April 26, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky provided additional details of his earlier phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday.

According to Zelensky, Xi gave “words of support for our Black Sea Grain Initiative and its extension, as well as support for our humanitarian efforts, in particular the Grain from Ukraine program.”

Some context: The comments come days after Russia threatened to scrap the Grain Initiative, which enables the safe export of grain from Ukrainian ports onto the world market.

Ukrainian Naval Forces in a Facebook update on Wednesday said, “the Black Sea grain corridor is once again suspended by the Russian side,” without elaborating.

As a result, four vessels were unable to leave the Ukrainian ports including one vessel that is waiting for transit, the naval forces said.

Ukrainians are in what a senior US military commander called “a good position” for a counteroffensive against the Russian military.

On Wednesday, Gen. Christopher Cavoli, head of the US European Command, told a congressional committee the US has worked with the Ukrainians on a possible surprise attack.

If you’re just now reading in, here’s what you should know:

Ukrainian journalist killed: A Ukrainian journalist who was working as a fixer for the Italian newspaper La Repubblica was killed Wednesday in a suspected Russian strike in Kherson that injured his Italian colleague, according to Ukrainian officials. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani earlier described the incident as a drone attack, but the first deputy head of the Kherson regional council, Yurii Sobolievskyi, told CNN that authorities in Kherson are still trying to establish the exact circumstances of the attack.

Russian submarines: Russian submarine patrols have increased throughout the Atlantic ocean despite the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, according to Gen. Cavoli.

Expelled diplomats: Ten diplomats working at Norway’s embassy in Moscow have been told to leave Russia, a spokesperson for Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday. According to the spokesperson, Oslo considers Moscow’s move to be a reaction to Norway’s expulsion of 15 Russian embassy workers earlier this month on accusations of spying.

Airline restriction: Lot, Poland’s state-owned airline, refused to board Russian tennis player Vitalia Diatchenko in line with restrictions introduced following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the carrier said in a statement to CNN Wednesday. Diatchenko told CNN she is now back in Moscow. 

A March 27 satellite image of the facility near Medvedivka.

Russian forces have emptied out a key base in northern Crimea, recent satellite imagery reviewed by CNN shows. The facility, near the village of Medvedivka and close to the border of Kherson, housed a significant number of Russian armor. 

Imagery from the European Union’s Sentinel 2 satellite from January 21 shows a large footprint of Russian equipment. Higher resolution Maxar images from February 11 reveals dozens of armored vehicles, including tanks and artillery pieces. 

Newer imagery taken by the EU’s Sentinel 2 satellite reveals most of those vehicles are no longer present at the base. 

It wasn’t immediately clear why Moscow relocated the equipment or where to, but earlier in the month, Russian-installed officials in Crimea signaled that they expected a Ukrainian counteroffensive to target the peninsula. 

A February 11 satellite image of the facility near Medvedivka.

Maxar imagery from February 11 to February 16 shows a large concentration of defensive structures near Medvedivka, including a network of trenches and wedge-shaped anti-tank concrete barriers known as dragon’s teeth. One Maxar image from January 3 shows the fortifications were much smaller at the beginning of the year. 

In light of Aksyonov’s comments, experts have suggested the withdrawal of Russian military equipment from the base in Medvedivka may be related to defensive operations ahead of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

A Ukrainian journalist who was working as a fixer for Italian newspaper La Repubblica was killed Wednesday in a suspected Russian strike in Kherson that injured his Italian colleague, according to Ukrainian officials.

Kuleba said the Ukrainian had been killed in the incident, adding that Russian fighters “don’t care if it’s Russian, Italian or Ukrainian, they always shoot.”

The first deputy head of the Kherson regional council, Yurii Sobolievsky, also confirmed to CNN that the Ukrainian journalist was killed and the body taken to the local morgue for examination.  

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani earlier described the incident as a drone attack, but Sobolievskyi told CNN that authorities in Kherson are still trying to establish the exact circumstances of the attack.

CNN has reached out to journalist Corrado Zunino and to Ukrainian authorities for additional information.

The Kremlin did not immediately comment on the incident.

CNN is not reporting the identity of the deceased journalist for the time being to allow time for Ukrainian authorities to notify his next of kin. 

