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3 min ago

It's early Thursday morning in Kyiv. Here's what you need to know

From CNN staff

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met at a space center in Russia's Far East on Wednesday. 

The pair spent around five hours together, according to Russian state news agency TASS. Putin described the talks as "highly productive,” involving a “candid exchange of views” on both regional matters and bilateral relations.

Both leaders face international isolation; Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and Kim over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program.

They met at the Vostochny Cosmodrome.

At one point in their meeting, a reporter asked whether Russia would help North Korea "launch its own satellites and rockets" — to which Putin responded, "That's exactly why we came here."

"The leader of North Korea shows great interest in space, in rocketry, and they are trying to develop space. We'll show our new objects," Putin said.

Later, North Korea's state media KCNA reported that Kim had invited Putin to visit Pyongyang at a "convenient time," and that the Russian leader happily accepted the invite. 

Meanwhile, the United States said it “will not hesitate to impose sanctions” if the meeting results in weapons transfers between the two countries. The US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Moscow's engagement with North Korea "shows how desperate Russia is." 

Here are other headlines you should know:

• Attack on Sevastopol: Ukrainian forces launched an extensive attack on a ship repair facility in the Crimean port of Sevastopol Wednesday, according to both the Russian defense ministry and Ukrainian accounts. Air defense forces shot down seven cruise missiles, and a patrol ship destroyed all the uncrewed boats, the Russian ministry said while acknowledging that “two ships under repair were damaged by enemy cruise missiles.”
• Evacuations: More than 2,000 people have left the frontline Kupiansk district as of Wednesday, after a mandatory evacuation was ordered for 56 settlements on August 9, according to Kharkiv regional authorities. About 12,000 people were still living in the community as of Sunday, as opposed to the 57,000 people who lived there before Russia’s war on Ukraine, an official said.
• Calls for tougher sanctions: A top Ukrainian official said that sanctions against Russia must be tougher and more sophisticated, after a new report that Moscow is evading international restrictions and increasing its missile production. The New York Times reported that “Russia subverted American export controls using its intelligence services and ministry of defense to run illicit networks of people who smuggle key components by exporting them to other countries from which they can be shipped to Russia more easily.”
• Belarus: The European Parliament called Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko “an accomplice" in the war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine in a resolution adopted Wednesday. It also labeled Belarus a "satellite state of Russia" and suggested applying the same sanctions against Belarus as it currently does against Russia. 
• US aid oversight: The Pentagon is establishing a new team in Ukraine to monitor US security assistance to Kyiv, as a growing number of Republican lawmakers are calling for more oversight into how the money is being used. The Defense Department Inspector General said a senior US representative began work in Ukraine in late August, and additional personnel are expected to arrive by the end of September. 

1 hr 4 min ago

European Parliament adopts resolution calling Belarusian president "an accomplice" in Russia's war crimes

From CNN's Mariya Knight

The European Parliament called Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko “an accomplice" in the war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine in a resolution adopted Wednesday.  

“By enabling Russia’s unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine, the Lukashenko regime has become an accomplice in the crimes committed by Russia, which implies responsibility for the destruction and damage caused to Ukraine,” the resolution reads, adding that “the special international tribunal on the crime of aggression perpetrated by Russia against Ukraine must have jurisdiction to investigate not only Putin and the Russian political and military leadership but also the Belarusian leadership.” 

The European Parliament urged European Union institutions and members “to enable the criminal prosecution of Belarusian officials who are complicit in the crime of aggression, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of genocide committed against Ukraine.” 

It called for the establishment of an International Criminal Court country office in Ukraine and “to find legal pathways for seizing assets of the Belarusian leadership and related Belarusian entities involved in the Russian war effort” in order to support the reconstruction of Ukraine. 

The European Parliament also called on EU member states to “broaden and strengthen the scope of their sanctions” against Russia. It suggested applying the same sanctions against Belarus as it currently does against Russia. 

The parliament also called on Russia and Belarus to be put on “the EU’s high-risk third-country list with regard to combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism.” 

The resolution urged the International Olympic Committee and other international sports federations “not to allow athletes from Belarus and Russia to compete in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games or any other international sports events.” 

