August 16, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Russian forces launched a drone attack on the port of Reni along the Danube River in Ukraine's southern Odesa region overnight, damaging warehouses and granaries, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday.

In a Telegram post, Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa regional military administration, said "the main target is port and grain infrastructure in the south of the region" on the Danube.

No casualties were reported, he said.

Ukraine's Operational Command in the south said Russia "hit the territory of one of the ports, destroying hangars with grain and agricultural machinery. The resulting fires were promptly extinguished."

A Ukrainian presidential adviser accused Moscow of specifically targeting food supplies.

Ukraine's Air Force said Wednesday it had destroyed 13 Shahed drones over Odesa and the neighboring Mykolaiv region.

Some context: Small ports on the Danube have become vital for Ukrainian grain exports following the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal last month. Ukrainian officials say Russian forces are deliberately targeting port infrastructure on the river, as part of efforts to block the exports — posing a threat to food security in developing nations that rely on Ukrainian grain.

China’s defense minister Li Shangfu on Tuesday warned against “playing with fire” when it comes to Taiwan in a veiled jab at the United States as he addressed a security conference in Russia.

Li’s comments echoed previous statements by Chinese officials but the location of his speech was significant and symbolic given Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

China’s ruling Communist Party claims the self-governing democracy of Taiwan and has vowed to take control of it, by force if necessary. It has repeatedly castigated American interactions with the island, with which Washington does not have official diplomatic ties, including for the sale of US arms to Taipei.

Li, who was sanctioned by the US in 2018 for purchases of Russian weapons, joined the Moscow security conference as he began a six-day trip to Russia and its close ally Belarus.

Senior defense officials from more than 20 “friendly states,” including Belarus, Iran and Myanmar will also attend the forum, Russian state media previously reported, citing Moscow’s defense ministry, which organizes the annual event. No Western countries were invited, state media said.

The visit is Li’s second to Russia since assuming his role as defense chief earlier this year. It comes as Beijing has continued to bolster its security ties with Moscow, despite its unrelenting assault on Ukraine, which has triggered a humanitarian disaster with global ramifications.

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Russian air defenses intercepted three Ukrainian drones over the Kaluga region southwest of Moscow early Wednesday, Moscow's Ministry of Defense said. 

Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory have ramped up in recent months, with a string of drone strikes peppering cities including Moscow throughout the summer as Kyiv warned more would come.

At least three people were killed Tuesday following Russian missile strikes in northwest and central Ukraine.

Meanwhile, a barrage of Russian missiles also targeted the western region of Lviv, injuring at least 19 people and damaging civilian infrastructure.

Russia's Defense Ministry claimed it struck Kyiv's military industry but did not comment on whether it targeted residential areas. Russian forces have consistently denied attacking civilian infrastructure, despite evidence to the contrary. 

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The road to victory for Ukraine will be "long and difficult," said Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, looking at a long fight ahead.

"'Two-three weeks', 'by the end of the year', 'next spring' — all this is not true,” Vereshchuk said Tuesday in a Telegram post. Ukraine has “to get ready for a long fight," she added.

The Ukrainian people should work toward victory “where they belong,” Vereshchuk said.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has acknowledged that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is moving slower than expected. Ukrainian officials have said that efforts are focused on destroying Russia's capabilities and disrupting its logistics.

Ukrainian officials are slamming comments made by Stian Jenssen, the director of the Private Office of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General, who said in published remarks that ceding territory to Russia could be a way for Kyiv to achieve peace and join the military alliance. 

Jenssen, who has been in his current NATO role since 2017, made his comments in an interview with the Norwegian newspaper, Verdens Gang.

Oleg Nikolenko, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, also criticized the remarks.

Nikolenko added that the "conscious or unconscious involvement of NATO officials in shaping the narrative" surrounding Ukraine potentially ceding territories "plays into Russia's hands." Rather, he said, "It is in the interests of Euro-Atlantic security to discuss ways to accelerate Ukraine's victory and its full membership in NATO."

The Russian missiles fired on Ukraine overnight were built using foreign chips, according to Andriy Yermak, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.

“Restrictions have already been put in place, but sanctions need to be strengthened to prevent Russia from obtaining critical components and manufacturing missiles,” he added.

Some background: Ukraine has repeatedly called for stronger western sanctions against Russia, arguing that despite the existing tough sanctions imposed by the US, NATO and the EU, Russia is still able to procure components for the weapons it is using in Ukraine.

Russia launched a barrage of missile strikes at Lviv in western Ukraine and other regions far from the front lines, officials said, leaving at least three dead.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited his country’s troops taking part in Kyiv’s counteroffensive in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, his office said in a statement on Tuesday.

“During a working trip to Zaporizhzhia region, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the positions of the brigades engaged in offensive operations in the Melitopol sector,” his office said.

Zelensky met with the commander of the Tavria operational and strategic group of troops, Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, as well as with several units, including the 3rd Operational Brigade.

Zelensky received reports from commanders on the status of the offensive and discussed the needs and issues faced by each brigade, his office said.

“In particular, the military emphasized the need for means of electronic warfare and frontline air defense systems to counter enemy aircraft and UAVs,” according to the statement. “There is also a need for unmanned aerial vehicles, as they are quickly consumed in offensive operations.”

Zelensky and commanders also "discussed the issues of professional selection of people, providing brigades with special equipment and machinery, and the need for armored evacuation vehicles," the president’s office added.

Russian missile strikes in Ukraine's western Lviv region early Tuesday wounded at least 19 people, including a 10-year-old child, and extensively damaged civilian infrastructure.

The attacks — which happen in the west less often than on the front lines in the east and south — also resulted in the hospitalization of five people, according to the head of the Lviv regional military administration.

Kyiv's air defenses shot down one of the Russian cruise missiles launched at the western region, Maksym Kozytskyi wrote on Telegram on Tuesday. Six other missiles were not intercepted.

“Russians attacked our region with cruise missiles between 5:20 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. (10:20 p.m and 10:30 p.m. ET),” Kozytskyi said. “Fortunately, no one was killed in this missile attack.”

The youngest civilian to sustain an injury was age 10, while the oldest was 72, Kozytskyi added.

“Most of the victims had scratches and cuts due to broken windows and bruises,” Kozytskyi said, adding that around 40 houses were damaged. 

The strikes come as Poland holds its largest military parade in decades, in a flex of defensive muscle that comes as tensions rise on the border between the NATO nation and key Russian ally Belarus.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, at least three people died as a result of additional Russian strikes in the northwest and central parts of the country. The Russian Ministry of Defense said Moscow targeted Kyiv’s military industry.

The Russian defense ministry did not comment when asked if strikes may have targeted residential areas. Russian forces have consistently denied targeting civilian infrastructure, despite evidence to the contrary. 

CNN's Uliana Pavlova contributed reporting to this post.