A Ukrainian oligarch and key Zelensky supporter was arrested Saturday as part of an ongoing fraud investigation. Kyiv has said it will tackle its persistent corruption issues as part of a bid to join alliances like NATO and the EU.
Russia says it stopped another attack by Ukraine on the bridge connecting Crimea to the Russian mainland. The bridge is a vital supply line and a prized accomplishment for Moscow.
Russian attack kills at least 2 people in eastern Ukrainian town, local officials say
From CNN's Josh Pennington
A Russian attack on the Ukrainian town of Vuhledar left a married couple dead and another two people wounded on Saturday, according to the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
The Russian army hit a high-rise residential building, killing a 43-year-old man and his 42-year-old wife, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement posted to Telegram.
The couple’s 19-year-old daughter and another 53-year-old resident are being treated at a medical facility after sustaining injuries from the attack, officials added.
Vuhledar, a town outside the city of Donetsk in southeastern Ukraine, has long served as a “hot spot” in the conflict, with regular clashes between Russian and Ukrainian forces. It is now contested territory in the Ukrainian counteroffensive.
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Ukrainian oligarch and Zelensky supporter arrested in fraud investigation, according to state media
From CNN's Josh Pennington
Ihor Kolomoisky attends a court hearing at Shevchenkivskyi District Court in Kyiv on September 2.
Sergei Chuzavkov/AFP/Getty Images
A Kyiv court on Saturday ordered Ihor Kolomoisky, a Ukrainian oligarch and key supporter of President Volodymyr Zelensky, to 60 days in pre-trial detention while authorities investigate fraud charges against him, according to Ukrainian state media outlet Ukrinform.
The Shevchenkivskyi District Court ordered that Kolomoisky be held until October 31, according to Ukrinform. Kolomoisky was also given the option to post bail in excess of 500 million Ukrainian hryvnia (approximately $14 million), state media reported.
In order to post bail, he would be required not to leave the area he is staying, to appear for any interrogations and to notify authorities if he changes residences, Ukrinfrom reported. He also must surrender passports for traveling abroad, and is prohibited from contacting other witnesses or suspects involved in the investigation.
Who is Kolomoisky? Kolomoisky is a prominent Ukrainian businessman whose interests in media and banking have made him one of the country’s richest men.
This is not the first time he has been accused of wrongdoing. He was sanctioned by the US State Department in March 2021 for his alleged involvement in “corrupt acts that undermined rule of law and the Ukrainian public’s faith in their government’s democratic institutions and public processes, including using his political influence and official power for his personal benefit.”
How this connects to the war in Ukraine: While primarily occupied with fighting Russia’s invading forces, Ukraine’s government has also been cracking down on internal corruption, an issue which had been one of Zelensky’s key electoral pledges.
Tackling corruption is key for Ukraine’s ambition to join the European Union in the future. Ukraine officially became an EU candidate state last year, but Brussels has made it clear that Kyiv will need to step up its fight against corruption if it wants to become a full member.
The same goes for the NATO military alliance, with US President Joe Biden saying earlier this year that Kyiv still needs to address various governance issues, including persistent corruption, in order to join the pact.
Beyond the current conflict with Russia, Ukraine and its Western allies have said that EU and NATO membership would play key roles in protecting it against further incursions by Moscow in the long-term.
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Deported Ukrainian teens say guards coerced them into acts of Russian patriotism
From CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Madalena Araujo, Olha Konovalova and Christian Edwards
The lives of Ukrainian children and teens have been utterly upended by Russia’s invasion of their country. When the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in March, the foremost charge against him was over an alleged scheme to deport Ukrainian children to Russian detention centers.
CNN spoke with Ukrainian teenagers in Kyiv who claim they had been forcibly deported to Russia before being found and brought home by family members. Their return was made possible by Save Ukraine, an organization working to return deported children to their families.
Motychak was told by Russian guards that “the buses were too expensive.” And so she remained in the center during Christmas 2022 and into the beginning of the year – and she said she was only granted access to basic necessities if she performed acts of Russian patriotism.
