July 1, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

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

Olesya Krivtsova is pictured March 28 in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Olesya Krivtsova is a 20-year-old Russian student living in exile after being slapped with terrorism charges for social media posts criticizing the war in Ukraine.

Krivtsova, who was placed on Moscow’s most-wanted list and fled to Lithuania and then Norway, says the disparity between her treatment and that of Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin after his short-lived insurrection makes her angry.

Prigozhin was sent to Belarus, according to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, after a deal was brokered to turn around his fighters from a march toward Moscow last week.

Russian authorities confirmed the crews of two Russian aircraft were killed during the failed rebellion on Saturday.

Criminal charges against Prigozhin and his fighters have been dropped, according to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).

“There is no law and no justice in Russia. It’s just all one big act of insanity and hatred,” Krivtsova says.

Watch the interview:

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02:39 - Source: CNN

CIA Director William Burns testifies during a House Select Committee on Intelligence hearing in Washington, DC, on March 9.

Discontent with the war in Ukraine has created what CIA Director William Burns called a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” for the recruitment of Russians.

Burns pointed to a recent CIA outreach effort on the popular social media platform Telegram, showing Russians how to contact the CIA securely on the dark web, which he said has garnered 2.5 million views in its first week. 

CIA officials involved in the project previously told CNN that Russia’s invasion had created a historic opening for US intelligence and that a previous recruitment drive immediately following the launch of the invasion last year had been quite successful.  

Burns also addressed the recent rebellion by Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, saying that his actions and speech prior to their march on Rostov-on-Don illustrate how the war has undermined Putin’s power.  

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks a joint news conference with Spainish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on July 1 in Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he’s afraid to lose bipartisan support from the US, following what he called “dangerous messages coming from some Republicans.”

Zelensky said that regardless of who wins the next US Presidential election, maintaining bipartisan support is “the most important thing for Ukraine.”

During the same news conference, Zelensky was asked if he fears for his own life, to which he replied that he thinks “it is more dangerous for Putin” due to the Russian president’s growing number of international adversaries.

Some background: The topic of whether the US should continue aiding Ukraine against Russia’s invasion has created a rift among the Republican party.

GOP presidential candidates are split into two camps: Isolationists, particularly former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who believe the United States is too involved in supporting Ukraine’s efforts to fend off the Russian invasion; and hawks, including several former Trump administration officials, who argue for an even more aggressive posture toward Russia. Both sides are warning that if their positions aren’t heeded, a world war could follow.

CNN’s Eric Bradner contributed reporting.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin’s attempted rebellion in Russia last week “greatly affected Russian power on the battlefield” and could benefit Ukraine’s counteroffensive.  

“They are losing the war. They have no more victories on the battlefield in Ukraine, and so they are starting to look for someone to blame,” he said at a news conference with Spanish media that took place in Kyiv on Saturday. 

But Prigozhin’s rebellion could be beneficial in the early stages of Ukraine’s counteroffensive, he added. 

“We need to take advantage of this situation to push the enemy out of our land,” he said.  

Zelensky said the counteroffensive will not be done quickly because he values human lives and is strategic in where troops are deployed. 

Zelensky also claimed 21,000 Wagner mercenaries have been killed in eastern Ukraine. He did not specify over what time period the supposed deaths took place.

“The most powerful group of Wagnerites was in eastern Ukraine,” Zelensky said.

“Our troops killed 21,000 Wagnerites in eastern Ukraine alone; 80,000 Wagnerites were wounded,” he added. “These were enormous losses for the Wagner PMC.” 

Neither side releases battlefield casualty counts, and CNN cannot independently verify Zelensky’s claims.  

Ukrainian servicemen fire a 82mm mortar towards Russian positions at the frontline near Bakhmut on June 30.

The most intense battles on the front line continue to be in areas within the cities of Bakhmut and Marinka in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military said Saturday. 

In Bakhmut, forces “continue to push the enemy on the northern and southern flanks,” said Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the Eastern Grouping of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The Russian military has conducted 415 recent artillery attacks and three air raids, he said. Troops engaged in active combat seven times during that period.

In the Marinka area — south of Bakhmut, near the city of Donetsk — Russian forces continue relentless attacks, according to Valerii Shershen, a military press center spokesperson. 

The city, which is now in ruins, has been on the front lines since the beginning of the invasion, with fighting at close-quarters among the rubble continuing almost daily.

An aerial view of Bakhmut on June 22.

Elsewhere on the eastern front: North of Bakhmut near the cities of Lyman and Kupyansk, Russia shelled Ukrainian positions 377 Russian times, launched three assaults and conducted 12 air raids, Cherevatyi said. 

