July 19, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been briefed on the explosions at a reported Russian ammunition dump in occupied Crimea, the Kremlin spokesperson told reporters on Wednesday, as thousands are evacuated from the area.

“This has been reported to the president,” Dmitry Peskov said in response to a reporter question about a fire at the training ground where the ammunition dump is reportedly located.

Peskov said the the Russian-installed leader of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, “responded very quickly.”

“We know there was a fire. Urgent measures are being taken, the situation is being clarified. For now, I can't say more."

Rolling explosions force mass evacuation: The explosions have forced thousands of people to evacuate and prompted leaders there to redirect traffic away from a local highway.

Videos on social media show cascading explosions at the site near Stary Krym in Crimea’s Kirorvsky district.

The Russia-backed leader of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, said on Telegram that “a fire occurred at a military training ground.”

The original cause of the fire is not known. The well-known Grey Zone Telegram channel suggested that a Ukrainian Storm Shadow missile was responsible for the strike, but there is no official corrobration of that claim. An insurgent Ukrainian group in Crimea, Atesh, celebrated the fire but said that it was not responsible.

The Rybar Telegram channel said that the first explosions were heard in the 4 a.m. local time (Tuesday 9 p.m. ET).

Explosions continue to be heard six hours after the original reported explosions, a correspondent for Russian state media TASS reported. The head of Crimea’s parliament said that it could take two days to fully extinguish the blaze, according to Russian state media. 

Both the Grey Zone Telegram and Atesh referred to the site as an ammunition dump. That claim is supported by the cascading explosions that can be seen in the social media videos.

Askenov said that residents of four surrounding villages – more than 2,000 people – were being evacuated.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that in attacking Odesa, Russia was deliberately targeting infrastructure associated with the Black Sea grain deal following its decision to withdraw from the initiative on Monday.

“Russian terrorists deliberately targeted the grain deal infrastructure, and every Russian missile is a strike not only against Ukraine, but against everyone in the world who wants a normal and safe life,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.

“The military was instructed to strengthen the protection of people and port infrastructure, and the foreign ministry was instructed to intensify contacts with partners to increase pressure on the terrorist state and continue normal exports of Ukrainian grain.”

It comes after Zelensky's chief of staff said Russia’s second night of attacks on Odesa shows Moscow needs "hunger and problems in the countries of the Global South."

Ukraine’s Air Force said that for the second night in a row, Russia targeted Odesa with a barrage of cruise missiles and Shahed attack drones.

“The Russian terror of Odesa proves once again that they need hunger and problems in the countries of the Global South,” Andriy Yermak said on Telegram.

“They want to create a refugee crisis for the West. Everything is done to weaken allies and politically interfere in the internal affairs of these countries.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin had no choice but to reach an agreement with Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in order to end a short-lived rebellion last month, the head of Britain's MI6 told CNN.

"He really didn't fight back against Prigozhin, he cut a deal to save his skin, using the good offices of the leader of Belarus. So even I can't see inside Putin's head," Richard Moore said.  

"If you look at Putin's behaviors on that day, Prigozhin started off I think, as a traitor at breakfast. He had been pardoned by supper and then a few days later, he was invited for tea. So, there are some things and even the chief of MI6 finds that a little bit difficult to try and interpret, in terms of who's in and who's out," he added.

Status of Prigozhin: The head of MI6 also said that Wagner chief Prigozhin is alive and at liberty since the insurrection. The Wagner leader is "floating around," Moore said.

However, Putin is clearly under internal pressure, the intelligence chief added.

"You don't have a group of mercenaries advance up the motorway towards Moscow and get to within 125 kilometers of Moscow unless you have not quite predicted that was going to happen. So I think he probably feels under some pressure."

Russia’s second night of attacks on Odesa shows Moscow needs "hunger and problems in the countries of the Global South," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff has said.

Ukraine’s Air Force said that for the second night in a row, Russia targeted Odesa with a barrage of cruise missiles and Shahed attack drones.

The attacks on the Black Sea port city come after Moscow pulled out of a key UN-brokered grain deal this week, drawing condemnation from Ukraine, the United States and their allies.

Yermak said that Ukraine’s allies should limit Russia’s access to components needed for weapons manufacture, and called for more long-range weapons to be sent to Ukraine.

He also called on countries in the Global South to support Ukraine’s proposals for expelling Russia from Ukraine and achieving peace.

Britain's intelligence chief has said he is "optimistic" Ukraine will prevail in its war against Russia, whose forces have lost momentum on the battlefield.

Richard Moore said Ukraine has "recovered more territory in a month than the Russians managed to achieve in a year" and that "there appears to be little prospect of the Russian forces regaining momentum."

It will be up to Kyiv to "define" the end of the war, as "most conflicts end in some kind of negotiation," he added during a speech in Prague Wednesday. 

Moore's words come as Ukraine continues its spring counteroffensive against Russian troops. Since the counteroffensive began in June, the fighting has proved tougher than some anticipated, with progress being measured in hundreds of meters as opposed to tens of kilometers.

Ukraine had hoped to use the push to expel a significant amount of Russian forces from Ukrainian soil and turn the tide of the war.

The Foreign Affairs committee of the European Parliament has urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to consider an arrest warrant for Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko over the country's role in the Ukraine war.

In a new report, the committee also called on the Belarusian regime to release all political prisoners, and expressed concern over the country’s subordination to Moscow, the committee said Tuesday in a news release.

The report also "calls on the EU institutions and member states to take all necessary steps at international level to enable the criminal prosecution of those Belarusian political and military leaders responsible for crimes against humanity and genocide."

The ICC in March issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian official Maria Lvova-Belova for an alleged scheme to deport Ukrainian children to Russia.

Russia's aerial assault on Odesa overnight into Wednesday was "one of the most horrible nights" of the war, the southern Ukrainian city's mayor said.

There were no casualties, but the city was rocked by explosions and several people were injured by a downed Russian missile, officials said.

“We are getting stronger from our righteous fury! We are grateful to the air defense system. It was a fierce air battle,” Trukhanov said.

CNN journalists in Odesa heard an intense bombardment around 2 a.m. local time.

Ukraine’s Air Force said that for the second night in a row, Russia targeted Odesa with a barrage of cruise missiles and Shahed attack drones.

The attacks on the Black Sea port city come after Moscow pulled out of a key UN-brokered grain deal this week, drawing condemnation from Ukraine, the United States and their allies.

In a Telegram post, Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa regional military administration said fires broke out after Russian strikes hit a grain and oil terminal and other industrial facilities.

Several civilians, including a 9-year-old boy, were injured after air defenses shot down a cruise missile, he said.

Russian forces launched more than 60 airstrikes at Ukraine overnight, with the "main focus" of their attack targeting the southern Odesa region, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement Wednesday.

The Russian barrage included Kalibr, Kh-22 and Oniks cruise missiles, and Iran-made Shahed-136/131 UAVs, the Air Force said.

Ukrainian air defenses destroyed 14 cruise missiles and 23 drones, it added.

Some context: It marks the second consecutive night of Russian airstrikes on Odesa. Russian forces targeted the port city Tuesday in what Moscow said was retaliation for Kyiv's attack on the Crimean bridge linking the annexed peninsula to Russia.

More than 2,000 people were evacuated in Crimea Wednesday after a fire broke out at a military training ground, the peninsula's Moscow-backed governor said Wednesday.

In a Telegram post, Crimea Gov. Sergey Askenov said residents of four villages in Kirovske district would be temporarily evacuated. The blaze also caused traffic disruptions, he said.

It is unclear what caused the fire.

The incident comes two days after Ukraine attacked the strategic and symbolic Crimean bridge linking the annexed peninsula to Russia.