It also labeled Belarus a "satellite state of Russia" and condemned “the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons under Russian command on Belarusian territory,” which it said was made in violation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and may trigger further nuclear redeployments in the region. 

1 hr 4 min ago

Ukraine claims that North Korea is already supplying Russia with ammunition 

From CNN's Mariya Knight in Atlanta

Ukraine is claiming that North Korea is already supplying Russia with ammunition. 

“We can say that cooperation continues between North Korea and Russia,” Andrii Yusov, representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, said in an interview with Ukrainian state media on Wednesday. He added that such intel between the countries is being intercepted and recorded. 

Russian requests are mainly for projectiles for artillery and MLRS, Yusov said, referring to rocket launchers.

"This is an important factor that will be felt on the battlefield, unfortunately,” he said, adding that Ukraine is working on a proper reaction to such cooperation. 

Yusof did not provide any evidence that North Korea is already supplying weapons to Russia nor has CNN verified any such supplies.

The comments come after United States officials warned that Russia and North Korea could make a potential arms deal that could see Pyongyang provide weapons for Moscow.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Vladimir Putin met on Wednesday in Russia's Far East.

Afterward, Putin was asked if he discussed military-technical cooperation with Kim.

The Russian leader acknowledged certain restrictions in place, which he said Moscow fully complies with, but admitted there are areas open for discussion and consideration. 

1 hr 4 min ago

Here's what you need to know about the summit between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un

From CNN's Helen Regan, Gawon Bae, Larry Register, Simone McCarthy and Anna Chernova

Vladimir Putin has said Russia is considering and discussing some military cooperation with North Korea, following a summit at which that country’s leader Kim Jong Un appeared to endorse Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

The leaders met at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s far east, as both countries face international isolation.

Moscow is in need of fresh supplies of ammunition and shells after more than 18 months of war in Ukraine has left its military battered, while North Korea, which has faced years of international sanctions over its nuclear weapons program, is short of everything from hard cash and food to missile technology.

Here's what happened at the summit:

Kim signaled support for Russia's invasion: Without naming Ukraine, Kim said the “Russian military and its people will inherit the shining tradition of victory” and demonstrate their reputation on the frontline of “military operation,” the euphemistic phrasing Moscow uses to describe its illegal invasion of Ukraine.

“I will always be standing with Russia,” Kim said, praising Moscow for having “stood up against the hegemonic forces” to defend its sovereignty and security, a veiled reference to the United States and the West.

What North Korea wants in return: Putin signaled a willingness to assist North Korea in developing its space and satellite program. North Korea has made space technology a priority — but has some ways to go, having tried and failed twice this year to launch a spy satellite into orbit.

Kim has also stressed the role of military satellites as a means to protect national safety and territorial stability and has spoken of their strategic value when deploying military force preemptively, North Korean state media reported in April.

Providing this technology to North Korea would be in violation of international sanctions, aimed at hampering Pyongyang’s ability to build a fully functioning nuclear weapons and ballistic missile force.

The meeting was at a space center: During the tour, the two leaders inspected the complex where Russia plans to launch its next generation of spacecraft. The facilities were built to receive launch vehicles, conduct pre-launch preparations, launches, and post-launch operations, state news agency TASS reported.

“Meeting at Russia’s eastern spaceport is particularly provocative because it suggests that Putin may offer sanctions-violating satellite launch technology in exchange for North Korean munitions that Moscow would employ in its illegal war in Ukraine,” Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, told CNN.

North Korea fires ballistic missiles: Hours before the summit, North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles into the waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

Analysts say it’s unusual for Pyongyang to conduct a launch while Kim is out of the country. North Korea may be intending “to show that the military maintains readiness with uninterrupted command and control,” Easley, the professor of international studies, said.

1 hr 4 min ago

US says it "will not hesitate" to impose sanctions if weapons are transferred between North Korea and Russia

From CNN's Michael Conte and Jennifer Hansler

The United States “will not hesitate to impose sanctions” if the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un results in weapons transfers between the two countries, the US State Department said.

“We have taken a number of actions already to sanction entities that have brokered arms sales between North Korea and Russia, and we won't hesitate to impose additional actions if appropriate,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Wednesday.

Ahead of the Putin-Kim summit, US officials warned that Russia and North Korea are “actively advancing” in a potential arms deal that could see Pyongyang provide weapons for Moscow to use in its faltering Ukraine war in exchange for sanctioned ballistic missile technology.

Miller said that the US has not raised the issue of Russia potentially providing nuclear technology to North Korea with China, but that he anticipated they would.

“Secretary Blinken raised North Korea's nuclear program and North Korea's ballistic missile program in his engagements with Chinese officials when we were in Beijing, and we've regularly raised that in our conversations with Chinese officials,” Miller said.

Miller also condemned North Korea’s overnight ballistic missile launches.

7 min ago

More than 2,000 people evacuated in the Kupiansk district, regional authorities say

From CNN’s Yulia Kesaieva and Martin Goillandeau

More than 2,000 people have left the Kupiansk district as of Wednesday, after a mandatory evacuation was ordered for 56 settlements on August 9, according to Kharkiv regional authorities.

Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the Kharkiv region military administration, said on Telegram that 2,339 people have evacuated so far, including 350 children. He said that another 1,438 evacuated on their own as well, including 164 children.

“The evacuation is ongoing," Syniehubov said. "People are reluctant to leave, explaining that this is their house, their land, their home. However, we are working with the national police to evacuate as many people as possible."

Syniehubov said 12,000 people were still living in the community as of Sunday, as opposed to the 57,000 people who lived there before Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Syniehubov added that the situation on the frontline in the Kupiansk sector remains “difficult.”

“The enemy is forming another ‘striking fist’ to intensify assault operations and try to break through our defenses," he said. "They carry out assault operations in waves and after suffering significant damage to their manpower and equipment from our military, they are forced to withdraw for renewal to form new assault forces.”

A video posted by Ukraine’s Offensive Guard on Wednesday appears to show an enemy position hit by an intense explosion in the distance. According to the caption, the Ukrainian border guard “used an automatic grenade launcher MK19 to hit the occupiers’ minefields.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met at a space center in Russia's Far East on Wednesday. 

The pair spent around five hours together, according to Russian state news agency TASS. Putin described the talks as "highly productive,” involving a “candid exchange of views” on both regional matters and bilateral relations.

Both leaders face international isolation; Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and Kim over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program.

They met at the Vostochny Cosmodrome.

At one point in their meeting, a reporter asked whether Russia would help North Korea "launch its own satellites and rockets" — to which Putin responded, "That's exactly why we came here."

"The leader of North Korea shows great interest in space, in rocketry, and they are trying to develop space. We'll show our new objects," Putin said.

Later, North Korea's state media KCNA reported that Kim had invited Putin to visit Pyongyang at a "convenient time," and that the Russian leader happily accepted the invite. 

Meanwhile, the United States said it “will not hesitate to impose sanctions” if the meeting results in weapons transfers between the two countries. The US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Moscow's engagement with North Korea "shows how desperate Russia is." 

Here are other headlines you should know:

The European Parliament called Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko “an accomplice" in the war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine in a resolution adopted Wednesday.  

The European Parliament urged European Union institutions and members “to enable the criminal prosecution of Belarusian officials who are complicit in the crime of aggression, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of genocide committed against Ukraine.” 

It called for the establishment of an International Criminal Court country office in Ukraine and “to find legal pathways for seizing assets of the Belarusian leadership and related Belarusian entities involved in the Russian war effort” in order to support the reconstruction of Ukraine. 

The European Parliament also called on EU member states to “broaden and strengthen the scope of their sanctions” against Russia. It suggested applying the same sanctions against Belarus as it currently does against Russia. 

The parliament also called on Russia and Belarus to be put on “the EU’s high-risk third-country list with regard to combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism.” 

The resolution urged the International Olympic Committee and other international sports federations “not to allow athletes from Belarus and Russia to compete in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games or any other international sports events.” 

It also labeled Belarus a "satellite state of Russia" and condemned “the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons under Russian command on Belarusian territory,” which it said was made in violation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and may trigger further nuclear redeployments in the region. 

Ukraine is claiming that North Korea is already supplying Russia with ammunition. 

“We can say that cooperation continues between North Korea and Russia,” Andrii Yusov, representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, said in an interview with Ukrainian state media on Wednesday. He added that such intel between the countries is being intercepted and recorded. 

Russian requests are mainly for projectiles for artillery and MLRS, Yusov said, referring to rocket launchers.

"This is an important factor that will be felt on the battlefield, unfortunately,” he said, adding that Ukraine is working on a proper reaction to such cooperation. 

Yusof did not provide any evidence that North Korea is already supplying weapons to Russia nor has CNN verified any such supplies.

The comments come after United States officials warned that Russia and North Korea could make a potential arms deal that could see Pyongyang provide weapons for Moscow.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Vladimir Putin met on Wednesday in Russia's Far East.

Afterward, Putin was asked if he discussed military-technical cooperation with Kim.

The Russian leader acknowledged certain restrictions in place, which he said Moscow fully complies with, but admitted there are areas open for discussion and consideration. 

Vladimir Putin has said Russia is considering and discussing some military cooperation with North Korea, following a summit at which that country’s leader Kim Jong Un appeared to endorse Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

The leaders met at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s far east, as both countries face international isolation.

Moscow is in need of fresh supplies of ammunition and shells after more than 18 months of war in Ukraine has left its military battered, while North Korea, which has faced years of international sanctions over its nuclear weapons program, is short of everything from hard cash and food to missile technology.

Here's what happened at the summit:

Kim signaled support for Russia's invasion: Without naming Ukraine, Kim said the “Russian military and its people will inherit the shining tradition of victory” and demonstrate their reputation on the frontline of “military operation,” the euphemistic phrasing Moscow uses to describe its illegal invasion of Ukraine.

“I will always be standing with Russia,” Kim said, praising Moscow for having “stood up against the hegemonic forces” to defend its sovereignty and security, a veiled reference to the United States and the West.

What North Korea wants in return: Putin signaled a willingness to assist North Korea in developing its space and satellite program. North Korea has made space technology a priority — but has some ways to go, having tried and failed twice this year to launch a spy satellite into orbit.

Kim has also stressed the role of military satellites as a means to protect national safety and territorial stability and has spoken of their strategic value when deploying military force preemptively, North Korean state media reported in April.

Providing this technology to North Korea would be in violation of international sanctions, aimed at hampering Pyongyang’s ability to build a fully functioning nuclear weapons and ballistic missile force.

The meeting was at a space center: During the tour, the two leaders inspected the complex where Russia plans to launch its next generation of spacecraft. The facilities were built to receive launch vehicles, conduct pre-launch preparations, launches, and post-launch operations, state news agency TASS reported.

North Korea fires ballistic missiles: Hours before the summit, North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles into the waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

Analysts say it’s unusual for Pyongyang to conduct a launch while Kim is out of the country. North Korea may be intending “to show that the military maintains readiness with uninterrupted command and control,” Easley, the professor of international studies, said.

The United States “will not hesitate to impose sanctions” if the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un results in weapons transfers between the two countries, the US State Department said.

Ahead of the Putin-Kim summit, US officials warned that Russia and North Korea are “actively advancing” in a potential arms deal that could see Pyongyang provide weapons for Moscow to use in its faltering Ukraine war in exchange for sanctioned ballistic missile technology.

Miller said that the US has not raised the issue of Russia potentially providing nuclear technology to North Korea with China, but that he anticipated they would.

“Secretary Blinken raised North Korea's nuclear program and North Korea's ballistic missile program in his engagements with Chinese officials when we were in Beijing, and we've regularly raised that in our conversations with Chinese officials,” Miller said.

Miller also condemned North Korea’s overnight ballistic missile launches.

More than 2,000 people have left the Kupiansk district as of Wednesday, after a mandatory evacuation was ordered for 56 settlements on August 9, according to Kharkiv regional authorities.

Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the Kharkiv region military administration, said on Telegram that 2,339 people have evacuated so far, including 350 children. He said that another 1,438 evacuated on their own as well, including 164 children.

Syniehubov said 12,000 people were still living in the community as of Sunday, as opposed to the 57,000 people who lived there before Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Syniehubov added that the situation on the frontline in the Kupiansk sector remains “difficult.”

A video posted by Ukraine’s Offensive Guard on Wednesday appears to show an enemy position hit by an intense explosion in the distance. According to the caption, the Ukrainian border guard “used an automatic grenade launcher MK19 to hit the occupiers’ minefields.”