September 8, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The Russian-installed head of the Kupiansk city administration, Vitaly Ganchev, has called on women and children to evacuate the city as Ukrainian forces approach. 

“It’s not only about Kupiansk, it’s about almost the entire Kupiansk district, the Izium district. They caused very serious material and moral damage to our population,” he added. 

Ukrainian officials have declined to comment on the offensive in the northeast of Ukraine, but footage geo-located by CNN showed Ukrainian forces in the town of Volokhiv-Yar on Wednesday, around 50 kilometers (36 miles) away from Kupiansk, and also on the outskirts of Balakliya to the south. Russian officials have also remained silent on developments in the Kharkiv region.

Russian military bloggers and analysts believe the Ukrainian push towards Kupiansk aims to cut off supply lines to the strategic city of Izium to the south. 

The Institute for the Study of War said Ukraine’s push in the east is the result of Kyiv taking advantage of Russian redeployments to the south, to stop a Ukrainian counter offensive in the Kherson region. 

“Ukrainian forces likely used tactical surprise to advance at least 20 kilometers (12 miles) into Russian-held territory in eastern Kharkiv Oblast on September 7, recapturing approximately 400 square kilometers of ground,” the institute said in its daily report on the war on Wednesday.

“Ukrainian forces likely took prudent advantage of a reallocation of Russian troops, equipment, and overall operational focus to launch localized counteroffensives toward critical points in Kharkiv Oblast.”

The Ukrainian military says it has repelled several Russian offensives across the battlefield, but has remained silent about its own counter-offensives in the northeast around Kharkiv and in the south near Kherson.

The General Staff also reported intense Russian shelling across the battlefield. 

The update goes on to claim Ukrainian forces struck a Russian base in the village of Solodkovodne, in the Zaporizhzhya region, using artillery, but did not include information on ongoing Ukrainian counter-offensives in the north-eastern and southern frontlines.

The General Staff says only that “missile troops and artillery of our land groupings of troops continue to perform tasks of counter-battery combat, disruption of the command and control system and logistical support, damage to the enemy's manpower and combat equipment,” without any specifics.

The recovered body of British aid worker Paul Urey, who was captured in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and died in the custody of Russian-backed separatists, has signs of “possible unspeakable torture,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Thursday. 

CNN cannot independently confirm Kuleba's claims and has not reviewed autopsy reports relating to his death. 

Urey – who was from Warrington, Cheshire – was captured in April and accused of being a mercenary.

Russian-backed officials reported him dead due to “chronic diseases” and “stress” in July; he was 45 years old.  

Urey suffered from a number of health conditions, including diabetes, his friend Lex Roberts told CNN. 

The DPR’s ombudsperson Daria Morozova claimed Urey was “provided with appropriate medical assistance” while held in the separatist-held region. 

The foreign office summoned Russia’s Ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin after learning of Urey’s death. 

In a statement, UK Prime Minister Liz Truss – who was foreign minister at the time of Urey's capture – said Urey had been carrying out “humanitarian work” to “try and help the Ukrainian people.��

“The Russian government and its proxies are continuing to commit atrocities. Those responsible will be held to account. My thoughts are with Mr Urey’s family and friends at this horrendous time,” Truss said. 

Ukraine told a United Nations Security Council meeting on Wednesday that 2.5 million people have been forcefully deported from the country as part of a Russian "filtration" scheme in which many are being tortured and killed.

Deputy Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN Khrystyna Hayovyshyn told the Security Council that thousands of Ukrainian citizens are being forcefully deported to “isolated and depressed regions of Siberia and the far east." 

Among the 2.5 million people deported so far, said the ambassador, were 38,000 children -- many of whom had been ripped from the arms of their parents.

The Russian authorities are terrorizing those it deports under the pretense of searching for "dangerous" people, the ambassador said, disappearing people affiliated with the Ukrainian government or media and those with political views deemed objectionable.

The comments came as the US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield described Russian “filtration operations” as “horrifying.”  

But Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council that newcomers go through “registration,” not filtration, procedures.

Nebenzia said it was unfortunate that human rights groups were making what he described as unfounded allegations against Russia.

"We have wasted time" discussing this issue, he said.

"People are fleeing Ukraine, more for fear of Ukraine,” Nebenzia added.

Shelling on Tuesday damaged a backup power line that would supply Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in case of emergency, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been held by Russian forces since early March, but is still operated by Ukrainian staff. The IAEA director general visited the power plant last week, and two IAEA experts stayed to maintain a permanent presence at the plant. 

The IAEA said the shelling damage did not “have an immediate impact” on the plant, because the electricity line was not connected to the grid at the time.

Ukraine is considering shutting down the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant due to the deteriorating security situation, said Oleh Korikov, the chief state inspector for nuclear and radiation safety of Ukraine.

Zaporizhzhia is the largest nuclear power station in Europe.

"The continued deterioration of the situation, the prolonged lack of power supply from an external source of electricity will force us to deploy standby diesel generators, and it is extremely difficult to top up the diesel fuel supply during the war,” Korikov added. 

Korikov said maintaining the diesel generators running would not be sustainable. 

For context: In an interview last month, Energoatom CEO Petro Kotin explained why diesel generators are not a sustainable alternative.

Diesel generators are backups to cool fuel and keep things operational, but there are caveats to using them for an indefinite time and it's a "dangerous" situation to be in, he explained.

Korikov's concerns are along the same lines as tensions continue at the plant.

“Four huge diesel fuel tanks are needed per day,” Korikov explained. “Potentially, we can find ourselves in a situation with no diesel fuel; it can give rise to an accident, damaging the active zone of reactors and releasing radioactive products into the environment. It will not only affect the territory of Ukraine but also produce cross-border effects.”

Currently, the plant “generates electricity and supplies it for its own needs” through an exceptional process called islanding where the plant — although disconnected from a power grid — uses its own energy to power cooling systems, according to Korikov.

One week into a new counteroffensive, Ukrainian forces are making gains in the south, with the ambitious goal of taking back most of the Russian-occupied region of Kherson by the end of the year, senior US officials and Ukrainian officials tell CNN.

The last week has seen the most ambitious ground assaults by the Ukrainians since the beginning of the invasion, following sustained attacks on command posts, ammunition stores, and fuel reserves far behind the front lines, according to geolocation of video and satellite imagery.

The US has observed Ukrainian forces achieve some success in attacking Russian supply lines, with the intention of cutting off and isolating Russian troops currently deployed west of the Dnipro River, according to a senior US official.

Ryder also said that the US has seen “some offensive Russian activity … near Bakhmut.”

According to Ukrainian officials, the goal is to take at least all territory north or west of the Dnipro River, including not only the city of Kherson but also Nova Kakhovka, site of an important hydroelectric plant as well as the canal that supplies Crimea with much of its water.

The current offensive in the south is broad-based – extending more than 100 miles wide – to prevent Russian units from concentrating on one point. Additionally, there has been an uptick in sabotage operations and attacks on pro-Russian officials in occupied areas.

US officials acknowledge the Ukrainian goal of recapturing Kherson by the end of 2022 is ambitious but remains possible if Ukraine continues to make progress in its current operations.

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Russia has “lost nothing” in its “special military operation” in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday in a speech to open the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

Putin's claim comes despite two US officials telling CNN last week that the United States believes Russia is facing "severe" shortages of military personnel in Ukraine and is seeking new ways to beef up its troop levels. 

It also comes despite a statement by UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace on Monday that claimed “over 25,000 Russian soldiers have lost their lives” since the start of the war. 

In late August, Putin ordered Russia’s military to increase its overall number of troops by 137,000. It remains unclear how it intends to reach that target.