July 26, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

More than 40 Ukrainian companies have contracts to develop drones for use in the war against Russia, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

Shmyhal appeared at a forum marking the first anniversary of the "Army of Drones" project that brought together Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturers. The prime minister said the production of UAVs has since increased tenfold.

Both surveillance and attack drones have played a critical role for both sides in the Ukrainian-Russian conflict, assisting with targeting enemy weapons, tracking the movement of units and taking out armor.

Shmyhal said the Ukrainian government has allocated about $1 billion this year for investing in Ukrainian UAV manufacturers.

Mykhailo Fedorov, the Ukrainian minister of digital transformation, displayed some 1,700 UAVs at the forum that are being sent to the front lines.

The program has so far trained 10,000 operators at 26 training centers, and another 10,000 are slated to be trained in the future.

However, some Ukrainian military officials have recently noted that Russia’s advantage in electronic warfare has blunted the effectiveness of drone operations, as Moscow is able to jam the UAVs.

Russian-installed officials and military bloggers have claimed Ukrainian forces have launched a major offensive in the Zaporizhzhia region, to the south of Orikhiv, though Kyiv has remained silent on the reports. Meanwhile, Ukraine's security service has acknowledged that it was responsible for an October attack on a key bridge linking Crimea to mainland Russia.

Here are the latest headlines:

After months of silence, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has acknowledged its involvement in the attack on the Crimean bridge in October last year.

“SBU officers have been destroying the enemy in the hottest spots and doing everything to liberate our land as soon as possible. The destruction of the Crimean bridge is one of our achievements," said SBU chief Vasyl Malyuk at a ceremony in Kyiv to mark the issuing of a postage stamp celebrating the security services.

Earlier this month Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar became the first Ukrainian official to acknowledge directly that Ukraine was responsible for the attack, which involved a powerful explosion on the bridge, apparently caused by a bomb concealed in a shipping container.

Some context: The Crimean bridge links the annexed peninsula to mainland Russia.

The crossing is a vital artery for supplying Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine, allowing people and goods to flow into the Ukrainian territories that Moscow has occupied in the south and east of the country.

Also known as the Kerch Bridge, it holds personal value for Russian President Vladimir Putin. In the Kremlin narrative it marks the “reunification” of Crimea with the Russian mainland.

The bridge was also hit by two strikes on July 17, which a Ukrainian security official told CNN that Kyiv was responsible for.

The Ukrainian air force says two Russian cruise missiles fired from the Black Sea have been brought down, but more are expected.

“The enemy launched a Kalibr cruise missile attack from the Black Sea. The missiles were allegedly launched from a Russian submarine," it said, adding that the launch happened around 1 p.m. local time on Wednesday (6 a.m. ET)

The missiles were shot down in the Vinnytsia region of central Ukraine, the air force said.

It also warned that Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers were still airborne, and enemy aircraft were moving towards airspace over the Caspian Sea, from where cruise missiles against Ukraine are frequently launched.

Western officials believe the Russian government has silenced dissent by detaining up to seven people following Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mutiny last month.

“We've seen up to seven individuals have been reported to have been detained,” the officials said during a briefing on Wednesday.

“What we're seeing is anybody who does actively speak up, is either removed from post or imprisoned," they added.

The officials say they have not seen any impact on the frontline in Ukraine, but believe the threat of demotion or detention has discouraged many of those critical of Putin and the Russian government from coming forward. 

“What it has done is anyone who's thinking of speaking out effectively is keeping their head down now, and just getting on with it,” the officials said.

During the briefing, they also said that Prighozin is facing a “cash-flow” problem which is affecting his ability to keep his fighters under employment.

“[Prigozhin] still seems to be active but there seems to be an element of offloading financial assets, both inside Russia and outside to try and raise funds,” the officials said.

“He does seem to have a cash flow problem at the moment, which is obviously impacting his ability to continue employing mercenaries," they added.

“Everybody's still trying to work out exactly what Prigozhin is doing in Belarus,” said the officials.

As the Russia-Africa summit gets underway in St Petersburg, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has accused western governments of trying to sabotage the event.

Asked why only 17 heads of state would be attending the summit, about half the number that attended in 2019, Peskov told reporters: “We are happy to welcome the heads of state who have arrived. We are happy to welcome all other representatives who come from the vast majority of states in Africa."

“As for the reduction in the number of heads of state, yes indeed, this is largely due to the work plans of the heads of state,” Peskov said.

But he also claimed: “There is overt brazen interference by the US, France and other states through their diplomatic missions in African countries and attempts to put pressure on the leadership of these countries in order to prevent their active participation in the forum.”

“This is indeed a fact, and this is absolutely outrageous. But this will in no way interfere with the success of the summit,” Peskov said.

Earlier, Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that the West's attempts to "cause discord in our relations have failed."

The summit, taking place in St Petersburg on Thursday and Friday, "will be dedicated to the development of the entire range of relations with the African continent," Zakharova said in comments shared online Wednesday by the ministry. 

Russia's President Vladimir Putin is set to hold bilateral meetings with all heads of African states taking part in the summit, the Kremlin said Tuesday.

Ukrainian and Russian sources have reported a push by Kyiv’s forces in Staromaiorske, along the Velyka Novosilka – Berdiansk axis in the southern frontline.

Ukrainian special forces shared footage from the village, saying they had captured paratroopers from Russia’s 247th Parachute Regiment, along with important documentation and intelligence. CNN was unable to independently verify the Ukrainian claim or geolocate the footage.

However, different video from Staromaiorske, geolocated by CNN, shows Russian fighters leaving positions and retreating, purportedly after being driven out by Ukrainian forces.

The two videos match separate accounts from two well-connected Russian military bloggers which say Ukraine has been intensifying operations in the area. Russian blogger Rybar had reported “the 36th Marine Corps of the Ukrainian Navy again tried to attack the positions of the RF Armed Forces west of the village.”

 Another insider, Batalyon Vostok, said the situation around the village had “has become more complicated.”

“At Staromayorskoye (Russian for Staromaiorske) and Urozhaynoye (Russian for Urozhaine) it's not easy for the guys now - they are repulsing intensive attacks,” Vostok said. “The situation is very difficult at Staromayorskoye. There is a probability that the enemy will take control of the settlement.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Ukrainian forces said they were continuing to make advances along the Velyka Novosilka – Berdiansk axis.

“Ukrainian troops were successful in the Staromaiorske area on the southern front,” the spokesman of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Andrii Kovalev, said on Wednesday. “[Ukrainian] Defense Forces are entrenched there at the achieved boundaries [of the village]."

The European Union has agreed to adopt additional sanctions against Belarus over the country's involvement in Russia's war on Ukraine, the EU's Spanish presidency announced Wednesday. 

"Today, EU ambassadors agreed on adopting restrictive measures in view of the situation in Belarus and the involvement of Belarus in the Russian aggression against Ukraine," the presidency said in a post on social media. 

"The measures include listings of individuals and entities," it added.

While EU ambassadors have agreed to the measures, they are yet to be formally adopted. 

Some context: Belarus is Russia's closest ally. It has been a subject of renewed focus in recent months as Moscow says it has moved some of its nuclear weapons to the country, and as Minsk says its forces will hold joint training exercises with the Wagner private military group in the wake of its failed rebellion against the Kremlin.

Ukrainian forces have been able to wedge themselves in Russia’s first line of defense, with heavy and fierce fighting still ongoing amid a large offensive along the southern front in the Zaporizhzhia region, a Russian official has claimed. 

Rogov went on to say Russian forces were using their full arsenal, including aviation strikes, to push back against the Ukrainian units carrying out the assault, which he claimed were Western equipped and trained. 

“The fighters of these brigades have been trained abroad, and the brigades themselves are equipped with Western military equipment, including Leopard tanks and Bradley BMPs,” he wrote. “Now there are heavy, fierce battles of high intensity going on in this area.”

Well-connected Russian military blogger Rybar says fighting in the area has slightly decreased in intensity, adding Russian forces have been able able to hold their ground. 

Some context: Russian-installed officials and military bloggers have claimed Ukrainian forces have launched a major offensive in the Zaporizhzhia region, to the south of Orikhiv, as they appear to build on modest gains in the area over the past couple of days. 

Ukrainian officials and sources have yet to comment on this alleged offensive.