August 29, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

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

The US assesses Russia is now in possession of weapons-capable Iranian drones that they will likely deploy on the battlefield in Ukraine, Biden administration officials tell CNN. The Russians picked up the drones from an Iranian airfield earlier this month and transported them back to Russia in cargo planes in mid-August, the officials said. 

Russian officials began training on the drones in Iran late last month, CNN previously reported, and the US now believes that Russia has officially purchased and transferred the Mohajer-6 and Shahed-series drones — the Shahed-129 and Shahed-191 — back to Russia, likely for use in the war in Ukraine. 

Both types of UAVs, or unmanned aerial vehicles, are capable of carrying precision guided munitions and can be used for surveillance. Russian operators are still training on the drones inside Iran, the officials said, and the US believes that Russia intends to import hundreds of them to use for air-to-surface attacks, electronic warfare and targeting inside Ukraine. 

US intelligence officials believe, however, that when tested, many of the drones Russia has purchased from Iran have already experienced numerous failures, the officials said, so it is unclear how much of a game changer they will be for the Russians when deployed. 

The Washington Post first reported that the drones had been transferred to Russia.

More background: The Biden administration began warning in July that Russia was looking to purchase the drones amid acute supply shortages stemming from the war in Ukraine and Western sanctions that have stymied new production efforts. Satellite imagery revealed that month showed that a Russian delegation had visited an airfield in central Iran at least twice since June to examine weapons-capable drones.

The news of the drone transfers comes as the Biden administration has expressed cautious optimism about a possible deal to revive the Iran nuclear deal. The deal’s detractors say that a new deal will result in sanctions relief for Iran — and in turn, a financial windfall that could enable Iran’s malign activities throughout the region and beyond. 

Ukrainian forces launched an attack on Monday at the Russian-occupied town of Nova Kakhovka, knocking out its electricity and water supply, according to Russian state media RIA Novosti, who cited a Moscow-appointed local authority.  

RIA quoted the head of civil-military administration in the town, Vladimir Leontyev, as saying the consequences of the strike “will probably be terrible.”

“You can’t leave now. There was a lot of shelling, something exploded. There were strikes in the city and near the hydroelectric plant. We can see the fire in both places,” Leontyev added. 

After the city was left without electricity and water supply, authorities managed to outfit the hospitals with generators. They will start delivering water in the morning, Leontyev added.

IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi, leads the IAEA expert mission that comprise IAEA nuclear safety, security and safeguards staff as they set for their official visit to the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), from Vienna, Austria on August 29.

A team of inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog is on its way to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine, according to the spokesperson for the country’s foreign ministry, Oleg Nikolenko. He said the team is expected to start work at the plant in the next few days.

Meanwhile, a source told CNN that the Ukrainian military has taken four villages back from Russian occupation in the south near the city of Kherson as the battle for that region continues.

Here are the top headlines to know:

The US believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decree to increase the size of Russia’s armed forces from 1.9 to 2.04 million is “unlikely to succeed, as Russia has historically not met personnel end strength targets,” according to a senior US defense official.

“Many of these new recruits have been observed as older, unfit and ill-trained,” the official, said, who reiterated that before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russia “may have already been 150,000 personnel short of their million personnel goal.”

US government scientists are monitoring radiation sensor data at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, according to a senior US defense official, and have seen “no indications of increased or abnormal radiation levels so far.”

The official said the US is pressuring Russia “to vacate the power plant and allow the Ukrainians to be able to operate it in peace.”

IAEA mission to the plant: Principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said the US State Department “(hopes) that Russian lives up to its word and allows a full inspection of the facilities.”

A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), led by its chief Rafael Grossi, is en route to the Russian-occupied power plant in southeastern Ukraine. Officials have warned of the risk of a catastrophic nuclear incident amid shelling near the facility. US and Ukrainian officials have called for a demilitarized zone around the plant.

Separately, a senior US military official said that “airstrikes and artillery bombardment that have gone on around the nuclear power plant,” and that the US knows “with great confidence that the Russians are firing from the area around the nuclear power plant,” as well as “using the nuclear power plant to store a bunch of their equipment.”

However, this official also said “there’s probably a likelihood” the Ukrainians have also fired in the vicinity of the plant.

“In a number of cases, it’s returning fire of the Russians who are firing from those locations,” said the official.

The United States has seen “an uptick in kinetic activity over the past few days” in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine, according to a senior US military official, including “artillery and rockets.”

However, the official would not say this was a new “counteroffensive” or not as the US has seen Ukrainian forces “making some offensive moves in and around the Kherson pocket” over the last few weeks.

Earlier Monday: CNN reported that Ukrainian forces have begun “shaping” operations in southern Ukraine to prepare the battlefield for a significant Ukrainian counteroffensive, two senior US officials briefed on the intelligence told CNN. 

A satellite image showing holes in the roof of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on August 29.

Four holes have appeared in the roof of a building at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant near at least three Russian armored personnel carriers, according to new satellite images from Maxar Technologies.

The Russian-appointed leader for the Zaporizhzhia region, Vladimir Rogov, claimed that the holes were the result of a Ukrainian military strike on the complex. Rogov published photos showing one of the holes on his Telegram channel.

CNN has geolocated and confirmed the authenticity of the photos, but not the claims that the holes were the result of a Ukrainian military strike.

The Ukrainian government has repeatedly denied that they have conducted military strikes at or near the plant in recent weeks.

In the satellite images, at least three Russian armored personnel carriers are seen sitting underneath a large structure with pipes, which feed from the building into all six of the nuclear reactors.

More context: Russia has repeatedly claimed that they do not have any “heavy weaponry” at the nuclear power plant. The holes in the building are almost 500 feet away from one of the nuclear reactors at the plant.

CNN reached out to Ukrainian authorities about whether they conducted a military strike at the plant, but have not yet received a response. CNN has also reached out to Energoatom, Ukraine’s state nuclear power plant authority for comment and to inquire on what the building’s purpose is.

The satellite image also shows a fire burning just north of the plant.

Ukrainians are expected to face the coldest winter in decades, with the state gas company set to lower temperatures across the country’s centralized Soviet-era heating systems.

Indoor temperatures will be set at between 17 to 18 degrees Celsius (62.6 to 64.4 degrees Fahrenheit), Yurii Vitrenko, the head of state gas company Naftogaz, said on Monday.

That’s around four degrees lower than normal for a country where temperatures can fall beyond the winter average of negative 10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit).

Vitrenko warned that if Ukraine faces a coal shortage, power will need to be generated using gas, adding that if the country has to import additional gas, it will need funding from international partners. 

“Without the [western] financial support, we will lack gas and it will mean we’ll have really high risks for the power system [going] down,” Vitrenko said.

In a scenario, where there is not enough gas or coal, Ukraine could face power blackouts.

“We have a single energy system, so in case there is not enough coal, then gas will be needed but it won’t be enough of it either. Then, accordingly, the energy system will not have enough electricity and we will have to resort to rolling blackouts across Ukraine,” Vitrenko said.

Oleksandr Shulga looks at his destroyed house following a missile strike in Mykolaiv, southern Ukraine, on August 29, 2022,

Ukrainian troops have taken four villages back from Russian occupation in the south near the city of Kherson, a Ukrainian military source tells CNN. Their main “target” is Kherson, the source added.

“The main direction of the attack was on Pravdyne. We hit their infantry from the DNR (Donetsk People’s Republic) and LNR (Luhansk People’s Republic), and they fled. The Russian landing force fled after them,” the source told CNN.

“We have now liberated four villages. Their first line of defense has been broken through in three places,” the military source said. 

The source said the village names are Nova Dmytrivka, Arkhanhel’s’ke, Tomyna Balka and Pravdyne.

“Many of them were killed and captured, and a lot of [Russian] military vehicles [were destroyed].”

“We’ll see how it goes from here. Our target is Kherson,” according to the source. 

Ukrainian gunners prepare to fire with a self-propelled multiple rocket launcher at a position near a frontline in Donetsk region on August 27.

