September 5, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

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

A Russian Mil Mi-8 military helicopter patrols oil fields in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province on February 4, 2021. The defecting Russian pilot flew an Mi-8 helicopter, similar to the one pictured, into Ukraine.

A Russian helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine last month has revealed details of the daring operation to fly across the border in his Mi8 combat helicopter, in an interview published by Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence.

The pilot, named by Ukrainian officials as Maxim Kuzminov, explained in the interview how he planned his defection and why he felt compelled to do so.

The head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, Kyrolo Budanov, revealed in August how Ukrainian officials had been able to help the pilot to defect.

“We were able to create the conditions to get his whole family out undetected, and eventually create the conditions so that he could take over this aircraft with a crew that did not know what was happening,” Budanov told Radio Liberty at the time.

“Two more people were with him – a full crew of three persons in total. When they realized where they had landed, they tried to escape. Unfortunately, they were eliminated. We would prefer (to take) them alive, but it is what it is.”

In the interview released Monday, the pilot detailed how the event unfolded.

During one flight, the pilot said “I realized that I was near the border. I relayed my location. I said: ‘Let’s give it a try, I’m not that far away.’ And, having made a final decision, I flew at an extremely low altitude in radio silence mode. No one understood what was going on with me at all.”

The pilot said he was able to land in Ukraine, where he was met by Ukrainian officials.

The circumstances of the interview are unclear, but the pilot appeared to be speaking freely.

Read more about the flight to Ukraine

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Tuesday that discussions between North Korea and Russia on a potential deal that would allow Pyongyang to provide military support for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine are evidence that economic sanctions have succeeded in shrinking Russia’s defense industrial base.

“We will continue to call it out, and we will continue to call on North Korea to abide by its public commitments not to supply weapons to Russia that will end up killing Ukrainians. Over time, we have not seen them actively supply large amounts of munitions or other military capacity to Russia for the war in Ukraine,” Sullivan said. 

Here are the latest developments:

In this photo released by the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, an unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operation test at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on Tuesday, February 23, 2021.

he US has notified Russia of an upcoming test of an unarmed ballistic missile scheduled to take place between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, according to the Pentagon. 

The unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile will be launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base and was scheduled years in advance, said Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, at a news briefing Tuesday. 

Ryder described the test as “routine,” and it is intended to check the effectiveness and accuracy of a part of the US nuclear triad, which consists of ballistic missiles, nuclear submarines and strategic bombers. 

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on September 5, 2023.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Tuesday that discussions between North Korea and Russia on a potential deal that would allow Pyongyang to provide military support for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine are evidence that economic sanctions against Russia have succeeded in shrinking the country’s defense industrial base.

“We will continue to call it out, and we will continue to call on North Korea to abide by its public commitments not to supply weapons to Russia that will end up killing Ukrainians. Over time, we have not seen them actively supply large amounts of munitions or other military capacity to Russia for the war in Ukraine,” Sullivan said during Tuesday’s White House press briefing.

The national security adviser said President Joe Biden’s administration has been discussing the possibility of North Korea providing Russia with weapons “for quite some time,” and it’s possible in the near future that those discussions may see North Korea’s Kim Jong Un participate in “leader-level discussions, perhaps even in-person leader-level discussions.”

“We have also imposed sanctions, specific targeted sanctions, to try to disrupt any effort to use North Korea as a conduit or as a source for weapons going to Russia; we did so as recently as mid-August, and we have continued to convey that privately as well as publicly to the North Koreans and asked allies and partners to do the same,” Sullivan said. “Our view is that they should abide by their publicly stated commitments that they’re not going to provide these weapons.”

US State Department Deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel acknowledged Tuesday that arms negotiations between Russia and North Korea “are actively advancing” after reports that North Korea’s Kim Jong Un would be meeting in Russia with President Vladimir Putin. 

“As you all know, some of you reported, that last month that Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defense minister, traveled to the DPRK to try and convince Pyongyang to sell artillery ammunition to Russia and we have information that Kim Jong Un expects these discussions to continue, to include leader-level diplomatic engagement in Russia,” Patel said.

Patel said that it was notable Russia “has been forced to search desperately around the world” for weapons that can be used in war in Ukraine because of US sanctions. 

Meanwhile, Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said Tuesday that the Defense Department is also urging North Korea to refrain from selling ammunition and arms to Russia “which would unnecessarily prolong this conflict.” 

“In terms of the report about a potential meeting between the North Korea leader and President (Vladimir) Putin, I don’t have anything specific to provide in terms of a potential meeting or nor am I going to speculate on when such a meeting could occur,” Ryder said, referencing reports that North Korea’s Kim Jong Un would be visiting with Putin in Russia.

“You have heard the White House talk about the fact that Kim Jong Un is seeking to continue diplomatic engagement with Russia as a follow-on to the Russian Defense Minister’s recent visit where Russia is seeking to purchase artillery ammunition from the DPRK,” he said.

Ryder noted that “such a sale would violate multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions and it would prolong the unnecessary suffering of Ukrainian civilians who are impacted by Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine.” 

US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel speaks with CNN's Christiane Amanpour.

A possible deal for North Korea to supply Russia with weapons “is not welcome, but it is a sign that the embargo is effective and working,” US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said Tuesday.

The US National Security Council’s spokesperson Adrienne Watson said Monday that arms negotiations between Russia and North Korea are “actively advancing,” adding that US has information that “Kim Jong Un expects these discussions to continue, to include leader-level diplomatic engagement in Russia.”

Watson did not say when and where a potential meeting between Kim and Putin in Russia might take place.

“Russia’s attempt at building an empire has become dependent on North Korea. I think that says it all,” Emanuel said about the negotiations.

As discussions advance, the US and its allies are concerned about the technology North Korea is seeking from Russia in return for weaponry, according to two US officials.

North Korea is seeking technology that could advance their satellite and nuclear-powered submarine capabilities, officials said, which could significantly advance North Korea’s capabilities in areas that the rogue regime has not fully developed.

CNN’s Kylie Atwood contributed reporting to this post.

Footage allegedly recorded near Robotyne, Ukraine, and posted on social media overnight shows what a Western source says is a recently destroyed UK-donated Challenger 2 tank. 

The tank was being used as part of Ukraine’s counteroffensive arsenal, according to the source. 

The video, seemingly filmed from a civilian vehicle, shows a destroyed tank as the car drives through a war-torn road. CNN could not independently verify where the footage was recorded.

“It is a Challenger 2,” a source, who is associated with the West and has knowledge of the battlefield, told CNN on background.

The source added that the crew of the tank “survived the initial attack on the vehicle.” The source spoke on the condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to speak to the media on the record about sensitive battlefield logistics.

“It’s a testament to the quality and the level of these capabilities, compared to Soviet equipment Ukraine was using before,” the source added. 

This is the first known instance of a Challenger 2 tank being destroyed on the battlefield since the UK provided Ukraine with the capability earlier this year.

Russian forces have started covering some of its attack aircraft with car tires, which experts say could be a makeshift attempt to protect them from Ukrainian drone strikes.

Satellite imagery from Maxar of Engels Airbase, deep inside Russia, shows two Tu-95 strategic bombers with car tires on top of the airframes. 

CNN could not independently verify why the tires were placed on the aircraft, but experts say it could be a crude attempt at not only adding another layer of protection against Ukrainian drones but also to reduce the aircrafts’ detectability aircrafts visibly, especially at night.

The makeshift attempt may have limited effect in terms of mitigating damage, according to Francisco Serra-Martins of drone manufacturer One Way Aerospace whose drones have been used by Ukrainian forces. “It may reduce the thermal signature for exposed strategic aviation assets placed on airfield aprons, but they will still be observable under infrared cameras,” he told CNN.

“While it seems pretty goofy, they seem to be trying to do the best they can to up-armor the planes that are otherwise sitting ducks. Whether it works depends on what the warhead is on the missile/drone,” said Steffan Watkins, an open-source research consultant who tracks aircraft and ships, adding that the tires could be used to stop fragmentation of an airburst above the plane from piercing the aircraft.

A NATO military official told CNN the alliance had seen the makeshift attempt. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

“We believe it’s meant to protect against drones,” a NATO military official told CNN. “We don’t know if this will have any effect.”

Mikhail Fridman attends a conference in Moscow in 2019.

The Ukraine Security Service (SBU) has accused Ukrainian-born Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman of financing Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Fridman is chairman of Alfa Group, a private conglomerate operating primarily in Russia and former Soviet states that spans banking, insurance, retail and mineral water production. He has a net worth of $11.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index. Fridman is also chairman of Alfa Bank, Russia’s fourth-biggest financial services firm and its largest private bank.

