February 1, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

By Sophie Tanno, Hannah Strange, Tara Subramaniam, Aditi Sangal, Adrienne Vogt, Leinz Vales and Mike Hayes, CNN

Updated 1:28 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023
33 Posts
Sort byDropdown arrow
5:47 p.m. ET, February 1, 2023

Human Rights Watch urges Ukraine to investigate apparent use of rocket-fired antipersonnel mines

From CNN's Sharon Braithwaite, Rebecca Wright, Sam Kiley, Olha Konovalova and Peter Rudden 

Advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged Ukraine to investigate its military’s "apparent" use of rocket-fired antipersonnel landmines in and around the eastern city of Izium when Russian forces occupied the area.

In new research published Tuesday, HRW said it documented "numerous cases in which rockets carrying PFM antipersonnel mines, also called 'butterfly mines' or 'petal mines,' were fired into Russian-occupied areas near Russian military facilities." 

“Ukrainian forces appear to have extensively scattered landmines around the Izium area, causing civilian casualties and posing an ongoing risk,” Arms Division director at HRW Steve Goose said.
“Russian forces have repeatedly used antipersonnel mines and committed atrocities across the country, but this doesn’t justify Ukrainian use of these prohibited weapons," Goose added.

"The use of antipersonnel mines violates international humanitarian law because they cannot discriminate between civilians and combatants," HRW said.

Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said the report will be "duly analyzed by the relevant Ukrainian institutions."

"Ukraine, exercising its right to self-defense in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter, fully fulfills its international obligations against the background of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide of the Ukrainian people committed by the Russian occupiers," the ministry said in response to the HRW report.

Ukrainian forces retook Izium in September 2022, after six months of Russian occupation, marking a huge strategic loss for the Russian military.

5:49 p.m. ET, February 1, 2023

At least 2 killed after Russian missile strikes residential building in Kramatorsk, official says

From CNN's Dennis Lapin and Sharon Braithwaite

A residential building was destroyed by a Russian missile strike February 1 in Kramatorsk.
A residential building was destroyed by a Russian missile strike February 1 in Kramatorsk. (Pavlo Kyrylenko/Telegram)

At least two people were killed and eight wounded late Wednesday after Russian forces shelled the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, officials said.

"Two hours ago, Russian occupants hit a residential building in the city center with a missile and completely destroyed it," Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk region military administration said on his Telegram channel.

"Rescuers, law enforcement, and public utilities are working at the scene to dismantle the rubble of the destroyed building. It is possible that there may be people under the rubble," he said.

In a statement, the Prosecutor General's Office said eight people "sustained injuries of varying severity."

Andriy Yermak, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said Russia had targeted civilians. He added: "Russia is a terrorist state."

See the tweet:

This post was updated with the latest casualty report.

5:07 p.m. ET, February 1, 2023

Amid anti-corruption drive, Zelensky says he will make as many personnel changes as necessary

From CNN's Dennis Lapin and Sharon Braithwaite

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday he would make as many personnel changes as necessary to guarantee the rule of law.

His words come after Ukrainian authorities conducted a series of anti-corruption searches and crackdowns across the country – including a search tied to the helicopter crash last month that left the country’s interior minister dead – to combat what they described as “the internal enemy" in the country.

Hours after Zelensky promised “new reforms,” Ukrainian authorities conducted a series of anti-corruption searches, according to the country’s parliamentary majority leader.

"I thank all law enforcement officers who have demonstrated the strength of law and the state today. I am grateful to the government of ukraine for its prompt personnel response. In particular, today, the heads of customs were dismissed," Zelensky said in his daily address.

"Unfortunately, in some areas, the only way to guarantee the rule of law is to change the leadership along with institutional changes. Changing as much as necessary to ensure that people do not get dirty in their positions," the president said.

"The purity of processes within the ministry of defense and the defense forces, in general, is especially important. Any internal supply, any procurement – everything must be absolutely as clean and honest as external supplies for our defense. Those who interfere with this will not remain in the relevant structures," Zelensky added.

CNN's Mick Krever contributed to this report

4:05 p.m. ET, February 1, 2023

Paris Olympics will follow international committee stance on Russian and Belarusian athletes, organizers say

From CNN's David Close

Olympic rings are seen in front of the Eiffel Tower at the Trocadero square in Paris on September 14, 2017.
Olympic rings are seen in front of the Eiffel Tower at the Trocadero square in Paris on September 14, 2017. (Nicolas Briquet/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images)

Organizers for the next Summer Olympics said they will follow the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) previously announced plan to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate at the Games.

In an email to CNN, a Paris 2024 spokesperson reiterated the Olympic qualification system is determined not by their organization but by the IOC, International Paralympic Committee, and international federations.

In late January, the IOC outlined a multi-step plan for Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in Paris and at the 2026 Winter Games in Milan. “No athlete should be prevented from competing just because of their passport,” the IOC’s executive board declared.

The Paris 2024 spokesperson said the organization will comply with the sanctions already put in place on Russian and Belarusian athletes by the IOC. In order for athletes from the two countries to compete at the next two Olympics, they would represent as “neutral athletes and in no way represent their state or any other organization in their country,” the IOC said last month.

Paris 2024 said it stands in "full solidarity with Ukraine, its people and the Ukrainian Olympic and Paralympic movements, who are faced with an unimaginable crisis. ... Our wish is that the Olympic movement, the Paralympic movement and the athletes experience the Paris 2024 Games in a spirit of peace, respecting the values of fraternity and solidarity.”

Paris is set to host the XXXIII Olympic Summer Games from July 26 to August 11, 2024.

CNN’s Sammy Mngqosini contributed reporting to this post.

3:20 p.m. ET, February 1, 2023

Ukraine conducted anti-corruption searches across the country Wednesday. Here's what they revealed. 

From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva, Mick Krever and Jack Guy

Ukrainian authorities have conducted a series of anti-corruption raids across the country, uncovering stashes of cash as well as luxury watches and cars.

The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said the raids were part of an effort to combat what they described as “the internal enemy” in the country.

The raids come as President Volodymyr Zelensky said his government is working on “new reforms” that will make the country “more human, transparent and effective” as he prepares to meet European Union officials on Friday for talks on Ukraine’s possible accession to the bloc.

Here are key things to know about the raids:

What was revealed:

  • The acting head of the Kyiv tax authority was allegedly part of a scheme to overlook 45 billion Ukrainian hryvnia ($1.2 billion) in unpaid taxes. On Wednesday, the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) said that it had found hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, as well as luxury watches and cars, at the tax chief’s residence. CNN is attempting to reach that individual for comment.
  • The SBU also accused the “former management” of Ukraine’s largest oil extraction and refinery firms of the “misappropriation” of $1.1 billion.
  • The SBU said the Ministry of Defense’s former head for procurement spent the equivalent of $2.7 million on almost 3,000 bulletproof vests for the Ukrainian armed forces which were later found to be unable to “properly protect Ukrainian soldiers.”

Some actions taken so far:

  • Top managers at oil firms PJSC Ukrtatnafta were served with a notice of suspicion of committing criminal offenses, according to the SBU.
  • It also charged the Ministry of Defense’s former head for procurement with “misappropriation, embezzlement or seizure of property through abuse of office,” obstruction of the armed forces, and “committing a criminal offense by a group of persons.” The individual faced five to eight years in prison, the SBU said, adding that it had recalled the sub-standard vests.

The investigation into January's helicopter crash:

  • Former interior minister Arsen Avakov’s property was searched in connection to an investigation into the Jan. 18 helicopter crash that killed 14 people.
  • Avakov was interior minister when the ‘Super Puma’ ES-225 helicopter involved in the crash was purchased from France as part of a contract signed in 2018. On Wednesday, he denied any wrongdoing and said that the contracts were approved by parliament.
  • As is standard, Ukrainian authorities have said they are investigating all possible causes of the helicopter crash, including pilot error, technical malfunction and sabotage.
2:57 p.m. ET, February 1, 2023

British defense minister: It's not the right approach "for now" to send fighter jets to Ukraine

From CNN’s Allegra Goodwin in London

British Defense Minister Ben Wallace speaks to the media during a visit to Salisbury Plain, where Australian Defense Forces are supporting the UK-led training of Ukrainian recruits, in Wiltshire, Britain on February 1.
British Defense Minister Ben Wallace speaks to the media during a visit to Salisbury Plain, where Australian Defense Forces are supporting the UK-led training of Ukrainian recruits, in Wiltshire, Britain on February 1. (Ben Birchall/Pool/Reuters)

Britain’s Defense Minister Ben Wallace on Wednesday said that it's the correct decision "for now" not to send fighter jets to Ukraine. 

“What they need right now is armor and tanks,” Wallace told reporters when asked why the UK would not send jets, pointing to the UK’s commitment to send Challenger 2 tanks to support Kyiv’s troops.

“I've been involved in this for a pretty long time and I've learned two things: never rule anything in and never rule anything out,” he said. 

Wallace acknowledged this was “not a solid decision,” but added, “for now, I don't think that's the right approach.” 

“What’s going to move on this conflict this year is going to be the ability for the Ukrainians to deploy Western armor against Russia,” he continued.

Some background: Top Ukrainian officials have been jockeying for US-made F-16 fighter jets, arguing they need them urgently to defend against Russian missile and drone attacks.

The defense minister’s comments come after a Downing Street spokesperson told journalists Tuesday that fighter jets are "extremely sophisticated and take months to learn how to fly,” adding it was “not practical” to supply them to Ukraine.

On Wednesday, former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson joined Kyiv in its calls for the jets to be sent to Ukraine during a visit to Washington, DC.

“All I will say is that every time we have said it will be a mistake to give such and such an item of weaponry, we end up doing it and it ends up being the right thing for Ukraine,” Johnson told Fox News. 

“Save time, save money, save lives. Give the Ukrainians what they need as fast as possible,” he continued. 

Following Johnson’s comments, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s official spokesperson noted Johnson was “acting in his own capacity and not on behalf of the UK government,” Britain’s PA news agency reported. 