Russian police officers stand guard outside the Norwegian embassy in Moscow, on April 26.

Ten diplomats working at Norway’s embassy in Moscow have been told to leave Russia, a spokesperson for Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday.

“Norway’s Ambassador to Moscow was today informed by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that 10 of our diplomats at the Embassy in Moscow have been declared personae non gratae in Russia. The diplomats must leave Russia within a short time,” said the spokesperson, Ragnhild Simenstad.

According to the spokesperson, Oslo considers Moscow’s move to be a reaction to Norway’s expulsion of 15 Russian embassy workers earlier this month on accusations of spying.

The Norwegian ambassador was summoned by Russia on Wednesday, when “a strong protest was expressed” in connection with Oslo’s decision to expel the 15 Russian diplomats, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. 

“This hostile step further aggravated the situation in bilateral relations, which are already at a critically low level,” the ministry said. 

The Norwegian ministry’s Simenstad said the Russian decision is considered “an act of revenge,” adding that “all our diplomats in Russia carry out ordinary diplomatic work. The Russian authorities know this well.”

While Russia continues its fight in Ukraine, the US military is seeing that Russian forces elsewhere have “not been affected negatively” by the war in Ukraine. 

The top US general in Europe said Wednesday that Russian submarine patrols have increased throughout the Atlantic. 

“And this is, as you pointed out, despite all of the efforts that they’re undertaking inside Ukraine,” he said.

The Ukrainians are “in a good position” for a counteroffensive against the Russian military, the senior US military commander in Europe told a congressional committee on Wednesday. 

“According to the modeling that we’ve very carefully done with them, the Ukrainians are in a good position,” United States European Command head Gen. Christopher Cavoli said, adding that the US has worked with them on a possible surprise attack.  

Cavoli also said Russia’s ground force today is larger “than it was at the beginning of the conflict,” despite suffering numerous losses in its war against Ukraine.

Aside from its ground forces, Russia has a number of options left to them, he said.

The Air Force “has lost very little; they’ve lost 80 planes,” he said. “They have another 1,000 fighters and fighter bombers.”

“So they still use all of that conventional power as well, and they mix them all together,” Cavoli said.

Vitalia Diatchenko competes in 2019.

Poland’s state-owned airline Lot refused to board a Russian tennis player in line with restrictions introduced following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the carrier said in a statement to CNN on Wednesday. 

Vitalia Diatchenko — whom the airline did not name in their statement – was denied boarding a Lot flight departing from Cairo on Monday as she was traveling to Calvi in Corsica via Warsaw and Nice to play at a tournament. 

The airline confirmed to CNN that it “could not accept a citizen of the Russian Federation on its flight,” citing the restrictions introduced by Poland’s interior ministry during the Covid-19 pandemic and updated in March 2022 following the Ukraine invasion.

Diatchenko told CNN on Wednesday that she was unable to reach her destination after being denied flying due to her Russian passport and is now back in Moscow. 

According to Reuters, the 32-year-old also said she attempted to purchase a ticket from German airline Lufthansa but was advised that she could only enter the Schengen area through Spain, which had issued her visa. CNN was not able to independently verify this. 

Some background: Tennis has continued to welcome Russian and Belarusian athletes at international competitions, despite the International Olympic Committee executive board’s initial recommendation in February 2022 that they be banned. 

In January, the IOC outlined a multi-step plan for Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate at the upcoming 2024 Summer Games in Paris and the 2026 Winter Games in Milan. The IOC’s plan met criticism from the United States, Canada and several European countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland.

According to the latest IOC recommendations released in March, athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport must compete only as individual neutral athletes and meet all anti-doping requirements. Those who support the war or are contracted to military or national security agencies cannot compete.

IOC president Thomas Bach defended the latest recommendations, citing tennis as an example that participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes “works” despite the war. Bach also blasted some European governments for what he called their “negative reactions” to the organization’s stance on Russia. 

An Italian journalist from the daily La Repubblica was injured during a drone strike in Kherson, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Twitter Wednesday. 

Tajani said journalist Corrado Zunino was doing “well and is being accompanied by our embassy in Kyiv,” he wrote. 

At the time of the incident, it was not immediately clear who was behind the drone strike or when it took place.

What Ukraine is saying: Andriy Yermak, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said Zunino was injured near the Antonivskyi bridge.

“The enemy is shelling Kherson region. A 26-year-old man was injured in an artillery strike on Stanislav,” Yermak said on Telegram on Wednesday. “Russians also shelled the Antonivskyi Bridge area, resulting in the injury of a foreign press representative.”

In a comment to CNN, Yermak’s office said the press representative he referenced was Zunino.

More on injured journalist: According to a statement from the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s office, Zunino sustained a shoulder injury.

“A correspondent of a foreign media outlet also sustained a firearm wound to the shoulder,” it said. “He was working on a story about life in the city, which had been under occupation for a long time and is now subject to systematic shelling by the Russian army.”

Zunino said he is fine after being injured during a Russian strike in Kherson. 

“Travelling from Kherson to Odesa,” Zunino tweeted Wednesday evening. “I am fine, I have a would in my right shoulder, grazed by the projectile that hit my great friend Bogdan.”

CNN has reached out to Ukrainian authorities, but it was not immediately possible to confirm the condition his colleague was in. 

“An infinite pain,” he added. “I was wearing a vest with ‘Press’ written on it.”

Some context: Soon after the invasion of Ukraine began, Kherson was taken over by Russian forces, only emerging from months of occupation on November 11, 2022, when the Kremlin’s troops withdrew. However, the southern Kherson region is still partly held by Russia.

CNN’s Mick Krever and Matthew Chance contributed to this post.

If you’re just joining us, here’s what you need to know to know about the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:

Xi and Zelensky hold a phone conversation: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he held an hour-long “meaningful” phone call with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Wednesday. This is the first time the two have spoken since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year. Moscow has taken notice of China’s willingness to facilitate negotiations with Ukraine, the Russian foreign ministry said. China has claimed neutrality in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, with Beijing calling for peace in the conflict — but it has also refused to condemn Russia’s invasion or make any public call for Russia to withdraw its troops.

What other countries are saying: The White House welcomed the news but expressed caution about whether the call could lead to “some sort of meaningful peace movement or plan.” The Elysee Palace said France “encourages all dialogue that contributes to a resolution of the conflict [in Ukraine] in accordance with the fundamental interests of Ukraine and international law.”

Prisoner swap: Ukraine and Russia carried out a prisoner swap, with Kyiv releasing 40 prisoners and Moscow freeing 44, according to officials from both countries. 

Further trials for Alexey Navalny: Jailed Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny now faces “two big trials,” one on extremism charges and the other on terrorism charges, his spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said on Twitter Wednesday. The extremism charges carry a total of up to 30 years in prison, while Navalny could face up to 35 years in prison on the terrorism charges, Yarmysh said. The director of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, Ivan Zhdanov, said the investigator in the terrorism case would consider “the Tatarsky episode,” in which an explosion killed military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky at a cafe in St. Petersburg on April 2. Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee claimed it was planned by Ukraine with the participation of Navalny’s supporters. Navalny’s foundation denies the claims.

Here’s where the state of control stands in Ukraine:

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping by phone for the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In the phone call, Xi and Zelensky exchanged views on the Ukraine crisis, with Xi reaffirming China’s support for peace talks, according to the Chinese government. 

Xi said China will send a special envoy to Ukraine and other countries to help conduct “in-depth communication” with all parties for a political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, the government said, adding that Xi also said China is willing to continue to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

China “will neither watch the fire from the other side, nor add fuel to the fire, let alone take advantage of the opportunity to profit,” Xi said, acknowledging that the crisis has had a “major impact” internationally and that the “only feasible way out” is “dialogue and negotiation.”

The call lasted an hour, and the two leaders “discussed a full range of topical issues of bilateral relations. Particular attention was paid to methods of possible cooperation to establish a just and sustainable peace for Ukraine,” according to a readout from Zelensky.

The call was “an important dialogue,” the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office Andriy Yermak said in a Telegram post. 

In March, Xi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. 

Some background: China has claimed neutrality in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, with Beijing calling for peace in the conflict. But it has also refused to condemn Russia’s invasion or make any public call for Russia to withdraw its troops. Its officials have instead repeatedly said that the “legitimate” security concerns of all countries must be taken into account and accused NATO and the US of fueling the conflict.

CNN’s Yulia Kesaieva in Kyiv contributed reporting to this post.

Ukraine and Russia carried out a prisoner swap, with Kyiv releasing 40 prisoners and Moscow freeing 44, according to officials from both countries. 

“We managed to bring home 44 of our men. There are 36 privates and sergeants, and 6 officers among them,” the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said in a Telegram post on Wednesday. “These are soldiers, border guards, national guardsmen and sailors.”

Yermak added that there were also two civilians among those released. 

Moscow said the 40 prisoners of war that were released by Ukraine were “in danger of death,” according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The released service members will be taken to Moscow for “treatment and rehabilitation,” it added. 

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks during a daily briefing at the White House on April 20.

The White House welcomed the news that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping Wednesday for the first time since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, but expressed caution about whether the call could lead to “some sort of meaningful peace movement or plan.”

“We welcome the news that there was a phone call between President Xi and President Zelensky. We think that’s a good thing. We’ve been saying for quite some time that we believe it’s important for President Xi and PRC officials to avail themselves of the Ukrainian perspective on this illegal and unprovoked invasion by Russia,” John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, told reporters. 

Asked whether China can help broker a peace deal, Kirby reiterated that it has to be on Zelensky’s terms, saying an agreement won’t be “sustainable or credible unless the Ukrainians and President Zelensky personally is invested and supportive of it.”  

Kirby said the White House did not have advanced knowledge that the call between Xi and Zelensky would take place, adding “nor would we necessarily expect to.”

Some more context: Wednesday’s phone call is the first time Xi has spoken to Zelensky since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year. In comparison, Xi has spoken to Russian leader Vladimir Putin five times since the invasion – including a face-to-face meeting at the Kremlin when the Chinese leader visited Moscow last month and another in-person meeting at a regional summit in Central Asia last September.

China has claimed neutrality in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, with Beijing calling for peace in the conflict. But it has also refused to condemn Russia’s invasion or make any public call for Russia to withdraw its troops.

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant is pictured a few weeks after the disaster occurred, in May 1986.

The Chernobyl disaster has left a “huge scar” and Russia must be prevented from using nuclear power to blackmail the world, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday on the 37th anniversary of the worst nuclear disaster in history.

Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said “the silence and lies of the Soviet totalitarian regime about the tragedy led to terrible consequences that went far beyond the borders of modern Ukraine.”

Russian forces continue to control the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is the largest nuclear power station in Europe. The plant has frequently been disconnected from Ukraine’s power grid due to intense Russian shelling in the area, raising fears across Europe of a nuclear accident.

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA], said Wednesday he spoke with Zelensky to mark the anniversary, adding the organization continues its efforts to protect the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

Zelensky reiterated his belief that return of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) to his country’s control is the best way to prevent a nuclear disaster like the one that took place in Chernobyl.

“On the anniversary of the Chernobyl tragedy, I had a phone call with IAEA Director Rafael Grossi,” Zelensky said in a telegram post on Wednesday. “I stressed that only the return of Ukraine’s full control over ZNPP will protect the world from a new disaster.”

“I also thanked for the IAEA’s special program on medical support of Ukrainian nuclear workers,” Zelensky added.

What happened at Chernobyl? When an explosion tore through Chernobyl’s No. 4 reactor on April 26, 1986, more than 30 people were killed near Pripyat, Ukraine. Countless others have died from radiation symptoms since, according to the IAEA and the World Health Organization.

The disaster sent a cloud of radioactive fallout over hundreds of thousands of square miles of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. The radioactive effects of the explosion were about 400 times more potent than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II.

CNN’s Olga Voitovych contributed to this post.

France “encourages all dialogue that contributes to a resolution of the conflict [in Ukraine] in accordance with the fundamental interests of Ukraine and international law,” the Elysee Palace said Wednesday, following a call between the Ukrainian and Chinese presidents.

The Elysee said this was the same message French President Emmanuel Macron conveyed to his Chinese counterpart during his visit to China this month.

During this visit, Macron told Chinese President Xi Jinping he was counting on him to “reason” with Russia and help end the war in Ukraine.

At the time, Macron said Russia had “put an end to decades of peace in Europe” and that finding a “lasting peace” that respected internationally recognized borders was “an important issue for China, as much as it is for France and for Europe.”

Macron also stressed a need for discussion “with everyone” including Russia. “We do not simply want an end to the conflict, but respect for Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, which is the only condition for lasting peace,” he said.

Speaking to reporters alongside Macron, Xi said China was ready to “issue a joint call” with France for the international community to “exercise restraint” and “avoid taking actions that might cause the crisis to further deteriorate.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that Moscow has taken notice of China’s willingness to facilitate negotiations with Ukraine following the phone conversation between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. 

“We note the readiness of the Chinese side to make efforts to establish the negotiation process,” Zakharova said during a news conference on Wednesday. 

However, she also noted that under current conditions negotiations are unlikely and blamed Kyiv for rejecting Moscow’s initiatives. 

Ukraine has repeatedly said peace in the conflict will only be achieved if Russia restores the country’s borders and Kyiv takes back Crimea.

Earlier on Wednesday, Xi and Zelensky held their first phone conversation since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Zelensky said he had a “long and meaningful phone call.

In a briefing on Wednesday, China’s Foreign Ministry said its envoy to Ukraine and “other countries” will be Li Hui, special representative of the Chinese Government on Eurasian Affairs. 

Li is the former Chinese ambassador to Russia, who served in the post from 2009 to 2019. 

In a call with Zelensky, Xi said the envoy would travel to Ukraine and other countries to help conduct “in-depth communication” with all parties for a political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. 

The ministry did not provide further details as to when Li would make the trip and which other countries he would be visiting. 

Wednesday’s phone call is the first time Xi has spoken to Zelensky since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year. 

In comparison, Xi has spoken to Russian leader Vladimir Putin five times since the invasion – including a face-to-face at the Kremlin when the Chinese leader visited Moscow last month and another in-person meeting at a regional summit in Central Asia last September.

Jailed Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny now faces “two big trials,” one on extremism charges and the other on terrorism charges, his spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said on Twitter Wednesday. 

The extremism charges carry a total of up to 30 years in prison, while Navalny could face up to 35 years in prison on the terrorism charges, Yarmysh said.

Terrorism case: Navalny first mentioned on Twitter earlier Wednesday that he had been informed of a new “terrorist case” against him, which would be heard by a military court. The accusation, in that case, was that “I, while in prison, commit terrorist attacks,” Navalny said. 

The director of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, Ivan Zhdanov, alleged on Twitter that part of the terrorism case against Navalny involves comments that Navalny’s chief of staff, Leonid Volkov, made on “Popular Politics” – a Russian-language YouTube channel – on July 10 last year about Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Zhdanov also said that the investigator in the terrorism case would consider “the Tatarsky episode” as part of the terrorism investigation. 

Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee claimed earlier this month that an explosion that killed military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky at a cafe in St. Petersburg on April 2 was planned by Ukraine with the participation of Navalny’s supporters, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported on April 3. Navalny’s foundation denies the claims. 

Extremism case: A judge ruled that Navalny has 10 days to “familiarize himself” with documents in the extremism case against him, Yarmysh added.

The ruling was made in a closed hearing at Moscow’s Basmanny district court in Russia. Russian state news agency TASS said there were 196 volumes of documents related to this case and that the court would consider the issue again after May 5.

Navalny’s daughter Daria Navalnaya told CNN’s Jim Sciutto on Tuesday that in “each volume, there are 250 double-spaced pages.”

Key background: Navalny is the best-known opposition politician in Russia. He survived an attempt on his life after being poisoned with Novichok nerve agent in 2020.

Last March, Navalny was sentenced to nine years in a maximum-security jail, according to TASS, after being convicted on fraud charges over allegations that he stole from his Anti-Corruption Foundation. At the time, he was already serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence in a detention center east of the Russian capital after being arrested in February 2021 for violating probation terms — a verdict he said was politically motivated.

He was relocated in June 2022 to a maximum-security prison, according to TASS, which cited Sergey Yazhan, chairman of the regional public oversight commission.

Local resident Ludmyla, 76, stands in front of a heavily damaged residential building in the frontline town of Avdiivka, Donetsk region, on April 25.

On the 37th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Wednesday that Russia must be prevented from using nuclear power to blackmail the world.

Meanwhile, jailed Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny is facing additional criminal charges, his team has said, which could see him sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Here are the latest developments: