“The Russian forces on our southern and eastern lands are investing everything they can to stop our warriors. And every thousand meters of advance, every success of each of our combat brigades deserves gratitude,” Zelensky said in his nightly address on Friday. "Our full focus is on the front line."
Despite Zelensky's positive spin, Ukraine's western allies have expressed concern that Ukraine's forces have not been able to push Russian troops back at a quicker rate.
The front lines in southern and eastern Ukraine have not moved much over the past months, giving Russian troops plenty of time to dig in and prepare for a counteroffensive.
Russian strikes target Zaporizhzhia: The southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia saw several buildings damaged overnight Friday into Saturday as a result of Russian strikes, a local Ukrainian military official said.
The official added that one 62-year-old man was wounded.
As Zelensky alluded to in his comments, the south is a key focus of Ukraine's campaign.
46 min ago
US is “very close” to a decision on providing guided missiles to Ukraine, Zelensky aide says
From CNN's Andrew Carey
An early version of an Army Tactical Missile System is tested on December 14, 2021, at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. John Hamilton/White Sands Missile Range Public Affairs
One of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s most senior aides has expressed optimism Kyiv might soon be adding Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMs) to its arsenal of weapons. The US-manufactured guided missile has a range of up to 300 kilometers (about 186 miles).
Andriy Yermak told journalists in Kyiv he believed the Biden administration was “very close” to making a decision on approving the transfer of the missiles to Ukraine, though he stressed that a final decision had not yet been made.
Ukrainian leaders have had ATACMs close to the top of their wish list since the early months of the war. The missiles’ longer range would bring more Russian targets into view, including some in occupied Crimea, as well as in Russia itself, a fact that has worried the US.
Key among the Russian targets Ukraine is looking to hit are ammunition dumps and fuel depots, as well as buildings housing Russian soldiers far behind the frontlines.
In recent months, Ukraine has stepped up these strikes in what are described as shaping operations, aimed at disrupting and degrading enemy supply lines ahead of ground offensives. Reports suggest Ukraine has begun to make effective use of Storm Shadow missiles, which were donated by the UK in May and have a range of about 250 kilometers (155 miles).
Yermak’s comments follow a report in The New York Times that described a “quiet debate” inside the Biden administration over whether to send the missiles to Ukraine, thereby reversing the US position that Ukraine does not need them.
53 min ago
Putin has proposed a potential new Wagner commander. Here's what we know
From CNN's Lauren Kent, Pierre Bairin and Uliana Pavlova
Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Future Technologies Forum in Moscow on July 13. Alexander Kazakov/AFP/Getty Images
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed to Wagner fighters that a senior mercenary named Andrey Troshev now command the private military group, according to comments the Russian leader made to the Kommersant newspaper that were published Friday.
Putin appears to have created a split between senior fighters from the mercenary group and its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin — whose whereabouts are currently publicly unknown — at least in terms of the narrative emerging from his comments to Kommersant. The paper was reporting on a meeting held by the Russian president five days after Wagner's short-lived rebellion collapsed at the end of June – a meeting also attended by Prigozhin and several dozen senior Wagner combatants.
Responding to a question from Kommersant, Putin said Wagner "does not exist" under Russian law, adding that the Russian government needs to determine how to handle the organization legally.
According to the paper, Putin outlined a number of options for the future of Wagner mercenaries, including continuing to fight under their direct commander, a man going by the call sign "Sedoy," meaning "Gray Hair."
So who is "Gray Hair"? Sedoy is the call sign of Andrey Troshev, a retired Russian colonel and a founding member and executive director of the Wagner Group, according to sanctions documents published by the European Union and France. He has also been sanctioned by Ukraine.
Troshev served as the group's chief of staff for its previous operations in Syria, according to EU sanctions from December 2021.
"He was particularly involved in the area of Deir ez-Zor," sanctions documents state, referring to an eastern city where Wagner fighters have had direct encounters with the US military during the Syrian civil war. "As such, he provides a crucial contribution to (Syrian President) Bashar al-Assad’s war effort and therefore supports and benefits from the Syrian regime."
United Kingdom sanctions from June 2022 also identify Troshev as a chief executive with the private military group who "has repressed the civilian population in Syria."
Troshev is associated with top Wagner Group leaders, including founder Dmitriy Utkin, a former Russian GRU military intelligence officer, according to EU sanctions.
"Gray Hair" is a veteran of the wars in Chechnya and Afghanistan, for which he was awarded several medals, according to Russian media.
Troshev was among those invited to a reception at the Kremlin in December 2016. A photograph, believed to be from that 2016 reception, emerged in Russian media and shows Putin alongside Troshev and Utkin, who are both wearing several medals.
Troshev was born in April 1953 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in the former Soviet Union, according to sanctions documents.
CNN's Andrew Carey and Josh Pennington contributed reporting to this post.
54 min ago
Number of Russian military personnel in Belarus has decreased, Ukraine says
From Yulia Kesaieva and Lauren Kent
The number of Russian military personnel in Belarus has greatly decreased, according to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine on Friday.
Ukraine recorded around 2,000 Russian military personnel stationed at Belarusian training grounds until recently, but at the moment "almost all Russian troops have been withdrawn from the territory of Belarus," said spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Andrii Demchenko.
"However, we cannot rule out the possibility that in some time, as part of the rotation, regular units may be brought back to the territory of Belarus," Demchenko noted in a media briefing while emphasizing that the situation on the border with Belarus "remains fully under control."
Ukraine's Border Guard Service also said they have not observed "the organized deployment of Russian mercenaries" in the territory of Belarus.
However, that comment follows the Belarusian Defense Ministry announcing on Friday that Wagner private mercenary group fighters are training Belarusian fighters near the town of Osipovichi, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of the capital Minsk.
54 min ago
Alleged Russian saboteur gets 10-year prison sentence for foiled plot to blow up Ukrainian infrastructure
From CNN's Niamh Kennedy and Olga Voitovych
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said an alleged Russian saboteur has been given a 10-year prison sentence for a foiled plot to blow up transportation infrastructure in the western Ukrainian region of Rivne, according to a statement on Friday.
The SBU said a Ukrainian court found the person guilty of “committing crimes against the state security of Ukraine.”
According to the SBU, the unnamed saboteur was preparing to blow up two transport infrastructure facilities in the Rivne region when he was detained by security service officers carrying out a “multistage operation” in February.
“The aggressor hoped to disrupt the supply of foreign weapons and ammunition to the defense forces on the eastern and southern fronts,” the statement said. The man conducted reconnaissance missions around the infrastructure facilities, hoping to plant explosives in the “most vulnerable” locations along transportation routes before his plan was foiled, it added.
Ukrainian investigators identified him as a former militant who fought against Ukraine’s Anti-Terrorist Operation in eastern Ukraine before Russia's full-scale invasion began.
The saboteur was a member of "terrorist groups" and the Russian military intelligence apparatus before the war, according to the SBU statement.
After the war broke out, the saboteur allegedly took an “active part” in fighting against Ukrainian troops in the southern regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson before receiving “an assignment from a Russian GRU to covertly arrive in Rivne region to commit sabotage at transport infrastructure facilities.”
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia is "investing everything they can" to stop Kyiv's push on the southern and eastern front lines.Kyiv is seeking to recapture territory as part of its summer counteroffensive.
The United States is close to a decision on providing Ukraine with ATACMs, a type of long-range guided missile, a top aide to Zelensky said. The weapons have been top of Ukraine's wish-list since the early days of the war.
President Vladimir Putin called the Wagner Group's legal future into question and suggested a new commander for the private military force in remarks to a Russian newspaper.
“The Russian forces on our southern and eastern lands are investing everything they can to stop our warriors. And every thousand meters of advance, every success of each of our combat brigades deserves gratitude,” Zelensky said in his nightly address on Friday. "Our full focus is on the front line."
Despite Zelensky's positive spin, Ukraine's western allies have expressed concern that Ukraine's forces have not been able to push Russian troops back at a quicker rate.
The front lines in southern and eastern Ukraine have not moved much over the past months, giving Russian troops plenty of time to dig in and prepare for a counteroffensive.
Russian strikes target Zaporizhzhia: The southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia saw several buildings damaged overnight Friday into Saturday as a result of Russian strikes, a local Ukrainian military official said.
The official added that one 62-year-old man was wounded.
As Zelensky alluded to in his comments, the south is a key focus of Ukraine's campaign.
An early version of an Army Tactical Missile System is tested on December 14, 2021, at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. John Hamilton/White Sands Missile Range Public Affairs
One of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s most senior aides has expressed optimism Kyiv might soon be adding Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMs) to its arsenal of weapons. The US-manufactured guided missile has a range of up to 300 kilometers (about 186 miles).
Andriy Yermak told journalists in Kyiv he believed the Biden administration was “very close” to making a decision on approving the transfer of the missiles to Ukraine, though he stressed that a final decision had not yet been made.
Ukrainian leaders have had ATACMs close to the top of their wish list since the early months of the war. The missiles’ longer range would bring more Russian targets into view, including some in occupied Crimea, as well as in Russia itself, a fact that has worried the US.
Key among the Russian targets Ukraine is looking to hit are ammunition dumps and fuel depots, as well as buildings housing Russian soldiers far behind the frontlines.
In recent months, Ukraine has stepped up these strikes in what are described as shaping operations, aimed at disrupting and degrading enemy supply lines ahead of ground offensives. Reports suggest Ukraine has begun to make effective use of Storm Shadow missiles, which were donated by the UK in May and have a range of about 250 kilometers (155 miles).
Yermak’s comments follow a report in The New York Times that described a “quiet debate” inside the Biden administration over whether to send the missiles to Ukraine, thereby reversing the US position that Ukraine does not need them.
Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Future Technologies Forum in Moscow on July 13. Alexander Kazakov/AFP/Getty Images
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed to Wagner fighters that a senior mercenary named Andrey Troshev now command the private military group, according to comments the Russian leader made to the Kommersant newspaper that were published Friday.
Putin appears to have created a split between senior fighters from the mercenary group and its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin — whose whereabouts are currently publicly unknown — at least in terms of the narrative emerging from his comments to Kommersant. The paper was reporting on a meeting held by the Russian president five days after Wagner's short-lived rebellion collapsed at the end of June – a meeting also attended by Prigozhin and several dozen senior Wagner combatants.
Responding to a question from Kommersant, Putin said Wagner "does not exist" under Russian law, adding that the Russian government needs to determine how to handle the organization legally.
According to the paper, Putin outlined a number of options for the future of Wagner mercenaries, including continuing to fight under their direct commander, a man going by the call sign "Sedoy," meaning "Gray Hair."
So who is "Gray Hair"? Sedoy is the call sign of Andrey Troshev, a retired Russian colonel and a founding member and executive director of the Wagner Group, according to sanctions documents published by the European Union and France. He has also been sanctioned by Ukraine.
Troshev served as the group's chief of staff for its previous operations in Syria, according to EU sanctions from December 2021.
"He was particularly involved in the area of Deir ez-Zor," sanctions documents state, referring to an eastern city where Wagner fighters have had direct encounters with the US military during the Syrian civil war. "As such, he provides a crucial contribution to (Syrian President) Bashar al-Assad’s war effort and therefore supports and benefits from the Syrian regime."
United Kingdom sanctions from June 2022 also identify Troshev as a chief executive with the private military group who "has repressed the civilian population in Syria."
Troshev is associated with top Wagner Group leaders, including founder Dmitriy Utkin, a former Russian GRU military intelligence officer, according to EU sanctions.
"Gray Hair" is a veteran of the wars in Chechnya and Afghanistan, for which he was awarded several medals, according to Russian media.
Troshev was among those invited to a reception at the Kremlin in December 2016. A photograph, believed to be from that 2016 reception, emerged in Russian media and shows Putin alongside Troshev and Utkin, who are both wearing several medals.
Troshev was born in April 1953 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in the former Soviet Union, according to sanctions documents.
CNN's Andrew Carey and Josh Pennington contributed reporting to this post.
The number of Russian military personnel in Belarus has greatly decreased, according to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine on Friday.
Ukraine recorded around 2,000 Russian military personnel stationed at Belarusian training grounds until recently, but at the moment "almost all Russian troops have been withdrawn from the territory of Belarus," said spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Andrii Demchenko.
"However, we cannot rule out the possibility that in some time, as part of the rotation, regular units may be brought back to the territory of Belarus," Demchenko noted in a media briefing while emphasizing that the situation on the border with Belarus "remains fully under control."
Ukraine's Border Guard Service also said they have not observed "the organized deployment of Russian mercenaries" in the territory of Belarus.
However, that comment follows the Belarusian Defense Ministry announcing on Friday that Wagner private mercenary group fighters are training Belarusian fighters near the town of Osipovichi, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of the capital Minsk.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said an alleged Russian saboteur has been given a 10-year prison sentence for a foiled plot to blow up transportation infrastructure in the western Ukrainian region of Rivne, according to a statement on Friday.
The SBU said a Ukrainian court found the person guilty of “committing crimes against the state security of Ukraine.”
According to the SBU, the unnamed saboteur was preparing to blow up two transport infrastructure facilities in the Rivne region when he was detained by security service officers carrying out a “multistage operation” in February.
“The aggressor hoped to disrupt the supply of foreign weapons and ammunition to the defense forces on the eastern and southern fronts,” the statement said. The man conducted reconnaissance missions around the infrastructure facilities, hoping to plant explosives in the “most vulnerable” locations along transportation routes before his plan was foiled, it added.
Ukrainian investigators identified him as a former militant who fought against Ukraine’s Anti-Terrorist Operation in eastern Ukraine before Russia's full-scale invasion began.
The saboteur was a member of "terrorist groups" and the Russian military intelligence apparatus before the war, according to the SBU statement.
After the war broke out, the saboteur allegedly took an “active part” in fighting against Ukrainian troops in the southern regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson before receiving “an assignment from a Russian GRU to covertly arrive in Rivne region to commit sabotage at transport infrastructure facilities.”