The Ukrainian spokesperson claimed Kyiv’s forces are taking dozens of Russian prisoners every week. CNN cannot independently verify claims on battlefield developments.

To the south of Bakhmut near the town of Vuhledar, Russian shelling has increased around frontline areas.

And near Berdiansk, on the far southern end of the eastern front, “our troops continue to consolidate their positions at secured positions and carry out mine clearance. They are on high alert to continue the offensive,” Shershen said. 

The entire front line in the south of Zaporizhzhia region is mined, he said. Russian forces have been “mining both manually and remotely, as well as with MLRS (multiple launch rocket systems),” he said. 

In a field hospital that serves as a “stabilization point” close to the battles around Bakhmut, Ukrainian soldiers gasp in pain as they receive treatment after being wounded by Russian artillery fire while advancing on the eastern city.

During the course of a day, CNN’s Ben Wedeman said he saw more than 50 troops who had shrapnel and artillery injuries, as well as concussions.

A vascular surgeon in the field hospital said he is surprised there aren’t more casualties in the early stages of Ukraine’s counteroffensive. 

The soldiers at the makeshift facility get their first proper treatment by a full medical team before being moved to other, better-equipped hospitals.

Watch here (Warning: Some viewers may find this report disturbing):

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02:14 - Source: CNN

At least one person has died amid heavy shelling across frontline communities in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, according to the region’s military administration.

A 51-year-old man died in the shelling in Mala Tokmachka village, southeast of Zaporizhzhia city, said Yurii Malashko, the head of the regional military administration.

A 40-year-old woman and a 39-year-old man were also wounded in the nearby village of Preobrazhenka, he said.

CIA Director William Burns testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2022.

CIA Director William Burns spoke to his Russian counterpart following the Wagner private military group’s short-lived insurrection, according to a US official.

Burns reached out to Sergei Naryshkin — the director of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia — to reiterate that the US had nothing to do with last weekend’s failed rebellion by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, according to the official.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report the call.

Members of the Spanish Armed Forces train Ukrainian military personnel on the operation of Leopard battle tanks March 13 in Zaragoza, Spain.

Spain will provide four more Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Saturday during a joint news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv. 

Spain has already sent six Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, as part of a pledge to send a total of 10 of the tanks.

Sanchez said Spain will also provide “armored personnel carriers” and a “portable field hospital with surgical capacity.” 

He paid an official visit to Kyiv on the same day Spain takes over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Spain committed 24 metric tonnes (about 26 tons) of humanitarian aid last week, according to Sanchez, to cope with the consequences of the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam. 

Spain will also contribute another 7 million euros to build shelters in Ukrainian schools and provide support to victims of sexual violence, as well as 55 million euros to help in the reconstruction of Ukraine, said Sanchez. 

Zelensky said he is grateful for Spain’s assistance to Ukraine in facing Russian aggression so far, and he expressed gratitude to the people of Spain for their hospitality in welcoming Ukrainian people in Spain. Sanchez said Spain continues to host more than 180,000 displaced Ukrainians.

In a tweet on Saturday, Zelensky thanked Sanchez for his support of the Ukrainian people. 

About the Leopard 2 tanks: Ukraine has been reliant on outdated Soviet-era tanks throughout the Russian invasion and has appealed to the West for modern fighting vehicles to bolster Kyiv’s forces. Spain, Poland, Germany and other nations have answered that call with Leopard 2 tanks.

The Leopard’s relatively low maintenance demands compared to other tank models make it particularly well-suited to Ukraine’s needs, experts have said.

CNN’s Al Goodman, Duarte Mendonca and Heather Chen contributed to this report.

Kyiv’s counteroffensive against the Russian military is developing gradually along the front lines in southern and eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine’s military claims it made some progress on both fronts this week, though gains appear minimal. In the south, Kyiv’s forces say they are pushing ahead steadily, but slowly, encountering heavily mined territory and layered Russian defenses.

Russia claims to have swept Ukrainian forces out of a foothold they established on the Russian-controlled eastern bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region. Heavy fighting has raged around a key bridge in the area, where missile strikes killed at least 30 Ukrainian soldiers, according to a Russia-appointed governor in the region.

Analysts believe the Ukrainian action in Kherson is designed to keep Russian troops in the area and prevent their re-deployment to the front in Zaporizhzhia, a vitally important southern region.

Reclaiming Zaporizhzhia is seen as the key to Kyiv’s military cutting off occupied southern Ukraine from the Russia-annexed Crimean peninsula, which it has controlled since 2014. That would effectively sever the land route between territory newly claimed in Russia’s invasion and territory it claimed nearly a decade ago.

In eastern Ukraine, fighting is still raging around the long-embattled city of Bakhmut, and a Russian missile killed two civilians and wounded six others when it hit a school in the Donetsk region on Saturday, according to the Ukrainian military.

CNN cannot independently verify battlefield reports from either military.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko attends the Eurasian Economic Forum on May 24, in Moscow, Russia.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Saturday signed a law banning “unfriendly” media from foreign countries in Belarus, according to a statement from his press service. 

It comes as Lukashenko this week said that Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin was in Belarus as part of a deal brokered after his private military group attempted a rebellion against the Kremlin. At the same time, Lukashenko announced that most of the nuclear weapons Russia planned to station in Belarus had arrived.

“The document is aimed at improving the mechanisms for protecting national interests in the media sphere, as well as expanding the tools for responding to unfriendly actions against Belarus,” according to the statement about the new law. 

In the early stages of the war in 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a censorship bill into law, making it a crime to disseminate “fake” information about the invasion of Ukraine, with a penalty of up to 15 years in prison for anyone convicted.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested in March and remains in detention, facing up to 20 years in jail on espionage charges, which he and his employer vehemently contest.

More background: Prigozhin was last spotted leaving the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on Saturday, after abruptly calling off his troops’ march on Moscow. The United States said it doesn’t know his whereabouts. While there are no videos or photos showing Prigozhin there, satellite imagery of an air base outside Minsk showed two planes linked to him landing there on Tuesday morning.

In a speech Friday dedicated to Belarus’ Independence Day, according to state news agency Belta, Lukashenko said Wagner mercenaries were not in his country but he invited them to come and train his troops.

Belarus previously had no nuclear weapons since the early 1990s, when it agreed to transfer them all to Russia after gaining independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez delivers a speech at Ukrainian Parliament in Kyiv, on July 1. 

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told Ukrainian lawmakers in Kyiv that “Ukraine is going to win” the war against Russia.

His visit comes the same day that Spain takes over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Sanchez, who is expected to hold a news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday, also underscored the European Union’s commitment to EU membership for Ukraine, saying “no one deserves it more” in his speech to the Ukrainian parliament. 

“Europe is with you and you are one with Europe,” Sanchez told the lawmakers, adding in Ukrainian, “You are Europe. Glory to Ukraine!”

Sanchez also announced during his speech that Spain would dedicate $60 million to help Ukraine rebuild its cities and infrastructure.

The destroyed Antonovsky bridge is seen near Kherson, Ukraine, on June 8.

A strategically significant foothold established by Ukrainian troops on the east bank of the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine has been eliminated following almost a week of heavy fighting, according to the Russian-appointed governor of occupied Kherson on Saturday.

Russian special forces launched a “surprise attack” from the rear of Ukrainian troops stationed near the Antonivskyi Bridge, approaching from the river by boat, the official, Vladimir Saldo, said in a Telegram post.

“By 3 a.m., the strongpoint and the hotel, where the Ukrainian fighters were entrenched, had been taken,” Saldo wrote.

“That’s it, no (Ukrainian) ‘bridgeheads’ on the left bank,” he added. 

This comes after Saldo claimed an Iskander missile had struck close to the Antonivskyi Bridge, which crosses the Dnipro, killing 30 Ukrainian fighters Friday. Saldo added that special forces would begin a final sweep of the area. 

CNN cannot independently verify Saldo’s claims or any other reports on battlefield developments.

More background: Russian and Ukrainian troops have been exchanging heavy fire surrounding the bridge in the southern Kherson region.

Military bloggers reported earlier this week that Ukraine had a bridgehead on the Russian-controlled east bank of the Dnipro River, which Russian officials denied at the time. Now Moscow-backed leaders in the area say it has been eliminated.

Analysts believe the Ukrainian action in Kherson is designed to keep Russian troops in the area and prevent their re-deployment to the front in Zaporizhzhia, a vitally important southern region.

Reclaiming Zaporizhzhia is seen as the key to Kyiv’s military cutting off occupied southern Ukraine from the Russia-annexed Crimean peninsula, which it has controlled since 2014.

CNN’s Yulia Kesaieva and Tim Lister contributed to this report.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas expressed his support for the actions of the Russian leadership taken during the events of June 24 in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said Saturday. 

“Mutual disposition was expressed for the further progressive development of traditionally friendly Russian-Palestinian relations. The Russian side reaffirmed its principled position in favor of a just and sustainable solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the existing international legal basis,” the Kremlin said. 

Putin congratulated Abbas and all Palestinians on Eid al-Adha. The two leaders agreed to continue contacts, according to the Kremlin. 

Some context: Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner private military group, led a short-lived rebellion last weekend in Russia. He marched his forces toward the Russian capital, taking control of military facilities in two Russian cities, in what he said was a response to a Russian military attack on a Wagner camp.

The crisis was defused only after a deal was brokered under which Prigozhin would move to neighboring Belarus. The Kremlin has since sought to reassert Putin’s authority.

Sergei Ryabkov attends a press conference in Geneva on March 2.

Russia placing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus does not violate the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said according to state media Saturday.

In an interview with TASS commemorating the 55th anniversary of the signing of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT), Ryabkov also said that the current situation regarding the treaty “does not inspire optimism.”

“The US and its allies are trying to use the NPT to impose their own picture of the world order and to realize their own ambitions,” Ryabkov told TASS.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is suspending his country’s participation in the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty with the United States, imperiling the last remaining pact that regulates the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals.

The treaty puts limits on the number of deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons that the US and Russia can have. Under the key nuclear arms control treaty, both countries are permitted to conduct inspections of each other’s weapons sites. However, inspections have been halted since 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ryabkov also said that the US storing some of its own nuclear weapons on the territory of NATO countries in Europe “has acquired particular importance, requiring an appropriate response, including military-technical response measures.”

“The steps we have taken within the framework of the single defense space of the Union State are of a forced nature. At the same time, they do not go beyond the scope of our international obligations, including those under the NPT,” Ryabkov explained to TASS.

“It must be emphasized once again: control over Russian nuclear weapons is not transferred,” he said.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said Tuesday that most of the nuclear weapons Russia planned to station in Belarus had arrived. Belarus had previously had no nuclear weapons since the early 1990s, when it agreed to transfer them all to Russia after gaining independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shake hands at a news conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, July 1.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has arrived in Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Sanchez said Saturday.

Sanchez’s third visit to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion last year comes as Spain takes over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union on Saturday.

“I wanted the first action of the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union to be in Ukraine together with @ZelenskyyUa. I will transmit to his government and the parliament all of the European solidarity,” Sanchez tweeted, vowing: “We will maintain the support for the Ukrainian people until peace returns to Europe.

Sanchez will make a speech to the Ukrainian parliament and hold a news conference with Zelensky, his office said.

CIA Director William Burns testifies before a House Intelligence Committee on March 9.

CIA Director William Burns recently traveled to Ukraine and met with President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukrainian intelligence officials, according to a US official.

The official told CNN’s Jim Sciutto: “Director Burns recently traveled to Ukraine, as he has done regularly since the beginning of Russia’s recent aggression more than a year ago. As with other trips, the director met with his Ukrainian intelligence counterparts and President Zelensky, reaffirming the US commitment to sharing intelligence to help Ukraine defend against Russian aggression.”

The official noted that Director Burns traveled to Kyiv before Yevgeny Prigozhin’s rebellion, which was not a topic of discussion.

The Washington Post first reported on Burns’ most recent trip to Ukraine.

The Post reported that Burns met earlier in June with Ukrainian officials who revealed a strategy to retake Russian-occupied territory and open cease-fire negotiations with Moscow by the end of the year, according to officials familiar with the visit.

Two civilians were killed and six others wounded when a Russian missile hit a school in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, according to an update from the Ukrainian military’s General Staff Saturday.

“As a result of a missile strike by an Iskander-K ground-launched cruise missile on a school in Serhiivka, Donetsk Oblast, 2 civilians were killed, and another 6 were wounded. The school was completely destroyed,” the update said.

Russian shelling of residential buildings in Antonivka in the Kherson region resulted in a family with a child sustaining injuries and left about 30 civilian residential buildings damaged, the update added.

The General Staff said: “Over the past day, the enemy launched eight missiles and 58 air strikes and fired more than 50 times from MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket Systems) at the positions of our troops, military, and civilian infrastructure facilities in Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson Oblasts.”

Yevgeny Prigozhin leaves the city of Rostov-on-Don on June 24.

The United States doesn’t know the whereabouts of Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led a short-lived rebellion last weekend in Russia and hasn’t been seen in public in a week.

Prigozhin was last spotted leaving the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on Saturday, after abruptly calling off his troops’ march on Moscow.

 “We don’t have perfect visibility here on where Mr. Prigozhin is or where all of his fighters are,” said John Kirby, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council.

According to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, the Wagner chief arrived in Belarus on Tuesday. While there are no videos or photos showing Prigozhin there, satellite imagery of an airbase outside Minsk showed two planes linked to Prigozhin landing there on Tuesday morning.

On Friday, Lukashenko invited Wagner mercenaries to train his military. “Unfortunately, they (Wagner mercenaries) are not here,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Patriot media group, which is associated with Prigozhin, announced it’s shutting down. And Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor has restricted access to media sites belonging to the Patriot media group.

Here’s what else you should know: