Ukrainian pilots are now training on F-16 jets in several countries, EU's top diplomat says
From CNN's James Frater and Lindsay Isaac
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell makes a press statement ahead of the EU Defense Ministers' meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on May 23. (Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Ukrainian pilots have started to undergo training on F-16 fighter jets in several European Union countries according to the bloc’s High Representative, Josep Borrell.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has been asking allies for the aircraft as Kyiv seeks to improve its defenses against Russian air attacks.
Speaking on his way into a meeting of EU defense ministers in Brussels Tuesday, Borrell said the training will “take time, but the sooner the better.”
While the idea was initially met by reluctance from Ukraine’s allies, Borrell said that the door is now open for the provision of jets, and he expects a similar outcome to that of the donation of Leopard 2 tanks which also went through a period of uncertainty.
At the start of talks about sending the German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv, Borrell said many countries were “reluctant.” But “at the end,” he added, “the decision comes to provide this military support because it is absolutely needed in order for Ukraine to continue defending.”
Jet coalition grows: The Dutch defense minister said that EU officials are working on a concrete timeline for training and said that there is agreement that it must happen urgently.
“But we did need the green light from Washington, DC. And it is a co-effort with Denmark, Belgium, UK and other allies. So a coordinated effort. But we will speed up now that we know that we have the green light,” Kajsa Ollogren told reporters.
US President Joe Biden signaled his approval for Ukrainian pilots to be trained to fly them over the weekend.
9:55 a.m. ET, May 23, 2023
Russian authorities still "clearing the territory" after Belgorod attack, governor says
From CNN’s Olga Voitovych in Kyiv and Jo Shelley in London
Residents of the settlements under attack in Russia’s Belgorod region have been resettled in other areas as authorities continue “clearing the territory” after a cross-border incursion from Ukraine, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov has said.
“The clearing of the territory from the aftermath (of the attack) continues,” Gladkov said on his Telegram channel, without specifying what the operation involved.
Gladkov also claimed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had fired mortar and artillery shells at the Belgorod region dozens of times on Monday, and dropped explosive devices from drones.
Twelve civilians had been wounded, he said, and a number of houses and cars damaged.
The Freedom for Russia Legion said on Telegram early on Tuesday that it and the Russian Volunteer Corps, “continue to liberate the Belgorod region!” These groups are made up of anti-Putin Russian nationals and are aligned with the Ukrainian army.
The Telegram post described them as “patriot volunteers” and claimed that Russia is vulnerable to attack.
“Russia has no reserves to respond to military crises. All military personnel are dead, wounded or in Ukraine," it said.
6:35 a.m. ET, May 23, 2023
Kremlin says Belgorod cross-border attack is cause of "deep concern"
From CNN’s Anna Chernova
A video grab from social media of an attack in the Belgorod border area on May 22. bpzua/Telegram
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said the cross-border attack on the Russian region of Belgorod on Monday is a cause of “deep concern.”
“Certainly, what happened yesterday causes deep concern,” Peskov said in his regular briefing with journalists on Tuesday.
“This once again confirms that Ukrainian militants continue their activities against our country. This requires great effort from us. These efforts are continuing, as is the special military operation which is ongoing in order to prevent such infiltrations in the future," he said.
While Peskov referred to the group or groups that crossed into Russia as “Ukrainian militants,” the attack has been claimed by the “Freedom for Russia Legion” and “Russian Volunteer Corps” – a group of anti-Putin Russian nationals aligned with the Ukrainian army.
“These are Ukrainian militants, from Ukraine. There are many ethnic Russians living in Ukraine. All the same, they are Ukrainian militants,” said Peskov.
Peskov said he could not confirm whether the counter-terrorism operation mounted by the Russian authorities in Belgorod is still in progress, or how many of the saboteur groups entered and remained on Russian territory.
“Our special services are dealing with this now, they are finding out their identities, their number,” he said.
6:35 a.m. ET, May 23, 2023
Russia opens criminal proceedings into attack on Belgorod region
From CNN’s Olga Voitovych in Kyiv and Jo Shelley in London
Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened criminal proceedings after the cross-border attack on settlements in the Belgorod regions.
In a statement posted on the Telegram messaging app, the committee said that they had initiated a case under multiple articles of the Russian Criminal Code, including, "an act of terrorism, an attempt on the life of law enforcement officers, attempted murder, intentional destruction or damage to property and trafficking in weapons and explosives."
Representatives of the Ukrainian armed formations attacked the Grayvoron district of the Belgorod region,” investigators claimed in a statement released Monday.
“Residential and administrative buildings and civilian infrastructure were subjected to mortar and artillery fire. As a result of these criminal actions, several civilians were wounded.”
“Investigative and operational measures are currently being taken to establish the identity of the attackers and all the circumstances of what happened,” it added.
Who attacked Belgorod? A group of anti-Putin Russians aligned with the Ukrainian army claimed responsibility for an attack in Russia’s southwestern Belgorod region, launched on Monday.
The group called itself the “Freedom for Russia Legion.”
The Russian region’s governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, referred to the attackers as “a sabotage and reconnaissance group” of the Ukrainian army. But a Ukrainian official said the group was made up of Russian nationals and insisted they were acting independently.
Gladkov said Tuesday that a “counter-terrorist operation” was ongoing in the region, following Monday’s attack and further drone attacks overnight.
7:38 a.m. ET, May 23, 2023
Russia has claimed to control Bakhmut, but Ukraine says it’s still fighting. Here’s what we know
From CNN's Rob Picheta and Christian Edwards
Destruction at the frontline town of Bakhmut in Donetsk region, Ukraine, in this handout picture released on May 21. Ukrainian Armed Forces/Reuters
Who controls the besieged eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut? It depends who you ask.
According to Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of the Russian mercenary organization Wagner, his troops have taken “all the territories they promised to capture, to the last square centimeter.”
But Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelensky says his forces are still fighting in Bakhmut.
The conflicting claims follow a months-long slog in the city where Russian soldiers have had to grind for every inch of territory. Here’s the latest.
Who has claimed what?
Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, Hanna Maliar, said Monday that Ukrainian forces still occupy “a small part of the city” and are advancing on Bakhmut’s flanks.
On Tuesday, Maliar claimed that fighting has “decreased,” but that Ukraine’s forces had retained their small foothold in the city.
Fighting continues in the suburbs. The enemy is trying to take advantageous positions, but fails. In certain areas, the enemy is on the defensive,” she said.
An aerial view shows destructions in the frontline town of Bakhmut, in Donetsk region, Ukraine, in this handout picture released on May 21. Ukrainian Armed Forces/Reuters
But Russian officials tell a different story. In a video released Saturday, Prigozhin stood alongside his mercenaries and claimed to have taken complete control of the city, saying he would hand it over to Russia later in May.
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Wagner for “the completion of the operation to liberate Artemovsk” – using the Soviet-Russian name for Bakhmut.
How important is Bakhmut?
Bakhmut sits toward the northeast of the Donetsk region and has long been a target for Russian forces. Since last summer the city has been a stone’s throw from the front lines.
But, despite Russia pouring vast amounts of manpower and resources into capturing the city, its military value has long been questioned by Western analysts, Ukrainian officials and even Prigozhin himself, who claimed earlier this month that Bakhmut was of “no strategic importance.”
Instead, Prigozhin claimed he intended to wear down Ukrainian troops using tactics he frequently compared to a “meat-grinder,” sending wave after wave of his own soldiers into the battle.
But these tactics came at a heavy – and unsustainable – cost. There are no official casualty figures, but earlier this year a NATO source told CNN they estimated that for every Ukrainian soldier killed defending Bakhmut, Russia lost five.
What remains of Bakhmut?
While it is uncertain whether Bakhmut has fully “fallen” to Wagner troops, new images have made clear that there is not much left standing in the city.
The city has been devastated by the months-long, street-by-street Russian assault, drawing comparisons to other cities that have borne the full brunt of Russian aggression, such as Grozny and Aleppo. In his comments at the G7, Zelensky said pictures of ruined Hiroshima he saw on a visit to the Japanese city “really remind” him of Bakhmut.
Zelensky visits Ukraine’s frontline troops in the east
From CNN’s Olga Voitovych in Kyiv and Jo Shelley in London
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, center, poses for photo with soldiers after an awarding ceremony as he visits the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on May 23. Ukrainian Presidential Press Office/AP
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has visited troops on his country’s eastern frontline to mark the Day of Marines – an annual national holiday to celebrate the Ukrainian Navy.
A post on the presidency’s website said Zelensky visited service personnel on the Vuhledar-Maryinka defense line in the Donetsk region and presented several state awards for courage and bravery to fighters there.
"Every day on the battlefield, the Ukrainian marines prove that they are a powerful force that destroys the enemy, liberates Ukrainian lands, and performs the most difficult tasks in the most difficult conditions,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky’s trip to Ukraine’s east comes after a series of whirlwind trips abroad last week, when he secured pledges to boost Ukraine’s military arsenal during stops in Italy, Germany, France and the United Kingdom and travelled to the G7 summit in Japan to appeal to the world’s major industrial democracies to remain united against Russian aggression.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy shakes hands with a service woman during an awarding ceremony as he visits the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on May 23. Ukrainian Presidential Press Office/AP
The Donetsk region is also home to the embattled city of Bakhmut, which Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed on Saturday to have captured in its entirety. However, his claims have been contested by Ukrainian officials – including Zelensky, who told the G7 summit on Sunday that “we are keeping on, we are fighting” in Bakhmut.
4:15 a.m. ET, May 23, 2023
Ukraine's deputy defense minister reports "decreased" fighting in Bakhmut
From CNN’s Olga Voitovych in Kyiv and Jo Shelley in London
A Ukrainian tank in position near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on May 23. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)
Fighting in Bakhmut has "decreased," and Ukraine's forces retain a small foothold in the flashpoint eastern city, Kyiv's deputy defense minister Hanna Maliar claimed on Telegram.
“Our troops control the southwestern outskirts of the city in the ‘airplane’ area,” she said, referring to the remains of a MiG-17 monument in Druzhba Square in the southwest of Bakhmut.
Ukrainian troops had made “a slight advance” on the flanks to the north and south of the city, she claimed.
“Fighting continues in the suburbs. The enemy is trying to take advantageous positions, but fails. In certain areas, the enemy is on the defensive. It suffers heavy losses,” she said.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly claimed that Bakhmut has not fallen entirely into Russian hands after private military group Wagner and Moscow officials said they had seized the eastern city at the weekend.
3:11 a.m. ET, May 23, 2023
Russian governor says "counter-terrorist operation" ongoing in Belgorod
From CNN's Josh Pennington and Duarte Mendonca
Vyacheslav Gladkov attends a meeting outside Moscow on January 24. Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/AFP/Getty Images
A "counter-terrorist operation" was ongoing in southwestern Russia's Belgorod region, its governor said Tuesday, a day after a town bordering Ukraine was attacked in an incursion claimed by pro-Ukraine Russian nationals.
“The Defense Ministry continues to sweep the territory with the help of law enforcement agencies,” Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram. “All the necessary actions are being taken by the security forces. We are waiting for the completion of the counter-terrorist operation that was announced yesterday. I will try to update the information for you as quickly as possible.”
Earlier, Gladkov said Belgorod was hit by drone attacks overnight, following an incursion Monday claimed by Russians partisans aligned with the Ukrainian army.
The Freedom of Russia Legion and Russian Volunteer Corps earlier said they had "fully liberated the settlement of Kozinka" and "entered Grayvoron," after crossing from Ukraine into Belgorod on Monday.
On Tuesday, Gladkov urged Grayvoron residents not to return to their homes until the operation was completed.
9:57 a.m. ET, May 23, 2023
Drones strike Russian border region of Belgorod, governor says
From CNN’s Mariya Knight and Josh Pennington
Belgorod in southwestern Russia was hit by drone attacks overnight, its governor said, as the border region reels from an incursion claimed by anti-Putin Russians aligned with the Ukrainian army.
In a series of Telegram post late Monday and early Tuesday, Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said two homes were struck by drones in the town of Grayvoron — the site of an earlier attack claimed by pro-Ukraine Russian volunteers.
“The houses caught fire after explosive devices were dropped from the UAV,” Gladkov said.
In the village of Borisovka, Gladkov said explosive devices were dropped from drones onto an administrative building and a house in two separate attacks.
No casualties were reported in any of the drone incidents, the governor said.
No one has claimed responsibility for the alleged drone attacks.
Russian partisans: Earlier Monday, Gladkov said most of Grayvoron's residents had evacuated the town after eight people were injured in an attack by a "sabotage group" linked to the Ukrainian army.
The Freedom for Russia Legion and Russian Volunteer Corps earlier claimed they had "fully liberated the settlement of Kozinka" and "entered Grayvoron," after crossing from Ukraine into Belgorod on Monday.
A Ukrainian official said the group was made up of Russian nationals and insisted they were acting independently.
