Ukraine promises more attacks on Russian shipping and Crimea bridge
From CNN's Tim Lister and Kostan Nechyporenko
Ukraine has served notice that it intends to continue attacks using maritime drones, following two strikes using such weapons within 24 hours.
The head of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) Vasyl Maliuk said Saturday that any explosions that happen to Russian ships or the Crimean bridge are "an absolutely logical and effective step. Moreover, such special operations are conducted in the territorial waters of Ukraine and are completely legal."
Maliuk said that if the Russians wanted such explosions to stop "they have the only option to do so -- to leave the territorial waters of Ukraine and our land."
Some context: The Russian-flagged tanker Sig was damaged by a maritime drone overnight Friday near the Crimea bridge. According to the Russian agency for Marine and River Transport, the Sig was hit shortly before midnight Friday local time. It was not carrying a cargo of oil at the time.
A Ukraine Security Service source told CNN the hit on the oil tanker was carried out in a joint operation with the Navy.
Ukrainians to stand up more military engineering units to deal with Russian mines
From CNN's Kostan Nechyporenko
The Ukrainian military says it is stepping up the training and deployment of engineering battalions capable of dealing with the density of Russian minefields and other defensive fortifications.
The commander of the military's Support Forces, Brigadier General Dmytro Hereha, told a briefing Saturday that "the enemy has set up a multi-echelon system of engineering barriers in the occupied territories, consisting of several strips of 10 to 40 km each, and their density is quite high."
Anti-tank minefields, anti-tank ditches, concrete pyramids (the so-called "dragon's teeth") and wire obstacles were among the obstacles, he said, and "the enemy insidiously uses mines, including in such a way that they cannot be removed."
Hereha said that "to overcome such obstacles, a significant number of engineering and sapper units are needed," but the quantity of special engineering equipment "is not enough [now] for such a number of obstacles."
He said five engineer battalions have been formed and about 200 personnel had been trained abroad. A further 150 were receiving training outside Ukraine.
"The engineering units received up to 100 units of special equipment from partner countries as material and technical assistance to make passages in explosive and non-explosive barriers," Hereha said.
The density of minefields along the front lines in the south has been a significant impediment for the Ukrainians over the past two months. A senior Ukrainian official said last week that in some areas there were as many as three mines per square meter.
48 min ago
Shoigu visits Russian "zone of special military operation," Russian Ministry of Defence says
From CNN's Tim Lister and Uliana Pavlova
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meet in New Delhi, India, on April 28, 2023. Adnan Abidi/Reuters
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Russian rear positions inside Ukraine, according to a statement and video released by the Defense Ministry Saturday.
In a video distributed by the Ministry, Shoigu is seen traveling by helicopter to a base near the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk.
Shoigu met with commanders and gave out bravery medals to servicemen.
According to the Telegram channel of the Ministry, Shoigu asked German-made Leopard tanks had appeared in the group's area of responsibility, to which the group commander, Andrei Mordichev, replied: "No, not yet; we are not lucky [with that]."
"Our guys are beating them hard over there, so maybe they won't get to you yet," Shoigu responded.
Shoigu has been frequently criticized by Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin for his support for frontline troops.
30 min ago
Ukraine hits one of Russia's biggest oil tankers with sea drone after attack on naval base
From CNN's Victoria Butenko and Josh Pennington
A still from file footage of Russia's U.S.-sanctioned SIG tanker hit in drone attack near Crimea Bridge. Yoruk Isik/Reuters
One of Russia’s biggest oil tankers was struck by a maritime drone, the latest salvo in a Ukrainian military campaign employing unmanned vehicles to attack far-away Russian targets by air and by sea.
The Russian-flagged ship, the Sig, was hit by a drone carrying 450 kilograms (992 pounds) of TNT shortly before midnight, according to a Ukraine Security Service source. The strike created a hole in the vessel’s engine room at the waterline on the starboard side, forcing the 11-strong crew to fight the water intake, Russian authorities said. The flooding eventually stopped.
Russia’s Federal Agency for Marine and River Transport said no casualties were reported and that the Sig was not carrying oil when the drone crashed into ship. Ukrainian officials, however, said some crew were injured and that the tanker was carrying fuel for the Russian military.
CNN has not been able to independently verify the claims.
The strike on the Sig came just hours after Ukrainian sea drones targeted a major naval base in Novorossiysk, a coastal city on the Black Sea that is home to Russia’s largest port by volume of cargo handled. An amphibious Russian landing ship was hit, leaving it tilting badly and sitting very low in the water.
Ukrainian has also stepped up its attacks using unmanned aerial vehicles in recent weeks, hitting targets well within Russian territory, including in Moscow.
Analysis: Summit in Saudi Arabia is a chance for Ukraine to win friends
From CNN's Nick Paton Walsh
The proposed Saudi Arabia peace talks are less of a peace summit and more of a summit about peace. This isn’t Russia and Ukraine sitting down to hammer out the enduring terms of a settlement. It is, instead, Ukraine circling the wagons around its allies and trying to drag additional developing countries to its corner.
Ukraine is banking on a significant change on the front lines – progress in its counteroffensive — before entertaining the idea of diplomacy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky maintains he wants all of Ukraine restored to its 2013 borders — before Russia began its occupation by annexing Crimea. It’s unlikely he’ll achieve that militarily this year, or next. But he can seek to frame Russia’s invasion as a strategic defeat by breaking the land corridor along the Azov Sea, between Crimea and Russia’s mainland.
The "Global South" — broadly used to describe developing countries in parts of Africa, Latin America, Asia and elsewhere in the world — will get to hear of Russia’s atrocities firsthand. Some of the countries have been close to the Kremlin. Kyiv and its allies will want to erode any sense of Moscow remaining a power in a multipolar world. India’s attendance is key in amplifying their opposition.
The Saudi hosts will also be messaging tacitly toward one of their allies: China. While Beijing has limited its support of Russia, it also won’t want to back a loser.
The summit will aim to solidify what sort of peace Ukraine can live with. It’s no easy task. But make no mistake: With winter drawing near, US elections looming and NATO’s military support getting expended on the battlefield, word of peace talks will grow.
This is a bid to shape those before they even become a realistic possibility.
41 min ago
What to know about the peace summit in Saudi Arabia on Saturday
From CNN's Sophie Tanno
Saudi Arabia hosts talks on the war in Ukraine today, with Kyiv hoping to garner support from beyond its core Western backers for its peace proposals.
Here’s a brief guide to the summit in Jeddah:
What’s up for discussion? Ukraine has a 10-point peace plan, which includes items on nuclear safety, food security and the restoration of Ukrainian territory. Andriy Yermak, the top official in the Ukrainian president's office, said the goal in Jeddah was to “unite the world around Ukraine.”
Who will be attending? The talks will involve Ukraine, Western nations and representatives from developing countries, some of whom have refused to take sides in the conflict. The US will be represented, and significantly, so will be China, which still has close economic ties with Russia.
Who is not? Russia: The country was not invited to attend the talks. The Kremlin said it would “follow the meeting.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has said there can be no prospect of direct peace talks with Ukraine while its counteroffensive remains ongoing. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, says direct negotiations cannot take place until Moscow removes its troops from his country's territory.
Can it achieve peace? The meetings are likely to center more around the talking stages rather than concrete steps towards peace, as Ukraine and Russia continue to express conditions that are unacceptable to the other. Despite all this, the conference will be closely watched. We will bring you the latest events as they happen.
Ukraine hit one of Russia's biggest oil tankers with a sea drone, just hours after attacking a naval base in Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.
Saudi Arabia is hosting peace talks on Ukraine this weekend that will include the US as well as a number of Western and developing countries.
Ukraine is stepping up the training and deployment of engineering battalions capable of tackling Russian minefields. Dense minefields have been a significant impediment in Ukraine's counteroffensive.
Most Americans oppose Congress authorizing additional funding to support Ukraine in its war with Russia, according to a new CNN poll, as the public splits over whether the US has already done enough to assist Kyiv.
Ukraine has served notice that it intends to continue attacks using maritime drones, following two strikes using such weapons within 24 hours.
The head of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) Vasyl Maliuk said Saturday that any explosions that happen to Russian ships or the Crimean bridge are "an absolutely logical and effective step. Moreover, such special operations are conducted in the territorial waters of Ukraine and are completely legal."
Maliuk said that if the Russians wanted such explosions to stop "they have the only option to do so -- to leave the territorial waters of Ukraine and our land."
Some context: The Russian-flagged tanker Sig was damaged by a maritime drone overnight Friday near the Crimea bridge. According to the Russian agency for Marine and River Transport, the Sig was hit shortly before midnight Friday local time. It was not carrying a cargo of oil at the time.
A Ukraine Security Service source told CNN the hit on the oil tanker was carried out in a joint operation with the Navy.
The Ukrainian military says it is stepping up the training and deployment of engineering battalions capable of dealing with the density of Russian minefields and other defensive fortifications.
The commander of the military's Support Forces, Brigadier General Dmytro Hereha, told a briefing Saturday that "the enemy has set up a multi-echelon system of engineering barriers in the occupied territories, consisting of several strips of 10 to 40 km each, and their density is quite high."
Anti-tank minefields, anti-tank ditches, concrete pyramids (the so-called "dragon's teeth") and wire obstacles were among the obstacles, he said, and "the enemy insidiously uses mines, including in such a way that they cannot be removed."
Hereha said that "to overcome such obstacles, a significant number of engineering and sapper units are needed," but the quantity of special engineering equipment "is not enough [now] for such a number of obstacles."
He said five engineer battalions have been formed and about 200 personnel had been trained abroad. A further 150 were receiving training outside Ukraine.
"The engineering units received up to 100 units of special equipment from partner countries as material and technical assistance to make passages in explosive and non-explosive barriers," Hereha said.
The density of minefields along the front lines in the south has been a significant impediment for the Ukrainians over the past two months. A senior Ukrainian official said last week that in some areas there were as many as three mines per square meter.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meet in New Delhi, India, on April 28, 2023. Adnan Abidi/Reuters
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Russian rear positions inside Ukraine, according to a statement and video released by the Defense Ministry Saturday.
In a video distributed by the Ministry, Shoigu is seen traveling by helicopter to a base near the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk.
Shoigu met with commanders and gave out bravery medals to servicemen.
According to the Telegram channel of the Ministry, Shoigu asked German-made Leopard tanks had appeared in the group's area of responsibility, to which the group commander, Andrei Mordichev, replied: "No, not yet; we are not lucky [with that]."
"Our guys are beating them hard over there, so maybe they won't get to you yet," Shoigu responded.
Shoigu has been frequently criticized by Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin for his support for frontline troops.
A still from file footage of Russia's U.S.-sanctioned SIG tanker hit in drone attack near Crimea Bridge. Yoruk Isik/Reuters
One of Russia’s biggest oil tankers was struck by a maritime drone, the latest salvo in a Ukrainian military campaign employing unmanned vehicles to attack far-away Russian targets by air and by sea.
The Russian-flagged ship, the Sig, was hit by a drone carrying 450 kilograms (992 pounds) of TNT shortly before midnight, according to a Ukraine Security Service source. The strike created a hole in the vessel’s engine room at the waterline on the starboard side, forcing the 11-strong crew to fight the water intake, Russian authorities said. The flooding eventually stopped.
Russia’s Federal Agency for Marine and River Transport said no casualties were reported and that the Sig was not carrying oil when the drone crashed into ship. Ukrainian officials, however, said some crew were injured and that the tanker was carrying fuel for the Russian military.
CNN has not been able to independently verify the claims.
The strike on the Sig came just hours after Ukrainian sea drones targeted a major naval base in Novorossiysk, a coastal city on the Black Sea that is home to Russia’s largest port by volume of cargo handled. An amphibious Russian landing ship was hit, leaving it tilting badly and sitting very low in the water.
Ukrainian has also stepped up its attacks using unmanned aerial vehicles in recent weeks, hitting targets well within Russian territory, including in Moscow.
The proposed Saudi Arabia peace talks are less of a peace summit and more of a summit about peace. This isn’t Russia and Ukraine sitting down to hammer out the enduring terms of a settlement. It is, instead, Ukraine circling the wagons around its allies and trying to drag additional developing countries to its corner.
Ukraine is banking on a significant change on the front lines – progress in its counteroffensive — before entertaining the idea of diplomacy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky maintains he wants all of Ukraine restored to its 2013 borders — before Russia began its occupation by annexing Crimea. It’s unlikely he’ll achieve that militarily this year, or next. But he can seek to frame Russia’s invasion as a strategic defeat by breaking the land corridor along the Azov Sea, between Crimea and Russia’s mainland.
The "Global South" — broadly used to describe developing countries in parts of Africa, Latin America, Asia and elsewhere in the world — will get to hear of Russia’s atrocities firsthand. Some of the countries have been close to the Kremlin. Kyiv and its allies will want to erode any sense of Moscow remaining a power in a multipolar world. India’s attendance is key in amplifying their opposition.
The Saudi hosts will also be messaging tacitly toward one of their allies: China. While Beijing has limited its support of Russia, it also won’t want to back a loser.
The summit will aim to solidify what sort of peace Ukraine can live with. It’s no easy task. But make no mistake: With winter drawing near, US elections looming and NATO’s military support getting expended on the battlefield, word of peace talks will grow.
This is a bid to shape those before they even become a realistic possibility.
Saudi Arabia hosts talks on the war in Ukraine today, with Kyiv hoping to garner support from beyond its core Western backers for its peace proposals.
Here’s a brief guide to the summit in Jeddah:
What’s up for discussion? Ukraine has a 10-point peace plan, which includes items on nuclear safety, food security and the restoration of Ukrainian territory. Andriy Yermak, the top official in the Ukrainian president's office, said the goal in Jeddah was to “unite the world around Ukraine.”
Who will be attending? The talks will involve Ukraine, Western nations and representatives from developing countries, some of whom have refused to take sides in the conflict. The US will be represented, and significantly, so will be China, which still has close economic ties with Russia.
Who is not? Russia: The country was not invited to attend the talks. The Kremlin said it would “follow the meeting.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has said there can be no prospect of direct peace talks with Ukraine while its counteroffensive remains ongoing. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, says direct negotiations cannot take place until Moscow removes its troops from his country's territory.
Can it achieve peace? The meetings are likely to center more around the talking stages rather than concrete steps towards peace, as Ukraine and Russia continue to express conditions that are unacceptable to the other. Despite all this, the conference will be closely watched. We will bring you the latest events as they happen.
