There have been attacks in Kramatorsk today. Here are some pictures of the devastation.
From CNN's Tim Lister, Fred Pleitgen and Sana Noor Haq
A fresh barrage of missiles ripped through the city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine Thursday, wounding at least five people and damaging 13 two-story buildings, three four-story buildings, a children's clinic and school, garages and cars, according to Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk region military administration.
A CNN team had just arrived at the scene and heard the first incoming strike on Kramatorsk. CNN saw the second attack, with two impacts about one minute apart.
Two women jumped from their car and ran yelling while other civilians took shelter wherever they could. Shrapnel bounced off the blastproof glass of one CNN vehicle.
Paramedics rushed to the scene to treat at least one wounded civilian. Kramatorsk Mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko also confirmed that there had been a strike on the city, and urged residents to stay in bomb shelters.
Here are some visuals from the ground following the first attack:
Rescuers remove debris to search for survivors at a destroyed apartment building hit by a rocket in downtown Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on February 1. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images)
Rescue workers conduct search and rescue operations after a Russian missile hits a residential building in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on February 1. (Marek M. Berezowski/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Rescue workers conduct search and rescue operations after a Russian missile hits a residential building in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on February 1. (Marek M. Berezowski/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Rescuers work at the site of a residential building destroyed by a Russian missile strike, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on February 2. (Vitalii Hnidyi/Reuters)
Rescuers work at the site of a residential building destroyed by a Russian missile strike, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on February 2. (Vitalii Hnidyi/Reuters)
An aerial view of an apartment building hit by a Russian rocket in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on February 2. (Yevgen Honcharenko/AP)
8:05 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023
Anti-Russia events won't be the "only ones to gain world's attention" on the anniversary of war, Moscow says
From CNN’s Anna Chernova
Moscow “will do everything” to ensure that anti-Russia events allegedly being planned by the West to mark one-year anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine are “not the only ones to gain the world's attention,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday.
“Our diplomacy will do everything to ensure that the anti-Russian sabbaths planned for the end of February – as if timed to coincide with the anniversary of the special military operation, both in New York and at other sites that the West is now actively working on together with the Kyiv regime – so that this will not turn out to be the only events that will gain the world’s attention,” he said in an interview to state TV Russia 24 and RIA Novosti.
Providing further details about Moscow’s plan to overshadow the alleged events being planned by Ukraine’s allies, Russia is preparing “reports” about what happened in the past year, and what they have “managed to find out” — alleging “direct participation” of the US in the Nord Stream pipelines explosions without any evidence.
Lavrov also dismissed the approach of western countries toward the war. "We see how the whole of NATO is now fighting against us. And those conversations that ‘we do not fight, but only arm,’ are ridiculous.”
However, he said Russia has not requested military help from former Soviet countries under the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) agreement. “We have everything necessary to solve the tasks of the special military operation, to end the war that the West waged through the Ukrainian regime after the coup [in 2014]."
Some background: The members of the CSTO includes Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
7:54 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023
It's mid-afternoon in Kyiv. Here's what you need to know.
From CNN's Jack Guy
Russian missile strikes have targeted the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk for the second time in two days, hitting near the site of an ongoing rescue operation on Thursday.
Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has arrived in Kyiv ahead of a summit with Ukrainian officials on Friday, as the country cracks down on corruption.
Here are the latest headlines:
Russia strikes Kramatorsk again: The eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk has come under renewed Russian attack Thursday, one day after a strike left at least three people dead. Two missiles landed near an ongoing rescue operation in a residential neighborhood that was hit on Wednesday night, causing further civilian casualties, according to local officials.
Two dead in Kherson region: Russian shelling has killed two people in Ukraine’s Kherson region overnight, according to local officials. In Kherson city, a 25-year-old man was killed in his home, and a 44-year-old woman was killed in Komyshany, a western suburb of the city.
Diplomats gear up for EU-Ukraine summit: Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, has arrived in Kyiv ahead of Friday's summit. The meeting in the capital is “a very strong signal” of support for Ukraine, according to a senior EU official. “It is a signal, of course also to Russia,” the official added.
EU promises further assistance: The European Union (EU) will train an additional 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers as part of its Military Assistance Mission, the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced on Thursday. Borrell also said the EU would provide €25 million ($27.5 million) in equipment and training for mine-clearing operations in Ukraine.
US and Ukrainian generals hold phone call: Top generals from the United States and Ukraine discussed recent military developments and what Russian forces might do next during a phone call, the Ukrainian president’s office said Thursday. “The interlocutors were briefed on the current situation on the frontline, particularly in the Donetsk and southern directions,” according to a Ukrainian readout.
Russian defector recounts torture methods: A former Russian army officer has claimed that he witnessed torture of Ukrainian soldiers while stationed in the south of that country last year. Konstantin Yefremov told the BBC in an exclusive interview that he witnessed torture while stationed at an air base in the southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol.
Lavrov claims Russia will be "stronger" after invasion: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that Russia will be stronger after the “special military operation” in Ukraine. “I think that we will come out of the current situation stronger, and we’ll be able to protect ourselves more effectively in any situation,” Lavrov said in an interview with state TV Rossiya-24.
6:54 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023
EU to train 15,000 additional Ukrainian soldiers, says foreign policy chief
From CNN’s Arnaud Siad
The European Union (EU) will train an additional 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers as part of its Military Assistance Mission, the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced on Thursday.
“Russia brought war back to Europe, but Ukraine keeps fighting back,” tweeted Borrell.
“Glad to announce to [Ukraine's Prime Minister] Denys Shmyhal that EU Military Assistance Mission #EUMAM will train additional 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers, taking the total number of EUMAM trained personnel to 30,000."
