The attack early Wednesday morning in Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea, marks Ukraine’s most ambitious strike on the port since the war began and comes as Kyiv steps up missile and drone strikes on the peninsula.
On Wednesday, Andrii Yusov, a representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, said the landing ship Minsk and the submarine Rostov-on-Don had been destroyed in the attack. Both had been undergoing repairs at the time.
Speaking to Ukrainian media, Yusov called the destruction of the landing ship an “irreparable loss” to the Russian sea fleet, because, as he claimed, Russians do not produce such ships any longer. He added that the Defense Intelligence doesn’t want to get into the details of what weapon was used to hit the shipyard, but that the demilitarization of occupied Ukrainian territories is underway.
CNN cannot independently verify Ukraine’s claims.
Some context: In recent weeks Ukraine has focused its efforts on Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, and is a strategically vital logistics hub for Russia’s war effort due to its location on the Black Sea.
Kyiv insists its strikes on naval bases and vessels in Crimea are an integral part of their counteroffensive strategy, intended to isolate the peninsula 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.
Kim Jong Un visits fighter jet plant in Russia as Putin accepts invite to North Korea
From CNN's Helen Regan, Mariya Knight and Anna Chernova
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continued his days-long visit to Russia Friday, heading to an aircraft plant in the eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, according to Russian state media, after the two sides said military cooperation was a possibility.
The facility is the country’s largest aviation manufacturing plant and builds and develops fighter jets, including the Su-35S, state media TASS reported.
Kim is also expected to travel to the port city of Vladivostok where he will view the military capabilities of Russia’s Pacific Fleet, Russian President Vladimir Putin told state news agency Russia 1.
The tour of key sites in the Russian Far East region came after Putin said Russia is considering and discussing some military cooperation with North Korea, following a summit at which Kim appeared to endorse Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
Wednesday’s five-hour meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome signaled closer relations between the two countries, both of which face international isolation – Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine and Pyongyang for its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program.
Asked if the two leaders discussed military and technical cooperation during the talks, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was a “sensitive sphere of cooperation” and reiterated Moscow’s commitment to further developing ties with Pyongyang.
The Kremlin said Thursday that Putin had accepted Kim’s invitation to visit North Korea and that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would also visit the country in October, according to Peskov.
Putin was asked if he discussed military-technical cooperation with Kim during the leaders’ meeting. In response, Putin acknowledged there were certain restrictions in place, saying Moscow fully complied with them. But he also said there were areas open for discussion and consideration, suggesting potential points of cooperation.
Australia ‘deeply concerned’ over potential arms deal in wake of Kim-Putin meeting
From CNN’s Angus Watson in Sydney and Akanksha Sharma
Australia is “deeply concerned” about the meeting between North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin amid “speculation about arms purchases," the country’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong told state broadcaster ABC in a radio interview Friday.
“I'd make two points about that,” Wong said, “One, that any Russian purchase would be a violation of multiple resolutions of the UN Security Council which bans all arms transfers to and from North Korea. The second point is that I think this shows, if it is true, a degree of desperation from Mr. Putin.”
She added that Canberra “would join with the entire international community in urging [Putin] to observe the sanctions against North Korea that the entire international community has imposed.”
Wong is currently in Fiji to attend the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
28 min ago
It's early Friday morning in Kyiv. Here's what you need to know
The Russian defense ministry said its air defenses shot down 11 Ukrainian drones over Crimea early Thursday morning. The Kerch Bridge, which connects Crimea to the Russian mainland, was also closed to traffic Thursday but has since reopened.
Ukraine destroyed a Russian air defense system near the town of Yevpatoriya in annexed Crimea Wednesday night, according to a Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) source. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the destruction as a "triumph" in his nightly address Thursday.
The attacks are the latest to hit Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Ukraine is attempting to regain control of the area, using a strategy that focuses in part on attacking "occupation military objects," according to Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office.
Here are other headlines you should know:
On the ground: The Ukrainian military has seen "some success" on the front lines near Bakhmut, but fighting continues south of the city, in the area of the village of Andriivka, according to a defense official. In Russia's Belgorod region, which neighbors Ukraine, the Ukrainian military has unleashed shelling nearly 100 times over the past 24 hours, the region's Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said Thursday.
Biden and Zelensky: Biden plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky next week around the UN General Assembly meetings, according to multiple officials familiar with the plans. It remained unclear whether the meeting would occur in New York or later in the week at the White House. One source familiar with the matter told CNN that Zelensky is expected to travel to Washington, DC, after his stop in New York.
Sanctions: US President Joe Biden's administration announced its latest tranche of sanctions against the Kremlin over its invasion of Ukraine in a move that targets Russian elites profiting off the war as well as sectors critical to Moscow’s military effort. Also, the national security advisers of the United States, South Korea, and Japan issued a stern warning regarding potential violations of international sanctions by North Korea and Russia following their recent summit.
