March 2, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

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

Russian forces are advancing within the fiercely contested eastern city of Bakhmut as Ukrainian forces try to repel ongoing attacks in nearby areas in the Donetsk region, according to the Ukrainian military’s General Staff. Russian forces have also launched rocket attacks in the cities Chasiv Yar and Zaporizhzhia over the last 24 hours.

If you’re just now catching up, here’s what you should know:

Alleged Bryansk raid: Russian security officials claimed Thursday that a small Ukrainian armed group had crossed the Russian border into the southern Bryansk region, an accusation dismissed by a top Ukrainian official as a “classic deliberate provocation.” President Vladimir Putin called the alleged raid a “terrorist act,” blaming it on “neo-Nazis.” Russia’s Federal Security Service said the situation in the settlements of the Klimovsky district of Russia’s western Bryansk region is now under the control of law enforcement agencies, according to state news agency RIA Novosti.

Support for Ukraine: The US announced three new partnerships Thursday in an effort to boost Ukraine’s agricultural sector and help supply the country’s grain to the world, USAID officials told CNN. And on Friday, the White House is set to announce another round of military assistance, which will “include mostly ammunitions and munitions that the Ukrainians will need for the systems that they already have, like the HIMARs and the artillery,” according to National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby. 

US-Russia meeting: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that he met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday and that he “urged Russia to reverse its irresponsible decision and return to implementing the New START [Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.]”

Whelan update: Blinken said the US “put forward a serious proposal” to Moscow regarding jailed American citizen Paul Whelan. The former marine was detained at a Moscow hotel in December 2018 by Russian authorities who alleged he was involved in an intelligence operation. He was convicted and sentenced in June 2020 to 16 years in prison in a trial US officials denounced as unfair.

There have been no signs of an explosion found at sites in the Russian city of Kolomna, according to Russian state-run media outlets.

Earlier, local authorities told RIA Novosti that an explosion had occurred in Kolomna Thursday evening, but could not provide further details. 

The city of Kolomna is about 114 kilometers (70 miles) southeast of Moscow. 

The gas and electricity supply “in the urban district of Kolomna are working in normal mode, and there were no disruptions at energy and gas infrastructure facilities,” the Ministry of Energy of the Moscow region said, as cited by Russia state news agency TASS.

National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby answers questions during the daily press briefing at the White House on March 2 in Washington, DC.

The White House will announce another round of military assistance for Ukraine on Friday, which is the same day that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will meet with President Joe Biden, according to National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby. 

Kirby declined to provide a dollar figure for Friday’s announcement. He added that Biden and Scholz will discuss “additional support for Ukraine going forward.”

The announcement comes just one week after the Biden administration announced another $2 billion in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds. That funding was for purchases and new contracts for equipment for Ukraine, including:

Ukrainian service members prepare to shoot from a howitzer at a front line near the city of Bakhmut on March 2.

Russian forces continue to press their offensive in the Bakhmut area as Ukrainian forces try to repel ongoing attacks near the key eastern town and nearby areas in the Donetsk region, the Ukrainian military’s General Staff said in an evening update on Thursday. 

Over the last 24 hours, Russian forces launched rocket attacks on the cities of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region, located just five kilometers (about three miles) west of Bakhmut, and Zaporizhzhia, the General Staff said. 

There were unsuccessful Russian offensive attempts in the Kupyansk and Lyman directions, it added.

In the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson directions, Russian forces continue “to try to create conditions for an offensive” and have fired artillery at more than 40 settlement areas, it said.

Ukraine also responded with 13 strikes over the past day in areas where Russia has personnel and military equipment, the General Staff said, adding that the missile and artillery units hit one Russian ammunition depot.

Standing outside a Russian detention center in Kherson, days after the southern Ukrainian city was liberated, 29-year-old Ihor still shivered as he recalled what he endured inside.

“People were tortured, they were beaten with sticks in the arms and legs, cattle prods, even hooked up to batteries and electrocuted or waterboarded with water,” he added.

Kherson was the first large city and only regional capital Russian troops were able to occupy since the start of the invasion. Moscow’s armies took over the city on March 2, 2022, and occupied it for several months before being forced to withdraw in early November, after a months-long offensive by Ukrainian forces.

The detention center Ihor was held in was part of a network of at least 20 facilities that Ukrainian and international lawyers said was part of a calculated Russian strategy to extinguish Ukrainian identity.

“These detention centers are linked, they follow a very similar, if not identical way of behaving,” Wayne Jordash, head of the Mobile Justice Team, a collective of international investigators supporting Ukraine’s Office of the Prosecutor General, told CNN.

The investigation found that Russian forces followed a very specific blueprint in several occupied areas, with clear patterns that point to the overarching plan of Moscow’s occupation of Ukraine.

“The first stage, essentially, is to detain and, in many instances, kill a category of people labeled as ‘leaders,’ i.e. those who could physically resist the occupation, but also those who could culturally resist it,” Jordash said.

“The second stage is a sort of filtration process where the population that remains outside of the detention centers is subject to constant monitoring and filtration so that anyone who’s suspected of being involved with ‘leaders’ or been involved with organizing any type of resistance is also then identified and either deported to Russia or detained in the detention centers and tortured.”

Jordash said these methods were employed not just in Kherson but in other areas occupied by Russian forces, such as the Kyiv suburbs of Bucha and Borodianka. However, he added, the lengthy occupation of Kherson allowed Russian forces to go even further.

Ukrainian and International investigators also said they discovered financial links connecting these detention centers to the Russian state.

“Those detention centers have financial links to the Russian state,” Jordash said, citing documents uncovered by the investigators. “These financial documents, they show that the civilian administration is being financed from Russia and the civilian administration is financing the detention centers, so you have very clear patterns and very clear links.”

CNN has not been able to independently review the documents cited by the investigation.

Read more here.

Farmers harvest wheat in the Ternopil region of Ukraine on August 4, 2022.

The US is announcing three new partnerships Thursday in an effort to boost Ukraine’s agricultural sector and help supply the country’s grain to the world, USAID officials told CNN. 

The announcement is part of a deliberate effort by the Biden administration to build up Ukraine’s economy and alleviate the global food security crisis which has been exacerbated following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Ukraine is regarded as a key bread-basket for much of the world, and the country relies on agriculture to generates more than 40% of total export revenues. The country’s economy shrank by more than 30% in 2022 after Russia’s brutal invasion destroyed infrastructure, hurt businesses and disrupted daily life, according to Kyiv’s economic ministry. 

USAID’s new partnerships with Grain Alliance, Kernel, and Nibulon are projected to increase Ukraine’s grain shipping capacity by more than 3 million tons annually, the officials said. Each company has a long history of working in Ukraine. 

Working together USAID and these organizations are planning to invest $44 million to support storage and infrastructure expansion in Ukraine’s agriculture sector.

This comes after USAID has announced multiple different initiatives to support Ukraine’s agriculture sector, including programs to specifically target Ukrainian farmers.

A Black Sea Grain deal has also enabled the passage of Ukrainian ships carrying the agriculture products to depart the country, which was a challenge in the early days of the war with Russia preventing the ships from leaving.

The new investments that USAID and its partners are announcing this week will target multiple terminals — Izmail and Reni in Ukraine, both on the Danube, and Čierna nad Tisou in Slovakia— where they expect to see an increase in grain exports. The operations will involve construction to renovate the areas where vessels are loaded.

A still image taken from video released on March 2 by founder of Russia's Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin's press service, shows what it said to be Wagner fighters standing with a flag on top of a building in Bakhmut, Ukraine.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, shared a video on Thursday, which he said shows Wagner fighters in the city of Bakhmut.

In the video, geolocated by CNN to the east of Bakhmut, uniformed men can be seen lifting a Wagner banner on the top of a heavily damaged building, with one of the men holding a guitar, presumably in reference to the private military group’s nickname, “the musicians.”

In the caption of the video posted on Telegram, Prigozhin is quoted as saying the video was brought this morning “from Bakhmut, practically the center of the city.” 

Despite Prigozhin’s claim that his fighters had advanced to the city center, CNN geolocated the video to around 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the center of Bakhmut — Wagner fighters have been there for a while. 

The town in the eastern Donetsk region has been the scene of some of the fiercest fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces in recent weeks.

Serhii Cherevatyi, a spokesperson for the Eastern Grouping of Ukraine’s Armed forces, told CNN on Wednesday that Russian forces were employing the more experienced fighters from Wagner’s ranks as they continued their assault on Bakhmut. 

The situation in the settlements of the Klimovsky district of Russia’s western Bryansk region is under the control of law enforcement agencies, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Wednesday, according to state news agency RIA Novosti. 

“The area is being checked and inspected, a large number of explosive devices of various types have been found, mine clearance is underway,” claims an FSB statement, as quoted by RIA Novosti. 

The governor of the Bryansk region, Alexander Bogomaz, said Wednesday on his Telegram channel that in the village of Lyubechan, two civilians were killed and a child was injured. 

In the village of Sushany, also located in the Klimovsky district, Bogomaz said a residential building caught fire from a shell dropped from what he claimed was a Ukrainian drone, according to RIA Novosti. 

CNN cannot independently verify those claims, and local media have not carried any images of the supposed incidents, any type of confrontation, or an alleged raid reported by Russian authorities.

Earlier today, Russian security officials alleged that a small Ukrainian armed group crossed the border into Russia’s southern Bryansk region. Kyiv dismissed the claim as a “classic” Russian provocation. Then, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the developments, calling it a “terrorist act,” but didn’t specify if the group crossed the border from Ukraine.

Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who was detained and accused of espionage, stands inside a defendants' cage before a court hearing in Moscow, Russia, on August 23, 2019.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the US “has put forward a serious proposal” to Moscow regarding wrongfully detained American citizen Paul Whelan.  

Whelan, a former marine who is a US, Irish, British and Canadian citizen, was detained at a Moscow hotel in December 2018 by Russian authorities who alleged he was involved in an intelligence operation. He was convicted and sentenced in June 2020 to 16 years in prison in a trial US officials denounced as unfair.

He expressed his frustration that more has not been done to secure his release in an exclusive CNN interview last year after another detained American, Brittney Griner, was freed.

Elizabeth Whelan, Paul Whelan’s sister, told CNN following Blinken’s exchange with Lavrov that “of course, we are pleased to see Paul’s case elevated in this manner, and take a great deal of comfort in the fact that the Secretary of State continues to press for a solution to Paul’s wrongful detention.”

“Now that Brittney Griner has been home for almost 3 months, it is time for the Russian authorities to continue discussions to resolve this situation,” she said Thursday. “Paul is waiting to come home to Michigan, where he belongs, away from the deplorable conditions in the Russian labor camp where he has been held for so long.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken walks to a meeting on the sideline of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi, India, on March 2.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that he met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday on the sidelines of G20 in New Delhi.

He said he told Lavrov that the US will be ready to engage with Russia on matters of strategic nuclear arms control “no matter what else is happening in the world and in our relationship,” invoking the historic work that the US did with the former Soviet Union on the subject at the height of the Cold War.

Blinken also said he urged Russia to end its war in Ukraine and enter negotiations, reiterating the US support for Ukraine.

“Every G20 member and virtually every country, period, continues to bear the cost of Russia’s war of aggression,” Blinken said

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the alleged raid in the border region of Bryansk a “terrorist act,” blaming it on “neo-Nazis.”

“Today, [they] committed another terrorist act, penetrated the border area and opened fire on civilians,” Putin said during a televised meeting on Thursday. “They saw that civilians and children were sitting there, [in] an ordinary Niva (car). They opened fire on them.”

Putin promised to “put them away” but didn’t specify if the group had crossed the border from Ukraine. “Violence, a real crime, it is committed precisely by neo-Nazis and their masters.”

Bryansk region’s Gov. Alexander Bogomaz says one person was killed and one child was injured as a result of the alleged raid. “At present, the child has been taken to the Bryansk regional hospital, nothing is threatening his life.”

CNN could not independently confirm Bogomaz’s remarks and has not been able to find any video or photographs on showing any type of confrontation or the alleged raid reported by Russian authorities. Local media have not carried any images of the supposed fighting. 

The Russian President canceled a planned trip to southern Russia due to the incident in Bryansk, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier on Thursday. Russian security officials claimed Thursday that a small Ukrainian armed group had crossed the Russian border into the southern Bryansk region, claims dismissed by a top Ukrainian official as a “classic” Russian provocation.

US and Ukrainian officials have in the past warned that Russia has planned so-called “false flag” attacks along Russia’s border with Ukraine as a pretext for military escalation, including Russian claims ahead of last year’s full-scale invasion that Ukraine was sending “saboteurs” over the Russian border.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for the first time since the invasion of Ukraine in an unplanned meeting on the sidelines of the G20 in New Delhi.

In Ukraine, Russian forces are advancing in the eastern city of Bakhmut, and a CNN team on the ground in nearby Chasiv Yar has witnessed continued artillery bombardments.

Here are the latest headlines:

Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar speaks during the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi, India, on March 2.

Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar announced Thursday that the G20 meeting of the foreign ministers was unable to reach a consensus to issue a joint statement due to their “differing opinions” on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

In the first major G20 meeting held in New Delhi, the countries were able to form a consensus on issues ranging from counter-terrorism to multilateral banks to global skill mapping. Still, they stopped short of issuing a statement agreeing on all subjects and actions, according to Jaishankar. 

The effect of this conflict on countries impacted by the coronavirus pandemic is damaging, he added, saying the global south still needs help.

U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi, India, on March 2.

A meeting of G20 foreign ministers in India has been “marred” by the war in Ukraine, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“We must continue to call on Russia to end its war of aggression and withdraw from Ukraine for the sake of international peace and economic stability,” added Blinken.

G20 officials are gathered for a series of events in India, the current holder of the group’s presidency.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the G20 foreign ministers meeting, via video link, in New Delhi, India, on March 2.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for nations to “rise above [their] differences,” adding that “multilateralism is in crisis.”

“You are meeting at a time of deep global divisions. As foreign ministers, it is but natural that your discussions are affected by the geopolitical tensions of the day,” he said.

“However, as the leading economies of the world, we also have a responsibility towards those who are not in this room. The world looks upon the G20 to ease the challenges of growth.”

Russian security officials claimed Thursday that a small Ukrainian armed group had crossed the Russian border into the southern Bryansk region, claims dismissed by a top Ukrainian official as a “classic deliberate provocation.”

The Security Service of Russia (FSB) said in a statement via state media RIA Novosti Thursday that the agency — which also oversees border control — was carrying out joint operations with the Russian Ministry of Defense to counter what it described as “armed Ukrainian nationalists who violated the state border” in the district.

Details thus far have remained vague, but Russian state news agency TASS cited an anonymous source in the Russian security services that up to six people were being held hostage in two villages in the Bryansk region of Russia on the border with Ukraine by the alleged saboteurs. The spokesperson for the governor of the Bryansk region claimed in remarks to the state-owned military channel Zvezda that a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group is operating on the territory of the village of Sushany, without providing additional information.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Vladimir Putin canceled a planned trip to southern Russia Thursday due to the events and was being regularly briefed on what he described as a “terrorist attack.”

What Ukraine is saying: An adviser in the Ukrainian President’s Office, Mykhailo Podolyak, says Russia’s allegation is either a provocation, or the work of local partisans taking a stand against the Kremlin, denying any Ukrainian involvement.

“Ukraine is not attacking,” Podolyak said, adding that this type of operation was consistent with previous Russian provocations. “This is classic Russia. It always goes for provocation, lies, it always creates information pretexts.”

“Ukraine does not attack Russian territory, does not send special reconnaissance groups there, does not kill people, especially civilians. Ukraine does not need this. This is not a strategic object and there is no point in going there,” he added.

CNN cannot independently verify the Russian claims, and local media have not carried any images of the supposed fighting. US and Ukrainian officials have in the past warned that Russia has planned so-called “false flag” attacks along Russia’s border with Ukraine as a pretext for military escalation, including Russian claims ahead of last year’s full-scale invasion that Ukraine was sending “saboteurs” over the Russian border.  

Separately, the governor of Russia’s southern Kursk region published a video statement on his Telegram channel claiming that a village was being shelled by Ukrainian forces. 

This combination of photos shows U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, walk to attend second session of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting, respectively, in New Delhi, India, on March 2.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the G20 in New Delhi, according to a State Department official traveling with Blinken.

The brief contact marks a significant moment as high-level engagements between the United States and Russia have become exceedingly rare since the start of the war last February. The meeting comes as tensions remain high over Ukraine as well as Russia’s suspension of the New START nuclear weapons treaty.

What we know about the meeting: Blinken and Lavrov spoke for roughly 10 minutes, the same official said. In the conversation, Blinken called on Russia to release Paul Whelan and restart participation in New START, as well as underscoring US support for Ukraine, according to the source.

The source also said that this meeting was unplanned and that Secretary Blinken was the one to approach Lavrov on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers meeting in New Delhi.

Russian Ministry of Foreign affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova confirmed to CNN that the meeting took place.

“Blinken asked for contact with Lavrov. On the go, as part of the second session of the twenty, Sergey Viktorovich (Lavrov) talked. There were no negotiations, meetings, etc,” she said.

The last time Blinken and Lavrov met in person was before the Russian invasion.

Earlier Blinken said that a meeting of G20 finance ministers was “marred” by the war in Ukraine.

“Unfortunately, this meeting has again been marred by Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war against Ukraine, deliberate campaign of destruction against civilian targets, and its attack on the core principles of the UN Charter,” he said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz addresses the Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, on March 2.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has urged China not to provide weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine, instead asking Beijing to use its influence in Moscow to work for peace.

“My message to Beijing is clear: use your influence in Moscow to persuade the withdrawal of Russian troops,” Scholz told German lawmakers at the Bundestag on Thursday.

“And do not deliver any weapons to Moscow.”

Scholz also referred to China’s position paper on Ukraine, in which Beijing reiterated its calls for a political settlement to the Ukraine conflict and stressed its opposition to the use of nuclear weapons.

The 12-point document is part of China’s efforts to present itself as a neutral peace broker, as it struggles to balance its “no-limits” friendship with Moscow and fraying relations with the West as the war drags on.

”It is very positive that China has sent out this clear signal and in its 12-point plan has said that there can be no use of chemical or biological weapons,” Scholz said. 

”However, China should be discussing this 12-point plan with those most involved - such as President Zelensky,” he added. “At the G20 meeting there was no will unfortunately to emphasize that message.”

Some context: Beijing is coming under increasing pressure from the United States and its allies over its growing partnership with Moscow.

China’s claim to neutrality is severely undermined by its refusal to acknowledge the nature of the conflict — it has avoided calling it an “invasion” — and its diplomatic and economic support to Russia.

For example, China and Russia were the only two G20 nations to refuse to sign a joint statement condemning the invasion produced during a meeting of finance ministers in India on Saturday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, meets with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on the sidelines of G20 foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi, India, on March 2.

Russia and China have “unanimously rejected” what they called “attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries” at the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting on Thursday.

The two nations expressed a “high degree of closeness and concurrence of positions” on the situation in Ukraine, according to a Russian readout of a meeting between Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov and Qin Gang.

Lavrov and Qin said they also rejected attempts “to impose unilateral approaches through blackmail and threats, and to oppose the democratization of international relations.”

Some context: G20 officials are gathered for a series of events in India, the current holder of the group’s presidency.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for nations to “rise above [their] differences,” adding that “multilateralism is in crisis.”

A Ukrainian servicemen gestures as he rides a tank in Chasiv Yar, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on March 2.

Regular and sustained artillery could be heard around the Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar, five kilometers (more than 3 miles) west of the besieged city of Bakhmut, reported by a CNN team on the ground.

CNN witnessed convoys of Ukrainian armored vehicles heading in both directions along the main supply road into Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine on Thursday. One tank group gave CNN the “V” for victory sign. 

Ukrainian “infantry are fighting against what remains of the Wagner group and at least two Russian paratrooper battalions,” a soldier who has been in Bakhmut for weeks told CNN.

Another Ukrainian soldier said they had no intention of retreating from Bakhmut.

“If we leave Bakhmut, Russians will start destroying the next Ukrainian villages and towns,” they said. 

Chasiv Yar would likely be the next target for Russian forces should they claim Bakhmut, according to Ukrainian military officials.

CNN spoke with residents in the town at a bus stop serving as a delivery point for tarpaulin to cover their windows.

One elderly lady, Valentina, said that many shells were flying overhead and that from certain points in the town “you can walk to Russian positions.”

Some context: Ukrainian commanders and soldiers have described the situation in and around Bakhmut as extremely difficult in the past few days.

Ukraine’s military general staff has acknowledged that Russian forces have been able to make gains in the city and were no longer operating only on the outskirts.

Ukrainian commanders have also said they are not planning on withdrawing from Bakhmut yet.