May 20, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

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French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday it is “up to the Ukrainian authorities to state the developments of their forces on the ground,” following claims from the chief of Russian private military group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, that his forces have taken complete control of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

The operation “shows the difficulty the Russian army had in advancing” on the city, Macron said.

CNN could not independently verify Prigozhin’s claim, but an initial response from the Ukrainian side disputed it.

Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar, in a Telegram post less than an hour after the Russian mercenary’s claim was published, admitted the situation in Bakhmut was “critical” but said Ukrainian troops were still “holding the defense” in a district on Bakhmut’s western-most edge.

Macron did not speak further on the Wagner claim, but said the presence of Zelensky at the G7 summit in Hiroshima is “important.”

The French president also said the G7 is an opportunity to “discuss, exchange views and convince partners” invited this year – including India, Indonesia and Brazil – regarding Ukraine.

“There will be the opportunity to explain the situation,” he told reporters.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday he had discussed with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “further cooperation” on security and defense, the situation on the front line and the training of Ukrainian soldiers. 

“Started another day of the G7 Summit with a meeting with Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau,” Zelensky tweeted. 

“We discussed further cooperation in the security and defense sphere, the situation on the front line, training of Ukrainian officers within the UNIFIER Canadian training mission, the importance of implementing all points of the Ukrainian Peace Formula and Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration,” he wrote. 

Operation UNIFIER is the Canadian Armed Forces’ (CAF) military training and capacity building mission in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which launched in 2015 and in 2022 was expanded and extended until March 2025. 

Zelensky also said that he was “grateful” to Trudeau and Canada for their assistance in de-mining its territories and for the “prompt processing of our requests by the government of Canada and Canadian manufacturers.”

Zelensky is currently in Hiroshima, Japan, where he is joining G7 summit talks and meeting with G7 leaders on Sunday. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at a press conference in Moscow on September 9, 2021. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday congratulated Wagner mercenaries and Russia’s armed forces after they claimed to have taken control of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

“All distinguished fighters will be granted state awards,” the Kremlin added.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks at a press conference in Moscow on May 17.

Police removed several people Saturday outside the Kvareli Lake Hotel in the country of Georgia, where relatives of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov were reportedly staying, according to Georgian public broadcaster First Channel. 

The opposition United National Movement party held a protest outside the hotel in northeastern Georgia to express their anger following local media reports that Lavrov’s relatives were staying there.

Videos posted on social media showed violent scenes of police officers roughly grabbing protesters gathered outside the hotel. In one video, police officers can be seen holding a protester by the throat. 

Georgian media reported that Lavrov’s relatives had traveled to Georgia for the wedding of the brother of Lavrov’s son-in-law, Alexandre Vinokourov. 

Lavrov’s daughter, Ekaterina Vinokurova — who is married to Vinokourov — has been sanctioned by the UK, the United States and Canada.

Police removed several people outside the Kvareli Lake Hotel in Georgia on May 20.

Tensions are already high this week, after direct flights between Russia and Georgia resumed Friday, lifting restrictions imposed in 2019.

The move was condemned by the country’s President Salome Zourabichvili, who holds a largely ceremonial role and has opposed the government’s alignment with Russia.

Zourabichvili expressed disbelief Saturday that the Georgian government didn’t know that “the daughter of the highest-ranking official, from Putin’s immediate circle, who is under sanctions” had entered Georgia for the wedding, First Channel said.

The president said she had been informed by a government official that the family has now left the country, but she urged authorities to heed the lists of Russian individuals sanctioned by Georgia’s “partner countries.”

More about Georgia: Since winning its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Georgia has played a balancing act between pro-European sentiment among its citizens and the influence of its powerful neighbor Russia. The country’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, has faced repeated accusations of close ties with Moscow, most notably during efforts to pass a foreign agents bill in March, which critics said mirrored controversial Russian laws. 

Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed Saturday that it has seized the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, echoing claims from the Wagner mercenary group that officials in Ukraine have so far disputed.

