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☆ Ukraine war live updates: Our troops are advancing steadily, Kyiv says; Russia claims it thwarted 'Ukrainian terrorist plots'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Ukraine has liberated eight settlements in southern Ukraine over the past two weeks as its counteroffensive continues, the country's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Monday. Maliar noted on Telegram that Ukrainian troops "were both on the offensive and on the defensive" last week. Ukrainian troops "advanced deep into the enemy in several areas," she said. "Over the past week in the east, the enemy has fired more than 5,800 rounds and used 277,022 rounds of ammunition," she added. In southern Ukraine, meanwhile, there was an offensive in several directions in the past week, she said.

Persons: Hanna Maliar, Maliar, Holly Ellyatt Organizations: Mechanized Brigade, Defence Forces, CNBC Locations: Bakhmut, Donetsk, Ukraine

☆ In Rush to Arm Ukraine, Weapons Are Bought but Not Delivered, or Too Broken to Use
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Justin Scheck | Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ukraine has paid contractors hundreds of millions of dollars for weapons that have not been delivered, and some of the much-publicized arms donated by its allies have been so decrepit that they were deemed fit only to be cannibalized for spare parts. Ukrainian government documents show that as of the end of last year, Kyiv had paid arms suppliers more than $800 million since the Russian invasion in February 2022 for contracts that went completely or partly unfulfilled. Two people involved in Ukraine’s arms purchasing said that some of the missing weapons had eventually been delivered, and that in other cases brokers had refunded the money. But as of early this spring, hundreds of millions of dollars had been paid — including to state-owned companies — for arms never materialized, one of these people said. “We did have cases where we paid money and we didn’t receive,” Volodymyr Havrylov, a deputy defense minister working on arms procurement, said in a recent interview.

Persons: “, ” Volodymyr Havrylov Organizations: Kyiv, ” Locations: Ukraine

☆ Digging Up Old Graves to Make Room for Newly Fallen Soldiers
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Megan Specia | Brendan Hoffman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For close to 15 months, the bodies of fallen soldiers have steadily filled up a hillside military cemetery in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. Now, the old, unmarked graves of those killed in past wars are being exhumed to make way for the seemingly endless stream of dead since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And they said they were bracing for more deaths as the fighting grew more intense during Ukraine’s counteroffensive. Among the settlements reclaimed, she said, was the village of Piatykhatky, confirming Russian reports over the weekend. While the recapture of Piatykhatky, in the Zaporizhzhia region, is evidence that Ukraine’s forces continue to advance, it is not a significant military breakthrough.

Persons: ” Hanna Malyar Locations: Ukrainian, Lviv, Ukraine, Russia, Piatykhatky, Zaporizhzhia

☆ Ukraine's counteroffensive has been underwhelming so far — but it's low key for a reason
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Anatolii Stepanov | Afp | Getty ImagesWhen Ukraine's counteroffensive started last week there was no fanfare or official announcement, but that wasn't entirely unexpected. "We are trying to find the weakest places in the Russian defense line. Nonetheless, Ukraine's deputy defense minister conceded Wednesday that the fighting was "extremely fierce" and that the counteroffensive had only had "partial success" so far. CNBC contacted Ukraine's defense ministry for further comment and is awaiting a response. "We will see the main punches of Ukrainian forces in the nearest future.

Persons: Anatolii Stepanov, Nick Reynolds, Andrius, Oleksandr Musiyenko, Musiyenko, Matthew Miller, RUSI's Reynolds, they've, it's Organizations: Afp, Getty, Kyiv, CNBC, Defense, Centre for Military, Legal Studies, Velyka Novosilka, Ukrainian, Anadolu Agency, NATO, . State Locations: Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Russian, Kharkiv, Kherson, London, Russia, Central, Eastern Europe, Kyiv, Velyka, Donetsk, Bakhmut, Crimea, Donbas, Moscow

☆ Photos from Ukraine's offensive show how US Bradley IFVs are kicking butt even when they get blasted by Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Kieran Corcoran | Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

An official described how a Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle took a direct hit but kept going. Tough vehicles like the Bradley are stronger than Ukraine's own equipment, and may give it an edge. A damaged Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle in a photo shared by a Ukrainian official. A group of Ukrainian soldiers in front of a Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle, seemingly taken before it was damaged. It's unclear whether this was the same Bradley Maliar mentioned.