Alfa Bank was hit last week by sanctions that will prevent it from raising money through the US market. Fridman is one of the few Russian oligarchs who have spoken out against Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In the beginning days of the war, he called the conflict a “tragedy” for both Ukrainians and Russians.

The SBU made the following claims in a statement:

Investigators have notified Fridman of the allegations “on the basis of collected evidence,” the statement added.

“The suspect is currently hiding from justice abroad. Comprehensive measures are underway to bring him to justice. The perpetrator faces up to 8 years in prison with confiscation of property,” it said.

CNN reached out to Fridman, who declined to comment on the SBU’s accusations.

Charles Riley contributed reporting to this post.

Ukrainian forces continued to try and expand their gains around the southeastern Zaporizhzhia village of Robotyne after they were able to breach Russian defenses, according to Ukrainian sources.

Efforts are now focused on widening the bridgehead, with fighting near Verbove, a few kilometers to the east.

“The enemy is putting up fierce resistance. There is a constant transition of positions from hand to hand. While some are restraining the Russians, others are expanding the bridgehead,” it continued.

Both sides are relying heavily on artillery and drones to try and prevent each other from advancing, with the situation at the front remaining very fluid, according to both Ukrainian sources and well-connected Russian military bloggers.

Another pro-Russian blogger, Dva Maiora, added that Russian forces had been able to strike some Western donated equipment.

“In the Zaporizhzhia front at the Robotyne-Verbove line, a number of AFU armored vehicles, including Leopards, were hit,” Maiora wrote on Telegram Tuesday. “The enemy’s attacks were concentrated on Verbove.”

For its part, Ukrainian forces say they continue to advance in the area.

“In the direction of Robotyne - Novoprokopivka, the Ukrainians continue to consolidate to the east of the settlement. Yesterday the guys took a very important enemy stronghold. It was hard work - almost 5 days of fighting, but it was necessary,” the 46th Brigade said.

The brigade said the Russians “have reinforced the northern flank between Robotyne and Novoprokopivka and moved their reserves there, one has to work in an ‘inconvenient’ direction to the east and northeast.”

“This narrows the space for maneuver, but at least the guys are moving,” it added.

As is customary, officials in Kyiv have remained relatively silent on military progress at the front. The Ukrainian military’s General Staff said only that its forces “continue to conduct offensive operation in the Bakhmut and Melitopol direction,” adding they were consolidating their gains.

What Moscow is saying: The Russian Defense Ministry for its part rejected any Ukrainian advances saying its forces had successfully repelled two Ukrainian attacks near Robotyne.

“In the Zaporizhzhia direction, units of the Russian grouping of troops, aviation, artillery, and heavy flamethrower systems have repelled two attacks by the 47th Mechanised Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of the village of Robotyne, Zaporizhzhia region,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Tuesday.

Gitanas Nauseda, the President of Lithuania, attends a NATO Summit at LITEXPO Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Center in Vilnius, Lithuania on July 12.

Lithuania’s president said the need to close its border with Belarus is becoming less relevant as the threat of encroaching Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group wanes. 

Poland hosted a meeting with Baltic states in Warsaw last week in response to recent concerns that Wagner troops were amassing along the Belarusian border after thousands of mercenary fighters were reportedly sent to Belarus following the failed rebellion against Moscow.

At a joint press conference during those meetings, Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński outlined the group’s willingness to “act together if there is a critical situation regardless of whether it is a Polish, Lithuanian or Latvian border.” 

However, on Tuesday, the Lithuanian head of state, Nausėda, pointed towards signs that the situation along the border is beginning to stabilize, saying he has “no concrete information suggesting that the Wagner group’s members are close to our borders or are trying to destabilize the border situation.” 

Questions have emerged about the future of Wagner troops stationed in Belarus following the death of the group’s boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in a plane crash last month. 

When asked if the prospect of a complete closure of its border with Belarus is losing relevance, the Lithuanian president responded: “I think we can say so.”

An official in the occupied Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine has been injured after an explosion at his house, which is being described as an assassination attempt by both Ukrainian and Russian sources.

A suspect has been arrested and detained for the attempted killing of Yuriy Afanasievsky, according to the Russian Investigative Committee.

The investigative committee stated the “attacker” is currently detained and said she has “already confessed.” The statement also said that the investigative committee is cooperating with the Federal Security Service Department in the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) to investigate the “attempted murder.”

The committee stated that a wide range of people were questioned at the scene, and items of interest to the investigation were seized.

There are conflicting reports on Afanasievsky’s condition.

Russian state news agency TASS reported Afanasievsky was “not seriously injured,” but added his son was hospitalized.

“His son is in the hospital, not him. But the terrorist attack, most likely, was directed specifically against Afanasievsky,” officials in LPR told TASS on Tuesday.

Ukrainian officials, however, suggested Afanasievsky’s condition was more serious.

Luhansk Regional Military Administration head Artem Lysohor speaks in Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 27.

“Let’s look at the severity of his injuries,” the Ukrainian head of the Luhansk regional military administration Artem Lysohor wrote on Telegram Tuesday.

“The house of Yuriy Afanasievsky, who headed the ‘state customs committee,’ was blown up in the ‘LPR,’” he said

Lysohor accused Russia of being behind the assassination attempt, without providing any evidence. “Another collaborator did not meet the expectations of the Russians,” he wrote.

CNN could not independently verify Lysohor’s claims.

It comes as authorities backed by Moscow pushed local elections in four Ukrainian regions that were illegally annexed last year, including Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Russian forces held similar elections last year, which are illegal under international law.

CNN’s Jessie Gretener contributed reporting to this post.

Ukrainian servicemen of the 47th Magura Separate Mechanised Brigade drive a M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle at a position near a front line in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on June 26.

The T0408 was once a country lane that led peacefully southward through the open fields of Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, from Orikhiv through Robotyne and on to Tokmak.

Now, the men of Ukraine’s 47th Mechanized Brigade have renamed it “the road to hell” and the picture they paint is apocalyptic: the sky “black with drones,” constant artillery and aerial bombardments, and the once-fertile fields crammed with Russian mines, trenches and dugouts that make any southward progress virtually impossible.

Yet southward progress is precisely what the Ukrainian soldiers with the call signs “Karatsupa,” “Pan” and “Taba” seek, driving their American-made Bradley Fighting Vehicles down a road that is also, they believe, the road to Ukrainian victory.

Much has been made of the strategic importance of Robotyne for Ukraine’s three-month-long southern counteroffensive. But its capture has enraged the Russians further, say the men of the 47th Brigade.

The remains of what was a village of 500 before the war continue to be pounded day and night. Not just by artillery and aerial bombardments, but most fiercely by drones. And, after a month of fighting, there was so little left of the village they took in late August that the Ukrainian soldiers couldn’t believe what they found: civilians still cowering in their basements.

After the infantry told them to gather their things, they were rushed into the Bradleys under constant fire. In a forest nearby, the Ukrainian troops unloaded the mostly elderly men and women, starved and filthy after a month spent underground, during the worst of the fighting.

Without the Bradleys, say the fighters, no one would have survived. They proudly showed CNN some of the direct artillery hits the US-made armored vehicles had taken, singing their praises repeatedly.

Their only disadvantage, says Karatsupa, is their distinctive whistling sound, which can be heard from miles away. This does have a plus side in instilling fear into the Russians, he added, and in reassuring frontline Ukrainian infantry, who know fire cover is on its way. But no vehicle, however remarkable, is ever entirely impregnable.

Read more here.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky visits combat brigades engaged in offensive operations in the Bakhmut sector, Ukraine, on September 5.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with troops who are engaging in the offensive operation around the eastern city of Bakhmut, according to a statement from the president’s office.

Zelensky visited the combat brigades while on a working trip to the Donetsk region on Tuesday, the statement said, adding that he discussed the needs of the unit, including “provision of artillery shells, missiles for the frontline air defense systems, evacuation vehicles and electronic warfare equipment.”

Zelensky also handed out awards to soldiers, who he described on Telegram as “our warriors in the Bakhmut sector.”

Ukrainian forces have made slight progress to the south and northwest of Bakhmut in recent weeks, which was captured by Russian forces in May this year.

Moscow declined to comment on Washington’s claim that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia to firm up weapons negotiations between the two countries.

Washington and its allies are concerned about the technology Pyongyang is seeking in return for potentially supplying Moscow with weapons for its war on Ukraine, according to two United States officials.

Here are the latest developments:

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, talks to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting on September 4, in Sochi, Russia.

Russia asked for two specific requests to confirm the grain deal’s extension, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during his flight back from Sochi on Tuesday, according to Turkey’s state news agency Anadolu. 

According to Erdogan, the requests are:

Russia “exports 120-130 million tons of grain per year,” Erdogan said according to Anadolu. Once the sale is made, it needs to receive the money, but removal of Russian banks from the SWIFT system means the money transfer cannot happen, Erdogan explained further.

Additionally, the ships that transfer the grain need to to be insured so they can transport goods to Europe and other ports, but due to existing sanctions, “the British-based insurance company does not insure the ships,” he added. 

Turkey has been involved in efforts to strike — and then renew — the UN-brokered Black Sea grain deal between Ukraine and Russia.

The internal components of a 300mm rocket which appear to have contained cluster bombs launched from a BM-30 Smerch multiple rocket launcher in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on March 3, 2022.

Cluster munition attacks killed or wounded 890 people in Ukraine last year, according to data released by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday, triggering calls for all countries to join an international ban on the highly destructive weaponry.

The monitoring group said that worldwide cluster munitions killed or wounded at least 987 people in 2022, adding that 95% were civilians and 84 of those casualties were in Syria.

It is the highest number of casualties recorded by the watchdog since it began reporting in 2010.

The figures from HRW’s annual Cluster Munition Coalition report comes weeks after US officials said Ukrainian forces started deploying cluster munitions provided by Washington as part of Kyiv’s counteroffensive against Russia.

The weapons disperse “bomblets” across vast areas, but if they fail to explode on impact they can pose a long-term risk – similar to landmines – to anyone who encounters them.

Some 124 countries have ratified or signed the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, including the UK, France, Germany and other key US allies. However, the US, Ukraine and Russia are not among them.

HRW – a founding member of the Cluster Munition Coalition group – said Tuesday’s figures highlight the “urgent need for all countries to join the international ban on cluster munitions.”

“It’s unconscionable that civilians are still dying from cluster munition attacks 15 years after these weapons were outlawed,” Mary Wareham, arms advocacy director at HRW and editor of the report, said.

Ukraine's Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov attends a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, on August 28.

Oleksii Reznikov has been officially dismissed as defense minister after a vote in the Ukrainian Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, on Tuesday. 

In a closing speech before a vote on his dismissal, Reznikov acknowledged some mistakes had been made but focused on his office’s successes as it dealt with Russia’s full scale invasion. 

“Whilst being a civilian agency, we have been gaining capabilities during the war unprecedented for Europe for 80 years,” he told lawmakers. “As of today Ukraine received physically or in the form of commitments an amount of military support estimated at up to $100 billion.”

He admitted that “there were some mistakes,” and then thanked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for his support and tended his resignation.

“I am asking the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to resign,” he told lawmakers. “I am grateful to the president of Ukraine for his trust, support and the opportunity to serve my country in the darkest times. I thank the government and Ukrainian parliament colleagues for the team work. I am grateful to each and everyone defending Ukraine on the battlefield today.”

His dismissal was passed with 327 votes in favor, four against and 11 abstentions. Out of the 365 lawmakers, 23 did not vote.

Despite the dismissal, video showed Reznikov being greeted with applause when he entered the chamber and several lawmakers could be seen standing as they clapped. 

Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Primus transits the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey, on August 29.

Another three ships were able to leave Ukraine through the Black Sea, despite the termination of a UN-brokered deal that allowed grain to be exported from ports in the Odesa region, but this time carrying metal products. 

The vessels, Primus, Anna Tereza and Ocean Courtesy, which had been stuck in Ukraine since before the Russia’s full scale invasion on February 24, became the second, third and fourth ships respectively that have managed to leave Ukrainian ports since the termination of the grain agreement in July. 

The ships are carrying products of Ukrainian steelmakers and miners, including “over 76,000 tonnes of rolled steel produced by Azovstal, Zaporizhstal, Kamet Steel and ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, as well as 172,000 tonnes of iron ore concentrate produced at Metinvest Group’s mining and processing plants,” said Metinvest in a statement Tuesday.

The international steel and mining group has operations in Ukraine as well as in other European countries and the US.

Metinvest said the ships were able to effectively break what it called “a maritime blockade” by Russia of Ukraine’s seaports, opening the door for further exports. 

“This means the accelerated recovery of Ukraine’s economy, which has suffered enormous losses, including due to the illegal blockade of Ukraine’s ports by the Russian Federation,” said Oleksandr Vodoviz, the head of the Metinvest CEO’s Project Office, adding that a full unblocking of ports for all cargo will help “bring additional tens of billions of dollars of foreign currency earnings annually to the Ukrainian economy.”