Pentagon announces new $2.1 billion security assistance package for Ukraine
From CNN's Jamie Crawford
The Pentagon on Friday announced a new $2.1 billion security assistance package for Ukraine that it said includes “critical air defense and ammunition capabilities,” according to a press release.
"This USAI (Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative) package illustrates the continued commitment to both Ukraine’s critical near-term capabilities as well as the enduring capacity of Ukraine’s Armed Forces to defend its territory and deter Russian aggression over the long term," the statement said.
According to the Pentagon, the package includes:
Additional munitions for Patriot air defense systems
HAWK air defense systems and missiles
105mm and 203mm artillery rounds
Puma unmanned aerial systems
Laser-guided rocket system munitions
Support for training, maintenance and sustainment activities
Some context: With the new package announcement, the US has committed more than $40.4 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden administration, including more than $39.7 billion since the beginning of the war in February 2022.
11:31 a.m. ET, June 9, 2023
Drone plant that Russia is building with help from Iran could be fully operational by early 2024, US says
From CNN's Natasha Bertrand
Destroyed Russian drones are seen as members of the mobile air defense groups attend a handover ceremony of trucks with DShK machine guns near the town of Borispil, Kyiv region, Ukraine, on May 10. Gleb Garanich/Reuters
The US believes that an attack drone manufacturing plant Russia is building with Iran’s help could be fully operational by early next year, National Security Council official John Kirby said on Friday.
Iran is shipping equipment for the plant, as well as fully-built drones, to Russia via the Caspian Sea, US officials believe. Russia has purchased hundreds of drones from Iran since last summer and is using them extensively in the war in Ukraine.
Kirby, the NSC's coordinator for strategic communications, confirmed previous CNN reporting that Iran is using the Caspian Sea route to move drones, bullets and mortar shells to Russia, often using vessels that are “dark,” or have turned off their tracking data to disguise their movements.
The US released a map on Friday showing the route Iran appears to be using to ship the equipment from Amirabad, Iran to Makhachkala, Russia.
“Russia has been using Iranian UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) in recent weeks to strike Kyiv and terrorize the Ukrainian population, and the Russia-Iran military partnership appears to be deepening,” Kirby said in a statement.
CNN has asked the Russian embassy in Washington and the Iranian mission to the United Nations for comment.
“The support is flowing both ways: from Iran to Russia, and from Russia to Iran,” Kirby said.
Some background: Iran appeared to be modifying the attack drones it has provided to Russia so that the explosive warheads could inflict maximum damage on infrastructure targets inside Ukraine, according to an investigative report obtained exclusively by CNN in February.
Iran has given Russia hundreds of drones to use in its war in Ukraine, many of which have targeted Ukraine’s power grid and energy facilities to devastating effect.
Drone sales have deepened Iran’s relations with Russia, which were already strengthening as the two countries were increasingly locked out of international commerce and the financial system.
UN nuclear watchdog launches assistance program to Ukraine in response to dam flooding
From CNN's Amy Cassidy and Yulia Kesaieva
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, on Friday launched a program to assist Ukrainians after the Nova Kakhovka dam collapsed earlier in the week, according to IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi.
Grossi will lead an assistance mission to Ukraine “in the coming days,” he said, where he will present the plan to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The measures come in response to Kyiv’s recent pleas for international assistance for flood-affected areas, acknowledged by Grossi in a video message on Twitter.
The IAEA chief will also pay another visit to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, he said, which receives cooling water – which is critical for safety – from a nearby thermal plant that is fed upstream from the reservoir adjacent to the breached dam.
“Through the use of nuclear technologies, we will determine the effects on potable water, human health and soil and water management, and assess the integrity of critical infrastructure,” Grossi said in the short video clip.
9:54 a.m. ET, June 9, 2023
Dam collapse timeline remains unclear as Norwegian organization says it spotted explosion around Nova Kakhovka
From CNN’s Gianluca Mezzofiore in London
It’s still impossible to say whether the Nova Kakhovka dam collapsed because it was deliberately targeted or if the breach could have been caused by structural failure.
NORSAR, an independent Norwegian foundation for the detection of earthquakes and nuclear explosions, spotted an explosion at the dam around the time of the first reports of its collapse on June 6, the foundation’s CEO Anne Lycke told CNN.
“We saw this news that the dam burst,” she said in a phone interview. “And then I thought, ‘Let's go into the data and see if it was an explosion or just an incremental downgrading of the dam that made it burst.’ And then we saw in the data that there had been an explosion close to the dam or at the dam.”