ICC office: The International Criminal Court has opened a field office in Kyiv to help it investigate war crimes in Ukraine. Announcing the move in the Ukrainian capital Thursday, ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan said the war was a moment of huge responsibility for the court which required perseverance and endurance.
Grain restrictions: Ukraine expects the European Commission to “keep its word” and lift all restrictions on Ukrainian grain exports on Friday, when the restrictions are set to expire, according to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
Kim Jong Un: Following his meeting with Putin Wednesday,North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has arrived in the eastern Russian city Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russian state media TASS said in the early hours of Friday local time, without giving any further details. He is on his way to an aircraft plant in the city, TASS added.
31 min ago
Ukrainian military says they attacked two Russian patrol ships in Black Sea
From CNN's Mariya Knight
Ukraine's military claimed to have attacked two Russian patrol ships in the Black Sea on Thursday.
The military's Strategic Communications Directorate said in a Telegram post that the ships sustained “some damage.”
Russia's Defense Ministry acknowledged that Ukraine attempted to attack a patrol ship and the fleet's missile hovercraft, but said the Ukrainian ships which attempted the attacks were destroyed.
“On September 14 at around 05:00 a.m., the AFU attempted to attack the Black Sea Fleet patrol ship Sergey Kotov in the waters of the Black Sea by five uncrewed boats,” the Russian ministry of defense said, adding that all uncrewed boats “were destroyed by fire from the ship's standard weapons.” Later on Thursday, they also claimed Ukraine “attempted to attack the Black Sea Fleet's missile hovercraft Samum by an uncrewed boat in the waters of the Black Sea.”
This comes after Ukraine launched a missile attack on Sevastopol shipyard in the early hours of Wednesday that left two Russian ships damaged.
Andrii Yusov, representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, told Ukrainian media on Wednesday that the Ukrainian strikes on the Russian fleet are a part of the “demilitarization of the occupied Ukrainian territories” that is currently underway.
32 min ago
Biden and Zelensky to meet in US next week as Ukraine officials push for more weapons, officials say
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler and Kevin Liptak
US President Joe Biden meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Ukrainian presidential palace in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 20. Ukrainian Presidential Press Office/Getty Images/File
US President Joe Biden plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky next week around the UN General Assembly meetings, according to multiple officials familiar with the plans.
It remained unclear whether the meeting would occur in New York or later in the week at the White House. One source familiar with the matter told CNN that Zelensky is expected to travel to Washington, DC, after his stop in New York.
Biden and Zelensky are both scheduled to address the assembly on Tuesday.
Zelensky is planning to use an in-person appearance at the annual meeting to appeal for more support for Ukraine as it continues to wage a counteroffensive against Russia. Aside from an address to the assembly, he plans several meetings with other world leaders in New York, according to people familiar with the plans.
Among his objectives will be trying to persuade nations that haven’t taken a firm stance against the war to be more forceful in their condemnation of Russia.
Among his meetings will be with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli government announced Thursday.
Past Biden-Zelensky meetings: Biden last met Zelensky on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Lithuania in July. Before that, the men sat for talks in May at the G7 summit in Japan. Despite support from the United States for an appearance at last week’s G20 summit in India, Zelensky wasn’t extended an invitation by the hosts.
He last traveled to the United States in December, his first time leaving Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began in February of 2022.
A spokesperson for the National Security Council declined to comment.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Zelensky in Kyiv last week as part of a trip aimed in part at aligning the US and Ukraine ahead of the diplomatic gathering. The top US diplomat told the Ukrainian president that the US is "determined to continue to walk side-by-side” with Ukraine.
34 min ago
US, South Korea and Japan issue warning on North Korea and Russia's violation of international sanctions
From CNN's Yoonjung Seo in Seoul
The national security advisers of the United States, South Korea, and Japan jointly issued a stern warning regarding potential violations of international sanctions by North Korea and Russia, according to a statement released by South Korea’s presidential office.
They convened to discuss the recent North Korea-Russia summit and the regional security landscape during a phone call Thursday evening local time, the statement said.
The advisers emphasized that both North Korea and Russia are obligated to adhere to the UN Security Council resolutions and sanctions, particularly those pertaining to arms trade and military cooperation. They underscored that there would be "clear consequences" if either country were to breach these obligations.
Additionally, the security chiefs highlighted Russia's greater responsibility as a permanent member of the Security Council to comply with its resolutions, the statement said.
All three countries expressed grave concerns over the discussions between President Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, which included topics related to military cooperation, including the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles, despite repeated warnings from the international community, according to the statement.
The advisers also reached a consensus on the need for enhanced solidarity among their respective countries to monitor arms trade and military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, develop countermeasures, and strengthen international cooperation in this regard, the statement concluded.
Putin met his North Korean counterpart Wednesday in Russia's Far East, but it is unclear if they struck an agreement.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is visiting a fighter jet plant in Russia. Meanwhile, Russian leader Vladimir Putin has accepted an invite to North Korea.
US President Joe Biden plans to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky next week around the UN General Assembly meetings, according to multiple officials.
Ukraine said it destroyed a Russian air defense system in an attack on occupied Crimea, as Moscow said its forces shot down 11 Ukrainian drones early Thursday morning over the area. The attack is the latest by Ukraine as it seeks to reclaim the annexed peninsula.
A South Korean minister warned Russia and North Korea could be pursuing “some kind of military deal." An official from the presidential office said Seoul has long been aware that Moscow has used weapons provided by Pyongyang in the war.
The attack early Wednesday morning in Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea, marks Ukraine’s most ambitious strike on the port since the war began and comes as Kyiv steps up missile and drone strikes on the peninsula.
On Wednesday, Andrii Yusov, a representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, said the landing ship Minsk and the submarine Rostov-on-Don had been destroyed in the attack. Both had been undergoing repairs at the time.
Speaking to Ukrainian media, Yusov called the destruction of the landing ship an “irreparable loss” to the Russian sea fleet, because, as he claimed, Russians do not produce such ships any longer. He added that the Defense Intelligence doesn’t want to get into the details of what weapon was used to hit the shipyard, but that the demilitarization of occupied Ukrainian territories is underway.
CNN cannot independently verify Ukraine’s claims.
Some context: In recent weeks Ukraine has focused its efforts on Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, and is a strategically vital logistics hub for Russia’s war effort due to its location on the Black Sea.
Kyiv insists its strikes on naval bases and vessels in Crimea are an integral part of their counteroffensive strategy, intended to isolate the peninsula 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.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continued his days-long visit to Russia Friday, heading to an aircraft plant in the eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, according to Russian state media, after the two sides said military cooperation was a possibility.
The facility is the country’s largest aviation manufacturing plant and builds and develops fighter jets, including the Su-35S, state media TASS reported.
Kim is also expected to travel to the port city of Vladivostok where he will view the military capabilities of Russia’s Pacific Fleet, Russian President Vladimir Putin told state news agency Russia 1.
The tour of key sites in the Russian Far East region came after Putin said Russia is considering and discussing some military cooperation with North Korea, following a summit at which Kim appeared to endorse Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
Wednesday’s five-hour meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome signaled closer relations between the two countries, both of which face international isolation – Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine and Pyongyang for its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program.
Asked if the two leaders discussed military and technical cooperation during the talks, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was a “sensitive sphere of cooperation” and reiterated Moscow’s commitment to further developing ties with Pyongyang.
The Kremlin said Thursday that Putin had accepted Kim’s invitation to visit North Korea and that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would also visit the country in October, according to Peskov.
Putin was asked if he discussed military-technical cooperation with Kim during the leaders’ meeting. In response, Putin acknowledged there were certain restrictions in place, saying Moscow fully complied with them. But he also said there were areas open for discussion and consideration, suggesting potential points of cooperation.
Australia is “deeply concerned” about the meeting between North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin amid “speculation about arms purchases," the country’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong told state broadcaster ABC in a radio interview Friday.
“I'd make two points about that,” Wong said, “One, that any Russian purchase would be a violation of multiple resolutions of the UN Security Council which bans all arms transfers to and from North Korea. The second point is that I think this shows, if it is true, a degree of desperation from Mr. Putin.”
She added that Canberra “would join with the entire international community in urging [Putin] to observe the sanctions against North Korea that the entire international community has imposed.”
Wong is currently in Fiji to attend the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
The Russian defense ministry said its air defenses shot down 11 Ukrainian drones over Crimea early Thursday morning. The Kerch Bridge, which connects Crimea to the Russian mainland, was also closed to traffic Thursday but has since reopened.
Ukraine destroyed a Russian air defense system near the town of Yevpatoriya in annexed Crimea Wednesday night, according to a Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) source. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the destruction as a "triumph" in his nightly address Thursday.
The attacks are the latest to hit Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Ukraine is attempting to regain control of the area, using a strategy that focuses in part on attacking "occupation military objects," according to Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office.
Here are other headlines you should know:
On the ground: The Ukrainian military has seen "some success" on the front lines near Bakhmut, but fighting continues south of the city, in the area of the village of Andriivka, according to a defense official. In Russia's Belgorod region, which neighbors Ukraine, the Ukrainian military has unleashed shelling nearly 100 times over the past 24 hours, the region's Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said Thursday.
Biden and Zelensky: Biden plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky next week around the UN General Assembly meetings, according to multiple officials familiar with the plans. It remained unclear whether the meeting would occur in New York or later in the week at the White House. One source familiar with the matter told CNN that Zelensky is expected to travel to Washington, DC, after his stop in New York.
Sanctions: US President Joe Biden's administration announced its latest tranche of sanctions against the Kremlin over its invasion of Ukraine in a move that targets Russian elites profiting off the war as well as sectors critical to Moscow’s military effort. Also, the national security advisers of the United States, South Korea, and Japan issued a stern warning regarding potential violations of international sanctions by North Korea and Russia following their recent summit.
ICC office: The International Criminal Court has opened a field office in Kyiv to help it investigate war crimes in Ukraine. Announcing the move in the Ukrainian capital Thursday, ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan said the war was a moment of huge responsibility for the court which required perseverance and endurance.
Grain restrictions: Ukraine expects the European Commission to “keep its word” and lift all restrictions on Ukrainian grain exports on Friday, when the restrictions are set to expire, according to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
Kim Jong Un: Following his meeting with Putin Wednesday,North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has arrived in the eastern Russian city Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russian state media TASS said in the early hours of Friday local time, without giving any further details. He is on his way to an aircraft plant in the city, TASS added.
Ukraine's military claimed to have attacked two Russian patrol ships in the Black Sea on Thursday.
The military's Strategic Communications Directorate said in a Telegram post that the ships sustained “some damage.”
Russia's Defense Ministry acknowledged that Ukraine attempted to attack a patrol ship and the fleet's missile hovercraft, but said the Ukrainian ships which attempted the attacks were destroyed.
“On September 14 at around 05:00 a.m., the AFU attempted to attack the Black Sea Fleet patrol ship Sergey Kotov in the waters of the Black Sea by five uncrewed boats,” the Russian ministry of defense said, adding that all uncrewed boats “were destroyed by fire from the ship's standard weapons.” Later on Thursday, they also claimed Ukraine “attempted to attack the Black Sea Fleet's missile hovercraft Samum by an uncrewed boat in the waters of the Black Sea.”
This comes after Ukraine launched a missile attack on Sevastopol shipyard in the early hours of Wednesday that left two Russian ships damaged.
Andrii Yusov, representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, told Ukrainian media on Wednesday that the Ukrainian strikes on the Russian fleet are a part of the “demilitarization of the occupied Ukrainian territories” that is currently underway.
US President Joe Biden meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Ukrainian presidential palace in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 20. Ukrainian Presidential Press Office/Getty Images/File
US President Joe Biden plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky next week around the UN General Assembly meetings, according to multiple officials familiar with the plans.
It remained unclear whether the meeting would occur in New York or later in the week at the White House. One source familiar with the matter told CNN that Zelensky is expected to travel to Washington, DC, after his stop in New York.
Biden and Zelensky are both scheduled to address the assembly on Tuesday.
Zelensky is planning to use an in-person appearance at the annual meeting to appeal for more support for Ukraine as it continues to wage a counteroffensive against Russia. Aside from an address to the assembly, he plans several meetings with other world leaders in New York, according to people familiar with the plans.
Among his objectives will be trying to persuade nations that haven’t taken a firm stance against the war to be more forceful in their condemnation of Russia.
Among his meetings will be with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli government announced Thursday.
Past Biden-Zelensky meetings: Biden last met Zelensky on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Lithuania in July. Before that, the men sat for talks in May at the G7 summit in Japan. Despite support from the United States for an appearance at last week’s G20 summit in India, Zelensky wasn’t extended an invitation by the hosts.
He last traveled to the United States in December, his first time leaving Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began in February of 2022.
A spokesperson for the National Security Council declined to comment.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Zelensky in Kyiv last week as part of a trip aimed in part at aligning the US and Ukraine ahead of the diplomatic gathering. The top US diplomat told the Ukrainian president that the US is "determined to continue to walk side-by-side” with Ukraine.
The national security advisers of the United States, South Korea, and Japan jointly issued a stern warning regarding potential violations of international sanctions by North Korea and Russia, according to a statement released by South Korea’s presidential office.
They convened to discuss the recent North Korea-Russia summit and the regional security landscape during a phone call Thursday evening local time, the statement said.
The advisers emphasized that both North Korea and Russia are obligated to adhere to the UN Security Council resolutions and sanctions, particularly those pertaining to arms trade and military cooperation. They underscored that there would be "clear consequences" if either country were to breach these obligations.
Additionally, the security chiefs highlighted Russia's greater responsibility as a permanent member of the Security Council to comply with its resolutions, the statement said.
All three countries expressed grave concerns over the discussions between President Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, which included topics related to military cooperation, including the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles, despite repeated warnings from the international community, according to the statement.
The advisers also reached a consensus on the need for enhanced solidarity among their respective countries to monitor arms trade and military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, develop countermeasures, and strengthen international cooperation in this regard, the statement concluded.
Putin met his North Korean counterpart Wednesday in Russia's Far East, but it is unclear if they struck an agreement.
