June 13, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

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

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with war correspondents in Moscow on June 13.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law Tuesday defining conditions to invalidate Russian travel passports, according to the document published on the government portal website.

The new law puts strict travel restrictions on Russian citizens who could be conscripted to mandatory military service.

Conscripted Russians would have to submit their travel passports to authorities within five business days from the date of being notified “of the decision to restrict the right of a citizen of the Russian Federation to leave,” the law said.

Russian citizens usually have two passports — internal and travel passports.

If a citizen whose right to leave Russia has been limited has not transferred the passport for storage to the correct government department, the passport can also be canceled.

Russian citizens discharged from military service in the FSB —the Federal Security Service — would have to give up their travel passports for storage for up to five years from the date of dismissal from military service.

Diplomatic or service passports could be recognized as invalid if not returned without a good reason within five working days after the completion of a business trip, the law states.

Under the new law, a travel passport becomes invalid if it has been lost, expired, or if the owner has changed personal data — such as name, gender, date or place of birth.

The law also establishes the grounds under which the passport can be withdrawn, for example, if there is a suspicion it contains false information, is issued on the basis of forged documents, or is recognized as unsuitable.

Some more context: Russia has experienced a significant outflow of men fleeing war, especially since the announcement of partial mobilization in September 2022.

Moreover, in April 2023, Russia adopted a package of amendments to the law “On military duty and military service.” The amendments creation of a digital register of those liable for military service and introduced electronic summonses, which are considered received from the moment they are posted in the personal account on the State Services. From the date of delivery of such a summons, it is prohibited to travel abroad.

A Ukrainian military commander said Tuesday that soldiers are fighting fiercely to drive back Russian forces along the border of the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, Commander of the Tavria Operational and Strategic Group of Forces, whose soldiers are tackling occupied parts of the Zaporizhzhia region and the parts of the Donetsk region that border it, said:

CNN cannot independently verify battlefield claims.

However, both sides have reported clashes in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions

A Ukrainian military official has reiterated accusations that Russian forces are blowing up small dams in areas where Ukrainian troops are on the offensive.

Major Vladyslav Dudar, a representative of the Environmental Safety and Mine Action Department of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, said Russian troops had mined a large number of “hydraulic structures” in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian military said Russian forces had blown up a small dam at a reservoir near the village of Novodarivka in the Zaporizhzhia region, leading to flooding on both banks of Mokri Yaly River. 

Novodarivka is one of several villages in the area that the Ukrainians have claimed in recent days amid offensive operations along several points of the frontlines in southern Ukraine. 

Some more context: This comes after the collapse of the much larger Nova Kakhovka dam last week. Kyiv and Moscow have traded accusations over the dam’s destruction, without providing concrete proof that the other is culpable. The dam was occupied by Russia at the time of its collapse. It is not yet clear whether the dam was deliberately attacked or whether the breach was the result of structural failure.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg talks to reporters after meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington, DC, on June 13.

NATO’s secretary general says Ukraine is gaining ground in its offensive, a fact he said underscored the need for continued Western assistance. 

With Ukrainian gains on the battlefield, Russian President Vladimir Putin will recognize that he can’t win the war, the NATO chief said.

The main focus of the Oval Office talks was July’s NATO summit in Lithuania, including the need for members of the alliance to recommit to defense spending levels. 

The Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said Tuesday that the military has seen “certain gains” in its offensive and is “moving forward.”

He said he informed the United States’ top General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about the situation along the frontline in a phone call. 

President Joe Biden meets with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, on June 13.

President Joe Biden welcomed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to the White House Tuesday, telling the European leader he’s done “an incredible job” leading the alliance.

“We saw each other last in Warsaw, and I think you said, and I agree, NATO allies have never been more united. We both worked like hell to make sure that happened and so far, so good,” he told Stoltenberg during a brief press spray in the Oval Office.

The President joked that, in invading Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hopes for a divided NATO backfired.

Looking forward to next month’s NATO summit in Lithuania, Biden pledged the alliance would “be building on that momentum,” while touting support from Asian allies in Japan and South Korea.

And he offered effusive praise for Stoltenberg’s leadership on the European continent, noting, “In no small part because of your leadership, we’ve got, beyond NATO, another 30-something, well a total of 40 nations that are committed to the independence of Ukraine.”

“And I think it’s a real clear message—so God willing, we’re going to be able to keep this unity up, and thank you for your leadership.”

Biden did not respond to shouted questions on the Trump indictment.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with war correspondents in Moscow on June 13.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia is contemplating withdrawing from the Black Sea grain deal, noting Russia took part in the agreement to maintain relationships with “friendly” countries.

“We are now thinking about getting out of this so-called grain deal. Moreover, these corridors along which the ships go are constantly used to launch naval drones,” Putin said during a televised meeting with pro-Kremlin journalists.

Putin said that Russia entered the Black Sea grain deal to help “friendly” countries in Africa and Latin America and maintain good relationships.

“We are not doing this for Ukraine, we are doing this for our friendly countries in Africa and Latin America. Because grain should go first … to the poorest countries in the world,” Putin said. 

Putin claimed Europe is the largest importer of Ukrainian grain and this “seems to be the main source of foreign exchange earnings for Ukraine.”

Some more context: On May 17, an agreement was reached to extend the deal that allows grain to be exported from Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea, according to Turkish and Ukrainian officials.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the agreement between Ukraine and Russia, which was brokered by Turkey and the United Nations, would be extended for two months. The deal was originally signed last year and has since been extended.

After invading Ukraine in February 2022, Russia blockaded vital grain exports from key Ukrainian Black Sea ports, including Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdennyi, which meant that millions of tons of Ukrainian grain were not being exported to the many countries that rely on it.

The impact of the war on global food markets was immediate and extremely painful, as Ukraine accounts for 10% of the world wheat market, 15% of the corn market, and 13% of the barley market.

Aid agencies from the United Nations say they are still awaiting the “necessary safety guarantees” to send support to Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine, a statement from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs said on Tuesday.

“The Russian Federation is yet to provide the safety guarantees we need to cross the front line to the left bank of the Dnipro River, including to Oleshky,” the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown said in a statement. 

Brown continued to say that the UN would continue to deliver assistance in the areas controlled by Ukraine and make “every effort” to reach those people who have been stranded by the floods and require “life-saving assistance, no matter where they are.”

Brown also condemned the overnight missile strikes that took place in Kryvyi Rih where at least ten people were killed saying that Russia’s invasion has “once again, claimed lives and brought suffering to the people of Ukraine.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that although Russian weapon quality is improving, the country lacks enough high-precision ammunition and drones. 

“Special military operation” is how Putin describes his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

He called for more “kamikaze” and Orlan-10 drones, saying their quality also should be improved.

He said Russia’s defense industry is growing. “And if there hadn’t been a special military operation, we probably would never have understood how to fine-tune our defense industry in order for our army to be the best in the world, but we will do it,” Putin said.

Putin said Tuesday that the way to stop the conflict in Ukraine is for the West to stop supplying weapons to Kyiv.

“And we understand that the key to solving problems is on their side [the West]. If they really want today’s conflict to end through negotiations, they only need to make one decision — to stop the supply of weapons and equipment. That’s it,” Putin said during the televised meeting with pro-Kremlin journalists.

A British-led defense alliance of several European countries announced a new $116 million package of air defense capabilities for Ukraine. 

The defense ministers from the Joint Expeditionary Force — which includes Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom — made the decision on Tuesday after a meeting. 

The package “will provide radars to help protect from indiscriminate Russian strikes as well as guns and a significant amount of ammunition,” it added.

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken separately announced a new $325 million security assistance for Ukraine on Tuesday.

The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said he is “very concerned” that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant could be caught up in Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia.

The plant is very close to active fighting, “so we are worrying that there could be — I mean, obviously, mathematically — the possibilities of a hit,” International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said.

Speaking in Kyiv after a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky, Grossi said that the IAEA is trying to “prevent something bad” and that it is still a “relatively dangerous situation.”

Zelensky said they discussed ways to “minimize risks and prevent incidents.” 

“The Head of State reiterated that the only way to prevent a nuclear incident at Zaporizhzhia NPP was its full demilitarisation, de-occupation and restoration of control over the plant by Ukraine,” according to a readout of the meeting from Zelensky’s office.

Ahead of his visit to the plant, the IAEA chief said that he will be at the facility for a few hours. There is a rotation of IAEA experts who are returning to Vienna and being replaced with a fresh group, he said. 

On Sunday, the IAEA said it needed access to a location near the Zaporizhzhia plant to measure water levels at the Nova Kakhovka reservoir pumping position.

This is critical because the reservoir, which supplies cooling water to the nuclear plant and is crucial for its safety, lost a large portion of water after the dam collapsed last week. The IAEA said it will need to determine exactly how much water was lost.

Zelensky said he supported Grossi’s proposal to send a group of IAEA experts to assess the consequences of the explosion of the Kakhovka dam “and prepare proposals for specific areas of assistance to overcome them.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new $325 million security assistance for Ukraine on Tuesday.

The latest package — the 40th presidential drawdown — includes “critical air defense capabilities, additional munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, artillery rounds, anti-tank weapons, armored vehicles, and other equipment essential to strengthening Ukraine’s forces on the battlefield,” Blinken said.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the US for the latest security assistance package in a tweet on Tuesday.

“Thank you @POTUS for another package of defense assistance,” he tweeted, “Weapons and military equipment worth $325 million is exactly what the [Ukrainian] Defense Forces need today. We appreciate the unwavering support of the friendly [American] people. And effective assistance in liberating the territories temporarily occupied by the Russian aggressor. Together we will restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity, preserve its independence and protect its democracy.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, attends a meeting with war correspondents at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on June 13.

There is no need to introduce martial law or additional mobilization of Russian troops for now, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday. 

The Russian president said about 156,000 troops have been added since January, which includes contract servicemen who were recruited and others who volunteered.

He also said that while the work of law enforcement and special services needed improvement, there is no need to introduce martial law throughout Russia.

