Ukraine says it has identified a Russian commander accused of atrocities during the war's early days
From CNN's Mariya Knight and Radina Gigova
Ukraine’s Security Service says it has identified a Russian commander who is accused of giving orders to shoot civilians.
The SBU announced in a statement on Thursday that it is investigating Vadym Ovchinnikov, the commander of a Russian intelligence group, who it alleges ordered the shooting of a Ukrainian family during the occupation of the town of Bucha in March of 2022.
Bucha, a town northwest of Kyiv, was occupied by Russian troops shortly after the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
According to the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office, the Russian army committed thousands of war crimes in the Bucha district, and hundreds of people were killed in the town of Bucha alone before it was liberated in March 2022.
The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the mass killings and has reiterated baseless claims that the images of civilian bodies were fake.
Russia claims it stopped an attack on the Crimean bridge from Ukrainian sea drones
From CNN’s Mariya Knight
Russia said it stopped an overnight Ukrainian attack on the Crimean Bridge, also known as the Kerch Bridge, that links the annexed Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said Ukrainian forces attempted to attack the bridge with two unmanned explosive-laden boats.
The first "sea drone was detected in a timely manner and destroyed in the Black Sea,” at 11.15 p.m. local time (4.15 p.m. ET), the ministry said.
A second boat attack was thwarted three hours later early on Saturday morning and Russia said later Saturday that it stopped a third sea drone attack on the vital bridge, according to the defense ministry.
The third “sea drone was destroyed in the Black Sea,” at 02:20 am local time (7:20 pm ET), the ministry said.
Russian State Media RIA Novosti reported Friday that “the movement of vehicles on the bridge is temporarily restricted,” citing Russia's operational headquarters.
Ukraine is yet to comment on the alleged attacks.
Some context: The latest attempt on the Kerch Bridge comes after a Ukrainian security official claimed Kyiv’s responsibility for a July 17 attack on the bridge that left two people dead and injured their daughter, according to Russian-appointed officials.
The nearly 12-mile crossing is the longest in Europe and holds huge strategic and symbolic importance for Moscow. July's attack on the bridge was the second since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, after a fuel tanker exploded while crossing it in October.
27 min ago
Russia's new "Satan II" missile system is now operational in the war in Ukraine, official says
From CNN's Tim Lister
Russia says its newest nuclear weapons system, the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, is now operational.
"The Sarmat strategic complex has been put on combat duty," Yury Borisov, the director general of the state space corporation Roscosmos, said in a media appearance.
It had been due to go on combat duty at the end of 2022.
The Sarmat will replace Soviet-era Voevoda missiles, known by the NATO designation SS-18 "Satan," in Russia's strategic arsenal. As the SS-18's successor, the Sarmat has been nicknamed "Satan II" in the West.
Some background: Russian President Vladimir Putin said in April last year that the Sarmat would be capable of delivering multiple nuclear warheads as far as the continental United States – and would “give thought to those who are trying to threaten Russia.”
At the time, Western analysts told CNN the threat to the US and its allies from Satan II was “extremely low,” and that Putin's high-profile testing of the weapon may have been intended to hide Russian military failures in its war in Ukraine.
Like the SS-18, the Sarmat could carry 10 and possibly more independently targeted nuclear warheads with a range of up to 18,000 kilometers (or about 11,185 miles), according to the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
It is expected to serve as a one-for-one replacement for the Voevoda missiles. Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, likened Satan II to a "facelift" for the Soviet-era SS-18, though he said there were "probably some enhancements under the hood."
27 min ago
Russia and Belarus invited back to Nobel Prize banquet after being barred last year due to Ukraine invasion
From CNN's Amy Cassidy and Christian Edwards
Ambassadors from Russia and Belarus have been invited back to the Nobel Prize banquet after being excluded last year because of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Nobel Foundation said.
The foundation said it is "broadening our invitations" to involve even those who do not share the values of the Nobel Prize.
“It is clear that the world is increasingly divided into spheres, where dialogue between those with differing views is being reduced,” Vidar Helgesen, executive director of the Nobel Foundation, said in a statement Thursday.
“To counter this tendency, we are now broadening our invitations to celebrate and understand the Nobel Prize and the importance of free science, free culture and free, peaceful societies,” Helgesen said.
Russians and Belarusians have been excluded from countless events since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has been heavily assisted by Minsk, in February 2022.
The foundation said its decision was made to prevent further “polarisation.”
The Nobel Banquet takes place annually in Stockholm on December 10, where five out of six Nobel Prizes are awarded. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway.
Swift criticism: Ukraine has condemned the decision and urged the foundation to reverse course.
"Most likely, the day the Russian ambassador sits in a nice suit in the Stockholm Concert Hall, the Russian army will be committing yet another war crime in the occupied Ukrainian territories, and Russian missiles will be destroying yet another residential neighborhood in Ukrainian cities," foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said Friday.
A Swedish member of the European Parliament also called the decision “extremely inappropriate.”
On Swedish national radio, Swedish Liberal MEP Karin Karlsbro questioned why the foundation invited “three rogue states … that suppress their citizens, wage war and terror both in their own and neighboring countries” and “in no way subscribe to democratic values.”
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has said he would not have made the decision to invite Russia back to the banquet held in his country.
“The Nobel Foundation naturally decides themselves who they want to invite. But I, like many others, reacted with great surprise that Russia was invited,” Kristersson said in a statement sent to CNN on Friday. “I understand that it upsets many people in both Sweden and Ukraine,” he added.
CNN’s Niamh Kennedy and Henrik Pettersson contributed reporting to this post.
