. The video is also being posted to its other social media platforms, including YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

CIA officials involved in the project said that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has created a historic opening “to have Russians come to us and deliver information the United States needs.” It also comes after a previous recruitment drive following the launch of the invasion that the officials said has been successful, with “contact coming in.”

The message, one official said, that they hope to get across to Russians who work in sensitive fields with access to valuable information is: “We understand you, maybe better than you think.”

The official insisted the video is “absolutely not” meant to be incendiary or fuel unrest among the broader population – where Russian President Vladimir Putin still enjoys a high level of support – but rather targets individuals who may be on the fence, and “demystifies” the process of contacting the CIA. It does not mention Putin or even the war Ukraine, in part because it would be “redundant,” but also because they argue it draws on “timeless” themes that have long convinced disaffected Russians to reach out to the CIA.

Read more here.

Ukrainian soldiers fire a cannon near Bakhmut, where fierce battles against Russian forces have been taking place, on Monday, May 15.

Ukraine said Russian forces are no longer capable of large-scale offensive action. The claim comes as the Ukrainian military said it was able to capture more than 10 Russian positions near Bakhmut.

Here are more of the latest headlines from the Russia-Ukraine war:

Heavy shelling but little movement on eastern front lines: There’s been little change on the front lines in Ukraine over the past day, according to the Ukrainian military — but plenty of shelling. In its daily report, the Ukrainian General Staff said there was heavy fighting around Bakhmut and that Russia had launched “unsuccessful offensive actions” in several locations to the west and southwest of the eastern city.

Videos show intense shelling among high-rise buildings in Bakhmut: Multiple social media videos from Bakhmut show intense battles continuing among high-rise apartment buildings on the western edge of the city. The videos, which are filmed from the Ukrainian side and were published Monday, show strikes among the buildings in a district where fighters of the Wagner private military company have been trying to win ground.

31 US Abrams tanks have arrived in Germany for training of Ukrainian forces: Thirty-one M1 Abrams tanks have arrived in Germany ahead of a training program for Ukrainian forces on the US tanks, the Pentagon said Monday. The Ukrainian crews are expected to begin training at Grafenwohr in Germany in the next couple of weeks, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said at a briefing Monday. The training program is expected to take several months, and the tanks are expected to be sent to Ukraine sometime in the fall. 

UN aid chief urges all sides to extend Black Sea grain deal: Martin Griffiths, the UN’s emergency relief coordinator, said efforts continue to extend a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of grain from Ukraine, a pact Russia has threatened to quit over obstacles to its own grain and fertilizer exports. “Continuation of the Black Sea Initiative is critically important, as is recommitment by the parties to its smooth and efficient operation,” he said.

Ukraine needs more time before counteroffensive, Zelensky says: Ukraine is “preparing very important counteroffensive steps,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, but added that the country needs more time. “We really need some more time. Not too much,” before launching the much-anticipated counteroffensive, Zelensky told journalists after he met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in southeast England. He declined to share dates.

A local resident takes a picture of the artwork on the wall of a destroyed residential building, in Irpin, Ukraine, on November 12, 2022.

A painting by the British street artist Banksy which showed a gymnast waving a ribbon in the air was removed from a destroyed building in Irpin, Ukraine, and moved to a different location within the same city, according to Ukrainian state media Ukrinform.

“We dismantled Banksy’s painting from the destroyed nine-story building. Later, it [the building] will be completely demolished, and we will design something else in its place,” said Irpin Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn, according to Ukrinform. The mayor attended the event where it was dismantled, Ukrinform reported.

The mural and a segment of the wall it was attached to was dismantled from Severynivska Street and placed in the new location over a period of two weeks, according to the Ukrainian news agency.

Workers unload the portion of a wall featuring the artwork after it was dismounted from the heavily damaged residential in Irpin, Ukraine on May 13.

Ukrinform said the mural is now in a metal frame to preserve the image and the whole structure weighs 7.5 tons.

“It was important for us to preserve the large fragment of the installation so that future generations would look at this work not as an artistic piece, but as a work that puts many social and political emphases,” Zoriana Tikhonchuk, head of the Architecture and Urbanism Committee at the Irpin Reconstruction Summit said as reported by Ukrinform.

Irpin’s mayor added that they plan to create Ukraine’s first Contemporary Art Square at the site where the exhibit was moved, Ukrinform said.

Ukrinform added that the art square will be presented to residents in the near future and there will be constant security and video surveillance in the exhibit’s new location.

The mural is one of several works completed by the British street artist in cities across Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, following Russia’s invasion.

