May 18, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

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

The United Kingdom will ban the import of Russian diamonds as part of its latest sanctions against Moscow, Downing Street announced Friday. 

Imports of Russian-origin copper, aluminum and nickel will also be banned under the legislation, which will be introduced later this year, the prime minister’s office said in a statement. 

The Russian diamond industry was worth $4 billion in exports in 2021, according to Downing Street.

Alongside the measures, the UK government is also preparing new individual designations targeting an additional 86 people and companies from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military industrial complex as well as those involved in key revenue streams such as energy, metals and shipping. They include people who are “supporting the Kremlin to actively undermine the impact of existing sanctions,” the statement said. 

To date, the UK has sanctioned over 1,500 individuals and entities, freezing more than £18 billion ($22.3 billion) of assets in the UK, according to Downing Street. 

The announcement comes as British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meets with leaders for the first day of the G7 summit in Hiroshima on Friday.

EU sanctions: Additionally, the European Union will also restrict trade of Russian diamonds, European Council President Charles Michel said Friday.

The EU will also continue its effort to cut off critical supplies from Russia, he added.

A senior EU official said Thursday the EU is “confident” that a plan for sanctioning Russian diamonds will be put in place at the G7 meeting, which kicks off Friday in Japan.

A gardener works on a G7 logo made of flowers with Genbaku Dome in the background in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on Thursday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will participate in the G7 summit virtually on Sunday, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Thursday. 

Zelensky will join a session held Sunday morning on Ukraine, the ministry said. 

Earlier this year, Zelensky had accepted an invite from Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to participate in the summit, which kicks off Friday in Hiroshima, but it was unknown whether he would attend in person or virtually. 

The Biden administration made an accounting error in assessing the value of military support the US has given to Ukraine to date, freeing up approximately $3 billion more in aid, multiple congressional and administration officials told CNN. 

The accounting error occurred because when the US transferred weaponry to Ukraine, they used the value of the replacement instead of the value of actual weapon, defense officials explained. That drove up the cost of each package — because new weaponry costs more than old weaponry — and resulted in the false assumption that more of the funding had been used. 

The error – briefed to lawmakers and congressional staffers Thursday – triggered frustration from Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committees. They believe the mistake reduced the amount of US support that went to Ukraine leading up to the counteroffensive.

McCaul and Rogers said that the administration should “make up for this precious lost time by using these funds to provide Ukraine the DPICMS and ATACMS they need to fuel the counteroffensive and win the war.” 

The Pentagon previously said there was just over $2.3 billion remaining available for Presidential Drawdown Authority for Ukraine. Now, due to this revelation, there is about $5.3 billion still available, far more than even the largest single package provided to Ukraine.

The new amount will likely mitigate the need for Congress to pass an additional assistance package before the end of the fiscal year in September.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hinted Thursday that his military’s offensive brigades are gearing up for a fight, but offered no concrete information.

The country’s much-anticipated counteroffensive appears imminent as the Ukrainian military says it has made gains along the conflict’s frontlines in recent days. There’s speculation that the counteroffensive may already be underway.

If you’re just now reading in, here are other headlines you should know:

Black Sea grain deal: Global wheat prices fell Thursday after Ukraine and Russia agreed to extend a deal allowing grain to be exported from Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea. After the agreement, Russia renewed threats to let the deal expire if Western powers do not meet its demands to lift certain sanctions. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the next two months will be “decisive” when it comes to the future of the deal.

Overnight missile strikes: Moscow claimed Thursday that it struck “foreign-made weapons and equipment” depots in overnight strikes on Ukraine using “high-precision” missiles. Ukraine earlier claimed it had intercepted 29 out of 30 Russian missiles that were fired overnight, including over the capital Kyiv. At least one person was killed in the southern port city of Odesa after debris from an intercepted missile fell on industrial buildings.

A Bakhmut breakthrough?: Ukraine’s Third Separate Assault Brigade said its recent offensive in the eastern city of Bakhmut has helped it stake out a strong position ahead of Ukraine’s anticipated counteroffensive. Brigade leaders said the breakthrough came in an area about 2,000 meters (about 1.25 miles) wide and 700 meters (a little less than half-a-mile) deep. Ukrainian forces have claimed advances in several areas surrounding the embattled eastern city in recent days, despite coming under heavy fire from Russian troops, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s military said Thursday. 