Russia said it stopped another attempted attack by Kyiv on the bridge connecting the Crimean Peninsula to the Russian mainland. The bridge is a vital supply line and a pet project of Russia's President Vladimir Putin.
Flights serving Moscow were once again disrupted by Ukrainian drones that targeted Russia's capital and the Kursk region bordering Ukraine, Russian officials said Friday. Ukraine has been stepping up its attacks on Russian territory.
Ukraine says its counteroffensive has made some progress in the southeast, edging closer to Russia's sprawling network of fortified trenches on the southern front.
Ukraine says it identified a Russian commander accused of atrocities in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha during the war's early days. Ukraine alleges hundreds of people were killed there; Russia denies any involvement.
Ukraine’s Security Service says it has identified a Russian commander who is accused of giving orders to shoot civilians.
The SBU announced in a statement on Thursday that it is investigating Vadym Ovchinnikov, the commander of a Russian intelligence group, who it alleges ordered the shooting of a Ukrainian family during the occupation of the town of Bucha in March of 2022.
Bucha, a town northwest of Kyiv, was occupied by Russian troops shortly after the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
According to the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office, the Russian army committed thousands of war crimes in the Bucha district, and hundreds of people were killed in the town of Bucha alone before it was liberated in March 2022.
The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the mass killings and has reiterated baseless claims that the images of civilian bodies were fake.
Russia said it stopped an overnight Ukrainian attack on the Crimean Bridge, also known as the Kerch Bridge, that links the annexed Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said Ukrainian forces attempted to attack the bridge with two unmanned explosive-laden boats.
The first "sea drone was detected in a timely manner and destroyed in the Black Sea,” at 11.15 p.m. local time (4.15 p.m. ET), the ministry said.
A second boat attack was thwarted three hours later early on Saturday morning and Russia said later Saturday that it stopped a third sea drone attack on the vital bridge, according to the defense ministry.
The third “sea drone was destroyed in the Black Sea,” at 02:20 am local time (7:20 pm ET), the ministry said.
Russian State Media RIA Novosti reported Friday that “the movement of vehicles on the bridge is temporarily restricted,” citing Russia's operational headquarters.
Ukraine is yet to comment on the alleged attacks.
Some context: The latest attempt on the Kerch Bridge comes after a Ukrainian security official claimed Kyiv’s responsibility for a July 17 attack on the bridge that left two people dead and injured their daughter, according to Russian-appointed officials.
The nearly 12-mile crossing is the longest in Europe and holds huge strategic and symbolic importance for Moscow. July's attack on the bridge was the second since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, after a fuel tanker exploded while crossing it in October.
Russia says its newest nuclear weapons system, the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, is now operational.
"The Sarmat strategic complex has been put on combat duty," Yury Borisov, the director general of the state space corporation Roscosmos, said in a media appearance.
It had been due to go on combat duty at the end of 2022.
The Sarmat will replace Soviet-era Voevoda missiles, known by the NATO designation SS-18 "Satan," in Russia's strategic arsenal. As the SS-18's successor, the Sarmat has been nicknamed "Satan II" in the West.
Some background: Russian President Vladimir Putin said in April last year that the Sarmat would be capable of delivering multiple nuclear warheads as far as the continental United States – and would “give thought to those who are trying to threaten Russia.”
At the time, Western analysts told CNN the threat to the US and its allies from Satan II was “extremely low,” and that Putin's high-profile testing of the weapon may have been intended to hide Russian military failures in its war in Ukraine.
Like the SS-18, the Sarmat could carry 10 and possibly more independently targeted nuclear warheads with a range of up to 18,000 kilometers (or about 11,185 miles), according to the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
It is expected to serve as a one-for-one replacement for the Voevoda missiles. Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, likened Satan II to a "facelift" for the Soviet-era SS-18, though he said there were "probably some enhancements under the hood."
Ambassadors from Russia and Belarus have been invited back to the Nobel Prize banquet after being excluded last year because of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Nobel Foundation said.
The foundation said it is "broadening our invitations" to involve even those who do not share the values of the Nobel Prize.
“It is clear that the world is increasingly divided into spheres, where dialogue between those with differing views is being reduced,” Vidar Helgesen, executive director of the Nobel Foundation, said in a statement Thursday.
“To counter this tendency, we are now broadening our invitations to celebrate and understand the Nobel Prize and the importance of free science, free culture and free, peaceful societies,” Helgesen said.
Russians and Belarusians have been excluded from countless events since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has been heavily assisted by Minsk, in February 2022.
The foundation said its decision was made to prevent further “polarisation.”
The Nobel Banquet takes place annually in Stockholm on December 10, where five out of six Nobel Prizes are awarded. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway.
Swift criticism: Ukraine has condemned the decision and urged the foundation to reverse course.
"Most likely, the day the Russian ambassador sits in a nice suit in the Stockholm Concert Hall, the Russian army will be committing yet another war crime in the occupied Ukrainian territories, and Russian missiles will be destroying yet another residential neighborhood in Ukrainian cities," foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said Friday.
A Swedish member of the European Parliament also called the decision “extremely inappropriate.”
On Swedish national radio, Swedish Liberal MEP Karin Karlsbro questioned why the foundation invited “three rogue states … that suppress their citizens, wage war and terror both in their own and neighboring countries” and “in no way subscribe to democratic values.”
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has said he would not have made the decision to invite Russia back to the banquet held in his country.
“The Nobel Foundation naturally decides themselves who they want to invite. But I, like many others, reacted with great surprise that Russia was invited,” Kristersson said in a statement sent to CNN on Friday. “I understand that it upsets many people in both Sweden and Ukraine,” he added.
