June 8, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

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

Smoke and dirt rise from shelling in the city of Severodonetsk on June 7.

Most of the eastern city of Severodonetsk is now controlled by the Russians, Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk regional military administration, announced on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian forces reported fierce battles taking place at several locations across the eastern city in Ukraine’s Luhansk region.

In an interview with news outlet RBC-Ukraine on Wednesday, Hayday said that earlier this week, Ukrainian special forces had managed to take control of almost half of the city.

But he said that when the Russian troops saw the Ukrainian advance, “they simply began to level it to the ground with air strikes and artillery.”

Hayday explained that Ukrainian forces had no choice but to make a temporary tactical retreat from the central parts of the city due to the intense Russian bombardment.

The official said that despite the pullback, Ukraine has retained control of Serverodonetsk’s industrial zone, a key area on the outskirts of city.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the eastern city of Severodonetsk “remains the epicenter of the confrontation in Donbas.”

Zelensky also said that on Wednesday “the occupiers announced the absolutely crazy news that they are preparing to unite some football clubs from all occupied territories into one pseudo-championship — from Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Melitopol, Crimea, and even part of Georgia. “

He called this decision “a mockery” of the Ukrainian people. Only the return of Ukraine, Zelensky stressed, will mean “a normal life for these territories, for these cities — again… Peaceful, safe, open to the world. And of course — new matches of world-class teams at the Donbas Arena,” he added.

Zelensky also thanked President of Poland Andrzej Duda and President of Slovakia Zuzana Čaputová for the joint initiative to start “a special trip to European countries to support the European perspective of our country.” He says all Ukrainian diplomats are working on this issue in full.

The Ukrainian president also mentioned that he addressed the representatives of the world’s largest investment funds at a private event on Wednesday and urged them to invest in Ukraine.

Zelensky talked to “members of the community of leaders of major American companies.” He prompted them “to leave the Russian market and not to support this war with their taxes.” He said it is very important for him to know that these leaders support strengthening the sanctions against Russia.

Authorities in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine have released propaganda video showing three foreigners in court over accusations they were mercenaries fighting for Ukraine.  

The video, released Tuesday by the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, showed British citizens Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner and Moroccan national Brahim Saadoune.

The three men have been charged with “mercenarism, crimes aimed at forcible seizure and retention of power, as well as training in order to carry out terrorist activities on the territory of the DPR,” said Vitalia Cherniavskaya, an official representative of general prosecutor of DPR, in a separate video released on the DPR Telegram channel.

Russia is the only country that considers the DPR independent. The international community does not recognize DPR and its institutions and considers the territory to be part of Ukraine.

DPR authorities said the three were foreign fighters who had been captured in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol by Russian forces in April. Independent watchdog groups have long accused the separatists of a dismal human-rights track record and ill-treatment of prisoners. 

The Ukrainian government said in a statement on Wednesday that it considers all foreign volunteers to be members of its armed forces and to be lawful combatants entitled to treatment as prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions. 

The family of Aslin said Tuesday it was working with the UK Foreign Office and Ukrainian government to get him home, according to PA media. In a statement released through the UK Foreign Office, the family said Aslin was “a “much-loved man and very much missed.”

Pinner was previously member of the UK Armed Forces, according to a statement released by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in April. Several friends of Saadoune told CNN he initially came to Ukraine to study at a university and joined the Ukrainian armed forces in 2021.

A statue of Albert Gallatin, a former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, stands in front of The Treasury Building in Washington, D.C. on April 22, 2018.

US President Joe Biden’s administration has issued new investment restrictions that prohibit Americans from buying Russian stocks and bonds.

The ban is the latest step by US officials to crank up the financial pressure on Russia in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.  

According to new guidance issued Monday by the Treasury Department, US investors are prohibited from buying “both new and existing debt and equity securities issued by an entity in the Russian Federation.”

Up until now, Americans were able to buy Russian stocks and bonds that change hands in secondary markets. 

Americans will still be allowed to sell Russian stocks and bonds, although only to a “non-US person,” the Treasury said. Americans are not “required” to divest Russian securities and may continue to hold them, according to the guidance. 

And US investors can also still invest in US funds that own Russian securities, as long as those Russian holdings are not the bulk of the fund’s assets. 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have agreed “to do everything” to enable grain exports from Ukraine as concerns mount over a global food crisis. 

During a phone call Wednesday, Scholz briefed the Ukrainian leader on his calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron on May 28, according to a statement from the German Chancellery. 

“The Chancellor and the Ukrainian President also exchanged views on the current military and humanitarian situation in Ukraine. They agreed that everything must be done to enable grain export from Ukraine, especially by sea,” according to the Chancellery. 

The leaders’ call comes as Turkish and Russian foreign ministers met in Ankara on Wednesday to discuss issues related to grain exports from Ukraine.

In a tweet Wednesday, Zelensky said he raised the issue of Russia’s “compliance with international rules of treatment of war prisoners” with Scholz. He also stressed the importance of decisions on Ukraine’s integration into the European Union, according to the tweet.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has sharply downgraded its global growth forecasts for 2022 warning that “the world is set to pay a hefty price for Russia’s war against Ukraine.”

OECD now expects global growth to be 3% in 2022 — down from 4.5% in its December forecast — and to remain at similar pace for 2023.

The forecast is in line with the World Bank, which said yesterday that it expects global growth to be 2.9% in 2022.

Among the G20 countries, OECD expects the UK to be hit the most in 2023 besides Russia, projecting that the country will post zero growth in 2023 after growing by 3.6% in 2022. 

Boone called for global cooperation to avoid a food crisis. 

“Today, the world is producing enough cereals to feed everyone, but prices are very high and the risk is that this production will not reach those who need it most. Global cooperation is needed to ensure that food reaches consumers at affordable prices, in particular in low-income and emerging market economies,” Boone said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a news conference after meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, in Ankara, on June 8.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday that Russia’s intentions and goals in Ukraine are “clear” and maintained that Moscow is not halting grain exports from Ukraine.

During a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara, a Ukrainian journalist asked Lavrov: “Aside from the grain products, what [else] did Russia steal from Ukraine?”

He responded that “with regards to grains, there is no obstacle or challenge caused by the Russian Federation.”

“Mr. Zelensky needs to give an instruction so that Ukrainian ports can become safe,” Lavrov said, reiterating his earlier remarks that Ukraine needs to de-mine its waters to ensure the safe passage of ships. 

Lavrov said “we are not the ones to blame” for creating an issue and that “the ball is in their [Ukraine’s] court.”

The Russian foreign minister said Russia is discussing securing the safe passage of ships with the Turkish military. 

Lavrov said Russia has “clear intentions and clear goals” in Ukraine, which he claimed are to “liberate” the country from a “neo-Nazi regime,” once again repeating a false claim from the Kremlin about Ukraine’s government.

The spokesperson for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry hit back at Lavrov’s statements.

“Lavrov’s words are empty,” Oleg Nikolenko said via Twitter, alongside photos of news headlines summarizing Lavrov’s statements.

“Ukraine has made its position on the sea ports clear: military equipment is required to protect the coastline and a navy mission to patrol the export routes in the Black Sea. Russia cannot be allowed to use grain corridors to attack southern Ukraine,” Nikolenko said.

CNN’s Mick Krever contributed reporting to this post.

People sweep debris at a shopping mall destroyed by shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine on June 8.

The battle for the key city of Severodonetsk continues to rage, while Norway has donated 22 self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine. Russia has been accused of keeping around 600 people “hostage” in the occupied Kherson region, and there is further controversy over blocked grain shipments.

Here are today’s latest headlines from the Russia-Ukraine war:

Fight for Severodonetsk continues: Ukraine could pull back its military “to more fortified positions” but Ukraine will not “give up” the key city, said Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration.

Norway ships artillery pieces: Norway has donated 22 self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine to help it “withstand Russian attacks,” according to the Norwegian Ministry of Defense (MOD).  