Military aid: Long-range Storm Shadow missiles, which were provided to Ukraine by Britain, have been used successfully since the deployment was announced, UK Defense Minister Ben Wallace said. Also, the Biden administration has signaled to European allies in recent weeks that the US would allow them to export F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, sources familiar with the discussions said. It comes as the White House has been facing increasing pressure from members of Congress and allies to help Ukraine procure the planes amid intensifying Russian aerial attacks. And the Pentagon said that a Patriot missile battery that was damaged by a Russian missile barrage against Kyiv has since been fixed.

2 Russian civilians killed: The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region says that two civilians were killed by Ukrainian fire in a district close to the border. Ukraine said its northern border regions are under fire almost daily by Russian forces, resulting in dozens of casualties in recent months. 

Former commander in the Wagner mercenary group Andrey Medvedev, pictured on the right, listens to his lawyer Brynjulf Risnes during a court hearing in Oslo, on April 25.

Andrey Medvedev, a former commander in the Wagner mercenary group who applied for political asylum in Norway, says he has decided to return to Russia.

In an interview with Russian human rights activist Vladimir Osechkin, Medvedev said he called the Russian embassy in Oslo and asked to be able to return home.

Medvedev gave several interviews explaining that the murder by Wagner of its own deserters led him to leave and seek asylum in Norway. He told CNN he witnessed brutality and incompetence on the front lines in Ukraine, where the mercenary group’s fighters have played a pivotal role in Russia’s invasion.

Legal troubles in Norway: Medvedev crossed the Russia-Norway border on foot in January and sought political asylum.

But his stay in Norway has not been entirely peaceful. In April, the 26-year-old pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a fight outside an Oslo bar, and for carrying an air gun in public.

In a series of short videos, Medvedev said he would cancel his asylum application on June 10.

Horrors in Ukraine: Medvedev was the commander of ex-convict Yevgeny Nuzhin, who Wagner executed for surrendering to Ukrainian troops.

Nuzhin returned to Russia of his own choice, according to Ukrainian authorities. Footage of Nuzhin’s execution by sledgehammer later circulated on social media, a grim reminder of Wagner’s draconic methods.

“They would round up those who did not want to fight and shoot them in front of newcomers,” Medvedev told CNN in January. “They brought two prisoners who refused to go fight and they shot them in front of everyone and buried them right in the trenches that were dug by the trainees.”

File photo of a F-16C Fighting Falcon fighter jet.

The Biden administration has signaled to European allies in recent weeks that the US would allow them to export F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, sources familiar with the discussions said. It comes as the White House has been facing increasing pressure from members of Congress and allies to help Ukraine procure the planes amid intensifying Russian aerial attacks. 

Administration officials are not aware, however, of any formal requests by any allies to export F-16s, and State Department officials who would normally be tasked with the paperwork to approve such third-party transfers have not been told to get to work, officials said.  

A handful of European countries have a supply of the US-made jets, including the Netherlands, which has signaled a willingness to export some of them to Ukraine. But the United States would have to approve that third-party transfer because of the jets’ sensitive US technology.

While the US remains reluctant to send any of its own F-16s to Kyiv, US officials told CNN that the administration is prepared to approve the export of the jets to Ukraine if that is what allies decide to do with their supply. 

Top Ukrainian officials have escalated their public lobbying campaign for US-made F-16s in recent months, arguing they need them urgently to defend against Russian missile and drone attacks. 

Looking ahead: The issue is expected to be a subject of debate at the next NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July, officials said.  

Another open question is where Ukrainian pilots would train on these F-16s. A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said earlier this week that the UK and the Netherlands were looking to form an “international coalition” not only to procure the jets for Ukraine but also to train Ukrainian pilots.

In March, the US hosted two Ukrainian pilots at a military base in Tucson, Arizona, to evaluate their skills using flight simulators and to assess how much time they would need to learn to fly various US military aircraft, including F-16s. But the US has no plans as of now to expand that training, a defense official told CNN, despite Congress setting aside money in the 2023 budget.

CNN’s Zachary Cohen contributed reporting to this post.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky during a joint press conference with Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence, near Ellesborough, northwest of London, on May 15.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a meeting with senior commanders Thursday, hinting afterward that his military’s offensive brigades are gearing up for a fight but offering no concrete information.

“The offensive brigades are doing well, we are preparing, but no details,” Zelensky said.