CNN’s Niamh Kennedy contributed reporting to this post.

8:40 p.m. ET, February 1, 2023

Italy's defense minister: New aid to Ukraine will probably include weapons to defend against missile attacks

From CNN's Sharon Braithwaite in London, with previous reporting from Pierre Bairin in Paris

Italy's upcoming package of military aid to Ukraine will probably include weapons of defense against Russian missile attacks, a press officer of the Italian Ministry of Defense confirmed to CNN on Wednesday.

Earlier Italy's Defense Minister Guido Crosetto told the Financial Times that Italy was committed to fulfilling Ukraine’s requests for weapons to shore up its defenses but declined to offer any specifics.

Crosetto also said that any decision on air defenses would be taken in conjunction with the French government. 

The Italian government is working on the sixth package of military support to the war-torn country, the press officer told CNN.

Italy has so far approved five military support packages for Ukraine's defense, including both lethal and nonlethal equipment, based on the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

It contributes approximately 390 million euros to the assistance measures provided for by the European Peace Facility, for a total of 3 billion euros.

French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced on Tuesday that France will send an additional 12 Caesar howitzers to Ukraine on top of the 18 howitzers Paris has already delivered to Kyiv.

 Speaking at a press conference in Paris alongside his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksii Reznikov, Lecornu said that Denmark has also committed to giving their 19 of French-made howitzers to Ukraine. 

The French minister said another priority was the training of Ukrainian troops and that 2,000 of them would be trained in France by the summer. 

Correction: This post has been updated to correct the attribution in the first paragraph to a press officer with the Italian Ministry of Defense.

2:54 p.m. ET, February 1, 2023

Pro-Russia forces claim to be close to encircling key eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut

From CNN’s Uliana Pavlova and Dennis Lapin

The front line city of Bakhmut is pictured January 26.
The front line city of Bakhmut is pictured January 26. (Yan Dobronosov/Reuters)

A military leader in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic told Russian media on Wednesday that Moscow's forces have practically encircled the key eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut and active fighting is ongoing.

“Bakhmut has been practically 'embraced' from three sides, an intensive knocking out of the enemy is underway (…),” Col. Vitaly Kiselev said, according to state media TASS.

Russian forces are now trying to move into the area of ​​the Ukraine-controlled town of Chasov Yar about six kilometers (more than 3 miles) west of Bakhmut, he added. 

“They are trying, and I am sure that they will succeed. [It will succeed] to go to the Chasov Yar area, from where intensive shelling is going on back to Soledar, Bakhmut,” he said.

Earlier, retired Lt. Col. of the self-proclaimed LPR, Andrei Marochko, said that Ukrainian troops were going to withdraw to Chasov Yar in the event of a retreat from Bakhmut. 

The founder of Russia's Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a Telegram post on Wednesday that Russian forces now control the village of Sacco and Vanzetti, about 20 kilometers (more than 12 miles) from Bakhmut in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

"Today, February 1, 2023, at 16:00 Moscow time, Sacco and Vanzetti were completely taken under control by the assault units of the Wagner PMC," Prigozhin's press service Telegram channel said. 

The press service also posted a photo of the fighters against the background of the only remaining house in the village. Prigozhin also noted that at the moment there is no operational encirclement of Bakhmut.

The Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Hanna Maliar has said “heavy fighting” continues in the east with Russian forces making “powerful attempts” to break through Ukrainian defenses of Bakhmut. “The enemy is trying to expand the geography of its offensive in the Lyman sector,” a Russian offensive north of Bakhmut, Maliar said on Telegram.

2:34 p.m. ET, February 1, 2023

Germany quickly needs new Leopard tanks to replace those going to Ukraine, defense minister says

From CNN’s Chris Stern in Berlin and Allegra Goodwin in London

A Leopard 2 A6 tank of the German Army's Tank Battalion 203 shoots a smoke screen in a military training area in Augustdorf, Germany, on February 1.
A Leopard 2 A6 tank of the German Army's Tank Battalion 203 shoots a smoke screen in a military training area in Augustdorf, Germany, on February 1. (Ann-Marie Utz/picture-alliance/dpa/AP)

Germany needs to order new Leopard tanks quickly after committing to send 14 of its own to Ukraine, the country’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Wednesday. 

“The decisive factor for me is that we have to order new tanks, and not in a year's time, but quickly so that production can begin and we can plan how many new Leopards we will have available — and when,” Pistorius told reporters on a visit to the town of Augustdorf. 

“Where the money comes from — to put it in casual terms, I honestly don't care. What matters is that we deliver quickly,” Pistorius added.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius rides in a Leopard 2 A6 main battle tank during a visit to the Bundeswehr's Panzerbataillon 203 tank squadron on February 1 in Augustdorf, Germany.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius rides in a Leopard 2 A6 main battle tank during a visit to the Bundeswehr's Panzerbataillon 203 tank squadron on February 1 in Augustdorf, Germany. (Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images)

Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the German-made battle tanks would be sent to Kyiv’s troops last week, after intensifying international pressure led by the United States, Poland and a bloc of other European nations, which called on Berlin to step up its military support to Ukraine.