Russia strikes Ukraine’s border regions including the agricultural facilities south of Odesa
From CNN's Maria Kostenko and Jake Kwon
A view shows barley and a damaged truck where a grain warehouse was destroyed by a Russian missile strike at a compound of an agricultural company in the village of Pavlivka, in Odesa region, Ukraine, on July 21, 2023. Nina Liashonok/Reuters/FILE
Russia attacked Ukraine’s border regions overnight using missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and artillery, Ukrainian officials said.
Russia launched cruise missiles and UAV attacks in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region on Sunday, Ukraine’s Air Force wrote on Telegram.
“The primary target of the attack was the south of Odesa region,” the Air Force said. While the Air Force shot down 12 cruise missiles and UAVs, some missiles struck civilian agricultural facilities, the Air Force said.
The airstrike damaged agricultural land and a grain storage facility in Berezivka district of Odesa region, the Ukrainian southern command wrote in Telegram.
No people have been injured, according to the southern command.
Russia also attacked Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region overnight, including the Kharkiv city and villages, the head of region’s military administration Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram.
Russia’s S300 missiles and cruise Iskander missiles struck the city of Kharkiv, injuring six civilians and damaging residential buildings, Syniehubov said.
Twenty villages in southeastern Zaporizhzhia region was attacked by Russia nearly a hundred times, mostly by shelling, the head of regional military administration Yurii Malashko said on Telegram on Sunday. While five residential buildings were damaged, no civilians were injured, Malashko said.
6 min ago
Pope's peace envoy returns from Ukraine talks in China
From CNN's Barbie Nadeau and Radina Gigova
Pope Francis' Ukraine peace envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi returned from a three-day trip to Beijing on Friday, calling on all sides to participate in negotiations that could bring Russia's war to an end.
When it comes to pursuing peace diplomatically, Zuppi said, the "ball is not only in Ukraine’s court."
"Everyone must play," the peace envoy said, according to the Vatican News service. "Ukraine has already engaged and presented its proposals. In reality, everyone must participate in the pursuit of peace."
During a visit to Russia in June, the cardinal met with the Kremlin's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov, the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill and Maria Llova-Belova, the government official at the center of an alleged scheme to forcibly deport thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Earlier in June, Zuppi also traveled to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian officials.
The peace envoy said efforts to seek a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine have received “considerable attention from the Chinese government."
Some context: Ukraine and its Western allies have long expressed hope that China and its leader Xi Jinping, a self-described friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, could play a role in pushing Moscow toward peace.
So far, however, its claims of neutrality and a vaguely-worded 12-point position paper on a "political settlement" for the conflict — which failed to acknowledge Russia invaded Ukraine's territory — have been met with skepticism.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has long expressed concerns about negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and pointed to his past record of reneging on agreements.
“When you want to have a compromise or a dialogue with somebody, you cannot do it with a liar,” Zelensky told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria in an interview in Kyiv last week.
Russia has blamed Ukraine for not coming to the negotiating table.
CNN's Nectar Gan and Simone McCarthy contributed reporting to this post.
8 min ago
US gives Ukraine industrial-sized 3D printer for repairing trucks, weapons and equipment
From CNN's Natasha Bertrand
The US provided Ukraine with an industrial-sized 3D printer that can be used to print spare equipment parts that may break down or require maintenance, according to Bill LaPlante, a US under secretary of defense.
The printer is the size of a truck, LaPlante told the Center for New American Security, and “it is changing the ball game” of how quickly Ukraine's military is able to repair trucks, rocket systems and other weaponry or equipment provided by the West over the last 18 months.
Ukrainian techs are also “remarkable at tele-maintenance,” LaPlante said, which involves US officials helping them repair things remotely — a vital strategy, given the US’ footprint in the country is largely limited to the embassy in Kyiv.
The US official says Ukraine completed training on the printer within the last week.
9 min ago
Stark video from Ukrainian soldiers shows that little remains in liberated village near Bakhmut
From CNN's Maria Kostenko and Andrew Carey in Kyiv
One of Ukraine’s brigades has released extraordinary footage of its advance on the tiny settlement of Andriivka, which Kyiv's forces said they recaptured Friday as part of a slow-moving counteroffensive.