Persons: Bradley, —, Hanna Maliar, Maliar, Bradley IFVs, Mia Jankowicz, Peter Chiarelli, Chiarelli, Bradley Maliar, Anton Borshch Organizations: Bradley Infantry Fighting, Service, Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, Russia, Ukraine's 47th Mechanized Brigade, Russian Grad, Observers, US Army, NBC News, NBC, Ukrainian Locations: Ukraine, Ukraine's, Russian, Soviet, Russia, Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukrainian

☆ Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia: Russian accounts admit Ukrainian forces are making some gains in heavy fighting
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Tim Lister Josh Pennington Maria Kostenko Helen Regan | Tim Lister | Josh Pennington | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The channel said Monday that Ukrainian forces were trying to take higher ground to “create conditions for advancing,” and assessed that their aim was to advance toward the Russian-occupied hub of Staromlynivka. CNN cannot independently verify battlefield reports and other accounts paint a gloomier picture for Russian forces around Makarivka. Ukrainian deputy defense minister Maliar said Monday that Makarivka was one of seven villages recaptured by Ukrainian forces in the past week. Meanwhile, one of the most prominent Russian bloggers, Voenkor Kotenok, said late Monday that a senior Russian officer was killed as troops of Russia’s Fifth Army were forced to leave Makarivka. ‘Ultimate goal’In his nightly address Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the fighting in the Donetsk-Zaporizhzhia border region is tough but Ukrainian forces are recapturing territory.

Persons: Kryvyi Rih, Oleksandr Vilkul, Hanna Maliar, Kyiv’s, Vladimir Rogov, ” Rogov, Anatolii Stepanov, ”, Rogov, Maliar, Makarivka, “, Neskuchne, Voenkor Kotenok, Voenkor, Sergei Goryachev, Goryachev, WarGonzo, Volodymyr Zelensky, ” Zelensky, Igor Zhovkva, ” Zhovkva Organizations: CNN, Air, Saturday, Russian Telegram, ”, Getty, Makarivka, 127th Division, Donetsk, “, Donetsk ”, Russia’s Fifth Army, Staff, Arms Army, Russian Defense Ministry, United Group of Forces, Ukrainian Ground Forces Locations: Ukraine’s, Donetsk, Russian, Ukrainian, Kryvyi, Moscow, Velyka, Ukraine, Russia, Urozhaine, Staromlynivka, Zaporizhzhia, AFP, Makarivka, ”, Orikhiv, Crimea

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Ukrainian forces say chunk of Donetsk has been liberated; Zelenskyy's hometown hit in massive attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Ukrainian servicemen take part in a military training exercise not far from front line in the Donetsk region on June 8, 2023. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine's counteroffensive is proving tough for its forces but progress is being made, with Ukraine retaking a number of settlements in Donetsk. Ukraine's Defense Ministry said Monday that "seven settlements were liberated" in the last week of fighting in Donetsk. "Seven settlements were liberated: Lobkovo, Levadne, Novodarivka, Neskuchne, Storozheve , Makarivka, Blagodatne," she said. Defense analysts at the Institute for the Study of War noted that Russian forces had reportedly launched a counterattack on June 12 in western Donetsk and that some Russian sources reported that Russian forces had recaptured Makarivka.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Zelenskyy, Hanna Maliar, Makarivka, Holly Ellyatt Organizations: Ukraine's Defense, Troops, Defense, Institute for, CNBC Locations: Donetsk, Ukraine

☆ Floods from the wrecked dam in Ukraine forced Russia to withdraw 6 miles and lose fortifications in 12 settlements, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The think tank said flooding destroyed Russian positions and forced it to withdraw in some areas. Ukraine accused Russia of destroying the dam, and said it has intercepted phone calls to prove it. Ukraine accused Russia of blowing up the dam, while Russia has blamed Ukraine for the damage. "The flood also destroyed Russian minefields along the coast, with footage showing mines exploding in the flood water," it added. Western countries have condemned Russia in broad terms, but without explicitly saying that Russia deliberately targeted the dam.