The White House says it has seen reports that Ukraine has begun a counteroffensive against Russian forces in southern Ukraine but does not want to comment further on specific Ukrainian military operations, John Kirby, the communications coordinator for the National Security Council, said.

Kirby did note, however, that regardless of the size, scale and scope of the latest counteroffensive, the Ukrainians “have already had an impact on Russian military capabilities.”

Kirby also said that Russia “continues to have manpower problems” in Ukraine, and is trying to expand its recruitment of fighters inside Russia as well as “entice” some of their conscripts and contract soldiers to serve beyond their time frames.  

That is “because they are experiencing manpower challenges—manpower challenges that are not made any easier by the way they’ve had to respond to reports of a potential counteroffensive by the Ukrainians,” Kirby said.

Kirby also said that “the idea of going on the offense is not new to the Ukrainians.”

“Now I recognize that what we’re talking about here is the potential for a major counteroffensive, which is different than going on the offense in a more localized way,” Kirby said. But he said Ukrainian forces “have been taking the fight to the Russians inside” Ukraine for quite some time now, including in the early months of the war around the capital Kyiv.        

“So, it’s not a new development for them to do this,” Kirby said.

What Russia is saying: Moscow on Monday acknowledged Kyiv’s counteroffensive in Ukraine’s south, but said the Ukrainian troops “suffered heavy losses” and “failed miserably” in their “attempted” offensive. 

Ukrainian forces on Monday “attempted an offensive in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions from three directions,” the Russian defense ministry said in a statement, adding, “as a result of the active defense of the grouping of Russian troops, units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine suffered heavy losses.”

The ministry said that during the fighting, 26 Ukrainian tanks, 23 infantry fighting vehicles, nine other armored fighting vehicles were destroyed and two Su-25 attack aircraft were shot down.

“Another attempt at offensive actions by the enemy failed miserably,” it concluded.

An inspection team from the UN nuclear watchdog on its way to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine will arrive in Kyiv on Monday, according to Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko. 

A delegation of 14 international experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) “has already left Vienna and is due to arrive in Kyiv today [Monday]. It is expected that the mission will start work at the (nuclear plant) in the coming days,” Nikolenko said on Monday. 

The inspection mission is headed by IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, the spokesperson added. 

Russian shelling has killed at least two people and injured 11 more in Ukraine’s southern port city of Mykolaiv near the Black Sea Coast on Monday, according to Vitalii Kim, head of the Mykolaiv region civil military administration.

The mayor of Mykolaiv condemned what he called Russia’s targeting of civilians.

Russia “cynically strikes at civilians,” says Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said in a post on his Telegram channel.

Residential buildings and educational institutions were hit, he said, adding that rescue and emergency workers were on the scene. 

A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant outside the Russian-controlled city of Enerhodar in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on August 22.

Russia blocked a consensus document at the tenth review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which is a key arms control treaty conference.

Igor Vishnevetsky, deputy director of arms control and nonproliferation at the Russian Foreign Ministry, reportedly said that this conference’s final document was not balanced.

“Russia did so in order to block language that merely acknowledged the grave radiological risk at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, the very kind of challenge the conference is called upon to address,” US State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a statement.

Russia’s opposition despite “overwhelming international consensus underscores the need” for countries to “continue urging Russia to end its military activity” near the plant and return its control to Ukraine, Patel added. 

Some background: This is the second consecutive time that parties to the NPT failed to reach consensus. They also were unable to do so at the review conference in 2015. The review conference typically takes place every five years to discuss the landmark nuclear arms control treaty. This tenth review conference was originally scheduled to take place in April 2020 – coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the NPT entering into force, but it was postponed due to Covid-19.

UN Secretary General António Guterres and EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell also expressed disappointment after conference concluded with no substantial outcome.

Petro Poroshenko, former Ukrainian President, attends the farewell ceremony for First President of Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk at Ukrainian House on May 17, in Kyiv, Ukraine.

A “long-awaited” Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian forces is underway in southern Ukraine to retake Moscow-controlled territory, former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told CNN on Monday. 