Deportations to Russia continue: More than 1,000 Ukrainian servicemen who recently surrendered in Mariupol will be transported to Russia for “investigation,” Russian state-run news agency TASS reported Wednesday, citing a source in law enforcement. 

Further accusations of human rights violations: Around 600 people are “being held hostage” in “rooms outfitted as torture chambers” and “pre-trial detention” facilities in the Russian-occupied Kherson region, according to a Ukrainian official.

Controversy over grain shipments: A top Ukrainian official has accused Russia of “artificially creating obstacles” to gain control over the country’s grain market, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says grain shipments can resume when Ukraine removes mines from coastal waters.

Zelensky discusses cooperation with Germany: The Ukrainian President said he had a telephone call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during which the pair discussed “enhancing defense support” and other issues.

More World Bank funding for Ukraine: The bank has approved $1.49 billion of additional financing for Ukraine, part of a support package worth more than $4 billion that will help pay the wages of government and social workers. 

Food has become part of Russia’s “arsenal of terror,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday.  

In an address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, von der Leyen stressed the urgent need to restore Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, as a remedy to the looming global food crisis.

The EU’s sanctions against Russia “do not touch basic food commodities,” the EU Commission chief stressed.  

“They do not affect the trading of grain or other foods between Russia and third countries. And the port embargo specifically has full exemption on agricultural goods,” she added, highlighting the need to counter Russian “disinformation” about the food crisis.  

Her remarks come as Russian and Turkish foreign ministers held meetings in Ankara on Wednesday to discuss issues related to grain exports from Ukraine.

Von der Leyen thanked the United Nations for its “efforts” to help restore Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, reiterating that the “majority of Ukrainian grain can only be exported” through these routes. 

There is an expectation for the EU to show the “same solidarity” it has “shown to Ukraine when it comes to addressing the food crisis in the world,” she added, committing the bloc to this task.  

Ukrainian troop members repair an army's Main Battle Tank (MBT) in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on June 7.

Ukraine is suffering “significant losses” in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, the Russian military claimed Wednesday.

“The Ukrainian force in the Donbass [‘Donbas’ in Ukrainian] suffers significant losses in manpower, weapons and military equipment,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a press release.

“Only during the liberation of Svyatogorsk [‘Sviatohirsk’ in Ukrainian] in the Donetsk People’s Republic, over three days of fighting, the losses of Ukrainian troops amounted to more than 300 nationalists, six tanks, 15 armored combat vehicles of various types, 36 field artillery guns and mortars, four Grad multiple rocket launchers and over 20 automotive units,” it said.

The Donbas has seen intense fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces for weeks.

Parts of the Ukrainian cities of Rubizhne and Severodonetsk in the region have been significantly destroyed by fighting, satellite images taken on Monday by Maxar Technologies show. 

Ukrainian forces there have held on despite intense bombardments by Russian artillery and jets. Russian forces are continuing to try to advance into, and past, the two major Donbas cities. 

Ukraine has filed eight more war crimes cases involving Russian soldiers, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said on national television on Wednesday.

“We are not just talking about combatants who came to the theater of operations, but about those who came to rape, loot, kill civilians,” Venediktova said.

On May 23, a 21-year-old Russian soldier was sentenced to life in prison for killing an unarmed man in Ukraine’s first war crimes trial since Russia’s invasion.

Another two Russian soldiers were convicted for “violating the laws of war” by the Kotelevsky district court of Poltava region on May 31.

Venediktova said that prosecutors are investigating about 16,000 war crimes cases.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that he had discussed improving his country’s defenses during a phone call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

“Had a phone conversation with Olaf Scholz,” Zelensky said on Twitter. “Discussed enhancing defense support for [Ukraine] & ensuring global food security. Raised the issue of RF [The Russian Federation]’s compliance with international rules of treatment of war prisoners. Stressed the importance of decisions on the integration of [Ukraine] in [The European Union].

In recent months, the German government and Chancellor Scholz have come under pressure from Ukraine and politicians at home for not doing enough to help Ukraine defend itself against the Russian invasion.

But at the end of April, Germany agreed to deliver Gepard anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine, and last week it said it will supply Ukraine with seven self-propelled howitzers.

While relations between the two countries have improved, ”we have to make sure that the positive dynamic is maintained and we all move forward and that right decisions are being taken,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on May 12.

Stationary cargo ships and bulk carriers in the Black Sea wait to enter the Sulina Canal, a river channel that provides access to the Danube River, offshore from Sulina, Romania on June 4.

“There could be new ground for negotiations” between Ukraine and Russia on halting the fighting and securing safe corridors for grain exports, according to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Turkey believes the war should be ended through a diplomatic process “as soon as possible” for “the sake of the whole region and the whole of humanity,” said Cavusoglu, speaking at a joint press conference in Ankara with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday.

Turkey is willing to take a facilitating role, said Cavusoglu.

The halt of grain exports is one of the negative consequences of the war and a plan for the resumption of exports should be established,” he added.

“There are multiple ideas” about how to establish an open corridor for grain exports from Ukraine, said Cavusoglu, who added that a UN plan was “reasonable and can be implemented ” but requires more talks. 

Also speaking at the joint press conference, Lavrov said issues related to grain exports from Ukraine could be resolved, but Ukraine needs to de-mine its waters to ensure the safe passage of ships. 

“If Ukraine is ready to kick off de-mining activities, then we are ready for that [resolving the issues] as well,” he said.

Lavrov reiterated that Russia is portrayed in the wrong light, and that every ship and vessel that wishes to use the corridors is free to act in “whatever way they please.” 

A top Ukrainian official has accused Russia of “artificially creating obstacles” to gain control over the country’s grain market.

“Our position on the supply of grain is clear: security first,” said Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, via Twitter on Wednesday.

“Russia is artificially creating obstacles to seize the market and blackmail Europe over food shortages,” he added. 

The Turkish and Russian foreign ministers are meeting in Ankara Wednesday to discuss the re-establishment of grain exports from Ukraine.

This photograph taken on May 10, 2022, shows an Ukrainian Army's self-propelled howitzer loading on a tank transporter near Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Norway has donated 22 self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine to help it “withstand Russian attacks,” according to the Norwegian Ministry of Defense (MOD).  

In a statement Wednesday, defense minister Bjørn Arild Gram said that the “development in the war in Ukraine now suggests that it is necessary to also donate heavier artillery and weapons’ systems.” 

The Norwegian Army has donated the M109 artillery guns, which are long-range weapons, after recently replacing their stock with new artillery from South Korea, the statement said.

The guns were donated along with equipment, spare parts and ammunition, according to the Norwegian MOD.  

Ukrainian soldiers were already trained in the use of the system by the Norwegian Army in Germany, the statement added.  

Gram called Norway’s donation a “substantial contribution” that is “very much in demand by Ukraine.”  

“The Norwegian government has waited to publicly announce the donation for security reasons. Future donations may not be announced or commented upon,” the statement said.  

The United States, the Netherlands and Germany are some of the other nations who have also provided Ukraine with supplies of howitzers.   

Around 600 people are “being held hostage” in “rooms outfitted as torture chambers” and “pre-trial detention” facilities in the Russian-occupied Kherson region, according to a Ukrainian official.

Of the 600, half are “being held hostage in the Kherson regional state administration building, in a pre-trial detention center, and in vocational school No. 17 in the city of Henichesk,” said Tamila Tasheva, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s representative to Crimea, said during a televised address Tuesday, citing government agencies and activists who recently fled the occupied territory. 

CNN cannot independently verify Tasheva’s claim and has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for a response to the allegations. 

Nearly all of Kherson – located in southern Ukraine – has been occupied by Russia since its invasion in late February. 

Ukrainian officials estimate at least half the civilian population of Kherson has left the region during the war. 

In late May, the Russian-installed administration in Kherson officially closed the region’s boundaries to surrounding Ukrainian government-controlled areas. 

The move came after exit points from Kherson had already been unofficially blocked for weeks, according to Ukrainian officials, who alleged that anyone wanting to leave the region was being sent to Crimea.

Efforts by the Russian-installed administration in Kherson to put in place military bases, and advance what US and Ukrainian officials say would be a sham referendum to make the region a “Republic,” mirroring other Russian-backed regions in eastern Ukraine, are ongoing.

This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows destroyed buildings in Rubizhne, Ukraine near Severodonetsk, on Monday, June 6.

Ukraine could pull back its military “to more fortified positions” in Severodonetsk, a regional leader suggested on Wednesday, while insisting that Ukraine would not “give up” the key city.

“Nobody is going to give up the city, even if our military will have to pull back to more fortified positions, as the city is constantly being shelled. Still, it wouldn’t mean the city is given up,” he added.

A leader in the Russian-allied so-called Luhansk People’s Republic, Rodion Miroshnik, said Wednesday that Ukraine has control “over only a small part” over the Azot chemical factory in Severodonetsk. Hayday said last week that around 800 civilians are sheltering under that facility.

“Ukrainian militants are firing indiscriminately at the quarters near the enterprise,” Miroshnik said on Telegram. “Snipers are working. The circle of allied troops around the remaining group narrows.”

Miroshnik also claimed that Severodonetsk airport had “already been cleared of Ukrainian formations.”

“The shelling that was carried out from there has stopped. The remaining militants [referring to Ukrainian forces] are hiding in forest plantations around the airport. Allied forces are searching for them and clearing,” he added.

Hayday, the Ukrainian official, said that Russia has devoted huge resources to its attempt to cut the main road that links Severodonetsk and neighboring Lysychansk to Bakhmut, further west.

He said that Ukraine no longer uses that road, as anyone driving there has a “90% chance” of being shelled. “We have other routes to deliver humanitarian aid and evacuate people,” he said.

Ukraine is expecting Russia’s offensive on Lysychansk and Severodonetsk to “increase multiple times,” he said. “We are expecting fierce battles.”

Nonetheless, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) said Wednesday morning that: “Our soldiers are successfully holding back the assault in the city of Severodonetsk, and hostilities continue.”

“Lysychansk is being shelled very hard,” Hayday said Tuesday evening. “They shoot purposefully at humanitarian headquarters, at schools [where people are sheltering]. Destroy the entire infrastructure completely.”

“Yes, it is very difficult to keep Severodonetsk,” he conceded. “Yes, they just destroy the city completely. But they do not control the city.”

He said that “fierce battles” also continue to rage in towns elsewhere in the Luhansk region, such as Zolote to the south.

“Settlements are shelled, simply completely erased from the face of the earth,” Hayday said. “But the enemy cannot pass them yet.”

A view shows the Azovstal steel plant in the city of Mariupol on May 10, amid the ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine.

More than 1,000 Ukrainian servicemen who recently surrendered in Mariupol will be transported to Russia for “investigation,” Russian state-run news agency TASS reported Wednesday, citing a source in law enforcement. 

Russia also plans to transport a number of other Ukrainian prisoners of war to Russian territory, the source added. 

Some context: In late May, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that roughly 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers had surrendered after weeks of fighting in Mariupol’s besieged Azovstal steel plant. 

Shortly after, the Russian Investigative Committee — which operates as the Kremlin’s main investigating authority — said it would interrogate the Ukrainian “surrendered militants” evacuated from Azovstal. 

Ukrainian authorities are yet to publicly respond to the TASS report. 

Smoke and dirt rise from shelling in the city of Severodonetsk during fight between Ukrainian and Russian troops in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on June 7.

The World Bank has approved $1.49 billion of additional financing for Ukraine, the institution said in a statement Tuesday. 

It’s part of a support package worth more than $4 billion that will help pay the wages of government and social workers. 

The latest round of funding is supported by financing guarantees from Britain, the Netherlands, Lithuania, and Latvia, the statement said.

Nearly $2 billion of the total funds pledged have already been paid to Ukraine. 

In late April, Ukraine’s Finance Ministry estimated it would cost $5 billion a month in the near-term to keep the country’s economy functioning.