May 2, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Yurii Sobolevskyi, first deputy head of Ukraine’s Kherson regional council, said he doesn't think a specific date will be announced for an expected counteroffensive in the south.

"In fact, what the Ukrainian Armed Forces are doing in our southern sector may be considered a counteroffensive: maintaining fire control, constantly destroying military targets, and reducing the enemy's combat capability," he said.

He expressed optimism that Ukraine will be able to take back its territory from Russia.

"Because what is happening now in the temporarily occupied territory is just a nightmare. This should not happen in the 21st century. These are torture chambers, forced passportization, and deportation of children, etc.," he alleged.  

Remember: In November 2022, Ukrainian troops advanced through much of the city of Kherson and its surrounding area, forcing Russian fighters to retreat to the Dnipro River's east bank.

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A Ukrainian soldier, who goes by the pseudonym Artur, told CNN that his brigade is prepared for a much-anticipated counteroffensive.

"We are ready and have been waiting for a counteroffensive for a long time. We have completed our resupply," he said in a text message.

His 46th Separate Airmobile Brigade, which is located in the direction of the southern Zaporizhzhia region, has been buoyed by volunteers who've donated money for drones, cameras, clothing and even cars, he said.  

But Artur did note that a few aspects of the potential counteroffensive do cause concern for his fellow soldiers.

"First of all. We will not have an element of surprise. Because every smartphone is shouting about this counteroffensive. So, the [Russians] may not know where it will be, or maybe they do. And if they do, they will be prepared," he said.

Artur said the Russian forces have been able to gather reserves after President Vladimir Putin announced a controversial "partial mobilization" in September 2022 — which also caused rare protests and long lines of cars to flee Russia — following a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Artur also said Ukrainian forces are no longer waiting for fighter jets, which President Volodymyr Zelensky and other leaders have repeatedly asked Western nations to provide. "We are learning how to fight with what we have. Tanks and HIMARS should do the job," he said.

Some background on the expected counteroffensive: Russian defenses have been built up for hundreds of miles across the meandering southern front – where the Ukrainian forces are expected to concentrate their counteroffensive. Several satellite images shared with CNN by Maxar Technologies show extensive trenches east of the town of Polohy in the Zaporizhzhia region.

NATO officials say that 98% of the fighting vehicles pledged to Ukraine are now in the country as well.

The White House on Tuesday offered rare praise for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy after he said he supports aid to Ukraine and called out Russian atrocities resulting from the invasion.

“We’re glad to hear that Speaker McCarthy agrees it is vital to keep supporting Ukraine. It was good to hear him push back on propaganda put forth by Russian state news outlets, as we have seen,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during the press briefing. 

In Israel on Monday, a Russian reporter asked McCarthy if the US posture of sending supplies and aid to Ukraine will change and implied that the speaker did not support Ukraine.

While McCarthy has said he supports Ukraine, he has also told reporters that he would not support “a blank check” for aid requested by the Biden administration. 

On Tuesday, Jean-Pierre underscored that “the widespread bipartisan support that we’ve seen in Congress for Ukraine has been critical to those efforts, and we agree that it is important for that support to continue. And we’re glad to hear that from Speaker McCarthy.”

Ukraine’s counteroffensive appears imminent.

The country's front lines are abuzz with vehicle movement and artillery strikes, with regular explosions hitting vital Russian targets in occupied areas. President Volodymyr Zelensky has assured a counteroffensive “will happen," while demurring on any exact start date.

It may have already started; it may be weeks away. We don’t know – but Ukrainians, whom CNN spoke to in Kyiv, are pinning their hopes on this much-anticipated counteroffensive.

Tetiana Kolle-Kolesnikova, 35, left her town Volnovakha in the Donetsk region in the first days of Russia's full-scale invasion. Now she lives and works in Kyiv as a manicurist. 

“I expect that our army will win in any case and take back all the occupied territories. And our family will finally be able to return home and see their homeland. We miss home very much," she told CNN.

Lawyer and Kyiv resident, Yurii Holovach, is also hoping for a positive outcome from the counteroffensive, but he also doesn't want the Ukrainian forces to feel rushed.

"They need to be trained and prepared. Even if it takes more time to get prepared — it's better, because then we will get more weapons. We need long-range weapons for the counteroffensive to go successfully," he said.

Tetiana Kravets, 26, an administrator in a notary firm in Kyiv, hopes that the counteroffensive is successful so the country could return to its pre-war conditions.

Contrary to their expectations, 56-year-old Ruslan Stryk living in Kyiv thinks there may not be a counteroffensive at all. Recounting his observations from the early days of April 2022 in Mariupol — before he evacuated with his wife — he said, a successful counteroffensive would need military aircraft.

"We don’t have planes! I remember in Mariupol, the sky was theirs [Russians’]. So without the military aircraft, there can be no counteroffensive. Or maybe the long-range weapons can do the trick, to be able to destroy their logistics in the rear. But without it, it’s very dangerous," he said.  

"I want to [go] back home. But we need combat aircraft and long-range artillery. Otherwise, there will be big personnel losses,” he added. 

The latest intelligence update from Britain’s defense intelligence agency said Moscow has constructed some of the most sprawling and complex defensive trenches "seen anywhere in the world for many decades," along the northern border of annexed Crimea, and "well inside" Russia's southern Belgorod and Kursk regions.

"The defences highlight Russian leaders’ deep concern that Ukraine could achieve a major breakthrough," the agency said.

Catch up on other key developments today from Russia's war in Ukraine:

Russia rejects US casualty estimates: The White House on Monday estimated that the Russian military has suffered at least 100,000 casualties — both wounded and dead — in Ukraine in the past five months. Washington said more than 20,000 military members have been killed, half of which were Wagner fighters. 

On Tuesday, the Kremlin pushed back, with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying that Washington has “absolutely no way” to give accurate estimates of Russian losses in Ukraine. Peskov said numbers from the Russia defense ministry "will publish in due time." The last Russian casualty count was released last September.

Russian official defends actions on children: Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian commissioner for children’s rights, who was issued an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court along with Russian President Vladimir Putin, spoke about the charges against her in an interview with Vice News. The warrants were issued in March for the alleged "unlawful deportation and transfer of children" from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia. 

In the interview, she dismissed the allegations against her and said she is fostering a 16-year-old Ukrainian boy who she called "my child," adding, "We love each other madly."

US ambassador to China's comments: US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said Beijing needs to "push Russia to withdraw its troops."

"It’d be helpful if China pushed Russia to cease bombing of Ukrainian schools, and Ukrainian hospitals, and Ukrainian apartment buildings," he said. His remarks come after a phone call between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the first since Russia's full-scale invasion.

Explosion in Melitopol: A Russian-installed deputy head of a regional police department was hospitalized by an explosive device in the Russian-occupied southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol on Tuesday, Russia's investigative committee said.

The incident comes after another police chief in Melitopol, Oleksandr Mishchenko, was killed on April 27 when an improvised device exploded at the entrance to the apartment building where he lived.

A criminal investigation was launched after a Russian-installed deputy head of a regional police department was hospitalized by an explosive device in the occupied southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol on Tuesday, Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement.

The incident happened at the gate of a residential building, the statement added.

"An improvised explosive device was planted, which was set off when the deputy head of the Russian Central Internal Affairs Directorate for the Zaporizhzhia region opened the gate on his way to work. As a result, the man suffered a mine-explosive injury. The victim was admitted to a medical facility," it said. The statement did not name him.

"Investigative and operational-search measures are being taken to identify those involved in the commission of this crime," it added. 

The exiled Ukrainian mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, said that an explosion was heard on Tuesday morning by residents in the northern districts of the city.

It follows a similar blast last week: The incident comes after another police chief in Melitopol, Oleksandr Mishchenko, was killed on April 27 when an improvised device exploded at the entrance to the apartment building where he lived.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said Tuesday three suspects "of a sabotage and reconnaissance group, which included a citizen of Ukraine and two citizens of Russia" allegedly involved in Mishchenko's death were detained. 

Last week, Fedorov commented on Mishchenko’s death on Telegram, writing: "Before the full-scale invasion, Mishchenko was the head of the Pryazovia police department. After the occupation, not only he did defect to the enemy, but he also persuaded his employees to become traitors."

The United States wants to see China press Russia to end its war in Ukraine, US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said Tuesday.

"What we need to see from China is to push Russia to withdraw its troops and so that Ukraine can have all of its territory back and can be fully sovereign again in all aspects of that word," Burns said at an event at the foreign affairs think tank Stimson Center, which he attended virtually.

Burns said the conversation between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was "a good first step," but it's unclear if any action will follow it.

Burns said that the US has been watching the issue of China potentially providing lethal aid to Russia "very carefully now for many months."

"We have not seen evidence that the Chinese are doing that, but we continue to watch it," he said.

Some context: Beijing has claimed neutrality on the war in Ukraine, but has not condemned Russia’s invasion and instead bolstered its economic and diplomatic ties with Moscow over the past year.

A senior Russian official wanted by the International Criminal Court said that she is "not ashamed of anything" she has done in an alleged scheme to illegally deport Ukrainian children to Russia in an interview with Vice News.

Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian commissioner for children’s rights, is being sought — along with Russian President Vladimir Putin — for the alleged "unlawful deportation and transfer of children" from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia. An ICC arrest warrant for Putin and Lvova-Belova was issued in March.

During the interview, when asked if she views herself as a war criminal, she laughed and said, "It’s funny. I am a mother. That says it all. A war criminal? What are you talking about?"

According to American and European governments and independent investigators, Lvova-Belova has overseen an organized effort to forcibly deport Ukrainian children to Russia. Those reports allege many of those minors undergo political reeducation and are given to Russian families for adoption.

Lvova-Belova said she herself is fostering a 16-year-old Ukrainian boy named Philip, who is from Mariupol.

Lvova-Belova claimed that under Geneva conventions, children can be moved "from a zone that threatens their lives." When challenged that the conventions say they should be moved to third countries, she said the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic are evidence of third countries.

They "were not part of Ukraine; they were recognized as independent republics by our country," she said.

The separatist republics are now claimed by Moscow to be part of Russian territory, despite broad international condemnation of the annexation attempt.

On Bakhmut: Lvova-Belova claimed that there are no evacuation corridors for adults and children in Bakhmut, the eastern city that has been besieged for months by Russian forces.

"My staff and I just recently evacuated families with children from there. We were saving children. We took them to places where they can survive and be safe," she claimed.

To note: A number of international news organizations have curtailed their work inside the Russian Federation following the arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in late March on what the US government, the WSJ and other media outlets have condemned as bogus espionage charges. Vice News said in the article that their journalists observed Lvova-Belova's team filming them with mobile phones in the days preceding the interview.