March 8, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

The training of Ukrainian pilots to operate F-16 fighter jets is “necessary,” Poland’s President Andrzej Duda told CNN’s Becky Anderson. 

The Polish president said he believes that Ukraine’s armed forces will want to be “up to the NATO standard” and therefore will want to use F-16 fighter jets. 

In the US: The United States is working with Ukrainian pilots in the US to determine how long it would take to train them to fly F-16 fighter jets, three sources briefed on the matter told CNN. Two Ukrainian pilots are currently at a military base in the US having their skills tested in flight simulators to see how much time they would need to learn to fly various US military aircraft, including F-16s.

Duda is also in Abu Dhabi on Poland’s first bilateral visit in 13 years to warn Emirati leaders of Russian propaganda and to relay how the situation in Ukraine looks from his "very close perspective.”

More than a year since Russia launched its war on Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates' wider policy — as is the case with much of the Middle East — is one of neutrality. Energy-rich Gulf states have benefited from the rise in prices brought by the war in Ukraine, which has added tens of billions of dollars to their coffers, while Russia continues finding financial escape routes into UAE markets.  

“I'm convincing them to be very sensitive to Russian propaganda,” Duda said about his meetings with Emirati leaders. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has welcomed the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to Kyiv for discussions on extending the grain initiative that allows Ukraine to export its agricultural produce from Black Sea ports.

"We are interested in ensuring that there is no hunger in the world, and our common policy is to extend the grain initiative corridor. We also raised the issue of the future prolongation of the initiative," Zelensky told a news conference.

Background on grain initiative: Russia suspended its participation in an agreement that guarantees safe passage for ships carrying vital grain exports from Ukraine in October 2022, but quickly reversed course a few days later. Turkey, alongside the United Nations, helped broker the deal in July 2022.

The US also announced three new partnerships last week as an effort to boost Ukraine’s agricultural sector and help supply the country’s grain to the world, USAID officials told CNN.

According to the UN, Ukraine normally supplies the world with around 45 million tons of grain every year. It ranks among the top five global exporters of barley, corn and wheat. It’s also by far the biggest exporter of sunflower oil, accounting for 46% of the world’s exports.

The German federal prosecutor's office searched a boat in January that was suspected of carrying explosives used in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipeline detonations in September, according to a statement from the prosecutor’s office.

"The Office of the Attorney General of Germany had a ship searched from January 18 to 20, 2023 in connection with a suspicious ship rental," the statement details.

Investigations are ongoing, and reliable statements cannot be issued yet, particularly as to whether a state controlled these plans, it added.

It comes after a media report cited new intelligence that a "pro-Ukrainian group" may have been behind the attack last year.

"There are no grounds for suspecting employees of the German company that leased the ship," the office said.

More details from German public broadcaster's report: The boat left the Baltic sea port of Rostock, Germany, on September 6, 2022, according to German public broadcaster ARD, citing its own investigation. The ARD reporting cited unnamed security sources from five countries.

ARD said the boat carried six people: one captain, two divers, two assistant divers and a doctor. The nationalities of those six are not known, according to ARD. The broadcaster said the group was using professionally falsified passports to rent the boat.

A truck delivered the group's gear to the harbor beforehand, it said. 

ARD said the investigators, according to its research, were able to piece together the route of the boat after September 6: It went to Wieck, a German municipality east of Rostock, and could also be pinned on the Danish island of Christiansø, northeast of Bornholm. 

The boat was – according to ARD — returned in a dirty state and the investigators, according to the broadcasters’ research, were able to find traces of explosives on the cabin table.

The German prosecutors’ office declined to give any more information when asked for any further details.

CNN also approached the port of Rostock and is awaiting a response, but it is a public holiday today.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday said he can't rule out that Russian forces will soon take over the eastern city of Bakhmut.

Speaking ahead of a meeting of EU defense ministers in Stockholm, he said he “cannot rule out that Bakhmut may eventually fall in the coming days.” 

Stoltenberg said that “this does not necessarily reflect any turning point of the war,” adding the conflict in the eastern Donetsk region “just highlights that we should not underestimate Russia.” 

Let's recap: The head of the Wagner private military company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claimed that the eastern part of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is now under his mercenary group's control. CNN cannot independently confirm Prigozhin’s claim. While the Ukrainian military did not address his claims, it said that Russian attacks in the Bakhmut area continue, but described them as unsuccessful and incurring heavy losses. Wagner, the predominant forces in the Bakhmut area, is also running out of prisoners to recruit, according to Western officials.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is inviting House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to visit Ukraine to see the situation on the ground firsthand – an invitation that comes as the Republican Party faces a divide over whether the United States should continue to provide aid to the country under attack from Russia.

“Mr. McCarthy, he has to come here to see how we work, what’s happening here, what war caused us, which people are fighting now, who are fighting now. And then after that, make your assumptions,” Zelensky told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in an interview.

But when told of the invitation on Tuesday, McCarthy told CNN that he does not plan to visit Ukraine, and argued that President Joe Biden has not acted quickly enough to aid the country. McCarthy, a California Republican, has said he supports Ukraine but does not support “a blank check,” a position he repeated on Tuesday – even though there is federal oversight of all the dollars that are spent there.

As speaker, McCarthy must navigate competing views within his party over sending additional assistance. There is widespread bipartisan support for Ukraine in Congress, but some House Republicans are calling for an end to further military and financial aid to the country.

“When the Democrats and Republicans come to us, they see the supply roots – every shell, every bullet, every dollar,” Zelensky said.

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Fighters of private military company Wagner are the predominant forces in the Bakhmut area "with occasional support from Russian regular forces, and that appears to be dwindling down at the moment,” western officials said.

Death rates among Wagner fighters "have been significantly higher than of the Russian Armed Forces,” they added.

Officials also said Bakhmut “doesn’t hold any operational strategic significance" for either Russia or Ukraine, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's trip to Bakhmut in December has politicized it.

They acknowledged that Russia has "taken territory," but said that the said area is "open ground — wasn’t an urban area or built-up area. And there were no Ukrainian defensive lines there.”

The Western officials said Ukraine "conceded ground to the Russians” and is “surrounded by three sides because they traded that space for time.”

Discussing a timeline, they said Ukraine can still get forces in and out of Bakhmut. “It may well last another month, or the Ukrainians could decide to leave within a week. They could withdraw to prepare defensive lines which they have to the west of Bakhmut.”

“They have shown previously that they are very adept to withdrawing when they need to, or when they feel they need to,” the officials later added.

Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Wednesday his country needs 1 million rounds of ammunition "as soon as possible" to deter Russian forces and launch a counteroffensive.

Speaking to reporters before a European Union defense ministers meeting in Stockholm, Reznikov said Ukraine requires 1 million 155-millimeter as well as 105-millimeter shells that would cost about 4 billion euros ($4.22 billion).

Reznikov said he supports a plan proposed by Estonia for EU countries to jointly secure those rounds of ammunition. Ukraine needs 90,000 to 100,000 artillery rounds per month, he said.

The defense minister also said air defense systems, tanks and ammunition are among the priorities he will discuss with the EU defense ministers during Wednesday's meeting. 

Reznikov said time is a decisive factor that can save lives, therefore "we need to move forward as soon as possible."

Russian and Ukrainian troops continue to fight fiercely in the eastern city of Bakhmut.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has claimed the eastern part of Bakhmut is now under his fighters' control. Ukraine hasn't address the claims, but has said that Russian forces incurred heavy losses.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities have denied any involvement in sabotaging the Nord Stream gas pipelines after a media report cited new intelligence that a "pro-Ukrainian group" may have been behind September's attack.

Here are the latest developments:

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said there is no identified perpetrator of the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines which were damaged last September.

Stoltenberg’s comments come after a report by the New York Times Tuesday citing new intelligence reviewed by US officials, which suggested a group loyal to Ukraine but acting independently of the government in Kyiv was involved in the operation.

The pipelines, a crucial source of revenue for Russia, were closed at the time of the attack, which occurred months after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.