“This is first time since February 2022 when such a [concentration] of Ukrainian troops with western artillery, with western HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) and western missiles was collected together for this counterattack,” Poroshenko added.

The counteroffensive comes as Russia’s war in Ukraine has passed its six-month mark, with US assessments indicating that Russia has been able to deploy fewer units to the frontlines than initially thought, according to a senior US official. 

On Monday morning, Ukraine indicated that actions were underway.

“Ukrainian armed forces have started the offensive actions in several directions on the South front towards liberating the occupied territories,” Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Operational Command South, told CNN.

“All the details will be available after the operation is fulfilled,” she added.

IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi, center, leads the IAEA expert mission as they set off for their official visit to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, at Vienna International Airport, Austria, on August 29.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors are expected to go to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeast Ukraine sometime this week amid renewed shelling at the Russian-held facility and mounting fears over a potential nuclear accident – which has seen Ukrainian officials make iodine pills available to residents.

This comes as Ukraine forces prepare for a counteroffensive in the south, according to United States officials.

“Shaping” operations begin: Ukraine’s forces are preparing the battlefield for a significant Ukrainian counteroffensive, two senior US officials told CNN. Shaping operations are standard military practice prior to an offensive and involve striking weapons systems, command and control, ammunition depots and other targets to prepare the battlefield for planned advances. According to the officials, the US believes the much-anticipated counteroffensive will include a combination of air and ground operations.

IAEA inspectors heading in: A team from the IAEA – the UN nuclear watchdog – is on its way to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and will be there “later this week,” IAEA Chief Rafael Mariano Grossi tweeted Monday. The mission will assess damage to the plant’s facilities, evaluate the working conditions of the staff and perform urgent safeguard activities. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the international community should demand Russia’s withdrawal from the plant so as to ensure nuclear security. The Kremlin welcomed the news of the visit, saying the IAEA mission will enter Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant from the Ukrainian side, but Russia will ensure its safety on the territory occupied by the Russian army.

Renewed shelling: The city of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia region suffered more than 200 attacks in a six-hour time span, say Ukrainian officials. Shelling also occurred in the Russian-controlled city of Enerhodar, close to the nuclear plant, on Sunday night, Russian and Ukrainian officials said – with each side blaming the other for the attacks.

Close call: Shelling in the vicinity of the Zaporizhzhia plant over the past few days hit a “special building” located just 100 meters from its reactor buildings, IAEA said Sunday. The nuclear agency’s chief Grossi said safety systems at the plant remain operational, there has been no increase in radiation levels, radioactivity levels are within a normal range, there is no indication of hydrogen leakage and the plant has continued access to off-site electricity.

Iodine pills: It emerged over the weekend that Zaporizhzhia city authorities made iodine tablets available to residents as concern grows over a possible accident. The pills protect users against radioactive iodine and help prevent thyroid cancer in case of a nuclear accident.

Dugina murder: Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has accused a second suspect in the murder of Darya Dugina, who was a Russian political commentator and the daughter of prominent ultranationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin. CNN is unable to independently verify the FSB claims of those who perpetrated the killing and is therefore not naming the two suspects at this time. Ukraine has denied any involvement in Dugina’s killing, calling the FSB claims fiction.

Ukraine’s forces have begun “shaping” operations in the south of the country to prepare the battlefield for a significant Ukrainian counteroffensive, two senior US officials told CNN. 

Shaping operations are standard military practice prior to an offensive and involve striking weapons systems, command and control, ammunition depots and other targets to prepare the battlefield for planned advances.

According to the officials – who have been briefed on the intelligence – the US believes the much anticipated counteroffensive will include a combination of air and ground operations.

On Monday morning, Ukraine indicated that actions were underway.

“Ukrainian armed forces have started the offensive actions in several directions on the South front towards liberating the occupied territories,” Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Operational Command South, told CNN.

“All the details will be available after the operation is fulfilled,” she added.

The plans come as Russia’s war in Ukraine has passed its six-month mark, with US assessments indicating that Russia has been able to deploy fewer units to the frontlines than initially thought, according to a senior US official. 

The official said many of the existing units – which Russia organizes into Battlefield Tactical Groups (BTGs) comprising infantry, tanks, artillery and air defense – are deploying below strength, some even at half their normal manpower.

Additionally, the US has been observing Ukrainian forces benefiting from the use of US- and NATO-supplied HIMARS mobile rocket launchers, which have allowed Ukraine to strike and destroy targets in Russian-held territory.

Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson announced on Monday that the country would provide a further 1 billion Swedish krona ($93.8 million) in aid to Ukraine, including both military and civilian assistance. 

Half of the additional aid package – 500 million Swedish krona ($46.9 million) – will provide military assistance. 

Kuleba reiterated Ukraine’s request for Sweden to provide howitzers, air defense systems, and more shells, adding that “as long as the war continues, we will be asking for more weapons for obvious reasons – to defend Ukraine, but also to defend [the] entirety of Europe.”

Russia's Governor to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mikhail Ulyanov, attends the IAEA Board of Governors meeting at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on March 7.

Moscow welcomes the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) planned trip to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeast Ukraine, which is occupied by Russian forces, a Russian diplomat said according to state media. 

Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said that Russia understands the IAEA will leave several representatives at the plant on a permanent basis, state media RIA Novosti reported. 

“As far as we understand, it is the director general’s intention to leave several people at the station on a permanent basis,” Ulyanov said, according to RIA. 

Ulyanov added that the mission consists “of about a dozen employees of the agency’s secretariat dealing with safeguards and nuclear safety issues” as well as a large team of UN staff dealing with logistics and security RIA reported. 

“Russia has made a significant contribution to the preparation of this mission. We hope that the visit of the plant by the IAEA mission will dispel numerous speculations about the unfavorable state of affairs at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,” Ulyanov added.

What’s happening? Early on Monday, the head of the IAEA, Rafael Mariano Grossi, tweeted that the delegation would arrive in Zaporizhzhia – home to Europe’s biggest nuclear facility – “later this week.”

The Kremlin said Monday that the IAEA’s mission will enter the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant from the Ukrainian side, but Russia will ensure its safety on the territory occupied by the Russian army.

“[The mission] will enter the [nuclear plant] territory from the zone controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. There, security will be provided by the Ukrainians,” Peskov added.

When asked about the possibility of creating a demilitarized zone around the plant, Peskov said it was “not under discussion.”

Peskov added that Russia welcomes the long-awaited IAEA mission. 

“We have been waiting for this mission for a long time. We consider it necessary,” Peskov said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, left, and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, right, attend a press conference in Stockholm, Sweden, on August 29.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Monday that the international community should be demanding Russia’s withdrawal from Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, calling it the “only way” to ensure nuclear security. 

“We should all be united in demanding one thing: the withdrawal of Russia,” from the power plant, Kuleba said during a press conference in Stockholm.

The foreign minister said he spoke with the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Sunday to coordinate the final details for the nuclear watchdog’s mission to Zaporizhzhia. 

It has been a longstanding request of Ukraine for the IAEA to receive access to the plant,” said Kuleba, adding that “without exaggeration, this mission will be the hardest in the history of IAEA given the active combat activities undertaken by the Russian Federation.”

Kuleba also said Ukraine expects the IAEA to conclude that Russia is violating nuclear safety protocols.

“We expect from the mission a clear statement of facts of violation of nuclear safety protocols. We know that Russia is putting not only Ukraine but also [the] entire world at threat, at risk of nuclear accident,” Kuleba added.

Ukraine has been accusing Russia of using the plant as cover to launch attacks, knowing that Ukraine can’t return fire without risking hitting one of the plant’s six reactors. Moscow, meanwhile, has claimed Ukrainian troops are targeting the site.

Some background: IAEA’s mission – which will assess damage to the plant’s facilities, evaluate the working conditions of the staff, and perform urgent safeguard activities – comes amid renewed shelling at the facility and mounting fears over a potential nuclear accident.

Last week, Zaporizhzhia city authorities made iodine pills available to residents as concern grows over a possible accident.