Borrell also announced the EU would provide €25 million ($27.5 million) in equipment and training for mine-clearing operations in Ukraine.
“Protecting civilians and their livelihood is a priority,” he said.
8:43 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023
CNN is on the ground in Kramatorsk, which is under renewed attack from Russian missiles
From CNN’s Tim Lister, Frederik Pleitgen, Konstantin Hak, Matthias Somm and Yulia Kesaieva
The site of a missile strike in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on February 2. (Konstantin Hak/CNN)
The eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk has come under renewed Russian attack Thursday, one day after a strike there left at least three people dead, according to a CNN team in the city.
Two missiles landed near an ongoing rescue operation in the residential neighborhood that was hit on Wednesday night.
CNN bore witness to the missile strikes on the city – hearing the first incoming strike, and then seeing the second.
According to preliminary information, Thursday’s strikes have resulted in civilian casualties, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the regional military administration, but it was not clear how many.
“Kramatorsk shook again with explosions as the Russians launched two more missile strikes,” Kyrylenko said on the messaging app Telegram. “Again, they hit the city center, residential buildings.”
The city's mayor, Oleksandr Honcharenko, confirmed that there had been a strike on Kramatorsk and urged residents to stay in bomb shelters.
Wednesday night's attack left eight people wounded, two of whom are in critical condition, Honcharenko said.
7:35 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023
Top US and Ukrainian generals discuss "current situation on the frontline" in phone call
From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva and Mick Krever
Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak, right, and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhny had a phone call with U.S. President's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley. (President of Ukraine)
Top generals from the United States and Ukraine discussed recent military developments and what Russian forces might do next during a phone call, the Ukrainian president’s office said Thursday.
“The interlocutors were briefed on the current situation on the frontline, particularly in the Donetsk and southern directions,” the Ukrainian readout said. “In addition, the parties exchanged views on possible actions of the enemy in the near future.”
On the call were Valerii Zaluzhny, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian President’s Office; Mark Milley, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Jake Sullivan, US National Security Advisor.
Yermak thanked the US "for its powerful support of Ukraine and strengthening our defense capabilities," according to the readout.
He also underlined the Ukrainian government's commitment "to cleansing the authorities from corruption risks.”
6:13 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023
Russian shelling kills two in Kherson region
From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva in Kyiv
Russian shelling has killed two people in Ukraine’s Kherson region overnight, according to local officials.
In Kherson city, a 25-year-old man was killed in his home, and a 44-year-old woman was killed in Komyshany, just west of Kherson city.
“At night, residents of the central part of Kherson city woke up to explosions,” the Kherson regional civil-military administration said on Telegram.
"Despite the danger of repeated attacks, the locals went to the most damaged house where a 25-year-old man lived. The body of the young Kherson resident was lying in the open air. The medics who arrived at the scene could do nothing to help – a fragment of a Russian shell had taken his life instantly,” it added.
In the village of Komyshany, the regional administration said a 44-year-old woman was killed by shrapnel at home.
The Kherson region prosecutor's office said it had opened criminal proceedings.
6:06 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023
Russia will come out of "current situation" in Ukraine “stronger,” says foreign minister
From CNN’s Anna Chernova
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attends a meeting in Moscow, Russia, on January 31. (Russian Foreign Ministry/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that Russia will be stronger after the “special military operation” in Ukraine.
“I think that we will come out of the current situation stronger, and we’ll be able to protect ourselves more effectively in any situation,” Lavrov said in an interview with state TV Rossiya-24.
When asked if Moscow was ready for peace in Ukraine, Lavrov said: “I am definitely for peace. I am for peace. I don't remember who it was who said, 'If you want peace, prepare for war.' I do not share this philosophy. I share the idea that I would formulate this way: 'If you want peace, always be ready to defend yourself.'”
“This US conviction of its superiority is the main reason why we are standing up to the United States and those who, along with them through Ukraine, are waging a hybrid war against us,” Lavrov added
Lavrov also said that Russia is “unlikely” to turn to ex-Soviet countries for their help in Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.
5:37 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023
EU-Ukraine summit sends "very strong signal" to Ukrainians and to Russia, says senior EU official
From CNN’s James Frater
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, in Strasbourg, France on January 18. (Philipp von Ditfurth/picture-alliance/dpa/AP)
A joint European Union-Ukraine summit due to be held in Kyiv on Friday is “a very strong signal” of support, a senior EU official said in a briefing ahead of the meeting.
Speaking to journalists in Brussels this week, a senior EU official said that holding the meeting in Kyiv during Russia’s invasion "is a signal first of all to Ukrainians, of support, in person, being there.”
“It is a signal, of course also to Russia,” the official added.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, arrived in the Ukrainian capital Thursday, alongside her commissioners, ahead of the summit.
This is the 24th summit between the European Union and Ukraine, but the first since the start of Russia’s invasion and also since the European Council granted Ukraine the status of candidate country.
Leaders are expected to discuss Ukraine’s progress towards becoming a full member state of the EU, response to Russia’s continued aggression against Ukraine, further support for Ukraine and global food security.
The official said that "the question as to whether Ukraine will join the European family has been decisively answered with a yes, it's not a question of if anymore.”
However they didn’t want to speculate on when this process would conclude, as historically it takes years to become a full member country of the EU.
A second senior EU official welcomed Ukraine's recent anti-corruption efforts, including a recent government shake up amid a growing corruption scandal.
“Of course, much work remains to be done on this and we are working with Ukraine on that,” the official added.
On January 24, a spokeswoman for the European Commission said that “anti-corruption measures are of course an important dimension of the EU accession process."
