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July 21, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

By Kathleen Magramo, Sophie Tanno, Adrienne Vogt, Leinz Vales, Matt Meyer and Tori B. Powell, CNN

Updated 1633 GMT (0033 HKT) July 24, 2023

What we covered here

Russia has repeatedly struck the southern port city of Odesa, damaging grain warehouses and further threatening Ukraine's ability to export food after the Black Sea grain deal collapsed.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces must find a way to neutralize the bridge linking Russia to Crimea. The structure is still standing after an attack this week.
Belarus will soon hold training exercises with the Wagner private military group near the Polish border. Germany said Friday that NATO will stand in defense of its ally if there was an attack on its eastern flank.
A prominent Russian pro-war blogger who has criticized President Vladimir Putin was arrested Friday and will be held in custody until September, according to Russian state media. The arrest suggests the Kremlin's tolerance for dissent may be waning in the wake of the Wagner rebellion.

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1:50 a.m. ET, July 21, 2023

Air raid alerts ring out in Odesa for fourth straight night. Here's what you need to know

From CNN staff

Air raid sirens sounded early Friday in Odesa for the fourth night in a row.

Ukraine has struggled this week to repel a wave of Russian strikes against the southern port city, its air defenses unable to cope with the types of missiles that Moscow has used to pummel the region this week.

Here's what you should know:

Odesa attacks: One person was killed in strikes on the city Thursday, officials said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia has used almost 70 missiles of various types and almost 90 Shahed drones over four days in assaults on southern cities, including Odesa. Ukraine is working with partners "as extensively as possible" for additional air defense systems that can provide security to Odesa and other cities, he said.
Crimean bridge: Moscow said the attacks on Odesa were retaliation for the Ukrainian strike Monday on the bridge linking occupied Crimea to Russia. The bridge was temporarily closed and the air raid warning system activated early Friday, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
Food security: The Odesa attacks also come after Russia pulled out of a critical grain deal that allowed Ukrainian grain exports a safe way out of the country. The UN Secretary-General warned that attacks on port cities will have an impact "well beyond Ukraine" when it comes to food prices. The UN will keep negotiating to get more Ukrainian exports through, a UN official said. Russia's foreign ministry on Wednesday said all ships sailing in the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports would be considered potential carriers of military cargo.
Prigozhin's whereabouts: CIA Director Bill Burns said he believes the Wagner boss is in Belarus, and predicted Prigozhin would eventually face "retribution" from Russian President Vladimir Putin for his mutiny last month. "If I were Prigozhin, I wouldn’t fire my food taster," Burns said.
Cluster munitions: Ukrainian troops have started using US-provided cluster munitions in their counteroffensive against Russia, according to a White House official. They have been using the controversial weapons “appropriately” and “effectively” in combat, the spokesperson said.
US sanctions: The Biden administration added new sanctions that target companies and suppliers that have helped fuel Russia’s war in Ukraine by providing dual-use items. “Today’s actions represent another step in our efforts to constrain Russia’s military capabilities, its access to battlefield supplies, and its economic bottom line,” Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo said.

This post has been updated.

12:11 a.m. ET, July 21, 2023

Russia used almost 70 missiles and nearly 90 Shahed drones in just 4 days, Zelensky says

From CNN's Radina Gigova and Yulia Kesaieva

Rescuers work at a site of a building heavily damaged by a Russian missile attack in central Odesa, Ukraine on July 20. Stringer/Reuters

Russia has used almost 70 missiles of various types and almost 90 Shahed drones over just four days during attacks on the Ukrainian cities of Odesa, Mykolaiv and other southern communities, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

"Of course, our soldiers managed to shoot down some of the enemy missiles and drones, and I thank each of our sky defenders for this," he said Thursday in his nightly address. "Unfortunately, the Ukrainian air defense capabilities are not yet sufficient to protect the entire Ukrainian sky."

Ukraine is working with partners "as extensively as possible" for additional air defense systems that can provide security to Odesa and other cities across the country, Zelensky said.

Food security: Speaking about the Black Sea grain deal, which Russia withdrew from this week, Zelensky said work "to mobilize the world to protect food security and normal life" continues. He said he spoke earlier Thursday for the first time with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, whose country is experiencing "one of the most critical situations in the world."

"I am confident that this year we can do it all together, the whole world," Zelensky said. "No one in the world is interested in Russia's success in destroying the global food market."