Earlier this year, a ringleader of a group that allegedly tried to steal a Banksy mural from a wall in Ukraine could face up to 12 years in prison. The painting depicted a woman in a gas mask carrying a fire extinguisher.

According to police, the group removed the mural from a wall and had intended to transport it from the site using wooden planks. The suspects, who hail from Kyiv and the central Ukrainian city of Cherkasy, were “detained on the spot,” the head of the Kyiv region military administration, Oleksii Kuleba, said at the time of their arrest in early December.

There’s been little change on the front lines in Ukraine over the past day, according to the Ukrainian military — but plenty of shelling.

In its daily report, the Ukrainian General Staff said there was heavy fighting around Bakhmut and that Russia had launched “unsuccessful offensive actions” in several locations to the west and southwest of the eastern city.

Russians also targeted other areas on the frontlines in Donetsk, including Avdiivka, Mariinka and Vuhledar, with a mix of air strikes and artillery fire. “There were 37 combat engagements. Bakhmut and Mariinka remain at the epicenter of the fighting,” it said.

“Ukrainian defense forces repelled numerous enemy attacks near the town of Mariinka,” it said. The town is in ruins and almost every civilian has left.

Yuriy Fedorenko, an officer in Ukraine’s 92nd Brigade, posted on Telegram that in Bakhmut Ukrainian defenders had managed not only to stabilize the situation but also to gain an advantage in some areas over the past three days.

The General Staff said the Russians had launched more attacks with S-300 missiles against the town of Kostiantynivka, which lies west of Bakhmut.

Geolocated social media video also shows Russian attacks in the Kharkiv region, where the two sides are separated by the river Oskil in some areas.

The General Staff said that in Russian-occupied areas, civilians were still being pressured to take Russian citizenship.

In the Zaporizhzhia region, it said:

It also claimed that security checks on the civilian population had been stepped up in Crimea.

Thirty-one M1 Abrams tanks have arrived in Germany ahead of a training program for Ukrainian forces on the US tanks, the Pentagon said Monday. 

The Ukrainian crews are expected to begin training at Grafenwohr in Germany in the next couple of weeks, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said at a briefing Monday. The training program is expected to take several months, and the tanks are expected to be sent to Ukraine sometime in the fall. 

The tanks now arriving in Germany are specifically meant for training Ukrainian crews while the tanks that will ultimately be sent to Ukraine are going through refurbishment and preparation for shipment, Ryder said. 

The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine said Russian forces are no longer capable of large-scale offensive action and are mainly on the defensive – but Moscow is able to sustain the current rate of missile attacks.

Defense Intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov told Ukrainian television Monday that Russia “is on the defensive” when it comes to discussing “the entire front line” and they are without the resources “to repeat large-scale offensive actions.”

“They have been preparing for defense all this time, and this is a serious factor that the Ukrainian command certainly takes into account when preparing for the de-occupation of Ukrainian territories,” the official added.

Yusov said the goal of Russian missile strikes have changed and their intensity has lessened since the winter when there were high-volume attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

The Russians had a shortage of some types of missiles, such as the Kalibr, he claimed.

Despite this, Yusov said the Russians are “capable of sustaining the intensity of attacks,” at least for now. He estimated that they still have large stockpiles of S-300 missiles, which are capable of considerable destruction. The S-300 was designed as an anti-air weapon but the Russians have frequently used it in a ground-to-ground mode, in which it is not very accurate.

Yusov said that on Ukraine’s northern border, the Russians were increasingly using “subversive reconnaissance groups” that were trying to probe border regions. Some had shot at civilians in the northern region of Chernihiv, he alleged.

The Ukrainian official also claimed that Kyiv was aware of the “health problems” of Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, but said he would not elaborate on the topic “for various reasons.” Lukashenko has not been seen in public since a recent visit to Moscow. On Sunday he did not appear at a national celebration in the capital Minsk to mark the annual Day of the State Flag, Emblem, and Anthem of Belarus.

France's President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris on Sunday, May 14.

France is open to training Ukrainian fighter pilots, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with French broadcaster TF1 on Monday after receiving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Sunday evening.

When asked if France would send fighter jets to Ukraine, Macron replied that he was not talking about “airplanes” but rather “missiles” and “training.”

“We will not deliver weapons that would allow [Ukraine] to reach Russian soil,” Macron said. 

United Nations Security Council delegates were briefed via video by UN emergency relief coordinator Martin Griffiths at a meeting for the Maintenance of Peace and Security of Ukraine in New York on May 15.

The United Nations aid chief is calling for Russia and Ukraine to find an agreement to continue the Black Sea grain deal, after stalled talks last week.

