May 22, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) has been reconnected to the Ukrainian power grid, national energy company Ukrenergo said in a statement Monday.

Earlier Monday, Ukrenergo said the plant – currently occupied by Russian forces – had been cut off from the grid after the high-voltage line that supplies it was one of those damaged by a Russian attack on the Dnipro region, to the north of Zaporizhzhia, in the early hours of the morning. 

“As a result of damage to the high-voltage line, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant lost power from the power system and operated from diesel generators,” it said on Telegram. 

Military and infrastructure facilities in Dnipro were attacked by Russian missiles and drones early on Monday, according to a Telegram post by the Ukrainian air force.

“Unfortunately, the energy infrastructure was damaged,” Ukrenergo said.

It said the power supply to people in Zaporizhzhia had been cut off. It's now been restored but Ukrenergo appealed for “economical consumption,” especially in peak hours.

Some context: The Zaporizhzhia NPP is the largest in Europe and has been the site of intense shelling since the start of the war. Held by Russian forces, it's mostly operated by a Ukrainian workforce.

Concerns around nuclear safety flared up again this month after Russia began a large-scale evacuation of the area, amid rumors of Ukraine’s looming counteroffensive.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has been involved in intense negotiations with Russia and Ukraine to agree on “a set of principles” to reduce the risk of a nuclear accident at the plant, the agency said. 

Ukrainian forces are still in control of some buildings in the southwest of Bakhmut, two days after Russia claimed to have captured the city, according to Ukraine’s deputy defense minister.

Hanna Maliar also claimed that Kyiv’s troops are advancing on the city’s flanks.

“Yesterday, the Ukrainian Armed Forces retained control of certain industrial facilities and private houses in the southwestern area, the area where the aircraft [monument] is,” Maliar said on Ukrainian television, referring to a monument of an MiG-17 in Druzhba Square.

Maliar said Russia had deployed “most of its forces” in the Bakhmut area.

In a separate post on Telegram, she said the two sides were still fighting for control of “the dominant heights on the flanks” north and south of the city’s suburbs.

Ukraine’s advance on the flanks had allowed it to shell the Russian troops in the city, she said.

Maliar added that because Ukrainian troops “moved along the flanks and took the dominant heights there, our Armed Forces made it very difficult for the enemy to be in the place itself. In fact, we continue to advance. The intensity is somewhat reduced. At the same time, we continue to move along this path.”

She claimed that Russian troops are looking for any “sabotage groups” who might resist the occupation of the city in the areas they control.

Lithuania’s foreign minister has praised the growing F-16 international coalition as an "important step forward," but urged allied nations to remember Kyiv also needs more of the Western weaponry that it is already receiving.

Arriving at the meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, Gabrielius Landsbergis urged allies not to allow the focus on jets to distract them from sending Ukraine the weaponry they have already provided it in its defense against Russia, like howitzers, Stinger missiles and HIMARS.

Also speaking to journalists on arrival at the meeting in Brussels, the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said he hoped Ukraine could be provided with F-16s soon.

Borrel said it was “good” that the G7 “finally decided to prepare the ground in order to provide Ukraine with the jet fighters they need.”

Jet talks gather pace: Ukraine’s quest for US-made F-16 fighter jets received a big boost over the weekend when US President Joe Biden gave his backing for Kyiv’s pilots to be trained to fly them. 

Biden’s comments at a summit with G7 leaders in Japan came days after Britain and the Netherlands said they were building an “international coalition” to help Ukraine procure F-16s as it seeks to improve its defenses against Russian air attacks.

The F-16s would be an upgrade to the largely Soviet-era aircraft currently in Ukraine’s fleet. President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed Biden’s decision, saying in a tweet, “this will greatly enhance our army in the sky.”

China’s foreign ministry said Monday that the Ukraine crisis should be resolved through dialogue, after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky joined leaders of major democracies on Saturday at a summit in Japan.

“We have noticed President Zelensky participated in the G7 summit. China's position on the Ukraine crisis is consistent. We always believe that the crisis should be resolved politically through dialogue and consultation,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in a regular briefing.

Mao added that China hopes countries, particularly G7 member countries, can work together with the international community to play a “constructive role in promoting the political settlement of the crisis.”

China plays peacemaker: Beijing has repeatedly attempted to portray itself as a peacemaker in the grinding conflict, despite its close ties with Russia.

Li Hui, Beijing’s newly appointed special envoy for the Ukraine war, met with Zelensky in Kyiv last week – the highest ranking Chinese official to travel to Ukraine since the start of Moscow’s devastating war.

However, some Western analysts have questioned whether China’s efforts to promote peace are genuine – and whether its vision of how the conflict might end aligns with Kyiv’s.

During Li’s visit, Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba stressed that peace negotiations must be “based on respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

“Ukraine does not accept any proposals that would involve the loss of its territories or the freezing of the conflict,” Kuleba said.

The Russian ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, has said that America’s decision to support the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16s and other modern fighter jets demonstrates that it “has never been interested in peace.”

