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☆ Russia is wracked by mutiny and mistakes. Ukraine will seek to take advantage
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But the Russian military may have panicked at seeing mercenaries advance on Moscow and sent help. Wagner forces drove tanks into Rostov-on-Don on June 24, 2023. Firstly, there must have been a radical impact on Russian military morale. Might an earthquake on the battlefield inadvertently rally Moscow’s elite around him, to stave of an existential defeat for Russia as a nation in Ukraine? Moscow’s mistakes have been so plentiful over the past months, at some point Ukraine will likely seize the initiative.

Persons: Wagner, Hanna Mailar, Wagner’s, STRINGER, won’t, Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin –, –, Putin’s, Prigozhin's, Putin, ”, Napoleon Organizations: CNN, Rivnopil, Getty, NATO, Troops, Russia Locations: Moscow, Ukraine, Bakhmut, Donetsk, Mariinka, Russian, Rostov, AFP, Kyiv, Russia, Belarus, Soviet Union, Ukrainian

☆ Putin: Bizarre and chaotic 36 hours in Russia feels like the beginning of the end for Kremlin leader
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

These were 36 hours that provided a glimpse of the end of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule. Two hours earlier, Wagner were at the gates of the capital (almost), and then suddenly everything is forgiven. Did he accept entering the capital would leave his men vulnerable, even to a weak Russian military response? While on the surface, Prigozhin’s climbdown makes him appear weak, even finished, he has been the decision-maker over the past 36 hours. The most optimistic assessment you could make is that Russian military morale must have felt a hiccup while watching its commander-in-chief and most prominent military figure engage in a 24-hour game of chicken.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko, Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Dmitry Peskov, Wagner, climbdown, he’s, didn’t, Putin’s, – Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, Justice, NATO, NATO – Locations: Moscow, Belarus, Minsk, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Iran, Russia, Russian

☆ Analysis: Moscow is at risk of losing its iron grip on power in Russia. The next 24 hours are critical
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —This just does not happen in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. This is now an existential choice for Russia’s elite – between the president’s faltering regime, and the dark, mercenary Frankenstein it created to do its dirty work, which has turned on its masters. Among the Russian rich, Friday’s events will remove any question about whether they should doubt Putin’s grip on power. The 1917 removal of Tsar Nicholas II in Russia turned into the Bolshevik Revolution, Lenin and then the Soviet Empire. But it is impossible to imagine Putin’s regime will ever go back to its previous heights of control from this moment.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, he’s, fratricide, –, Putin, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s, Prigozhin, Frankenstein, Stringer, Tsar Nicholas II, Lenin Organizations: CNN, Russian Ministry of Defense, Prigozhin, NATO, Southern Military District, Reuters, Kremlin, Bolshevik Locations: Vladimir Putin’s Russia, Russian, Moscow, Rostov, Russia, Don, CNN Ukraine, Soviet, Ukraine

☆ Chonhar bridge strike may indicate a more potent strategy by Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The Chonhar bridges are both rail and road crossings, and head from the northeast of occupied Crimea to Ukraine’s main target in this counteroffensive: occupied Zaporizhzhia region. In the video, Vladimir Saldo, the Russian installed governor of occupied Kherson region, walks around the wreckage, and bemoans “another pointless action” assisted, he says, by the London-supplied Storm Shadow missile. They will have to use another, longer route, he added, to the West through Armyansk and Perekop, closer to Ukrainian positions. On Sunday, a blast hit what seemed to be a Russian ammunition depot in Rykove, near Chonhar. Alexei Zhivoff, a Russian military blogger, said Thursday the Chonhar bridge was more a “land corridor”, and carried 70% of the military and civilian traffic to and from Crimea.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky’s, Vladimir Saldo, bemoans, Alexei Zhivoff Organizations: CNN, Shadow, NATO, Kharkiv – Locations: Crimea, Zaporizhzhia, Russian, Kherson, London, Armyansk, Kherson City, Dnipro, Kerch, Rykove, Chonhar, Kharkiv, Moscow, Russia

☆ Ukraine’s counteroffensive has been brutal and slow. But Kyiv has many cards left to play
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

And this is likely why we are seeing a slow – and at times incremental – start to this first phase of open operations. It has also been grueling, with Ukrainian losses reported around Mala Tokmachka, and now intense fighting near Pyatykhatky. Some estimates suggest only a quarter of Ukraine’s fresh units, bolstered by NATO training and supplies, are now in the fight. Ukrainian forces firing an S60 anti-aircraft canon placed on a truck on Juune 19, 2023. Kyiv needs to cement a change in the frontlines to validate the huge investment in its forces made by NATO.

Persons: –, Wojciech Grzedzinski, Rykove, recalibrations, Vladimir Putin, Velyka, Blahodatne, Brigade perilously, Igor Strelkov, Melitopol –, Kreminna, Ukraine’s, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Zalyuzhnyi, gridlock Organizations: CNN, 73rd Naval Special Operations Center, NATO, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Moscow, Kyiv, Brigade, Donetsk People’s Republic Locations: Ukrainian, Ukraine, Rykove, Kherson, Bakhmut, Crimea, Russia, Kyiv, Moscow, Volnovakha, Mariupol, Zaporizhzhia, Orikhiv, Mala Tokmachka, Pyatykhatky, Donetsk, Zherebyanki, Kamyanske, Dnipro, Melitopol, Azov, Kupyansk, Kharkiv, Russian

CNN —Former United States President Barack Obama, late night television host Stephen Colbert, and CNN’s Erin Burnett are some of the “500 Americans” Russia has banned from entering the country. The list includes Obama, former US Ambassador Jon Huntsman, several US senators and the next expected chairman of the joint chiefs Charles Q. The rambling list of names also includes American late night TV hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Colbert, and Seth Meyers. Friday’s list also includes CNN Anchor Erin Burnett and is an update of a previously published longer list of sanctioned individuals that includes CNN’s Chief International Security Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh, CNN contributors Bianna Golodryga and Timothy Naftali. While the list was labelled, “500 Americans,” Paton Walsh is a British citizen.

☆ Analysis: Ukraine is keeping Russia guessing about its counteroffensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

It is possible we only learn the counteroffensive has begun when its first tangible results are revealed. But it has more significantly revealed a seismic difference in how Russia and Ukraine’s war machines are functioning. This will be vital in the weeks ahead: Moscow appears to process bad news very poorly and publicly. In the weeks ahead, we will likely see more confusion about what Ukraine is up to. But weeks more of Russian confusion, overstretch, and public self-criticism will likely reduce the ultimate human cost on Kyiv.

☆ Russian forces lash out indiscriminately as Ukraine increases military pressure on frontline towns
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh Natalie Gallón Kosta Gak Peter Rudden | Nick Paton Walsh | Natalie Gallón | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Local residents stand next to a building that was damaged in the night, following Russian shelling in Komyshevakha, Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine on Monday, May 8. Polohy is one of over a dozen frontline settlements that occupying forces announced Friday would be emptied of civilians. It is as yet unclear what impact these evacuations – which on Sunday Russian occupation officials said amounted to 1,600 people – will have on Moscow’s ability to hold frontline towns. He evaded their tight scrutiny of his whereabouts when a local occupation official failed to turn up to work one day, and he drove a minibus of civilians out. The regular effective targeting of Russian positions by Ukrainian firepower sparked a manhunt in the town for an informant.

CNN —Ukraine says it has for the first time used a US-made Patriot air defense system to intercept a Russian hypersonic missile. Mykola Oleshchuk, Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, said on Telegram Saturday: “Yes, we have intercepted the ‘unmatched’ Kinzhal,’” adding the word “Patriot” and an emoji of the Ukrainian flag. Ukraine has received at least two Patriot systems, one from the United States and one from Germany, to enhance its air defenses, which have previously been unable to intercept more modern Russian missiles such as the Kinzhal. “Building a multi-level air and missile defense system as soon as possible is our priority,” he declared. Patriot systems create a capability that did not exist before – to defeat ballistic targets.”

☆ Putin faces a deluge of bad news as Wagner says it will withdraw from frontline and Kremlin comes under attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

And it will happen just after the May 9 Victory Day pomp and celebration, as, he insists, Wagner are patriots. But he has never said he will likely cripple one of Russia’s most symbolic frontlines by just walking away. Wagner forces would have to walk out of a battlefield which is – on the surface – for the most part controlled by Putin’s Ministry of Defense. Putin is absorbing a lot of bad vibes at the moment to seem that much in control. It is unlikely that any fissures at the heart of the Kremlin would be made public before they were acted upon.

☆ Analysis: Cross-border attacks as Russia and Ukraine seek to weaken each other ahead of expected offensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Ukraine is apparently striking at fuel depots in Russian-occupied areas and inside Russia itself – seemingly precise attacks but ones to which Kyiv is making no overt claim. Russia has been lashing out at what often seem to be civilian targets in Ukraine, either in rage or through ineptitude. Ukraine was quick to capitalize on that statement and sent senior officials to the area to claim Russia had already begun pulling back. And now, in Kherson, Ukrainian officials have ordered a 58-hour curfew from 8 p.m. on May 5, barring locals from leaving their houses. This comes amid a deluge of comments from Ukrainian officials that the weather - for the past fortnight alternating between rain and bold sunshine - has held them back.

CNN —A former US Marine, Cooper “Harris” Andrews, 26, was killed on the outskirts of Bakhmut late last week, according to his mother and colleagues in Ukraine. Andrews worked for an activist group known as the Resistance Committee, according to their social media statements. Andrews left Cleveland, Ohio in November and joined the Foreign Legion in Ukraine, a group of foreign fighters helping the Ukrainian military. The US Department of State said on Monday it could “confirm the death of a US citizen in Ukraine,” without naming the individual. “Out of respect for the family’s privacy during this difficult time, we have nothing further to add.”CNN has reached out to the Ukrainian military for comment but has yet to hear back.

☆ Russia appears in disarray as Ukraine prepares counteroffensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine CNN —Ukraine’s much-anticipated counteroffensive appears imminent – and the way each side is preparing speaks volumes about their readiness. Kyiv’s front lines are abuzz with vehicle movement and artillery strikes, with regular explosions hitting vital Russian targets in occupied areas. Its defense minister has said preparations are “coming to an end” and President Volodymyr Zelensky has assured a counteroffensive “will happen,” while demurring on any exact start date. Muhammed Enes Yildirim/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesThe “Butcher of Mariupol,” as Mizintsev is known, surely had enough failings over Russia’s disastrous war to merit his firing. By removing key ministers in the moments before its army faces Ukraine’s counter-assault, Moscow sends a message of disarray.

On the surface, Brittney Griner and Viktor Bout are accused of ludicrously different crimes. Bout’s outsized importance to Russia has always been the bigger puzzle. I have seen videos of Bout in the Congo and across Africa, where he was pretty close to the conflicts there. There were suggestions too that he had served alongside senior Russians who are now close to President Vladimir Putin. This is a man who many ordinary Russians may have heard of, and he certainly is of mythological importance to the Russian elite.

CNN —Moscow’s accusation that Ukrainian drones struck two airbases deep inside Russia has once again raised the febrile question of escalation nine months into the war. Footage on Russian media shows the aftermath of an alleged drone strike Tuesday at an airfield in Kursk, Russia. Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the blasts, in keeping with Kyiv’s policy of official silence around attacks inside Russia or in Russian-occupied Crimea. But it is hard to know what else Russia could do to Ukraine that it has not already done. Let us first quickly discuss why a Russian nuclear strike seems off the table, at least for now.

☆ Video: At least 440 unmarked graves found in recently liberated Ukrainian town
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-16 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

Ukraine's Defense Ministry says at least 440 unmarked graves were found in the city of Izium in recent days. The country's officials say some of the bodies found showed signs of torture . CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has more.

☆ Video: 'Impossible to occupy our people': Zelensky during visit to liberated territory
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-15 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked his country's military during a visit to the newly liberated city of Izium in Kharkiv region. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports from the ground.

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