Martin Griffiths, the UN’s emergency relief coordinator, said efforts continue to extend a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of grain from Ukraine, a pact Russia has threatened to quit over obstacles to its own grain and fertilizer exports.

Last week, Griffiths met with senior officials from Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul, Turkey, but said there was no Russian agreement to extend the deal. Russia is demanding that a pipeline is restarted that delivers Russian ammonia to a Ukrainian Black Sea port, which the United Nations has been pushing for.

US Deputy UN ambassador Robert Wood said Russia is at fault for the failure to continue the Black Sea grain deal so far and that Russia is not interested in negotiating on the extension of the grain deal. 

Key background: Turkey, alongside the United Nations, has been helping to broker agreements. The current deal was renewed for 60 days in March and is set to expire on May 18.

A Black Sea grain deal has enabled the passage of Ukrainian ships carrying agricultural products to depart the country, which was a challenge in the early days of the war with Russia preventing the ships from leaving.

The agreement established a procedure that guaranteed the safety of ships carrying Ukrainian grain, fertilizer and other foodstuffs through a humanitarian corridor in the Black Sea.

Multiple social media videos from Bakhmut show intense battles continuing among high-rise apartment buildings on the western edge of the city. 

The videos, which are filmed from the Ukrainian side and were published Monday, show strikes among the buildings in a district where fighters of the Wagner private military company have been trying to win ground.

Ukrainian military units acknowledge that inside the city the situation is extremely difficult.

The 5th Assault Brigade said on its Facebook page: “Although we are pushing the enemy back on the flanks, the situation in the city is on the verge of hell because the enemy is using all means. He is “pouring” fire on every house, destroying all of them. So the situation is… Although we have partial successes, the situation is still very difficult.” 

Myroshnykov, a Ukrainian military blogger, echoed the assessment, saying “The town itself is a living hell. There is nothing left to defend there, but our soldiers are not leaving and are standing firm!”

The 5th Brigade said that outside the city, it has made gains against Russian forces in recent days and weeks, and had moved forwards by some 2.5 kilometers (about 1.5 miles) over the past couple of months, gradually pushing the Russian front line away from the village of Ivanivske, immediately to the west of Bakhmut.

It also said that supply routes into the part of Bakhmut still held by Ukrainian forces were more stable. “Now all these roads are under our absolute control, both in terms of fire control and physical control. The garrison’s supply is stable.” 

The Brigade said “regular Russian troops are not ready to fight like Wagner…They have no particular desire to fight.”

There have been contrasting accounts from different Ukrainian units about the performance of regular Russian forces around Bakhmut. 

The 5th Brigade added that the Russians retained a huge advantage in the amount of artillery they can use. 

“Their goal was to destroy and capture Bakhmut at any cost. They are doing it all. So, unfortunately, not only our frontline is suffering, but all the towns and villages are also suffering.”

Overall, according to multiple accounts and geolocated social media video, Wagner fighters continue to try to take the western parts of Bakhmut city they don’t already control, while Ukrainian units to the west and south of the city appear to be making incremental gains.

Some background: Bakhmut is the site of a months-long assault by Russian forces, including Wagner mercenaries, that has driven thousands from their homes and left the area devastated. But despite the vast amounts of manpower Russia has poured into capturing the city, they have been unable to take total control, and this week suffered heavy losses in the area.

CNN’s Vasco Cotovio contributed to this post.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks on stage during the Global Solutions Summit in Berlin, on May 15.

Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Monday some countries see what they consider “Western double standards” in regard to the war in Ukraine. 

Speaking at the Global Vision Summit in Berlin, Scholz said that leaders from countries — such as India, South Africa, and Vietnam — abstained from calling on Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations General Assembly in February because they are “struggling with the unequal application” of the West’s “principles.”   

Scholz told the summit that the G7 group will take steps toward creating “secure and resilient economies based on partnerships with the Global South” at the G7 conference in Japan later this week. 

“I will also remain personally committed to working towards a more inclusive, more equitable global order,” Scholz said, “particularly when it comes to [Europe’s] neighboring continent, Africa.”

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg speaks via video link to the Chairman of the Copenhagen Democracy Summit and former NATO Secretary-General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, in Copenhagen, Denmark, on May 15.

NATO’s “most urgent task” is to ensure that Ukraine wins against Russia’s war, the military alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Monday.

“The most urgent task now is to ensure that Ukraine prevails — that (Russian) President Putin does not win this war,” Stoltenberg said. 

“Fundamentally, NATO’s task is to support Ukraine, as NATO allies and NATO have done now for more than a year, but also to prevent this war from escalating beyond Ukraine,” the official said.

The chief of the US-led alliance also stated that it’s important that Ukraine is armed to defend itself from Russian aggression now and in the future.

“We don’t know how this war will end, but what we do know is that when it ends, it is extremely important that we are able to prevent history from repeating itself,” he added.

The NATO chief said that he expects Ukraine will join the alliance when the war is over.

A file image of US made Pakistani F-16 fighters during the Azm-e-Nau-4 military exercise in Khairpure Tamay Wali in Bahawalpur distirict, Pakistan, on November 4, 2013.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has lauded the promises of fresh military aid made by the European leaders he has met with in recent days.

Speaking to journalists after his most recent meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday, he said: “I had very good meetings with Giorgia [Meloni], Olaf [Scholz], and Emmanuel [Macron], and today, in the United Kingdom [with Rishi Sunak]. Really important, powerful defense packages. That’s what it is, that’s what the agreements are.”

The publicized agreements include a $3 billion military aid package from Germany – its largest pledge since the war began – and the commitment to send more armored vehicles and light tanks from France.

But Zelensky is still campaigning for Ukraine’s allies to come together in a so-called “coalition” to send it modern fighter jets, which Zelensky admitted in Berlin on Sunday was, “not an easy question.”

Ukraine specifically wants US-made F-16 fighter jets, Andriy Yermak, the Head of the Office of the Ukrainian President, said in a tweet on Sunday: “We need F-16s, and we are doing everything to ensure that we get them as soon as possible.”

In a pre-taped video address played at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Monday morning, Zelensky said F-16s would help Ukraine in “defending freedom” and said it was “not a problem to be discussed for months.” Zelensky’s speech was played to the conference before his meeting with Sunak later Monday morning. He said F-16s were one of three things that Ukraine needed: weapons (including the F-16s), NATO membership and increased international pressure on Russia.

Sunak’s spokesperson said on Monday that Britain has no plans to send fighter jets to Kyiv because the Ukrainian military’s preference was for the F-16s, which it does not have. “The Ukrainians made the decision to train their pilots on F-16s and you will know the RAF don’t use those,” the spokesperson said.

Remember: In March, CNN reported that the US was working with Ukrainian pilots in the United States to determine how long it would take to train them to fly F-16 fighter jets. A US military official said, “There are no updates to provide regarding F-16s to Ukraine.” 

CNN’s Sugam Pokharel in London and Saskya Vandoorne in Paris contributed to this post.

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, left, talks with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky as they walk in the garden at Chequers, near Ellesborough, England, on May 15.

The UK government has pledged to train Ukrainian pilots beginning this summer, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Monday during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The “elementary flying phase” program is aimed at “training Ukrainian citizens to be absolutely combat-ready aircraft pilots” with knowledge of NATO tactics, he said at Chequers, the prime minister’s official country residence.

“It is not a straightforward thing — as Volodymyr and I have been discussing — to build up that fighter combat aircraft capability,” Sunak said.

“It’s not just the provision of planes, it’s also the training of pilots and all the logistics that go alongside that and the UK can play a big part in that.

Earlier, Sunak’s spokesperson confirmed that there are no plans to send fighter jets to Ukraine.

“The Ukrainians made the decision to train their pilots on F-16s and you will know the RAF don’t use those,” the spokesperson said.

The announcement comes just days after delivered multiple “Storm Shadow” cruise missiles to Ukraine. 

UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace described the donation as Ukraine’s “best chance to defend themselves against Russia’s continued brutality,” after CNN exclusively reported the deal last week.

Poland's Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak speaks during the presentation of the newly delivered M142 HIMARS rocket launch system in Warsaw, Poland on May 15.

Poland has received the first batch of High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, known as HIMARS, to deploy near the Russian border, Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak announced Monday.

“Today we are accepting HIMARS to the Polish Army. [An] equipment that has proven itself in combat in the hands of the Ukrainians, stopping the Russian invasion,” Błaszczak said.

The HIMARS, a truck-mounted system that can fire missiles as far as 300 kilometers or 186 miles, carries a preloaded pod of six 227mm guided missiles, or one pod loaded with a tactical missile.

The delivery of the first pieces of the M142 HIMARS launchers is the result of an agreement from February 2019 regarding the acquisition of the first squadron fire module of HIMARS multiple rocket launchers in the “American configuration,” Poland’s Ministry of Defense said in a press release.

“We are negotiating another deal on the HIMARS. The US Congress approved the sale of almost 500 launchers to Poland,” Błaszczak said, adding: “We want to ensure that under this new contract, currently being negotiated, the co-production of Himarses, both launchers and missiles, takes place in Poland.”

The deliveries currently being carried out are the first step in equipping the Polish Armed Forces with systems of multiple rocket launchers capable of hitting targets at the operational level, i.e. several hundred kilometers, the Ministry said Monday in a press release.