Calling the city by it’s Soviet-Russian name, the ministry said: “As a result of offensive actions by Wagner assault units, supported by artillery and aviation of the Yug Group of Forces, the liberation of Artyomovsk has been completed.”

Wagner’s chief claimed his troops had completely captured the city earlier Saturday, while Ukraine’s deputy defense minister insisted fighting continued, with Kyiv’s forces holding on to the city’s westernmost edge.

CNN cannot independently verify battlefield claims.

In recent reports from the front, Ukraine’s military had focused on progress made in areas surrounding the city, while Wagner forces had said they were consolidating territory closer to the city center.

International Criminal Court (ICC) leadership expressed deep concern over the arrest warrant issued by Russia’s government for one of the court’s prosecutors this week.

In a statement Saturday, the ICC called Russia’s actions against prosecutor Karim Khan, “acts of intimidation and unacceptable attempts to undermine the mandate of the International Criminal Court to investigate, sanction and prevent the commission of the gravest international crimes.”

The ICC said in a separate statement Saturday that it is “aware and profoundly concerned about unwarranted and unjustified coercive measures reportedly taken against ICC officials, notably the Prosecutor of the Court and the judges of Pre-Trial Chamber II by the authorities of the Russian Federation.”

Some context: In March, the ICC — whose jurisdiction is not recognized by Russia — issued a warrant for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin and another Moscow official, Maria Lvova-Belova, alleging they were involved in the deportation and “reeducation” of Ukrainian children in Russia. 

Later in March, Russia’s Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against the ICC judges Tomoko Akane, Rosario Aytala, and Sergio Godinez, as well as Khan. 

On Friday, Russian state news agency TASS reported that Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs had issued an arrest warrant for Khan.

CNN’s Uliana Pavlova contributed reporting.

US President Joe Biden is set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Hiroshima, Japan, Sunday, underscoring US support for Ukraine as top US officials herald a unified Group of Seven summit. 

Biden, the official said, “will continue to reiterate the United States’ firm and resolute support for Ukraine going forward.”  

The official pointed to a “powerful statement of unity” from the G7 countries standing against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at this week’s summit, including sanctions and the announcement of a joint effort to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 aircraft — efforts that were “spearheaded” by US national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

Asked about the possibility of China playing a role in ending Russia’s war, the official said the US hopes Chinese President Xi Jinping views this week’s summit as a signal of “resolve.” 

Biden is also expected to have a trilateral meeting with South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida early Sunday afternoon local time. The official called the relationships a “priority” for Biden. The leaders will discuss security, economics and other topics.

Remember: The G7 comprises the world’s most advanced industrialized democracies: the US, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and Italy. Tokyo has also invited several other rising economic powers and regional players to the meetings.

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi speaks at the opening of the inter-religious meeting "The Cry of Peace" in Rome on October 23, 2022.

Pope Francis has entrusted Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the Archbishop of Bologna and President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, with leading a peace mission to address the war in Ukraine, according to the Holy See press office.

The mission is aimed to contribute “to an easing of tensions in the Ukraine conflict, in the hopes that this can initiate paths of peace, something never abandoned by the Holy Father,” Matteo Bruni, the director of the office, told journalists Saturday in the statement.

The statement added that the Vatican is still looking into how and when Zuppi will undertake the mission.

Ukrainian soldiers fire a self-propelled howitzer towards Russian positions near Bakhmut on March 5.

Over the early part of 2023, the routes into the eastern city of Bakhmut had gradually come under the control of Russian forces, and the battle for the city turned into an inch-by-inch grind, with Ukrainian forces repelling dozens of assaults each day.

Rather than drive directly toward the city center, Wagner troops sought to encircle the city in a wide arc from the north.

In January, they claimed the nearby town of Soledar, and later took a string of villages and hamlets north of Bakhmut, making Ukraine’s defense of the city increasingly perilous.

But even as Moscow’s troops closed in and most residents fled through dangerous evacuation corridors, a small group of Ukrainian civilians remained in the ruined city. Before the war, around 70,000 people lived in Bakhmut. As of March, it stood at less than 4,000.

