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July 13, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

By Brad Lendon, Christian Edwards, Aditi Sangal, Adrienne Vogt, Matt Meyer, Maureen Chowdhury and Tori B. Powell, CNN

Updated 12:18 a.m. ET, July 14, 2023
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11:59 p.m. ET, July 12, 2023

A Russian general says he was fired after accusing the defense minister of treachery. Here's the latest

From CNN staff

A high-profile Russian general in command of forces in occupied southern Ukraine said he was dismissed from his post after accusing the defense minister of betraying Russian soldiers by not providing sufficient support.

Gen. Ivan Popov was the commander of the 58th Combined Arms Army, which has been involved in heavy fighting in the Zaporizhzhia region. He is one of the most senior officers involved in the Russian campaign in Ukraine.

The dismissal of such a senior officer amid an open dispute over the conduct of the Russian campaign is unprecedented, according to analysts. 

Here are other headlines you should know:

  • Kyiv attacks: One person was killed and two others were injured in the Ukrainian capital early Thursday after air defenses intercepted unmanned aerial vehicles, local officials said. It marks the third successive night of Russian airstrikes on the Kyiv region.
  • On the ground: Ukrainian forces are making further advances in the Bakhmut area and rebuffed Russian assaults elsewhere in the Donetsk region, according to officials. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukraine's forces successfully held back the Russian offensive in the Kupyansk, Lyman, Avdiivka and Marinka directions — all areas of the front lines where the Russians have made repeated attempts to break through Ukrainian defenses.
  • General killed: A popular Russian state television program appeared to confirm the death of a Russian general in Ukraine. Ukrainian officials had claimed that Oleg Tsokov, the deputy commander of the Southern Military District, was among a number of Russians killed in a Ukrainian missile strike Tuesday. The attack was targeted on a Russian headquarters in the occupied city of Berdyansk, Ukrainian officials said. Independent analysts and CNN’s own tally indicate that Russia has lost about 10 generals in combat since the invasion began.
  • NATO summit takeaways: US President Joe Biden and G7 leaders unveiled a substantial show of support for Ukraine at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, offering a joint declaration of support for Kyiv aimed at bolstering the war-torn country’s military capability. However, there was still no invitation for Ukraine to join the alliance. In his nightly address after the summit, President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed optimism about Ukraine’s path to becoming a member of NATO.
  • Moscow's take: The Russian foreign ministry, for its part, said the NATO summit demonstrated that the alliance has "finally returned to the Cold War schemes." President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would "be glad to act as a mediator" between Russia and Ukraine if the two countries agreed to such a proposition. 
  • Military assistance: Estonia's prime minister defended her support for the US' decision to provide Ukraine with controversial cluster bombs. And UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Kyiv's allies "want to see gratitude” from Ukraine for their support while recalling how he told Ukrainian officials during a visit to Kyiv in June 2022 that the UK was not “Amazon” when he was given a list of weapons demands. Meanwhile, former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged the US not to grow weary of Ukraine’s grinding battle against Russia.
2:25 a.m. ET, July 13, 2023

1 person dead and 2 injured as Ukraine intercepts Russian UAVs over Kyiv region, local officials say

From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva

An interior view shows an apartment inside a residential building damaged during a Russian drone strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on July 13, 2023.
An interior view shows an apartment inside a residential building damaged during a Russian drone strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on July 13, 2023. Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters

One person was killed in Kyiv after Ukrainian air defenses intercepted unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over the region early Thursday morning, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. 

According to Klitschko, the body of a man was found while responders were extinguishing an apartment building fire in Kyiv’s Podil district.

Air defense systems intercepted Russian airstrikes launched early on Thursday morning, the Kyiv Regional Military Administration said on Telegram.

“Air defense is operating in the region, on the outskirts of Kyiv city. Stay in shelters until the air raid is over!" said Serhii Popko, the head of the Kyiv city military administration.

Klitschko reported damage in several parts of the capital and said two injured people in the Darnytsia district have been hospitalized.

It marks the third successive night of Russian airstrikes on the Kyiv region.

4:12 a.m. ET, July 13, 2023

"We have removed any doubts" that Ukraine will join NATO, Zelensky says

From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expressing optimism about Ukraine’s path to becoming a member of NATO.

“It is very important that during these two days of the summit we have removed any doubts and ambiguities about whether Ukraine will be in NATO. It will be! For the first time, not only do all allies agree on this, but a significant majority in the alliance is vigorously pushing for it,” he said in his nightly address on Wednesday following the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

At the summit, US President Joe Biden and G7 leaders unveiled a joint declaration of support for Ukraine aimed at bolstering the war-torn country’s military capability.

“These are concrete security guarantees that are confirmed by the top seven democracies in the world. Never before have we had such a security foundation,” Zelensky said.  

In his address, he also thanked the countries that are set to begin training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 combat aircraft.

2:28 a.m. ET, July 13, 2023

Senior Russian general says he was fired after accusing defense minister of treachery

From CNN's Tim Lister and Uliana Pavlova

Senior Russian general, Ivan Popov, says he was dismissed after criticizing lack of support for troops.
Senior Russian general, Ivan Popov, says he was dismissed after criticizing lack of support for troops. Teoyaomiquu/Twitter

A senior Russian general in command of forces in occupied southern Ukraine says he was suddenly dismissed from his post after accusing Moscow’s Defense Ministry leadership of betraying his troops by not providing sufficient support.

Gen. Ivan Popov was the commander of the 58th Combined Arms Army, which has been engaged in heavy fighting in the Zaporizhzhia region. He is one of the most senior officers to have taken part in the bloody Russian campaign in Ukraine.

Popov said he had raised questions about “the lack of counter-battery combat, the absence of artillery reconnaissance stations and the mass deaths and injuries of our brothers from enemy artillery,” in a voice note published on Telegram late Wednesday.

The recording was posted on the messaging app by Andrey Gurulev, a member of the Russian Parliament and former deputy commander of the Southern Military District.

“I also raised a number of other problems and expressed it all at the highest level frankly and extremely harshly,” Popov said in the audio message. “I had no right to lie, therefore, I outlined all the problematic issues that exist today in the army in terms of combat work and support.”

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu “signed the order and got rid of me,” the general also said in the recording, as he accused the top Kremlin official of treason.

“As many commanders of divisional regiments said today, the servicemen of the armed forces of Ukraine could not break through our army from the front, (but) our senior commander hit us from the rear, treacherously and vilely decapitating the army at the most difficult and tense moment,” Popov said.

The 58th Combined Arms Army has been headquartered in the occupied city of Berdyansk, and both Ukrainian and Russian sources have said its base there was hit by a missile attack early Tuesday that killed another Russian general.

Read the full story here.

2:26 a.m. ET, July 13, 2023

Ukraine claims further progress around Bakhmut and in the south

From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva in Kyiv

Ukrainian servicemen fire a D-20 howitzer towards Russian troops at a position near the frontline town of Bakhmut, in Donetsk region, Ukraine on July 11, 2023.
Ukrainian servicemen fire a D-20 howitzer towards Russian troops at a position near the frontline town of Bakhmut, in Donetsk region, Ukraine on July 11, 2023. Sofiia Gatilova/Reuters

Ukrainian forces are making further advances in the Bakhmut area and rebuffed Russian assaults elsewhere in the Donetsk region, according to officials.

Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian forces successfully held back the Russian offensive in the Kupyansk, Lyman, Avdiivka and Marinka directions — all areas of the front lines where the Russians have made repeated attempts to break through Ukrainian defenses.

"In the Bakhmut sector, we conducted an offensive on the southern flank around Bakhmut... There is an advance. Now our defenders are consolidating their positions on the occupied lines," Maliar said.

Ukrainian forces have been trying to take higher ground on the northern and southern edges of the city.

CNN cannot verify Ukrainian accounts of battlefield gains.

In the south: Maliar said the military "continued their offensive today on the Melitopol and Berdiansk directions," and are "performing many tasks aimed at weakening the enemy." 

She said because Ukrainian fighters destroyed a "large number of ammunition depots" the number of Russian attacks has decreased. Ukraine has stepped up missile and long-range artillery attacks on Russian logistics and command hubs in the south.

4:12 a.m. ET, July 13, 2023

Russia says NATO has returned to its "Cold War schemes" following summit in Lithuania

From CNN’s Uliana Pavlova

The Russian foreign ministry said on Wednesday that the results of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, demonstrate that the military alliance has "finally returned to the Cold War schemes.”

“The ‘collective West’ led by the United States is not ready to put up with the formation of a multipolar world and intends to defend its hegemony by all available means, including military ones,” the ministry said in a statement.

“NATO's attempts to cover up their aggressive aspirations and actions with the UN Charter do not stand up to scrutiny. The Alliance and the world organization have nothing in common,” it said.

In the same statement, the foreign ministry said Moscow will carefully analyze the results of the summit in Vilnius and respond in a timely manner “using all means and methods at our disposal.”

The ministry also vowed that Russia would continue to strengthen its military and defense system.

4:12 a.m. ET, July 13, 2023

Analysis: Biden got almost everything he wanted from NATO summit

Analysis from CNN's Stephen Collinson

President Joe Biden got almost everything he wanted from the NATO summit.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shot for the stars and reached the moon — securing a permanent rearmament pipeline well into the future from G7 nations but failing to win the collective defense guarantee that membership in NATO would bring.

And Russia saw its strategic and military failure entrenched but will surely view the institutionalizing of support for Ukraine as confirming its suspicions of the West.

Poignantly, the meeting hosted by a former Soviet vassal state whose NATO status secured the freedom, independence and prosperity that Zelensky craves for his country, was overshadowed by the torment of the Ukrainian people.

“It’s just like something out of the 14th century the way they are acting,” Biden said, narrowing his eyes in disbelief at the Russian assault on civilians.

Zelensky, who came into the summit as a guest boiling with frustration at the alliance’s unwillingness to give him a timeline for NATO membership, nevertheless contextualized what US and Western help means, in moving remarks to Biden.

“You spend this money for our lives. And I think that we save the lives for Europe and for all the world,” Zelensky told Biden.

What the summit achieved: The summit ended on Wednesday with a joint declaration from G7 leaders for their nations to negotiate long-term bilateral security commitments for Ukraine to build up its land, sea and air defenses to deter future Russian attacks. The move is a halfway house measure designed to tide Ukraine over until a future moment when it could join NATO and enjoy the “attack on one, is an attack on all” umbrella its members enjoy — a moment that the alliance has yet to determine.

Zelensky arrived at the summit blasting the bloc’s refusal to offer a timeline as “absurd.” But Biden insisted that granting membership now would mean NATO states having to go to war against Russia — a disastrous escalation he has been desperate to avoid.

And while the leaders eased the pathway for Ukraine’s eventual membership, they deferred a fateful geopolitical decision, possibly for their successors, by stating that it had yet to meet economic and political conditions for joining.

The other landmark moment of the summit was Turkey’s sudden dropping of its veto on Sweden becoming the alliance’s 32nd member — which followed months of behind-the-scenes diplomacy by the Biden administration — overseas and in the US Congress.

Read the full analysis here.