Ukraine has made significant gains along the conflict’s front lines in recent days, raising speculation that its highly anticipated counteroffensive may already be underway.

A senior US official told CNN “shaping operations” began last week, but Ukraine has yet to state outright that its counterattack has formally begun.

After several days of heavy Russian missile attacks on Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine, Zelensky said his military will prioritize bolstering its air defense systems and missile stocks, training troops and acquiring more long-range weapons.

Solemn anniversary: Zelensky also marked the anniversary of Stalin’s deportation of the Tatar people from Crimea in 1944.

“We honor the memory of all the victims of the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people,” the Ukrainian leader said in his nightly address. “It was one of the most serious crimes of the 20th century — the entire nation was forcibly deported from its native land and forced to live in a foreign land for decades. And when people returned home, Russia once again brought its evil to their home.”

Ukraine has used the Storm Shadow missiles provided by the United Kingdom against Russian forces, a British defense official said Thursday.

“All I can confirm is it has been used successfully, that is the information I received from the Ukrainians, and I’m pleased it is helping them to defend their country,” British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told CNN’s Jim Sciutto in an exclusive interview on “News Central.”

The Storm Shadow missiles, the longest-range weapon in Ukraine’s arsenal, were just recently given to Kyiv ahead of an anticipated counteroffensive against the Russian military. The long-range cruise missile has stealth capabilities and a firing range of more than 250km, or 155 miles.

Asked about a potential counteroffensive and Ukrainian attempt to retake Crimea from Russia, Wallace said that under international law, Ukraine has “every right to do that in accordance of self-defense.”

“Britain isn’t going to stand in the way of that,” he added.

Recent fighting: In the last several days, Russia has continued pounding Ukraine with missiles, killing one civilian and injuring two others in Odesa overnight. Ukraine, however, has maintained that it has been able to knock down many of Russia’s missiles before impact, particularly in the capital of Kyiv.

On Tuesday morning, Russia launched what Ukraine described as an “exceptional” assault on Kyiv that was largely intercepted by air defenses. 

While the battle rages, there has been confusion on whether Ukraine’s counteroffensive has started yet — though that may be the point. US and NATO-supplied equipment has continued pouring into the country, and Wallace said Thursday that the international community’s support of Ukraine is only growing stronger.

A Patriot missile battery damaged by a Russian missile barrage against Kyiv has been fixed, the Pentagon said Thursday.

CNN reported on Wednesday that the damage was minimal. 

In this 2018 photo, a member of the military walks past a MBDA Storm Shadow/Scalp missile at the Farnborough Airshow southwest of London.

United Kingdom Defense Minister Ben Wallace said long-range Storm Shadow missiles, which were provided to Ukraine by Britain, have been used since the deployment was announced.

Speaking at a news conference in London alongside his Norwegian counterpart Bjørn Arild Gram on Thursday, Wallace said he would not give more operational details.

“All I can say is it is my understanding that it has been used since we announced its deployment to Ukraine, but I’m not going to go into further details,” he said.

About the missiles: The Storm Shadow is a long-range cruise missile with stealth capabilities, jointly developed by the UK and France, which is typically launched from the air. With a firing range in excess of 250 kilometers, or 155 miles, it is just short of the 185-mile range capability of the US-made surface-to-surface Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, that Ukraine has long asked for.

The missiles have the range to strike deep into Russian-held territory in eastern Ukraine. A Western official told CNN that the UK has received assurances from the Ukrainian government that these missiles will be used only within Ukrainian sovereign territory and not inside Russia. 

Last week, Wallace called the donation Ukraine’s “best chance to defend themselves against Russia’s continued brutality.”

CNN’s Jim Sciutto contributed reporting to this post.

Workers load grain at a grain port in Izmail, Ukraine, on April 26.

After agreeing to extend the Black Sea grain initiative again this week, Russia renewed threats to let the deal expire if Western powers do not meet its demands to lift certain sanctions.

Russia has agreed to a two-month extension of the deal, viewed as pivotal for addressing world hunger, through July 17.

Moscow has frequently complained that while the deal allows Ukraine to export its grain through Black Sea ports, its own exports are impeded by Western sanctions. An agreement with the United Nations to help facilitate Russian shipments has not yielded results, the Kremlin claims.

The Russian foreign ministry said Thursday there will be not talks of expanding the deal further unless it gets concessions.

Some context: The grain deal became necessary in the first place after Russia launched its war in Ukraine. Following its full-scale invasion, Moscow blockaded exports from key Ukrainian Black Sea ports, including Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi.

The blockages kept millions of tons of Ukrainian grain from reaching the countries that rely on it, until the United Nations and Turkey helped broker the deal.

What Ukraine is saying: The current extension does not provide for satisfying Russia’s outside demands, said Vasyl Bodnar, Ukraine’s ambassador in Turkey.

The grain initiative exists separately from Russia’s demands, which are between the Kremlin and UN leadership, Bodnar insisted.

CNN’s Sophie Tanno contributed to this report.

The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region says that two civilians were killed by Ukrainian fire in a district close to the border.

Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram that two people were killed and one person was hospitalized in critical condition in the Shebekinsky district.

“The Ukrainian Armed Forces killed these civilians while they were in their vegetable garden planting potatoes,” Gladkov said.

A number of Russian civilians have been killed or injured in areas close to the border since the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year. 

On May 10, a man in the Belgorod region died after sustaining a head injury because of Ukrainian shelling, Gladkov said.

In Ukraine, Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the Kharkiv region military administration, said Thursday that one person had been killed in the village of Tsyrkuny by a Russian rocket attack. Two more civilians were wounded, he said.

Ukraine said its northern border regions are under fire almost daily by Russian forces, resulting in dozens of casualties in recent months. 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at a press conference on the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative at the UN headquarters in New York, on May 17.

Global wheat prices fell Thursday after Ukraine and Russia agreed to extend a deal allowing grain to be exported from Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea.

Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade dropped 2% to $6.12 a bushel. Prices have fallen 23% since the start of the year and 57% since hitting an all-time high of $14.30 a bushel in March last year.

The grain deal, first signed in July 2022, was due to expire on Thursday, but Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday that it would be extended for another two months.

Russia had previously threatened to pull out of the deal, complaining about a related agreement with the UN to facilitate shipments of Russian grain and fertilizers.

Why the initiative is important: Ukraine and Russia together account for nearly a third of global wheat exports, according to Gro Intelligence, an agricultural data firm. They are also among the top three global exporters of barley, maize, rapeseed oil and sunflower oil.

Following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year, Moscow blockaded crucial grain shipments from the country’s Black Sea ports. That meant that millions of tons of the region’s grain went undelivered to the many countries that rely on it.

In the days after the invasion, global wheat prices skyrocketed, with the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization warning that as many as 47 million people could be pushed into “acute food insecurity” because of the war.

But the July grain deal and its renewals have helped “stabilize markets and reduce volatility,” the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, an intergovernmental body, said in a press release on Wednesday, noting that global food prices had fallen 20% since hitting all-time highs in March 2022.

CNN’s Anna Chernova contributed reporting.

As intense combat continues in and around the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, one Ukrainian unit says it has made more progress on the western outskirts of the city. 

The Third Separate Assault Brigade said its recent “offensive actions” have helped it stake out a strong position ahead of Ukraine’s anticipated counteroffensive. Brigade leaders said the breakthrough came in an area about 2000 meters (about 1.25 miles) wide and 700 meters (a little less than half-a-mile) deep.

The Ukrainian fighters claim they’ve killed at least 50 Russian troops and wounded as many as 100 more, taking an additional four Russians prisoner. This has significantly cut into the enemy’s reserves in the area, the brigade said.

CNN cannot independently verify the brigade’s claims.

Other recent developments in Bakhmut: Ukrainian forces have claimed advancements in several areas surrounding the embattled eastern city in recent days, despite coming under heavy fire from Russian troops.

Ukrainian fighters from another unit, the 46th Separate Air Assault Brigade, said on Telegram that they’re focused on a promising territory in a rural area south of the city, as well as villages close to the main highway that runs northwest from Bakhmut toward Sloviansk.

The head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claimed Thursday that Russian army units pulled back in an area north of Bakhmut, leaving his own fighters exposed.

However, Prigozhin said his fighters in the city itself continue to take streets and buildings along the western edge of Bakhmut.

The first UN-chartered vessel MV Brave Commander loads more than 23,000 tonnes of grain to export to Ethiopia, in Yuzhne, east of Odessa on the Black Sea coast, on August 14, 2022.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said the next two months will be “decisive” when it comes to the future of the Black Sea grain deal, which allows the safe export of grain from Ukrainian ports. 

“Taking into account the whole range of circumstances, and taking into account the appeals of our partners, we supported the initiative of President Erdogan when he proposed extending this deal for another two months, with a clear understanding that these two months will be decisive,” Lavrov said at a news conference with his Ugandan counterpart in Moscow. 

Moscow has agreed to a two-month extension of the Black Sea grain deal, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Thursday after talks on easing restrictions on Russian agricultural exports.

“We can confirm that the Russian side has also decided to continue this so-called Black Sea deal for a period of two months,” Peskov told reporters.

He described it as a “relative result” for Russia, adding that the pact’s fate was, “in the hands of those with whom the UN must agree on its Russian part.”

Russia had previously threatened to pull out of the deal, complaining that a separate agreement with the UN to facilitate shipments of Russian grain and fertilizers, brokered as part of the negotiations on the deal last July, was not being adhered to.  

What is the Black Sea grain deal?: The deal was first established in July 2022 to ensure the safe exportation of Ukrainian grain amidst Russian blockades of Ukrainian ports. The deal – which the United Nations and Turkey helped broker – was set to expire on Wednesday before it was renewed.

According to the European Commission, Ukraine accounts for 10% of the world wheat market, 15% of the corn market and 13% of the barley market. It is also a key global player in the market of sunflower oil.

Should the deal not have been renewed, food security around the world would have been jeopardized. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) wrote on Tuesday that as much as 90% of imports into East African countries are shipments supported by the grain deal. If these imports were to stop, there would be a “spike in the number of undernourished people” to almost 19 million in 2023, the IRC said.

The new deal will now be in effect until July 18.

Moscow claimed on Thursday that it had struck “foreign-made weapons and equipment” depots in overnight strikes on Ukraine using “high-precision” missiles. 

The Russian defense ministry said in its daily briefing: “Today, during the night, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out group strikes with long-range, sea- and air-based high-precision weapons against large warehouses of foreign-made weapons and equipment, as well as enemy reserves. The target has been reached. All assigned objects are hit.”

Some context: Ukraine earlier claimed it had intercepted 29 out of 30 Russian missiles that were fired overnight, including over the capital Kyiv. At least one person was killed in the southern port city of Odesa after debris from an intercepted missile fell on industrial buildings.

Russia has continued its bombardment of multiple sites in Ukraine, killing one civilian in Odesa and leaving Kyiv’s air sirens blaring. But on the front lines, Ukraine is continuing to make significant gains, raising speculation that its counteroffensive may well be underway.

Here are the latest developments:

Derailed wagons following an accident involving a freight train carrying grain in the Simferopol District, Crimea, on May 18.

Trains between Crimea’s two largest cities have been halted after a freight train derailed Thursday, according to Russia-backed authorities.

In a Telegram post, Crimean Railways announced the suspension of services on the Simferopol to Sevastopol line after the train was derailed by the “intervention of unauthorized persons.”

There were no casualties, it added.

Sergey Aksenov, the Moscow-appointed head of the peninsula, said on Telegram that wagons carrying grain “fell off the rails” in Simferopol. He later added that authorities were investigating.

Ukraine has not commented on the incident.

A derailed wagon following an accident involving a freight train carrying grain in the Simferopol District, Crimea, on May 18.

Some context: The Ukrainian military has in recent months carried out attacks in Crimea to harass the Russian Black Sea fleet and disrupt vital Russian supply lines. Ukrainian leaders have previously stated that their goal is to recapture Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.

Ukraine’s capital has seen nine attempted Russian missile strikes so far this month. Despite this, Kyiv claims to have escaped with barely a scratch, denying that any of Moscow’s missiles or drones hit their targets. NATO-provided air defense systems are the likely reason behind this, intercepting the weapons before they are able to inflict their intended damage. 

Most Kyiv residents have no way of knowing for sure that the sudden, terrifying loud bangs are the Ukrainian air defense systems taking down Russian missiles, rather than rockets hitting their city.

On Tuesday morning, Kyiv was hit by an “exceptional” dense attack, according to Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv city military administration.

Liudmyla Kravchenko spent most of the strikes sheltering in her corridor with her husband and their two children. 

She said her 1-year-old son Artem slept in her arms as they were waiting for the attack to end. Her 9-year-old daughter is now so used to air raids that she knows “to drop everything and take cover” when her parents tell her to.

Read our full report here.