US President Joe Biden informed G7 leaders on Friday that the US would back an effort to train Ukrainian pilots on F16s and other fourth generation aircraft. F-16s are considered high performance weapon systems with a range of 500 miles (860 kilometers), and would be an upgrade to the aircraft currently in Ukraine’s fleet. 

In a post on the Embassy’s Telegram channel, Anotnov was quoted as telling reporters that the US “continues to fan the flames of conflict.”

Russia issues warnings: The ambassador’s words echo those of Russia’s deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko, who warned Western countries of “enormous risks” if Ukraine is provided with F-16 fighter jets, Russian state media TASS reported Saturday.

“We see that the Western countries are still adhering to the escalation scenario,” Grushko said.

Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is in an “extremely vulnerable” situation, the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog said, after the facility once again lost its external power supply.

In a Twitter post Monday, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi said the plant had "lost all external electricity" for the seventh time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began last year, "forcing it to rely on emergency diesel generators for power."

The plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power station, is held by Russian forces but mostly operated by a Ukrainian workforce. The IAEA has repeatedly raised concerns over safety at the plant, which has been the site of shelling throughout the war.

On Friday, Grossi said negotiations were ongoing to secure the protection of the plant to "prevent the risk of a severe nuclear accident on the continent."

Ukraine’s quest for US-made F-16 fighter jets received a big boost over the weekend when US President Joe Biden gave his backing for Kyiv’s pilots to be trained to fly them.

But analysts cautioned that the jets aren’t a cure-all and have vulnerabilities that Moscow would be well aware of and could exploit.

In fact, one active duty F-16 pilot told CNN that expectations may be way too high.

“To your question about the F-16 being a difference maker. It’s not,” said the pilot, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the subject.

Here’s what you need to know about the F-16:

Most active fighter jet: According to Flight Global’s World Air Forces directory, almost 2,200 F-16s are active worldwide this year, making it the single most popular combat aircraft across the planet with 15% of the world’s fleet.

F-16s for Ukraine are expected to be older versions that have been in the fleets of US allies, especially those in Western Europe.

“There is a surplus of F-16s in Western nations, offering immediate availability and a well-established logistics trail,” said Robert Hopkins, a military aviation author and former US Air Force pilot. “There are other aircraft more capable than the F-16, but they are fewer in number and are not available to transfer,” Hopkins added.

Keeping F-16s in the sky: Analysts note that for a modern fighter jet like the F-16, training maintenance personnel can take longer than training pilots.

“I think it’s possible to teach a Ukrainian pilot to fly an F-16 in three months,” said Peter Layton, a fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute and former Royal Australian Air Force officer.

But “training maintenance personnel can take months or years, depending on the desired level of proficiency,” according to a March report on the possible F-16 transfers from the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

As for pilot training, Layton and the active F-16 pilot who spoke to CNN both say three months of training is for the basics — getting the plane up in the air, keeping it there and landing it safely. Combat roles become much more complex, however.

F-16s are easy to learn how to fly, but employing them effectively in “a dynamic threat environment” could take years, according to the pilot.

How do you hide F-16s? Then there is the question of where Ukrainian F-16s would be based.

“The advantages of transferring advanced western fighter jets in seeking air superiority are likely to be realized only if paired with large quantities of western-manufactured munitions,” the CRS report says.

Read the full analysis here.

Generators are providing electricity to the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine after the facility "lost its external power supply," Russia's Rosatom state nuclear energy company said Monday.

The "radiation background at the site, in the sanitary protection zone and observation zone, is at normal levels," Rosatom added.

The Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power station, is held by Russian forces but mostly operated by a Ukrainian workforce.

A spokesperson for Ukraine's state-owned energy firm Energoatom confirmed to CNN that auxiliary power generators are supplying the plant, adding it was the seventh blackout at the facility since Russia's invasion began last year.

Earlier Monday, a Ukrainian official said technicians were working to restore power to the plant. "The work continues, and electricity and water are gradually being restored in the city's districts," said Anatoliy Kurtiev, secretary of Zaporizhzhia city council.

Some context: The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog has repeatedly raised concerns over safety at the plant, which has been the site of shelling throughout the war. Earlier this month, the International Atomic Energy Agency described the situation there as “increasingly unpredictable,” after Moscow ordered the evacuation of residents from Russian-occupied areas close to the facility.

This post has been updated with a statement from Energoatom.

Russia attacked Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region with missiles and drones overnight, injuring civilians and damaging buildings as Ukrainian forces scrambled air defenses in response.

In a Telegram post Monday, Dnipropetrovsk Gov. Serhii Lysak said air defenses shot down 15 drones and four cruise missiles over the region, which also took "some hits."

In Dniprovskyi district, a 27-year-old man was wounded and several buildings where first responders work were damaged in the attack, Lysak said. 

Meanwhile, seven people were injured when a drone crashed in the Ilarionivska community of Synelnykivskyi district, he said.

Some context: Ukrainian officials claim to have repelled most of the missiles and drones launched by Russia this month during multiple bombardments, in many cases with the help of weapons provided by Kyiv's Western partners.