A “digital information manipulation campaign” is spreading disinformation about the war in Ukraine across a network of social media, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday.

The campaign uses fake internet pages mimicking media and government sites and hundreds of fake web URLs on social media — shared by official Russian state accounts — to spread disinformation about the war, according to a report by France’s Surveillance and Protection against Foreign Digital Interference Service (VIGINUM), the ministry said.

The campaign’s principal goal is to use “false and underhand tactics” to discredit Western policies on topics related to the war, including arms, refugees, and sanctions, the VIGINUM report said.

Here’s a snapshot of the report’s findings:

The report links several Russian citizens, who it says were responsible for setting up the fake URLs, to the campaign. It added that the campaign remains active despite its prior exposure and measures taken by Meta and Twitter. 

Russian missiles hit the central city of Kryvyi Rih early Tuesday, killing at least 11 people, according to Ukrainian authorities.

The overnight missile attack by Russia struck an apartment building in the city, according to Ukrainian authorities.

“The search and rescue operation has been completed. The dismantling of the structures is underway,” said Serhii Lysak, head of Dnipropetrovsk region military administration.

Here are more of the latest headlines:

Here’s the latest map of control:

Ukrainian servicemen of the 10th Mountain Assault Brigade "Edelweiss" fire a BM-21 'Grad' multiple rocket launcher towards Russian positions near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region on June 13.

The Russian Ministry of Defense on Tuesday claimed to have repelled Ukrainian attacks near the southern Donetsk villages of Rivnopil, Makarivka and Prechystivka. 

The villages are close to the border of the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, where both Russia and Ukraine have reported clashes. 

“Over the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian troops continued to attempt to carry out an offensive in South Donetsk direction,” according to the Russian ministry’s daily briefing on Tuesday.

The contested village is reported to have changed hands several times.

Two attacks near Rivnopil and another attack near Prechystivka were also repelled, the Russian ministry said.

CNN cannot independently verify battlefield reports.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials say fighting is happening Tuesday in the regions’ villages of Mala Tokmachka, Novodanylivka, Mariinka, Yahidne and Vesele. 

Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian troops have made advances in three directions in the past day.

Police officers work next to the body of a person killed by a Russian missile strike in Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, on June 13.

An 11th person has died after an overnight missile attack by Russia on an apartment building in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, according to Ukrainian authorities.

Officials said a body was pulled from the rubble by emergency crews.

Further south, in the Kherson region: Russian strikes hit the grounds of a church, killing a 72-year-old priest. A 76-year-old woman was also injured in the same attack, according to Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office.

“Russian strikes damaged four residential buildings, the post office, administrative buildings, the central square and critical infrastructure facilities” in the village of Bilozerka, he added.

Elsewhere: Russian shelling hit Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy and Kharkiv regions, the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a statement.

In the southern Zaporizhzhia region, three bombs hit the town of Orikhiv, killing one civilian and destroying homes, it added. 

Ukrainian air defenses shot down 10 of 14 cruise missiles fired by Russia in deadly strikes overnight, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Tuesday.

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths speaks during a joint press conference in Geneva, on February 27, 2023.

The United Nations said Tuesday that last week’s dam breach on the Dnipro River in Ukraine will have a “huge impact on global food security,” with food prices likely to increase due to problems with the next harvest in the area.

The Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine collapsed June 6, forcing more than 1,400 people to flee their homes and threatening vital water supplies as flooding inundated the region. 

UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said in an interview with BBC Radio 4 that food prices are “bound to increase” following the dam collapse. 

The critical dam is the largest reservoir in Ukraine in terms of volume. It’s the last of the cascade of six Soviet-era dams on the Dnipro River, a major waterway running through southeastern Ukraine.

Griffiths added that there will also be a “drinking water problem,” given that 700,000 people depended on the reservoir. “Bad water” leaves people in the region vulnerable to disease, with children particularly at risk, according to Griffiths. 

“Damage of this scale to a civilian infrastructure — and I’ve said that, as you know, publicly — is completely contrary to international humanitarian law,” Griffiths told the BBC. “That’s self-evident. Whoever did it has breached the Geneva Conventions.”

Kyiv and Moscow have traded accusations over the Russian-occupied dam’s destruction, without providing concrete proof that the other is culpable. It is not yet clear whether the dam was deliberately attacked or whether the breach was the result of structural failure.

Previous reporting from Mariya Knight, Olga Voitovych, Jo Shelley and other CNN staff

Head of Russian private military company Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, interviewed in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on May 30.

Ukraine has not come close to exhausting its capacity to fight Russia, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an interview with Danish media on Tuesday.

The boss of Russian private military company also said he doesn’t know if his force will remain in Ukraine amid a dispute with Russia’s Defense Ministry over contracts.

It comes after the Russian Ministry of Defense announced Saturday that “volunteer units” and private military groups would be required to sign a contract with the ministry, which would “give the voluntary formations the necessary legal status” and create “unified approaches” to their work.

The order did not name the Wagner group, but the move is seen a way of controlling the influential military force. Prigozhin – who has publicly feuded with defense leaders – said the move did not apply to Wagner.