Social media posts from people living in the area reported an explosion at the dam around 2:18 to 2:20 a.m. local time (7:18 to 7:20 p.m. ET)
A video of the scene, geolocated by CNN, shows a small explosion at the dam, which appears to be already breached, supposedly at 2:46 a.m. local time (7:46 p.m. ET).
The seismic signals picked up by NORSAR show an explosion, recorded at 2:54 a.m. local time (7:54 p.m. ET), was of magnitude close to 2 – significant but not overly big, according to Lycke.
It remains uncertain whether the event NORSAR detected was from the event that caused the dam to collapse.
NORSAR uses triangulation methods to calculate the distance between a seismic event and the station collecting the data.
“We're monitoring and logging the shaking of the earth,” Lycke said. “And then you can very fine-tune the instrument and then advanced form of triangulation and signal assessments.”
The explosion that NORSAR detected at 2:54 a.m. local time (7:54 a.m. ET) was a man-made event because with earthquakes, “there is usually a preamble to the main thing” before the natural occurrence, while with this explosion “the Earth was quiet, then comes the big thing very quickly and then it tapers off,” Lycke explained.
Lycke said the NORSAR team is in touch with the Ukrainian data center.
9:38 a.m. ET, June 9, 2023
2 people killed after Russian attack of hospital in Huliaipole, Ukrainian officials say
From CNN’s Yulia Kesaieva and Olga Voitovych in Kyiv
Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, posted this image of a building he said was the hospital shelled in the city of Huliaipole, Ukraine. From Andriy Yermak/Telegram
Andriy Yermak, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said that two people have died after Russia shelled a hospital in the city of Huliaipole, close to the southern front in the Zaporizhzhia region.
In a Telegram message, Yermak posted a photo of a building he said was the hospital, with the windows blown out.
“The Russians shelled a hospital in the town of Huliaipole,” he said. “It is known about two dead employees of the hospital - a junior nurse and a plumber. Two more people are injured.”
The Ukrainian official leading the regional military administration in Zaporizhzhia, Yurii Malashko, later claimed a guided aerial bomb hit the hospital.
“Unfortunately, a 46-year-old employee who continued to perform his duties on the front line despite the danger, and a 55-year-old woman who was near the site of the hit, were killed,” Malashko said.
He said two nurses were injured by shrapnel but did not need hospital treatment. A State Emergency Service worker was also wounded, he said.
Search and rescue operations are underway, he added.
“The Ukrainian Armed Forces are making new attempts to attack in different parts of the front. Our troops are doing everything possible to prevent a breakthrough deep into the defense line,” Vladimir Rogov told RIA Novosti.
10:39 a.m. ET, June 9, 2023
Death toll rises to 5 in Ukrainian-held flooded region, official says
From CNN’s Olga Voitovych in Kyiv
A view shows a flooded residential area following the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam in the town of Hola Prystan in the Kherson region, on June 8. Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
The death toll from flooding in the parts of Ukraine that the government controls has risen to five, the Internal Affairs Ministry said on Telegram.
Four people have been reported dead in the Kherson region, it said.
“In Kherson region, 48 settlements are actually flooded, including: 34 (3,625 houses) - on the territory controlled by Ukraine, 14 - on the temporarily occupied territory,” it said. “2,412 people were evacuated. 4 people were killed. 11 people were injured as a result of shelling during the evacuation. 13 people are still missing.”
In the Mykolaiv region, the death toll is still one — a 53-year-old man who refused to be evacuated from the floodwaters.
The ministry said 23 settlements in the Mykolaiv region were flooded and 825 people were evacuated.
8:29 a.m. ET, June 9, 2023
It's mid-afternoon in Kyiv. Here's what you need to know
From CNN staff
The front line in eastern Ukraine is still the “epicenter” of fighting, a Ukrainian official said on Friday – although the situation is “tense” on all fronts.
While it remains uncertain whether Ukraine's long-awaited counteroffensive has begun, it is clear that Ukrainian forces have stepped up activities along the frontline to the south east of the city of Zaporizhzhia.
Elsewhere, Russian authorities have alleged a drone strike on city of Voronezh which has "lightly injured" three people. The city's governor, Alexander Gusev, claimed the drone had hit an empty apartment in a residential building.
