February 15, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a debate on the results of the war of aggression by Russia against Ukraine as part of a plenary session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, on February 15.

The European Commission has proposed to sanction Iranian entities that are responsible for supplying drones to Moscow, according to EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen. 

In a recorded statement from Strasbourg, France, von der Leyen announced the bloc’s 10th round of sanctions against Russia which is due to be unveiled this month, and said it will include sanctions against seven Iranian entities to its dual use regime.

The EU controls the export, transit, brokering and technical assistance of dual-use items which are goods, software and technology that can be used for both civilian and military applications, according to the European Commission website.

The listed entities will be placed “under a complete ban to sell sensitive items to Russia,” von der Leyen said, stressing that the bloc “stands ready” to add further entities if necessary.

Iranian-made drones have been used by Russia to attack Ukrainian infrastructure targets. The Iranian regime has only admitted to supplying Russia with drones in the months before the invasion.

Ukrainian soldiers look towards Russian positions while atop an anti-aircraft gun on February 14, near Bakhmut, Ukraine.

As Russia is expected to carry out a new offensive in eastern Ukraine, the US and its allies are skeptical that Russia has amassed the manpower and resources to make significant gains, according to US, UK and Ukrainian officials..

“It’s likely more aspirational than realistic,” a senior US military official told CNN. 

“The meat grinder:” Russia has been increasing the number of forces situated on its border and inside Russian-held territory in Ukraine, some of the forces drawn from a partial mobilization ordered in September last year. Despite the increased numbers, Western allies have not seen evidence of sufficient changes to those forces’ ability to carry out combined arms operations needed to take and hold new territory.

Even the head of Russia’s Wagner private military company on Tuesday warned that the capture of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut was far from imminent.

“Bakhmut will not be taken tomorrow, because there is heavy resistance and grinding, the meat grinder is working,” Yevgeniy Prigozhin said in a statement distributed on a Wagner Telegram channel. “For the meat grinder to work properly, it is impossible to suddenly start festivities. There won’t be any festivities anytime soon.”

The US military had assessed it would take as long as until May for the Russian military to regenerate enough power for a sustained offensive, but Russian leaders wanted action sooner. The US now sees it as likely that Russian forces are moving before they are ready due to political pressure from the Kremlin, the senior US military official told CNN. 

Though Ukrainian officials have been sounding the alarm about new Russian attacks in the east, there is also skepticism on the Ukrainian side about Russian capabilities as those forces currently stand. 

There is also no indication of any pending massive aerial assault. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday that the US is not seeing Russia “massing its aircraft” ahead of an aerial operation against Ukraine. 

Russian journalist Maria Ponomarenko is seen during a court hearing in Barnaul, Russia, on February 14.

A Russian court has sentenced journalist Maria Ponomarenko to six years in prison for a Telegram post that the court said spread “false information,” state news agency TASS said on Wednesday.

Ponomarenko was detained last April and charged with publishing “false information” on her Telegram channel about a Russian airstrike on a theater in Mariupol, Ukraine, that killed hundreds, and for which Russian authorities deny responsibility.

Her employer, RusNews, said on Telegram that the journalist spent time at a pre-trial detention center, which impacted her psychologically, leading to a suicide attempt in September. Ponomarenko is a mother of two.

The court in Russia’s city of Barnaul in Western Siberia sentenced Ponomarenko to six years in jail at a general regime correctional colony, with no right to engage in activities related to the internet and other types of public communication for five years, according to court’s press service quoted by TASS.

Earlier in February, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on Russian authorities to “immediately release” Ponomarenko along with columnist Iskander Yasaveyev and “stop prosecuting members of the press over their reporting and commentary on the war in Ukraine.” Per CPJ’s most recent prison census, at least 19 journalists were behind bars in Russia as of December 1, 2022.

With previous reporting by CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq and Josh Pennington.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a news conference in Brussels, Belgium, on February 15.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that the conflict in Ukraine is now becoming a “grinding war of attrition,” adding that it now focused on logistics.

“Things are happening, but we need to continue, and we need to step up even more because there is a big need out there to provide Ukraine with ammunition,” Stoltenberg said at a NATO defense ministers press conference in Brussels. 

Stoltenberg said that it is crucial that Ukraine is “able to retake territory and launch offensives” to ensure that it is able to defeat Russia and continue as an independent nation.

The NATO chief’s comments were in response to a reporter’s question on whether he was worried that Ukraine could run out of ammunition in the coming months and whether there were more countries that are ramping up their production capacity to Ukraine. 

“Now we see that things are actually moving in the right direction,” he said.

“And there are also others who have already signed contracts with the defense industry, meaning that production is now ramping up,” Stoltenberg said.

On Tuesday, Germany’s defense minister announced that the country will increase ammunition production and has signed contracts with ammunition manufacturers to provide for the Gepard air defense systems it has delivered to Ukraine.

Stoltenberg added that NATO countries adding more production has enabled them to replenish depleted supplies.

He added that besides stepping up support for Ukraine, ministers also discussed their “commitment to our others partners at risk, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Moldova.”

Russian forces are escalating attacks in eastern Ukraine in an effort to capture the strategically important city of Bakhmut, as the battle for control of the Donetsk region intensifies.

Here are the latest developments:

A Ukrainian military vehicle drives by as an apartment building hit by Russian artillery burns in the distance on February 14, in Bakhmut, Ukraine.

Russian forces have increased heavy shelling, rocket fire and missile strikes alongside attempted advances in several regions of Ukraine, as Kyiv officials anticipate a spring offensive from Moscow in the nearly years-long war.

The Ukrainian Defence Forces had “repelled attacks in the vicinities of more than 20 settlements” from the north of Kharkiv region through the Luhansk border and further south along the very active Donetsk front line, the General Staff said.

Moscow has been especially active to the east of the town of Kupyansk in Kharkiv region, which was recaptured by the Ukrainians in their sweep across Kharkiv in September, according to the military. There has also been a notable rise in the Russian shelling of settlements along the Kharkiv-Luhansk border, where the front lines have been largely settled since the autumn.

A Ukrainian rescuer walks through the remnants of a destroyed building in Kupyansk, Ukraine, on February 13

Russian troops leveled nearly 70 attacks using multiple launch rocket systems Tuesday, a higher number than is usually reported, the General Staff said. These included a number of attacks in the south.

In addition, Russian occupiers conducted 68 multiple rocket launchers (MLRS) attacks, including against civilian objects in the southern Kherson and Mykolaiv regions.

The General Staff also claimed that the Russians had begun burning the bodies of soldiers near the city of Simferopol in Russian-annexed Crimea.

“Recent reports prove constant presence of military vehicles numbering up to 10 units near the local crematorium. The occupiers use these trucks to bring dead Russian servicemen and mercenaries. Cremation is carried out 24/7,” it added.

CNN is unable to verify the claim. 

A Ukrainian soldier has told CNN of the “difficult” attempts to defend the few remaining routes into the city of Bakhmut, as the grinding battle for control of the eastern Donetsk region intensifies.

More than 25 settlements were shelled in eastern Ukraine Tuesday along what the Ukrainian military calls the “Bakhmut axis,” including in the city and a number of nearby villages.

One of the villages – Paraskoviivka – is immediately to the north of Bakhmut and adjacent to the village of Krasna Hora. Fighters of the Russian private military group Wagner occupy parts of Krasna Hora, according to geolocated video.

The Ukrainian military on Monday disputed Russia’s claim that it had taken control of Krasna Hora.

“Both we and the enemy understand the importance of this settlement,” he said.

He dismissed reports on pro-Russian social media channels that 1,500 Ukrainian soldiers were surrounded as “nonsense” but said the situation in the city was “very difficult, everyone understands this.”

CNN has spoken to the soldier several times in recent weeks. 

The Ukrainians’ defense of Paraskoviivka is intended to protect one of the last remaining routes into Bakhmut, as most of the main roads into the city are either controlled by Russian troops or under their fire control.

Some of the routes into the city are dirt roads, which may become impassable as the weather warms, and frozen ground turns to mud.

A person walks through a nearly deserted downtown area of Bakhmut, Ukraine, on February 14.

Ukrainian officials say that the decision earlier this week to limit civilian and journalists’ access to the eastern city of Bakhmut was necessary both for the safety of those groups, and to protect operational security.

Ukrainian officials this week said non-local civilians would not be allowed to enter the city, and that stricter protocols had been put in place for journalists to travel there.

“Bakhmut is not closed, but a procedure has been introduced there to help preserve health and life, and prevent unnecessary information from leaking,” Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesman for the Eastern Grouping of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said on national television on Monday.

He said that it was necessary “to ensure maximum control over who is there.” He denied that “censorship” was a goal saying that authorities were trying to protect “the troops, so that there is no unnecessary information, and the people who will work there.”

The Ukrainian military was trying to limit movement to, and within, the city, a deputy commander in the National Guard said on television Monday.

“Unfortunately the two roads [into the city] are under enemy fire control,” meaning Russia is capable of regularly striking any Ukrainian vehicle on the road, said Volodymyr Nazarenko of the 4th Brigade’s Svoboda Battalion. “The roads have not been cut off but the enemy is capable of firing at any means of transportation. There are lots of UAVs.”

“Lots of roads are under enemy fire control. This is why we need to reduce visual presence within the city.”

UK defence secretary Ben Wallace, left, takes part in a meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on February 15.

The delivery of British fighter jets for Ukraine is likely to be years away, the UK defence secretary said Wednesday, reiterating that its decision to train Ukrainian pilots is aimed at “long-term resilience,” rather than the current Russian invasion.

“When it comes to fighter jets, I don’t think it’s going to be in the next few months, or even years, that we are going to necessarily hand over fighter jets,” Ben Wallace told BBC television.

“You just can’t learn to fly in a week or two. It will take a long time. But also they come with effectively a pit crew, like a Formula One team. You come with hundreds of engineers and pilots. And that’s not something you can just generate in a few months. And we’re not going to deploy two hundred RAF personnel into Ukraine in the time of a war.”

The UK government said last week during a visit by President Volodymyr Zelensky that it will begin training Ukrainian pilots on NATO-standard fighter jets. “The training will ensure pilots are able to fly sophisticated NATO-standard fighter jets in the future,” a statement from Downing Street read.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks inside the Palace of Westminster in London on February 8.

Wallace said that the British decision to begin training Ukrainian pilots was about the long-term.

“We have to plan not only for the fight at the moment, where we help Ukraine through seeing off Russia’s illegal invasion, but we have to help Ukraine with its long-term resilience, in making sure that after this conflict, or this war, Ukraine is able to defend itself for the long run.”

Some background: Zelensky lobbied strongly last week for allies to send modern fighter jets to Ukraine. On Tuesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said a decision by NATO allies on whether to send fighter jets to Ukraine is “not the most urgent issue” right now.

Speaking to reporters in Brussels before a meeting of NATO defense ministers, Stoltenberg said: “The urgent need now is to deliver what has always been promised. To deliver the armored vehicles, the infantry fighting vehicles, the German martyrs, the US Bradleys and of course also the main battle tanks, the Leopards and the other battle tanks that have been pledged.”

The Russian embassy's compound in Washington, DC is pictured in April 2021.

Russia’s Embassy in Washington has dismissed a US report that alleges Moscow is operating a network of camps holding thousands of Ukrainian children as “absurd.”

The embassy also accused the United States of being complicit in the alleged deaths of children in Russian-occupied parts of eastern Ukraine.

What’s in the report: It says more than 6,000 children have been in Russian custody at some point during the course of the nearly year-long war, although the “total number of children is not known and is likely significantly higher than 6,000.”

The report was produced as a part of the work of the US State Department-backed Conflict Observatory by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab established last year to gather evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

“All levels of Russia’s government are involved,” Yale Humanitarian Research Lab’s Nathaniel Raymond told reporters Tuesday.

“The primary purpose of the camps appears to be political reeducation,” he said, noting that at least 32 of the facilities identified in the report “appear to be engaged in systematic re-education efforts that expose children from Ukraine to Russia-centric academic, cultural, patriotic, and in two cases, specifically military education.

The findings could provide evidence that Russia’s actions amount to genocide, according to the report.

Western intelligence shows that Russia is amassing aircraft near its border with Ukraine in an apparent attempt to bolster its faltering land offensive with jets and helicopters, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing two officials briefed on the matter.

Intelligence shared among NATO members showed that Russia has been accumulating fixed-wing and rotary aircraft close to its border with Ukraine, the two officials reportedly told the Financial Times.

“We don’t currently see that”: In a news conference following the meeting with NATO defense ministers on Tuesday, US defense secretary Lloyd Austin said they did not see an immediate threat but underscored the potential danger of Russian air forces.

A senior administration reportedly told the Financial Times that Russia would likely turn to an air offensive now as its land forces are depleted.

“The Russian land forces are pretty depleted so it’s the best indication that they will turn this into an air fight. If the Ukrainians are going to survive . . . they need to have as many air defense capabilities and as much ammunition . . . as possible,” the official told the Financial Times.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday that allies in the alliance, working closely with the EU, will continue supporting Ukraine “for as long as it takes” so that Kyiv can “uphold its right to self-defense.” 

Lynsey Addario speaks on stage in New York on April 11, 2019.

An unlikely group is fighting to defend Ukraine from Vladimir Putin’s attacks.

Known as the Free Russia Legion, the group is made entirely of Russian soldiers.

Lynsey Addario, a New York Times photojournalist, told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Tuesday the group is motivated “by various reasons.”

Addario, who recently returned from a trip documenting the Ukrainian front lines, said Russian forces “really would like to target” members of the Free Russia Legion “because they’re their own countrymen fighting for the enemy.”