The battle has been likened to the kind of fighting seen in World War I. Pictures from the area showed soldiers wading through mud with trees mangled by artillery fire.

Now, after months of brutal fighting, the head of Russian private military group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claimed Saturday that his forces have taken complete control of the city, while a top Ukrainian defense official said her country’s troops were holding on to Bakhmut’s westernmost edge.

Dmitrii Prishedko and Victor Bondar operate an evacuation train heading from Pokrovsk, Ukraine, to Lviv, Ukraine.

The evacuation trains began in the morning, just hours after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Overnight, railway workers became rescue workers. Tens of thousands of refugees were pouring into train stations from Ukraine’s east.

Photojournalist Jelle Krings spent about a week at one station in Lviv, watching those first trains come in.

Railway workers look to repair a stretch of tracks that was damaged by shelling the day before.

Since the Russian invasion began, Krings has been documenting these unsung heroes in a photo series he calls Iron People.

Ukraine’s railway system, with nearly 15,000 miles of tracks, is the 12th-largest in the world. It has become an essential lifeline during the war, helping millions of Ukrainians find safety.

Inside an evacuation train, families travel in a carriage reserved for children with special needs. They were heading to Chop, a Ukrainian city near the Polish border.

Krings explained that there are two basic ways that the railways have been indispensable for Ukraine in this war.

The first is, of course, the evacuation effort. At least 10 million Ukrainians — almost a quarter of the population — have been forced to flee their homes, the head of the United Nations’ refugee agency said in March. Most of them have been internally displaced; others have found refuge in nearby countries such as Georgia, Poland and Romania.

But the railway system has also made a huge impact on the battlefield, and in different ways, Krings said. There’s the logistical value, transporting massive military equipment to help in the war effort. And then there’s a more subtle benefit.

“Ukraine’s a huge country, and (the railway) is being used for military personnel to be able to travel around and go back to their families between their trips to the front lines,” Krings said. “This has been a huge morale booster.”

Ukrainian serviceman Dima and his newly wedded wife, Veronica, are married during Dima’s break from the front line.

You can read more here.

Ukrainian troops are engaged in heavy fighting with Russian forces in and around the long-contested city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv’s military said in its daily update Saturday.  

“Heavy fighting for the city of Bakhmut continues. In addition, during the day, the enemy conducted unsuccessful offensive actions in the direction of Bila Hora,” it said, referring to a village to the southwest of Bakhmut. Ukrainian forces have succeeded in regaining small pockets of territory there in the last fortnight.

Competing claims: Earlier Saturday, the chief of the Russian private military group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claimed his forces have taken complete control of Bakhmut after months of brutal fighting.

CNN could not independently verify Prigozhin’s claim, and Ukrainian officials have disputed it, saying they are still holding territory on the western edge of the city.

Smoke rises from buildings in Bakhmut on April 26.

Senior Ukrainian officers have, for at least the last seven months, questioned the military imperative behind their orders to hold the eastern city of Bakhmut.

Russia’s private military company, Wagner, now claims to completely control the city, though Ukraine has partially disputed the report, saying it clings to a portion of the city’s western edge.

If the fight for Bakhmut is indeed drawing to a close, it brings an end to a brutal, grinding campaign that dragged on for months.

Every single senior Ukrainian officer I have spoken to since October last year said the city has no strategic value. Some questioned even the morality of continuing to defend it, in the face of intense Russian attacks.

Others recognized the symbolic importance of taking a stand — particularly as it became such a focus of media attention — and a test of political will in Kyiv, where President Volodymyr Zelensky committed his country to an indefinite defense of it.

Once famous for producing the best sparkling wine in Ukraine, Bakhmut is now notorious, and described by fighting men on both sides as the “meat grinder.”

Ukrainian forces are now, from a military perspective, likely to be in a stronger position than they were before their withdrawal from the center of the town.

They control significant territory on Bakhmut’s northern and southern flanks, and the high ground to the west. Meanwhile, everything in what remains of Bakhmut — and that’s almost nothing — is now a free-fire zone for Ukraine.

Russian attempts to invest it with troops will make Putin’s soldiers easy targets for Ukrainian artillery and rocket attacks.

In short, Wagner’s declared “victory” in the small Ukrainian city may be pyrrhic — won at too great a cost to be worthwhile.

According to Wagner, the battle for the city of Bakhmut has come to an end, as the Russian private military group claims its forces have taken complete control of the long-contested city in eastern Ukraine.

CNN could not independently verify Wagner’s claim, and a message from a Ukrainian defense official partially disputed it, saying Kyiv’s troops still hold a small part of the city.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed his forces will hand control of Bakhmut to the Russian military on May 25.

The city can be viewed largely as a symbolic target for Moscow, though it also provides important road connections to other parts of the Donetsk region: eastward to the border with Luhansk, northwest to Sloviansk and southwest to Kostiantynivka.

Here’s what else you should know in a day of major developments for the war in Ukraine:

G7 summit: G7 members are meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is a surprise attendee. The G7 comprises the world’s most advanced industrialized democracies: the US, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and Italy. Tokyo has also invited Australia, South Korea, India, Indonesia and Vietnam, all rising economic powerhouses and key Asian regional players.

At the summit, leaders decided on a plan to counter Moscow and agreed to “support Ukraine for as long as it takes in the face of Russia’s illegal war of aggression.” The G7 also called on China to press Russia to “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw its troops from Ukraine,” and stop its military aggression.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also met with Zelensky at the summit, where he assured his country will do “everything we can” to find a resolution to the war in Ukraine. It was the first time the two met since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, which Modi has not outright denounced, despite sending humanitarian aid.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov characterized the decisions made at the G7 summit as cynical ploys to hold back Russia and China.

On the ground: Russia launched another “massive drone attack” at Kyiv during the early morning hours Saturday, marking their 11th airstrike this month, the city’s military administration said.

Meanwhile, Russian troops in occupied Mariupol, a city in Ukraine’s southeast, are receiving backup after explosions rocked a Russian base there Friday, a local Ukrainian official said.

Military aid: Zelensky thanked the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for the leadership he says the UK has shown building an international coalition to help Ukraine procure F-16 fighter jets. Russia’s deputy foreign minister denounced the coalition, warning Western countries of “enormous risks for themselves” if Ukraine is provided with F-16 fighter jets, Russian state media TASS reported Saturday.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky attends the G7 summit in Hiroshima on Saturday, May 20.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that his government is preparing “new joint steps” with its allies in response to Russia’s war. 

Zelensky said he held separate meetings with leaders of the United Kingdom, Italy, France, India, Germany and the European Commission. 

The Ukrainian president also said he submitted Ukraine’s 10-point peace formula to the participants of the Arab League Summit on Friday. 

“And we will do everything to ensure that the world’s involvement in our peace initiative is as high as possible,” he added. 

Zelensky mentioned India in particular, saying that he believes the country “will take part in the restoration of the international order based on the rules that are obviously needed by all free nations.” 

Zelensky met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, the first in-person meeting between the two since Russia’s invasion began in February 2022. Modi – who has so far refused to condemn the invasion – said India would do “everything we can” to help end the war.

CNN’s Simone McCarthy contributed reporting to this post.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets with French President Emmanuel Macron in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 20.

French President Emmanuel Macron met with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, Saturday. 

The French president tweeted a video showing him holding a meeting with Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials. 

Macron can be heard in the video saying it was “a very good idea” that Zelensky went to Saudi Arabia to attend the Arab League summit before coming to the G7 summit.

Zelensky arrived at the Hiroshima G7 summit on Saturday aboard a French government plane.  

Prominent American figures — including US dignitaries, entertainment icons and CNN journalists — will no longer be allowed to enter Russia, according to the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The list contains hundreds of names, ranging from former US President Barack Obama to late night television hosts Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers, as well as former US Ambassador Jon Huntsman, several US senators and the next expected chairman of the joint chiefs, Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr.

CNN’s Erin Burnett was among those included in the growing list of US journalists sanctioned by Moscow. She said Friday that the move by Russia is “why covering this war every night matters, and we will continue to do it.”

See her reaction here:

20a422aa-5c2f-4e38-a51f-9ddfe368b38b.mp4

00:59 • Source: CNN

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attends a press conference in Moscow on May 18.

The decisions made at the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima were aimed to hold back Russia and China, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Saturday.

In a Saturday joint statement, the G7 leaders in Japan said they agree to “support Ukraine for as long as it takes in the face of Russia’s illegal war of aggression” and to “coordinate our approach to economic resilience and economic security.”

The leaders also mentioned a series of positions related to China, including the need to counter “economic coercion” and protect advanced technologies that could threaten national security, while also stressing that cooperation with Beijing was necessary.

CNN’s Sandi Sidhu and Simone McCarthy contributed reporting.

A Ukrainian tank travels near Bakhmut, Ukraine, on May 12.

The Wagner Group’s claim to have captured Bakhmut represents the rarest of things – a tangible battlefield gain for Russia after months of stasis and setbacks.

The city provides important road connections to other parts of the Donetsk region: eastward to the border with Luhansk, northwest to Sloviansk and southwest to Kostiantynivka.

But any celebrations are likely to be tempered by the manpower and resources Russia poured into capturing Bakhmut, and Ukraine’s reports of continued fighting in areas immediately surrounding the city.

Taking a small city whose population has largely fled is also a long way from Russia’s original goals of capturing Kyiv and toppling the Ukrainian government.

Kyiv, too, is likely to face questions over its approach in Bakhmut. A Ukrainian defense official claimed Saturday that its forces are still clinging to a portion of the city, though she admitted the situation is “critical.”

Just this week, Ukraine’s military had claimed fresh advances in the area, suggesting continuing efforts in the city.

Speaking to CNN in March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed reports of divisions among his commanders about the merits of fighting on in Bakhmut.

One of his advisers said Ukraine’s forces aimed at buying time to replenish their forces and inflicting losses on Russia.

In the interview, Zelensky warned that Russian troops would have an “open road” to capture key cities if Ukraine gave up Bakhmut, defending his decision to keep fighters there. 

Now, with a Ukrainian counteroffensive due, the question remains: Which side comes out stronger if the battle for Bakhmut has truly come to an end?

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner private military group, holds a Russian flag in this image from a video released on May 20.

The chief of the Wagner private military group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claimed Saturday that his forces have taken complete control of the long-contested city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. 

“The operation to capture Bakhmut lasted 224 days,” he said in a video posted to Telegram, seeking to claim a final victory for the city.

CNN could not independently verify Prigozhin’s claim, and a message from a Ukrainian defense official partially disputed it. 

Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar, in a Telegram post less than an hour after the Russian mercenary’s claim was published, admitted the situation in Bakhmut was “critical” but said Ukrainian troops were still “holding the defense in the ‘Airplane’ district of the city,” which is on Bakhmut’s westernmost edge. 

While Russian forces have continued their slow street-by-street advance in the city itself for many months, Ukrainian forces have recently managed to re-capture small pockets of outlying territory to the northwest and southwest of the city. 

Prigozhin claimed his forces will hand the control of Bakhmut to the Russian military on May 25.

Background on Bakhmut: The eastern city has been the focal point of a grinding battle between Ukrainian and Russia fighters.

Stark satellite photos show how much it has changed over the past year, with the city in ruins in many areas.

The city sits toward the northeast of the Donetsk region, about 13 miles from Luhansk region, and has been a target for Russian forces for months. Since last summer, the city has been a stone’s throw from the front lines, so its capture would represent a long sought-after success for Moscow’s forces – and bring some limited strategic value.

The city has important road connections to other parts of the Donetsk region: eastward to the border with Luhansk, northwest to Sloviansk and southwest to Kostiantynivka.

More from Prigozhin: In the video, the Wagner leader thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for giving his fighters the “honor to defend our Motherland,” but he also called out “the Russian bureaucracy” — as he has publicly and forcefully done in the past few months — particularly Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and chief of the Russian General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov.

They “turned the war into their own entertainment,” he claimed. “… Because of their whims, five times more guys died.”