March 28, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that the production of individual types of ammunition will increase seven to eight times by the end of the year.

Western analysts have expressed skepticism that Russia’s military-industrial capacity and supply chains can be accelerated so quickly.

It made the announcement as Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu toured enterprises in the Chelyabinsk and Kirov regions. The ministry issued video of Shoigu at a factory making large-caliber ammunition and shells. 

The Defense Ministry said that projects were being implemented to modernize and expand production capacities, as well as increase labor productivity.

It said this would increase production “to meet the needs of the Russian troops, and by the end of this year, the production of individual product samples will increase seven- to eight-fold.”

On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with Russian state TV that the Russian defense industry is "developing at a very fast pace" and would produce three times more ammunition than is being supplied to Ukraine by "the igniters of conflict."

The US decision to fly its surveillance drones further south over the Black Sea after a Russian jet collided with a US drone earlier this month “definitely limits our ability to gather intelligence” related to the Ukraine war, a senior US military official tells CNN.

Flying drones at greater distances reduces the quality of intelligence they can gather, a US military official explained, noting that spy satellites can compensate to some degree but have shorter times over targets, again reducing effectiveness relative to surveillance drones. 

After the Russian jet collided with a US Reaper drone earlier this month, the US began flying its surveillance drones further south and at a higher altitude over the Black Sea than previously, placing them further away from airspace surrounding the Crimean Peninsula and eastern portions of the Black Sea.  

When CNN first reported this change, one US official said the new routes were part of an effort “to avoid being too provocative,” as the Biden administration continues to be careful to avoid any incident that could escalate into a direct conflict with Russian forces. The official said the drone flights would continue this way “for the time being,” but added there is already “an appetite” to return to the routes closer to Russian-held territory.

A spokesperson for the National Security Council referred questions to the Pentagon. 

More on the US routes: In the wake of the collision with the US MQ-9 Reaper drone on March 14, US officials have repeatedly said that the US would continue to fly in international airspace. However, the new routes place those flights more than forty nautical miles from the Ukrainian coast, rather than the 12 nautical miles normally recognized as the limit of a nation’s airspace. 

According to a senior US military official, there is concern that once the US has moved its flight routes away from areas closer to the Ukraine coast, it will be harder to return to them and assert freedom of flight for US aircraft. The US Navy has not sailed into the Black Sea since December 2021.

The downing of the drone marked the first time Russian and US military aircraft had come into direct physical contact since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine.  

CNN's Oren Liebermann contributed reporting to this post.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach on Tuesday defended plans to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in international competitions. 

"We see this almost every day in a number of sports. We see it most prominently in tennis, but we see it also in cycling. We see it in some table tennis competitions, we see it in ice hockey, we see it in handball, we see it in football and in other leagues — in the United States, but also in Europe, and we also see it in other continents," he added.

More background: In February 2022, the IOC executive board recommended that International Sports Federations and sports event organizers "not invite or allow the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials in international competitions.” 

But this January, the IOC outlined a multi-step plan for Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate at the upcoming 2024 Summer Games in Paris and the 2026 Winter Games in Milan, which was met by criticism from the United States, Canada and several European countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland.

Russian and Belarusian athletes have been competing as neutrals in some international competitions.

"It's even that the governments on whose territory the competitions are taking place, they're issuing visas (to Russians and Belarusian athletes) with very few exceptions. In other countries, they're even issuing working permits where it's necessary for these players and athletes,” Bach said.

On Thursday, World Athletics president Sebastian Coe announced Russian and Belarusian athletes will still be excluded from World Athletics Series Events “for the foreseeable future” due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, reaffirming the organization’s March 2022 decision.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has continued a tour of the country's regions with a visit to Sumy in the north – dedicated to the defense a year ago of the city of Okhtyrka.

He recalled the shelling of a kindergarten in February 2022 and noted that Okhtyrka had suffered heavy losses and “brutal enemy attacks.”

According to the presidential website, Zelensky said, "it is a great honor for me to present Okhtyrka today with the honorary award of the hero city, the defender city, the winning city.”

"Justice is the most important thing for us today, so we will not forgive what was done against Ukrainians, against Ukraine. We will bring to justice all the murderers from the Russian Federation, terrorists and the aggressor state itself," Zelensky said.

“We will not leave a single wound caused by this war on the body of our country. We will rebuild absolutely everything that has been destroyed," he added.

In the past week, Zelensky has been to the area around Bakhmut and Kostiantynivka in the eastern Donetsk region, as well as to Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in the south.

Britain and Poland on Tuesday announced plans to build two temporary villages in Ukraine with housing for people who have been forced to flee their homes due to Russia’s invasion. 

London pledged up to 10 million pounds (or about $12.3 million) to provide shelter and power for more than 700 displaced Ukrainians, the UK government said in a statement announcing its new partnership with Warsaw. 

The two accommodation villages will be built in Lviv in western Ukraine and Poltava in the east, the statement said, adding the allies would also provide 2.6 million pounds ($3.2 million) worth of generators “to support up to 450,000 people via schools, hospitals and community centers in re-taken and frontline areas, including Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, Mykolaiv, Odesa and Kherson.” 

The announcement comes as an ongoing Russian assault on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has left millions of people without access to electricity, water and central heating.

“Widespread power cuts, some lasting eight to twelve hours a day, have forced families to resort to desperate measures for survival, like melting snow for water and heating bricks for warmth,” the government statement said. 

It added the UK and Poland would also donate up to 2.5 million pounds ($3.1 million) to the Ukrainian Red Cross “to support those living through extreme cold in harsh winter conditions.” 

“From the pages of the Polish history we know that Ukraine is fighting not only for their freedom but also for our freedom. There is no free Europe without free Ukraine,” Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said, according to the statement. 

In response to the announcement, Mayor of Lviv Andriy Sadovyy said that “hundreds of people have got a chance for a new life, because Russia took away their old one.” 

Ukraine's top land commander has said that his forces are aiming to "inflict heavy losses" on Russian forces in Bakhmut with a view to launching a counterattack. Fighting has raged around the besieged city in eastern Ukraine for months.

Elsewhere, Russian officials say they are willing to discuss the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, following accusations of "radiation blackmail" from Kyiv.

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Russia is ready to discuss the situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Russia's state-owned nuclear energy monopoly Rosatom said Tuesday.

Moscow is ready to negotiate "ensuring nuclear safety” and “understanding the development of the situation at the plant" during Rafael Grossi’s expected visit to the plant this week, said Renat Karchaa, an adviser to Rosatom’s CEO, on state TV Russia 24.

“We are open to these questions," Karchaa said, state news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Some context: Russia captured the plant in early March 2022. Since then, international and local experts have warned about the possibility of a nuclear disaster that could affect thousands of people in the surrounding area.

IAEA chief Grossi tweeted Sunday saying he is on his way for a first-hand assessment of "the nuclear safety and security situation at the facility.”

On Monday, he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was visiting the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro regions. 

Zelensky accused Russia of nuclear blackmail over its control of the nuclear power plant.

“No other terrorist has reached such depths in his cynicism, in which Russia constantly seeks and finds a new bottom.”

Authorities in the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka say the number of people willing to evacuate has increased as it comes under "almost non-stop" fire.

Up to 14 rockets hit the town every day and "someone dies every day," said Donetsk region police, who are helping with evacuations.

In recent days a kindergarten and farm were destroyed, said police, adding that five children remain in the town.

Vitalii Barabash, the head of Avdiivka military administration, said that starting on Sunday, the town’s utilities will begin to be shut off as “more and more of the town is shelled and destroyed daily.”

"The town is being wiped off the face of the earth," said Barabash.

Some context: Avdiivka is near the besieged city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine and has also come under sustained attack by Russian forces.

On Sunday, a Ukrainian soldier also said that the situation in Avdiivka continues to be "difficult," as Russian forces have increased the number of airstrikes and have been able to cut off some supply routes.

Avdiivka is located about 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of the city of Donetsk.

Ukraine’s main task in the eastern city of Bakhmut is to “deplete the enemy’s overwhelming forces and inflict heavy losses on it,” the commander of the Ukrainian Land Forces said Tuesday.

“We are now at a time when the enemy, trying to capture Bakhmut, has thrown all its best units in to achieve victory," Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a video posted on Telegram, which shows him standing alongside troops during a visit to the area.

“We want to reach the borders of Ukraine, we want to break the enemy so that it dies – here, near Bakhmut, in other areas. The main thing is that you continue to perform your tasks in such an exemplary manner, and the main thing is that you return to your units alive and unharmed after completing them,” Syrskyi told the soldiers.

“Thanks to the heroism and professionalism of our military, skilful and coordinated actions, effective use of maneuver and weapons capabilities, we are holding the Bakhmut fortress despite various deadlines and forecasts," he added.

On Monday, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said that Syrskyi visited Bakhmut and “took a number of measures to resolve problematic issues that impede the effective performance of combat missions.”

Some context: Bakhmut has been besieged by Russian forces for months. It remains the primary focus of Russian attacks, Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesman for the Eastern Grouping of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, told CNN on Sunday.