July 8, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

We’ve wrapped up our live coverage for the day. You can read more about Russia’s war in Ukraine here, or scroll through the updates below.

Saturday marks 500 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Following the US pledge to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine amid its slower-than-expected counteroffensive, all eyes now turn to a high-stakes NATO summit starting Tuesday in Vilnius, Lithuania.

These are the latest developments.

Shelling in Russian border region: Belgorod, which sits along the border with Ukraine, has come under heavy shelling Saturday, wounding two people, according to regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov, who said that Ukraine fired over 100 artillery shells over the past 24 hours. Ukraine has yet to comment on the reported shelling. 

Moscow brushes off cluster munitions: Russia’s foreign ministry called Friday’s announcement by the US to transfer controversial cluster munitions to Ukraine an “act of desperation” that reflects Ukraine’s counteroffensive “failure.”

US President Joe Biden said it was a “difficult decision” to provide the weapons to Ukraine, but he did so due to the country’s decreasing ammunition. The US Defense Department said one of the primary reasons it is providing the cluster munitions is to help Ukrainian troops punch through Russian defensive lines as the counteroffensive is “going a little slower than some had hoped.”

Both Russia and Ukraine have already used cluster munitions during the war.

Azovstal soldiers back home: Five soldiers who defended the Azovstal steel plant, which became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance in the southern port city of Mariupol during a months-long siege, have returned to Ukraine from Turkey with President Volodymyr Zelensky. Russia called it a “violation,” alleging that Turkey was pressured by NATO into returning the men.

Numerous social media videos showed large crowds greeting the leaders in Lviv.

Gearing up for the NATO summit: Next week’s gathering of the military alliance will not yet result in Ukraine’s membership, a US official said Friday, but the agenda is dominated by issues relevant to the war in Ukraine. Turkey has played a key role, voicing support for Kyiv’s eventual accession while also stalling Sweden’s bid to join the alliance. The Turkish foreign minister discussed NATO’s expansion on the phone with his US counterpart Saturday, while aids in Ankara are preparing for a closely-watched visit from Russian President Vladimir Putin some time next month.

Deadly attack on eastern town: At least eight people were killed and 13 injured as a result of Russian troops shelling the Ukrainian town of Lyman on Saturday, according to Ukrainian officials.

Gradual gains around Bakhmut: Troops have advanced about 1 kilometer in the direction of the battered eastern city, Ukrainian officials said Friday. Artillery units firing at Bakhmut have seen tangible progress in pushing the Russians away, Ukrainian fighters told a CNN team reporting from the eastern front. “The Russians are falling back. We know because they hit us much less,” according to one gunner.

Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov talks to media in the regional capital of Belgorod on June 2.

The Russian border region of Belgorod has come under heavy shelling from Ukraine, wounding two people, the regional governor said in a Telegram post Saturday. 

Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said that Ukraine fired over 100 artillery shells at his region over the past day, naming Belgorodsky, Borisovsky, Valuysky, Krasnoyaruzhsky and Shebekinsky districts among the areas that were hit. 

“Power line got damaged in Krasnoyaruzhsky urban district,” he added. “Trade areas in the local market, a storage at a vegetable warehouse, three garages were damaged in Shebekinsky district.” Gladkov said that a private house, a local store and a car were also damaged in the district, adding that a car caught fire and burned to the ground. 

The Ukrainian side has not yet commented on the reported shelling in Belgorod. 

Some background on previous border activity: In late May, a group of Russian nationals who oppose President Vladimir Putin and are aligned with the Ukrainian army claimed responsibility for a cross-border attack in Belgorod. Ukrainian forces also carried out heavy shelling of the region overnight on June 6, according to Gladkov.

There have also been reports of drone attacks as the effects of Russia’s war on Ukraine increasingly reverberate back onto its own territory.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken released a statement on Saturday honoring “500 days of resilience in Ukraine,” marking the 500th day since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.

“The spirit of Ukraine’s people remains unbroken, and the United States remains committed to helping Ukraine defend itself and to rebuild its future,” Blinken wrote.

It comes after the White House announced Friday that US President Joe Biden had approved the transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine, the latest instance of the US providing Kyiv with weapons it initially resisted sending into the war. Biden told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Friday that it was a “very difficult decision,” adding that “the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition.”

“We will stand with Ukraine — along with our allies and partners — for as long as it takes by providing security, economic, and other assistance to Ukraine, so Ukraine can continue to defend itself and be in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table when the time comes,” he said.

The US decision to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions is an inconsequential act that will still fail to defeat Moscow’s forces on the battlefield, Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement Saturday. 

“It will not affect the course of a special military operation,” Zakharova added, using the preferred terminology among Kremlin officials to describe the war in Ukraine.

Zakharova claimed the US decision was “aimed at maximally prolonging the conflict in Ukraine,” but that Russia’s goals for the invasion will still be fully achieved.

Some context: Officials with the US Department of Defense have acknowledged that one of the primary reasons they’re providing cluster munitions to Kyiv is that its counteroffensive is “going a little slower than some had hoped.”

The Ukrainian military has so far failed to yield major gains, documenting incremental advances on the front lines during the offensive’s opening stages.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he wants to be strategic about where he sends troops in order to minimize casualties, especially considering they are making a slog through heavily mined territories and fortified Russian defenses.

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley has said the pace of the counteroffensive is not surprising, given those factors.

US President Joe Biden told CNN that he deeply considered the issue of providing the cluster munitions — controversial weapons that are banned by over 100 nations because of the potential risk they pose to civilians. Ultimately, he concluded that the risk of Russia succeeding in its invasion was greater than that of letting Ukraine use the weapons on their own soil, he said.

CNN’s Ivana Kottasová and Michael Conte contributed reporting to this post.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that five soldiers who defended the Azovstal plant in the southern city of Mariupol would return to Ukraine.

“We are returning home from Türkiye and bringing our heroes home. Ukrainian soldiers Denys Prokopenko, Svyatoslav Palamar, Serhiy Volynsky, Oleh Khomenko, Denys Shleha. They will finally be with their relatives,” Zelensky said in a Telegram post.

In the video, Zelensky is seen meeting and hugging the men at an airport field before boarding a plane.

The five Ukrainian soldiers surrendered following the fall of Mariupol. After their release from Russian captivity, they were taken to Turkey as part of a prisoner swap back in September, where they were obliged to stay until the end of the war, according to the terms of the swap.

Zelensky was in Turkey to hold talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Background on Azovstal and Mariupol: The siege of the southern port city of Mariupol lasted almost three months, with the steel plant serving as a symbol of resistance and a final holdout as Russian troops advanced further into the city.

The plant sprawled over 4 square miles and once employed more than 10,000 people, a mass of tunnels, pipes and chimney stacks perched on the Azov Sea.

Russian forces shelled the facility day and night for weeks. The Ukrainians’ last stand became increasingly desperate as food and water supplies dwindled, and hundreds of casualties were left without adequate medical care. Huddled together underground in grim conditions, many soldiers and civilians began to doubt that they’d ever escape the plant alive, before negotiations led to a mutual ceasefire.

What Russia says: Turkey was “pressured” by NATO into returning the five Azovstal leaders to Ukraine, Russian state media RIA reported on Saturday, citing Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

Peskov called it “a violation of the terms of the existing agreements,” adding that “the conditions for the return were violated by both the Turkish side and Kyiv.”

CNN’s Mariya Knight and Chris Liakos contributed reporting to this post.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks at a press conference in London on June 30.

United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak addressed cluster munitions a day after the United States said it will send the controversial weapons to Ukraine, but stopped short of directly criticizing the US for its decision.

The UK is “signatory to a convention which prohibits the production or use of cluster munitions and discourages their use,” Sunak told reporters Saturday.

The prime minister also said the upcoming NATO summit will include discussions on how to strengthen support for Ukraine.

About the weapons: Cluster munitions, also called cluster bombs, are canisters that carry tens to hundreds of smaller “bomblets.” As the bomblets fall over a wide area, they can endanger non-combatants.

Much of the world has banned the use of these weapons through the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which also prohibits the stockpiling, production and transfer of them. Though 123 nations have joined that convention, the United States, Ukraine, Russia and 71 other countries have not.

Both Ukrainian and Russian forces have used cluster bombs since Moscow invaded in February 2022.

US President Joe Biden told CNN Friday that it was a “difficult decision” to provide Ukraine with the bombs for the first time, but that he was ultimately convinced to send the weapons because Kyiv needs ammunition in its counteroffensive against Russia.

US President Joe Biden speaks in Washington, DC, on Friday, July 7.

US President Joe Biden will depart Sunday on a consequential days-long Europe trip that includes a host of bilateral meetings with allies amid the backdrop of Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and last month’s attempted mutiny in Russia. 

The White House detailed Biden’s trip in a pool note to traveling reporters. Here’s his schedule:

Saturday marks 500 days since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — and how or when the conflict might end is not yet certain. While Kyiv has launched its counteroffensive to try to drive Russian troops from the territories they have occupied, much of the war’s outcome may be influenced by decisions made far away from the battlefield – mostly notably in Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital, where NATO is set to hold a key summit beginning Tuesday. The high-stakes meeting has a packed agenda, including the alliance’s expansion and assistance to Ukraine.

Here are the latest developments:

Ukrainian artillery units firing at Bakhmut see tangible progress in pushing the Russians away, they told a CNN team reporting from the eastern front.

“One or two months ago there was a lot of incoming. It was scary to be here. Now it’s different,” he adds. 

Ukrainian officials said Friday they had advanced 1 kilometer in the direction of the city. The strategy is to encircle the city from the north and south while pounding Russian troops stationed there with non-stop bombardment to force them to surrender or retreat.

It’s a familiar routine. The orders come in over the radio and the small unit quickly turns into a beehive, removing the nets and tree branches camouflaging the gun, pointing it in the direction of the target and firing. Again and again. It takes minutes to cover it again and then wait for the next order. 

A Ukrainian soldier stands beside a howitzer on July 7 near Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.

At one artillery position, Ukrainian soldiers claim to fire up to 300 rounds every day. But across the board they complain of an ongoing shortage of ammunition. In the absence of Western-supplied ammunition, they rely on Pakistani ammunition. Ares winces when he sees the “Pakistan” labels on the boxes. 

The Bogdana is a Ukrainian-made 155-millimeter self-propelled howitzer. It has a few glitches but the soldiers are proud of it and the Western ammunition it uses, which explodes in the air sending shrapnel over a wide area. 

It has a range of over 40 kilometers (about 25 miles), laying the groundwork for the infantry to push through the Russian defense lines. 

“The Russians have fortified their positions and stand strong,” Bogdana commander Dmytro says. “But I think that’s temporary.”

Watch more:

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02:57 - Source: CNN

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks in Moscow, Russia, on June 29.

No date is set yet for Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit Turkey, Russian state media TASS reported on Saturday, citing Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

According to TASS, Peskov said that contacts between Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are possible, but the exact dates for a visit by the Russian leader to Turkey are still to be determined.

Erdogan told a press conference on Friday that Putin would visit Turkey next month. 

Peskov said Friday that the two sides were already in talks about an in-person meeting.

“Special relationship”: Erdogan is engaged in something of a balancing act, as he tries to negotiate maintaining his close ties to Putin with his country’s key strategic role as a member of NATO.

In an exclusive interview with CNN ahead of Turkish presidential elections in May and June, which secured him a third term, Erdogan told CNN that he has a “special” and growing relationship with Putin.

“We are not at a point where we would impose sanctions on Russia like the West have done. We are not bound by the West’s sanctions,” Erdogan told CNN. “We are a strong state and we have a positive relationship with Russia.”

However, with a key NATO summit beginning Tuesday in Vilnius, Lithuania, members of the defensive bloc have tried to persuade Turkey to toe the line — in particular, by allowing Sweden to join the alliance.

At least eight people were killed and 13 wounded when Russian troops shelled the small Ukrainian city of Lyman on Saturday, according to Ukrainian officials.

Earlier, officials had reported six dead and several injured.

Russian forces attacked the town with multiple launch rocket systems at around 10 a.m. local time (3 a.m. ET), the head of Donetsk region military administration Pavlo Kyrylenko said.

The shelling hit a private residential area, causing damage to a house and a shop. Kyrylenko added that police and emergency services are on the scene providing assistance.

Ukraine’s interior ministry said rescuers had extinguished the fire in the private residential building, a nearby shop and three vehicles.

People attend the funeral of two children who died as a result of a Russian missile strike in Uman, Ukraine, on April 30.

At least 494 children have been killed and 1,051 injured since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine started 500 days ago, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said on Saturday.

Most of the children involved were in the Donetsk and Kharkiv region, with others in regions including Kyiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Mykolaiv, according to the statement.

“These are not the final numbers. Work is ongoing to establish the data in combat zones, as well as in the temporarily occupied and liberated territories,” the prosecutor general’s office said.

Some context: The United Nations said Friday that more than 9,000 civilians, including more than 500 children, had been killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

The UN also warned that the true number of fatalities could be much higher than the figures it had been able to confirm.

May and June saw an increase in the number of civilians killed, the UN added, after a relative decline in civilian fatalities in the first four months of the year.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov holds a news conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 5, 2023.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov thanked the United States on Saturday for agreeing to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions, according to a tweet from the minister.

Reznikov said that Ukraine had been “officially requesting these types of munitions for a long time.”

Reznikov insisted that Ukraine would abide by the principles which it has communicated to the US and its partners. Those include using the munitions for liberating internationally recognized Ukrainian territory, using them in non-urban areas, and keeping a record of where they are used for de-mining purposes later.

Request finally granted: Throughout the war, Kyiv’s Western allies have deliberated at length over whether they should send Ukraine the latest bit of military hardware it has requested. First it was artillery, then it was Leopard and Abrams tanks. The US is now supporting the training of Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets.

Each time, what initially appeared to be a bridge too far for Western nations eventually became seen as the right thing to do.

Cluster weapons followed that same trajectory. CNN first reported this week that US President Joe Biden’s administration was strongly considering approving the transfer of the controversial weapons to Ukraine, having long resisted Kyiv’s requests.

The US confirmed Friday that it would deliver Ukraine these weapons as part of a new military aid package.

What are cluster munitions? Cluster munitions, also called cluster bombs, are canisters that carry tens to hundreds of smaller bomblets, also known as submunitions. The canisters can be dropped from aircraft, launched from missiles or fired from artillery, naval guns or rocket launchers.

The canisters break open at a prescribed height, depending upon the area of the intended target, and the bomblets inside spread out over that area. They are fused by a timer to explode closer to or on the ground, spreading shrapnel that is designed to kill troops or take out armored vehicles such as tanks.

Read more here.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint press conference with leaders of African countries on June 16, 2023 in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky honored the defenders of Snake Island in a Telegram post commemorating the 500th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Saturday.

Snake Island, a Ukrainian island in the Black Sea, became famous when, on the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a Ukrainian soldier on the island delivered a message to the approaching Russian navy:

The soldier’s brave defiance became an early symbol of Ukrainian resistance, at a time when many expected Russia’s military to overwhelm Ukraine’s and deliver a swift victory for Moscow.

The video post was published on Saturday morning but it is unclear when it was filmed.

An agricultural production facility in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih was hit overnight in a drone strike, said the head of Dnipropetrovsk region military administration, Serhii Lysak.

The attack hospitalized one man, who is in a moderate condition, according to Lysak.

Two fires broke out, several warehouses were destroyed, and equipment and vehicles were damaged in the attack, Lysak said.

There were no other attacks on Kryvyi Rih and Nikopol districts, head of Kryvyi Rih city military administration Oleksandr Vilkul said.

Kryvyi Rih is the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announces new cabinet during a press conference in Ankara, Turkey on June 3, 2023.

Ukraine deserves to have NATO membership, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, following talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Russia said it was closely watching.

Zelensky spent this week visiting NATO countries, courting support ahead of a NATO summit in Lithuania beginning on Tuesday, where members are expected to reaffirm that Ukraine will eventually join.

Zelensky said he was “happy to hear” that Turkey supports Ukraine’s bid to join during a joint press conference.

While visiting the Czech Republic this week Zelensky said that he needs “a clear signal that Ukraine will be in the alliance. Not that the door is open for us, which is not enough, but that Ukraine will be in it,” he said Thursday.

NATO has an open-door policy, meaning that any country can be invited to join if it expresses an interest, as long as it is able and willing to uphold the principles of the alliance’s founding treaty. However, under the accession rules, any member state can veto a new country from joining.

Some allies, particularly those in Eastern Europe who are located closer to Ukraine and Russia, have advocated for a more concrete path for Kyiv to join the defensive alliance once the war ends.

Other officials have argued that expediting Ukraine’s NATO membership could be too provocative, and harbor major doubts about admitting a country to the alliance while it is still at war.

Read the full story here.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was “happy to hear” that Turkey supports Ukraine’s bid to join the NATO alliance. 

Zelensky, who spoke alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a joint news conference in Istanbul, said the two leaders discussed “key issues of our work in the context of NATO, in particular preparing for a Vilnius summit.”

Ukraine is expected to be at the top of the agenda of that meeting next week.

Zelensky also said the two leaders talked about “the joint work in the military-industrial complex, development of technologies, drone manufacturing and other strategic directions.”

“We made certain agreements,” he said. “I asked Turkey to join into the efforts of rebuilding and transforming Ukraine, it is a colossal project, and we need Turkey’s experience and technology to help us.”

Some context: Both Sweden and its neighbor Finland stated their intent to join NATO through its open-door policy in May last year, just weeks after Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Finland was accepted in April of this year, doubling the alliance’s border with Russia, but Sweden’s accession is currently being blocked by Turkey.

Turkey claims that Sweden allows members of recognized Kurdish terror groups to operate in Sweden, most notably the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

There’s been a flurry of news away from the battlefield in Ukraine, as Kyiv’s allies prepare for a consequential NATO summit in Lithuania in the coming days, and the United States enters uncharted territory with its latest contribution to Ukraine’s fight against Russia.

If you’re just catching up, here are some of the key headlines from Friday:

Ukraine gets a controversial addition to its arsenal: The US will send cluster munitions to Ukraine as part of a new military aid package, officials confirmed. The decision follows months of debate within the Biden administration about whether to, for the first time, provide Kyiv with the controversial weapons banned by over 100 countries — including key US allies.

Cluster munitions scatter “bomblets” across large areas that can fail to explode on impact and can pose a long-term risk to anyone who encounters them, similar to landmines. The US Defense Department defended its decision, in part, by emphasizing that it was providing only newer versions of the weapons which have lower “dud rates,” meaning fewer bomblets go unexploded and pose a future threat.

Biden outlines his thought process: US President Joe Biden told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria that it was a “difficult decision” to provide Ukraine with the cluster munitions, but that he was ultimately convinced to send the weapons because Kyiv is running out of ammunition in its counteroffensive against Russia. Moscow’s success, he argued, poses an even greater threat than the controversial munitions.

World leaders gear up for the NATO summit: Key storylines to watch when the summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, kicks off Monday include Sweden’s stalled accession to the alliance. It has been left behind even as Finland, which was also driven to abandon neutrality by Russia’s war, joins NATO’s ranks.

The US is trying to help Sweden clear its final hurdles to membership and address objections from Turkey. Ukraine’s president, meanwhile, said Friday that a lack of unity on Sweden’s accession threatens the alliance’s strength.

Ukraine’s own admission to NATO will not immediately result from the summit, a White House official said Friday, but the gathering will provide an opportunity to discuss its future accession and rally support for its war effort. There could also be consequential meetings on the Black Sea grain deal, a vital pact for addressing global hunger by ensuring safe shipments from Ukrainian ports.

President Joe Biden speaks with CNN's Fareed Zakaria during a televised interview inside the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, on Friday, July 7, 2023.

US President Joe Biden told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria Friday that it was a “difficult decision” to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions for the first time, but that he was ultimately convinced to send the controversial weapons because Kyiv needs ammunition in its counteroffensive against Russia.

The White House announced Friday that the president had approved the transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine, the latest instance of the US has providing Kyiv with weapons it initially resisted sending into the war.

The cluster munitions that the US will send to Ukraine will be compatible with US-provided 155mm howitzers, a key piece of artillery that has allowed Ukraine to win back territory over the last year.

Biden told Zakaria that the cluster munitions were being sent as a “transition period” until the US is able to produce more 155mm artillery.

There are more than 100 countries, including the UK, France and Germany, who have outlawed the munitions under the Convention on Cluster Munitions. But the US and Ukraine are not signatories to the ban.

Read more here.

The interview will air in full on “Fareed Zakaria GPS” at 10 a.m. ET on Sunday.