Some context: Poland is a key NATO ally currently housing thousands of American troops that also serves as a hub for Western weapons transfers to Ukraine. US service members are also training Ukrainian troops there.

CNN’s Kevin Liptak contributed to this post.

A view shows a damaged multi-storey apartment block following a blast in Luhansk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, on May 15.

There have been at least two explosions in the Russian-held eastern city of Luhansk Monday – following several blasts towards the end of last week.

Among the injured in one of the blasts was acting Interior Minister of the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic, Igor Kornet, who was “severely” wounded and is in intensive care, official Russian news agency TASS reported, citing local law enforcement. Another Russian state outlet, RIA Novosti, quoted doctors as saying that Kornet’s condition was stable.

While there have been several attempts to assassinate Russian-appointed officials in Ukraine’s southern regions, this would be the first known of a senior official in Luhansk. 

The first blast, at around 8 a.m. local time, struck a building that used to be an aviation school, according to local authorities. Its current function is not known.

The acting head of LPR, Leonid Pasechnik, blamed “Ukrainian nationalists” for the attack, which he said “hit the area of Luhansk Higher Military Aviation School of Navigators area.”

Darya Lantratova, a senior member of Russia’s ruling party and a senator from the LPR, said two missiles hit the building. She accused Ukraine of striking a predominantly civilian neighborhood.

Geolocated video showed thick smoke rising from the building. The cause of the explosion isn’t known, but as with the explosions last week, local authorities late said that Storm Shadow missiles, recently donated to Ukraine by the UK, were responsible. Local officials released photographs purporting to be fragments of the missiles. 

There were no casualties, according to the local health ministry. The Ukrainian authorities have made no comment about the incident. 

Hours later, a second blast occurred in central Luhansk inside a barber’s shop, which injured several people and extensively damaged property, according to video from the scene. TASS, citing law enforcement, said the acting minister was injured in the explosion in central Luhansk.  

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree which makes easier the process of obtaining Russian citizenship for foreign citizens who have signed military service contracts with the Russian Armed Forces since the beginning of the war.

Those who signed “for a period of one year” can apply for citizenship through a simplified procedure, according to the decree published on the official website.

This new decree amends the previous decree issued by Putin last September, which required foreigners to serve for at least one year and be actively involved in combat for at least six months to qualify for a simplified citizenship procedure.

The bottom line: The new version of the decree does not imply direct participation in hostilities.

The updated rules also extend the eligibility for simplified citizenship to family members of military personnel. 

Yevgeny Prigozhin during a funeral ceremony at the Troyekurovskoye cemetery in Moscow, Russia, on April 8.

The head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has denied a report that he offered to share intelligence on Russian troop positions with Kyiv in exchange for the Ukrainians ceding territory around the embattled city of Bakhmut.

In an audio message posted to his Telegram channel on Monday, Prigozhin speculated the story could have been planted by his enemies.

The article, in the Washington Post, was based on leaked US intelligence documents among the cache that recently appeared on the Discord gaming server. The Post reported Sunday that Prigozhin offered to give Ukraine’s military information on Russian troop positions if Kyiv would pull their own forces back from the area around Bakhmut. Prigozhin made the proposal to Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate, known as HUR, in January, the Post alleged. It quoted one leaked document as stating that Prigozhin met HUR officers in an unspecified country in Africa.

In his message, Prigozhin asked rhetorically, “Who is behind this? I think that either some journalists decided to hype, or comrades from Rublyovka have now decided to make up a beautiful, planted story.” Rublyovka is the name of an affluent neighborhood in Moscow along the Rublyovo-Uspenskoye highway, which is known for its luxurious residential estates and mansions for the Russian elite.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Monday that he could not comment on the Washington Post report, other than to say, “It looks like another hoax.”

Andriy Yusov, a representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, declined to comment when he was asked about the Post report on Ukrainian television on Monday, saying: “Who would benefit from discussing such initiatives now?” 

CNN reached out to Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate for comment. They said they had nothing to add to Yusov’s comments.

Some background: Highly classified Pentagon documents leaked on social media in recent weeks have provided a rare window into how the US spies on allies and foes alike, deeply rattling US officials, who fear the revelations could jeopardize sensitive sources and compromise important foreign relationships. Some of the documents, which US officials say are authentic, expose the extent of US eavesdropping on key allies, including South Korea, Israel and Ukraine.

Others reveal the degree to which the US has penetrated the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Russian mercenary organization Wagner Group, largely through intercepted communications and human sources.

CNN’s Natasha Bertrand and Kylie Atwood contributed to this post.