The three-minute video, posted to the brigade's Telegram account, was apparently filmed by a camera mounted to a soldier’s helmet. It shows a small group of fighters from the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade making their way through a brutalized landscape of charred trees completely stripped of their branches. Piles of bricks and other rubble dot the land around the advancing fighters — presumably once the houses where Andriivka residents lived.
In one clip, an infantryman braces slightly as an incoming mortar screams past him, landing close by. In another clip, a soldier bends down to pick up an abandoned assault rifle, possibly discarded by a Russian solider.
Thick smoke hangs everywhere.
Some background: Andriivka lies southwest of the key city of Bakhmut and has been a focus of Ukraine’s eastern offensive in recent weeks. The 3rd Separate Assault Brigade is mostly involved in fighting around Bakhmut.
Ukraine’s General Staff — made up of its top military leaders — declared it liberated on Friday. But the video, and comments from a brigade spokesperson, make it clear that former residents have nothing to return to.
“There is nothing left of the village of Andriivka. There may be only a few basements. There have been no civilians for more than six months. They were evacuated when Wagner was advancing,” press officer Oleksandr Borodin said on Ukrainian television Saturday morning, referring to the Russian mercenary group which led the assault on the area earlier in the year.
Borodin indicated that Ukraine’s forces will continue their slow advance around Bakhmut.
“Everything is stabilizing. We are consolidating our position, and we are preparing our positions. There is a lot of work that needs to be done. The right flank of Bakhmut is very important. Should the flanks fall, it will be impossible to hold Bakhmut,” he said.
Russia’s military bloggers describe ongoing fierce fighting Saturday to the north of Avdiivka around the larger village of Klishchiivka.
A top Ukrainian commander said Friday that capturing Andriivka has given Kyiv's troops a key foothold in the area surrounding Bakhmut.
CNN cannot independently verify battlefield claims from either side in the conflict.
Russia launched an attack on Ukraine’s border regions overnight, including agricultural facilities near Odesa. Russia has stepped up its attacks in the area after withdrawing from the Black Sea grain deal, which ensured safe passage for vessels.
The first grain ships meanwhile approached Ukrainian ports since Russia pulled out of the deal. Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister, said the ships were headed to Chornomorsk, one of three main ports near the city of Odesa.
Stark video released by Ukrainian soldiers shows that little remains in liberated village near Bakhmut. The three-minute video, posted to the brigade's Telegram account, was apparently filmed by a camera mounted to a soldier’s helmet.
A view shows barley and a damaged truck where a grain warehouse was destroyed by a Russian missile strike at a compound of an agricultural company in the village of Pavlivka, in Odesa region, Ukraine, on July 21, 2023. Nina Liashonok/Reuters/FILE
Russia attacked Ukraine’s border regions overnight using missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and artillery, Ukrainian officials said.
Russia launched cruise missiles and UAV attacks in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region on Sunday, Ukraine’s Air Force wrote on Telegram.
“The primary target of the attack was the south of Odesa region,” the Air Force said. While the Air Force shot down 12 cruise missiles and UAVs, some missiles struck civilian agricultural facilities, the Air Force said.
The airstrike damaged agricultural land and a grain storage facility in Berezivka district of Odesa region, the Ukrainian southern command wrote in Telegram.
No people have been injured, according to the southern command.
Russia also attacked Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region overnight, including the Kharkiv city and villages, the head of region’s military administration Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram.
Russia’s S300 missiles and cruise Iskander missiles struck the city of Kharkiv, injuring six civilians and damaging residential buildings, Syniehubov said.
Twenty villages in southeastern Zaporizhzhia region was attacked by Russia nearly a hundred times, mostly by shelling, the head of regional military administration Yurii Malashko said on Telegram on Sunday. While five residential buildings were damaged, no civilians were injured, Malashko said.
Pope Francis' Ukraine peace envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi returned from a three-day trip to Beijing on Friday, calling on all sides to participate in negotiations that could bring Russia's war to an end.
When it comes to pursuing peace diplomatically, Zuppi said, the "ball is not only in Ukraine’s court."
"Everyone must play," the peace envoy said, according to the Vatican News service. "Ukraine has already engaged and presented its proposals. In reality, everyone must participate in the pursuit of peace."
During a visit to Russia in June, the cardinal met with the Kremlin's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov, the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill and Maria Llova-Belova, the government official at the center of an alleged scheme to forcibly deport thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Earlier in June, Zuppi also traveled to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian officials.
The peace envoy said efforts to seek a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine have received “considerable attention from the Chinese government."
Some context: Ukraine and its Western allies have long expressed hope that China and its leader Xi Jinping, a self-described friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, could play a role in pushing Moscow toward peace.
So far, however, its claims of neutrality and a vaguely-worded 12-point position paper on a "political settlement" for the conflict — which failed to acknowledge Russia invaded Ukraine's territory — have been met with skepticism.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has long expressed concerns about negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and pointed to his past record of reneging on agreements.
“When you want to have a compromise or a dialogue with somebody, you cannot do it with a liar,” Zelensky told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria in an interview in Kyiv last week.
Russia has blamed Ukraine for not coming to the negotiating table.
CNN's Nectar Gan and Simone McCarthy contributed reporting to this post.
The US provided Ukraine with an industrial-sized 3D printer that can be used to print spare equipment parts that may break down or require maintenance, according to Bill LaPlante, a US under secretary of defense.
The printer is the size of a truck, LaPlante told the Center for New American Security, and “it is changing the ball game” of how quickly Ukraine's military is able to repair trucks, rocket systems and other weaponry or equipment provided by the West over the last 18 months.
Ukrainian techs are also “remarkable at tele-maintenance,” LaPlante said, which involves US officials helping them repair things remotely — a vital strategy, given the US’ footprint in the country is largely limited to the embassy in Kyiv.
The US official says Ukraine completed training on the printer within the last week.
One of Ukraine’s brigades has released extraordinary footage of its advance on the tiny settlement of Andriivka, which Kyiv's forces said they recaptured Friday as part of a slow-moving counteroffensive.
The three-minute video, posted to the brigade's Telegram account, was apparently filmed by a camera mounted to a soldier’s helmet. It shows a small group of fighters from the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade making their way through a brutalized landscape of charred trees completely stripped of their branches. Piles of bricks and other rubble dot the land around the advancing fighters — presumably once the houses where Andriivka residents lived.
In one clip, an infantryman braces slightly as an incoming mortar screams past him, landing close by. In another clip, a soldier bends down to pick up an abandoned assault rifle, possibly discarded by a Russian solider.
Thick smoke hangs everywhere.
Some background: Andriivka lies southwest of the key city of Bakhmut and has been a focus of Ukraine’s eastern offensive in recent weeks. The 3rd Separate Assault Brigade is mostly involved in fighting around Bakhmut.
Ukraine’s General Staff — made up of its top military leaders — declared it liberated on Friday. But the video, and comments from a brigade spokesperson, make it clear that former residents have nothing to return to.
“There is nothing left of the village of Andriivka. There may be only a few basements. There have been no civilians for more than six months. They were evacuated when Wagner was advancing,” press officer Oleksandr Borodin said on Ukrainian television Saturday morning, referring to the Russian mercenary group which led the assault on the area earlier in the year.
Borodin indicated that Ukraine’s forces will continue their slow advance around Bakhmut.
“Everything is stabilizing. We are consolidating our position, and we are preparing our positions. There is a lot of work that needs to be done. The right flank of Bakhmut is very important. Should the flanks fall, it will be impossible to hold Bakhmut,” he said.
Russia’s military bloggers describe ongoing fierce fighting Saturday to the north of Avdiivka around the larger village of Klishchiivka.
A top Ukrainian commander said Friday that capturing Andriivka has given Kyiv's troops a key foothold in the area surrounding Bakhmut.
CNN cannot independently verify battlefield claims from either side in the conflict.
