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May 25, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news
By Tara Subramaniam, Christian Edwards, Ed Upright, Aditi Sangal, Leinz Vales and Tori B. Powell, CNN
Updated 9:25 p.m. ET, May 25, 2023
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US does not support attacks on Russian soil and has "made it very clear" to Ukraine, White House official says
From CNN's DJ Judd
US President Joe Biden's administration has reiterated in conversations with Ukraine that it does not support attacks on Russian soil, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told CNN Thursday.
“We have again made it very clear to the Ukrainians what our expectations are about attacking Russia — we don't want to encourage or enable that, we certainly don't want any US-made equipment used to attack Russian soil,” Kirby told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
“And we have gotten assurances from the Ukrainians that they will respect those wishes … we have been very clear that we want Ukraine to be able to defend its own soil, its own territory. They have been attacked. They have been invaded. They have a right to defend themselves," he continued. "But, we've also been clear, well, that we don't want to see this war escalate beyond this, the devastation and the violence that is already visited on the Ukrainian people.”
The conversations with Ukraine didn’t involve “outlining consequences” but were “simply a reaffirmation," Kirby told CNN. He added that these discussions have happened "as recently as over just the last day or so."
Some context: Kirby's comments come on the heels of a CNN report that anti-Putin Russian fighters, fighting alongside Ukrainian armed forces, conducted a raid inside Russian territory.
In an interview with CNN’s Sam Kiley, one of the Russian nationals said the raid was conducted using American-manufactured equipment purchased on the open market. Kirby said Thursday that he could not confirm that.
He instead said the US is providing equipment "to be used to defend Ukrainian soil."
More than 200 children still need to be evacuated from villages in eastern Ukraine, official says
From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva and Hira Humayun
More than 200 children have yet to be evacuated from villages in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, according to the regional military administration.
Nearly all of those kids are in the Toretsk community, which is not immediately near the front line, the military administration's leader, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said in an interview with a Ukrainian news channel Thursday.
All children from the Chasiv Yar community near Bakhmut, which has seen some of the most intense shelling, have been evacuated as of a month ago, he said.
There is still one child in the beleaguered town of Avdiivka, and one in a settlement near Vuhledar, further southwest, according to Kyrylenko.
“We are trying to evacuate in advance, not to wait until the active hostilities will take place (in the immediate proximity),” the regional leader said. “We are doing our best to provide safety first of all to the children. The evacuation work continues."
All children from the Chasiv Yar community near Bakhmut, which has seen some of the most intense shelling, have been evacuated as of a month ago, he said.
Wagner clashes in and around Bakhmut are decreasing. Here's what else you should know
From CNN staff
The Russian reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs was seemingly hit by an unmanned surface vessel in the Black Sea, new video shows, disputing Moscow's claim it had been able to thwart a Ukrainian attack on the craft.
Footage shared by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense on social media Thursday and analyzed by CNN appeared to show the moments just before the impact.
Here are other headlines you should know:
Bakhmut developments: Ukraine's number of clashes with Wagner mercenaries in and around Bakhmut has been decreasing over the past few days, according to the spokesperson for the eastern grouping of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Meanwhile, more than 100 Ukrainians who fought in the Bakhmut area and were captured by Russian troops have been released in a prisoner swap, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office said Thursday. And the head of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, told CNN he has handed over to Ukrainian authorities the body of a retired US Army Special Forces soldier who died fighting for Bakhmut.
Elsewhere in Ukraine: Russian officials in the occupied southern city of Berdiansk said Ukrainian forces have struck the city with a missile. A member of Russia's local administration in Zaporizhzhia said he still did not have information on casualties, adding that response teams were on site. And in the eastern Donetsk region, an official has accused Russian forces of destroying a dam and endangering nearby residents.
Military equipment: Finland on Thursday pledged to send additional military equipment to Ukraine. Meanwhile, the transfer of some tactical nuclear weapons from Russia to Belarus has begun, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said Thursday, according to state news agency BelTA.
Tariff and quota suspension: European trade ministers agreed to extend the temporary measures that suspend customs duties and quotas on Ukrainian imports to the European Union for another year, until June 2024. The temporary easing of trade regulations between Ukraine and the EU went into force in June 2022.
Foreign fighters on trial: Five foreigners who fought for Ukraine are to stand trial in absentia in Russia, according to state media. The group all fought for Ukraine in the defense of the southern city of Mariupol.
Russian reconnaissance ship seemingly hit by unmanned surface vessel, video shows
From CNN’s Vasco Cotovio and Yulia Kesaieva in Kyiv, and Sharon Braithwaite and Gianluca Mezzofiore in London
The Russian reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs was seemingly hit by an unmanned surface vessel in the Black Sea, new video shows, disputing a claim by Moscow, which said on Wednesday it had been able to thwart a Ukrainian attack on the craft.
Footage shared by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense on social media Thursday and analyzed by CNN appeared to show the moments just before the impact.
The video is filmed from a camera placed on the surface vessel. It shows the vessel as it approaches a larger ship at high speed.
CNN analysis determined the ship is likely to be the Ivan Khurs. It also shows the tip of the unmanned surface vessel, similar to the unmanned surface vessels seen in video posted by the Russian Ministry of Defense on Thursday.
The feed cuts as the vessel comes within a few yards of the ship.
"When the Russian reconnaissance ship 'Ivan Khurs' met a Ukrainian drone," the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said in a tweet. "Indeed, a perfect match!"
More background: On Wednesday, the Russian defense ministry acknowledged the attack on the Ivan Khurs but said all the surface vessels had failed to hit the ship.
"Today at 5:30 a.m., the armed forces of Ukraine made an unsuccessful attempt to attack the Ivan Khurs ship of the Black Sea Fleet with three unmanned speedboats," said the spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Defense, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov. "All enemy boats were destroyed by fire from the standard armament of a Russian ship 140 kilometers northeast of the Bosphorus."
The Russian Ministry of Defense also shared footage that appears to show one of the surface vessels exploding as it is hit by gunfire.
"The ship ‘Ivan Khurs’ of the Black Sea Fleet continues to fulfill its tasks," Konashenkov added.
It is unclear what happened after the surface vessel seemingly hit the Ivan Khurs and how damaged the reconnaissance ship may have been during the attack.
CNN has reached out to Ukrainian sources for additional details but has yet to hear back.
Villages at risk of flooding after Russia destroys dam in eastern Ukraine, regional leader says
From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva and Jonny Hallam
An official in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region has accused Russian forces of destroying a dam and endangering nearby residents.
The attacks on the Karlivka Reservoir's dam put the nearby villages of Halytsynivka, Zhelanne-1 and Zhelanne-2 at risk of flooding, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the Donetsk regional military administration leader.
"Since the beginning of the large-scale invasion, the Russian occupation army has been constantly shelling Karlivka, targeting the dam, ignoring the fact that civilians would suffer from these actions," Kyrylenko wrote on Telegram Thursday.
Ukraine's emergency services believe the dam could break and have already started responding to the situation, the regional leader said.
"Communities in the area of possible flooding have been warned. If necessary, the evacuation of civilians will begin," he said.
Russia says Ukraine carried out missile strike in Russian-occupied Berdiansk
From CNN's Josh Pennington and Vasco Cotovio
Russian officials in occupied Berdiansk said Ukrainian forces have struck the city with a missile.
Ukraine's military "launched a massive strike" on the city, Vladimir Rogov, a member of Russia's local administration in Zaporizhzhia, posted on Telegram on Thursday.
Rogov said he still did not have information on casualties, adding that response teams were on site.
"It's not yet known whether British Storm Shadow missiles or something else was used," Rogov added.
If Ukraine was behind the alleged strike, the use of Storm Shadow missiles are a likely option, given Berdiansk is deep in Russian-controlled territory, around 100 kilometers (about 62 miles) from the front line.
About the missiles: The Storm Shadow is a long-range cruise missile with stealth capabilities, jointly developed by the UK and France, which is typically launched from the air. With a firing range in excess of 250 kilometers, or 155 miles, it is just short of the 185-mile range capability of the US-made surface-to-surface Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, that Ukraine has long asked for. The United Kingdom said it delivered multiple of the Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine earlier in May.
Ukraine's clashes with Wagner in Bakhmut are decreasing while it still remains in the southwest
From CNN’s Vasco Cotovio, Frederik Pleitgen, William Bonnett and Svitlana Vlasova in Kyiv
Ukraine's number of clashes with Wagner fighters in and around Bakhmut has been decreasing over the past few days, according to the spokesperson for the eastern grouping of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
"What we can state today is that over the past three days, the number of engagements primarily with Wagner's units in the Bakhmut direction has decreased," Serhii Cherevatyi told CNN on Thursday. "We explain this by the significant exhaustion of Wagner's units over the previous months of fighting and the fact that they need to regroup and recover."
Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin had announced his fighters would begin withdrawing from the city on Thursday and would be replaced by Russian soldiers. Cherevatyi said the switchover had been slowly taking place for the past few weeks, attributing the change to "huge losses."
Cherevatyi acknowledged Wagner fighters conducted more offensives and were more difficult to face than regular Russian soldiers because of the brutality of the organization.
While Wagner controls the majority of the town, Cherevatyi said Ukraine controlled a part of the southwestern district of the city. "Our units are located there and are engaged in defense," he said.
Cherevatyi concluded by saying that the ultimate outcome of the battle for Bakhmut would be the complete destruction of the Wagner paramilitary company. "The more the enemy is bloodied and knocked out, the easier it will be for our soldiers to liberate Ukrainian land with fewer losses," he concluded.
Finland will send additional military equipment to Ukraine, defense ministry says
From CNN's Sarah Diab in London
Finland on Thursday pledged to send additional military equipment to Ukraine.
Finland’s 16th defense package to Ukraine will include anti-aircraft weapons and ammunition and will be worth 109 million euros (about $117 million), a Finnish defense ministry spokesperson told CNN.
That brings the total defense aid from Finland to Ukraine since Russian invasion began last year to 1.1 billion euros (about $1.18 billion).
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the Finnish government for the aid in a tweet: