Russia bars 54 British journalists and ministers from entering country
From CNN's Katharina Krebs and Lauren Kent
Russia has barred 54 more British citizens from entering the country, in response to the UK’s sanctions against its citizens and enterprises, according to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Russia accused the individuals and entities of involvement in “propaganda support of the activities of the [Ukrainian] Zelensky regime” and of being “Russophobic,” in its latest update to its sanctions policy on Friday.
The sanctions list includes several government ministers as well as journalists from public broadcaster the BBC, the Guardian newspaper and the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
“We would like to emphasize again that any efforts by London to further spin the anti-Russian sanctions flywheel will inevitably receive a decisive response from our side,” the Russian ministry said in a statement.
“Work on expanding the Russian ‘stop list’ in response to the actions of the British authorities will continue.”
The entry ban includes British prosecutor Karim Khan, who is an elected official on the International Criminal Court, due to his involvement “in issuing a warrant for the arrest of the Russian leadership,” according to the Russian foreign ministry statement.
In February, Khan submitted applications to the ICC for warrants of arrest for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova.
British cabinet minister Lucy Frazer, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport was also included in the updated list, with Russian authorities claiming she is “actively lobbying for the international sports isolation of Russia.”
US commits to approving F-16s for Ukraine as soon as training is complete
From CNN's Oren Liebermann and Natasha Bertrand
The US has committed to approving the transfer of F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine as soon as training is complete, according to a US official.
Denmark and the Netherlands have taken the lead in preparing a program to train Ukrainian pilots on the American jet, but the US is still working with other countries to see who may provide F-16s to the Ukrainian Air Force.
On Friday, the US approved the transfer of F-16 instructional materials from Denmark to Ukraine, according to the US official and an administration official.
The transfer will allow the Danish defense ministry to move forward with “their effort to stand up pilot and maintenance training programs,” the administration official said. The approval includes training modules, documentation and classroom training materials, the official said, which contains information about sensitive US technology.
The approval of the third-party transfer request from Denmark was one of the critical steps before Ukrainian fighter pilots could begin training to fly the fourth-generation jets which Kyiv has requested for months. Denmark said Ukrainian pilots would begin training on F-16 jets later this month, part of a coalition of 11 countries that will be involved in the training program.
Ukraine has long been pleading for the fighter jets to counter Russian air superiority. But Ukraine says it is unlikely to receive them until next year.
Ukraine is focusing missile attacks on Crimea — but some corners of the Biden administration are skeptical
From CNN's Katie Bo Lillis and Natasha Bertrand
Ukraine has ramped up missile strikes on Russian-occupied Crimea in recent weeks in an effort to disrupt Russian logistics and resupply efforts as fighting rages in southern Ukraine – but it’s a strategy that some US officials in Washington are viewing with skepticism.
For some military and Biden administration officials, Ukrainian attacks on Crimea are at best a distraction, and at worst, a valuable waste of resources in a strategy that many analysts now believe has left Ukraine stretched too thin between multiple axes of attack.
“It’s knocked the Russians off balance a bit, but it is not doing anything decisive,” a senior defense official told CNN. “And it would probably be better for everyone for them to just focus on the counteroffensive.”
Ukraine has in recent weeks used long-range missiles to strike two bridges linking Crimea to Russian-occupied territory in southern Ukraine, and on Saturday, targeted the only bridge connecting Crimea to mainland Russia.
With roughly a third of the peninsula now within the range of the US-provided High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), according to one senior Western intelligence official, Ukraine has also stepped up strikes on Russian ammunition dumps and other logistics and resupply infrastructure there.
“There’s more and more pressure on Crimea, and especially so in recent weeks,” that official told CNN. “I mean, they get pounded.”
Crimea holds a deep symbolic importance to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered his forces to invade and illegally annexed the peninsula in 2014. And it is also a strategically vital logistics hub for Russia’s war effort; its location on the Black Sea has made it sought-after territory for centuries.
For Ukraine, the attacks are an integral part of their counteroffensive strategy, intended to try to isolate Crimea and make it more difficult for Russia to sustain its military operations on the Ukrainian mainland, a Ukrainian source familiar with the strategy told CNN.
The US is committed to approving the transfer of F-16s to Ukraine as soon as pilot training is completed, a US official said. On the ground CNN has reported on why Ukraine has been pleading for the fighter jets.
Russia's President Putin visited generals overseeing the Ukraine offensive in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia. The city was the scene of the Wagner group's short-lived rebellion earlier this year.
Russia has barred 54 more British citizens from entering the country, in response to the UK’s sanctions against its citizens and enterprises. Government ministers and journalists are among those sanctioned.
Russia has barred 54 more British citizens from entering the country, in response to the UK’s sanctions against its citizens and enterprises, according to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Russia accused the individuals and entities of involvement in “propaganda support of the activities of the [Ukrainian] Zelensky regime” and of being “Russophobic,” in its latest update to its sanctions policy on Friday.
The sanctions list includes several government ministers as well as journalists from public broadcaster the BBC, the Guardian newspaper and the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
“We would like to emphasize again that any efforts by London to further spin the anti-Russian sanctions flywheel will inevitably receive a decisive response from our side,” the Russian ministry said in a statement.
“Work on expanding the Russian ‘stop list’ in response to the actions of the British authorities will continue.”
The entry ban includes British prosecutor Karim Khan, who is an elected official on the International Criminal Court, due to his involvement “in issuing a warrant for the arrest of the Russian leadership,” according to the Russian foreign ministry statement.
In February, Khan submitted applications to the ICC for warrants of arrest for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova.
British cabinet minister Lucy Frazer, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport was also included in the updated list, with Russian authorities claiming she is “actively lobbying for the international sports isolation of Russia.”
The US has committed to approving the transfer of F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine as soon as training is complete, according to a US official.
Denmark and the Netherlands have taken the lead in preparing a program to train Ukrainian pilots on the American jet, but the US is still working with other countries to see who may provide F-16s to the Ukrainian Air Force.
On Friday, the US approved the transfer of F-16 instructional materials from Denmark to Ukraine, according to the US official and an administration official.
The transfer will allow the Danish defense ministry to move forward with “their effort to stand up pilot and maintenance training programs,” the administration official said. The approval includes training modules, documentation and classroom training materials, the official said, which contains information about sensitive US technology.
The approval of the third-party transfer request from Denmark was one of the critical steps before Ukrainian fighter pilots could begin training to fly the fourth-generation jets which Kyiv has requested for months. Denmark said Ukrainian pilots would begin training on F-16 jets later this month, part of a coalition of 11 countries that will be involved in the training program.
Ukraine has long been pleading for the fighter jets to counter Russian air superiority. But Ukraine says it is unlikely to receive them until next year.
Ukraine has ramped up missile strikes on Russian-occupied Crimea in recent weeks in an effort to disrupt Russian logistics and resupply efforts as fighting rages in southern Ukraine – but it’s a strategy that some US officials in Washington are viewing with skepticism.
For some military and Biden administration officials, Ukrainian attacks on Crimea are at best a distraction, and at worst, a valuable waste of resources in a strategy that many analysts now believe has left Ukraine stretched too thin between multiple axes of attack.
“It’s knocked the Russians off balance a bit, but it is not doing anything decisive,” a senior defense official told CNN. “And it would probably be better for everyone for them to just focus on the counteroffensive.”
Ukraine has in recent weeks used long-range missiles to strike two bridges linking Crimea to Russian-occupied territory in southern Ukraine, and on Saturday, targeted the only bridge connecting Crimea to mainland Russia.
With roughly a third of the peninsula now within the range of the US-provided High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), according to one senior Western intelligence official, Ukraine has also stepped up strikes on Russian ammunition dumps and other logistics and resupply infrastructure there.
“There’s more and more pressure on Crimea, and especially so in recent weeks,” that official told CNN. “I mean, they get pounded.”
Crimea holds a deep symbolic importance to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered his forces to invade and illegally annexed the peninsula in 2014. And it is also a strategically vital logistics hub for Russia’s war effort; its location on the Black Sea has made it sought-after territory for centuries.
For Ukraine, the attacks are an integral part of their counteroffensive strategy, intended to try to isolate Crimea and make it more difficult for Russia to sustain its military operations on the Ukrainian mainland, a Ukrainian source familiar with the strategy told CNN.