Persons: —, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Hanna Maliar, Zelenskyy Organizations: Service, Washington DC, REUTERS, Russian, Ukrainian, NBC Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Ukrainian, Washington, Dnipro, Kherson

The Bradleys are among almost 3,600 pieces of military equipment Ukraine has lost in the war, according to Oryx. Meanwhile, the website says it has documented the loss of more than 10,600 pieces of Russian military equipment. In a statement in Monday, Moscow claimed it had destroyed multiple Ukrainian armored vehicles in the Zaporizhzhia region. However, Russian anti-tank troops stand in their way, cold-bloodedly turning Western armored vehicles into scrap heaps,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said. While Russian forces continue to hold the city, Ukraine’s forces have concentrated their efforts on areas to the northwest and southwest.

Persons: Jakub Janovsky, Bradley, Bradleys, Rebecca D’Angelo, Artur Widak, ” D’Angelo, James “ Spider ” Marks, ”, Hanna Maliar, Maliar, Mark Hertling, ” Hertling, CNN’s Jim Acosta, “, ” Serhii Cherevatyi, Cherevatyi, Hertling Organizations: CNN, US Bradley, Washington, US, 841st Transportation Battalion, 2nd Battalion, 70th Armored Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, Bradley Fighting, US Army, Russian Ministry of Defense, Deputy, Russia’s Ministry of Defense, Vostok, Russian Defense Ministry, Russian Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Donetsk, Nowa Deba, Poland, Bradleys, Moscow, Zaporizhzhia, Russian, Velyka, Makrivka, Ukrainian, Neskuchne, Urozhaine, Orikhiv, Bakhmut

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Kyiv says it has liberated front-line villages in counteroffensive; North Korea offers support to Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

All eyes are on Ukraine's counteroffensive after its armed forces claimed to have liberated four front-line villages in the eastern Donetsk region. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Sunday that the villages of Blahodatne and Makarivka had been de-occupied and on Monday added Storozheve to the list of liberated settlements. In the Bakhmut area, Ukrainian troops are continuing to conduct assault actions, Maliar said, with gains recorded there. Another Ukrainian brigade posted on Facebook that it gained control of the village of Neskuchne in Donetsk.

Persons: Hanna Maliar, Makarivka, Storozheve, Maliar Organizations: Facebook Locations: Donetsk, Ukrainian, Blahodatne, Neskuchne

☆ Ukraine Claims More Small Advances in Counteroffensive, but No Breakthroughs
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Andrew E. Kramer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ukraine claimed small advances on Monday in its counteroffensive in the southeast of the country, hunting for a place to drive a wedge through Russian defenses, a key to its hopes for recapturing wide swaths of territory lost to the Russian invasion last year. After a week of fierce combat with infantry, artillery and tanks, across a mostly agricultural landscape, Ukrainian forces, newly armed and trained by Western allies, have retaken seven small villages and settlements, Hannah Malyar, a deputy defense minister, wrote on the messaging platform Telegram, including one that the military said it had captured on Monday. The deepest advance was about 4 miles, and “the area of territory taken under control is 90 square kilometers,” about 35 square miles, she wrote. The significance of those gains remains to be seen, and military analysts have said it will take weeks or months, not days, to gauge the success of the offensive Ukraine began last week across a broad stretch of the front lines in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions. Progress is measured in yards, or at most a mile or so, the Ukrainian gains have involved tiny farming villages, and there has been no sign so far of a significant break in the Russian occupiers’ dense network of defenses.

Persons: Hannah Malyar Locations: Ukraine, Western, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia

☆ Russia re-deploys combat-ready marines and airborne troops, implying they blew up Khakhovka dam to gain military advantage, Ukrainian defense minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Khakhovka dam in southern Ukraine was mysteriously damaged, triggering intense flooding, this week. A Ukrainian official claims Russia blew it up to prevent a counteroffensive in the south. She said that Russia is now re-deploying its most combat-ready units to more needed areas. Ukrainian deputy defense minister Hanna Maliar said on Telegram on Sunday that Russia is now moving its most combat-ready units, including marines, airborne troops, and the 49th army, away from Kherson. She claimed that this backs up the theory that Russian forces sabotaged the dam in order to narrow the possible areas that Ukraine's army could take action.

Persons: —, Hanna Maliar, Vitaly Nevar Organizations: Service, United Nations, International Army Games, REUTERS, Reuters Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Ukrainian, Kherson, Kaliningrad, Vitaly Nevar Russia, Norway, Russian

☆ Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin says he will resist Russian military efforts to take control of mercenary group
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( Peter Gelling | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Wagner mercenary group has played a key role in the Ukraine War. Russia's military may be now trying to take control of Wagner and Prigozhin is having none of it. The move is widely seen as an effort to bring the Wagner Group under official military control, the BBC reported. He eventually became known as Putin's Chef before graduating to more consequential affairs and establishing the Wagner mercenary organization. Wagner has also accused the Russian military of mining the roads the mercenary group used to retreat from Bakhmut.

Persons: Wagner, Prigozhin, —, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Nikolai Pankov, Sergei Shoigu, Putin Organizations: Service, Wagner Group, BBC, Defense Ministry Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Moscow, Africa, Russia's, Syria, Libya, Bakhmut

☆ Ukraine Claims First Gains, if Slight, in Counteroffensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( Andrew E. Kramer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After a week of mostly silence about its newly launched campaign to drive Russian occupying forces from Ukrainian territory, Ukraine’s military on Sunday claimed its first small gains as fighting raged in at least three sectors of the front. The military operation is expected to be vast, but for the moment it appears to consist mostly of probing attacks and feints. Ukraine’s 68th Brigade posted video on Facebook of its soldiers raising the nation’s blue-and-yellow flag over the village of Blahodatne, in the eastern region of Donetsk. A deputy defense minister said Ukraine’s forces had also taken the nearby village of Makarivka, and the Ukrainian Volunteer Army said it had reclaimed a neighboring settlement, Neskuchne. Ukraine will be victorious.”

Persons: “, ” Organizations: Sunday, Brigade, Facebook, Ukrainian Volunteer Army Locations: Ukraine’s, Blahodatne, Donetsk, Makarivka, Neskuchne, Ukraine

☆ Ukrainian forces suffer ‘stiff resistance’ and losses in assault on Russian lines
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Jim Sciutto | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Ukrainian forces have suffered losses in heavy equipment and soldiers as they met greater than expected resistance from Russian forces in their first attempt to breach Russian lines in the east of the country in recent days, two senior US officials tell CNN. One US official described the losses – which include US supplied MRAP armored personnel vehicles as “significant.”Ukrainian forces managed to overrun some Russian forces in the east around Bakhmut. Today is a successful day for our forces.”Both US officials say the losses are not expected to impact the larger planned Ukrainian counteroffensive. Russian Ministry of Defense claimed Wednesday that the Ukrainian offensive close to Bakhmut was “thwarted”. The enemy was destroyed.”Moscow often inflates claims regarding Ukrainian losses on the battlefield.

Persons: Hanna Maliar, ” Maliar, Bakhmut, ”, Volodymyr Zelensky, Dmitry Peskov Organizations: CNN, Ukrainian, Russian Ministry of Defense, Armed Forces of, Wall Street, NATO, Kyiv ” Locations: Bakhmut, Ukrainian, Western, Armed Forces of Ukraine, South Donetsk, Donetsk, Artyomovsk, Moscow, Ukraine, Russian, Dnipro, Kherson, Ukraine’s, “, Crimea

CNN —US and western officials see signs that Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive against Russia is beginning and have noted a “substantial increase in fighting” in the east of the country over the last 48 hours as Ukrainian troops probe for weaknesses in Russian defensive lines, a senior NATO official said on Tuesday. The destruction of a sprawling dam in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Kherson region, which triggered a wave of evacuations on Tuesday as floods of water spilled from the Nova Kakhovka hydro-electric plant, could complicate some of Ukraine’s plans, officials told CNN. The dam’s destruction could now make it more difficult for Ukrainian troops to cross the Dnipro River and attack Russian positions there, said two western officials. Ukrainian forces are also conducting operations south of Donetsk city in eastern Ukraine, which appears to be a new effort, the western official said. The counteroffensive is expected to be carried out on multiple fronts, a senior US military official said.

Persons: “, ’, Hanna Maliar, Volodymyr Zelensky, ” Zelensky, Mark Milley Organizations: CNN, NATO, Nova, Wall, Joint Chiefs, Staff Locations: Russia, Kherson, Dnipro, Ukrainian, ”, European, Washington, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Ukraine, Europe

☆ Kyiv warns against loose talk as Russia claims to repel a Ukrainian ‘large-scale’ offensive attack in Donetsk
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Nathan Hodge Sebastian Shukla Olga Voitovych Sana Noor Haq | Nathan Hodge | Sebastian Shukla | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Monday’s announcement from the Russian side was no exception: The Russian military claimed in a statement to have killed 250 Ukrainians and destroyed armored vehicles used in the assault, but provided scant evidence. A spokesperson for the Ukraine Armed Forces, Bohdan Senyk, told CNN that Ukraine does “not have information” on a purported “large-scale offensive” in Donetsk. Gerasimov, who is chief of Russia’s General Staff, was put in overall command of Russian military operations in Ukraine early this year. Ukrainian troops are pictured near the town of Avdiivka in Donetsk on May 31, 2023. He claimed that Ukrainian troops have increased the intensity of their shelling, and fired Storm Shadow missiles.

Persons: Bohdan Senyk, “, ”, Valery Gerasimov “, Gerasimov, Wagner, Viacheslav Ratynskyi, Zelensky, Sean Gallup, Zaporizhzhia, Vladimir Rogov, ” Rogov, Muhammed Enes, Hanna Maliar, Volodymyr Zelensky, ” Zelensky, Jake Sullivan –, Joe Biden’s, –, Washington, ” Sullivan, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria Organizations: CNN, Russian Defense Ministry, Russian, Ukraine Armed Forces, Russia’s, Staff, Reuters, Getty, Novosti, Storm, Anadolu Agency, Wall Street, Kyiv Locations: Ukrainian, Donetsk, Ukraine, Russia, Moscow, Avdiivka, Russian, Azov, “

☆ Bakhmut: Wagner forces claim to have taken the eastern Ukrainian city. But Kyiv's forces could still exact a heavy toll
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Sam Kiley | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Kyiv rebuffed claims that Russian forces have captured the city in the eastern Donetsk region. LIBKOS/APYevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the Wagner private military group, pictured in a screengrab from May 20, 2023, insisted that his men captured Bakhmut after months of fighting. A Ukrainian serviceman checks Russian positions in Bakhmut on May 11, 2023. He said regular Russian troops were incompetent cowards. And they’re being flanked to the north and south by Ukrainian troops.

☆ Bakhmut: Russia has claimed to control the besieged city, but Ukraine says it's still fighting. Here's what we know.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Ukraine has claimed it still controls parts of Bakhmut after Russian forces said they had finally captured the besieged eastern city. Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, Hanna Maliar, said Monday that Ukrainian forces were still in control of some buildings in the southwest of Bakhmut, two days after Russia claimed to have captured the city. Russian forces, bolstered by members of the Wagner mercenary group, have taken heavy losses trying to capture the city. Only two roads out to the west have remained outside Russian control, though for Ukrainian forces trying to re-supply the city, the drives in have been treacherous. Before the war, around 70,000 people lived in Bakhmut, a city once famous for its sparkling wine.

☆ Ukraine's Zelenskyy denies that Bakhmut is occupied by Russian forces
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Her comments came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at the Group of Seven summit in Japan, appeared to suggest that Bakhmut had fallen. And the spokesman for Ukraine's Eastern Group of Forces, Serhii Cherevaty, said that the Ukrainian military is managing to hold positions in the vicinity of Bakhmut. Russian forces still seek to seize the remaining part of the Donetsk region still under Ukrainian control, including several heavily fortified areas. Prigozhin tried to use the battle for the city to expand his clout amid the tensions with the top Russian military leaders whom he harshly criticized. "We fought not only with the Ukrainian armed forces in Bakhmut.

☆ Zelenskyy appeared to confirm Ukraine is no longer in control of Bakhmut: 'For today, Bakhmut is only in our hearts.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russian forces have been waging a monthslong battle in Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine. The fighting has reduced the city to rubble and claimed thousands of lives. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared to confirm at the G7 summit that Ukraine is longer in control of Bakhmut. During a meeting with President Joe Biden on Sunday at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Zelenskyy told reporters that he believes Ukraine has lost control of the city. ... For today, Bakhmut is only in our hearts."

Russia’s claim of victory in Bakhmut suggests that the brutal urban combat that marked the deadliest battle of its war in Ukraine might be over. Those gains will allow Ukrainian troops to continue raining artillery on Russian forces trying to hold Bakhmut, according to Ukrainian officials. A battle on May 6 breached Russian lines south of the village of Ivanivske and forced Russian soldiers into a disorganized retreat. Image Ukrainian soldiers west of Bakhmut after rotating out of the city, this month. A Russian capture of Bakhmut “will mean nothing, actually,” predicted Colonel Serhiy Hrabsky, a commentator on the war for the Ukrainian news media.

☆ Live updates: Russia's war in ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Heather Chen | Andrew Raine | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The move is in response to the "regularly anti-Russian sanctions" imposed by the US administration, according to a statement from Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday. Hours earlier, at the Group of Seven summit, the Biden administration unveiled new sanctions targeting Moscow for its war in Ukraine. An adviser to the mayor of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine claims the explosions took place at a base for Moscow's forces. US diplomatic appointment: US President Joe Biden formally nominated James O'Brien to serve as the top State Department official for European affairs — a key role for guiding Washington's response to Russia's war in Ukraine. NATO developments: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told CNN he is still not prepared to support Sweden's NATO membership, repeating his claim that Stockholm has allowed terrorist organizations to harbor in the country.

☆ Russia's Wagner group claims to have captured Bakhmut but Ukraine says it still controls a part of it
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Darya Tarasova Sugam Pokharel Thom Poole Rob Picheta | Darya Tarasova | Sugam Pokharel | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has denied claims Bakhmut has fallen to Russia after the chief of the mercenary Wagner group said his forces had taken complete control of the eastern Ukrainian city following months of brutal fighting. In a later update the Armed Forces of Ukraine said: “The battles for the city of Bakhmut continue”. Wagner received a message of praise from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russian forces, bolstered by members of the Wagner mercenary group, have taken heavy losses trying to capture the city. Before the war, around 70,000 people lived in Bakhmut, a city once famous for its sparkling wine.

☆ Ukraine says it shot down 6 of the high-powered Kinzhal missiles that Russia boasted were unstoppable
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukraine says it shot down six of Russia's "unstoppable" Kinzhal missiles over Kyiv early Tuesday. In total, a barrage of 18 missiles were intercepted from land, sea and air, officials claimed. According to the commander-in-chief of Ukraine's army, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, six Russian MiG-31K jets launched the Kinzhal missiles overnight. "It was exceptional in its density — the maximum number of attack missiles in the shortest period of time," said Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv's military administration, of the barrage, per The Telegraph's translation. Firefighters work at a site of a vehicle parking area damaged by remains of Russian missiles, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine May 16, 2023.

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