“There were some secondhand clothing and hygiene products delivered for us. So when we asked for these, they said, ‘Whoever doesn’t like Russia doesn’t like me and isn’t going to get these things.’”
Motychak said she was able to speak to her mother on the phone once a week. Her mother contacted a volunteer working to bring detained Ukrainian children home. Together, they were able to travel to Crimea in February and bring Motychak home, along with other teens she had been detained with.
This week, Kyiv opened more than 3,000 criminal cases over Russia’s alleged crimes against children in the country, including dozens of torture cases, Ukrainian prosecutors said Thursday. Russia has repeatedly denied these accusations of torture and human rights abuses.
In July, Moscow authorities claimed some 700,000 children had been brought into Russian custody since the war began. The Russian government has defended the practice, saying they are saving the children and denying that the deportations are forced. Ukraine however, claims the children were illegally deported and that a much smaller number of children have been taken – an estimated 19,500.
CNN also spoke with Ksenia Koldin, 19, who helped retrieve her 12-year-old brother from a Russian detention center. Having been separated for months, Koldin said the reunion was tough, since she could see that her brother had been “tormented.”
“Not only had there been almost a thousand kilometers between us and we didn’t see each other for nine months – we’d also grown apart because of the psychological pressure put on him,” she said.
During his detention, Koldin said her brother had been shown Russian propaganda, making him doubt his own country and reluctant to return home. Koldin said that, with the help of a volunteer, she had been able to convince her brother to leave the center and come back with her.
Ukraine focuses on consolidating battlefield gains as US and Zelensky talk up the counteroffensive
From CNN's Olga Voitovych, Darya Tarasova, Andrew Carey and Andrew Millman
Ukrainian servicemen prepare to fire on Russian positions near Bakhmut, Ukraine, on August 14.
Roman Chop/Global Images Ukraine/Getty Images
“Consolidation” remained the watchword for the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Saturday following recent modest gains in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, while political figures in Kyiv, as well as US officials, pushed back against suggestions the Ukrainian counteroffensive is moving too slowly.
Ukraine has been focusing efforts around the village of Robotyne in recent weeks as it tries to move south toward occupied cities on or near the coast of the Sea of Azov.
An unofficial Telegram channel belonging to Ukraine’s 46th Brigade suggested there had been fresh limited Ukrainian gains to the southeast of Robotyne, posting: “There is an extension of the bridgehead along the enemy’s defense line in the direction of Verbove. The area of control is being expanded for further actions.”
The channel also reported fighting on higher ground outside the neighboring village of Novoprokopivka.
What Russia says: Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Saturday it had repelled four Ukrainian attacks in the area around Robotyne and Verbove. The Russian military blogging site Rybar said Russian forces had put up stiff resistance around the settlement of Verbove. It said Robotyne was now fully under Ukrainian control, though it claimed Kyiv’s forces had suffered severe losses in the fighting.
CNN is unable to immediately verify the battlefield claims of either side.
Pushing back about concerns over counteroffensive: Ukraine’s current counteroffensive against Russia’s occupying forces has been underway for three months, and there have been growing concerns that it is failing to achieve expected results.
John Kirby,coordinator for strategic communications at the White House National Security Council, addressed those concerns Friday, saying Ukrainian forces had made “notable progress” in the previous three days, achieving “some success against (the) second line of Russian defenses.”
Those comments were echoed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who posted on Saturday:
In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in Kyiv Friday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also said Ukraine is “not failing” but “moving forward” in its counteroffensive.
The foreign minister added that those criticizing the speed of Ukraine’s counteroffensive should consider the soldiers fighting at the heart of it.
“Our partners who are helping us, including the United States, they understand that things are moving in the right direction,” he added.
Here’s the latest map of control:
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Ukrainian oligarch and Zelensky supporter named as a suspect in fraud investigation
From CNN's Olga Voitovych and Pauline Lockwood
Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky attends a meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine in 2019.
Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
Ihor Kolomoisky, a Ukrainian oligarch and key supporter of Volodymyr Zelensky’s campaign for president in 2019, was officially named as a suspect in a fraud investigation, according to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
Kolomoisky was served a notice of suspicion on Friday, a step closer to being formally charged.
The SBU and Ukraine’s Bureau of Economic Security said they will investigate Kolomoisky for fraud and laundering property that was criminally obtained.
Kolomoisky has not yet publicly commented on the allegations and CNN was not immediately able to reach him for comment.
The pre-trial investigation will focus on Kolomoisky’s alleged role in laundering more than $130 million by moving funds overseas, according to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office. The office said Kolomoisky purportedly conducted the transfers using banks under his control between 2013 and 2020.
More on Kolomoisky: Ihor Kolomoisky is a prominent Ukrainian businessman whose interests in media and banking have made him one of the country’s richest men.
This is not the first time Kolomoisky has been accused of wrongdoing. He was sanctioned by the US State Department in March 2021 for his alleged involvement in “corrupt acts that undermined rule of law and the Ukrainian public’s faith in their government’s democratic institutions and public processes, including using his political influence and official power for his personal benefit.”
While primarily occupied with fighting Russia’s invading forces, Ukraine’s government has also been cracking down on internal corruption, an issue which had been one of Zelensky’s key electoral pledges.
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Russia is "trying to silence" Nobel winner Muratov, peace prize committee chair says
From CNN’s Eve Brennan in London
Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov speaks during the auction of his Nobel Peace Prize medal in New York in 2022. Muratov auctioned off his medal to benefit children displaced by the war in Ukraine.
Kena Betancur /AFP/Getty Images
Russia is “trying to silence” Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist Dmitry Muratov, committee chair Berit Reiss-Andersen said in a statement on Saturday, after Russia added Muratov to its register of “foreign agents” on Friday.
Under a law expanded in December 2022, Russia requires all individuals or organizations receiving either funding or support from abroad to be classified as “foreign agents.”
“The Norwegian Nobel Committee continues to stand behind the important work carried out by Novaja Gazeta and Mr. Muratov,” she added.
More about Muratov: The editor of the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta made headlines last year when he announced plans to auction his Nobel Peace Prize medal to raise money for Ukrainian refugees.
During an interview with CNN last year, he said that his news team was “forced” to stop operating due to “military censorship.”
He said half the country’s population opposes the war in Ukraine. Muratov said it was “impossible to look at” photos from scenes of death and destruction from Mariupol, Melitopol, Bucha and other Ukrainian communities, adding that: “This will become a huge case study of what dictatorship means.”
For the past 20 years, Russian people have been subjected to “total propaganda,” he said, the effect of which was “the same as radiation.”
“This propaganda has won a victory, but not over everyone,” he added.
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Kyiv’s weapons industry is enabling it to project power beyond the front lines and into Russian territory
From CNN's Tim Lister
In the early hours of August 29, swarms of Ukrainian drones flew across seven Russian regions. Many were intercepted; some were not.
Several reached a Russian airbase in Pskov, some 600 kilometers (about 373 miles) from the Ukrainian border, destroying two Russian military transport aircraft and damaging two more.
It was the most dramatic evidence yet of a new dimension to the 18-month conflict: Ukraine’s growing appetite to take the war to Russian territory.
Aerial and marine drones, mysterious new missiles and sabotage groups are all part of the toolkit. Russian airfields, air defenses and shipping are among the targets.
These attacks far from the current front lines are evidence of an evolving Ukrainian capability to project power.
That projection very deliberately does not rely upon Western hardware but local adaptations, in terms of both technology and tactics.
Read more about Kyiv’s attempts to make its own armaments.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Kyiv’s counteroffensive is “moving forward,” after making some small gains in its campaign to recapture territory seized by Russia.
More context: It’s unclear exactly who Zelensky is referring to, but the counteroffensive, which began earlier this year, is yet to make a significant breakthrough. Last month, Western officials described “sobering” updates on its progress. But this week, Kyiv’s forces described breaching the first line of Russian defenses in the south.
Zelensky’s statement echoes what Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Friday. Kuleba said Ukraine’s partners, including the United States, “understand that things are moving in the right direction” and there is no “slow down” in progress.
He added that those criticizing the pace of the counteroffensive should pay greater consideration to the soldiers leading it.
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Nobel Foundation reverses decision to invite Russia and Belarus to prize ceremony
From CNN's Eve Brennan, Niamh Kennedy and Olga Voitovych
The Nobel Foundation has reversed its decision to invite the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus and Iran to the Nobel Prize award ceremony in Stockholm, the organization said in a statement on Saturday.
The about-face comes less than 48 hours after the foundation’s initial decision to invite the envoys drew a sharp rebuke from Ukraine.
The Nobel Banquet takes place annually in Stockholm on December 10, where five out of six Nobel Prizes are awarded. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway.
Russia has been internationally isolated since launching its invasion of Ukraine, and has been banned from many cultural and sporting events.
Ukrainian and Swedish officials applaud reversal: Several Swedish lawmakers had announced their intention to boycott the ceremony following Friday’s announcement, with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson saying in a statement that he would “not have done it if (he) was issuing invites to an award ceremony.”
“I welcome the new decision of the board of the Nobel Foundation regarding the Nobel Prize award ceremony in Stockholm,” Kristersson said Saturday in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Kristersson added that the “many and strong reactions” to the announcement showed that “the whole of Sweden unambiguously stand on Ukraine’s side against Russia’s appalling war of aggression.”
Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, called the reversal a “restoration of justice” in a Facebook post, thanking all those who put pressure on the Nobel Foundation to reverse the decision.
He expressed his hope that a “similar decision” will be made to disinvite the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors from the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, which is held as a separate event in the Norwegian capital of Oslo.
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Russia's new "Satan II" missile system is now operational in the war in Ukraine, official says
From CNN's Tim Lister
The Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile is launched in Plesetsk, Russia, in this handout photo released by Roscosmos Space Agency Press Service on April 20, 2022.
Roscosmos Space Agency Press Service/AP/FILE
Russia says its newest nuclear weapons system, the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, is now operational.
“The Sarmat strategic complex has been put on combat duty,” Yury Borisov, the director general of the state space corporation Roscosmos, said in a media appearance.
It had been due to go on combat duty at the end of 2022.
The Sarmat will replace Soviet-era Voevoda missiles, known by the NATO designation SS-18 “Satan,” in Russia’s strategic arsenal. As the SS-18’s successor, the Sarmat has been nicknamed “Satan II” in the West.
Some background: Russian President Vladimir Putin said in April last year that the Sarmat would be capable of delivering multiple nuclear warheads as far as the continental United States – and would “give thought to those who are trying to threaten Russia.”
At the time, Western analysts told CNN the threat to the US and its allies from Satan II was “extremely low,” and that Putin’s high-profile testing of the weapon may have been intended to hide Russian military failures in its war in Ukraine.
Like the SS-18, the Sarmat could carry 10 and possibly more independently targeted nuclear warheads with a range of up to 18,000 kilometers (or about 11,185 miles), according to the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
It is expected to serve as a one-for-one replacement for the Voevoda missiles. Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, likened Satan II to a “facelift” for the Soviet-era SS-18, though he said there were “probably some enhancements under the hood.”
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Going back to school means preparing for air raids in Ukraine this September
From CNN's Olga Voitovych and Ivana Kottasová
Kateryna Pylypenko prepared two backpacks for her youngest son’s first day of school on Friday: one with school supplies, and one for the bomb shelter.
“The bag (for the shelter) will be kept in the classroom. We were told it should contain water, a toy … and something to eat while they wait in the shelter for the air raid alarm to end,” Pylypenko told CNN.
According to UNICEF, only about a third of children enrolled in Ukraine will be attending in-person classes this year, with the rest studying at least partially online.
Pylypenko’s two sons, who are 6 and 14, will be going back in person. Their school in Kyiv decided to bring the pupils back in after surveying parents a few weeks ago.
In-person classes involve some risk – Ukraine’s capital has been struck by Russian missiles and drones a number of times in recent months. But Pylypenko said she was keen for her sons to have a school experience that is as close to “normal” as is possible, even though their father, her husband, is currently away fighting in the war.
Ukraine says it has identified a Russian commander accused of atrocities during the war's early days
From CNN's Mariya Knight and Radina Gigova
Ukraine’s Security Service says it has identified a Russian commander who is accused of giving orders to shoot civilians.
The SBU announced in a statement on Thursday that it is investigating Vadym Ovchinnikov, the commander of a Russian intelligence group, who it alleges ordered the shooting of a Ukrainian family during the occupation of the town of Bucha in March of 2022.
Bucha, a town northwest of Kyiv, was occupied by Russian troops shortly after the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
According to the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office, the Russian army committed thousands of war crimes in the Bucha district, and hundreds of people were killed in the town of Bucha alone before it was liberated in March 2022.
The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the mass killings and has reiterated baseless claims that the images of civilian bodies were fake.
Russia claims it stopped an attack on the Crimean bridge from Ukrainian sea drones
From CNN’s Mariya Knight
A general view of the Crimea bridge on July 25.
Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Russia said it stopped an overnight Ukrainian attack on the Crimean Bridge, also known as the Kerch Bridge, that links the annexed Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said Ukrainian forces attempted to attack the bridge with two unmanned, explosive-laden boats.
The first “sea drone was detected in a timely manner and destroyed in the Black Sea,” at 11:15 p.m. local time (4:15 p.m. ET), the ministry said.
A second boat attack was thwarted three hours later, early on Saturday morning, and Russia said later Saturday that it stopped a third sea drone attack on the vital bridge, according to the defense ministry.
The third sea drone was destroyed in the Black Sea, at 2:20 a.m. local time (7:20 p.m. ET), the ministry said.
Russian State Media RIA Novosti reported Friday that “the movement of vehicles on the bridge is temporarily restricted,” citing Russia’s operational headquarters.
Ukraine is yet to comment on the alleged attacks.
Some context: The latest attempt on the Kerch Bridge comes after a Ukrainian security official claimed Kyiv’s responsibility for a July 17 attack on the bridge that left two people dead and injured their daughter, according to Russian-appointed officials.
The nearly 12-mile crossing is the longest in Europe and holds huge strategic and symbolic importance for Moscow. July’s attack on the bridge was the second since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, after a fuel tanker exploded while crossing it in October.
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Russia and Belarus invited back to Nobel Prize banquet after being barred last year due to Ukraine invasion
From CNN's Amy Cassidy and Christian Edwards
Waiters start the dessert parade during the royal banquet in honour of the laureates of the Nobel Prize 2022, following the Award ceremony on December 10, 2022 in Stockholm.
Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images
Ambassadors from Russia and Belarus have been invited back to the Nobel Prize banquet after being excluded last year because of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Nobel Foundation said.
The foundation said it is “broadening our invitations” to involve even those who do not share the values of the Nobel Prize.
“To counter this tendency, we are now broadening our invitations to celebrate and understand the Nobel Prize and the importance of free science, free culture and free, peaceful societies,” Helgesen said.
Russians and Belarusians have been excluded from countless events since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has been heavily assisted by Minsk, in February 2022.
The foundation said its decision was made to prevent further “polarisation.”
The Nobel Banquet takes place annually in Stockholm on December 10, where five out of six Nobel Prizes are awarded. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway.
Swift criticism: Ukraine has condemned the decision and urged the foundation to reverse course.
A Swedish member of the European Parliament also called the decision “extremely inappropriate.”
On Swedish national radio, Swedish Liberal MEP Karin Karlsbro questioned why the foundation invited “three rogue states … that suppress their citizens, wage war and terror both in their own and neighboring countries” and “in no way subscribe to democratic values.”
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has said he would not have made the decision to invite Russia back to the banquet held in his country.
