July 28, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

By Kathleen Magramo, Hafsa Khalil, Jack Guy and Adrienne Vogt, CNN

Updated 12:09 p.m. ET, July 30, 2022
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2:18 p.m. ET, July 28, 2022

German city of Hanover bans hot water in public buildings as gas crisis continues

From CNN's Nadine Schmidt and Lauren Kent

The German city of Hanover has banned hot water in public buildings and has introduced measures to reduce heating amid the gas crisis, according to the Hanover mayor's office.

"Every kilowatt-hour saved saves the gas storage tanks," said the mayor's office in a news release on Wednesday. 

It's the first city in Germany to switch to cold showers in public buildings, making hot water unavailable for hand-washing and other uses in government facilities, gyms, and swimming pools.  

The city will also reduce heating in public buildings, as well as switch off façade lighting and fountains. 

"The goal is to reduce our energy consumption by 15%," said Mayor Belit Onay. "This is a response to the looming gas shortage, which is a big challenge for municipalities — especially for a big city like Hanover." 

"The situation is unpredictable, as just the last few days have shown," he added. "Nevertheless, the state capital is trying to prepare as best it can."

Across the European Union, member states are scrambling to save gas and store it for winter, and on Tuesday, energy ministers agreed in principle to cut gas use by 15% from August to March. 

2:21 p.m. ET, July 28, 2022

Russian media watchdog seeks to revoke independent news site Novaya Gazeta’s license

From CNN's Uliana Pavlova

Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, holds up a copy of his paper after the conclusion of bidding during a charity auction in New York on June 20, 2022.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, holds up a copy of his paper after the conclusion of bidding during a charity auction in New York on June 20, 2022. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Russia’s media watchdog, Roskomnadzor, filed a lawsuit this week seeking to revoke the registration license of independent investigative news outlet Novaya Gazeta, according to court records.

“Most likely, we will have our license revoked for the website and for the printed version," a spokesperson for Novaya Gazeta, Nadezhda Prusenkova, told CNN on Thursday. "But we'll figure something out."

“There are two lawsuits from Roskonadzor, one for the website and another for the print edition,” said Prusenkova, adding that a court hearing regarding the website’s license has been scheduled for Sept. 15.

According to Novaya Gazeta, the legal action is based on two warnings received on March 24 and March 28, due to the absence of “foreign agents” disclaimer markings on two news materials on the Novaya Gazeta website.

Novaya Gazeta is one of the few remaining independent Russian-language news outlets covering Russia. The outlet has been declared a “foreign agent" by the Russian government, meaning that it is required to preface every publication, including social media posts, with a disclaimer.

1:19 p.m. ET, July 28, 2022

Russian forces make small gains in Donetsk region, Ukrainian military says

From CNN's Petro Zadorozhnyy

The Ukrainian military has conceded that Russian forces have been able to make small gains near the Donetsk towns of Soledar and Vershyna in eastern Ukraine.

Russia has been making a push in that area of the Donbas for the past several weeks but with limited gains. 

According to Thursday evening’s update from Ukraine’s General Staff, other attempts by Russian forces to “carry out assaults in the direction of the settlements of Yakovlivka, Bakhmut and Semyhiria failed.”

“The enemy units retreated here with losses,” it said. 

The Ukrainian military continued to report intense long-range attacks with artillery, missiles and air strikes across most of the frontline.

1:11 p.m. ET, July 28, 2022

Russian interior ministry departments open in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, state media reports

From CNN's Petro Zadorozhnyy

The Russian government has opened delegations of its interior ministry in Russian-controlled territories in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported on Thursday. 

According to the report, the delegations arrived in the occupied territory to “organize the work of the temporary departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and provide practical assistance to local law enforcement authority.”

The agency also reported that territorial internal affairs bodies of those specific regions were being created. 

Some context: Ukrainian troops claim to have won back some territory in the southern flank of the war. But there are growing signs that the Russians are reinforcing their military presence in Kherson, determined to hold it as a vital part of the land bridge to Crimea – and as the peninsula’s main source of water.

In the past two weeks, large convoys have traveled west from Mariupol through Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region and on to Kherson.

Ukrainian officials estimate that nearly half the population of Kherson has left the region for Ukrainian-held territory. They accuse the Russians of preventing more people from leaving cities like Melitopol, so that they can be exploited as “human shields” in the event of a Ukrainian offensive.

CNN's Tim Lister contributed reporting to this post.

11:12 a.m. ET, July 28, 2022

Ukraine celebrates its first ever Day of Statehood

From CNN's Hafsa Khalil

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, seen in this file photo released by the government, has announced July 28 as the first-ever Day of Ukrainian Statehood.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, seen in this file photo released by the government, has announced July 28 as the first-ever Day of Ukrainian Statehood. (President of Ukraine)

For the first time, Ukraine is celebrating the Day of Ukrainian Statehood today.

In a speech published on the presidential site on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the week "symbolic" because it marks the first time they will hold a day of statehood.

Zelensky said they will "celebrate at the time of such a brutal war — in the sixth month of it. After eight years of war in Donbas. But we will celebrate, despite all, because Ukrainians cannot be broken."

Unlike Ukraine's independence day, which falls on Aug. 24, the Day of Ukrainian Statehood will connect Ukrainian people through their experiences, culture and an identity that Zelensky described as stretching back more than a millennium.

"Now, in many exploits of our warriors, in the wisdom of our people in battles, even simply in the conversations of ordinary Ukrainians about what is happening, we can see, we can hear and understand examples of the same characters but hundreds of years ago," Zelensky said.

On Thursday, Zelensky addressed citizens saying that the history of Ukraine's statehood can be described in one sentence: "We existed, exist and will exist!"

He also told lawmakers that Ukraine’s resistance against Russia will be remembered.

“We will become not a new legend of heroic resistance, but a state of winners,” Zelensky told lawmakers inside the Ukrainian Parliament. “Not 300 Spartans, worthy of films, books and plays, but the multimillion-strong nation-hero which is worthy of living, worthy of winning and which will teach others in the world how to defend themselves and how to win."

“We will be remembered not as those who tried, but as those who preserved, strengthened and passed our state to our children so that they could pass it on to their children,” Zelensky added. 

The Ukrainian president highlighted that even after more than 150 days of war with Russia, Ukraine was still able to celebrate. 

"Due to the cruelty of history — after several unfortunate historic turns — our state was not mentioned for some time. Then they’ve been saying that Ukraine is somewhere next to Russia, or is even allegedly a part of it. We know that now they definitely know: Ukraine is the only state in the world that has the bravery to beat Russia, beat on our land notwithstanding any of its threats," the president said.

10:24 a.m. ET, July 28, 2022

2 killed in missile strike in Donetsk town of Toretsk

From CNN's Petro Zadorozhnyy

Rescuers help a woman evacuate from a residential building damaged by a Russian military strike in the town of Toretsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on July 28.
Rescuers help a woman evacuate from a residential building damaged by a Russian military strike in the town of Toretsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on July 28. (State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Reuters)

At least two people were killed as a five-story building in the Donetsk town of Toretsk in eastern Ukraine collapsed following a Russian strike on Thursday.

“Today, the rescuers of the Toretsk garrison, during emergency rescue operations on the destroyed part of a 5-story residential building in the city of Toretsk, discovered and pulled out the bodies of 2 dead persons (1 man and 1 woman),” the State Emergency Service of Ukraine reported on Thursday. 

The Ukrainian military’s General Staff had reported a missile strike on the town early in the morning.

“At 5.00 in the morning, there was a rocket attack on Toretsk. A rocket hit an apartment building; two floors were destroyed,” it said on Thursday.

Toretsk has been under intense fire as Moscow’s armies continue to try and make gains in the Donetsk region. In addition to the missile strikes, heavy shelling was also reported in the the area.

10:12 a.m. ET, July 28, 2022

Turkish foreign minister praises grain export deal

From Ipek Yezdani

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu attends a press conference in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 28.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu attends a press conference in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 28. (Cem Ozdel/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

The deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey that will allow both Russian and Ukrainian grain exports from Black Sea ports removes obstacles for both countries, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu said on Thursday.

“We did not only remove the obstacles against the Ukrainian grain, but we have also removed the obstacles against the export of the Russian grain and fertilizer,” Çavuşoğlu said. 

Speaking at a joint news conference with visiting Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili, Çavuşoğlu praised the agreement brokered by the United Nations and Turkey and signed by Ukraine and Russia last week.