In a photo Addario captured during her visit, she recalled the story of one of the group’s members, named Zaza.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the situation in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions remains extremely difficult but Russia’s prolonged involvement in the battles there reduces its capacity to fight elsewhere in Ukraine.

Earlier, the Ukrainian General Staff said Russian forces are continuing air and ground offensives near Bakhmut, Shakhtarsk, Avdiivka and other towns in the Donetsk region. 

Russian rockets hit civilian infrastructure in the Donetsk region in two separate attacks, resulting in several wounded civilians, it said.

The Russian government is operating an expansive network of dozens of camps where it has held thousands of Ukrainian children since the start of the war against Ukraine last year, according to a new report released Tuesday.

The report contains disturbing new details about the extent of Moscow’s efforts to relocate, re-educate, and sometimes militarily train or forcibly adopt out Ukrainian children — actions that constitute war crimes and could provide evidence that Russia’s actions amount to genocide, it said.

The report was produced as a part of the work of the US State Department-backed Conflict Observatory by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab. The Observatory was established last year to gather evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

The report found that found that more than 6,000 children — ranging in age from mere months old to 17 — have been in Russian custody at some point during the course of the nearly year-long war, although the “total number of children is not known and is likely significantly higher than 6,000.”

It identified 43 facilities that are a part of the network, which “stretches from one end of Russia to the other,” including Russian-occupied Crimea, the “eastern Pacific Coast – closer to Alaska than it is to Moscow,” and Siberia, Raymond said.

CNN has asked Russia’s embassy in Washington for comment on the report.

Read more here.

Vadym Khodak beams and leans forward. He’s almost bouncing on his feet.

His smile speaks volumes, revealing deep furrows that a year of front line fighting have etched on his face. “I’m 57,” he says. “I’m a former tank driver and I volunteered to fight the day Russia invaded.”

That was almost a year ago.

Now he’s an army major and leading Ukraine’s new tank training in western Poland. His troops are the first to get their hands on the new Leopard 2 tanks that NATO allies spent months debating before finally agreeing in January to give Ukraine.

So far, Khodak’s crews are learning shooting skills on simulators and combat driving. Plunging through plumes of smoke, the 60-ton tanks plough through the soft forest dirt at Poland’s main tank range, in Swietoszow, near the German border.

Tucked away in a nearby airy modern hangar are simulators where the 21 crews on the training mission can learn how to use the machines’ highly effective sighting, target seeking and killer gun capabilities. Kyiv’s hope is that the weapons will deliver a punch to Russian forces and take back lost territory.

Read more here.

Russia is trying to deprive Ukrainians of access to water supplies — with dangerous implications for water storage facilities needed to operate nuclear power plants — Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Tuesday. 

Shmyhal said the threat to Ukraine’s nuclear power plants is even bigger, adding, “A drop in the water level in the storage facility could lead to improper operation of cooling systems at the Zaporizhzhia NPP.”

Shmyhal noted that the threat to water supplies follows repeated attacks on Ukraine’s power grid. 

“The civilized world should not keep silence,” Shmyhal added. “Ukraine calls for all available means to put pressure on Russia to close the floodgates and restore the hydraulic structures at the Kakhovka HPP or let Ukrainian technicians do it.”

Some context: Disruptions to Ukraine’s water supply have been an ongoing and wide-reaching issue since the Russian invasion. 

In December, CNN reported that Russia’s persistent and pervasive attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid had, at least temporarily, left millions of civilians without electricity, heat, water and other critical services in the bitter winter months. Meanwhile in November, one of Ukraine’s largest state hospitals was “on the verge of evacuating” some patients after it lost water supply because of Russian air strikes, a regional official told CNN. 

CNN’s Olga Voitovych, Sophie Tanno, and Gabriel Kinder contributed reporting.

In the 12 months since President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops to invade Ukraine, one of the biggest surprises has been the willingness with which Western countries, especially in Europe, have handed over increasingly sophisticated military equipment for Ukrainian use.

At times the debates around sending certain types of weapons, most notably tanks, have been testy and caused high-level diplomatic spats. But given the scale of the challenge and how long it’s dragged on, the generosity of European leaders — often cast as cynical and self-interested — and their publics has been a surprise to some observers.

It’s all the more surprising for the fact that the donating of this military equipment — and crucially, ammunition — has left the stock cupboards of European militaries looking rather bare, according to defense officials and experts. It’s hard to get exact numbers on exactly what weapons individual nations currently hold in their arsenals due to the sensitivity of the information.

However, since the start of the war, European nations have donated a wide range of weapons, from antitank missiles to artillery rounds and tank shells.

Read more here.