9:02 p.m. ET, July 20, 2023

Odesa air defenses outgunned as Russia targets global grain supply

From CNN's Ivana Kottasová, Olga Voitovych, Mick Krever, Alex Marquardt, Scott McWhinnie and Sebastian Shukla

Ukraine has been struggling to repel a wave of Russian strikes against the southern city of Odesa, its air defenses unable to cope with the types of missiles that Moscow has used to pummel the region this week.

Ukraine’s Air Force said it destroyed just five of 19 Russian cruise missiles fired at the country overnight into Thursday. That’s a significantly lower success rate compared to previous waves targeting Kyiv and Ukrainian officials said it was due to the lack of more advanced defense systems in the southern part of the country.

People in Odesa have now endured several consecutive nights of intense bombardment. A CNN team began hearing explosions at around 2 a.m. on Thursday. The near continuous strikes lasted at least 90 minutes, the buzzing sound of drones reverberating through the port city.

Firefighters were still working at the site of one of the strikes, an administrative building, on Thursday morning. The four-story structure was smoldering and in ruins.

As the bombardment got underway, officials warned residents to take cover.”Go to your shelters and don’t leave until the siren ends. Take care of yourself and your loved ones,” the head of the Odesa region’s military administration, Oleh Kiper, said in a post on Telegram.

Ukrainian officials said the air defense systems in the region are not capable of shooting down Russia’s Oniks and Kh-22 missiles because of how fast they fly. “What could be shot down is being shot down,” Yurii Ihnat, spokesperson for the Air Force Command of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said. “Of course, we would like to shoot down more.”

“We need means, we need to reinforce the southern regions, our port cities, with means, in particular, against ballistic missiles,” he said. “Systems such as Patriot or SAMP-T could provide protection for this region.”

Read more here.

8:58 p.m. ET, July 20, 2023

UN won't give up on Black Sea grain negotiations, official says

From CNN's Radina Gigova in London

The United Nations won't stop negotiating on Ukrainian grain exports, but the international community should push for more than humanitarian deliveries, according to Matthew Hollingworth, the UN World Food Programme Ukraine representative and country director.

Hollingworth told CNN Thursday he's "absolutely certain the UN is not going to give up on this issue and will do everything it can to try and find a result," after Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative earlier this week.

"I think we need to push harder than simply only having a humanitarian delivery system through some sort of partial agreement. We need more than that, if we are going to actually achieve — and continue to achieve — some form of stability, when the world already is seeing just enormous levels of a norm of food insecurity," he said.

David Harland, executive director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, who helped broker the grain deal, told CNN Wednesday he is skeptical about Russia coming back to the negotiating table. There may be a chance that Russia agrees to "humanitarian shipments" only, he said, if pressured by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and leaders of countries facing food supply shortages.

Of the 33 million tons of food that was shipped out of Ukraine through the grain initiative since last July, 20% went to the Global South, Hollingworth said.

"This was a country (Ukraine) where we could guarantee a high-quality competitive market price, food, and it was the largest single sourcing nation last year for the World Food Programme, despite the conflict, despite the invasion," Hollingworth said.
"That's going to leave a massive hole in our operations of trying to get food to people around the world that desperately need. That's 345 million people living in severe food insecurity right now, so that should not be underestimated."

1:37 a.m. ET, July 21, 2023

Ukraine has started using US provided cluster munitions in combat

From CNN's Natasha Bertrand, Oren Liebermann and Alex Marquardt

An emptied cluster munition container is seen stuck in the ground following a military strike on the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine, on June 10, 2022. Ivan Alvarado/Reuters/FILE

Ukrainian troops have started firing the cluster munitions provided by the US as part of their counteroffensive against Russia, according to two US officials and another person briefed on the matter.

The US is still waiting for updates from Ukrainian forces about how effective the munitions have been on the battlefield, one of the officials said.

National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby confirmed later on Thursday that Ukrainians forces have begun using the munitions.

“They are using them appropriately. They’re using them effectively and they are actually having an impact on Russia’s defensive formations and Russia’s defensive maneuvering. I think I can leave it at that,” Kirby told reporters.

The US announced on July 8 that it would be sending the controversial munitions, and they were delivered to Ukrainian forces about a week later, as CNN first reported.

Brig. Gen. Oleksandr Tarnavsky told CNN at an interview in central Ukraine last week that the munitions “can radically change (the battlefield).”

“The enemy also understands that with getting this ammunition, we will have an advantage,” Tarnavsky said.

Read more here.