Once the deal goes into effect, Çavuşoğlu said the grain and wheat could then be transported to countries in urgent need. 

The successful implementation of the deal “could really boost trust between Russia and Ukraine,” he said.

"Now, it is time to focus on brokering a ceasefire. This is not just a process to be carried out at the level of foreign ministers,” Çavuşoğlu said, according to state-run Anadolu Agency.

9:34 a.m. ET, July 28, 2022

Hungary's Orban says Ukraine "cannot win" war with NATO's current strategy

From CNN’s Joseph Ataman and Benjamin Brown in London

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks at a press conference on July 28, in Vienna, Austria.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks at a press conference on July 28, in Vienna, Austria. (Michael Gruber/Getty Images)

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told journalists on Thursday that Ukraine cannot defeat Russia with NATO’s current strategy of support, while also warning of dire consequences for the European economy. 

“This war in this form cannot be won,” Orban said, speaking alongside Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer in Vienna. Orban added that NATO countries’ strategy of supporting Ukraine with weapons and training “has shown until now that it will not lead to success.”

“Without changing the strategy, there is not going to be peace,” he said, warning that, without peace in Ukraine, all of the European Union will “be pushed into a war situation.”

“It is not clear how we can avoid recession in the EU if the war carries on,” Orban added.

Both leaders warned against the possibility of a European Union embargo on Russian gas.

“We met a wall just now, and that wall is called gas embargo, and I would suggest to the EU that we do not knock against that wall,” Orban said, as Nehammer warned such an embargo “is not possible.”

“Not only because we, as Austria, are dependent on Russian gas. The German industry is also dependent on Russian gas. And if the German industry collapses, the Austrian industry collapses,” said Nehammer, adding that that situation could result in “mass unemployment.”

“There are many announcements from the EU Commission, but very little is being implemented,” he said, regarding EU action on the energy crisis, adding that there is “no sign” of the implementation of the common gas purchase platform that was proposed by the EU Commission.

He said that, given the current pressures on the energy market, that "this common platform would be more important than ever."

12:09 p.m. ET, July 30, 2022

Russian journalist who led on-air protest found guilty of "discrediting Russian armed forces" by Moscow court

From CNN's Rob Picheta and Alex Hardie

Former Russian state TV employee Marina Ovsyannikova attends a court hearing in Moscow, Russia, on July 28.
Former Russian state TV employee Marina Ovsyannikova attends a court hearing in Moscow, Russia, on July 28. (Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters)

Marina Ovsyannikova, the Russian state television journalist who made a dramatic, on-air stand against the invasion of Ukraine in the first weeks of the war, has been found guilty of “discrediting the Russian armed forces” after staging more protests this month.

Ovsyannikova was fined 50,000 rubles (around $820) over a video recorded on July 13 in which she spoke out against the conflict, calling it a war, according to her lawyer Dmitry Zakhvatov. The Kremlin euphemistically refers to the invasion as a “special military operation.” 

On July 15, Ovsyannikova also shared content of herself holding a one-woman anti-war demonstration on an embankment opposite the Kremlin in Moscow.

In the video and photo she shared on her Telegram channel, the journalist was seen holding a poster saying: “Putin is a murderer, his soldiers are fascists. 352 children are dead. How many more children need to die before you stop?”

At her feet were two dolls and a stuffed toy, apparently stained with red paint.

More background: Ovsyannikova’s live demonstration during a Russian state TV evening news bulletin in March was one of the defining moments of the early days of the conflict, and earned her international renown for visibly speaking out against the invasion from inside Russia.

During that unexpected demonstration, the former Channel One editor appeared behind a news anchor holding a sign that said: "NO WAR." She told CNN days after the incident that many Russians have been "brainwashed" by state propaganda.

Following her protest on Russian state TV, Ovsyannikova was arrested, interrogated for more than 14 hours, released and fined 30,000 rubles (around $500).

A Moscow court found her guilty of organizing an "unauthorized public event" and she fled Russia in March, but returned in July, according to her official Facebook page.

In June, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called the "arbitrary arrest of a large number of anti-war protesters" in Russia "worrying."

This post has been updated to clarify the details of Marina Ovsyannikova's latest court appearance. She was in court on Thursday over the video in which she spoke about Russia’s "special military operation," not over her demonstration outside the Kremlin.