Below are the latest developments:
"Everything is just beginning:" There is “fierce fighting” on Ukraine’s southern front as Kyiv’s troops continue to probe Russian defenses, a Kremlin-backed official in the Zaporizhzhia region, Vladimir Rogov, has told Russian state media. Rogov – who described what was happening as a “counteroffensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces” – warned in separate comments on Telegram: “Everything is just beginning." Kyiv has repeatedly said that the start of any large-scale counteroffensive will not be announced and has not commented on any moves on the southern front overnight. In another Telegram post on Friday morning, Rogov claimed that Russian units had thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to push back Russian troops near Orikhiv, about 40 miles southeast of Zaporizhzhia.
"Active combat" around eastern city of Bakhmut:" Ukraine's deputy defense minister, Hanna Maliar, has said on Telegram that the epicenter of the fighting remains in the east, although the situation is "tense" along the entire front line. Maliar said that Ukrainian troops were “engaged in active combat” around the embattled city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, leaving Russia on the defensive, “pulling together reserves and trying to hold its positions.”
Floodwater levels fall: Water levels in the flooded area of the Kherson region have dropped overnight, according to a local Ukrainian commander. "On average, the water level on the west bank [of the Dnipro River] is 5.38 meters (17.7 feet), and in Kherson city it is 5.35 meters. We can already see that the water has dropped by 20 centimeters (7.8 inches) overnight," said Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson region military administration, on Telegram Friday. Prokudin reiterated calls for affected residents to flee for safety.
Military drills: China and Russia will again hold joint military drills this year, top generals from each side confirmed in a virtual meet Friday, according to China’s defense ministry. The chief of the Joint Staff Department of China’s Central Military Commission held a video meeting with Valery Gerasimov, chief of General Staff of the Russian armed forces.
Drone strike: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has blamed Kyiv for an alleged drone strike on the southwestern Russian city of Voronezh, in his daily briefing call with reporters. Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had launched an investigation. The attack “lightly injured” three people, city governor Alexander Gusev said on Telegram on Friday.
7:20 a.m. ET, June 9, 2023
Russian authorities allege drone strike on city of Voronezh
From CNN's Uliana Pavlova
Damage to a building after a drone attack in Voronezh, Russia, on June 9. Ara Kilonjans/Kommersant/Sipa USA/AP
A drone attack on the southwestern Russian city of Voronezh has “lightly injured” three people, the governor, Alexander Gusev, said on Telegram on Friday.
Gusev claimed the drone had hit an empty apartment in a residential building.
“The room in the house on Belinsky Street in Voronezh, which was hit by a drone today, was empty. No one was inside at the time of the incident. As I have already said, medical assistance was provided to three lightly injured. Hospitalization is not required,” he said. “There are no dead.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed Kyiv for the alleged strike in his daily briefing call with reporters, and Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had launched an investigation.
Drone strikes on Vorozneh were also reported last month, when three sites in Russian regions on the border with Ukraine were attacked by drones.
Local officials said two drones launched strikes in the Voronezh, Belgorod and Kursk regions.
The drones attacked a military facility in Voronezh, according to a statement by the region's governor, Alexander Gusev.
8:27 a.m. ET, June 9, 2023
China and Russia plan joint military drills as top generals meet virtually
From CNN's Mengchen Zhang
The Chinese navy destroyer Jinan, foreground, sails alongside the Russian navy cruiser Varyag during a joint naval drills in the East China Sea on December 21, 2022. Xu Wei/Xinhua/AP
China and Russia will again hold joint military drills this year, top generals from each side confirmed in a virtual meet Friday, according to China’s defense ministry.
The chief of the Joint Staff Department of China’s Central Military Commission held a video meeting with Valery Gerasimov, chief of General Staff of the Russian armed forces.
The meeting was held to “exchange views on implementing the consensus of the two heads of state and deepening cooperation between the two armies,” China’s defense ministry stated.
On June 6, China and Russia held joint air force drills over the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea.
Remember: It comes as bilateral trade between Russia and China totaled more than $93.8 billion from January to May in 2023, a 40.7% increase compared to the same period last year, data from China’s General Administration of Customs showed.
Russia has been hit by unprecedented Western sanctions since it invaded Ukraine and has been shut out of much of the global economy.
But China, which has declared “no limits” to its friendship with its northern neighbor, has thrown the Kremlin an economic lifeline, tempering the impact of its banishment from the global financial system.
China — which views Russia as a key partner and counterbalance amid its own rising tensions with the West — has refused to condemn Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine or call for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine’s territory, even as millions have been displaced and tens of thousands killed in the Kremlin’s unprovoked onslaught into the country.
